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1895

Fighting his demons with drink and seclusion, Inspector Arthur Harbreak has managed to keep his head down in the small village of Heath on Hill. All of those protective walls begin to crumble, however, when the mutilated body of a choir boy is found strewn on the church steps and Harbreak, untested and unprepared, is thrown into the thick of a murder inquiry. With evidence suggesting ritualistic undertones, the close-knit community quickly begins to devolve into superstition and suspicion. Trying to contend with force unprepared, as well as his own self-doubt, Arthur enlists the help of his only friend, the eccentric Doctor Charles Thurston to help him find his way. Yet in the dark heart of Dartmoor, in a town bending beneath the weight of mistrust and accusations, they must move swiftly to catch the killer before the tension snaps and destroys them all.

 

 So, that's it, then! The cover and blurb of my new--and first--murder mystery. This was equally my most difficult and easiest book to write. And it's certainly the most daunting thing I've written.

You can pre-order it HERE. And be able to read it on August the 23rd. 

What's so hard about it? Well, for one, plot. Mysteries aren't like fantasy or science-fiction. There is not as much wiggle room for plot. When you're writing it, you're not allowed to go meandering down rabbit trails and seeing what delightful places they lead. Every step of a murder story must be planned, every action of every character must have specific and important meaning.
Don't all books get written that way?
I don't know. Not mine. I let myself play with my writing in other books. Perhaps that is not a good thing, but I've found I stumble upon some storylines that I'd never have thought of otherwise.

The other reason writing a murder mystery was so hard for me was the crushing doubt (which I suppose we'll soon see) of it not being good. We've all read rubbish mysteries. In my opinion, mysteries are the hardest to write because if they don't provide that curiosity or suspicion or Ah-ha! moments, those moments of wondering at the brilliance of the detective, it loses its interest. Even when Sherlock Holmes is investigating something as god-awful as monkey serum we're still shivering in delightful chills over Gosh, I'd never have expected that! He's brilliant! 

But I also really like the inspectors that aren't that great. The John Watsons, the Lestrades, the Hastings. There's something a bit fun about tagging along with our dear detective who's just as lost as us, or maybe a bit more, but without being boring.

It's a fine line to walk either way. If you don't keep your reader engaged, you're a dead duck. Deader than your poor victim. And whilst I can't tell you much about the writing process and my preference without spoilers, I can say that I threw in everything I love in a detective story--and culture in general--into this tale.

I was honestly a little hesitant to write it in the year 1895. It's a year important to Sherlockians. Would I be edging my little tale into a time period that is somewhat reserved for Sherlock? Maybe. In the end I decided I was more torn on it than I should have been. This is not a Sherlock story, but it does--I hope--play at least some homage to it.

Another reason that I really wanted to play in this time period--besides Holmes--is it was in the time, though perhaps not the absolute craze of Spiritualism. I don't know what fascinates me about the movement so much. Was it that so many respectable, otherwise brilliant people became so entrapped in it? The fact that people seemed to return to an almost Middle Ages superstition? Yes.

But another reason is the Romanticism of it. The ending of the Victorian age, the looming of the Great War on the horizon. It is a time of horses and new machines, of new ideas and the dying out of the old world. There's a certain melancholy to it that I think we all wish to sink in to. We're fascinated by that time of uncertainty, where everything seemed possible.

I hope I was able to bring some of that haunting feel to it. And I hope, when it comes on sale, you feel it. I didn't add any physical description to Arthur Harbreak, he is completely yours to imagine and follow along with. I hope you like him. And I hope you enjoy. Because it really bloody terrified me to write.

The War Magician

It's Memorial Day, so I'm taking a break from editing my murder mystery to write a book review for a book that is very important to me: "The War Magician" by David Fisher.

I never would have known a thing about this book till I saw a little article announcing that Benedict Cumberbatch would be starring in it. I knew nothing of it, but s a fan of the actor, and knowing that he has a tendency for picking interesting, intelligent characters, I did what I always try to do with his films: seek out the book.

Immediately I was dismayed to find the book to be fairly rare and expensive. No, my hopes were dashed! So I put it in my wishlist and somewhat forgot about it. It was was several weeks later at my work I was doing a security check through the book sale room and there it was, nondescript spine and gild letters shining on the Sci-Fi shelf! Needless to say, I nabbed it and got it for a whopping 25 cents.

As I said, I had absolutely no idea what this book was about. I found it in the scifi section, and with it having no cover art or blurb on the back, I could only assume it was similar to "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell", quite simply, a magician going to war.

And, as stupid as I feel now, I believed that for about 50 pages into the book. I found it to be a factual WWII novel, and I was simply waiting for the magic to begin. Only when I accidentally flipped to the front and saw this beautiful face did I finally realise just what I had. And I became amazed.

So, enough rambling about HOW I discovered this wonderful novel. Let me tell you a bit about it.

This is the story about a stage magician named Jasper Maskelyne. He was fairly famous in London, came from a line of other magicians, and, when the war started, he felt--as many men did--that calling to do something. Jasper was convinced that his skills in illusion could turn the tide of the war.

Naturally, most of the top brass thought he was nuts and didn't want much to do with a man who was famous for being in films and sawing people in half. However, Jasper kept it up and was, eventually, assigned to a unit of camouflage. After proving himself in bootcamp, he was moved to Egypt, which would become his playground.

This book is incredible, I don't know how to stress that enough without spoiling it. As a big fan of the war movie "Kelly's Heroes" , this book is everything I could want. It shows a side of war that isn't so dark, it shows the sort of group of boys out there, not knowing what the hell they're doing, but making the most of it. The main characters in War Magician are a group of misfits--including an artist, burglar, bird expert and mechanic--who could not fit into the army anywhere else. They made their own rules, they were creators, thinkers, jokers. And they invent.

Given an area called "Magic Valley" Jasper's "Magic Gang" created some of the most amazing--and life saving illusions and inventions during the war. From hiding entire harbours, to building armies of dummy soldiers to creating "light rays" to confuse planes, this group of oddballs managed something marvelous--something magical.

I think this story is so important simply because no one knows it. I have loaned this book out to people--and they in turn have loaned it out to others--and everyone who has read it has said it is the most unique and amazing story they have ever read. It is beautifully written--like a novel, thus my initial confusion--but still provides factual information in a way few non-fiction novels manage. It made me laugh, numerous times, it made me cry. I fell in love with all of the characters, and cherish them now.

If I could recommend any book to you, this is the one. These men created something incredible and no one knows their names. Hopefully, when the film comes out, that will change. Until then, read about these wonderful men who served--and died--for freedom. 

Read, Rate, Review!

Just for a moment I'd like to remind you, dear readers, of ratings and how important they are to "indie" authors. Unlike authors who work for big book publishers, marketing is all on the writer. And marketing is *hard*. I'll admit I'm not great at it--that's an understatement--between working and editing and writing, seeking out book reviewers and pitching ideas is something I know I suck at and am really trying to get better at.
However, there is something you can do to help. And that's by reviewing what you've read that I've written. I'm sure you're like me, it's difficult to take a chance on a book that has few, if any, reviews. Reviews on Amazon--and Goodreads--are absolutely *vital* to spreading the word to others.

So, the next time you read one of my books and when your kindle prompts you to rate it after you finish it, would you please just check how many stars you thought it was worthy of? It's very simple to do and it ends up being an amazing help to me.
And in case you didn't know, I have a Goodreads page, too! All my books are on there as well as books I've read and rated.
Again, I hate to pander (part of the reason I'm so bad at marketing) but if you can spare a few seconds, you have no idea how grateful I'll be.

Is Star Wars Becoming the New "GamerGate"?

I'm a Star Wars fan. Ask anyone and they'll tell you I've been a fan since I first saw ANH when I was 4. I stick up for the prequels, I've seen the animated shows, I've read the books, played the games, written the fanfic, I'm a fan.

So I'm a little disappointed to see the way things are going in the fandom.

The first "Rogue One" trailer dropped this morning. I watched it and I was blown away by it. It looks fantastic, back to the OT--thank goodness--and seems to have an okay storyline. For a few hours I was happily excited. Aaaaand then the SJWs started coming out of the woodwork, as they do, determined to ruin all of our fun.

According to said SJWs (that's Social Justice Warriors if you're unfamiliar) people are aalllllll upset that the lead in this film is a woman.

Now it hardly even registered on me when I first watched the trailer that the lead was female. Why? Because it's not something I am obsessively looking for when watching a trailer--or anything. But SJWs are. They have to count everything, be it race, gender, sexuality, and make sure everything is absolutely even--or best case scenario--that they out number those horrible straight-white-males. For the majority of us, I have to believe we couldn't care less about what gender/sexuality/race the main character is. As long as it has a great story that is all that matters. Or at least it should be. Unfortunately, these days, that's not all that matters. Being fair and filling quotas is by far more important.

Instead of people talking about how great those AT-ATs look, or that armour, or the construction of the Death Star, people are being berated for pointing out the fact that Disney does seem to have a bit of an agenda going for them, and people are getting a little tired of it in everything. 

What agenda? you may ask. Is this sexist of you? Racist? No, of course not. Diversity is great! Star Wars is diverse. It's a big galaxy, and anyone who thinks that every character is white, straight and male is confused (people don't actually think that, it's something perpetuated by the SJWs mentioned above. No one is really upset, but it has to be construed that way so SJWs look tolerant. We saw this with the character Finn in The Force Awakes with all the fake racism there--yes, we know the majority of it was fake.) It's the same thing here.

How does this tie into the infamous GamerGate? It's the same thing. People like their fandoms. People don't want agenda pushed on their fandoms. People complain about that. SJWs scream at them for being racist/homophobic/sexist.

Are they? No. The vast majority of people aren't. Are there a few idiots out there who really have a problem with Jyn? Probably. But they're so small it's not worth mentioning. What they're sick of is the agenda. We don't want to admit it, but the main character is female simply because they know it'll make SJWs happy and antagonistic towards the rest of us. And we're already seeing it.


What SJWs don't understand is that these people don't care that the lead is female. They care that the lead HAS to be female. Storytelling in Star Wars is becoming less about stories and more about making those people who actually diversity count happy.

It's a very strange, and rather insulting world.

Does anyone really have a problem with a female role? No.
Do girls need strong females to look up to? Sure. Absolutely.

Some of the best characters in Star Wars--Ahsoka, Leia, Hera, Satine and now Rey and I'm sure this Jyn--are female.
But are they great because they are female?
For me the answer is no. They are great because of who they are--not "what" they are. I don't want my gender to define me. I don't want to have to focus on any physical characteristics to define what makes a character good or not.
The only politics in Star Wars are the ones it has always had.

Thank goodness I'm female. Go ahead and call me misogynistic, I'll just laugh. And I'll enjoy this Star Wars film no matter what agendas you try and shove down my throat.

Murder I Wrote!

I haven't written a rambling post about writing in a shamefully long time so you get one now.

Mainly writing out of triumph--and perhaps a little trepidation--over the new tale I've spun. It probably comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that I am a fan of mysteries. Sherlock Holmes my great hero, Inspector Poirot, Morse, Lewis, Marple have all been some of my absolute favourite tales. It is, however, a genre that has always intimidated me and I swore when I started writing that I would never try and write one. Why? Because mysteries are exact, mysteries are challenging. If a mystery isn't right you know it immediately. Therefor I was willing to leave murder (heh) to the professionals, simply to enjoy and never to write and stay in my playground of science fiction and fantasy.
Well, then I watched Broadchurch and damn it, I couldn't get an idea out of my head. And so for perhaps the last...oh, 3 months? I have been wandering the hills of Dartmoor in Victorian England (figuratively, I'm sad to say), researching, plotting and more or less chained to my keyboard.
Today I can proudly say I have finished the first draft of my first murder mystery story and I'm quite chuffed about it. It's been intimidating, and difficult (have to research EVERYTHING) but I believe it will be quite rewarding.
So you have something to look forward to for your summer reading (hopefully)!
Don't worry, book 4 of Alternate Worlds is coming, and I have another story in the works as well that hopefully you'll all enjoy as well.

For now I'll be back in Dartmoor, walking the same hills as the Hound of the Baskervilles and polishing this up to something hopefully worthy of your reading. 

 Cheers for now!