WRITERS UNLIMITED

#SAMPLE SUNDAY - Watch Your Back!

2012-02-12T13:16:00.000Z

WATCH YOUR BACK by Jillian Brookes-Ward

Genre: Psychological drama (adult content and strong language)

When Hamish McKinnon’s younger sister is drugged and raped by a sexual predator, they take it upon themselves to find and punish the perpetrator. Their plan for revenge soon takes an emotional toll on Hamish, a decent and usually law-abiding citizen. If he falls apart, their crusade for vengeance and retribution will crumble. Will he be able to hold himself together long enough for justice to be served?

Teaser:

He took another good look around to ensure the security guard hadn't returned unexpectedly. Satisfied he was not being observed, he extended his arm over the roof of the car and carefully upended the can, letting out a controlled dribble of viscous yellow liquid. He allowed almost half of it to splash on the roof; the remainder, he poured in wide strokes over the expanse of the bonnet and the boot, along the wings and on the doors.

The liquid spread itself out over the glassy blue paintwork and ran down the slope of the bonnet from windscreen to grille in slow, creeping rivulets.

When the last of the fluid dripped from the neck of the can, Hamish gave it a little shake, encouraging one more drip, replaced the lid and put the can into his pocket. He removed his gloves and stood back to admire his handiwork.

Find Watch Your Back! at Smashwords.com, Amazon Kindlestores and Barnes and Noble.

#WRITE ON WEDNESDAY Book Blog Hop - 8 February 2012

2012-02-08T08:56:00.001Z

#WRITE ON WEDNESDAY - Book Blog Hop

Teaser #1 on this week's Book Blog Hop offers you:

EVOLUTION by Craig Saunders

Teaser: He had destroyed societies before. The death of a society was for savouring., like the fine filter spirits he preferred with their grain and humours. This, though, was more than just the death of a society, or a world. It was the death of an entirety. The entitiy known as the Lore.
Their death knell would resound throughout the universe.

Available for your Kindle at Amazon Kindlestore UK and Amazon Kindlestore US

* * * * *

For teaser #2, I would like to offer you one of my own, contemporary romance

LINDA LOVES...?

Teaser: Very, very slowly a faint purple line began to form in the first window and her heart began to race. 'Just one line,' she prayed. 'Please…just one line.' But before her horrified eyes, in the other window, a second line began to form.

Available from Smashwords and Barnes and Noble

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This Book Blog Hop is kindly hosted by Soooz Says Stuff

#SAMPLESUNDAY - Three Way Street

2012-01-22T19:42:00.000Z

THREE WAY STREET by Jillian Brookes-Ward

A jaded housewife, her uptight husband and a businessman desperate to maintain ties with his children...three lives without direction, until one of them makes an accidental discovery.

Bored to distraction with her lacklustre life, and in dire need of any stimulation to enliven it, when happenstance presented Louise Blackmore with an opportunity for a little harmless mischief, she took it. All she had to do was pick up the phone and call a complete stranger out of the blue.

Little did she realise how far reaching the effects of her rash action would be.

SAMPLE:

She kept a tenuous hold on her confidence as she heard the line connect and the telephone at the other end ring out. The second ring sprouted a doubt. The third ring watered it. The fourth saw it take root. She allowed the phone to ring once more before she started to move the handset back toward its cradle. It had almost made it when she heard a man's voice.
'Hello, MacOil. Henry Dixon speaking.'

She held her breath and slowly returned the handset to within an inch of her ear, the sensible side of her now screaming, 'Hang up, stupid! Hang up!'

THREE WAY STREET is available from Smashwords.com, Amazon Kindlestores and Barnes and Noble.

SPBRoundup - a home for the self published independent.

2011-12-15T18:46:00.001Z

Are you a self published independent writer? Are you looking for a new outlet to publicise and showcase your works? Then look no further. SPBROUNDUP is the place for you. A single site destination for readers and writers alike, a home for the self published writer of all genres.

How it works - simple. Select SUBMIT SPB, follow the instructions and you're done. Uploading and promotion of your book(s) is free, but I'm sure our host, Patsy Porco, would appreciate a link to SPDRoundup via your blog, or through the usual sharing places.

#WRITEONWEDNESDAYS - WOW!!

2011-12-14T11:49:00.004Z

At Smashwords.com

WRITE ON WEDNESDAYS
- book teaser blog hop

THREE WAY STREET, a new contempary romance by Jillian Brookes-Ward.

Blurb: A jaded housewife, her uptight husband and a businessman desperate to maintain ties with his children...three lives without direction, until one of them makes an accidental discovery.
Find a business card, call a stranger. What harm can it do?

Teaser:

He reached for her, his lips pressed white with determination, and his eyes blazing with uncontrolled fury. She pressed her feet into the duvet to act as some kind of anchor, but to no avail. He seized her trousers and tights and yanked them roughly down her legs and over her feet. With one sharp tug he ripped her panties at the seam, pulled them off and threw them across the room. Now naked from the waist down, she squeezed her eyes tightly closed and whimpered.

* * * *

Currently not reading anything...too busy writing...but rest assured, my Kindle is as stuffed as a Christmas turkey.

Happy reading.

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This #WriteOnWednesday blog hop was brought to you today courtesy of Soooz Says Stuff Join the fun...the more the merrier.

The 5 P's of NaNo

2011-10-18T13:16:00.002+01:00

National Novel Writing Months (NaNoWriMo) is almost upon us again - are we ready for it? Have you registered at www.nanowrimo.org ?

In two weeks' time, some 50,000 scribblers (probably a lot more) are going to stare hard at that blank document on their screen, poise their fingers above their keyboard and at the stroke of midnight on 1 November, put themselves through a physical and mental wringer - and love every minute of it. It is a fact that those who have prepared in advance will weather the challenge far better than those who have leapt in at the last minute, blindly thinking '50k words in 30 days, it's a doddle'. I did it for the first time last year and believe me, a doddle, it ain't. It took weeks to get over it.

That is why we need to remember the 5 P's - Prior Preparation Prevents Piss-poor Performance? Never did they apply more than in preparation for NaNo.

You will no doubt already have the glowing ember of an idea at the back of your mind knowing all it will take is exposure to the oxygen of opportunity for it to rise into a flame of creation. But without prior preparation, that flame can easily burn itself out a long way short of the end. And so can you.

So what can we do in advance to make the experience more of a joy than a chore?

Firstly, prepare your family/workmates/colleagues/pets to be neglected. Forewarned is forearmed. Tell them what you will be doing and because you have something more important to do for the next month, their demands for food/clean socks/sex will fall on deaf ears and they are not to bother you with them. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to them. They may, in fact learn to be more self reliant - it will be character building for them. This is good.

Secondly, prepare your project. Take care of your ember. Make a few notes, give your characters their names, sketch them out, plan out your plot but remember, no actual prose until the start - that's cheating.

Lastly, prepare yourself. Allot yourself the time to write and stick to it. 1700 words a day doesn't seem much, but if on one day you don't make the quota and you find yourself having to write 2000 the next day just to keep on target, it can be the start of a slippery slope and many give up because they can't keep up.

Find a comfortable place in which to work with adequate heating and ventilation. Wear socks and fingerless gloves if necessary. Cold feet and hands are not conducive to lucid writing (or anything else for that matter.

On the other hand, neither being too warm and stuffy. Comfort, always comfort.

Make sure you are well supplied with warming drinks and, if you want them, snacks. This could be a job delegated to a junior member of the household.

You might want to select the music you feel might be a good accompaniment to your project. It is amazing the difference the right music can make to your creativity and productivity.

VERY IMPORTANT!!: At least once an hour, get up and walk around for a few minutes. Stretch your legs, do some squats, twist your ankles and feet and get the blood circulating in your legs. The last thing anyone wants is to develop a blood clot (DVT) through inactivity.

So there we are, just a few ideas that might help to see us through the month to come. Everyone is different, of course, and your mileage may vary as the saying goes, so if you have your own hints and tips that might help, please, feel free to share them. It could mean the difference between the glow of success and falling into a gibbering heap by the wayside.

Personally, I am looking forward to the challenge. I have my idea, and I've even designed a book cover to remind me what I'm doing it for.

If anyone wants to be a writing buddy, my page is here

That just leaves me to say - the very best of luck to us all and DON'T GIVE UP!

Jill x

It's Good News Week.....Joint Success!!!!

2011-09-25T19:28:00.004+01:00

WINNERS of AUTHORS ON SHOW CONTEST #1: JILLIAN BROOKES-WARD and HANNAH WARREN

Welcome to the winners of our “This sentence starts the story” Contest # 1. We had a tie for first. Jillian Brookes-Ward and Hannah Warren.

Their prize...a two week promotion of their work, and a book review, here and on Amazon, Smashwords, Goodreads..etc.

Linda Loves...? Book Blurb:

Linda Lewis is in love with two very different men – at the same time. She is content in her loving triangle, until fate intervenes, bringing the two men together. When she falls pregnant, a plan is hatched – one man will be told he is the father, the other will be led to believe he is, but which one is which? Is a modern menage-a-trois always a recipe for disaster or can it, against the odds, be made to work?

Book Review: by Suzannah Burke:

Ménage a trois…from the french meaning ‘household of three’. It’s a term used frequently in literature .

Love triangles, tend to appear most often when utilizing a man’s favorite fantasy world of one man with two women. Usually in the context of ‘whoo-hoo let’s talk about sex, baby !’
What happens when the situation is far more than a sexual fantasy, what happens when the situation is between one woman…and two men ; one of whom the female lead character is married to ?
Linda Loves… ? is what happens folks.
Meet Linda, married and very happily so to Tom. Linda is a warm, loving soul who garners great pleasure in caring for her husband, especially in his current needy state of being wheelchair bound with a badly broken leg.
She is endlessly patient, occasionally bossy, and very much in love with her husband. She has no such female fantasy of another man in her life or her bed.
Meet Tom, Linda’s wheelchair bound spouse. He is very much in love with his wife, appears to be incredibly needy and not necessarily the strongest male on the planet ; his needs would try the patience of a saint at times. Linda does not profess to being a member of the sainthood.
Meet Adam, handsome, isolated, independant and fiercely proud. He is currently living in the dilapedated remains of what once was his family estate, known locally as “The Castle
Linda and Adam meet, introduced by Linda’s lovable dog “Archie”. From the outset they collide and keep right on a collision course that will lead them on to each other’s arms and ultimately each other’s beds.
If you expect this book to take you over familiar ground, ground that has been covered often in literature, you would be wrong.
Author Jillian brookes-Ward has cleverly and beautifully taken this love triangle beyond the expected. In doing so she explores the emotional depths of each character, bringing them to life with clever and insightful glimpses into what motivates them to react.
These people become very real, and intensely likeable under her clever penmanship, they go beyond a one dimensional image and we care about them.
I found myself in turn, exasperated, angry, happy, sad, irritated and finally content…just the way I would respond to a dear friend caught up in a situation such as this.
There are promises made and broken, an attraction that can’t be simply shut down, and love explored on so many different levels.
I will not spoil this for the reader by revealing too much. Suffice it to say, Linda falls pregnant…and the resulting storm of emotion and ultimately surprising ending will hold you enthralled.
I give this book a five out of five review. It earned it.

Linda Loves...? is available for sale in all the usual places, so linkies:

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32920
AmazonUK: http://amzn.to/eHO5Ni
AmazonUS: http://amzn.to/dQARjb

Other books by Jillian:
· Saving Nathaniel
· Watch Your Back!
· On The Fly

Find out more at her website, Jillywrites… or her blog Writers-Unlimited
Connect with Jillian on Twitter at @jillywrites
Contact Jillian direct at j.brookesward@gmail.com or via
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jillianbrookesward

And here is Hannah's prize:

Casablanca My Heart…Book Blurb:

After accidently killing the love of her life, a famous writer learns that truth can be stranger than fiction.
In the midst of her success as a romance novelist, Heather Simpson is trying to come to grips with her husband’s comatose existence, the result of an automobile accident she caused. While traveling incognito on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, she meets Ghalib Tournequet, a mysterious man who seems to know all about her.
When Heather and Ghalib run into each other in Casablanca, the Moroccan playboy seems ready to give up his life of drinking, gambling, and women just to be with her. But his past catches up with him at precisely the wrong moment.
Four years after attending her husband’s funeral in Holland and moving to Norfolk with her daughter, Heather and Ghalib meet again at Stanstead Airport. He is a changed man now and it is Heather’s turn to want to know more about him.
Free from his addictions, Ghalib settles in France to look after his young daughter and run his new water management company. A meeting in Paris changes four lives for the better.
A romance novel, this is a story about love and loss and love again.

Book Review: by Suzannah Burke:

Author Hannah Warren has written more than just a boy meets girl romance in this her debut novel.
Casablanca My Heart doesn’t follow traditional clichéd storytelling, and that is a large part of its charm.
The author uses 1st person narrative to wonderful advantage here, giving insights into what motivates her characters on a deeply personal level.
Meet Heather Simpson, a well know romance writer who cherishes her privacy and is known better under her pen-name of Femmy Lovecraft.
Heather has suffered the loss of her beloved father, and her husband lay in a coma as a result of a car accident for which Heather blames herself. Her guilt is unrelenting. At the insistence of her dear friend the very likeable and straight forward Rita, Heather takes a cruise, a short trip to give her cheeks back their glow and her writing back its meaning.
She travels under her pen-name.
Enter Ghalib Tourniquet. A prince no less. His fascination with her is clear. The fact that he appears to know so much about her, including her real name …unsettles her more than a little, as does his masculine good looks and his appearance of warmth intermingled with sublime sophistication. Their attraction is immediate and intense.
The Prince takes her to his beautiful home in Casablanca. The author has wonderful descriptive talent and she utilizes it so well that the reader is transported to Casablanca, we walk through the beauty of the place and can clearly visualize his beautiful home. The sexual tension between them is palpable and the ultimate release of that tension is well written in an erotic, sensual, and moving episode in the steambath of his home.
This is not a jarring note, it captures the tension beautifully.
A sudden brush with ill health, and the tragic death of her husband have Heather returning home suddenly and with no further contact with Ghalib.
We are given deep insights into Ghalib’s lifestyle and his growth as a man in the period of years they are parted.
Heather, has a child, Lucy, as a result of her one passionate interlude with Ghalib. He knows nothing about the child.
His life has taken a different turn. We see into his recent past, and share his love for his beautiful child, Cassia by his first wife. Understanding the man further as we are permitted to see the misery he has created for himself and others by his lifestyle. Two marriages and two divorces leave him a changed man.
I have no wish to spoil this book for the reader.
Suffice it to say that the story is woven with a talented hand, the characters are crafted so well that they become important to the reader, we care what happens to them.
The resultant ending is…ahh…that would be telling!
I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone that enjoys a well written story.
It travels beyond the romance genre.

Casablanca My Heart is due for release in Autumn 2011.

There is nothing left to say now, but heartfelt THANK YOUs to Suzannah Burke and Authors on Show for doing all the phenomenally hard work in hosting and judging the competition, and for taking the time to review.

SHARING THE LOVE

2011-09-09T14:39:00.001+01:00

It's been rather a good week for this humble scribbler, having received not one, but two rather wonderful reviews for her efforts. Being rather chuffed at this turn of events, I can't help but want to share them. First off, from Penny Watson who reviewed On The Fly on her blog Penelope's Romance Reviews

She writes (after some preamble and with pictures):

....Now, I love me some romance. Even if it's not very realistic. But every once in a while, it's nice to get a glimpse into the real male psyche. Not throughrose-colored glasses, but rather through a sticky beer stein. It's a breath of fresh air to jump into a real man's point of view. And it's especially impressive when that POV has been written by a woman.

On The Fly by Jillian Brookes-Ward is not a romance novel. It's not erotica. It actually doesn't have much of a plot. There's no big adventure, or character arc, or profound resolution at the end of the book. It's a portrait of a guy. That's it. (With a bit of a cool paranormal twist at the end.) You know those cartoons "Diagram Of A Dog's Brain?" This is real basic stuff. It's not complicated. Well, if you made a diagram of Brian's brain (he's the main character in On The Fly), it would have two things....
1. Fly-fishing
2. F*cking
That's it. And you know what? It feels totally real. Because honestly, I'll bet there are many, many guys out there who really only think about those two things.

Other things that this book has going for it? It is totally British, which I love. It has great spots of humor. It is well-written. The pacing of the book is perfect for Brian's story. We sort of lumber along in the narrative, watching him fish, f*ck, and look like an ass, as he bumbles along. The fly-fishing stuff is way cool. And I like Brian's vulnerability. It is less than heroic, but so very authentic. A 40-something guy, forced through an emasculating divorce, living at home with his parents, his mother doing his laundry!!, and all he cares about is getting out on the water. And shagging any and all available lassies.

This story was an entertaining breath of fresh air. It's probably not for everyone. Especially folks looking for heroic acts and a complicated storyline. But if you're
interested in reading a portrait of a real guy, warts, sore back, and all, then
this book is for you. (And it's only 99 cents at Amazon!).
Grade:
A-
Penelope

Secondly, following on from Teaser Tuesday, the delightful Jo Ellis reviewed Linda Loves...? on her blog Musings Of A Romantic Mind. Here's what she says:

Linda Loves....? Now that would be giving it away.

This is the second book I’ve read of Jillian’s and although I loved Nathaniel, I enjoyed this romp more. I didn’t read the blurb before reading this book because I didn’t want to know anything going in, I wanted to let the story guide me... and what a tour....

My favourite part... well to narrow it down is hard, this surprised me, made me swoon and I couldn’t wait to indulge in this wonderful fantasy.

A wonderful husband in Tom surprised me the most in this story. His growth and love had no boundaries, simply endearing him further.

Adam... well you will just have to read about him to understand this love affair.

There is far too much to say in words what I loved about this book. It is perfect for a snuggle in and indulge. It kept me on the treadmill for longer which is a bonus.

If Jillian’s writing were to become a sweet it would be chocolate fudge... Linda Loves...?

All I can say is, 'Thank you!' ladies, very, very much!

Jill x x

REVIEWING THE REVIEWS

2011-06-24T13:10:00.000+01:00

I've been doing a little analysis of the reviews I've picked up from various places for SAVING NATHANIEL since it was ushered out from the safety of the laptop to make its way in the big wide world, and I have noticed a little trend. The cover is the same, the words are the same, but men and women it seems, see the story differently.

The majority of reviews have been from women and they have been very generous in their praise not only for the story, but also for the quality of the writing, for which I very humbly thank them. It appears from reading the reviews that they appreciate the maturity of the characters, the dialogue between the characters, the fact that Megan stands up for herself in the face of Nathaniel's capriciousness and they like the intimacy of the sex scenes. They are also the harshest critics of the relationship. One reviewer declared her disgust that Megan would put up with Nat's appalling behaviour and that looking out for someone who has collapsed in a drunken heap and clearing up his vomit is not, in her view, 'romantic'. I beg to differ. Such intimacy is the height of romance. Only someone who didn't care would walk away from such a situation. Another even went so far as to say she thought the pair of them should be locked away for their own safety - they didn't need a relationship, they needed therapy!!

The men on the other hand see something else. It seems they are of a totally different mind set and they understand better what I was trying to portray in the story - that love and understanding can make all the difference, even to what at first appears to be a lost cause. The guys haven't cared about the lack of 'action', or the limited settings or the social differences between the characters. They have cared about the dialogue, the interaction, the intimacy and the fact that there is always hope of change for the better.

Someone pointed out to me once that there is this Hollywood version of life that depicts women as the heroines in need of rescue by a tall dark handsome muscle bound hero. Women cry, men don't. Women are weak and fragile, men are tough and strong, they save the day and everything is rosy... and it's rubbish.

More often than not, it's the other way around, it's just that we don't hear about it. Men suffer from grief and loss too. They are not cast in stone when it comes to emotions - they feel, they cry, they need sympathy and empathy and comfort. And if they don't get it, all kinds of unpleasant things begin to happen, both mentally and physically. Yet often they don't get what they need because it is seen as not 'manly' to declare feelings or show emotion. The private messages I received from a couple of male readers who appreciated Megan's compassion and supportiveness of a man in torment are the ones which have moved me most.

Of course there have been some (again mostly women) who have not been so gracious, declaring the story to be too long, boring, tedious, dragging, slow, etc. etc. They are entitled to their opinion, but I never said it was going to be a bodice ripping all action drama.

Don't get me wrong, I have no complaints about my reviews. This was just an exercise, a curiosity that piqued my interest. I am deeply grateful for each and every review I receive, good ones will always cheer me and bad ones continue to cut me to the quick, but I have learned to take the rough with the smooth and accept each criticism as it comes. If I can turn them around and learn from them to improve my next project, so much the better.

Jill x

Pass the time with a few delights...

2011-05-25T08:58:00.000+01:00

I've spent a lot of time on Smashwords recently because I've been making some changes here and there to my own tomes, and while enduring the interminal time for conversion (now thankfully fixed and mercifully short) I had plenty of time to scour the site and have found some rather interesting books to help you pass the time should you find yourself in the conversion queue. They won't break the bank either:

How to Prosper During the Coming Zombie Apocalypse by Nathan Archer. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
Plenty of people have offered advice on surviving a plague of flesh-eating zombies, but Nathan Archer (author of Mars Attacks! Martian Deathtrap and Predator: Concrete Jungle) provides suggestions for how you can not just survive, but get rich in the process.

What is Magic? by Caiseal Mor. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
In this book you’ll read about the basic principles of magic-working in the Mundane World as I understand and practice them. After more than thirty years of study and experimentation with magical techniques I am convinced that magic is available to anyone who decides to take it up. You’re probably practicing it right at this moment without even being aware of it...

Catharsis by Jonathan Face. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
A freak blizzard descends upon Spring City, New Hampshire - a small town with dark secrets. The ghosts of previous residents have come with the storm, and they've passed a cruel judgement on their modern counterparts.

Twelve Gnomes and a Budgerigar by L Savage. $1.99 from Smashwords.com
A curiosity cabinet full of nonsensical events falls open when Margery Millford returns to her home village for the first time in ... well, quite some time. Between cricket, knife hurling, and a very devious Duke, Margery and the rest of the residents of Little Pearshire must come to terms with new and old secrets, fresh and stale love, and that missing gnome from Sir Millford's prized garden.

And finally - how could I not make the comparison to, what was it now, it's on the tip of my tongue...?

Zombie Hero #1 by Christopher Cousino. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
Fred was an ordinary guy. He was a plumber, had a wife and kids, and was perfectly content with living an ordinary, happy life. Of course, he didn't plan on a zombie outbreak ruining that plan, especially the "living" part. Join Fred on his journey from regular joe to Zombie Hero in this fun and terrifying short story series.

Enjoy!!

HEY RULES - STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!

2011-04-10T21:15:00.002+01:00

There has been a lot of to'ing and fro'ing lately between writers about POV - point of view, and other such 'rules' that are supposed to make our writing technically perfect. Perfect, but deadly dull to read. Everyone has an opinion on them, some will stick rigidly to them, others will rebel and flout them with impunity.

I rather think I lean more towards the flouting side even though I don't mind admitting I am a complete duffer when it comes to these type of things. Against all advice I use adverbs, cliches and adjectives ad nauseum and I split my infinitives so hard they could be mistaken for splinters of firewood.

I confess, I never studied grammar or punctuation to any degree above basic literacy level - nouns, verbs and adjectives and those sorts of things; the very simplest building blocks of language. I understand just enough to be able to string a generally legible sentence together - although what type of sentence it might be, I haven't quite sussed out yet, there seem to be quite a few available.

Everything else I taught myself, and as I am a lazy beggar at heart, only did so on a need to know basis. I couldn't be bothered with things I didn't understand or didn't think I needed to know, so out went subjunctions, pluperfect tenses and things like dependent clauses, predication and prepositional phrases. That such things even exist boggles this fragile mind. Yet I am told I may actually have used all of these things here and there, if I did but know it. Yay me!

Then, of course, I am told I shouldn't have used them, or I did but in the wrong place, or in the wrong order, or I could use some but not others and not when there's an R in the month.

My head is spinning with the pernicketiness of it all.

So my question has to be - in this day and age, what does it matter?

Of course we need to maintain standards and without any rules at all there would be anarchy, but when one writes a story for today's market, is it really a matter of life and death whether it is gramatically correct right down to the last semi colon (something else I'm not too sure on) or does striving for technical perfection make for the ruination of a good story by pedantism? (Is that a word?) Spelling of course is a whole different matter, I have issues with misspelled words but that is a whole different topic for me to vent my spleen at.

Back to POV, I can understand basically what some of these types are - something about the persepective from which you 'see' the story, be it from the first person, the perpendicular pronoun I; from second person, you, or from third, they. And then there are the offshoots from this, third person distant, third person close and third person omnisicient where you are all things to all people at all times - like a fly on the wall, or God. I favour this one, it gives much more scope.

But I see it this way, and feel free to shoot me down and offer your two penn'orth - I, me, myself, am the one telling the story. The characters, although they do sometimes seem to take on a life of their own, are basically doing what I tell them to do, speaking the words I put in their mouths and are thinking thoughts I put into their heads. They laugh, cry, cough and sleep when I tell them to. It is my job to relay all of this observational information to you in the best way I know how, in a way you will understand and in a way that is a pleasure to read. If it means I have to describe every single thing that happens during a conversation, every lip curl, every pause, every roll of the eyes, and how they actually project their words by exclaiming, moaning, grunting, snarling, coughing etc, I will do it.

Sometimes, and I'm sure you have done it yourself, I know I have, people say one thing while at the same time thinking something completely contrary. The characters are no different except that you, the reader, get to know what is in their dark deceptive thoughts, because I am going to tell you, and I will probably do it all by switching from one character's POV to another within the same block of dialogue. Back and forth you will go from one to the other as you follow the characters' conversation and their perceptions of each other. Some call it 'head hopping' and claim too much can make them dizzy. I don't have an alternative name for it.

The only time you can't do this effectively is when you write in first person (unless you are telepathic), then you can only assume what someone is thinking. The same goes, to some extent, to second person. As I like third, I think I am entitled to do it and will continue to do so.
If I have broken any of the rules, it wasn't always deliberate, it may have been because I didn't know there was a rule to be broken. If I followed them, it was purely an accident. Some 'rules' like 'no head hopping' I have flouted on purpose.

So, to conclude, I am opting for an easy writing life - bugger the tosspottery, it is getting in my way. I just like to tell a good story and make it easy and accessible for you to read. As to whether I have succeeded in that endeavour is not for me to judge.

**Note to real writers out there - these are just my personal observations, feel free to ignore them at will. No offence is meant to anyone, pedant, puritan or otherwise.

WORKS IN PROGRESS - an update from the garret.

2011-03-04T20:38:00.037Z

I have been rather a busy bee of late with not one but TWO works in progress. I thought I would post a little update so you would know what to expect from me over the coming year. First off...a story that started life as one of Splinker's Flash Fiction Friday entries last year - if anyone remembers THE CARD...

THREE WAY STREET (a working title) - the first draft of 90k words is now finished.

An unexpected discovery leads bored, frustrated housewife Lou to reassess every aspect of her life.

LOUISE BLACKMORE is bored to distraction with her life and circumstances. In the years since the death of their son, she and her husband, PETER have steadily grown apart, she having retreated into banal domesticity, he enduring his own private hell that his old fashioned principles won't allow him share.

They muddle through life shielded by a veneer of polite respectability.

Quite by accident, Lou happens upon a business card belonging to one HENRY DIXON. In a moment of madness and in desperate need of stimulation, she dares herself to pick up the phone and make contact with the complete stranger.

Their initial exchange is tenuous, but spurred on by the novelty of the situation they persevere and over the next few weeks begin to develop a rapport, initially by telephone and email, before agreeing to a face to face meeting. It goes well and it’s not long before they become close friends and confidantes.

Henry too has his own problems to face and finds the time he spends talking things through with Lou helps him make some important decisions, particularly about his job and his children, from whom he is danger of becoming estranged.

When Lou returns home after a day hiking the hills with her friend, Peter decides she needs to be taught a salutary lesson about who is really in charge in their marriage!

Peter's appallling behaviour makes Lou more determined than ever to continue her friendship with Henry. When Peter goes out of town, she faces the ultimate temptation. Does she have the courage to take her relationship with Henry to the next stage or will she walk away and stay faithful to her husband?

Whatever her decision, her relationship with Henry has forced her to take a step back and look at where her life is taking her and to consider her future with Peter in a new light.

As they wander the different directions of the three way street, a variety of trials and tribulations are thrown in their path, and the once disconnected trio of people become joined in their search for a common goal...happiness.

* * *

There's lots to do yet, it's only a first draft...a severe edit will follow, possibly some rewriting and rejigging, and we'll see where we go from there. Watch this space.

* * * *

WATCH YOUR BACK! is the new title for NO JUSTICE-JUST US, my NaNoWriMo 2010 entry written under the pseudonym Alejandro Brilowski. Slowly it is being developed into a full length novel and at present stands at just over 60k of a projected 90k word count of a first draft.

Although still in its early stages, I decided it was nevertheless in need of a rebranding, so the finished article will be under my own name, with a new title and a new cover.

To give you an idea of what the story is about while you wait:

A decent, law abiding man is soon overwhelmed and in danger of losing himself when he and his sister seek out and plot revenge against a sexual predator.

On an illicit visit to a nightclub, HEATHER McKINNON, sixteen year old sister of HAMISH, is drugged and raped and dumped in an alley by a man she knows only as ALEX.

Alex is well experienced in his particular brand of deviance has been careful to leave no evidence of his assault. Consequently the siblings are powerless to pursue justice through legal means and must take matters into their hands.

Working together, they gradually manage to untangle some of Heather's ketamine corrupted memories and piece by piece as a picture of the perpetrator begins to emerge, they use what little information they have, plus a generous helping of pure luck, to track him down.

They discover his real name is DECLAN SULLIVAN and he is a lot closer to home than either of them could ever dare to have believed.

Once located and identified as the guilty party, it isn't long before Sullivan becomes the unwitting subject of an escalating series of events, each one more unpleasant than the last.

But their crusade soon begins to take its toll on Hamish. Innocent people have become involved, careers have been ruined and it all encroaches on his peace of mind. Stressed by the whole business, he begins to question whether what they are doing is right, it certainly isn't legal, and he also begins to doubt himself and his ability to continue.

It is Heather's determination that spurs him on and they pursue Sullivan further - saving their most severe and horrendous retribution for last.

But at what point does revenge equal justice, and if they go too far, can they take it back? And if they don't punish Sullivan, who will?

You can read a sample at Scribd.com

Relax at Night...feel the love

2011-02-12T22:05:00.000Z

Valentine's Day is here and by way of celebration of the occasion, Relax at Night present a collection of their most romantic novels including my own Saving Nathaniel.

So settle down in front of a roaring fire, sip your wine and let that chocolate melt sensuously on your tongue as you lose yourself in some of the most delightful heart breaking and heart warming love stories on the market.