Tag: Author

“Echoes From The Past”, a thriller

What happens when your past finally catches up with you?
Christmas is just around the corner, a time to be with family. For Will Mason, an orphan since he was fourteen, it is a time for reflection on what his life could have been, and what it could be.
Until a chance encounter brings back to life the reasons for his twenty years of self-imposed exile from a life only normal people could have. From that moment Will’s life slowly starts to unravel and it’s obvious to him it’s time to move on.
This time, however, there is more at stake.
Will has broken his number one rule, don’t get involved.
With his nemesis, Eddie Jamieson, suddenly within reach, and a blossoming relationship with an office colleague, Maria, about to change everything, Will has to make a choice. Quietly leave, or finally, make a stand.
But as Will soon discovers, when other people are involved there is going to be terrible consequences no matter what choice he makes.

http://amzn.to/2F7gqAL

newechocover5rs

 

NaNoWriMo – Day 5 – Adding to the word count

Which by the way, is the most important thing to be doing.

Today, day 5, the count is 1,862 words, making a total of 8,943 words so far.

What I have to be careful about is not to let the pressure get to me, I mean, I have to write about 1,700 words a day to maintain target.

If I miss a day, or the creative juices stop flowing…

OK, not something we need to think about.

Just a minor issue, though, I left a section out, to be written, because I was not sure what I wanted to write.  Perhaps what is coming may give some insight.

In the meantime, yet another yellow post-it note.

I’m thinking of getting a new color, perhaps a more soothing color like pale green.

Conversations with my cat – 14

20161008_135142

This is Chester, the literary critic

 

It’s important to get that first sentence right

So, I’m rattling off a few lines to get his reaction

‘It was a day like no other’

‘Yes, I know’, says the all knowledgeable Chester looking down his nose at me, ‘it’s been used before’.

We are sitting in the writing room and as usual, Chester is trying to ignore me.

I’m trying to start a new novel, looking for that first line that’s going to hook the reader.

I read him a few lines.

He gives me a disdainful look, ‘Heard it all before old boy, try again’.

Once Upon a time?

‘You’ve been watching too much TV’.

It was a dark and stormy night.

He yawns widely, ‘As if you haven’t used that before’.

He’s right, damn him.

Why am I talking to this cat anyway?

He jumps up onto the desk and sits on the keyboard.

Ok, writing is over for the day.

“One Last Look”, a thriller

A single event can have enormous consequences.

A single event driven by fate, after Ben told his wife Charlotte he would be late home one night, he left early, and by chance discovers his wife having dinner in their favorite restaurant with another man.

A single event where it could be said Ben was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Who was this man?  Why was she having dinner with him?

A simple truth to explain the single event was all Ben required.  Instead, Charlotte told him a lie.

A single event that forces Ben to question everything he thought he knew about his wife, and the people who are around her.

After a near death experience and forced retirement into a world he is unfamiliar with, Ben finds himself once again drawn back into that life of lies, violence, and intrigue.

From London to a small village in Tuscany, little by little Ben discovers who the woman he married is, and the real reason why fate had brought them together.

http://amzn.to/2CqUBcz

onelastlookcoverfinal2

NaNoWriMo – Day 4 – People day

Those pesky characters seem to be always getting in the way.

And no matter how much you think you have that character down, they always find a new way to surprise you.

Of course, these people are mostly an amalgam of characteristics that you’ve observed over a long period of time.

I used to sit at the railway station at busy times to observe people and filled a dozen notebooks with both characteristics and eccentricities.

A little backpedaling is required.  I know there isn’t time for revisions, but there are ‘glaring’ mistakes, even for a first draft which is not meant to be perfect.

As they say, moving on…

Conversations with my cat – 13

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This is Chester.  He’s pushing his luck.

Yes, he had finally made up with my 15-year-old granddaughter, but no, he cannot sleep on her pillow.

After getting admonished for sitting on the settee, he had now got a second serve for sleeping on her pillow.

Looks like it’s back to his chair!

 

NaNoWriMo – Day 3 – Finally…

So, finally, the plan is working.

The story is progressing and I can see, for the moment, that the story is heading in the right direction.

Of course, in saying that, it might just jinx the project.

There was a small moment of hesitation though, one of those, perhaps this might be a better way moment that caused a brief stoppage while I considered the consequences.

Then I just added another sticky note to the four hundred others lining the monitor and nearby shelves and went back to work.

Got to get those 1,667 words written.

 

Conversations with my cat – 12

20161008_135142

This is Chester.  He has broken the agreement we had when we first bought the settee.

No cats allowed to sit on it.

Pleading will not cut it.  He is in serious trouble.

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No.  You cannot plead your case with Rosemary.

20161008_135131

Yes.  Hang your head in shame.

And get off the settee now!

“What Sets Us Apart”, a mystery with a twist

David is a man troubled by a past he is trying to forget.
Susan is rebelling against a life of privilege and an exasperated mother who holds a secret that will determine her daughter’s destiny.
They are two people brought together by chance. Or was it?
When Susan discovers her mother’s secret, she goes in search of the truth that has been hidden from her since the day she was born.
When David realizes her absence is more than the usual cooling off after another heated argument, he finds himself being slowly drawn back into his former world of deceit and lies.
Then, back with his former employers, David quickly discovers nothing is what it seems as he embarks on a dangerous mission to find Susan before he loses her forever.

http://amzn.to/2Eryfth

whatsetscover

NaNoWriMo – A good start?

I thought I had this under control.

After all, for the first time, I had a title, a plan, a synopsis, and was ready to go.  I’ve never tried to write a novel this way before.

Of course, it NANOWRIMO 2019. and yo write 50,000 words in a month you need a plan.  Ad-hoc writing just doesn’t get it done.

Even though for the previous two years, it has.

So, I start writing.

Then, damn it, I get another idea, and off I go on that tangent.

The plan’s now looking like it needs an update.

Didn’t plan for that, did I?

Oh, well, day 1 down, 29 more to go, perhaps tomorrow will be better.