Kit Kat!

Hey guys and girls! Just checking in after a lovely day of… Well just chilling out really.

Today I had a break from work and working on any writing of the book. Instead I went to check out the new library that has launched just recently in September.

I’d been hearing lots of cool things about the new Birmingham, (U.K.), Central library but just never got around to seeing it until today.

There are plenty places to chill out and read in. As well as many quiet areas to get writing done etc. They have a secret garden section on the roof which I could imagine myself brainstorming ideas in also.

They had a nifty little bird hunting game where you have to go around the whole library hunting for statues of different birds. On the statues were famous quotes from books that the bird is featured in. You take your bird leaflet around and fill in the missing quotes, once completed you take it as proof as your conquest and some reward is given to you in the form of book tokens. You could even hire some binoculars to use to hunt them down from afar, which should give you some idea as to the scope and size of the building.

They have a Shakespeare room with sculptures of old bill sitting around, funky pod chairs to sit in and read whilst encased in an orb of comfy hollowed out plastic, weird art and murals decorating the walls and a vast collection of music to sample.

All in all I had a nice chilled day out and an all important responsibility less day to unwind! ^__^.

Check the pics out below!

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Hiatus!

Hello to anyone of you faithful followers that are still checking in on me every now and then, and thanks for being loyal to my online nattering. It has been a busy year for me in 2013 and unfortunately has led to a bit of a hiatus in regards to keeping the blog ticking along with posts and content etc. Well that is a slight understatement and I totally understand if you guys are starting to worry about my  dedication to the cause.

That being said again, i know I have said it before, but I have every intention of making my pet project come to fruition. The book is continuing to grow, all be it slowly, but just as equally as it is surely. Im also still conscious of my online presence and will endeavour to keep the blog chugging along.

Its not that I am one for excuses but I have had an exciting year. One that has encompassed car crashes, my marriage, disciplinary meetings (Im totally innocent),moving to a new apartment and a barrage of vile cases of man flu. Understandably this has impacted on the production of my opus and the maintenance of my blog.

This is of course a problem that many writers are faced with all too often, I just feel better when I at least explain myself. Call it a courtesy if you wish.

So I have at least reflected on what I could do to help me tackle the slippery tight rope of life and the least my interventions will do is make sure I at least get minute progress achieved on a more regular basis, compared to times gone past. The most prominent practices and advices that I have taken on have helped me a lot, they might not be ground breaking tips and tricks but I will share them anyhow.

1. Got myself two consultants to help me with decisions pertaining to my book and its direction. I have found that talking about your work with others or in my case trusted friends and people dear to me, can help you to clear you’re head and stay focussed. I have discussed ideas Im thinking of including etc and got good feed back and sometimes alternate opinions and ideas on my original thoughts. It can also be dangerous to do so, but thats why I said trusted. I would love to hear any opinions on this matter or method of beta testing your ideas.

2. Read more. This is something that everyone tells you to do and I hate to be cliche, but it is very helpful for all you first time writers like myself. It will boost your repertoire of skills in learning the different ways you can tackle writing an idea that you have. I have also personally taken to audio books. I find it easier to just pop it on while driving to work etc and can get through a book very quick this way. Its also good to see how well good writing sounds as opposed to just reading it in your own head. You can understand the flow of the prose. Try reading some of your own work aloud and see how easy it is to roll of the tongue, I have had to re-write sections of my book that just sounded awful to recite out aloud.

And that is it guys in a nut shell, keep writing and do not give up even if you are having a hiatus in your work flow, it happens to us all.   ^__^ . Stay tuned.

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Banned Books…Really?

So yesterday was the final day of the Banned Books Week that ran from 30th of september up to the 6th of october. To be honest its the first time I have heard of it ^__^ hehe, but lots of blogs and websites have been putting up various lists of books that libraries around the world have been banning or books that have had people petitioning to have banned by concerned and disgruntled people who feel the content within the aforementioned books is something that should be censored or witheld from the reaches of our young fledgling book worms.

Okaaay! Well thats fine I suppose, Im not against the protection of our children’s minds when it comes to certain subject matter, should they accidentally come across 50 Shades of Grey for instance in the school library and start to ask mom and dad what anal fisting is and can they try it…

But what surprised me was that while reading many of these lists, many of them have titles on their are really quite harmless and I was perplexed by the unexpected books to appear on them. For instance there were titles that were shocking to see on a banned book list, titles that were understandable as to why it could be but ones that I wouldn’t have put onto the list and some that were your usual obvious ones that you might expect to see.

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Violence in Books

Another great post found out in the blogverse, this one is from a blog that I follow myself and it has to do with a subject that I have discussed here on the bookofascension blog. That being the issue of violence and its use in your story! please check this post out and let me know what you think?

Hoover's Corner

While attending Chicon 7 I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussing violence in fantasy and how much was too much. Or if there was such a thing as too much.

The usual things you expect to be said on such a topic were said.

But I was surprised, genuinely surprised, no one seemed to really get it. I mean they kept saying things like “Violence is terrible and we don’t know why humans are so excited by it. It must say something fundamental about the human experience.”

I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand then and I don’t understand now. Violence is human. It’s who we are. It does define us. We can pretend otherwise, but the fact remains we are a violent species. All you have to do is open a history book of you don’t believe me. We respect and elevate and revere people like Gandhi, Dr…

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Doing it tortoise style

You all remember the hare and tortoise fable right? (google it guys) ^__^

Whether you are writing the next epic best seller or you are reading the latest epic best seller as an avid fan of

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How not to be a copy cat?

Evil genius Light from Death Note!

 

Hello again guys. Today I am talking about  creating your characters for your story and finding out that the detailed and complex motives that those characters have also create complex and detailed writing challenges for you as write your story. The main character in my book The Book of Ascension, has recently put me in one of those situations. Ive recently been trying to write a murder into my story, and I think writing a normal bog standard murder, however easy it may sound to write, is actually a difficult thing to do well.

Theres all sorts of continuity and minor details to think about in terms of the story etc, and theres the fact that murder in literature has been done countless times, so finding a method for murder that hasn’t been done before is a tricky one to tackle. Now this can become even further difficult when your character has life, motives, and personality traits that dictate the type of method that they would choose to use.

My main character Saul, is a bit of a genius, akin to that of Light Yagami from the awesome show “Death Note” (Please watch if you have not already), and so the murder method that I had to come up with for him to use had to be as equally intelligent and orignal. If the MI5 were to search my laptop they might think I was a strange individual, I have  been searching the web for information on murder, poisoning, assassinations and all manner of dark and questionable tidbits I could use to craft a suitable method of murder for my character to run with.

Just when I would come up with an amazing idea, I would later find out that its already been done elsewhere in other books, or T.V. shows. Thankfully I think I have finally found my method and although similar methods have been used, I think I can change it up and make it more unique enough to pass the originality test from my readers.

So please guys if you have ever had similar problems like these, then please let us know below and share your experience for anyone that is currently going through the same problem. Are there any tips you can give regarding being original when writing your story?

 

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Just enjoy it? Really?

I couldn’t have said it any better and I totally agree! ^__^

The Author Chronicles

Whether it be books or movies, questioning the leaps of faith that we in the audience are asked to make if we are to be convinced that the storyline is realistic is inevitable.  It is certainly one of the most popular discussions of any book or movie when people are debating if a certain scene could have really happened or not.

It occurred to me that an author has to have a good balance regarding this topic.  One of my favorite authors, Dan Brown, always seems to have a couple of scenes in every book that are so fantastic or amazing that it stretches the imagination.  And it works.  In my opinion, his books are mini-movies, and the pages practically turn themselves.  A fantastic scene that stretches the imagination is acceptable to me as long as it isn’t over done throughout the book. 

The same thing goes for movies, although…

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Get this App now!!

Guys if your a writer, a poet or blogger, maybe your hilarious and have jokes? If you fit any of these descriptions and you own a smart phone or iPad then please do yourselves a favour and get this app!!…like now ^__^

Opuss is a nifty little app that I stumbled upon during one of those app store surfing sessions that you do to kill some time whilst waiting for someone else to get ready so you can move on with your day!

It’s kinda like instagram (another amazing app) but instead of photo’s it lets you share words to a mass community of like minded people. You can follow other users and they can follow you as well as rate and comment of what you share! It can be a script or shirt story, a poem or joke or anything really but I think the benefits of reaching large numbers of readers and getting feedback is a priceless advantage.

Oh did I mention it’s free? So it is actually priceless. I am going to be using it and I think you guys should too!

The creators will post up literary competitions on there for people to enter, and the social element to it is fun and useful to anyone wanting to learn from and connect with other writers etcetera.

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Master teach me!

The art of writing

 

Hey peeps! found another gem of an article on the web that I thought I should share for any of my fellow newbie writers out there looking for some advice or special tips on writing better. If you are like me and have a passion for story telling yet dont actually have much experience in writing professionally, whilst at the same time have thrown yourself into the daunting task of actually writing a book despite the aforementioned facts then please read this nifty article  right here! ^__^

I enjoy reading such things and I’m learning a lot from doing so, after all what better way to up your game by learning from people who are already literary black belts? In the foreseeable future I plan on using sites such as those that allow writers to put excerpts of their stuff online for people to critique but for now ill stick to my current training methods and work on putting excerpts here on the blog first!

What are the methods you guys use? Obviously reading more books helps but unconventional or strange methods of inspiration and style development do you use to help improve your game? I would love to know so please do share and comment below.

 

^_^

 

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Visual Reference Points For Omalas

1

Just a quick share here guys, great post that I will take a leaf from and start doing here on the book of ascension blog, i think it’s a great way of setting your readers on the right track and helping them to see your vision of what your writing about!

In The Lavender Room

Hi  there.  The  beautiful  city  which  forms  the  title  of  my  novella,  the  city  of  Omalas,  is  a  big,  grand  place,  and  I  wanted  it  to  have  a  certain  feel.  In  my  mind’s  eye  it  appeared  to  me  as  something  a  bit  like  the  city  of  Naboo  in  Star  Wars,  and  also  Rome.  These  pics  below  made  great  visual  reference  points  when  editing  my  first  draft,  as  I  realised  I  needed  to  describe  the city  in  greater  detail  to  help  my  readers  envisage  it.

 

 

 

These  images  get  across  the  kind  of  vastness  and  majesty  I  want  my  city  to  be  endowed  with.  Omalas  is  an  ancient,  beautiful  city  which  houses  an  old,  old  secret  within  its  bowels — I’m  still  working  on  editing  the  first  draft  but  I  hope  soon  to  get  a  sample  chapter  up  on  here.  I  look  forward  to  you  reading  it,  future  fans!

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