Browsing Archive: November, 2014

Black Friday

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, November 30, 2014,
I don't usually use this blog as a platform to complain about society (apart from errant apostrophes), but the behaviour of the bargain hunters who stormed the shops on 28th November prompts me to break my rule.
    What on earth did people think they were doing? Whatever happened to the British tradition of queueing? There was no politeness or consideration, and very little common sense. Wheelchair-bound people were knocked down and trampled over, shoppers were rugby tackled and people had go...
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Back to the Beginning

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, November 24, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
How many times can you rewrite a first chapter? I think I'm heading for a record. The first few pages of a novel are crucial in hooking readers' interest and persuading them to keep going beyond the free sample. It's always going to be hard to get it right, but with a sequel it's even harder. How much of the previous novel's events should I fill in? Do I need to describe the characters again? There's a real danger that I'll end up info dumping–having characters tell each other things they a...
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Blind Luck

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, November 16, 2014, In : Competitions 
You never can be sure what the consequences of submitting work to a publication or entering a competition might be. It might seem straightforward: your work is either accepted, or it's rejected. However, even when the editors or judges don't select your submission/entry you might still end up a winner.
    After my story, 'Salvage', appeared in Daily SF, Paul Coles of Beam Me Up Podcast asked if he could broadcast it. Of course, I grabbed the offer, and I'm privileged now to have had dramatis...
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Pass the Hat

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, November 2, 2014,
Another magazine of speculative fiction has closed its doors only a few issues after it launched. In explaining why, the people behind it complained that there had been little take-up from advertisers and readers, and that people seemed more interested in writing stories than reading them. This may be correct. However, they went on to say that writers and would-be writers should spend $10 a week (around £6) on subscriptions to magazines.
    Ideally, writers should always read at least one is...
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About Me


My writing career began as a freelance feature writer for the local press, businesses and organisations. Now a prize-winning playwright and short story writer, my work has appeared in numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic. I write as K. S. Dearsley because it saves having to keep repeating my forename, and specialise in fantasy and other speculative genres.

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