Showing category "Coming Soon" (Show all posts)

Something to Look Forward to

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, In : Coming Soon 
It's all over! Tea Party of the Gods has had three performances by Theze Guyz, including yours truly, and like the aftermath of any party, I could be suffering post-celebration blues.
The performances took place over two days. Tea Party of the Gods was the third play on, and I'm please to say that  half the audience didn't disappear after the first two. I wouldn't say we were faultless, but we still got laughter and applause. Several of the audience approached me afterwards to say how much th...
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Endings and Beginnings

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, In : Coming Soon 
Putting on a play can take almost as long as producing a baby. It's been a long haul since Theze Guyz first asked me if I had a one-act play they could perform back in March. The group, founded by Sarah Love, is celebrating its 21st birthday this month. It has both adult and youth sections, and has a policy of giving everyone a chance to perform whatever their experience.
I was delighted when they chose 'Tea Party of the Gods' as one of four short plays to be performed on 18th and 19th Octobe...
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The Fun Begins

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, March 18, 2024, In : Coming Soon 
Last Friday was a first for me. I attended the initial reading by Theze Guyz of my one-act play, Tea Party of the Gods. It was a real pleasure to be there at the start of the play's first production.
Theze Guyz are an amateur company set up to give everyone, no matter their abilities or experience, a chance to perform. This year is the company's 21st anniversary, and they're planning to mark it with three performances of three plays. I'm honoured to have been asked to supply one of them.
Tea ...
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Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 3, 2024, In : Coming Soon 
A new edition of Artists & Liars is now out with three extra pieces. And that's not all: it's also now available in paperback with illustrations by yours truly. You'll find three poems, two flash stories and nine short stories about the art world from every angle, including clumsy cleaners, bashful models, and self-centred divas.
I'm still very involved in the art world both professionally and socially, so in a few years' time Artists & Liars might get even fatter–or maybe I'll have enough ...
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Here I Go Again!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, January 26, 2024, In : Coming Soon 
It started out as a nice easy task that might take an afternoon. All I had to do was upload Artists & Liars to print format, adjust the digital cover and bish, bash, bosh–I'd have a paperback to satisfy the friends who have been asking me for another book. That was the plan.
The trouble is, once I'd formatted the text, I decided it could do with some illustrations. One image for each story meant drawing, scanning and formatting nine illustrations, which was a little beyond my comfort zone. ...
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Plans and the Unexpected

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, In : Coming Soon 
Was it John Lennon who said that life is what happens while you're making plans for something else? Whoever said it, they were right. This has been brought home to me particularly strongly in the past weeks, in both my personal and my writing life.
For the past month or so I've been working on a few long-held projects. The first is to design business cards, bookmarks and postcards to help promote my books, provide something interesting for readers to collect and to make me look more professio...
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Worth Waiting For

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, November 9, 2023, In : Coming Soon 
I've said this before, I know, but the anthology with my SF story, 'The Adult Prodigy', in it is about to be published. I've finally been given a launch date of 18th November, so it looks as if patience really does pay off.
The anthology is called Dark Horses and features stories by local authors and Arts Lab members from around the UK, including the renowned Alan Moore. It's been put together by Donna Scott, whose story, 'Smiley Wakes Up', also appears. I've already read all the stories. The...
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Persistence Pays

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, September 21, 2023, In : Coming Soon 
At long last I have some good news, not least that the things that have been distracting me are mostly positive and largely finished!
My story, 'A Real Party Animal' won a prize in the Henshaw Press Short Story Competition. If anything, this was a lesson in persistence. I wrote the story about 29 years ago. It's about a man whose wish is answered when he bemoans the fact that he has no one to take to a party. Over the years, I sent it out to 35 publications and contests. Of these, five ceased...
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Where Did It Go?

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, July 2, 2023, In : Coming Soon 
How did that happen? One minute I'm posting a blog here about the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale and the next it's the start of the Smashwords Summer-Winter Sale and three months have passed. 
Did I prick my finger and fall asleep throughout spring? If so, I'd like to know what the prince who was supposed to wake me with a kiss was up to in the meanwhile. Maybe I was sucked into a black hole and have only just been spat back out, in which case I shall blame Einstein for the delay. More li...
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Wasting My Time?

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, February 7, 2022, In : Coming Soon 
It had been one of those mornings. I had checked the submission requirements for several publications, sorted out the pieces of work that I thought would appeal to them, and formatted them according to the instructions. I went back online and filled in the submission forms, and in each case when I clicked on submit I received a message that submissions were closed for the time being. It was all the more frustrating because putting the message at the top of the submissions page instead would h...
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Getting Away from It All

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, December 18, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
I don't have a secret door to a fantasy world in the back of my wardrobe, nor can I flip open my phone and ask Scotty to beam me up, but I shall be running away for Christmas. There will be no last minute rush to the shops, nor any family arguments about which old film to watch on TV. I shall be in my own world, or more likely, a someone else's world.
If I'm not scribbling notes and ideas for my own writing, I shall have my nose in a book or two. There will be no shortage of choice as the Sma...
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Two Days to Go

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, November 4, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
With only a couple of days to go before the publication of Discord's Shadow, it's now available to pre-order on Kindle and in paperback at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KQRY6MS and B09KNCZR3D respectively, as well as on Smashwords. This has been such a long time coming that I wanted to make it a little more special, so you can also download the first in the series, Discord's Child, from Smashwords FREE until 6th November using the coupon you'll find at  http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ks...
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The Wait is Almost Over

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
Preparing Discord's Shadow for publication has been rather like getting ready for Christmas: you have a list of things to do and things to get that seems to get longer rather than shorter as the days race by, then just as you're ready to throw up your hands and resign yourself to being too late, they're all done. There are still a few things on my publication list, such as reformatting the manuscript for Kindle and paperback but, at the risk of jinxing myself, they should be easily doable in ...
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Time Well Spent

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, August 22, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
I treated myself to enough books to fill a shelf in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, and I couldn't resist starting on them any longer. I must have had the wrong glasses on when I chose them because instead of series starters, I found that two of the books I downloaded are second instalments. Once I stopped being irritated with myself, I realised what a good opportunity this was.
As anyone who follows this blog can hardly have avoided noticing, the third novel in the Exiles of Ondd series, ...
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I Used to Be Indecisive...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, August 9, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
"Set up a mailing list," they said. "Make your readers feel special, send them newsletters, give them something extra." It sounded like a good idea, so I looked into it. I researched reputable providers and it seemed simple enough.
Having written a landing page and welcome email, and devised a programme of newsletters, I began to have second thoughts. I got as far as setting up an account for verification before I discovered that my existing email address would not be accepted as it isn't att...
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The Time Has Come

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, July 19, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
At last I can announce that Discord's Shadow is available to pre-order at Smashwords. This means that it now has a firm publication date of 6th November 2021. I was going to make it a week earlier, but the Smashwords site recommends releasing books at the weekend after a holiday, and as 1st November will be a Monday, I decided on Saturday 6th instead. (Never let it be said that I don't pay attention to advice!) This date will not change, barring floods, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes or the i...
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Happy Returns

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, June 25, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
Wow! What a long time I've been away. It wasn't my intention to abandon you all, and I hope that when you hear my news you'll excuse me. You see, I've been travelling–armchair travelling, that is. I've been off across continents, getting footsore and weary, being seasick, struggling with different languages, getting lost, trying new food that doesn't necessarily agree with me, upsetting some people and making friends with others. Going on a journey with the Exiles of Ondd has been frustrati...
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Keep On Keeping On

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, January 16, 2021, In : Coming Soon 
Chances are that if you expected 2021 to be better than 2020 you've been disappointed so far. Even if you enjoyed a good Christmas and started the new year as full of good resolutions as ever, the reality of short dark days, dingy weather and lockdowns might have already sapped your motivation. Take heart–you are not alone!
I find it's easier when times are hard to write something factual. Doing research, planning articles and the discipline of writing pitches and presenting facts readably ...
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Good Out of Bad

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, August 21, 2020, In : Coming Soon 
At the start of the lockdown, poet and playwright Trevor Smith included me in a challenge to write something inspired by the pandemic. There has been a plethora of competitions and special submission invitations on the current situation, and I truly have had little desire to respond. I don't know why. Maybe it's too depressing, maybe it's because it's so ubiquitous that it seems every radio and TV programme or conversation has to include it at least once. But this was a friend throwing down t...
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Worth the Wait

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 1, 2020, In : Coming Soon 
The long wait for Wingbeats to be broadcast is over. At 11pm CST it went out on http://www.wcbe.org as one of Midnight Audio Theatre's three winning plays of 2019. If you missed it, it will be available at http://www.midnightaudiotheatre.com in a few days. 
The first of the trio, The Wild Hunt by Jim McDoniel is on the website now. I recommend listening to it. The play concerns a soldier's search for a man, thought to be the victim of a supernatural hunt. It's a chilling way to spend 20 minut...
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Presents Galore!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, December 28, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
For a writer, one of the best Christmas presents of all is hearing their work read by a professional voice-over artist. I was thrilled on Christmas Day to open my emails and find that the podcast of my prizewinning story in the Remastered Words contest is now available at http://www.remasteredwords.com. For a limited time, you can listen to it FREE. There's also an interview with me about the story and my writing. I have to say that Sam Burns @Wysiwyg88 has really done the story proud
If poet...
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Play Time

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
How did it get to be Christmas time? So many things still undone and the days so short! Never mind, they are going to get longer again now–time to look ahead to what 2020 might bring.
It seems a lot of theatre companies agree with me, because there are some excellent opportunities coming up for playwrights. In addition to the BBC's annual call-out for dramas, which can be for stage, radio, film or television, which ends on 6th January (https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/send-a-script), there...
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The Third Good Thing

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, November 10, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
Who says that folklore and sayings are rubbish? Not me. Last time I wrote this blog I'd had two pieces of good news (the publication of Poetry Nook's anthology with my poem 'Eternal Summer' in it, and 'In Cold Blood', a noir crime poem, selected for the Cozy Cat anthology due out on 1st December), and I was waiting for the third. Now, I have proof that good things do come in threes.
'The Enchantress's Pets' came third in the Remastered Words contest, and will soon be available in this year's ...
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More Reasons to Be Cheerful

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, October 6, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
In a world that seems to have gone a bit bonkers lately, I have two pieces of good news to share.
The latest Poetry Nook anthology, containing my sonnet 'Eternal Summer' is now available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1939832152. 'Eternal Summer' was second in the Northampton Literature Group competition in 2010, and gained an honourable mention and publication online in Poetry Nook's weekly contest in 2016. I hadn't given it much thought since then, and was pleasantly surprised when I heard fr...
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Optimistic Predictions

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, June 30, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
Grr... technology and I just aren't getting along these days. I'd get a divorce from it if I could, but then I'd have to say goodbye to most of my readers, so I'll have to stay joined. The current irritation is that after a break of two months from this blog, I try to add a new post and get a notice to say that Firefox no longer supports the text edit and I need to go on Google Chrome instead. Now, I'm not a fan of Google Chrome, I think it has secret plans to take over the world. Recently, I...
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Grasshopper Mind

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, April 16, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
You could say I've lacked focus for the past week. It started well enough on Monday with a few thousand words of Discord's Shadow written (I know, it's well behind schedule). This was despite receiving my contributor's copy of Diabolical Plots Year Five book. Somehow, I managed to resist the lure of its 26 stories, as I want to binge read it and write a review, but it was still a temptation that diverted my attention.
Tuesday took me to a writing lunch with a friend, Trevor Smith. Trevor is a...
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Marching On

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, March 2, 2019, In : Coming Soon 
After a few months when nothing has seemed to move, everything has suddenly rushed on.
I've had news that my short radio play, Wingbeats, is one of the three winners of the eighth annual Midnight Audio Theatre contest. I don't have a date yet for when it will be broadcast, and as MAT is based in Columbus, Ohio, the chances are that you won't be able to listen to it then, but the theatre also has a weekly podcast. I'll post details as I get them.
My story, 'The Inspiration Machine', is due out...
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Count to Ten

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, September 30, 2018, In : Coming Soon 
I've had a few little irritations in the past week or two, so I wasn't best pleased when I received an email from Amazon announcing that they are amalgamating with their print company, CreateSpace.
    All paperbacks with the latter will be transferred to Amazon. Authors will find a few differences, especially if anyone has books in the process of being published. Some covers may need to be tweaked, if not replaced, if they were made with CreateSpace's cover creator. Royalties will be paid af...
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Seen and Heard

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, August 12, 2018, In : Coming Soon 
What child hasn't wanted to have stories read to them? It doesn't have to be something new, in fact children will happily listen to a favourite story over and over. That love of being told a story or read to, doesn't vanish with childhood. That's why radio and audio books are so popular.
    If you're sight impaired or have tired eyes after a day in front of a computer screen; when you're driving, washing the dishes or carrying out some other task that occupies the hands while leaving the mind...
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It's Festival Time!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, June 7, 2018, In : Coming Soon 
Trust me to get my timing all wrong. At long last my play, Antarctica, is performed again, and where am I? No, not in the theatre. It was chosen for the final night of The Playhouse Theatre's One-Act Play Festival in Northampton, which featured nine plays altogether. Apparently, it was very well-received and the team involved in the performance enjoyed it, and that's the main thing. As it's been recorded, I will eventually be able to see it for myself, even if I missed out on the atmosphere o...
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Whoopee!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, April 15, 2018, In : Coming Soon 
In fact, triple whoopee! I can at last put an end to Ro going around in circles, and get her on the road again in The Exiles of Ondd III. I know, I've said this before–more than once–but this time she's actually broken free. That won't mean a lot to anyone who hasn't read Discord's Child or Discord's Apprentice, but for anyone who has, and is beginning to get tired of waiting to find out what happens next, this is good news. I'm so relieved I could dance around the room, but I won't–pro...
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Christmas Dilemma Solved

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, December 21, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
You might think that my middle initial, 'S', stands for Scrooge, as I don't generally give Christmas presents (note: that's 'give', not 'gift'). I like going around the shops looking for ideas, I'm happy to wrap even awkward-shaped items, and I love to see a heap of presents under the tree, but the problem with presents is that they're often bought out of desperation to find something–anything! Even when the recipients like them, they often have no use for them. Instead of giving people thi...
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Readers First

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, October 15, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
It occurs to me that I've been writing more for writers lately than for readers, so this week I aim to redress the balance. I have three pieces of work due for publication in the near future. In fact one, 'The Enlightened One's Blessed', is already available online–and it's free to read.
    The story is one of 15 fiction finalists in Pen 2 Paper's contest aimed at raising awareness of disabilities. The other sections are non-fiction and poetry. When you visit http://www.txdisabilities.org/p...
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Short but Sweet

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, July 30, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
Third Word Press has accepted my 80-word story, 'Turning to Stone', for its anthology A House of Music and Other Stories, which is being sold to help the homeless. The 80 stories of 80 words each were selected from entries to its fortnightly competitions, and I'm looking forward to reading them.
    When I told a friend about it, she couldn't understand what I meant by 80-word stories. How could a story have a beginning, middle and end when it was so short? Surely it must be an extract from so...
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Happy Holidays–Happy Reading

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, July 1, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
Do writers ever really take a holiday? I recently spend a week on Rhodes. It's a beautiful island with something for everyone whether they prefer the beach or mountains, wild forests or orderly olive groves and vineyards, ancient ruins or nightclubs. While I had a wonderful time, there was a part of my brain that never switched off. Whatever I saw or did, I wanted a better record of it than a photo. That's why I always carry a notebook with me on holiday. A snapshot can give you a flat visual...
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Discord's Child FREE for a week

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 5, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
It's Smashword's Read an Ebook week again until 11th March. I've enrolled Discord's Child in it, so all you need to do is visit http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ksdearsley, click on the novel and use the code SFREE to download a copy for free. This is a really good opportunity to 'try before you buy' if you're unsure whether to get the next in the series, Discord's Apprentice, or to treat yourself to the paperback versions, which should be available from CreateSpace and Amazon from 1st ...
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Running Late

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, February 27, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
My blogging schedule has gone out of the window once again. My apologies. I have a really bad habit of seriously underestimating how long it takes me to do things, especially if they involve a computer. A big tip to anyone involved in writing or publishing is to work out how long you think you'll need to do something, double it and then add at least a fortnight! I'm hoping I'm back on track now, but as soon as I finish keying this in, I'm going to recross my fingers. It hasn't helped that I'v...
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To Have and to Hold

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, February 5, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
Wow! The proofs of Discords' Child and Discord's Apprentice have arrived early. They're looking good, although I do say it myself. I've yet to go through them with my nit-picking comb, but all being well, they should be on sale from Amazon and Create Space by Easter, so you'll have something to read while you're scoffing your Easter eggs. Once I know everything's okay and I have a firm date, the details will be on here straight away. I want to offer some introductory deals, so watch this spac...
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One Step Closer

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 30, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
I've finally done it–I've clicked on 'order proof' and am now nervously awaiting the arrival of print copies of Discord's Child and Discord's Apprentice.
    The process so far has been relatively painless. I used my files for the Kindle copies and pasted them onto Create Space's template. With print there are extra things to think about concerning the layout, fonts and sizes etc., but at least the manuscript should be free of typos and grammatical errors (I hope!). I also adapted the digita...
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All Systems Go

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, January 16, 2017, In : Coming Soon 
It's been a couple of weeks since I posted a blog, but I haven't been slacking. In fact, the past fortnight's been rather productive, if a little tedious in places.
    After the end of the year hiatus, there have been quite a few mid-month deadlines and submission periods to prepare for across drama, short story and poetry competitions, Then there are the themed hashtag Twitter accounts I've discovered including #MuseMon, #2bitTues, #1lineWed, #Thurds, #SciFiFri, #SchemingSaturday and #6WordS...
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Blogathon

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, November 20, 2016, In : Coming Soon 
I've been engaged on a blogathon. I'm conscious that I haven't been posting here as regularly as I'd like, and how irritating it can be for readers to visit a site and find nothing new. That's why instead of writing one blog for this week, I've written half a dozen to make sure that if life gets in the way of creativity, for the next few weeks I'll still have something fresh to post.
    I hadn't really intended writing more than one when I sat down at the computer, but the ideas kept coming....
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Chilling Tales for Hallowe'en

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, October 28, 2016, In : Coming Soon 
This is going to be a short blog. My apologies, but I can't wait to get back to reading two new anthologies that I'm honoured to have stories in.
    If you aren't into carving pumpkins or dressing up as a zombie, I can recommend celebrating Hallowe'en with Killing It Softly instead. This is a collection of dark fiction by female writers, including my story, 'Graffiti'. Order it at https://amazon.com/dp/B01LX96Q69 before 1st November and it will only cost 99 cents. There are 466 pages of stori...
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Buses and Publication

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, July 4, 2016, In : Coming Soon 
What are the similarities between them? Sometimes you can go ages without one and then several arrive at once. I seem to have hit a plentiful patch.
    My feature on taglines: how to write them and why you need them, is now online at http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com. I also have a story, retitled 'Ready, Steady, Chop!' in the July issue of Take a Break's Fiction Feast. There's news of two other publications I can look forward to. 'The Enchantress's Pets; has been accepted for Horrified Pres...
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Alien Dreams in Third Flatiron Anthology

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, In : Coming Soon 
Do you like Science Fiction and other speculative genres? Yes? Then put 16th May in your diary. That's the day when Third Flatiron Anthologies' Hyperpowers issue goes live at http://www.thirdflatiron.com. My story, 'Alien Dreams' will be in it alongside 15 other stories chosen by guest editor Bascomb James, a respected author, lecturer and editor of Far Orbit anthologies. The hyperpowers theme covers space opera and military science fiction, so readers can look forward to tales that push the ...
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As One Door Opens...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 6, 2016, In : Coming Soon 
Would you rather have the good news or the bad news first? The good news. Right, here it is. Smashwords is holding its seventh annual Read an Ebook Week from today until 12th March 2016, and my books are all enrolled in it. That means you can get Discord's Child FREE (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/410566) and Discord's Apprentice (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/542490) and Artists and Liars (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322872) for half price. All you have to do is go to ...
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Take Your Seats

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, December 6, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
On Friday (4th December), the premiere performance of Antarctica took place. It was on a terrific programme of Walter Swan Trust Playwriting Award winners and runners-up at Ilkley Playhouse. Sadly, I wasn't able to attend, nor will I be able to get to the Courtyard Stage at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds for the second performance tomorrow. I know if I'd been there I would have gained far more than an evening's entertainment.
    Scripts, whether for stage, screen or radio, are never a comp...
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Strange Times

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, November 19, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
Have you ever heard the saying: 'May you live in interesting times'? It's often understood to be as much a curse as a blessing. This week has been an 'interesting' time for many, if not downright tragic. Thankfully, my week hasn't included any tragedies, but it has been interesting in ways that haven't always been comfortable, and it's included some fun and good news too.
    My entry in the On the Premises mini competition on a theme of amnesia was placed second. The boost to my ego was far ...
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Good News, Bad News, Better News

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, October 10, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
Today I've got good news and bad news. First, the bad news. The excellent Writing Short Fiction site, which is full of news and tips, may soon be no more due to the ill-health of the man behind it, Bruce Harris, who has decided he needs to save his energy for his own work. Unless someone offers to take it over in the next week or two, it will go. Find out more at http://www.writingshortfiction.org.
    The better news is that Plasma Frequency Magazine is probably going to be resurrected. The m...
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I Could Tell You, But...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, October 2, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
This is a difficult blog to write, because I can't say what I want to. For the time being I have to keep Mum and zip it. It's a shame as I'm bursting to tell you the news. I won't even be able to drop hints just in case–you readers are a clever lot and might be able to guess if I give you a clue.
    I suppose I could tell you what hasn't happened. I haven't won the Booker Prize or suddenly shot to the top of the best-seller lists. No one's begged to buy the film rights to Discord's Child ye...
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Singing Again

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Friday, September 11, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
It's okay, you can put your earplugs away, it isn't me who's singing but the Iyessi. I'm happy to say that I've now completed a new series of Iyessi songs to go with Discord's Apprentice. As with the lyrics for Discord's Child, there's one for the prologue and each chapter. Some are happy, some are serious, some you could dance to and others are gentle. Not that Ro would experience them that way. Hopefully, readers will enjoy them.
    Of course, the songs are an optional extra, which is why ...
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Free Summer Reading

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Saturday, July 4, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I'm off on holiday next week. If I don't melt in the predicted heatwave, I might find myself a shady spot in which to enjoy a glass of something long and cold while I read or people watch. To celebrate and give everyone else a chance to enjoy a summer read, I've enrolled Discord's Child in Smashwords' summer promotion which lasts until 31st July. You can download the novel free by using the coupon number you'll find on the page. 
    I hope to return inspired by Renaissance and ancient archit...
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Who Put Their Foot on the Accelerator?

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Wednesday, June 17, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
It's Wednesday again. How did that happen? The world feels as if it's spinning around faster than ever. I delayed putting up a blog last week, thinking I'd leave it a day to get the revamp of the website finished, and here we are more than a week later with it still not ready.
    I blame it on all the links. I've been checking every one to make sure they're still operating and which pieces of work are still available. It's rather like sorting through old magazines to see which ones can go out...
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Almost Zero Hour

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, May 31, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I hesitate to mention it, but today is the last chance to pre-order Discord's Apprentice. Tomorrow is not only the first day of summer and my mother's birthday, it's publication day for the second novel in The Exiles of Ondd series. The reason I hesitate to mention it is that it makes me feel as if I'm being pushy or boasting, two things that were definite no-nos when I was brought up. However, the fact is that even when they have a traditional publisher, these days writers are expected to do...
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Short and Not So Short

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, May 18, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I've been indulging myself over the past few days by dipping into the latest issue of Illumen, a magazine of speculative poetry. I'm thrilled to say that one of my poems, 'Plundering the Moon', is in it. The contents cover all shades of the speculative spectrum and are worth taking your time over and savouring. They're striking, beautiful and thoughtful.
    Going from one extreme to another, during the pre-order period before the launch of Discord's Apprentice on 1st June, I'm tweeting a shor...
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Three Good Things

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Thursday, May 14, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I was beginning to think this day wouldn't arrive, but I've finally managed to get Discord's Apprentice on Amazon and Smashwords for pre-order. Order a copy before the launch date (1st June 2015) and you can take advantage of a special low price. To celebrate having got this far, I've also reduced the price of Discord's Child and included the first chapter of Discord's Apprentice at the end. Now all I have to do is make sure everyone hears the news, so tell all your friends and come back ofte...
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Found It!

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
It took thirty-plus websites (some twice or more), several thousand thumbnail images, at least two days, half a dozen cups of coffee, one bar of chocolate and two false starts, but I've done it–I've found the perfect cover for Discord's Apprentice.
    The second novel in The Exiles of Ondd series isn't quite ready for pre-order yet, but you can see a preview of the cover here. The designer is Laura Gordon, and I can thoroughly recommend her work. She was quick and gave me exactly what I ask...
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Another 'F'

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, April 20, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
More news about Alfie Dog Fiction. Not only am I its latest featured author from today (20th April), but I shall have two more stories on the site from 26th April. They are:
    'Follow that Car', a feelgood story that follows what happens when a taxi-driver wishes for a passenger. He gets more than he bargained for. Is his fare a mobster, or is his imagination simply running wild?
    'Patterns in the Sand' in which Julia hopes a stay by the sea will help her forget her ex-boyfriend, but does ...
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Chosen

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, April 13, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
Every fortnight Alfie Dog fiction features a different author. This week I had exciting news that I've been chosen for the fortnight from 20th April.
    I've mentioned Alfie Dog Fiction in this blog before. It publishes novels and short stories, and is a great site for both readers and writers. Only stories that meet the editor's standards are accepted. The benefits of this are twofold: people who download them can be sure of a decent read, and writers know that having work on the site will b...
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The Countdown Begins

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I have an announcement to make (shoulders back, deep breath)–Discord's Apprentice, Book II of The Exiles of Ondd, will be launched in June on Kindle and Smashwords. At least that's the plan. June seems ages away at the moment, all of nine weeks, but I know it will go by in a flash.
    I'm planning a series of 'activities' and 'events' in the run up to publication day. These will be announced on my website, which I shall be revamping shortly, this blog and other sites such as Goodreads, Smas...
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Tempus Fugit Again

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, January 13, 2015, In : Coming Soon 
I've been plagued with clichés buzzing around my head while I've been trying to write, but I'm holding out for my own fresh metaphors, similes and turns of phrase. Clichés might be accurate, but everyone has heard them so often that they have become meaningless. Maybe a heroine does 'go weak at the knees', but readers will no doubt forget her unless she does it in an original way. Notice that I haven't provided an alternative myself. Devising good ones isn't easy, but it's well worth making...
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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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Little Things...

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, September 14, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
This has been one of those weeks when it's been time to catch up with a few bits and bobs.
    I was given the opportunity to have a poem ('Bare the Body and Hide the Soul') on Songs of Eretz Review, which required a short bio and 'poet's notes'. I'd no sooner sent them off than Steve Gordon put them online for the Poem of the Day on 9th September.
    There were proofs to go through for my feature in Thresholds about Samuel Beckett's story, 'Ping'. That should be online tomorrow (Monday 15th S...
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Absolutely Fabulous Twiction

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Monday, August 11, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
Twiction Addiction has accepted another two of my tweets in response to its regular prompts. The most recent one went online on 9th August. So far, I've submitted tweets on paper, custard, collar and congregation. Not only has the man behind Twiction Addiction, Mark Connors, invited me to be its featured author for October, he's also introduced me as "the fabulous Karla Dearsley". I'm dead chuffed. Now, all I have to do is live up to it. 
Check out @TwictionAddict to read lots of twiction fro...
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Dates for Your Diary

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
I have a few publication dates coming up for various bits and pieces, so at the risk of jinxing things and causing delays, here they are.
    TwictionAddict has four tweets of mine. Two are on the prompt 'collar', due online on 6th and 29th July, and two are on the prompt 'custard' (a subject close to my heart), due online on 9th and 31st August. Read them as they come out, or save them all up for a commercial break or the next time you're waiting at a bus stop.
    Alfie Dog Fiction is running...
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Tangerine Dreams

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, April 13, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
The world is orange at the moment. I'm not talking about telephones or TVs, but Jaffa Books. The publisher has a new anthology coming soon, which I've mentioned before, called 'Legendary'. I've got a story in it, so I was allowed a sneak preview of the book, and I have to say I'm honoured to be among such fine company. All the stories are retellings of myths, legends or fairytales given a new perspective. They demonstrate that the originals were far more than mere bedtime stories for children...
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Save Now

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, March 2, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
For one week only, you can buy Discord's Child and Artists & Liars and save 25 and 50 per cent respectively on the usual price. Smashwords is running Read an Ebook Week until midnight Pacific time on 8th March 2014, and I'm happy to be taking part along with a host of other authors. 
I started publishing with Smashwords in June last year, and I've found them really author-friendly. Their formatting might be a bit of a fiddle to begin with, but once you've mastered that they make it really eas...
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Barking Glad

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, January 19, 2014, In : Coming Soon 
Alfie Dog Fiction has just accepted four of my short stories. (See my tail wagging?) Each of them is already a prizewinner and/or previously published, but no longer in print (to my knowledge). There aren't many publishers or competitions that take previously published material, and it seemed a waste not to make them available somewhere. I could have self-published them, but feel Alfie Dog will introduce my work to a wider readership.
Alfie Dog Fiction publishes individual stories, collection...
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Chaos

Posted by K. S. Dearsley on Sunday, June 2, 2013, In : Coming Soon 
I've spent much of this week so far outside my comfort zone that I haven't even been able see where it is–not that I should complain, because it's all been prompted by some rather nice things. I've had a poem commended in a competition and another shortlisted, but what really got me moving was when someone contacted me to ask where they could find my short stories.
I've been planning to put a themed anthology online for some while and this seemed like the ideal prompt. As The Grid has a co...
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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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