February 5, 2017
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 space.
I've been dithering over whether to set up a dedicated Twitter account for The Exiles of Ondd. There is a school of thought that people won't want to check two accounts, so it's better to stick to one author account, but let's face it, who remembers an author's name unless they're already dedicated fans? The title of the books or the names of the main characters stick in the memory far better, so a dedicated account might be easier for people to find. On the whole, I'm inclined to try an 'Exiles' account in addition to @KSDearsley. Any news relating to the novels will be available on both–and here, of course.
While I've been trying to make up my mind, I've been posting extracts from the books for several themed hashtags, such as #Meta4Mon #Thurds and #1lineWed. You could take a look and see if you can recognise where they came from. I've also been joining in #FictFBFeb17 which requires you to tweet on a daily theme as one of your characters. So far, Ro has introduced herself, remembered a first, spoken of a fear, and about something fair. I think she's better at tweeting than me. It certainly doesn't take her as long to think of something! I wonder how she feels about being in print? I'll have to ask her–maybe next week.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
January 30, 2017
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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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
January 23, 2017
Reading classic novels to improve your writing might be useful, but it does have pitfalls. The bestsellers of yesteryear might have stood the test of time, but that doesn't mean they aren't dated.
In the mid-19th century, the narrator often broke off from telling the story for a long passage of moralising or description, which probably wouldn't go down well in a contemporary work. They mention public figures who were once famous, and occupations or household items that were commonplace bu...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
January 16, 2017
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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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
December 19, 2016
With everyone winding down their day job and racing around preparing for the season's madness, is it really worth thinking about writing? If you want to be in with a chance of winning any of the many free-to-enter competitions that have closing dates coming up–yes! Here are a few to consider.
* The 14th Binnacle Ultra-short competition for up to 150 words of prose or 16 lines of poetry on any subject that takes your fancy. Closing date: 15th March 2017. Details at
http://www.umm.maine/edu/bi... Continue reading...
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
December 13, 2016
I recently visited an art exhibition that included a portrait section. Among the works included were several of celebrities that had clearly been done from photographs, either film stills or publicity shots. They were skilfully done, but they got me thinking about what a portrait is.
There are many paintings and drawings of people–real people, not simply figures painted from the imagination–that are not classed as portraits even though their physical features are recognisable. To be a ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
December 5, 2016
I confess: I like A Town Called Eureka. The series, which is on Pick, is not exactly the most realistic show on television. In fact, the other half says it's ridiculous, and with my critical head on, I'd have to agree. I got into watching it, because it's on straight after Monkey Life. The series about Monkey World Primate Rescue Centre in Dorset seems to be on a loop and I'm currently watching something like the fifth circuit, plus the new series. I'm addicted to the chimpanzees and the capu...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
November 28, 2016
Why do people write and read fiction or poetry? I believe it's to make sense of the world, to learn about themselves and/or the human condition. Even if a science fiction or fantasy tale has no humans in it, it won't work if there's no humanity in it.
When you write about the vastness of space, describe dust clouds around planets, or the power of black holes you have to do so in such a way that the reader can relate to them, have feelings e.g. fear of their power, awe at their beauty, or ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : FantasyFiction
November 20, 2016
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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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
November 13, 2016
Most writers can name a particular author who inspired them to write, but I owe a great debt to Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuryakin in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Pitched somewhere between James Bond and The Avengers, the show had style and sophistication, due largely to its stars, who could talk into pens rather than write with them, escape killer foam or prevent baddies melting the polar ice-caps as if it was all perfectly plausible. My favourite was Robert Vaugh...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
