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 Vaughn's suave, unflappable Napoleon Solo. There was never any doubt in my mind that he was the eponymous 'Man' and not his sidekick, and I was so sad to hear of his death on 11th November.
When I was 11 years old, I wanted to be an U.N.C.L.E. agent, but failing that I invented my own secret organisation of female spies called M.I.S.S. (Master Intelligence Society against Sin, which sounds more like a religious sect to me now), who saved the world from the dastardly B.L.O.W. (Biggest Law Obliterators in the World) in a series of stories. I found them recently, and I'm glad to say my writing's improved since then, although I still harbour an ambition to be a super-spy in my imagination.
Of course, Robert Vaughn had a successful career before U.N.C.L.E. and gained another huge following with TV series such as Hustle. He could play a good guy or a villain, a hero or a coward with equal credibility. His portrayal of a character always added extra dimensions–remember his gunfighter who had lost his nerve in The Magnificent Seven?
Without Robert Vaughn's portrayal of Napoleon Solo, I might never have thought of myself as a writer. I might never have written the immortal lines: 'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you'll have to die.' or 'Oh, Lor! The whole world's future depends on me!' Maybe I'd better leave this there. Good-bye Robert Vaughn, and thanks for everything.
Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
October 28, 2016
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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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
October 7, 2016
Some while ago, I seem to remember promising a review of the Third Flatiron Keystone Chronicles anthology, so here, at last, it is.
The anthology contains 19 stories, so I expected at least two to come up with the same interpretation of the keystone theme, but the variety was impressive, covering everything from prophesies of doom to tongue-in-cheek wordplay. For me, stand-out stories were Judith Field's nature fantasy, 'Telling the Bees', 'Every Planet Has One' by John Marr, a tale of the...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Reviews
September 5, 2016
It's never a good idea to respond to rejections. By all means whip off a page of scathing comment if you've had one that you feel totally misses the point or that's full of spelling mistakes, but don't send it. I repeat: DON'T SEND IT! Of course, if you really think the editor's an uneducated moron you aren't going to submit anything else to them, so it won't matter–or will it? You have no way of knowing where that editor might move to in the future, or who they might tell now. You absolute...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
August 26, 2016
For the past few weeks it's been impossible to miss the Rio Olympics or the upcoming Paralympics. The competitors are national heroes whether they win or not. Reporting on the games heads the television and radio news bulletins and it's splashed across the front pages of newspapers instead of being confined to the back. You might find it strange then, that I wish there was more.
There is another Olympiad that I had never come across until about 12 years ago, and I only heard about it then ...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
August 19, 2016
Searching for an Olympics-free zone? Perhaps you've sought refuge in music and found inspiration for the Proms contest I mentioned in my last blog. If you're a television fan, the likelihood is that some of your favourite programmes have been replaced by sport. It's also the time of year when many series come to an end too, so you could be feeling withdrawal symptoms. In my case, it's missing The Musketeers and Versailles. But you know what they say: 'If you can't beat them, join them.'
T...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Inspiration
August 12, 2016
There's still just time to enter the BBC's contest for a poem of up to 25 lines inspired by your response to a piece of music included in this year's Proms concerts. The closing date is 14th August. There's no cash prize, but the winning poem will be read on air and the winner will be invited to one of the concerts. Details are on the BBC's website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/features/poetry-competition.
There should be plenty of food for ideas in the concerts. Music calms or excites, com...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Competitions
July 27, 2016
With the centenary of the birth of Roald Dahl, what better time to celebrate twist-in-the-tail tales? These days most praise is heaped on Dahl for his delicious, wickedly funny children's books, but in the 1970s he was equally famous for his Tales of the Unexpected, the TV series of his short stories that was prime-time viewing.
There's still a thriving market for stories with twist endings. Many women's magazines have a special slot for them, but they can belong to any genre or none. Desp...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
July 14, 2016
'No man or woman have' or 'no man or woman has'? The first didn't sound right to me, but you know how it is, once you question something, you're no longer sure of the answer. I had to look it up to be certain.
If I hadn't had access to a copy of The Oxford Manual of Style, what could I have done to avoid making an embarrassing mistake? There are numerous grammar and spelling websites, of course, but you need to be careful that you use the right country's English e.g. not US English when yo...
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Posted by K. S. Dearsley.
July 4, 2016
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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Posted by K. S. Dearsley. Posted In : Coming Soon
