N.O.A. Rawle: Through the Eyes of a Stranger

2018 looms and I'm still wallowing in a dirge of expiring tech and a deluge of work-that-isn't-writing. (Stevie Smith's Not Waving not Drowning springs to mind.) Yet I am sure all is not lost! So here's the run down of 2017 - not an inspiring picture as you can see. Published: Acceptance (Trembling With Fear, The Horror Tree) No Ordinary Game ( Trembling With Fear, The Horror Tree)                  Reprints: Synchronysi (Great Jones Street) Balancing Act (Great Jones Street) Shark Nose (Great Jones Street) There is a sliver of molten gold peeling across the horizon of 2018, however. Let's hope I can turn it into a wedge or even an ingot! Forthcoming 2018 (so far!): The Arrangement, Her Dark Voice Volume 2 (Quantum Corsets) On the reading front, my Goodreads Book Challenge  target has been reached. Click the link to see. I have work, my family are well & happy and my bills are paid, so life has been a success ...

I've been stuck for so long that I really didn't do much writing. Fairy talk and forest visits have built ideas and inspiration but I've put little pen to paper, so to speak. My excuse? I couldn't see the wood for the trees! My laptop, my chief writing tool, 'is old and has no memory', to misquote Gary Oldman in Dracula. It keeps popping up little warnings and runs like sloth. So, despite fear of the unknown, I've been forced to sort out my desk top. No big deal for you digital natives out there maybe, but I'm home-schooled in computing. My son (10) is a bit of a whizz at these things has helped me out with this. (Thanks Villy!) and I now have nice little folders for all my work and can see just what I have to do each day and what I have ahead. Now, I must have mentioned in the past, that I am an easily distracted person which means extreme organisation is the key to success for me. (Ask my family about my 'Book of Lists' and they will tell yo...

So I'm back and the wedding's over. It was a glorious but small affair in the gorgeous Grand Hotel perched on the edge of the Jurassic Coast. I met family members I've never ad the chance to meet (they were born after I emigrated ) and was reunited with many more. I wasn't there for nearly long enough but times are tough and purses are not over-flowing. Durlston Castle I haven't finished reading any of the books I recommended in the last post - not because they aren't superb but because I stocked up on some second hand bargains during my stay at home! I love charity shops and Swanage is stuffed with them, I found a hardback copy of Violin by Anne Rice that I haven't read - hadn't even heard of to be honest, although the character was touched on in the Prince Lestat. Looking forward to diving into that. Didn't get hold of her latest book but I'll ask for it for Christmas! The one that has really got me stuck though is Second Nature by Al...

July already and it's averaging 40 degrees Celsius here in Greece. The heat's not so conducive to writing - or much else for that matter - I do not do air conditioning (for various reasons I won't bore you with here!) So with fans swirling overhead, I've been reading and packing for a long awaited trip home for my niece's wedding. So here's the (wedding) low-down on what I'm currently reading (or planning to)! SOMETHING OLD: The Aviary Gate by Katie Hickman. I'm about a third of the way in and intrigued! A friend of mine, who I always meet on holiday, gave me this last year (it had been passed on to her from a friend of hers). I had a pile of books on the go and didn't start it then. This year I picked it up and I'm really stuck in it. The story slips smoothly between the present and the past following the research of Elizabeth Stavely, who is running away from a troubled trelationship, and Paul Pinder, who discovers that his lost fiance ...

May 12th is National Limerick Day held in commemoration of poet, artist and composer Edward Lear (May 12th 1812 - January 29th 1888). It is also in commemoration of his Book of Nonsense, first published in 1846, which contains fantastic limerick poems. (When I was about twelve, I asked for a copy of the book for my birthday, instead I got a birthday book with his limericks!) In a blatant attempt to increase followers/ subscribers to my blog, and following the adage that you don't get something for nothing, I'm proposing you challenge me! Yes, you heard me. Challenge me!   Subscribe to/follow my blog, post a key word (often but not always a place name), in the comments below any time during May 12th and I will (attempt to) write a limerick in return. Those of you who know me from the (recently fallen) Steampunk Empire know that I've got a bit of a knack at this (even if I do say so myself). The publishable limericks from a similar challenge carried out there and a few...

This is the some of the oldest advice given when it comes to writing. It holds true even though it might feel a bit limiting, especially if to a young and/or inexperienced writer. So let me explain how I've dealt with this. Think about all the emotions you know. It's certain that you've experienced a huge range of feelings from euphoria right down to depression. Really explore those experiences. How did you move? How did other people understand your feelings or relate to you during that time? What were you thinking at that time? What made your emotion change? Then there are age issues . You cannot change how old you are, but in my experience the way you think will not change so drastically despite the encroaching years. What does change are your reactions to certain situations. (I find myself thinking, "Oh hell, I sound just like my mother." more frequently than I wish.) But anyway, there are always older or younger people around who you can observe. Look at...

Those lovely people at Great Jones Street are featuring my short horror story 'Shark Nose' and boy have they made a great cover! Don't forget to download the app to your phone if you want to read for free! Click here for a link directly to it and my story. "The story is heart-pumping and so vivid, you can feel the earth move when the bombs make impact with the ground." Great Jones Street

2016 was a very sparse year for me as a writer. Let's hope 2017 is more promising and what a better way to begin the year than with a cover reveal? Great Jones Street is promoting my steampunk short story 'Balancing Act' and they have created this beautiful cover for it. BALANCING ACT  Jeremy Alsop has managed to dupe Clarisse and her family into believing he is rich and eligible. As an engagement present he invites Monsieur Du Monde, snake oil man, and the Equilibrator to work it's fickle magic upon his fiancee. If you want to read 'Balancing Act', 'Synchronysi' or 'Shark Nose' all you have to do is download the free Great Jones Street app from Google Play or App Store and off you go!