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

A guest post by David Wiley When I sat down to write Monster Huntress, I didn’t know much about the world in which it was taking place. I knew the type of world I wanted, but it transformed and evolved over the course of revisions, always growing either in size or in the details. While the story of Monster Huntress visits only a small portion of the world I’ve created, there are some lessons I’ve learned from J.R.R. Tolkien that have had a ripple effect toward my approach to worldbuilding. The biggest of those lessons was to provide the promise of something greater. What I mean by that is there is something more out there beyond what the reader is experiencing. There is a larger world, other events going on. There is a rich history, filled with named heroes and battles and events that can be referred to over the course of the book. The reader doesn’t need to know what the Wizard Wars were, for instance, but knowing that there was some massive war hundreds of years ago is important ...

The saying goes  All good things come come to those who wait,  and so here it is. Her Dark Voice Volume Two, edited by Theresa Derwin and published by Quantum Corsets. I'm really looking forward to this anthology for many reasons. It is the second time that I have worked with Theresa Derwin - the last time being the  Once Bitten  anthology (currently free on Amazon Unlimited for kindle edition) from Knightwatch Press. Theresa is a super editor and staunch supporter of  Women in Horror . Then there's the fact that this anthology will raise money for the charity  Breast Cancer Now . I have pledged all my royalties to the charity. The launch is planned to coincide with  Edge Lit 2018 , where there will be author readings and so much more. My story will be nestled with a whole bunch of great reads from some superior authors. More on that later. Until then, feast your eyes on the cover!

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...