Writing For Kids

I’ve been working on two main projects lately. The first is my previously-alluded-to next book (hopefully still on track for Christmas… maybe early next year…) – a much darker bit of fantasy than my previous entries. It’s bloody, it’s full of dubious ethics, and it’s generally not the sort of thing you’d want to read …

Riftwar Re-Read #10 – Rage of a Demon King

Alright, people. It’s time for the actual Serpentwar. (Just as an aside, I’m currently 4 books ahead of this in the series and taking a pause so I can catch up on reviews before I plough into the next trilogy. But the Conclave of Shadows trilogy will probably just be one big review so not …

Environments

Of the ‘big three’ elements of any story – character, plot and setting – I’ve always thought character to be the most important. A really good character can be dropped in any setting and sort of make themselves a plot just by interacting with the world. But that, of course, requires there to be an …

Riftwar Re-Read #9 – Rise of a Merchant Prince

One expects certain things of a classic epic fantasy series. Swords, sorcery, gods and demons, huge battles and heroic deeds. So far, the Riftwar has delivered on all these fronts. The first book of the Serpentwar took a slightly grittier tone, but there was still plenty of adventure, derring and also do. So you’d expect …

The Best Brosnan Bond Film… Sort Of

Here’s a question for you: what was Pierce Brosnan’s final appearance as James Bond? You may think of the rather good Goldeneye, with Sean Bean as such a compelling villain. You may think of Tomorrow Never Dies, with Jonathan Pryce as such an utterly ridiculous villain. (Seriously, he’s a scenery-chewing Rupert Murdoch who starts a …

Riftwar Re-Read #8 – Shadow of a Dark Queen

Right: I’ve spent far too many reviews in this series banging on about how dark and good the Serpentwar books are. It’s time to actually tell you about them. Introducing our new Cover Protagonist: Shirtless Bloke On Horse. Who is he? Where is his shirt? Only time and 3 more covers won't tell. Previously on …

Second Chances – SPSFC #2

I am very pleased to announce that Ad Luna is in the running for the second Self-Published Science Fiction Competition – the SPSFC. Or the Spacefic, as we’re apparently calling it now. The elephant-memoried among you may recall that this is not the first time I’ve made this announcement. Ad Luna was a contender in …

Riftwar Re-Read #7 – The King’s Buccaneer

I’m back into the Riftwar with a vengeance of late – after a fairly long break, I’m now devouring the Serpentwar series and absolutely loving it. (Seriously: I started Shadow of a Dark Queen at the beginning of the week and I’m already well into Rage of a Demon King.) So I sat down today …

Submissions

In my new life as a More Full-Time Author Than I Was Before, I’ve not just been writing. There’s much more to do than that. Apart from my dubious and ongoing efforts at sorting out publicity, and all the editing I’ve still got to do, I’ve been hard at work submitting stuff. Behold, if you …

Comics Are Stupid: When Is An Arrow Not An Arrow?

I'm currently quite ill, so have some comic-related rambling. To distil Green Arrow into a few words is fairly simple: he’s a wisecracking socialist Batman. Like Batman, Oliver Queen is a very rich man who moonlights as a crime-fighter in a daft costume. Like Batman, he uses his public wealth to fund good causes while …