B A Morton - Writer
  • Home
  • Crime/Thrillers
    • Mrs Jones
    • Molly Brown
    • Bedlam
    • Coming Soon...
  • Historical Fiction
    • Wildewood Revenge
    • Wildewood Redemption
    • Wildewood Honour
    • The Wildewood Chronicles Novellas
  • The Coffee House - Guest Blog
    • The story so far
  • Blog

The long and the short of it ...

8/25/2014

14 Comments

 
Picture
This week at The Coffee House I’m looking at Shorts. No, not the kind you wear when the weather is warm, (chance would be a fine thing) but the kind you read. Short stories – novellas - collections - anthologies. Basically anything that isn’t a novel length piece. And why am I concentrating my efforts in this area? I hear you ask, well, No1 – because I was always told – ‘there’s good stuff in little bundles’ and No2 - because I’m interested in why writers choose to write them, whether they’re successful from a sales point of view...and if I’m honest, because I’m tempted to try one myself and I like to do my research before taking the plunge. In the course of my investigations I’ve unearthed a treasure trove of goodies that you may not have come across before and I’ve invited a few folk along to talk about them. So welcome, in no particular order to: Paul Trembling, Jean Gill, Rod Glen, Karen Charlton, Claire Stibbe, Gerry McCullough, Jane Harlond and Bev Allan. I did attempt to order the following by genre or type, but what the heck- you’re getting it as it came to me. There’s an order of sorts... at least, it makes sense to me.

If you’d like to find out more about the authors just click on their name. If you want to discover more about their fabulous books for yourself, just click on the title. Please do! And if you have any questions or comments for the authors don’t be shy, leave your comments and we’ll get back to you.

First up - Collections by the same author. 

Picture
Paul Trembling is a master in the field of collections. I’ve read most of them and they’re 5 star reads. I asked him to fill us in on his writing process and why he loves short -shorts...

 “As a writer, I've always liked short stories.  I fear that there may be an element of laziness involved.  (With me, there usually is an element of laziness).  For a writer, a short story is a quick fix.  Instead of labouring for months over tens of thousands of words to make a novel, a short story can go from conception to completion in a week or so, or even less.  For those of us addicted to unreal worlds, it's a quick fix.
Having said that, I would vigorously deny that the short story is somehow a weaker or lesser literary form than the novel.  Everything that a novel should have, should be in a short story.  Plot, background, character development, twists, depths, layers, resolutions, confusions, dilemmas … and so on.  It's all there, but shorter.  Which means that, paradoxically, the writer sometimes has to work harder.  One sentence must do the work of a whole paragraph, even a page.  Instead of describing a scene in detail (for example), you have to reduce it to the most basic elements that will show the reader what you want them to see.
Short story writing is a great way for writers to hone their skills, to learn to be succinct and precise without losing anything.  Plus which, you get the satisfaction of a completed story much quicker!
One problem you can get with short stories is trying to pull them together into a collection.  If they have a common theme or character, that's not a problem.  My crime scene short stories – 'A Pattern of Murder' – were all written around different aspects of crime scene examination, and so had a natural link.  Plus which most of them had the same main character, the rather obnoxious Ben Drummond.

Picture
My 'Dragon Slayer' series of fantasy stories follow one character, Rimsey Stolworth, through her career, forming overall a novel-length narrative (now collected together in one book).

But how do you fit together a group of stories without a common theme, a common, character, or even in some cases, a common genre?

My solution was 'The Minutes of the Reality Escape Committee'  - an unusual title, and a bit of a mouthful, but it gave me an excuse to bring together some of the odds and ends of stories that I've written over the years and who's only connection was the author's desire to escape from reality.  As one reviewer (so far the only one) mentioned, it makes for an 'eclectic' collection. 

Picture

And it offers room for expansion.  Volume One was fantasy and horror, but I'm already planning a Volume Two, which will be Science Fiction.  You can cover a lot of ground with short stories!”


Picture
My next guest should be a dab hand at collections as in life she mixes writing with photography, dog training, translating and beekeeping...can’t get any more varied than that! But in fact Jean Gill has just published her first collection, a delightfully eclectic mix of poetry, prose and original artwork.

“Last time I dropped in for coffee I discovered my inner werewolf so forgive me if I sit facing the door, not the mirror. Strange things happen here! And in my new book too ... Like you, Babs, I write in a wide variety of genres and I hear all the advice that an author should keep to one genre, build a readership and so on. I also hear the advice that publishing a short story in between novels keeps your readers interested. I’ve broken rules all my life so what actually reached my imagination from all this advice was, ‘Why don’t you bring out a full book of short pieces in all your genres, illustrated by your own art work.’ I sounded out my critical friends, was given encouragement (always a mistake) and now ‘One Sixth of a Gill’ is available for pre-order. The funny thing is that everyone who’s read it is really excited by it and I’m a bit bemused by the fantastic responses I’ve had to my ‘in between novels’ book.

Some of the pieces have been published in journals and anthologies, some have even won prizes but I didn’t have enough in any one genre to publish a book of the ‘Stories of Love and Loss’ type, nor enough poems to make up my third poetry collection. Since e-books arrived, it has become even more difficult to find readers for poetry and yet everyone can recite a line of poetry that’s touched them, long after they’ve forgotten the stories they’ve read. Perhaps even more than previous books, this one is written from the heart in a way I didn’t expect. If you read it, I think you’ll know which parts I mean.” 


Picture
Gerry McCullough is an old hand at short story writing, in fact, she cut her author teeth writing stories for Magazine’s. An accomplished Belfast writer and poet, Gerry is here today to talk about her lovable rogue, Old Seamus.

‘I love short stories. One of my favourite writers is Saki, whose short stories are the thing he’s known for, although he’s also written novels. And often the books I like best, by writers whom I love, are their short stories, like Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Mr Quin. So it should come as no surprise that I’ve had nearly seventy short stories published by now. Over half of those are about the lovable old rogue from Donegal, Seamus O’Hare.
I wrote my first Old Seamus story, A Tale of a Teacup, years ago, and to my delight it was accepted and published by Ireland’s Own – and I was paid for it. At last I was a published writer! The For this reason if for no other I would have a soft spot for these stories. But quite apart from that, I enjoy writing them. Old Seamus is a poacher with a heart of gold who spends a lot of his time happily sorting out problems which crop up in the lives of his friends.

Picture
Each story shows Seamus telling his friend Jamie another such anecdote. The stories are light hearted, often funny, sometimes romantic, and sometimes even a little bit sad – though always with a happy ending.

They are set in the fictional village of Ardnakil in Donegal, and usually happen at some time in Seamus’s past. I enjoy the beautiful setting and the nostalgia of looking back to a former age, but an age which I myself remember. (Unless it’s Seamus’s early childhood, and in that case, I’ve heard all about it from my parents!)

A year or so ago my publisher collected the first 12 of these stories and released them in eBook and paperback under the title The Seanachie: Tales of Old Seamus

(A Seanachie is simply the Irish for a traditional storyteller.)

Now it’s time for the second collection of twelve stories, The Seanachie 2: Norah on the Beach, and this will be out in September. In fact you can pre-order it right now. I hope people will enjoy it at least as much as the first book.

Moving on to single short stories/novellas



Picture
My next guest Karen Charlton appears to be ticking all the boxes where readers are concerned with her regency detective duo, Lavender and Woods. Attention to historical accuracy, a knack for the vernacular and a razor sharp wit, have Karen’s readers clamouring for more, so how does she do it?

“I originally wrote my short story ‘The Mystery of the Skelton Diamonds’ as a promotional piece for my ex publisher. It features the two main characters in my historical mystery: ‘The Heiress of Linn Hagh.’ She did nothing with the story apart from using it as a freebie give-away on her website, which I always suspected was a waste of time.
I regained the publishing rights to all my books earlier this year and promptly self-published them.  Since April, my regency whodunnit, ‘Heiress’ has sold really well but all the positive reviews on Amazon said the same thing: the readers wanted more stories about Detective Stephen Lavender and his sidekick, Constable Ned Woods, ASAP. Knowing that the second novel in the series wasn’t coming out until Christmas, I took some time out from writing to organise a book cover and editing for ‘The Mystery of the Skelton Diamonds’ and published it as an eBook six weeks ago, priced at 99 cents. The first chapter of ‘Heiress’ is in the back.
I didn’t really expect to make any money from it at that price. It was published to keep my current readers happy and hopefully, to introduce more potential readers to my novel.  But 'The Mystery of the Skelton Diamonds' is now selling between 20-50 units a night and has earned me $500 since I published it. (Over 1050 copies sold.) Reviewers are starting to comment that they've read both the novel and the short story. I’m not sure which one they are reading first, but I suspect that ‘Skelton Diamonds’ is now working as a promotional piece and is introducing more and more people to my dynamic crime fighting duo.”


Picture
So what about a stand-alone short story that’s unconnected to previous work? Jane Harlond has recently done just that with an uplifting tale of a boy and his magnificent horse, set during the Spanish revolution. Available in both English and Spanish, Jane is going the extra mile to ensure all her readership is catered for.

“Dark Night, Black Horse is a long short story based on a true story I was told by a friend who breeds Pura Raza Español horses in Coín in rural Andalucía, Spain. In the first year of the Spanish Civil War, Nationalist troops came to requisition his grandfather Diego’s favourite black stallion. Diego’s son, aged about eight at the time, then goes down to the town square where all the requisitioned horses, mules and donkeys have been gathered and ‘steals’ the horse back and hides it. There is more to the story than this but I can’t say more without giving the game away.

Diego Martín was a contrabandista: in those days, duty was paid on basic goods such as flour, oil and chickpeas when they were brought into a pueblo, but Diego had a way of circumventing these taxes. He also ran a side-line in American tobacco. His son (aged 8) was actually put in prison for selling it.

After piecing together the various elements of the black horse incident and Diego’s background, I created the story Dark Night, Black Horse. Anyone who knows anything about horses in Spain will understand the importance to the family of the horse, Lucero (bright star); black stallions are still ridden – shown off – in fiestas and romerias, when men of all ages put on their finery for one special day and parade around the streets of their town. Anyone who has ventured off the tourist trail into real Spain will perhaps understand the social background of the story. In the 1930s Andalucía was a backward-looking province reliant on agriculture and steeped in poverty. Getting by, for most families was a major challenge: the black stallion was Diego’s pride and joy, and only possible luxury.”

And what about anthologies, collections by numerous authors?

Picture

Rod Glenn
is the man behind Wild Wolf Publishing, who specialize in dark fiction and horror. He’s here to tell us about an anthology put together by Wild Wolf authors.

‘Wild Wolf Publishing was set up to champion new and emerging writers of predominantly dark fiction as we felt that this was an area that was being neglected by the market. Wild Wolf's Twisted Tails was put together to showcase some of our authors in one volume. The idea was to give readers a 'taster' of each author so that it would wet their appetites to read more of their work.’


Picture
My next guest, Claire Stibbe, is best known for her Historical fiction novels set in Egypt, but she’s turned a short crime story first published in the anthology Fusion into a full length novel to be published later this year. 

“I was invited to join a writing group about a year ago and they decided to compile an anthology. It was a no-brainer to want to be part of this chorus of voices, all sharing a glimpse of their favorite genres. Mine was short suspense story written specifically for this anthology, only I had no idea it would morph later into a full-length novel. I've certainly enjoyed the experience since Fusion was nominated for the 2014 eFestival of Words for Best of Independent Book Awards.       

Police interviews have always fascinated me. It's one of the most difficult jobs in the department. Watching detectives/sheriffs dissecting criminal activity through menacing interviews, inspired crucial events in my book. I enjoy being immersed in the study of people but most of all, the satisfaction of that 'gotcha' moment as the police unwind the clues one by one. With the release at the end of 2014 of the full version of this book titled The 9th Hour, here is a short description.”

“Until a man loses his daughter to a serial killer, until he loses his best friend, until he is down on his luck, Darryl Williams must put all thoughts of retaliation out of his mind.”


Picture
My final guest is Bev Allen and I think she takes the prize today with her inclusion in a Dr Who anthology. Whether you’re a fan or not...wow!

‘I like writing flash fiction and short stories, I like the challenge of finding a beginning, a middle and an end within the confines of a tight word count. It’s fun.
I’ve written loads over the years and for a while I entered a lot of competitions without success, but in the end I got very disillusioned by the amount of money some of these were asking for entry and a bit suspicious about who won. One in particular seemed to favour a very small group of people who always won.
However, in 2007 I entered SFX Pulp Idol competition. It was free and Gollanz were judging it. I didn’t win, but I was one of the top ten authors chosen to have their full story published in an anthology given away with magazine.
You can read mine on my web site “Maud: A Garden Story”
The real excitement came a month after when I was contracted by a publisher called Big Finish. They published Dr Who stories under license from the BBC. Would I like to pitch a story for one of their anthologies?   Hell YES!
It was hard work; there were rules about which Doctor you could use, on respecting the ethos of Dr Who and a very strict word count. It also had to be a Christmas story and, in my case, set in New Zealand. I’ve never been to New Zealand, but travel guides can be your best friend when you are lost.
After a few rewrites and some advice from the editor they commissioned me to write “Autaia Pipipi Pia”, which is Maori if you squint hard and have a big enough pinch of salt.
It was published in 2008 under the title “Short Trips: Christmas Around the World”.
It is out of print now and a silly price on Amazon.

Since then I have gone on to write novels and am currently published by Thorstruck Press, but I still write shorties for my blog and you can read them on my web site.’
                                                                                            ................................

A big thank you to all my guests today ( I won’t mention that they’ve eaten me out of house and home) They’ve all been very generous with their time and I hope you’ve found today’s post as interesting as I have. As for me... well my early efforts at short story writing were successful in competitions but quickly morphed into full length novels. Bedlam and Twisted are to be published in 2015 by Caffeine Nights Publishing. You can sneak a peek at the opening chapters here on my website. In the meantime I’m determined to master the art of a short story - that stays a short story...watch this space!

                                                                                        Babs x

14 Comments

Paul Trembling

11/27/2013

9 Comments

 
Picture
This week The Coffee House welcomes Paul Trembling. Not only is Paul a cracking author, he also has an unerring nose for a good book, which means I tend to take note of his recommendations. In addition he knows a thing or two about crime, from the right side of the law of course, which makes him a good guy to have on your side when you write crime fiction. So, without further ado, please come in out of the cold, Paul, have a seat on the sofa and make yourself comfy.  

1 - First things first. The stove’s hot and the kettle’s just boiled so what are you having? Are you a latte or a lemon tea?  A flapjack or a fruitcake? Or can I tempt you with something from the specials board?

PT - A cappuccino please, Babs.  And there was some mention earlier about chocolate, cherry and walnut cake, warm, with fresh raspberries and double cream … is that still on?  Good.  But just a big bit, please.

2 – Paul, let’s get to know a little bit more about how you ended up here on my sofa. Are you a full time writer or do you have an additional occupation that drags you away from the keyboard. If you moonlight as something particularly exciting, dangerous or downright dodgy,  we want to hear about it...we really do! And with all those books to your name, how on earth do you squeeze enough writing time into your busy day?

PT - Sadly, no, I’m not a full time writer.  I and my family would starve if I was.  My ‘day job’ (which, due to shift work and call outs can be any time of day or night) is as a Crime Scene Investigator for a UK Police Force.  Yes, a CSI, though (as I say at least once every working day) it’s nothing like you see on TV!  Not nearly as exciting.  I actually prefer the older job title of SOCO (Scenes Of Crime Officer) but no one asked my opinion.
Fitting in writing time is difficult.  Most of it has to be done on my rest days or when I’m on holiday.  Sometimes I get a bit done in the evenings, or in the morning if I’m on a late shift, but I’m often busy with other commitments (Dad’s taxi, for example!) or just too tired.  I often find it immensely frustrating, not being able to write when I want to.  But, to look on the positive side, I do get plenty of opportunity to think through story details before I finally get it written down.  Which can be good.  I’m currently trying to put together a military SF short story and have just about got to the end – but that end bit has already been re-written several times in my head!  Hopefully, it’ll be right when I actually type the words!


3 – How did you get into writing? Perhaps you’re lucky enough to be a member of a writer’s group. Or maybe you just fell into it by accident.

PT - Babs, I was a writer before I could write!  Or perhaps I should say I was a story maker.  Some of my earliest memories are of making up stories and telling them to myself as I lay in bed at night.  Not a habit that’s easy to break, even if I’d ever seriously tried!
Later on I began writing things down.  I’ve never stopped.  In fact, if anything it’s got worse!


4 – What was the first thing you had published and how did you go about it? Did you run the gauntlet of the query letter? Enter a competition or decide to self publish?

PT - I think the first thing I had properly published was probably a story called ‘Dry Murder’, an SF story that was accepted by a small magazine called ‘Threads’.  (You can read it on my website, if you like – link below) The feedback I got was immensely encouraging, and I submitted several more stories there over the years, before it sadly closed down.
I haven’t had a great deal of success with publishers since then, or with competitions, though I’ve tried both.  I’ve had some stories appear in on-line magazines, most noticeably in ‘Welcome to Wherever’, produced for several years by my virtual friend and another good indie writer, Mandy Ward.  She’s had to give that up now, though.
When I got fed up with rejection letters from publishers, or no letters at all sometimes, I took advantage of the digital revolution and started self-publishing.  My first e-publication was a crime novel, ‘Can of Worms’, based on my CSI experience, and that went out on KDP in August 2011.  Since then I’ve self-published ten titles of various sorts.
I’m still open to going down the traditional route, though, if someone wants to make me an offer!


5 – From your own experience as a writer do you have any tips for those not yet published?

PT - Just keep writing!  Get as much feedback as you can (I’ve currently got some chapters of a work in progress on ‘Youwriteon’ and the reviews have been very useful), learn from them, and write more.  When you’re happy with what you’ve  done, look at self-publishing by one of the many possibly routes open nowadays (I’m using Draft2Digital now, which has proved very good so far), unless you’re absolutely committed to finding a traditional publisher.  Then go and write something else.

6 – Paul, I love to genre hop, and I’ve a feeling you do too? Which is your favourite and why? Is there a particular genre or type of scene that you would avoid and if so why?

PT - Like you, Babs, I’ve mostly worked in crime and fantasy. I’m probably most drawn to fantasy, because that’s the genre where my imagination has the most scope.  No limitations imposed by awkward facts getting in the way of the plot!  If you can imagine it, you can write it (though it does need to stay consistent with itself) – and you don’t have to do a lot of research, either!  I’m not good at research …
In fact, I probably wouldn’t have written any crime stories if I hadn’t had the background and information presented to me on a plate by virtue of my job!  Even there, I stick quite closely to what I know, that is the CSI side of things.
I also like SF, but I’m limited by my lack of real scientific knowledge.  So my SF stories hover in the fuzzy boundary between ‘hard’ SF and ‘pseudo-scientific fantasy’ (to coin a phrase).
Some things I do avoid. Though I work in fantasy, I’m wary of anything that seems too ‘occult’.  That might seem strange, being as I’ve published a novelette featuring a demon! (The Orb).   I would find it hard to define exactly where the boundary is.  It’s a personal thing: I just won’t go where I feel uncomfortable!  Likewise, I won’t do any graphic sex scenes or erotica.  As a Christian, I don’t think that would be compatible with my faith.
Other genre’s I’m open to, if the right story comes along, but always remembering my aversion to research!
Any more of that cake, by the way?
Fear not, Paul. At The Coffee House there’s never a shortage of cake!

7 – There’s been a lot in the press lately about the reducing number of children who are read to/with at home. Were you read to as a child and did that develop your love of books? As a child which was your favourite book? Do you have a favourite book and author now? What are you reading now?

PT - I can clearly remember my Dad reading to me when I was young.  He’d come up every night when I went to bed and read a few chapters.  Usually, he read ‘Biggles’ books.  I don’t think they’re much known now, but they were wonderful adventures featuring a group of pilots (aircraft, not ship!).  Written by W. E. Johns, a marvellous story teller, who had been a pilot himself in the First World War.
That must have had a big influence – as I said before, I was making up my own stories before I could even read myself, let alone write!  Good father-son bonding as well.  I think that Dad  was a little disappointed when I learned to read myself and no longer needed his services in that area!  But I can still remember that the first book I read on my own was one of the ‘Biggles’ books.
Another big influence (and this is something that only occurred to me whilst thinking about your questions, Babs) was my church background.  The Bible, of course, is full of stories!  But perhaps more significantly, it was through church and Sunday school that I came to understand that stories have a value beyond just entertainment.  Stories can mean something.  They communicate ideas, explain things, have an influence.  There is more in a good story than just what happens to the characters.
 To me that’s one of the most important aspects of writing.  And whilst I wouldn’t want to preach at people through my stories (I’ve seen that happen, and it doesn’t work) I hope that some of the things I believe in do come through in my writing.  ‘The Orb’ for example, explores the nature of evil.  And in ‘The Empress’s Lover’ (a fantasy novel) the power and importance of love is a key element.
I think Tolkien said something like ‘I am a Christian, and what I believe is inevitably reflected in my writing’.  I can’t find the quote to confirm it, but I would hope that that is true of me as well.

Sorry, I do waffle on – what was the rest of the question?  Oh yes! My current favourite authors.  Too many to list!  A lot of my reading nowadays is of ‘independent’ authors – like myself!  We network a lot, and try and support each other’s work, and there are some very, very good writers amongst us!  I’ve just recently finished ‘Salutaris’ by Gev Sweeney, a really beautiful and original variation on the Vampire theme.  Before that, I read ‘The Rothko Room’ by Russell Cruse, a brilliant spy story and a marvellous parody on the traditional spy genre.  There’s been some other excellent indie books this year.  ‘Bedlam’ for example!  Now who wrote that?

Ha ha... I wonder. I like Gev Sweeney’s work too. I read The Grave Coverist recently and would recommend it.

9 – Okay, Paul, time to tell us a little about the books you currently have published.

PT - OK – I’ve already mentioned a few.  Additional to those, there are the ‘Dragon Slayer’ stories, twelve in all, currently published in four e-books on Amazon.  Kindle only at present, but one of my projects is to put them together in one volume and distribute them more widely.  (Draft cover idea on Facebook, on my ‘Paul Trembling – Writing’ page).
Then there’s ‘A Pattern of Murder’,  five CSI short stories: and my most recent publication is ‘Minutes of the Reality Escape Committee, Volume One’, a collection of fantasy and horror short stories. Both of these are on all the major e-book platforms and also available as paperbacks.
I’ve also written a children’s fantasy, ‘Trouble in Toyland’, under the pen name of Henry Linden (Kindle or paperback).

Phew! That’s a lot of books, Paul.

10 – If it’s not a closely guarded secret, can you give us a hint at what you have planned next?

PT - Well, there’s the Dragon Slayer collection as I said.  I’d like to write another story to go with that as well.   And my main WIP is ‘The Hidden Libraries’, a fantasy set in the same place as ‘The Empress’s Lover’.  It also has some of the same characters.  That’s been progressing slowly, but I need to do a little re-writing, as certain aspects of my main characters background have now come to light!  That’s the one that’s up on ‘Youwriteon’.  If anyone’s using that site, please take a look and let me know what you think.
Apart from that, I have a folder on my hard drive marked ‘The Back Burner’, full of ideas I haven’t got round to yet!  Frustration, again!  I really want to finish that Military SF story I mentioned earlier, but I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it.


11 – And tell us even more about the one you’ve brought with you. I did explain about reading an excerpt later didn’t I? Oh good. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, or coffee, for that matter…

PT - I’ve decided, after some deliberation, to bring along ‘The Empress’s Lover’.  It’s about an Empire in crisis, about the unlikely relationship between a lowly member of a religious order and the all-powerful Empress.  It’s about the conflict between the ruling classes – the First Order – and those they rule – the Second Order.  And of course, it’s about love.

12 – Pick one of your characters and sell him/her to us in twenty words or less.

PT - Thylan an’Darsio is a young Friar who teaches the children of the Palace servant’s, and falls in love with the Empress.

13 – While I go and get your coffee topped up, would you like to read a short excerpt from your book?

PT - Certainly!  This is from Chapter Nine.  The Empress has just received some serious news, and must react quickly  …

Across the courtyard now.  Thylan half running to keep up as they entered the Great Hall of the Emperors.  Gestavin was matching her stride, nodding attentively as the flood of orders continued.

“I want all the troops along that border alerted, against any interference from Murkarin.  Not that I expect it now, but we’ll give them no temptations!  Their part in this we’ll deal with later.  That doesn’t include the West Fornessy Garrison.  Stand them down until we’ve had time to sort out the good fruit from the rotten.  Confine them to barracks.  Tough on the loyal ones, but we can’t take chances.  Move a regiment of the Guards out there to cover.  Neighbouring Garrisons to provide support to Lady Gerrian until the Guards arrive”.

Up the Grand Staircase, along the Corridor of State.  Servants and guards all round, some rushing ahead to open doors, others darting off to carry out errands. Amazingly, Thylan saw that Gestavin was not only listening to Anatarna, but also managing to pass orders of his own.  Brief snatches came to the Friar’s ears   “…wake Captain Dekker, of the City Watch, to my office at all speed… Secretary to the Council, tell him to prepare for an extraordinary session tomorrow… Guard Colonel Thorance, his regiment to go on full alert and him to report to me directly…”

Even more amazing, Anatarna, without breaking either stride or flow, heard Gestavin’s own asides and responded to them.

“Tell the Secretary that I will address the Council at midday.  A full session, mind, and no excuses will be accepted!”

They exited the Corridor of State via the Diamond Chamber, skirted the Lower Lawns and charged through the Battle Room.

“Tell Lady Gerrian to take what samples she deems necessary and then burn the rest!  I want the whole filthy crop reduced to ashes, right down to the roots!  She can use the Murkarin slaves – they can be promised their freedom in return, and full citizenship in the Empire.  Or repatriation to their homes if they prefer.”

They were approaching the North Wing, where the Grand Chancellor’s small army of administrator’s laboured.   Gestivin’s own office was there also.  Anatarna paused, or at least slowed her pace fractionally, as they came to it. 

“I will speak to Vordivan immediately after breakfast.  We’ll see if he has anything to say for himself before we bring the formal charges.  Which will be immediately after I have addressed the Council.”  She nodded.  “When you have everything in order, My Lord, please attend me in my office.  We have much to discuss.”

Gestavin bowed and turned away.  Anatarna, resuming her march towards her own office, called back over her shoulder, “And a copy of that list to me as soon as possible, My Lord!”

Gestavin’s departure did not put a stop to the Empress’s torrent of commands.  “A message to the Murkarin Ambassador… I want him in attendance within the hour!  Not that I intend to speak to him until later…”

She turned a corner, strode through her Outer Office and finally entered her inner sanctum.  “Send for the Steward… mulled wine, and something suitable to eat with it.  And someone get me my slippers – my feet are freezing!”


14 - And let us know where we can find it?


Picture


AMAZON

NOOK

KOBO


15 – And where we can find you

        PT - My website is ‘Yearning Blue’, and it has some more about me and my writing, along with links to my published books and some samples of my writing – short stories, poems, and extracts from novels.  You can find it here
My blog ‘The Reality Escape Committee’ is also on that site.

I also have some SF short stories on other sites: you can read ‘Stumble Jack’ at Wattpad

You can get updates on my current writing activities from  Facebook

Or check out my latest article for crime writers Here

16 - And finally before you leave, a test for your imaginative, story weaving skills. We’re playing a little game that I hope all my guests will contribute to. Can you give me 100 words of your choosing to follow on from this last line from Karen Charlton? Your last line will be picked up by the next guest... and so on:

‘The – the what?’...

  Peter opened his mouth to reply, and froze.  The girl froze.  Everything stopped.
Marcus swore impotently at the unmoving image, then turned to the girl on the couch.


“Always at the same place!  The memories always stop just at the most crucial point!”
She opened her eyes, reached up to adjust the device strapped to her head. “Use more power!”


He shook his head.  “Too dangerous.  It could …”

“I know what it could do!” she snapped. “And we both know the consequences of failure.  We must learn what happened to me.  We must find out about the Grey Woman!”

You can catch up with the "story so far" Here
 

PT - Thanks for the coffee, cake and chat, Babs!

Thanks to you, Paul. It's been great to while away an afternoon in your company. Continued good luck with your books. Do let us know when the next one is available.

                                                                Babs x



9 Comments

    Author

    As a writer I'm interested in what makes other writers tick. In the real world I'd invite them round for coffee and a chat. In the virtual world I can do just that. Welcome to The Coffee House!

    Archives

    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Alfie Robins
    Bev Allen
    Book Buzz
    Book Excerpts
    Book Excerpts
    Book Feature
    Claire Stibbe
    Darren Sant
    David Menon
    Elaine
    Frances Kay
    George Polley
    Gerry McCullough
    Glenn Muller
    Interviews
    Jacoba Dorothy
    Jan
    Jane Harlond
    Jean Gill
    John Holt
    Jo Sexton
    Julie Ryan
    Juliet B Madison
    Karen Charlton
    Karen Maitland
    Moonyeen Blakey
    Paul Trembling
    Rod Glen
    Short Stories
    Sue Yockney
    The Coffee House
    The Coffee House
    Writers

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.