Guess who's back?

It has been a long time between drinks on the old blog but that age old nuisance called life got in the way quite a bit in the last few years. Yet, here I am, returned to my old stomping grounds to find that it has not diminished with age or faded into blog obscurity but still going strong. I am renewed and reinvigorated to start again and to post some new stories for you all and to see where it all may lead.

Though I have been away from the blog it does not mean that I have been lax in my writing. On the contrary I have been as busy as ever and have written many pieces for your enjoyment. Some of the older ones have been revisited and edited for a greater flow of story and in time the older ones will be replaced with their new identities.

So let’s restart, resume and begin this journey anew. And just like I am back as is this little critter in The Goat Came Back.  

21 Today, well soon. To Robbie.

Happy Birthday to a young man whom I have known for his entire life. Well damn near anyway. For this time around I dedicate this posting to Robbie Parker, soon to turn 21, I can’t remember being that young. I really can’t!

For you Robbie, seeing how I can’t be down there for your celebration, I present to you this story. I understand that it is an open page and anyone can read it but when you read it you can say that this was is dedicated to you.

And it is kind of a dark story and doesn’t really have a happy ending so don’t take it as a precursor of your life… actually it’s not the best story for a guy who’s just entering the best years of his life, it’s probably a bit of a downer.

Oh well, hopefully you think it’s a good story and makes you want to make sure that your volume is thick with mis-adventures when you wander alone in the library of the damned looking for An Open Book. Bwah hahahaha.

Back From Whence I Came

It has been a long time between drinks for my Blog. I think that after getting the first volume out of my trilogy I just needed a break. So I took one.

The problem was getting back on the horse. It wasn’t a case that it had thrown me and I was scared to get back on, it was a case that I was just really saddle sore and needed to recover for a while.

Well I have done that, and at the start of the year my apathy to the written word faded like smoke through the trees. I suddenly felt the need and the desire to write again and to write a lot. The gears in my head were churning out ideas faster than I could put them to paper and the characters and events were unravelling faster than I could type (not that that’s hard).

So here we go, writers block be damned. I have gone back to the simple things in life. Stories to make you wonder, stories to bring fear, stories that I have fun writing and I hope you all have fun reading. So take this one as this year’s first offering: The Last Thank You.  

It’s been a long road.

It’s been a little over ten years since I first sat down and envisioned the story that would (happily so) consume the next decade of my life. It started out as scribbles and a few drawings and nothing like the adventure that it turned into.

The story suffered from several notable setbacks ranging from floppy disc breakages, hard drive meltdowns, the inevitable writers block, a very large amount “I hate this damn story”, some shonky editors and publishers and numerous other things that delayed it and set it back but everything really drove me to this moment and this version of the story; something very different from what I started to write ten years ago and something, in my opinion, much better and worth the wait.

It didn't start out as a trilogy, in fact I specifically didn't want it to be a trilogy, but the story grew and the characters grew and in the end it got very big and complex and, under some competent advisement, I changed my mind and cut my beloved story into three.

Now available through the Published Works Page is the first book in my Zicastor Trilogy: Weapons of War. Soon it will be available worldwide. And that’s a fairly daunting prospect for a fellow like me.   

DING DING DING-A-LING DING DING DING-A-LING DIIIING

Well it's almost here! My book I mean, not Christmas...though it's hard to believe that's around the corner too!! 

No flash fiction this month, instead I've been trying to iron out some issues with relation to the formatting and cover of Book 1 of the Zicastor Trilogy.  In making a few changes I came to think that perhaps I should give my readers some insight into the background of the book. You will see after reading the Zicastor Trilogy that it is quite different to the written work you see me produce now.  There is good reason for that....

Zicastor was written over 10 years ago.  In fact my partner clearly remembers being on the phone to me while I discussed the concept for the work with her.  She recalls that she was in the bath at the time marvelling at the little bump of her stomach that was to be our son....then just a peanut and now about to turn 12 years old!

The full Zicastor story (all three parts) has been with me and my family through many big changes.  It kept me warm when working in -6 degree centigrade nights as a Security Officer in Canberra.  It kept my mind employed so I wouldn’t think of the ghosts that roamed building 1 and 2 of the Defence building – when doing 2am Breach Control rounds of Campbell Park offices!

So, as you can imagine, I've developed my style of writing quite a bit over 12 years.  I read Zicastor now and think how differently I would write it...but why would I change it? It has already been through so many changes – edits and having to split it.  The words, as they are, are imbedded with the events of my life over that period: The birth of my son, the purchase of our first house, the death of my mother and brother and moving from one side of Australia to another.  So, I'll let it be.

I hope that the book will be up before Christmas and if not, you might consider buying a little Christmas present for yourself.  A number of printed copies will be made available immediately (as opposed to the e-book and print on demand options) and I will make available some signed copies for those that get in quickly.

Keep checking the new "Published Works" page for the links for purchase which will be made available soon. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  I will talk to you in the New Year.

Return of the Blogger

Okay, I know that it has been a long time between drinks for the old blog. There have been some technical issues, some holidays, plenty of work and some slacking (let’s be honest).

But here we are again and it’s full steam ahead with some good news to start us off. If you read, and liked, the excerpt “Dark Halls, Dark Duties” from my fantasy novel, which I posted here earlier, then you’ll be happy to know that the full book from which that chapter was taken will be available to you soon in an E-book format.  This will be book 1 of what will be the Zicastor Trilogy. There will be plenty more news as this develops and I’ll keep you informed every step of the way.

Now onto today’s story (because I can’t post without a story, it’s just wrong). What I have for you this time continues the tale of one of my darker characters: Steven and what happens One Night.

Words from the Outback

Well this time around I have a valid excuse for my lack of blogging. I have just recently returned from a mammoth 4 week trip around the Northern Cape of Queensland, sadly it was for work only but still it was an awesome experience and I got to see tons of Australia that many people just never get to see.

Which brings me to today’s story. It’s a bittersweet tale that I thought up on the many hours spent driving through the Australian bush. It has been described as having a Dreamtime feel, so perhaps it was subliminally supplied by one of the Aboriginal communities that I got to see along the way.

Seriously, in truth, it’s nothing so precious.  I’m sure you know that anyone who has gone on a long road trip in Australia will see the unfortunate creatures that do not survive the crossing of a road. As I saw at least one dead animal for every two kilometres of road outside of townships, on a trip nearly 5000 kilometres long, I was forced to wonder about how deeply the emotions of the animals run when a family member or mate is taken.

Some common Australian animals are used in this story. I have used Aboriginal names for them. There is a glossary at the end of the story to help. 

Enjoy The Road!