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Pantomime Shortlisted for the North East Teenage Book Award!
Yay! I’m delighted to announce that Pantomime has been shortlisted for the North East Teenage Book Award! About the award: “The NE Teen Book Award has been running for 15 years and around 30 schools...
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Random Research: Soul Cakes
This week I was doing some research on Scottish Hallowe’en, or Samhain as it was before. I’ve written a short short story which will go on the blog closer to Halloween and ties into one of my WIPs....
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Links & News
Pantomime has been nominated for the American Library Association YALSA 2014 Popular Paperbacks list in the Books with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer-questioning, Intersex, Asexual...
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November Writing Goals
Today is All Souls Day, aka the first day of NaNoWriMo, where people endeavour to write 50,000 words in a month. I’ve tried to do it a few times. I always fail. I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this month, but...
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World Fantasy Con 2013
So I’m back from World Fantasy Con in Brighton. I’m exhausted and distinctly under the weather, though I’m feeling a bit better now. It was my first and only convention of the year, I believe, and...
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Previously, on Pantomime…
I’ve written a short summary of the main events in Pantomime to refresh people’s memory before Shadowplay. I know I have a rotten memory when it comes to books, even if I really enjoy them. However,...
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November Writing Goals: The Verdict
Last month, though I didn’t participate in NaNoWriMo, I did have some writing-related goals and shared them here. How did I do? 1. Finish the draft of my WIP. CHECK! I wrote about 17,000 words and...
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Free Fiction Friday: “Palimpsest”
This is another short story that features Puck, the first story, “Pseudonym”, of which I featured two weeks ago. I was once planning on writing a bunch of short stories that all showed Puck through...
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Shadowplay Teaser 1: The Magician
Up to and a little bit after release, I’ll be sharing the opening quotes of Shadowplay’s chapters as teasers. They give a little background info, but hopefully don’t give away any of the plot. I won’t...
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Shadowplay Teaser 2: The Séance
2. The Séance “Countless times, I have drawn closed the black curtains against the daylight, clasped hands with believers and cynics alike, and claimed to raise the dead. Some believe I actually bring...
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Shadowplay Teaser 3: A Scream in the Dark
3. A Scream in the Dark “Never are we as honest as at night, alone with thoughts and nightmares.” - Elladan proverb Interested in more? Shadowplay, the sequel to Pantomime, will be released January 7,...
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Shadowplay Teaser 4: Penglass Peril
4. Penglass Peril “Most Elladans have not travelled beyond the island. Some may have gone to Girit to visit family, but very few have been to the Temnes, Linde, Kymri, or Byssia. Thus, the Archipelago...
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Shadowplay Teaser 5: Twisting the Aces
5. Twisting the Aces “Twisting the Aces is the oldest magic shop in Imachara, and possibly Ellada. It began as a small stall in the marketplace, with the old fortuneteller, Fay Larch, selling amulets...
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How to Help Sophomore (or any) Authors (err, especially me)
Last year, I wrote a blog post of How to Help Debut Authors. It proved very popular and people still poke around on it, so I thought I’d write a follow up due to Shadowplay’s imminent release. I know a...
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Shadowplay Teaser 6: Moons, Clouds, Suns, Stars
6. Moons, Clouds, Suns, Stars “I could list every magic trick in the book, and in intricate, infinite detail describe the reveal behind each one. And you could understand it. But that does not mean...
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Winter Holidays in Ellada, and Pantomime for £1
I have a guest post on the Strange Chemistry website about what winter holidays in Ellada are like. There’s also a brief Shadowplay snippet, and using the promo code, you can buy the DRM-free e-book...
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Shadowplay Teaser 7: The Philosopher and the Fool
7. The Philosopher and the Fool “Your whole life, you are told what is right and what is wrong. What you should do and what you should not do. What makes a good citizen and what makes a traitorous...
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Shadowplay Teaser 8: Shadow of a Shadow
8. Shadow of a Shadow “A magician creates magic and mesmerizes the audience. But it is a pantomime, and the audience knows that it’s a ruse. It’s in the name: a “magic trick”. They play along when the...
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Free Fiction Friday: Sonnet: “My Love, a Glittering Vampire”
This was the first sonnet I wrote at university (and to date I’ve written the grand total of…two!). I decided to take the form, which can be quite formal (whoo iambic pentameter!), and poke a little...
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Shadowplay Teaser 9: Mirror Maze
9. Mirror Maze “I had to sell another of my automata today. Each time, I sell my least favorite, but that means that each time I part with the next, it grows harder. I sold the golden tamarind monkey,...
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