Sunday 26 November 2017

Meet Author J Edward Neill


 
     Today it's an honor to introduce you to the gifted J Edward Neill in my, Author Spotlight, post. Jeremy is a US based indie author of fiction, sci-fi, philosophy and has published short stories for Kindle's galaxy-wide.
   
    If that's not enough to be going on with, he is also a talented painter, bringing canvas alive with his imagination and use of color. He has been writing for the last sixteen years and has an extensive catalogue of titles to his name including a series of dark fiction of which he is the co-author. His first book Down the Dark Path was published in 2013 and he has agreed to giving us a look into his world.


Q & A
  • What came first, the writing, or the painting? 

        Definitely the painting. As a much younger man, I attended art school, which admittedly I enjoyed far more than any other classes. After graduation, I started a t-shirt business and painted huge banners for local music acts. My crowning achievement: a banner I created for the heavy metal band, Slayer. Nowadays, hardly a night goes by without painting being involved in my life. It’s just so very relaxing.

A snapshot from my studio, aka my kitchen

  • What made you decide to write solely for the adult market?
     
        Good question! When I began my writing journey, the market lay smack in the center of the Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games era. Everything seemed to be for young adults, and little of it appealed to me. I decided I’d do my best to offer alternatives to the prevailing popular themes of the day. To make my rebellion a reality, I went straight for epic dark fantasy. And by ‘dark’ I don’t mean sexual. I mean adult themes such as war, sacrifice, betrayal, et cetera. These are central to my most popular fantasy novel, Dark Moon Daughter


  • Have you faced any particular challenges writing multi-genre?
     
        Yes. And I embrace them all. I recently jumped straight out of a sci-fi series and into a pair of philosophical memoirs. I think I threw my audience a curveball with the leap from ‘star-destroying space vampires’ to ‘an author drinks wine and writes about his childhood.’ And that’s OK. Bouncing from genre to genre has proven to be more fun than I’d ever hoped. I encourage everyone to try it. Just be careful not alienate your readers.

  • What age group would you say your work is likely to appeal to?
     
    I’ve got a two-part answer…
        My fantasy, sci-fi, and horror books will likely appeal to the 18-35 crowd. These works contain enough action, character development, and plot twists to engage readers looking for a straightforward good time.
        For older readers, I recommend my Coffee Table Philosophy series. Questions about science, philosophy, and morality tend to appeal to those of us already drowning in fiction books.

  • How do you decide on your titles?
    I hear plenty of authors talk about the challenges of deciding on book titles (and blurbs.) As for me, I enjoy the process. I usually design the title and blurb long before getting into the meat of writing the book. I try to nail down the central themes of whatever I’m working on, and then I make a list of potential titles. For my latest sci-fi book, Shadow Forever, I allowed my readers to decide the name. It was fun to hear their feedback!




  • 101 Reasons to Breakup, was the last title to be released in your series of coffee table philosophy books. This was book number thirteen, will you be adding another title? Or, do you have a new WIP that you want to share with us?

        I'll definitely keep adding to the Coffee Table series. 101 Reasons to Break Up has been a big success (selling to book stores in England, of all places) and so I’ll likely pen a Part 2 before 2017 ends. I’ll need more stories to do it…since all the break ups are real.

        As for my current WIP, I'm about 30% finished with, Eaters of the Light. It'll be the last book in my big sci-fi series. I'm having a riot working on it.



  • Most authors have favorite characters, can you introduce us to one of yours?
     
    You asked for one. I’ll give you two.
        My first is Mia from the short story, Let the Bodies. She’s just a little kid living in a dangerous city, but her bravery is unique. Some of my readers might not realize it, but she makes a cameo in another book, The Circle Macabre. Poor little Mia. She doesn’t know how doomed she is.
        
        My second is Archmyr from the, Tyrants of the Dead series. He’s about as bad as an antagonist can be, and yet he’s still very human. He makes the best of a bad situation…and then makes the worst of a perfectly good one. SO fun to write.

  • Jeremy, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to let us into your creative world. But, my readers would never forgive me if I didn't ask you to tell us a little about your journey into the world of writing?
     
        It all started on a dark and stormy…
    Actually, now that I think about it, the desire to tell stories has always been with me. As a little kid, I recall inventing worlds with characters to populate them. I suppose my creative spark was stoked to a flame when my Uncle John presented me with a full set of Dungeons & Dragons books for Christmas (the full story appears here.) At that very moment, I knew I needed to tell stories for the rest of my life. Big stories. Epic stories. Tales of our world and every dimension in-between.
    And here I am many years later, still at it. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to stop.


    Also, I’m inspired by my son, who made me wear this sombrero!

Reach J Edward at his website – Down the Dark Path

…or at any of these fine locations:





Friday 24 November 2017

Cherishing a Daydreamer Forever




    Like many millions of David Cassidy fans, I was saddened to hear he had passed away this week. Hearing his songs  on the radio and TV made me feel like a teenager all over again.


    I had barely become a teen, when I began to adorn my bedroom walls with his pictures, one wall being solely dedicated to him. One Christmas I received a life size poster of the star, which I placed just at the correct height on the wall so I could look him straight in the eye, tell him how much "I loved him" and that "one day he would be mine." The problem was, every wild fan thought exactly the same.

    Although I was never lucky enough to see him in concert due to lack of finances, I did join the fan club and buy all his singles. The single 'Could it be Forever' I can remember taking to an English class, as we were asked to submit words by songwriters that we believed had true meaning. Can I say more?

    Unfortunately, the poster had to be discarded when I finally got married, many, many years later. My partner thought three was a crowd. However, I never lost that little space in my heart for David and may he R.I.P.


   

Monday 20 November 2017

The Child in Me

   


    Christmas, which is mainly celebrated within western culture, can be a very magical time whether you are young, or old. The trees, the lights, the sparkling decorations and glittering tinsel adds to the mystique.

    In my town yesterday the Christmas lights were switched on and Santa even managed  to drop in for a flying visit, to the delight of the local children.

    I've been busy editing over the last week, however, the child in me wants to over indulge in the sentimentality of this annual celebration. Therefore, I have taken to watching a Christmas movie most days, sometimes even two I'm ashamed to say.

    I wonder what my daily doze will hold for me today? Will it be a rom-com, star an intoxicated Santa,  wayward elves, or over-worked reindeer? Who knows? But, it may make nostalgic watching.

    



    

    

   

Friday 17 November 2017

The Mystery of Life



As I watch the sea lap gently against the shore
I cannot help but wonder, if to life there is more?

We don't know why we are here
In this place, or at this time

There has been many before us
And there will be countless after

Will one day the mystery be revealed?
To me, to you and to all


                                                                                        Christina Rowell



Monday 13 November 2017

The Swing

Edinburgh, birthplace of Robert Louis Stevenson

    As a child I used to love to go to the public park with my aunt and uncle. I wasn't interested in the slide, or the merry-go-round, that always made me feel dizzy and sick. I only wanted to be pushed on a swing. The metal chains that suspended the seat clunked, clicked and squeaked, as I was pushed high into the air. On each push upwards, I tried to grab hold of the elusive clouds, or catch sight of my gran's house which lay over the field behind.

    That's why today on the anniversary of the birth of Robert Louis Stevenson, I chose his poem, The Swing. It brings back so many fabulous memories of my childhood.


The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall
Till I can see so wide
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside

Till I look down on the garden green
Down on the roof so brown
Up in the air I go flying again
Up in the air and down!

Robert Louis Stevenson 
                      13 November 1850-3 December 1894

#RLSDay #onthisday #OTD

Friday 3 November 2017

A Garden Without Butterflies


    Childhood memories of the lazy, hazy, day's of summer, stay firmly in the forefront of my mind. The smell of fresh mowed lawns and the scent of the flowers tickling my nose. Butterflies and bees flitting from flower to flower, pollinating the plants as they went.


   Young sparrows, and robins feeding like kings on the abundance of insects that lived in every nook and cranny of our garden. Pesky flies and wasps gate-crashing the impromptu  picnics that were spread upon a green and white checkered tablecloth on the back lawn.


    It seems that the insect world whether you love them, or hate them, are slowly depleting. We humans are destroying nature's pollinators and sources of food for our wildlife, with our chemical insecticides and pesticides.

    It's sad to think that future generations of children may never know a garden with butterflies.
  
    "What's a butterfly garden without butterflies?"

                                                            Roy Rogers


   

Sunday 29 October 2017

Halloween Special


    As Halloween approaches I thought I would give you a devilish treat. Here is chapter twenty-one of, Salvation Hyperlink to Lost Souls. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Salvation-Hyperlink-Souls-Christina-Rowell-ebook/dp/B016IRYV7G/

Chapter Twenty-one

Day Twelve cont’d: Help! Get us out of here.
    Five minutes have passed since we last chatted and
the horror continues. The hole has stopped expanding
but, thankfully, hasn’t swallowed us all up. Yet. There’s
a lot of rumbling going on and it isn’t my tummy. The
deep crater that has now formed is smoking. I think it
leads to Hell itself. There are flames growing in height
as I speak.
    “We need all the prisoners together. Bring yours
here,” orders the bronze guy. He is the overall boss in
this group. “Hey, where’s your baton?” Trouble ahead;
he’s noticed that I am missing a vital piece of equipment.
Keep your thoughts clean.
    “I lost it when I was standing near the hole just as it
was opening up, and I must have dropped it.” Listen to
me. Liar, liar pants on fire. A weird look has come over
his face. It’s difficult to put into words, but I think it’s the
stare that does it for me. He pushes a spirit out of his way
and starts to move towards me and he waves at the clay
man who spoke to me earlier. He’s encouraging him to
join him. Told you there was trouble brewing. I think I
gave the wrong answer to his question.
    Heck, this is not the time for me to get visions of my
past life. I’m back in the schoolyard playing statues.
The thing is, I can see the faces of the other kids. All
that is holy, don’t let evil play with my memories. My
apparitions all seem to be splintering into pieces; it’s
important I get them out of my head, or I’m not going to
be able to deal with this imminent situation.
    Deep breath, mind has cleared, and bad vibes and visions have been locked away in the closet in my mind.
    “I asked you a question. Where’s your baton?” asks
the bronze man. His eyes are flashing like an animal’s
when an automobile’s headlights catch them in the dark.
    “I dropped it back there and I had no time to retrieve
it.” Oh, oh. That excuse must have been a lame one
because I haven’t halted the men’s advance.
    “How could you have dropped it?” asks the same
guy.
    “It just fell out of my hand, I told you.”
    “It can’t fall out of your hand. It manifests from your
wrist band. The wrist band that can only be removed
from an ordained disciple of the Devil himself.”
    “Eh…” Can’t answer that one.
    “I think we have an imposter amongst us here. Look,
he has no bracelet.” Do you recall the scene in Robin
Hood, Prince of Thieves, when Robin Hood visits the
Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin is impersonating one
of the bad guys. Well, that’s the situation that’s going
down right at this minute. No kidding. All I would need
now is a hood, bow, arrow, and a group of Merry Men
for support. The likelihood of that is near impossible, me
thinks.
    I’ve stopped pushing the light out of my body, so I’m
no longer glowing. If I had been in any other location in
the island, it would now be difficult for these humungous
guys to catch sight of me. But the fires creeping up the
hill are now well stoked and the light they’re giving off
is enough for these guys to see me. The only advantage
of the attention now being on me is that the guardians
have stopped trying to herd the prisoners. So, at least the
prisoners for now are safe.
    “Whatever happens, try and stay put,” I say to the
girls. They’re not saying anything. The three of them
are crouched down, arms around each other. Sobbing.
The bronze man is the first to grab hold of me. Since
eliminating my glow, I can feel my strength regenerating,
so I’m hoping I’m up for this fight.
    His hand clamps onto my right arm. It’s so tight it
feels like a vice. I’m trying to disperse my particles and
pull my arm free. Yep, managed. He looks at his empty
palm. His buddy the clay man fancies his chances. He
has his big hand around my throat. Excuse me if my
voice comes over a little funny at this point and I don’t
mean ha, ha. I shouldn’t do this cliché thing, but I say
them so you don’t get all bored on me.
    I think I might pass out if I don’t get my neck out of
his hand. He’s lifting me up by the neck and shaking me.
I wriggle free by altering the shape of my head. Not a
good look and, for goodness, sakes don’t try this at home.
    Here he comes again. I manage to push him with
some force. He’s lost his footing and he’s started to
roll down the hill. He won’t be coming back soon; he’s
being engulfed by the flames. Just be glad there is no
soundtrack to this book, or you would hear his awful
squeals.
    Clay man isn’t giving up. Here he comes. As he tries
to catch hold of me, I surround him with my particles,
which I’ve re-illuminated. He’s confused and, now, he’s
rotating like a ballerina doing a pirouette. As he spins
around, he swipes at me, but his hands can only grasp a
few molecules of me at a time and not enough to do me
any permanent damage. I feel a slight pinch but nothing
else. Nada. Thanks be to God.
    He’s continuing to swipe at my particles though with
his wand. “Ouch!” he managed to make some contact.
The brute. An electrical charge buzzes through me. Hope
it recharges my batteries.
    I’m trying to raise as much strength as I possibly
can from the inner soul of my soul. If that makes sense.
Although it’s not easy when a big guy with red eyes is
swiping at you and you’re trying to contain him at the
same time.
    Please God, help me raise my inner strength. I
suddenly feel revitalized. Never believe anything is
impossible because everything is attainable if you truly
want it. Hey, and it’s within reason of course. Reach for
the sky, kids.
    White light emanates from my dispersed body form.
I use the power of the light to squeeze him tighter and
tighter. With the heat I have generated on an already
melting body, the clay man has been force into a smaller
form. He’s gone all sticky and gooey. Here was me
thinking that he would fragment into tiny pieces, shows
how much I know. He can’t be made of proper clay; it
must be some kind of devil-made product.
    He’s thinner now but still the same height. I need to
compress him down if I can. I manage to rise above him
slightly and push his head down into his narrow body.
One slap down with the palm of my hand, his head
vanishes within the clay. Yeah! Done and crushed. He
can no longer do me any harm.
    I start to put my spirit back into a more manageable
metaphor and push hard to flatten clay boy out. I kick
him hard and he slides down the hill like a puck across
the ice at an ice hockey match.
    Two down. Eh…one, two, three to go. I’m hoping to
generate further heat from my form. I’ll tell you why in
a minute. I need to focus. It worked; the waxy guy who
thought he could do better than his buddies is already
flaking all over the place. So, I don’t think it’ll take much
to tip him over the edge so to speak.
    He’s now lunging at me. My metaphorical arm strikes
a blow to his head. Yeah. He felt the full force that was
behind it. A chunk of his face has fallen off. Huh, I wish I
could take a quick photograph for you. But hey ho, that’s
out of the question. I’ll describe him and you can draw a
photo fit. Big guy, six two, or bigger. Bulbous pink eyes
with a piece of his face and skull missing. His head now
has the appearance of a lop-sided church candle with
hair.
    I hit his head again with all the power I can muster.
Whoops, his head has just fallen off. “You shouldn’t lose
your head so easily, buddy.” Corny, I know. It rolls on
its own accord down the hill. It ignites instantly in the
flames and I can see it’s melting away into oblivion. The
rest of his strange manifestation has already turned into
a big puddle of wax. Gone.
    I scan my eyes over to the girls; they’re okay. To the
right of them is another waxy guy, but he’s not coming
for me, he’s taking a step back. The only two guys left
are now running towards me and they’ve linked arms,
showing they are united in their quest to annihilate me.
Holy crap.” I’m on my back and they’re both kicking
me and thumping me with their wands.
    It doesn’t matter how I change my body shape, every
blow and kick that’s being targeted at me is hitting a
bulls-eye, the bulls-eye being all over my body. Aaagh!
Hey, what’s happening? Zenda and Ruth have jumped
onto the backs of my clay and waxy attackers. Beth is
helping out by body punching each of the big brutes in
turn. These girls mean business. Ruth is poking the clay
man in the eyes and he’s pulling at her arms frantically.
This girl would be good on a bucking bronco, for sure.
Although these broncos are unlikely to be tamed in the
near future.
    I’m now able to resume my devil-slaying role since
I’m no longer being beaten with vengeance. I’m not
back onto my feet. Deep breath, deep breath. I’ve filled
my spiritual lungs with air. Note, I didn’t say fresh air,
because in this state I run on empty.
    That description would come under writers license,
I think. You know how those authors get carried away
with words and make life on occasions sound rosier, or
worse than it really is just for the sake of selling a book.
Um, moving on.
    Concentration time. I require it to get my particles
in order to create some extra destructive light and heat
waves. I believe that, when I beam this stuff out of me, I
will eliminate all that’s standing in the way of me getting
Ruth and Beth safely out at this present time anyway.
Because devil slaying I don’t believe is going to stop
here. We still have to get back to the Island of the Blessed.
Puuush. I’m now lit up like a light bulb and streams of
the white light and heat is emanating from each of my
arms. Each arm is now pointed at a distracted warder.
    The white heat sizzles into the matter that makes up
these evil spirits and makes strange zapping sounds. I
realize I have been calling them men previously, but it’s
easier for you to imagine them if I give you a description
that you can relate to.
    Otherwise, you may think that they were just a mass
of air floating about, or would you? Maybe I do you a
disservice, my friend, and you know what I’m talking
about right from the start and it’s not necessary for
me to spell it out each time. I’m rambling again. Okay.
But I think I’ll go with the safe option and continue to
explain things as best I can. Why I am I doing that for
you? Because that’s the kind of guy I am. Loveable,
considerate…
    I’m fully energized; say a little prayer, you guys. The
waxy spirit is now headless and Ruth has nothing left to
circle her arms around and slides down his back. Beth
kicks his right leg with all her might and his leg cracks at
the knee joint and crumbles into small pieces. His other
leg snaps in two with the weight of his upper body. He
is now a legless, headless torso lying on the ground. Beth
and Ruth jump on top of him and jump up and down on
the matter that is now left like they were on pogo sticks.
    The heat around here would make a cauldron bubble
and the spirit’s unstable body bends and splits into many
pieces. He isn’t ever going to give anyone any trouble
again. I think they could probably stop now, but it will
do them good to get their frustrated emotions that have
built up out of their systems.
    Zenda is struggling with with her victim, and I use the
word victim very, very loosely. I can now use a fullstrength
light beam on him. This should do the trick.
Zaaap! That was a mass of white light leaving me. It left
me so quickly and with such force that I now actually
feel dizzy. Gone. He’s just collapsed into a tangled heap.
    “Hooray,” the unguarded captives cheer at the
destruction of their keepers. Problem is, I now have a
group of spirits that think I’m going to lead them all to
freedom.
    Answers on a postcard as what to do next.