Thursday 28 December 2017

Bad Dog – Now Available


You will die like a dog for no good reason.
—Ernest Hemingway 

Story Summary
In 2071, Sergeant Tachikoma leads a Marine combat armor squad. She knows the Corps never promised her a rose garden, only the chance to fight for her country.

Now, she faces her greatest challenge, two terrifying alien pillars that trapped her into reliving the same day again. The day she dies.


Today, she needs every ounce of courage to save her people from annihilation.
Based on cutting-edge theories on the nature of the universe, this white knuckle military SF thriller contains drama and mystery.
“This story is great, with a very firm grasp of the Marine Corps lifestyle.”

– Sgt D. Barrow, USMC

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Photographic Addition

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm 1:2.8 Pro lens.

As my regular readers are aware, photography is a bit of a thing for me. As in, I did my first degree in photography many years ago, more than I care to remember, but not completed for various reasons. I take a lot of pictures of the models I make, and other subjects that interest me too. And of course, it's useful for taking pictures for blog posts.

Quelle surprise.

For Christmas my beloved surprised me with Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm 1:2.8 Pro lens. I've been coveting one of these since I got my micro-four-thirds OM-D E-M5:M2 camera back here. As Susan said to me, this lens provides me with my favourite angle of view that I used to have back in the day when I ran my Pentax MX-5 with a SMC 15mm F3.5.

Here are both cameras and their lenses.

Pentax 35mm film camera next to an Olympus micro-four-thirds digital camera.
The Pentax I bought in January 1982, my Olympus I was given in February 2016. What is surprising or not, is the similarity in size, given that 34 years, 40 if you take into consideration that the MX-5 was released in 1976, between the two cameras.

So size, really comes down to ergonomics.

And while my E-M5:M2 is not a large camera per se, it is larger than Susan's E-PL6 micro-four-thirds rangefinder model.

Friday 22 December 2017

Christmas 2017


It's that time of the year when, depending on your predilections, when one says, bah humbug, or a joyous time to celebrate.  The joy comes from the idea of Christmas as the time of the year for gifts.  Arguably an invention by one of the greatest writers who has ever lived.  No not Shakespeare, because he didn't write a Christmas Carol, Dickens did.  And I thank him for that.  Otherwise Christmas would be a rather joyless event.

So, here I sit, writing about Christmas thinking of the good things, for example, the books I've read this year, and the new authors I've discovered, and of course, all the work I've been doing to get my book ready to put up on Amazon.

In the mean time, the parcels are wrapped, the tree has been put up, and there's a ton of other fun stuff to look forward to.  So, let me wish all my readers a Merry Christmas, or if you prefer a Happy Holiday, or Solstice break.  Whatever works for you.

Friday 8 December 2017

Hamster Wheel


The feeling of running around in circles as I work my way through all the tasks I need to complete to publish my first novel next year. On paper, virtual you understand, it all looks pretty straightforward. Do this, then do that, and then move on to the next task.

The catch?

If one has never done said task before then there's a learning curve. A steep one, but that's good in a way, because once you're learning your competence rises in leaps and bounds.  The opposite of the writing learning curve that rises, then plateaus, and there can be a considerable time between levels.

Different learning curves require different strategies.

With my publishing head on I need to learn a bunch of stuff. Copyright and surviving as a free-lance writer being two of those things.  So I bought these books. They're both quick thick, and I haven't yet started, but the clock is ticking.  There's a story right there.

Talking about stories, Bad Dog is waiting for me to finalize the cover, which requires me to finish the course I'm on so I can do this.

Strike Dog has been sent off for copy editing, which caused us a certain amount of angst, because of the cost.  In the bigger scheme of things I'm getting a great deal on the job, but money is tight, hence the purchase of the free-lancer survival guide.  I already know I've started out from the worst possible position, namely I'm under capitalized.

It sucks to be me and mine, but we will just have to suck it up.  Anyone got a straw?

Finally, got feedback on Ghost Dog from my most trusted Beta reader, which is very positive.  Not that there are not things I need to address, which is why I'm busy doing edits to cut words out and restructuring the order of the chapters.  I may be tied up for some time ahead.

Friday 1 December 2017

Terror Tree - Now Available


War is the father of us all, king of all. Some it makes gods, some it makes men, some it makes slaves, some free.
Heraclitis

Plot Summary
Imagine a future where humans face Artificial Intelligence systems controlling the machines of war.

“Terror Tree” is a science fiction short story that asks the question: What if this goes on?

Includes chapter one of the forthcoming novel Bad Dog.

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