Showing posts with label teen adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen adventure. Show all posts

Tuesday 21 May 2013

New Sci Fi Dystopian Released Today

So episode 1 of the hubby's new book is out on Amazon today . . .

THE SPIRAL ARM (Episode 1, Season 1)
Wren Harper lives on an overcrowded Earth on the brink of apocalypse. There are just too many people. The answer lies 600 light-years away on Kepler; a planet more than double the size of Earth. For decades humans have been fighting another race for its control. Earth’s armies are depleted, so now 15-year-old cadets are sent to fight, trained along the way in vast combat ships. But why has Wren been chosen? She's small and geeky and not a fighter. Will she survive Kepler? Or will the training kill her first?


The Spiral Arm on Kindle US
The Spiral Arm on Kindle UK



Thursday 17 January 2013

Writing Post-Apocalyptic Fiction - My Top 10 Tips

 
 
THE CLEARING, Book 2 in my post-apocalyptic series came out this week and I'm already scribbling away on Book 3. Hoping to release it this summer if I can.
 
I'm really enjoying writing it. there's something about this genre which I find compelling. It sends shivers down my spine but despite this, I love to immerse myself in those terrifying end-of-the-world situations.
 
A few weeks ago I blogged about writing dystopian and post-apoc fiction over on Author's Anon. I've reposted it below for those of you who missed it:



My personal top ten elements for writing a great post-apocalyptic novel:
 
1. Make your setting original.
There have been oodles of futuristic New Yorks and Londons and a plethora of abandoned dystopian ‘facilities’. We’ve had kids battling to the death in arenas and gory zombie apocalypses. Worlds have been divided into ‘Factions’ and ‘Areas’, ‘Districts’ and ‘Zones’.
 
Put your own personal twist on the fall of society.
 
2. Sanctuaries
Locating them, getting into them and saving them from destruction. That’s all part of great post-apocalyptic fiction. Along with finding food, medical supplies, clothing and other survival gear.
 
3. Struggle
Decide whether your story is about struggling to save and change the world or whether it’s about a character’s struggle to adapt and survive within that world. It can be both, but have a clear idea about it before you go in. Do they succeed in their struggle? Or does everything unravel?
 
4. Why is your character special?
Did they get lucky? Are they equipped with specialist survival skills? Are they a victim? Why did they make it when everyone else died?
 
5. The Threat
Who or what is it? A person? A creature? A hostile environment? Are there multiple threats?
 
6. Authenticity and continuity
There are two main types of post-apocalyptic fiction. There’s gritty reality - the ‘what if’ scenario where life-as-we-know-it ends. And then there’s pure fantasy – zombies and dystopian societies etc. But whatever you choose to write about, make it as authentic as you can. If you’re writing about zombies, set parameters for them. What can they do? How can they harm you? And remember to never ever call them ‘zombies’ – there are ‘walkers’, ‘deadheads’, ‘the unconsecrated’ and a gazillion other names for the undead. Make up your own. Be consistent and make your world totally believable.
 
7. Technology
Does your world have any? Or did it all die with the end of civilisation? Or is there now even more advanced technology? Either way, talk about it and show it or the lack of it. What are the implications?
 
8. Atmosphere
Create a distinctive atmosphere for your novel. Whether it’s dark and claustrophobic or menacing and suspenseful, try and keep that feeling running through the story so your reader gets a real sense of being in another time and place. Perhaps it’s a world of extremes where you have luxury and decadence in the face of poverty and oppression. Either way, make the scenes ooze with atmosphere.
 
9. Before and After
What was the world like before the fall? What is it like now? Was it the same as the real world or was it something else? I want to know details. I want to see landscapes or cityscapes. I want to picture the before and after.
 
10. Hope
Even if everything is bleak and horrendous and it all seems futile, you have to plant a tiny nugget of hope somewhere in the story or we might as well all lie down and die.

Feel free to let me know if you think I’ve left anything out . . .


More online resources:
Writing Apocalyptic Stories
Apocalyptic Fiction Authors Beware
How to Write a Post-Apocalyptic Story
Best Post-Apocalyptic Novels

Saturday 14 April 2012

Thicker Than Blood Release Date



I'm happy to announce that book 2 in the Marchwood Vampire Series
will be released April 17th 2012


Chilling and fast-paced, Thicker Than Blood is the supernatural sequel
to Hidden. It combines passion and drama with a historical twist.


Aelia lives in 6th century Byzantium. She is sixteen years old and her life is about
to change forever. She doesn't yet know it, but she holds the fate of thousands
in her hands and her actions will echo across the centuries.

Fourteen hundred years later the lives of Madison and Alexandre are once
again plunged into danger. To save Madison, Alexandre is forced back to a
world he thought was dead and buried. But time is running out.
The chase is on...


On April 17th it will be available as an ebook from Smashwords and from Amazon for Kindle.
It may take a while longer to distribute to other outlets. The paperback will be available by the end of April.

Sunday 10 April 2011

Hidden #SampleSunday

He felt the drumming of the earth, the heartbeat of all humankind in his bones and blood, in his skin and soul. It sang a song that he had known forever and in that instant everything became clear. He knew the reason for it all; the key to life and it was so obvious. How could he not have known this simple truth before now?
And then as suddenly as it had come, it left. His beating heart slowed, the song faded and the knowledge slipped away like an elusive memory refusing to come to mind. He felt a devastating loss, worse than if his dearest love had died.
A heavy melancholy descended, so profound he felt as though he should like to sleep for a thousand years. In the cold darkness, tears rolled down his face and stung his cheeks like acid. He closed his eyes and tried not to think. It hurt to think.
It hurt.
God, it hurt.
Like the skin being stripped from his body. He could not breathe and his eyes burned white hot with a searing pain.
He tried to speak but his throat constricted, closed shut. Was he in hell? Was this the fate he deserved? Please, God, no! Help me! he silently screamed. Save me! I promise … I promise anything. I will do anything. Just please … make … it … STOP.

HIDDEN on Amazon