Pic of the Week . . . that's MRS Doctor Who to you

I confess, I have a LOT of catching up to do regarding Doctor Who, but you'll be pleased to know that I'm currently working on that thanks to Netflix. It wasn't something that I rushed out to watch when it was showing, but I did catch the odd episode and remember thinking to myself that that was really good. It's the same with Game of Thrones to be honest - but that's another story.

Anyway, I can't remember if I blogged about this all those years ago, about a dream I once had with Doctor Who, but I'm gonna blog about it again today, regardless. And what with Doctor Who being in the limelight at the moment and the news that the next Doctor is going to a woman, there's no better time to bring it up again.

So what do you guys think to the news? Will Jodie Whittaker become a successful Time Lord? I'm open for it and think it will be an interesting twist. I've watched her in a few other things and she's a good actress in my opinion but will the Doctor be the same as a female? And this is where my dream has a fun little answer to that...

Obviously I can only account for the episodes I've seen, so my facts may be slightly off. If so, you'll have to forgive me for that, but I do get the feeling the Doctor refuses to have any relationship with any of his female companions. All through the episodes with Rose Tyler, we watched how their relationship grew, evolved, and it was obvious that she loved him, but he never returned the feelings until the end, but even then he didn't actually say it. We're just lead to believe this was what he was going to say. And then afterwards we saw how painful it was for him to bring her up in conversations. So if he did actually like her that much, why didn't he act upon it?

In truth, according to my dream, he couldn't because...wait for it...he has no genitalia. True story! In my dream, he was asked why he would never take that step, and his answer was that Time Lords were minus any genitalia which meant any sexual relationship - especially with humans - was impossible. Whether this was kept secret due to embarrassment, I don't know, but that's why any relationship between the Doctor and his companion has never taken that final step.

So, if the Doctor wants to regenerate as a woman, why not? He's not defined by genitalia which sex he is, so in reality he's free to choose. And will being a female change anything? Of course not. It's still the Doctor. In fact, I'm surprised he hasn't made this choice sooner :)

Anyway, enough silliness. On to Pic of the Week. Sticking with a Doctor Who theme, this little beauty was created by Jasric on Devientart. If you like anything sci-fi, fantasy, film, TV, you have to check their gallery out. There's some real impressive pieces, including this piece below. So go check it out, and in the meantime...

...enjoy and have a good weekend!

  

Book Launch . . . TUNNEL is up on Amazon!

Hazzah!!!

It's up! It's published! TUNNEL is available on Amazon for kindle and print. It's very exciting. Below is the cover and the blurb.

Check it out HERE :)

Oh and almost forgot to say, as from tomorrow and the next 5 days, it's totally FREE so grab a copy while you can...

TUNNEL

The London Underground, a convenient way to commute, with miles of tunnels weaving their way beneath the city – but with many of these tunnels now unused and abandoned, a whole new world unknown to the people above has evolved below the streets.

Mike travels the Underground every day for work, battling rush hour crowds all taking the same journey day in day out. He follows the unspoken underground etiquette every time, with his music playing in his ears and the avoidance of eye contact, and no one says a word as they routinely travel the tedious path life has given them.

An evening of working late means Mike misses these rush hour crowds. The platform at nine o clock in the evening is sparse of people, and the train car he boards offers plenty of seats. He settles down, listening to his music and preparing to travel the same journey taken hundreds of times before, only this time the journey offers something different, and as the train stops, trapping everyone beneath the streets, he realises they are not alone.

Something else, something terrifying, is lingering in the shadows of the Tunnel…

Pic of the Week . . . Brandon McConnell

Today, highlighting the spray paint artist Brandon McConnell with his phenomenal talent with SpaceArt. I first saw a guy painting with spray paints about 15 - 20 years ago on a visit to Camden in London. He blew me away, so much so that I even went home and tried it myself. I created a few pieces, experimenting, but the cost of the equipment meant I didn't continue.  But still to this day, I could watch them spray all day long.

So, introducing Brandon McConnell. Be sure to check out his website - and, if you're interested, watch how he creates this specific piece in his video tutorial on YouTube.

Enjoy and have a grand weekend...

Getting Back In The Swing . . .

I faded.

I disappeared from the whole blogger community. I used to post twice a week, every week, religiously. I loved it. And not only did I fade from you wonderful people, I faded from my own creative self, too. I've been clinging on to that creativity for a good few years now, struggling and desperate not to let go - but then not doing much to help myself rescue it either.

I've suffered a whole identity crisis in the meantime, too. I've always been writing, as a little kid, all through my teen years and up into my adult life. It's the one thing I've always wanted to do, and the one thing that has always been a constant for me, and after publishing a few works online as well and my inclusions in anthologies, as well as personal projects that I've been working on, I was proud to call myself an actual writer. But then I wasn't writing. And if I wasn't writing, who was I? This left me confused and added to the struggles. In the end, I've just been meandering through life, not doing much at all to be honest.

I'm not sure why my creativity dried up. I could put it down to changes in work which have left me unsettled and therefore unable to get into it; a break which got me out of the habit of writing regularly, and a habit that I haven't been able to get back into...who knows. But one thing still remained, and that was the passion for my ideas. Even though I wasn't actually writing, the ideas still kept flowing, ideas that I love and would one day want to put down on paper - or a word document.

So, a little while back I decided to get my posterior back in gear and get back in the flow, and I've finally finished my novella, Tunnel. Can't actually remember if I mentioned it all those years ago in one of my last posts, but I originally started Tunnel (a zombie flick) for Nano way back when and then had a car accident which ruined that November flow. I still worked on it though at my own snail pace and eventually finished it. And now it's edited and polished and soon ready to go up on Amazon. I'm actually proud of myself and I will keep you all posted with that one.

Then also, out of the blue a few days back, I received a friend request on facebook from the wonderful Nick Wilford who inadvertently reminded me of the whole writer community sitting here that I had once been a part of and who offered support and inspiration (thank you), and so decided that I needed to get back here too. If you believe in fate, I think the signs are all there, finally aligning and telling me it's time to rekindle that creative spark. It may be hard and a struggle but I'm ready to give it a go...

So, deep breath and fingers crossed. Let's get this show back on the road...

Pic of the Week . . . DareDevil

So, what does a writer do when they're not writing - or blogging? Well, watching a lot more TV, that's for sure. I've taken a very keen liking to the Netflix series Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and since finding out that the second series of Daredevil AND The Defenders, which bring them all together, are all on the cards, plus more, I'm am so excited. More time to spend not writing. Yay!

So what makes them different to the usual Marvel stuff that's out or in progress - which I also absolutely love? For starters, the writing. I don't know how they do it, but at some point they make you start routing for the bad guy - and you don't even realise it until you find yourself wishing they could have their happy ending (and question what the hell you're doing!). But in the words of Wilson Fisk, "Not everyone deserves a happy ending."

This week's Pic of the Week goes to NLMDA for his mind-blowing depiction of Charlie Cox as Daredevil. So go check out his other awesome pieces on his Tumblr website or like him on Facebook (which he deserves). He also does commissions too if his work can sway you.

Enjoy.

Daredevil by NLMDA

A Front Cover Of Inspiration . . .

Where has 2015 gone! One month left and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've blogged.

A lot has happened since I last visited - some good, some bad. The worse? My feline friend, Daisy, passed away. To say I was heart broken is an understatement. I was ridiculously attached to that cat so it's no surprise I took it hard. BUT, I now have not four, but eight little paws pattering around here now.

Meet Doyle and Bodie, two of the most handsome brothers I know. They're 5 months old now and such joys to have. And I'm now lucky enough to be working full time form home so I'm thoroughly enjoying their kittenhood - even if I do have to battle for rights over the laptop.

The flow of creativity is still strangely slow. I really need to buck my ideas up to get over this lull. I'm not sure what it is - a mixture of laziness coupled with anxiety maybe. Who knows. But it has to come to an end sometime. So here's a short piece I wrote the other night for a small exercise in hope that it would get those juices flowing again.

A Front Cover of Inspiration

Writing Exercise: We took a random book cover and let the inspiration flow, to see what it spoke to us. The Book? Under the Dome by Stephen King.

Out of everything, the one thing I wish for most is for the heat to go. The sun bears down on me continuously. I see clouds but they provide no shade, and the more I look at the them, the more I'm convinced they're not moving. 

I don't know where I am. I know I've been here for a long time though. The straight road runs for miles ahead of me, and as I turn, it runs for equal miles behind, splitting though the mountain range on the horizon. The hills in front aren't as severe in sight as the mountains, but they're still menacing. 

I honestly don't know how long I've been standing on this road. Definitely not days or weeks. Years? I can't tell how many. It feels like an eternity. I feel I should be old now, but I'm still the same twenty-four year old I was when it happened. I'm talking about the accident. Memories of it are few and far between but I do know that it happened quick. One minute I was reaching for a bottle of water sitting on the passenger seat of my car, the next I'm peering into the piercing eyes of a wild dog, followed by the sound of shattering glass, crunching metal and a blinding white light. That was it. Now I'm standing in the middle of this road, in the middle of nowhere - alone.

Everyday I walk. I walk for miles. I look at the hills ahead of me and walk towards them. Maybe civilisation lies beyond those peaks, people who can help me, hot food I can eat and cold drinks - not that I feel hungry or thirsty any more. I long to see what lies over the horizon and I walk all day but it never gets any closer. And as if in mockery, the mountain range behind follows me, stalking me and matching my every step. They never shrink in size, never grow any further away, yet I walk from them every day.

I have even ventured off the road. I look to the flat horizons either side, littered with half dead bushes and dry, cracked dirt, but no matter how long or how far I stray, the tarmac road follows. It's never further than twenty feet behind me. 

I don't know where I am. I don't know how long I've been here, and I don't know why I can't leave. In frustration, I yell at the sun above me, always glowing and never giving in to night. The days are one, the stars extinct. I hate it. Did I die in that accident? Is this purgatory or hell? Will I ever be able to leave?

But then as I walk the same tarmac I've trodden for what feels like an eternity, a strange feeling comes over me. Something feels different. As I turn back towards the imprisoning mountains, I see it, a ghost emerging from the heat waves off the road. A car, speeding along towards me, ever closer. After spending so long on my own, with not one living thing scampering my path, I begin to feel something I haven't felt for a long time. Fear... 

Quick Check In . . .

Wow!  Has it really been over a month since I last posted?  I guess it has.  Sorry people...

I'm also shocked to see the A-Z challenge now on V.  When did that happen?  And where did that time go?  How's that working out for you participants?

Only a quick post to check in and to say that my cruise ship didn't sink out in the Caribbean, and that we didn't get hauled up by pirates (although it would have been cool to meet Captain Jack Sparrow).  The holiday was lovely and the Caribbean is a beautiful place - and hot :)  Slightly disappointed that I didn't see any dolphins or whales - or other such sights - but I DID see flying fish.  They were interesting.

And after two weeks of relaxation and a relative calm crossing across the Atlantic, I enjoyed a short Easter break before delving straight into a new job, so my mind has been on over-load recently.  Been three weeks now since I started and I'm settling in nicely.  And the best part?  Working from home.  But the huge upside to this new job is I'll have more time to concentrate on writing.  Yeah, the whole 'working from home' thing appealed due to health reasons, but the opportunity to give more time to writing was what won me over.  I'll go into it in more detail in a later post.

In the meantime I'm striving to finish the piece I started for Nano, the same Nano piece I failed due to a car accident two weeks in.  Writing's been slow for the last few months which has been killing me, but it's picking up and I'm now right at the end of Tunnel.  It's only a Novella that I'm planning to launch on Amazon and so far it stands at 41k.  It's going to be around the 45-50k mark once done.  I don't think that's too bad for a novella.

But more on all this later.  I'm now off to kill a few characters in a story climax :)