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Book Review: The Quarry by Iain Banks
Sadly The Quarry is the last book Iain Banks ever wrote, and it is certainly a very poignant read. You can imagine him going through the same turmoil as Guy, one of the main characters who is dying of cancer. It certainly isn't my most favourite book by Iain (M) Banks, but it works better than some of the other non-SF books that I have read of his. The basic premise is one of a bunch of university friends gathering for a long weekend at the house they all lived in as students, which backs onto a Quarry - hence the book title. One of their number, Guy, still lives there with his son (who is the POV character for the whole story). Guy is dying from cancer and is nearing his final stages when the gang all arrive for…
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CLWG July 2013 Game Reports
There were five of us at July's CLWG meeting, myself, Nick, Mukul, Dave & John. There were three game sessions presented: I went first with a two part committee game called "The High Ground" about the consequences of cheaper surface to orbit space travel; Nick presented an economics card game for educating people about markets and the effects of money and credit; Mukul's session on the 1914 campaign on the Eastern Front. (more…)
Mike Duff vs Macduff [Naming Crisis Point’s Main Character]
My mother, a recently retired teacher of High School English, has been reading my stories and asked me some interesting questions about why I named Mike Duff the main character in my first novella Crisis Point. She was interested in the parallels between Mike Duff and Shakespeare's Macduff. (more…)
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More Free Stories
I've set up another freebie weekend, so from midnight (Pacific Time) on Friday through to midnight on Monday (in practice about 7am on Tuesday morning for those in the UK) my novellas will be free on Amazon. Exodus: Mike's Thread As the amazon review says "World War Z meets 24". An action packed thriller of a US Military coup to stop a mad US President from launching nukes against the world's spaceports. (UK Amazon) (US/Worldwide) (Canada) Exodus: Perfects Introduction to a group of genetically engineered people living in a world that rejects them. Charlie has turned to organised crime to traffic people to safety and Pandora comes into his life, another person for him to save? (UK Amazon) (US/Worldwide) (Canada) Exodus: Imperfect To be released early July. Following on from Exodus: Perfects where Pandora discovers herself and embraces the criminal side of things to…
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Paperback Writer
Having got some positive noises from people I have made a paperback version of my first novella Exodus: Mike's Thread available using Createspace which is Amazon's print on demand book printer. It is available direct from Createspace or from Amazon variants. The createspace link is which is probably best if you are a US resident. If you are not in the US it will be faster and cheaper to get it from your local Amazon site. In the UK this is I have a very small number of review copies that I've bought myself to give away. If you would like one then please let me know and tell me why you want to review it and where you will publish that review. Note that if you have a kindle there will be another chance to get a free copy of…