Category: AUTHOR LAZLO FERRAN

Friday 14 June Update: ‘Like a Virgin’

Blog Updated 16 June in Other News section

Update on Blog access issues
I am still working with the service who I pay to manage my DNS settings. They have omitted to delete an old record, which is giving conflicting data to the new record and thus causing issues, particularly for Mobile device users. Despite my repeated emails this still hasn’t been fixed, despite their reply that it would. I can only hope this is fixed very soon. Continue reading “Friday 14 June Update: ‘Like a Virgin’” →

‘Avatar’ – A Walk in the Forest

A break in tradition this week. I will be talking about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder – OCD.

I found a new place to walk last weekend. On many weekends I like to take my car and drive out of London to somewhere peaceful. I grew up in deepest Buckinghamshire, and while it is an insular community, I do very much miss the stunning countryside. Chalk soil leads to a wonderful variety of woodland: beech, oak, sycamore, giant and very ancient cherry trees and hawthorn trees as high as a house. Yes, my favourite woodland is very ancient and will remain a secret for now.

However, I am not yet rich, so Bucks is too far to go regularly. Consequently I usually explore closer to North London. In the last ten years, in my little car, I have discovered villages with beautiful streams and lovely quiet woodland walks where the solitary can find solace. I have had two favourite spots during this time, but I was getting a little jaded. Continue reading “‘Avatar’ – A Walk in the Forest” →

18 May Updates – Preview of Lacunashka

This Week’s Excerpt
Instead of a preview this week I have something different for you. For a long time I have been a fan of Russian literature. As a tribute I wrote Lacunashka some time ago, but it has been languishing quietly on my computer. I think I may have published it briefly on Amazon, but I withdrew it, probably because it is such a relentlessly dark tale. People who lived through the terror of Stalin’s reign must have experienced such darkness and a bleak existence, so as a tribute to them I have placed it inside Vampire: Beneficence (Short Stories Volume III). Here is an excerpt:

Lacunashka

Lacuna: a blank gap or missing part.
-shka: Russian diminutive ending for male names.

For Comrade Ilya it was like any other day in the Ministry. At 9.30, after already working for two hours, they broke for coffee or a shot of vodka. Volodya, as usual, was holding forth in his loud voice, leaning back against the edge of his desk.
“Ilya! Have a shot of vodka. Just once?”
“No, Misha,” he said placing his hand over the dirty porcelain cup. “I have to work anyway.” He walked the short distance, past dirty mullioned windows to his office and started to check through the list of mail for the day. Continue reading “18 May Updates – Preview of Lacunashka” →