Category: SUSPENSE

Where could vampires have come from?

This week: An interview with Jake Nanden from the Iron Series and: Where could vampires have come from?

Where could vampires have come from?
I am not going to say here whether vampires exist or not; that is a question I might never find an answer to. But where could they have come from if they do exist? That is an interesting question.

Funnily enough, since the beginning of man’s history, vampires have been seen to be some kind of ‘elite’. They are even idealised versions of humans in some stories. Recently this thought has played on my mind a lot.

It would seem logical to assume that the natural suspicion working and middle-class people feel for royalty and nobility might naturally lead to attribution to them of ‘unnatural powers’. I don’t think this is a modern trend and might have even been more prevalent in the age when Royalty was seen to be mandated by God to rule

Vlad III, known posthumously as Vlad the Impaler because of his cruelty, was just one such ruler. His first name, Dragwlya, is the origin of the modern name Dracula and Vlad is most likely the source of the legend of Dracula – a fiend who drank blood. Continue reading “Where could vampires have come from?” →

Should your main character have flaws?

This week: Sneak Preview, news about an Ordo Lupus and the Temple Gate promotion and: Why should your main character have flaws?

Why should your main character have flaws?
All of my main character (and thus protagonists) have flaws. In my earlier books I think it was just instinct that led me to this. In fact you could argue that for James Brennan in The Man Who Recreated Himself and King Vaslav in Infinite Blue Heaven the question of whether they are flawed or not is the main theme examined in the novels. James is perhaps naive and Vaslav is perhaps sexually weak, being a willing participant in incest, something not uncommon in the 17th century. In The Ice Boat, which is my first novel completed, it’s very obvious that David Dee is flawed; naive and confused by life. Physically he is in good health however, as are the other two characters mentioned. Continue reading “Should your main character have flaws?” →

Get a RAF fighter to ‘43 Berlin and back?

This week: U-Boat through Straits of Gibraltar Competition Winner and the new competition: How do you get an RAF fighter to Berlin and back in July 1943?

Sorry for the hiatus in the last week: first I had a bad cold and then my fridge-freezer broke two days ago! Anyway I’m back.

How do you get an RAF fighter to Berlin and back in July 1943?
Since my post about getting a U-boat through the Straits of Gibraltar was my most popular yet, here is a similar post. Let me explain the mission: you need a fighter small enough to fly down Unter den Linden (the equivalent of Oxford Street in Berlin), carrying 1000 lb bombs. The fighter needs to be able to negotiate the Brandenburg gate and fly low over the Reich Chancellery garden and still manage to land somewhere far enough from Berlin that the pilot can safely get back to England. There is only one RAF fighter that could do all this in 1943: the Hawker Hurricane II. Continue reading “Get a RAF fighter to ‘43 Berlin and back?” →

The Moon, Shape-changers and Consciousness

This week: The Moon, Shape-changers and Consciousness – what is the truth?

The Moon, Shape-changers and Consciousness – what is the truth?
I recently started a discussion group around the concepts in my Ordo Lupus series. You can find the group here and I invite you to join. I am planning a pure Vampire novel as a follow up to this series and I want to try to understand further how shape-changing has become buried so deeply in our consciousness and explore whether it actually exists in humans.

Notice how I carefully say ‘humans’, for it certainly exists in other animals. Look at butterflies, moths and flies for instance. The crysalis stage is a fascinating example of metamorphosis in nature. Continue reading “The Moon, Shape-changers and Consciousness” →

Do your characters drive the story?

This week: 1. Do your characters drive the story? 2. Sneak Preview from The Ice Boat II.

Do your characters drive the story?

I am really enjoying writing my latest novel now (provisionally entitled December Radio) because I have reached the part where the story is writing itself. I no longer have to spend hours thinking about plot. I suppose you could say that I am at the beginning of the final act but it isn’t always this easy. Stories only write themselves – I think – when the characters are so well developed, that they make the decisions for you. Continue reading “Do your characters drive the story?” →

What keeps you writing?

This week: sneak preview and what keeps you writing?

Sneak Preview
This week it’s from the new project provisonally entitled December Radio a sci-fi World War II story.

The following scene takes place in an aeronautical centrifuge in Cologne. Remember those? I seem to remember they featured in a few 60s films and as a very young boy, one of these left a lasting impression on me. In fact the scene has such a powerful effect on me personally – it almost disturbs me in the same way OCD does sometimes – that I would love to pin down the film I originally watched and see it again. The Gerry Anderson film Doppelganger, sometimes called Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, may well have been the one. It is reputed to have a centrifuge scene in it and the only other film I know if is the Roger Moor Bond film Moonraker, but this would have been too late for it to have affected me so powerfully and yet be a vague memory. If anybody knows of any other film where a man has trouble surviving a centrifuge, please get in touch. Continue reading “What keeps you writing?” →

Romania and some of its Vampires Part 2

A great article on Romanian vampires and their names, by Mari Wells.

Abstract
”Moloi are Romanian vampire spirits. These vampires can only life if it eats human hearts. It’s created when one of its parents kills an illegitimate child. A girl is called Moloica.”

Mari Wells

Moloi

Moloi are Romanian vampire spirits. These vampires can only life if it eats human hearts. It’s created when one of its parents kills an illegitimate child. A girl is called Moloica.

Necurat

The Necurat or Orgoi means “accursed or “dishonest” in Romania. Romanians call all of their vampire creatures this. It’s believed using this name instead of a specific name will keep from calling the vampire to them.

Another name for Vampires in Romania is Baboana for females and Babon for males.

Baba Coajo

A vampire forest spirit in Romania is a bloodthirsty monster.
She’s described as half bear and half woman. Baba Coajo pronounced Baba Co-ya means the Old Woman of the Tree Bark. She’s also called “Queen of the Forest” and has total control over the evil within the woods.

She is very dangerous evil entity. She catches children who wander into the forest alone, or those…

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Blog: Amazon Women on the Moon

This week: Walking in Buckinghamshire, Reviews, OCD update, Badger culling, Free Offers

Walking in Buckinghamshire
There is no sneak preview this week, because the stuff I am working on is very complex and time-consuming. Hence I haven’t actually written that much. If I did sneak previews every week, there would be no need to publish. Instead I will tell you about my ramble in the Chiltern Hills of Bucks on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. Originally I had intended to go on Saturday, but it clouded over. The forecast said Sunday would be more completely overcast but warmer. In the end, there actually was some sun. The autumn leaves thickly carpet the ground now and bathed these ancient clay woods with a yellow light. I used to spend a lot of time there in my childhood, but I don’t remember them looking more bewitching. Most people were still in church, so the woods were quiet although I had a strange encounter. As I parked my car among those of the worshippers at a tiny church, the priest spotted me and said, “Ah! You!”.
He looked Asian which intrigued me; this area of Bucks is true-blue Conservative territory (ha! ha! Pun intended). I thought by the way he was talking that he must recognise me from my youth, although this seemed very unlikely as I didn’t recognise him and I have a very good memory for faces. When I walked up to him, a crowd gathered around the ‘stranger’ and I asked, “Do you know me?” Continue reading “Blog: Amazon Women on the Moon” →

Blog: Witchfinder General – Lazlo Ferran

This week: Sneak Preview, Gravity’s Rainbow review, the End of Formula 1?

Sneak Preview

This week’s is from a a project provisionally entitled December Radio. Hard to say what it’s about at this point without giving it all away but you can be sure there will plenty of tension with a huge climax and even some philosophy for those that have the time. This excerpt holds the reason for this week’s blog title.

December Radio

Sarah barked at the crows, “Shut yer mouths. I ain’t got no food for you and you int a ‘having my body. Not even when I’m dead. They’s ‘ll probably burn me and if not, I will get a Chist’an burial. She spat into the puddle swilling around her filthy skirt- hem but missed and it splatted against piece of rock. She even found this funny; Sarah had a bright soul. Her long, brown and unwashed hair had fallen loose over her left eye while she had been working at the crosses and she pushed the strands back into place while humming a tune. She had made it up to go with the spell her mother had taught her so long ago: Continue reading “Blog: Witchfinder General – Lazlo Ferran” →