Trump to encourage N. Korea, not stop them!

First of all, let me send out my heartfelt thoughts for the families of those lost in the Orlando, Florida bombing, and the singer killed last week. That said, America faces deep questions about weapons control, and not just the small arms variety.

With the outcome of the Briexit ‘in or out’ Referendum looking so close, that the result will probably be stalemate, eyes (especially mine) are looking to the USA for lively and meaningful debate. With Hillary’s nomination in the bag at the end of last week, Donald Trump issued a warming that he would dish the dirt on the Clintons early this week. He should be careful. The Clintons probably are spectacularly rich, but Bill Clinton has earned more money for charity (The Clinton Foundation ) that any individual in history. Apart from calling the kettle black, can Trump say the same? Or anything like it? Any hint of corruption in his life (and I bet there is much of it) and he will be hoisted by his own petard, as we say in the UK.

But the issue of the week is weapons. America must get its own gun-control laws in order, and quickly. Hillary has vowed to do it, if she wins. Trump just seems to be interested in making political capital out of any and all situations. He will try to make capital out of the Florida bombing and shooting if he can, but it doesn’t stop there. He is also interested in making friends of violent regimes around the world. Continue reading “Trump to encourage N. Korea, not stop them!” →

Film Review: Oblivion (2013), Tom Cruise

What more can be said of Tom Cruise in sci-fi roles? He always seems to deliver, so I was expecting something a bit special when I sat down to watch Oblivion last week.

Things were looking good after half an hour; great sets, great scenery and great special effects. Cruise was, as usual, dry in his delivery of Jack’s lines and held my attention.

But then I noticed something odd; Andrea Risborough, as Jack’s girlfriend and teammate Victoria, was acting badly. I thought, ‘Oh yeah, she must be an android and this will all be explained properly later,’ but no, the further into the movie I got, the more it became apparent that Victoria was human, and therefore badly portrayed. I am not saying Risborough can’t act, but she must have been at least badly cast here. It makes all the scenes with Cruise wooden and the love-making scene was just embarrassing. Continue reading “Film Review: Oblivion (2013), Tom Cruise” →

Explore the world of Atalan T’ea

The Hole Inside the Earth – epic quest from the far past to the far future!

Only the Vampire Priests understand the Blood Moon Prophecy: “A drop of His blood fills the cup and brings the Blood Moon Dawn.”

“Lots of cool action and drew me well in.” – AHF Magazine.

Both men, distracted, stepped back. She knew they would be unbalanced, so she executed the estoc, her sword strike entering one man’s exposed right armpit. He fell.

I, Zosimyache, mercenary of ancient Greece, wrote this.
I once asked Omacron what time seemed like for one who had survived for so long in a tumultuous world.
“Time is meaningless,” he said.
“Then, what does have meaning?” I asked.
“Memory.”
This, then, is the story, as recalled by me and those Rememberers, few in number, who survived the last war on Earth. I wasn’t there at the beginning, but I am here now in the tale that continues.
– from The Garden, final chapter of Volume 15: The Sea of Lost Intentions

Take a sneak preview of a map of Atalan T’ea Llantu here

Introduction

A cup wrought at Earth’s birth, the Holy Grail is brought to Atlantis but lost.

Continue reading “Explore the world of Atalan T’ea” →

How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 6. Editing

At last your manuscript about Vampires Rudolph and Santa is complete and has gone to your beta readers for one round of testing. What next?

This is where the hard work begins. Most writers don’t enjoy it, but editing is the stage that will lift your work from just a rough story to a world-class bestseller. Well, okay, we hope it will. Seriously though, without good editing, you book will not stand a chance in an increasingly competitive market.

If you can possibly afford the cost, I recommend you get another writer or professional editor to do the final edit on your work. You can always swap books for editing with other readers, if you are short of money. Why do I tell you this? A writer reads what he thought he wrote, not what he actually wrote, when he reads it back. He or she will read the same paragraph 20 times and not see the typo. It has happened to me in a very embarrassing situation; a submission to a pubisher had an error in the first line of the query letter. Two other people close to me checked it and didn’t spot it. I read it at least 20 times and missed it. Once the tension of submission was over and I received their rejection, I saw the error and it was blindingly obvious!

Continue reading “How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 6. Editing” →

How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 5. Varying Pace

pen5 So you have your plot of Vampire Rudolph’s adventures all worked out and you know where the climax and twist will be. Now you are considering writing the climax and want to know how to show tension when Rudolph can’t get the tractor down a narrow alleyway, or gets stuck in a snowdrift. So how do you show the tension?

It’s not as easy as you might think!

Action Words and Expletives

The first rule is to use more action words when you are writing action sequences. These are words like ‘ripped,’ ‘spun,’ ‘yelled,’ ‘wrenched,’ and ‘panted.’ Continue reading “How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 5. Varying Pace” →

Coming Soon! The Hole Inside the Earth!

Now you are considering writing the climax and want to know how to show tension when Rudolph can’t get the tractor down a narrow alleyway, or gets stuck in a snowdrift. So how do you show the tension?

Two spirits, joined by the dream of a world that might break out of a cycle of progress and destruction, seek each other out, again and again. Omah is a man with a key, but he knows not what it will open. Bri is an empath of outstanding ability. Together they will find a way to open up the RIP and find man’s destiny.

Subscriptions will be for $0.99 for 2 chapters per month (HITE Prime), or $0.49 for one chapter per month (HITE Stream 1 or 2), of a story that will build into seven novels of up to a million words and take years to complete.

You will be able to get all chapters or choose your genres from two streams:

Stream 1: Mostly Alternative History and War thriller, with some Romance

Stream 2: Mostly Science Fiction and Romance, with some Alternative History

The first two chapters will be FREE! And you will get one month free after you subscribe and a further month’s trial subscription after that.

Be the first to hear of the start of this new story by subscribing to the Lazlo newsletter:

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Map of Atalan T’ea Llantu in the 1st and 2nd Ages

Below is a map of Atalan T’ea Llantu in 1st and 2nd Ages. You will find a map of Atalan T’ea Llantu in the 7th Age in the appendix of The Hole Inside the Earth.

Map of Atalan T'ea in 1st and 2nd Ages — Map of Atalan T’ea in the 1st and 2nd Ages

Find out more about Atalan T’ea Llantu in the Appendix of The Hole Inside the Earth

How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 4. Structure

pen4 So Vampire Rudolph is desperate to guide the tractor on Christmas eve, but his nose won’t glow properly. Erma makes him an enormous apple pie to make him happy and promises him a good night in bed afterwards. She wants that new TV!

How do you you get the structure of your story right?

First Draft

For your first draft, don’t worry about structure. Just get the story down. It will come out chronologically, that is, with the events in the order in which they happen. They may not stay this way, but that’s fine for now. Too many writers worry about writing a blockbuster with their first draft. You won’t. All writers have to write a second draft, so don’t try and avoid it. Continue reading “How to Write a Good Vampire Book – 4. Structure” →

How to Write a Good Vampire Book 3. – Characterisation

Basic Rules of Characterisation

So, in our story about Vampire Santa’s sleigh problems, we have Santa, Vampire Rudolph, and Rudolph’s wife, Erma!

Now how do you create characters for them? There are no hard and fast rules, but be wary of simply writing the story as it comes into your head without setting the characters. If you do this, the most likely outcome is that all the characters will sound like the same person, or sub-personalities of the same person. For instance:

“Wow! I got an egg for my birthday. Thanks Erma. I really love you. It’s exactly what a male reindeer wants!”
“It’s okay Rudolph. Wow! I really love you too. I’m glad it’s what you wanted.” Continue reading “How to Write a Good Vampire Book 3. – Characterisation” →

2 Film Reviews: Fury and The Yakuza

fury_article_story_large — Brad Pitt as Wardaddy in Fury.

Fury (2014)

I first saw this film when it came to cable TV. I wasn’t impressed. The penultimate scene, whereby one of the main characters gets blown up by a grenade, looked totally unrealistic. German grenades were about half as powerful as allied ones but in a confined space like the turret of a tank, there would be still be little left of a man to identify, let alone a complete body with only a few stylish blood stains on its face.

But recently, I had to do some research for a book I am writing so I watched it again. Having written off the movie as an authentic document, I took a more relaxed approach and, I must say, I enjoyed it a lot more. Continue reading “2 Film Reviews: Fury and The Yakuza” →