Author: Tom

A Scotsman who lives in England. An ex-Serviceman (23 years), ex-Retail (25 years). From 2007 - Creative Writer and Artist.

Stellar Cloud – a review

On By TomIn Achievement, General, Insight, Novel, Review, Short Stories11 Comments

Cover_1[1]Before I mention the book, ‘Stellar Cloud’, I think it would be pertinent to put something in perspective. My reason for reading Science Fiction was no accident. I believe in broadening my horizons as a writer, by reading widely.

During the A to Z challenge, I enjoyed following Charity Bradford’s blog. The posts she used throughout the challenge were based on Dr Who, the classic British time-travel series.

In itself the topic could be given a light-hearted or devil-may-care treatment, but irrespective of anyone else’s opinion, the alphabet was followed and good posts appeared each day.

The relevance of those challenge posts is simply that Charity’s passion for the genre shines through in them. That same passion allows her to write not only entertaining, but convincing stories in a genre that I do not normally read.

Okay, the average person might think, Science Fiction is not for me, but consider something for a moment. If a story is well told, does it really matter if it’s set in Arkansas, Frankfurt, Rome, or on the planet Zorg?

In ‘Stellar Cloud’ I found a variety of stories that produced the same empathy I would expect for characters in a traditional tale. The imagery was well drawn, the dialogue was natural, and the stories were well told. I found myself believing in each story, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.

I was delighted to find that each story was different. Irrespective of genre, many writers tend to write repetitive tales and they only differ in location and character names. The situations and conflicts in the ‘Stellar Cloud’ collection are sufficiently different.

Charity brings her book to a close with a Prologue and Chapter 1, for her novel, ‘The Magic Wakes’.

I would suggest if you haven’t tried Science Fiction, then Charity’s offerings are a good place to start.

Z … is for Zoom in.

On By TomIn Achievement, Competitions, General, Insight, Novel, Review, Short Stories, Uncategorized28 Comments

Z[1] is for zoom in. This is my first attempt at the A to Z Challenge, and although at times it was hard work, I feel that I’ve been rewarded in several ways. The best way I can demonstrate my appreciation to the organisers, moderators and my fellow participants is to give them a big thank you.

It feels appropriate that I should do it by way of highlighting them here. Among my list are a couple of good sites I found during my blog patrols, so although not participants, they were worth finding.

The list below is in no particular order apart from the first person, who I believe played a huge part in the success of the overall project.

A handful of the blogs I followed through April, which includes participants and non-participants:

* http://amloki.blogspot.co.uk/ Damyanti was added to my Blogroll recently, and it was from her that I found out about the A to Z Challenge 2014.

Damyanti has been one of the hosts that kept this monster running smoothly, but it would be remiss of me not to mention the others: Lee, Alex, Tina, Jeremy, Nicole, Stephen, Heather, AJ, MJ and Pam. I am listing their blogs at the end of my post, and I will be visiting each one after the challenge.

* http://janiceheck.wordpress.com/ Janice for advice on punctuation, grammar and written English.

* http://gypsyshutterbug.com/ Tara is worth following if you haven’t got time to go around the world yourself.

* http://loebick.com/ April is a wife, writer, woman, reviewer and blogger worth checking out.

* http://charitywrites.blogspot.co.uk/ Charity and her children have taken followers on a journey back in time with Dr Who. I have loved this blog through April.

* http://lynnelives.wordpress.com/about/ Lynne is a writer and painter and has lived all over the UK.

* http://princessofdragons.wordpress.com/ Princess of Dragons will provide any and all information on these mythical beasts. This has been another favourite site of mine throughout April.

* http://sydneyaaliyah.com/ Sydney is a Contemporary Romance writer and her debut novel it due for release in June 2014.

* http://www.stephaniefaris.com/#!stephie5741blogspotcom/cgvp Stephanie is an author of fiction, and non-fiction (technical).

* http://www.murderousimaginings.blogspot.co.uk/ Yolanda has a site worth checking if you have murder in mind. Another personal favourite.

* http://b-due.com/ Becky has a site and history to look at if you need to take stock of life, or want to feel inspired.

* http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/ Julie wears many hats in life, and her blog contains quotes, questions and prompts.

* http://julialundauthor.wordpress.com/ Julia is a writer with her debut novel only recently available. It’s a great read.

* http://echoesofthepen.com/ Paul is a novice writer, a book reviewer, and shortly to be an online interviewer. If you want to get the word out, impress him with your book and get him onside! He’s also a nice guy and writes a decent short story.

* http://stephenthom.wordpress.com/​ Stephen is a young musician and novice writer. He needs some support and encouragement.

* http://wktucker.com/ Kathy is a natural storyteller. Her site will be staying on my Blogroll.

The A to Z Challenge 2014 – team:

* http://tossingitout.blogspot.co.uk/ Lee

* http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.co.uk/ Alex

* http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.co.uk/ Tina

* http://www.beingretro.com/ Jeremy

* http://www.madlabpost.com/ Nicole

* http://authorstephentremp.blogspot.co.uk/ Stephen

* http://hmgardner.blogspot.co.uk/ Heather

* http://frodofrog.blogspot.co.uk/ AJ

* http://mjjoachim.blogspot.co.uk/ MJ

* http://unconventionallibrarian.com/ Pam

Given that there were over 2000 participants, I think these guys, and Damyanti, mentioned in my intro, are all owed a debt of gratitude. I will get in touch to thank each of our support team in the coming days.

After today, I’ll trim the blogs I follow, but however many are on there, I will do my utmost to make regular visits. I hope you’ve enjoyed this experience as much as I have. From today, I’ll be working on my latest novel again, having left it to simmer since the beginning of the challenge.

I’ll now add this post to my main menu ‘My A to Z Posts 2014’, so it will be there for open reference for one and all. Now, out of recent habit, I suppose I’ll have to write a post for tomorrow. Take care everybody out there and I’ve got a thought for you to take with you with your writing in mind.

‘If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got’

From a tired, but satisfied participant who started the challenge with 30 followers. Bye!