Category: Novel

Reading and Writing – Part 1 of 2

On By TomIn General, Insight, Novel

Glasses and penProfessionally made business cards, a new look for my website, followed by a new look for my blog and I feel ready to continue with my other projects.

In January 2013, I was invited to join the fledgling site ReadWave. Before getting my feet wet, I dipped my toes in by reading some of their short stories. I was entertained and on the basis that I read to be entertained and I write to entertain – I signed up.

I’ve since watched the site grow from strength to strength and have been impressed, not only by the abilities of the guys at the helm, but by their attitude. Many people produce an idea and ask for feedback – and the guys at ReadWave do likewise. What makes them stand out is that they act on the feedback they receive. They also keep their subscribers up to speed on any developments. Keep up the good work Simon, Raoul, Rob and team!”

If you read short stories or you write them I strongly recommend a visit to ReadWave. It’s easy and more importantly FREE to join. What will you get from it as a reader? You will find some great stories covering a wide variety of genre. What if you’re a writer, even an aspiring writer? You will gain immediate, constructive feedback and a following of faithful fans. 

Glasses - Men are from MarsWhat else am I reading, apart from short stories? In order to create the most realistic relationships for my next two novels I’ve just started reading the best-seller, ‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ by John Gray.

Did I just say my next two novels? Yes I did.
The first is my thriller about an ex–SAS soldier-turned vigilante. In a nutshell, he goes back to his native Glasgow, he’s not happy with the justice system and he does something about it. The working title is ‘Hawk – A Manhunter’.

A few weeks ago after much deliberation I accepted the challenge from a good friend to write a story about a particular European city. A short tale that was experimental in nature has evolved into something much more. From humble beginnings, ‘Discovering Amsterdam’ is now building into a credible story and will become a novel. There will be more about it in the second part of this two-part post.

A Grave Mistake – or not?

On By TomIn General, Insight, Novel, Poetry

Today I published my latest short story, ‘A Grave Mistake’, here, on my website: www.tom-benson.co.uk/ and on www.readwave.com .

The story is about a young policeman who feels he can do things in his own unorthodox way, but his plan fails …

St. Bartholomew's
St. Bartholomew’s

In my own case, I’m presently working on the next draft of my thriller, ‘Hawk – A Manhunter’ and it’s going well. Recently I was inspired to write a tale about a romance in Amsterdam. I’ve taken the idea further than I had intended and it is now taking the shape of a novel in first draft. The tale is titled, ‘Discovering Amsterdam’, but for now I’ll keep the plot under wraps.

Is it wise to write two novels simultaneously, I asked myself a few days ago. It feels like it should work because they are of different genre, so they shouldn’t interfere with each other in terms of thought process. I suppose as always, time will tell.

In other news I updated my website with a total revamp. The theme is now ‘pen and diary’ and it looks much better.

I was delighted to see that a few days ago I received a **** rated review on my ‘Natural History’ , Volume 3 of my poetry series which is on sale on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk