Lycanthrope, by Michael J Richardson (Aka, me). Self promotion Sunday.

Two long have I written this blog with no self-promotion so, as of today, that's stopping.
Don't worry, I'll still be posting reviews on the many books that I read and I'll do my best to keep them as eclectic as possible so you don't get bored but in the meantime I thought it only right to share some of my writing with you - this is Mad Mike's Writing Blog after all!
Most of my writing has a similar theme - be it the short stories, poems or novels - that theme being, reality interspliced with a little something out of the ordinary. This could be a haunting, a vampire, magic or, as is the case here, a Werewolf, but I like the unreality just touched upon, hinted at, rather than it dominate the narrative so, over the next few months you'll see a few more posts like this; posts about what I write and what might be coming.
I hope you enjoy these and I look forward to any feedback too, so without further ado, Lycanthrope, the subject of this post, which I thought a perfect place to start as it is one of my oldest short stories, one I wrote when I was nineteen - now why would that be of any significance, constant readers? - and I've learnt a lot since then.
Probably one of my less subtle efforts, admittedly but I still feel it has something all these years later as, amidst all the death and violence the main theme here is that of love. So have fun discovering it for yourselves and next time I'll introduce you to a ghost, a vampire, or some good old-fashioned magic.
In addition, as a little bonus, you can also read about an unfortunate runner who trips and has a fall, in the flash fiction, Root.
Lycanthrope can be downloaded for free from:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00E4X8YY8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i3

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, message me with your recommendations.

Magician has taken flight. (I've sent it out to the agents)

So, Magician, or Magica, as it might end up being called, has flown the nest.
Being the first book of a trilogy, I've had my work cut out, making sure I have no continuity issues, (book two is in what I like to call, the pre-production stage); in other words, I've only just finished the first draft, but bear with, I do work full time and I have a family to talk to once in a while, 'and pubs to visit', who said that?
But, Magician is done. Well, done to the degree that I think it punches in all the right places, cuddles you when you need it and gives you a jolly big slap around the face towards the end.
Magician, charts Charlie and Eve’s journey from their home town of Enfield, (where they go on a magical shopping spree), to Hertford, (where Eve listens, in a swimming pool), to the famous University City of Cambridge, (where they spend a few days hiding in a camper-van), to the harbour town of Brixham, (where they find Heather). [For any international readers: Enfield and Hertford are just north of London, whilst Brixham is on the south coast of England, in Devon].
Whilst being pursued, we experience the ups and downs of their relationship, the stresses and strains, as they get evermore isolated from their friends and family. We share their most intimate fears, marvel at Charlie’s magic, and rejoice at Eve’s most wonderful gift!

So, it's with the agents, I'm in their hands now; wish me luck cyber friends, 'cause I might need it.
Thanks of course, go to my long suffering, (yes I still live here, I'm in the back room editing again), wife, (a good cup of tea keeps me in her good books), my junior editors, Nathan and Verona, for ideas aplenty, and Sam from Texas, for all her editorial and grammatical advise last year.
I've not got any proper artwork for Magician yet - here's hoping I won't need it - but if I have to go down the self publish route, the picture to your left, might have something to do with it, so, let me know what you think.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.

Well, well well. 

According to the author, people have been asking him about what happen to Daniel 'Doc' Torrance after that fateful night at the Overlook hotel, (that was the climax of one of his best books, The Shinning, in case you didn't know), for a while now.

And now we know. Or do we?

I have a sneaky suspicion that Daniel Torrance and his new companion, Abra, will appear in a few more of his books before to long, particularly Abra, and I can't wait.

What a great character. We first meet her when she's a baby and as the book moves on and Dan Torrance's sobriety lengthens, Abra's strength grows, and then they finally meet. 

The baddies are a little less convincing in what they are, (a sort of vampiric sect living of the essence of dead kids with the shinning) but there character development is just as good as the others, insomuch as you hate the ones your supposed to hate and sympathise little as they meet their individual demise. 

I love this book, but having gone off of the supernatural element a bit recently, I didn't think is was as good as 11.23.63, which was simply sublime, so I'm going to give Doctor Sleep a four and a half star rating. 

One of his best. 

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse. A fantastic, moody and thoroughly entertaining read.

Labyrinth.

Worldwide best seller, the first of the trilogy that takes the reader from the twelfth century right through to the modern day, a TV mini-series and a tough act to follow, right? 

Well don't worry, because Kate Mosse has written another blinder. 

Set in the same southern French region as Labyrinth (I was lucky enough to holiday in Perpignan for a couple of years recently) The Winter Ghosts, charts the journey of a lost-sole as he meanders through life, looking for closure on his brother’s death in the Great War. 

Ten years have passed since he heard the news that his brother was gone and all is not well. We get flashbacks of our main character's mental state over those intervening years, and the book draws on the atmosphere of that sorrow and regret, expertly. I would read this book in my car at lunchtime, or in bed at night and feel the cold fear emanating from the pages, excellent work from Mosse. 

I won't put any spoilers in as I want to encourage you all to read this most excellent book and it's only short, so it won't take you long, but so worth it. 

I have Kate Mosse's Sepulchre and Citadel to dive into now, so I'll do just that and report back in due course with the results.

Inspiration for the day goes to all those who still fight for the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. (If you know or read Kate Mosse's work then you will know the connection, if you don't then grab one of her books and read, read, read. You won't be disappointed.)

A fantastic 'Catastrophe'. Max Hastings does it again.

Well, Max Hastings' latest book Catastrophe, makes for horrific reading.

He takes the reader through the years that lead up to the 'Great War' as it was called at the time, and how just a few people in power, made the decisions that would end the lives of millions. 

The book looks at both the eastern front as well as the western conflict, it charts the inadequacies of the leading generals and how their incompetence lead to such devastation over the first few months of the conflict. On one day alone, 27,000 French men died, 27,000! This tally doesn't include the injured or the German, British, Russian, Austrian, Hungarian or any of the other nations that were fighting that day, just the French. 

The book finishes at the end of 1914, so if as a reader you want to know what happened throughout the war, you will need further reading, but if like me, you just want to find out how it all went so disastrously wrong, this is up to Max Hastings' normal high standard, and you won't be disappointed. 

A solid four stars.
Inspiration for the day goes to all those thousands of men and women who helped the wounded, lonely and bereaved during and after this dreadful catastrophe. 

Does size matter?

I've read a silly amount of books this year and I'm not finished yet. I reckon, that by the end of 2014 I will have read about twenty five books, ranging in genres from horror and romance, through crime, classic and war. I've read fiction and non fiction, new authors and tried a tested ones, stand alone books and series, but does size matter?
Justin Cronin's 'The Passage' is sublime as is Marcus Zusak's 'The Book Thief' and both are long, compared to 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' which is fabulous, and 'Fahrenheit 451' which is both strange and compelling in equal measure, especially with Sam Weber's accompanied artwork in the Folio edition, and both these books are under two hundred pages. 

This year aside, I've read Stephen King's 'The Stand', which, at just over fourteen hundred pages, is the longest book I have ever read. 
'It' and 'The Lord of the Rings' both top a thousand pages and on the opposite end of the scale, H.G.Wells' 'War of the Worlds, and Richard Matherson's, 'I am Legend' which are up there in my top ten all time favourites, only support a few hundred pages between them. 
So I suppose I've answered my own question then.
Size does matter.
It matter in as much as a book can be short, long or anywhere in between, but as long as it is the right length to tell the story, it's going to be just fine. 
Inspiration for the day goes to all those editors out there who manipulate the books we read so they are, just the right length. 

Robert Harris, give him a prize. (Author spotlight part II)

Fatherland.
Epic!
Archangel, fantastic.
Enigma, intriguing. 
Robert Harris comes in for a little criticism next. 
Pompeii, the first of the ancient Rome trilogy was a great read and quite different from his first few books, but the last in the series, Lustrum, was a bit boring, lacking the punch and originality of the others.
'The Ghost' was made into a rather interesting film and came with a clever twist at the end and 'The Fear Factor' was pacey and religiously researched. Now I've got 'An Officer and a Spy' in the to read pile, so I can't pass judgement on his latest yet, but what a diverse mix of genre's and subject matters, from fictional outcomes of WWII and spying in 1940's England, through Stalin's Russian, to Rome in the height of its power, Robert Harris has written historical fiction like no other author I've read and I can't wait for what comes next.
I really need to get on with my own writing and follow in this eminent authors booksteps.
Inspiration for the day goes to all those lovely people who worked tirelessly to keep the country running when the big storms hit.