Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Tuesday Poem - Little Book of Autumn
Monday, 30 August 2021
The Bone Thief - update
Wednesday, 25 August 2021
A Slice of Cake With... Daniele Kasper
Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Daniele Kasper.
Daniele’s travels have taken her around the world and back again, but her favorite adventures will always be found between the covers of a good book. From rescuing dolphins in the Florida Keys to getting chased by grizzly bears in Alaska, Daniele has taken her adventures and used them as inspiration for her writing. Eventually, she married a horse trainer and settled down in central Michigan. She is now a farm girl with her husband, The Cowboy. They have four rescue dogs, a multitude of cats and chickens and a couple of cowponies. Daniele loves reading and writing fantasy and science fiction. She also loves all things Outlander and Disney, can’t grow a garden to save her life and occasionally moonlights as an elementary teacher.What kind of books do you write?
I write books that take you out of your home and humdrum life and throw you into magical, fantastical situations that we always spend hours secretly daydreaming about.
Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Tuesday poem - Bad Back Strikes Again
They taunt me every time I get into bed
I hear a whisper now and then
A faint alarm whenever I bend
When they don't flare for a good long while
I jaunt around with a great big smile
And just when I think all is well
My back injury takes me to hell
Can't sit
Can't walk
Making me gasp, making me cry
Monday, 23 August 2021
My First Audiobook!
Oooh it's taken a while but I can proudly announce that The Interspecies Poker Tournament is now available on audio - my first audiobook!
The Interspecies Poker Tournament is a Roshaven novella, a case file from the thief-catcher office and as such has Ned Spinks and Jenni the sprite investigating a series of murders.
Blurb
Ned Spinks, Chief Thief-Catcher, has a new case. A murderous moustache-wearing cult is killing off members of Roshaven's fae community. At least that's what he's been led to believe by his not-so-trusty sidekick, Jenni the sprite. She has information she's not sharing but plans to get her boss into the Interspecies Poker Tournament so he can catch the bad guy and save the day. If only Ned knew how to play!
The Interspecies Poker Tournament, Case 27 of The Roshaven Files, is a humorous fantasy novella following the adventures of Ned Spinks and Jenni, a prequel to The Rose Thief. If you loved Terry Pratchett's Discworld, you'll love Roshaven.
Here is a preview of the audiobook:
The Process
Wednesday, 18 August 2021
A Slice of Cake With... Stephen Oliver
Today I am delighted to have a slice of cake with author Stephen Oliver.
Stephen is an ex-software engineer who spent many years of his life programming computers to make people's lives better. He has since also begun writing self-help and fiction (primarily science fiction, space opera, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, horror, fairy tales, fairy stories, slipstream, interstitial, noir, detective fiction, action, thriller, humour, YA, and children's stories) and has achieved over 1.15 million words in the past eight years.What kind of books do you write?
I write stories about the weird and wonderful narrative universe I've created, full of strange creatures, scientific marvels, and dark monsters. Many of my main characters are outsiders of some kind.
Can you describe your writing why?
I love to tell stories about the odd and the strange. I've been an SFF fan for over 50 years, and I feel I have many unusual tales of my own to tell (6 novels, 1 completed and 4 WIPs), plus 8 anthologies (4 completed, 4 WIPs; covering over 180 short stories and novellas).
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
This is not necessarily my favourite because there are so many. However, it is the latest favourite thing I've written. I completed the story two days ago.
He was the greatest visio-musician of his age.
She was a rank beginner.
He was the consummate master, beloved by all.
She was unknown, even to her contemporaries.
He was old and fading.
She crackled with youth and vitality.
He recreated all his best works, again and again. Precisely the same, every time.
She brimmed with new energies of creation, raw and edgy.
He wanted peace.
She wanted to kill him.
He was already dead.
Tell us about your latest project
My latest project concerns the novels and anthologies I've written in my narrative universe. I'm in the process of submitting the first of them (a novel titled Shuttlers and the first anthology of the series title Paranormal City) to publishers and agents alike. I've sent out 318 submissions since the beginning of the year and 9 of my short stories have already been accepted for publication in magazines and anthologies. Two more were published last year.
Tuesday, 17 August 2021
Tuesday poem - 10 Lines
I recently attended a really fun poetry workshop run by poet Ella Frears and the Poetry Takeaway Van. We were given some creative exercises to do which included writing a ten-line poem with ten rules.
1. must have an explosion
2. must have a half-rhyme
3. must have a proper noun
4. must have an animal
5. must have a nonsense word
6. must have a colour
7. must reference the animal, nervous
8. must have a word repeated three times that begins with the letter of your first name
9. must have an exclamation
10. must finish with three adjectives
At first, I panicked - I've never done anything like this before but I gave it a go and this is what I came up with.
Boom ba da boom ba da boom bing bing!
All the words are fighting over everything
They've decided to leave the English language
And dive down into the ocean to meet the starfish
But they get entangled in a splodgy mess
In shades of inky blackness as they sink
The starfish are scared, they can't punctuate
But they're curious of shapes, curious of sounds, curious at all the moving parts
Ye Gads! What is that?
It's a fishing net made of children's tears, hopes and fears as they fish for wonderful, witty, wacky words.
So there you have it - starfish and words under the sea. Can't tell I have kids, can you? Ha ha! Why not have a go yourself and see what you come up with. I'd love to see your poems.
Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop. Never miss out on future posts by following me.