Wood Review

“The Wood” has been reviewed by British writer Neil Evans.  Neil describes the novel as “Highly recommended.”

Read the full review here.

Boy Racer

I don’t have much to report in terms of my writing at the moment.  ‘The Well’ has been assigned to an editor, so that appears to be going along.

The first story I ever got paid for was a short called ‘Boy Racer’ which appeared in the long defunct ‘Planet Prozak’.  In fact, Planet Prozak is so long defunct I can’t find anything but passing references to the magazine on the internet. 

As things are a bit quiet, and for a bit of fun, I’ve cut ‘Boy Racer’ into a few bite size chunks, and I’ll serialise it in several bursts over the Christmas and New year break on my Facebook page:

http://tinyurl.com/bwnlkwt

‘Boy Racer’ is a humorous fantasy without any horror elements for the squeamish to avoid.

Interview!

I was recently interviewed by fellow writer Neil Evans.  Neil has read ‘The Shoot’ and has a few words to say about that.

Thank you to Neil for having me, and apologies for the delay in putting up this notice.

Live Chat

Fellow Eternal Press author Gianna Bruno has invited me – along with erotic and historical romance author Alice Gaines – to a pre-Thanksgiving chat.

This’ll be at 1-3pm EST (6-8pm UK time) tonight – Saturday 19th at the Coffee Time Romance Group - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karendevinkaren/

From Legend to Fiction

Occasionally I get asked about my thought process for writing fiction based on myth, and in particular how I go about fleshing out the bare bones of stories and characters.

Anyone who knows me will know how much I love the wild moors and mountains of north Wales, and the ancient, gentle legends that abound in the region – it seems that every hill, river or town has a host of Celtic stories attached to it.

I’m toying with rewriting one of may favourite Welsh myths – the story of King Math of Gwynedd and his footholder, the beautiful Geowin.

In the story, Math is tricked into leaving Geowin unprotected, where she is ‘taken’ (to be tactful) by his nephews.  Math finds out, and makes Geowin his wife to maintain her honour, while banishing the nephews.

So, among the questions the writer needs to ask…

What did the characters look like?

What does a footholder do?  (I don’t subscribe to the view that the king needed a virgin to hold his foot otherwise he would die.  I prefer something more straightforward, like hiring a nursemaid to look after an old wound that needs continual treatment.)

Was Geowin an unfortunate victim of circumstances who became queen by luck?  Or was she a manipulative young woman who seduced two impressionable young men and was prepared to see them banished in her drive to be queen?

The story of Math is a particularly complicated one, with sub-plots and war and magic.  Most of the places mentioned in the story are easily identifiable, and I know some of them very well.

I may or may not ever decide to turn this into a novel.  If I do, one of the fun bits will be filling in the blanks left by the ancient storytellers!

Doe-Dragon Blurb Listed

Up and coming British thriller writer Neil Evans has kindly put ‘The Doe and the Dragon’s’ blurb on his blog.

I’ve had the opportunity to read a portion of Neil’s current draft novel.  At the moment he’s unpublished, but if the quality of what I’ve read is maintained throughout, that won’t be the case for long.

Black Death - Review

‘Black Death’ is a horror film I wasn’t aware of until I found a cheap copy in my exchange shop.  It stars Sean Bean, who plays a role not dissimilar to that of Boromir in ‘Lord of the Rings’.

The story is set in England at the time of the Black Death, and uses the plague to good horror effect, with corpses that get the viewer into the mood immediately.

Bean’s character and the hero – a young monk – have to make a journey across England to look for a sorcerer whose capture they believe would halt the disease.  The plot is simple but effective (the sort that makes you ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?”) and the horror elements are emphasised throughout, but sewn into the story seamlessly without being forced.

I thought the special effects were particularly effective.  That is, there aren’t (m)any, and the lack of flashy graphics give the film a realistic look, rather than the almost ‘cartoony’ feel of films where special effects play an important role.

There were some elements that didn’t quite work for me.  As a historian I thought some of the sets more continental and perhaps more dated than I’d expect from medieval England – although in fairness that did add to he atmosphere.  My main concern though was in the exposition at the end.  Although dramatically done, I do know if I’d tried explaining the plot in a novel my critiquers would give me a good kicking!

But overall it’s a fun, well crafted film and deserves to be more widely known.  8/10