“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
― Albert Einstein
Month: November 2015
Play Things & Past Times
I thought I would share this, because I love Gen Flynn’s horror stories. I have cast a spotlight on her in the past, here, and stick by my opinion that she is an upcoming author to keep an eye out for.
Source: Play Things & Past Times
An Interview With Daniel Ferguson
Image by Drestwn – CreativeCommons
An Interview with Daniel Ferguson
Daniel Ferguson is an avid gamer, reader and writer. Having paid his dues at uni, he emerged with a degree in creative writing, and is the author of the newly released novel ‘Children Of Fire’.
Allan Walsh: Hi Dan, tell us a little about yourself and the genre’s you write in.
Daniel Ferguson: Hi Allan. So I’m the kind of writer who doesn’t drink coffee. (hears the entire writing community die of shock). I do have caffeine often though, just not through coffee. I don’t have a job, that’s because I have a disability and get a pension for having it, which is pretty nice (though it does get boring sometimes). I love rock and roll, my DVD collection is monstrous, and I do karaoke any chance I get. Maybe because I slayed that particular beast, the semicolon is therefore nothing to me. I write mostly some variety of fantasy or apocalypse, but I am aware I should try out genres other than my favourites. And I live in a suburb whose streets are named after Greek and Roman mythology.
Allan Walsh: You’ve just released Children of Fire (COF), can you give us a quick summary of what the book is about?
Daniel Ferguson: Children of Fire is about a girl. This girl has magic powers that she doesn’t want, because [Spoiler]. She sets out from the fallout shelter she’s lived in the last 4 years, alone and up against the scary world outside. There she meets up with the main characters, who are helpful mercenaries (that’s a sentence you might not read/hear very often!) with super powers of their own. In short, it’s a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy/superhero novel about a girl who doesn’t want to be a sorceress any more.
Allan Walsh: How long have you been working on your first published novel – COF?
Daniel Ferguson: When I was a teen, I came up with the characters that found their way into the book. I was writing some stories with those characters, and I was enthusiastic about it. Eventually I had a bit of a nervous breakdown, and I questioned everything I thought about the stories they were involved in.
Fast forward to 2008. I’d decided sometime around there that I wanted to use the characters, but put them in a new world. I also liked apocalypse stories, and urban fantasy, and I just had the epiphany that I wanted to combine them. The rest is history.
Allan Walsh: So now you’ve released your first novel, what’s next?
Daniel Ferguson: one: I can now write the rest of the stories in the series, because I don’t have the spectre of COF looking over my shoulder as I write. You would not believe how good it feels to slay that monster. I’ve been basically focusing on the publishing, as a self-published author. Mostly I just want to rest. And even though I’m writing, I’d still count myself as resting after this one particular milestone that’s been so long in coming. Then right back into the word mines.
Allan Walsh: As a writer, where do you draw your influences from?
Daniel Ferguson: Terry Brooks wrote Armageddon’s Children, around 2008. I got a lot of inspiration from him. He was the one who taught me I can mix fantasy and apocalypse, something my mum doesn’t think can be done. I will have to put that book in particular on her desk some time.
Allan Walsh: You are a member of a Brisbane based writers’ group called Vision Writers’ – How has the group helped you with your writing?
Daniel Ferguson: How *haven’t* they helped? They’ve helped me turn from a monkey flinging raw, unpolished ‘prose’ (I use the term lightly) around, to someone who can write a proper sentence (usually). Uni helped too, of course, especially one teacher in particular. But Vision have helped by putting up with me, believing me, and helping me spot errors I wouldn’t see on my own.
Allan Walsh: And finally, do you have any advice for wanna-be writers out there that are trying to write and publish their own novels?
Daniel Ferguson: Remember that the worst published novel is still going to be more successful than the best unpublished novel. And also, YOU are in complete control. Write even if the muse doesn’t have your back. Forge ahead anyway. You’ll thank yourself later.
Allan Walsh: Well Dan, it’s been great talking to you, thanks for your time and I wish you all the best with your new book.
Daniel’s story Children of Fire, is available now from http://tiny.cc/cof2e (ebook) and http://tiny.cc/cofprint (print).
To find out more about Daniel ferguson and his work you can check out his blog at http://thedarkword.wordpress.com/.
Trial, error and ignorance.
Oh no – picture by Tom Woodward
I began my WordPress blog in March 2014 and after all this time, I would consider myself well versed in the use of my WordPress blog. When I set up my blog, I specifically picked a theme that was capable of working on mobile devices. I thought this was the smart thing to do, what with all the different tablets and phones out there. Today, some 20 months later, I was messing around with themes, thinking I might need to do a refresh on my site and while comparing a new theme to my current one, I realized I had not switched on the mobile device capability, Doh… I thought this was automatic, Double Doh… So, this in mind, I thought I would put the message out there. Anyone who has chosen a theme with mobile capability, don’t assume like I did – You should check it is switched on!
Writing is an exploration…
“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.”
E.L.Doctorow
Book Review – Bleach Vol 1:Strawberry and the Soul Reapers by Tite Kubo
Bleach, Vol. 1: Strawberry and the Soul Reapers by Tite Kubo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Okay, I’m a little behind on my Goodreads reading challenge and need to make up some ground. So I have switched to Manga for my next review. Bleach Vol 1 starts the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a boy who sees ghosts. An unexpected encounter with Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo becomes a Soul Reaper, hunting evil spirits that eat the souls of humans with psychic energy.
The Bad Stuff: For some, the reading from right to left, starting at what we from the western world would call ‘the back of the book,’ may be hard. Other will enjoy this and find it adds to their enjoyment. For me, there is nothing bad about this, it’s manga! Oh… yeah – I’ve found that you either like manga or you don’t. I like it, so it’s all good news for me. If you are one of those that dislike it, you’re probably not going to read it anyway.
The Good Stuff: This is manga at its best, it’s easy to read, well illustrated and witty, providing some laugh out load moments. The characters are fun and will keep you amused as you follow them through the book.
I loved Vol 1 and I’m looking forward to moving through the next 20 volumes on my book shelf. I’m giving it 4 out of 5 Golden bookmarks.
Allan Walsh - Author 