Mega progress update!

So last week was a momentous one. Last week, I completed the 2nd edit of my 1st novel ‘Alyssa', and sent it in for final review. This completes the final draft of the rewrite of the novel.
This follows the 1st edit (received in November 2018 and completed May 2019) which was the most extensive part of the rewrite. The 2nd edit, by contrast, was more of a tidy up and improving basics such as descriptions, individual scenes and dialogue.
Regardless, that’s it. The novel is done!
The work now passes to my publishers and I await the next phase.

Its been a massive undertaking.  I have put a huge amount of effort into following the edits and suggestions of my editor and making the original story 10 times better.  Hopefully, this is reflected in this new edition when it is released.
As for a release, that’s up to the publishers now.  Like everyone else, I will now await their word on what comes next.

But that’s not all.  Last week I also submitted two short stories as part of writing competitions. 
The 1st I submitted to Mantic Games, as part of a competition to have a short story featured in the upcoming new rule book for their wargaming system ‘Kings of War’.  The prise is a Mega army box (a big box of toy soldiers) which I am keen for!
The 2nd story, character bio’s and the summary was sent to Black Library, as part of a big competition to seek out new author talent for their line of Fantasy and Sci-fi stories set in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k universes.  Again, I’d be very keen to be writing for Black Library so have given it a good go.

We will see what happens, but I can satisfactory say that my writing muscles have been thoroughly exercised.
I will likely post up my short story submissions onto this blog sometime in the future, but meantime, that’s you all up to date.  Till next time.

Other Interests: Table Top Roleplay

A new blog post, just not within a month of the last one as originally planned.  Ah well, next time!
This one, is on a very different topic.
Whilst I love writing, it is not my first love.  I’ve found myself involved in a variety of weird and wonderful interests over the years and I’d like to tell you about some of them in some of my blog updates.

The first was what partly inspired me to write in the first place; tabletop role play, or pen and paper role play.  Basically, it involves a bunch of people sitting around a table and effectively acting out the lives of a variety of characters created by themselves according to the rules of the game they are playing.  Depending on those rules, they might be a group of adventurers exploring a dungeon, a spaceship’s crew, or even a group of vampires.

I started tabletop role play with an old classic by the name of ‘Vampire; the Masquerade’ by White Wolf publishing.  This game casts the players as a variety of different kinds of vampire, all attempting to survive in the World of Darkness; the game's setting a world much like our own, only worse.  It was an easy introduction, as the game rules were easy to follow, particularly the rules for creating my character.  I favoured assassins and combat centred characters.  It was a good introduction.

After this, I got into another game by the same company; ‘Mage the Ascension’.  This was when things became interesting.  Mage was as deep background-wise as Vampire, except the magic rules in it were wonderfully free-form.  It was also the game that encouraged me to ‘GM’ my own games.  GMing stands for ‘Games Mastering’.  It’s always left to one person in a roleplaying game to keep things going; to introduce the players to the background, story, notable non-player characters and objectives.  I took to this and started crafting my own stories, writing them within the games background and allowing the players to run free within the narrative I created.

With the experience of Mage under my belt, I took a chance on a new roleplay game that had just come out.  A tactical RPG, which involved models as well as the player's imagination.  This game was called Cadwallon; it was amazing.

True, the edition my friends and I picked up was a direct translation from the original French.  As such, the English was a little ‘unusual ‘ and it required my good friend Gavin to go through the book and re-translate the rules to our liking.  Despite this, we loved the setting and the opportunities.

Over one year, we played 28 separate sessions of Cadwallon, all from stories I had created.  Over a dozen players were involved, sometimes all at once!  One night, I had three separate sessions going with three separate groups.  One in my kitchen, one in the living room and one briefly in my hallway!  It was a mammoth undertaking and I was immensely proud of the stories and situations we created from the game.

So much so, that it formed the nucleus of my own fantasy world that, in turn, would lead to writing my first Haldred Chronicles book ‘Alyssa’.

After Cadwallon I continued to play RPGs.  Rogue Trader, from Fantasy Flight, was particularly good fun and was played on a scale like Cadwallon.  It encouraged me to apply my writing style to several short stories that I subsequently submitted to Black Library, albeit without success.

Today I don’t get to play the games as much, but I still find myself collecting the rule books and background.  These still very much interest me.

Next, I’ll let you in on another passion.  Wargaming…

What next?

Haldred Chronicles: Anna is out.  2 years of work and book 4 has at last been released.  I am happy with the result and it seems so are my readers!  So, after more than a month of resting, what now?

I’ve already completed one big task, and that was to submit a short story to sci-fi and fantasy publishers Black Library as part of their call for submissions.  With the able help of my wife Deborah, who proofread the submission, I sent off the 500-word extract and summary a couple of days ago.

The second big task now sitting on my to-do list is, of course, book 5.  I have taken some time to look through my various story ideas and have decided to go with ‘Haldred Chronicles: Twig’.  This story will concentrate on the Courier-fey, message passing creatures that have been a staple of Haldred Chronicles since the first book.  Now, with book 5, readers will learn a little more about these creatures.

I have a few other plans as well that I’ll work on when I have time.

 I hope to go over my first 3 books and reformat the look of them.  Each of them featured slightly different font and paragraph design so I now want to re-edit them so that they are all the same.  In addition, I hope to use the re-formatted work to create better-printed copies of the books via Kindle Direct Publishing.

I’ve also been working on a synopsis of book 3, ‘Shade’.  Together with a recently completed introduction letter and the first 3 chapters, I hope to use this package as my way to advertise the series to potential publishers and agents.

There is plenty planned for the next few months.  I feel like the Easter holidays have allowed me to get back into writing and make my plans for the future of the series.

Till next time.

I've not been idle

Well it's true, it's just I've not had much time to write a blog, but I'm taking a bit of time now to redress the balance.

It's been four months since my last blog update, and exactly seven months since my son Logan was born. We've been a busy little family since then, and our 'wee man' has been growing up fast.

On the writing front, I've been busy with the following.

I finished the first draft of the Wrathborn wargames background and submitted my writing so far to its creator. We'll be meeting up again soon to expand on the background further.

I submitted a short story entry to Black Library publishing house, who produce Warhammer and Warhammer 40k novels. Sadly, my entry was not accepted for publication, but I did get past the first triage so I'm pleased they took a good look at my entry. I'll definitely be trying again next year.

Very recently I've been working again on my fourth Haldred Chronicles book 'Anna'. For a long time I've been going back to it but not feeling inspired enough. Now, with an infusion of new ideas, the story is back on track! I'm up to 22,000 words and counting.

I'm also writing a synopsis for Haldred Chronicles : Shade. The plan is I will being using Shade as my pitching book to publishers, so I need to write the synopsis very carefully.

Finally, I'm taking part in Nanowrimo, the November writing competition, but in a different kind of way. Mantic Games, a local wargaming company, are running a writing competition in celebration of Nanowrimo. They want a couple of short stories written for their Warpath and Kings of War gaming systems. So, I'm going to have a go! Closing date is 1st December so like all those taking part in Nanowrimo proper, I've a deadline to work toward.

 Plenty to keep me busy these next few months. Until next time, take care.

Plans within plans

It's been a busy few months as Deborah and I adapt to the new arrival in our life. Little Logan is now nearly four months old and doing very well. Our little son is growing up quickly and our current prediction is he will be a mischievous one!

Whilst looking after the wee man has been my top priority, it doesn't mean I have been idle on the writing front.

I have massively expanded my Pinterest account with writing tips and tricks. Everything from story structure to simple grammar has been posted up and I've found it very useful to have this library of knowledge at my disposal. If you're interested, find my pins here:

 https://uk.pinterest.com/jgcully/on-writing/

In turn, I've continued to develop the 4th book in my Haldred Chronicles series. 'Anna' is taking shape nicely and I'm aiming to have the first draft complete in a couple of months. As in my previous blog post, I will see how it progresses but am not going to promise anything just yet.

I've also continued to write background for Wrathborn, a wargame system, as well as keeping my Black Library short story submission up to date.

Finally, just within the last few days I received my copy of "Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2017", which I shall be reading extensively for information on publishers and agents.

Till next time!

PS: this is the first blog post I've written and published completely on my BlackBerry Passport! Next, let's see if I can write a book on it!
PPS: unfortunately in my haste to publish this blog I managed to make a number of grammar errors.  My thanks to those who picked up on them and let me know; corrections have now been made.

Lots of news and fiction!

Blog update 1^st June 2014

This will probably be my last blog update for a while, as the final preparations for the wedding are falling into place and of course afterwards, our honeymoon J!

In between planning for the great day, I have still been writing away on Haldred Chronicles: Shade and immensely enjoying the experience. 

This novel is turning into a more complex plot, but I think readers will enjoy it more as I’m operating with now somewhat established characters.  That and I’ve developed my own style to a greater extent.

Whilst blog posts have been few and far between, I’ve continued to be active on the social networking scene.

I now have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, as well as blogspot.  For those who are on these accounts, please find my links below!

Twitter = https://twitter.com/jgwritesnovels

Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/HaldredChronicles

Pinterest = http://gb.pinterest.com/jgcully/

LinkedIn = http://uk.linkedin.com/in/jgcully

Tumblr = http://jgcully.tumblr.com

Blogspot = http://jgswritinganovel.blogspot.co.uk/

Finally, I thought I would post up the below short piece of fiction.  I presented this at my writing group and they liked it, so I submit it now for all of you to see and hopefully enjoy.  It is by no means polished but can be considered a stand alone aspect of Haldred Chronicles world.

Take care everyone, I’ll be posting again maybe in a months time.  Thank you again for all your support.

* * * * *

The Shopping Trip

* * * * *

“I don’t need to go clothes shopping.” said Victoria again.

Sandra and Katy, walking either side, both turned to look at her at the same time.  Their eyes scanned her up and down as if regarding a life sized doll as opposed to a living, breathing and mildly pissed off person.

“Yes you do.” The girls observed in unison.

Victoria wondered for a moment whether the two of them were twins in a previous life.

“Come on, it’ll be fun!” said Sandra, trying to infuse the situation with at least a little enthusiasm.  Sandra was one of Katy’s friends, though considering the days activates Victoria was currently labelling her as ‘co-conspirator’.  She was a short stylish young girl, Katy’s age, dressed in a fine blue dress with a flower motif across her front, complemented by a same colour tunic of thick winter material.  Unlike the blond haired Katy, Sandra had black hair, braided up in a bun at the back of her head. She’d small blue eyes and a very smiley face.  Far to smilely as far as Victoria was conserned.

Katy for her part wore a white dress and tunic, her hair as always up in pigtails tied by ribbons and a small fur around her neck for warmth in the still rather chilly winter air.

Victoria looked the most out of place of the three; she wore a burgundy tunic and black leggings, the thick leather belt round her middle bearing a Tornarian rapier and her Council of Peace badge.  Her clothing, as far as she was concerned, was perfect for her day to day activates; the girls thought otherwise.

It had started out as an innocent enough suggestion.  Sandra and Katy had visited on one of Victoria’s rare days off and suggested going out for a ‘girly day’.  Victoria had at first, naturally, suggested she would rather have her brains smashed in by an Ogre.  She had eventually consented, cautiously, to such an arrangement when the girl’s had accepted that a trip out would include visiting the Larrick City Militia shooting club, as well as passing by the National Museum’s newly opened ‘Warrior maidens of the Six Nations War’ exhibition. 

However, as they were making their way into town the girls had leaned more and more toward ‘wouldn’t it be nice’ territory.  Wouldn't it be nice swiftly followed by ‘clothes shopping’.  Victoria had valiantly resisted, but with two teenagers using both charm (“but you've got the body for it”) and manipulation (“wouldn't harm to take a look surely?”) eventually her mental defenses had been cunning breached and the teenagers had succeeded in convincing her to accompany them to parts-I’d-rather-not-go; namely the more trendy section of Larrick cities central market place.

“I’m not that kind of woman.” Victoria grumbled, crossing her arms and attempting to look as uncomfortable with the entire arrangement as she was feeling.

Now, much as a prisoner facing death row, she was being marched toward a foreboding looking (at least to her eyes) clothes shop.  Complete with clean clear glass windows, finely painted shutters and door and, most worrying of all, displays of pink and white dresses in the window.  Victoria’s stomach curled in disgust.

The sign on the door read “Madam Hendricks best flowers and ladies fashions.”

Oh just kill me now.

* * * * *

“This one’s nice.  I think it would show off your curves nicely!”

Sandra, sadly, didn’t catch Katy’s frantic ‘No! No! No!’ hand gestures from behind Victoria.  Sandra immediately shrunk from the look that Victoria shot at her, as sure as a sniper crossbow bolt.

“I do not need to show off anything.” Victoria growled, eyes having already narrowed.  The young girl took the hint, quickly placing the leggings back when she found them and backing away, so as not to antagonize the Council of Peace investigator further.

Katy, more used to the lioness’s methods of conversation and opinion, was more careful.

“What about this?” she held up a light blue ladies tunic.  “It’s not pink.”

Despite the rather simple statement, this was a fine endorsement for Victoria; especially considering most of the clothing in the shop was various shades of the same off putting colour.

Victoria nodded, keeping a none-committal face but looking the garment over

“I think it would be quite pretty on you.”

Katy caught herself too late.  Victoria’s glare returned.

“I mean in a ‘don’t touch’ kind of way.” Katy hurriedly added.

Sighing, Victoria put the garment onto the rather sparse ‘maybe’ pile and returned to casting her head around the disgustingly cutesy shop and keeping a hand on her stomach in a vain attempt to prevent herself throwing up.

This is just too much she thought, observing the interior and fellow customers.  Dresses that were far too short, leggings that were practically see through and the whole damn facade for the most part edged or coloured in damnable pink, or variations on.  She had, up until entering this store, never thought that there could be so many shades of that particular colour but apparently, there were.  And they were all here, paraded before her for her despair.  Whilst she was a woman and was more than happy to dress stylishly this…well this was just wasn’t right.

The customers were, for the most part, no better.  A variety of young girls clucking to each other in clandestine groups, looking over cloths with shop sell’s people fretting round them and observing how ‘pretty’ they all looked no matter what they tried on.  Nearby, worried looking mothers and fathers in what Victoria considered normal looking clothing, observed from the side lines wearing expressions similar to Victoria’s, looking around the shop trying to disguise their horror.

Kids these days. Hell who am I kidding, adults these days!

There were indeed several trendy adults about the place, cooing at various garments in overly excited manners and grinning too widely once they tried them on.

Whilst Victoria’s brain may have been offended by pretty much everything on offer, it was still a Larrick City Militia trained brain.  One more than capable of noticing things that appeared a little out of place. 

Such as a very out of place looking bearkin.

Victoria frowned.  Yes, that was a bearkin, hard not to miss a 8 foot tall furry combat monster, it’s back to her and slightly hunched over; apparently looking over a variety of women’s dresses.  This was doubly odd as it appeared to be male.  Her curiosity raised Victoria started to wonder over, Katy and Sandra otherwise engaged in complementing each other’s dress choices, apparently having forgotten that Victoria was even there.

As she drew closer, she got a better look at the creature.  The bearkin was clad in leather utility battle plate, one of the few types of armour capable of being fitted to such large creatures.  This would have looked out of place for any other creature in a cloths shop but then bearkin tended to walk around armed and armoured all the time. 

It’s fur was dark grey, and well groomed.  Evidently a bearkin who took care of it’s appearance.  He’d broad shoulders and muscular arms, confirming that he was indeed a fighter.  A long sword was attached to his back on what looked like a custom sheath.  The sword was very familiar looking.

No, it couldn’t be.

“Ralgar?” she inquired hesitantly.

If bearkin could look scared, Ralgar’s expression as he spun round at Victoria’s voice, nearly knocking several dress display’s over, could definitely be read, across the span of race, creed and simple biological makeup, as utterly terrified.

“Victoria!” he exclaimed, his black beady eye’s having widened extensively.  “Wah…what are you doing here?”

Ralgar was a mercenary bearkin, often found in Council of Peace employ and one Victoria was familiar with; he was known as an effective tracker and formidable warrior; not exactly the type to be found in a woman’s clothing shop.

“I’m shopping.” Victoria replied, coyly.  She cocked her head to one side, studying Ralgar with a practiced eye.  “And you?” she asked after a deliberate pause.

“Ah…nothing.” he replied lamely.

Oh come on Ralgar you can do better than that. Victoria didn’t say.

“Nothing at all?” she pressed further.  The detective part of her brain was taking over, relishing the distraction Ralgar had unwittingly provided.

“Yes, nothing at all.” Agreed Ralgar.  Unfortunately for him, Victoria was not so easily taken in by blindingly obvious lies.

“So what’s that in your paw then?” she enquired innocently.

“There’s nothing in my paw.” Ralgar replied a fraction too slowly.

He held up his left paw as if to emphasis his innocence.

“The other one.” Victoria ordered.

Ralgar, hands behind his back rather too blatantly transferred what was in his paw from right to left, before raising his right paw.

Victoria shook her head, hands moving to her hips.

“Ralgar.”

“Alright fine it’s…” the Bearkin paused.  “It’s a handkerchief.” He added as a last ditch effort to conceal the truth.  Victoria was ahead of him.

“Handkerchief in the shape of a woman’s dress?”

Ralgar, defeated, just glared at Victoria.  It was an action that would have caused a fight or flee response in anyone else.  For Victoria, it was just a confirmation of her vindication; that and mildly amusing.

“Great ancestors I do hate you woman” he growled.

Victoria smirked just a little.

“Do tell us your tale Ralgar.”

“It’s my eldest.” He said in a lamentable tone.  “She…she wants to look pret-tay.”

“Pret-tay?” queried Victoria, frowning.

“Yes.”

“Pretty” Victoria corrected him.

“Whatever.  She’s been attending a new private school that’s been opened to select bearkin.”

“How select?” enquired Victoria, crossing her arms business like; the distraction had turned very interesting.

“Best I can determine that involves bearkin with money.  So, my mate has indicated that our eldest join up.  Four months later and her head’s filled with all sorts of modern…things…”

He practically spat the last word.

“I know what you mean.” Agreed Victoria, looking around at the parade of, to her eyes, awful dress sense that continued to exist across the shop displays.

“There you are.” Said Sandra, coming up behind Victoria.  “oh, and you met a friend!”

“Friend?” queried Katy as she followed Sandra.  She stopped dead, eye’s immediately widening.

“Oh dear.” She managed in a tiny voice as she regarded Ralgar with a look of simple, complete terror.

“Oh come on Katy.” Victoria remarked, seeing the youngster immediate reaction when being confronted with a bearkin.  “you know Ralgar.”

Ralgar was indeed one of the few bearkin Katy was familiar with; he was a friend of Gretna the dwarf’s and hence one of the few bearkin known at the Elks Horn tavern where Katy worked. This, however, didn’t seem to help her primal fear of the race as a whole.

“That’s why I’m not screaming.” Katy replied slowly.  “But you’ll have to accept me still being…” she trailed off.

“Believe me.” Victoria replied.  “Ralgar and I are the terrified ones,”

“Got that right.” Agreed Ralgar, not bothering to hide his shudder as he looked around the shop again and let out an audible grown of discontent.

“What?” Sandra asked but Victoria waved her query away, knowing better than to try and explain. 

“Ralgar is here to get a dress for his daughter.” Victoria indicated.

“She wants to be pret-tay.” Ralgar added by way of explanation.

“Pretty?” queried Sandra

You’re going to get a lot of that Ralgar Victoria didn’t put in.

“Yes.”

“We’re trying to make Victoria pretty too!” Sandra said absentmindedly.

Katy snapped out of her shock, and accurately jabbed Sandra in the ribs, making the girl at once winch and realise her mistake.

“I mean ah, prettier.”

Katy, forgetting Ralgar for a moment, just turned to look at Sandra with an expression that could be read as saying the word ‘seriously?’ without the need to vocalize it.

Whilst the two young girls were preoccupied, Victoria leaned in, or more accurately up considering Ralgar’s height, to whisper in his ear.

“Want to get out of here fast?”

“Absolutely.”

“Me too.” Victoria confirmed.  “Follow my lead and you’ll get a dress for your daughter quickly and we’ll both get out of here.”

“Deal.”

“Ladies.” Victoria timely interrupted. “perhaps, we should continue?”

Victoria’s plan was rather devious.  She had accurately determined that the primary reason for the girls entering the cutesy shop was not to get Victoria a variety of new cloths, but actually to get themselves a variety of new cloths.  Having studied their habits, she had determined a cunning plan of action that hopefully, would result in her leaving the shop quicker than originally intended and with her wallet not quite as light as she feared.

She had, likewise, a very specific task for Ralgar.

The opportunity to advance came quickly.

“Oh Sandra, that looks lovely.” Victoria commented on seeing the girl examining a nearby dress.  Sandra was surprised.

“Oh?  You really think so?”

“Oh yes, very flattering and you’ve the figure to pull it off.”

The statement was accurately constructed to immediately entice the girls interest.  Sandra wasn’t stupid, indeed far from it; but she was predictable.

“Oh, thank you.” Beamed the girl, looking over the garment.  “Katy, what do you think?”

Katy wondered over and almost immediately adapted a concerned expression.  “Oh Sandra, I…”

“I think it looks just lovely.” Said Ralgar’s voice, appearing behind Katy at the most opportune time and with the most appropriately menacing tone.

Oh nicely done remarked Victoria to herself.

Katy had the predicted reaction, going completely pale and stiff as board at the bearkin’s unexpected close proximity.  It was a cruel and hideously unkind action, and Victoria surmised Katy would probably be giving her an earful later.  But, if the rest of the plan went well, it would result in leaving the shop; a stated and much required objective.

“What was that Katy?” asked Victoria.  “You thought it was nice too didn’t you?”

Katy managed to look over to Victoria.  The sharp little youngster knew exactly what was happening but wasn’t really in a position to argue.  She nodded slowly, defeated, trying to glare at Victoria but unable to effectively with a bearkin uncomfortably close.

“Well, that really saved some time.” Sandra agreed.  “I’ll get this then.  Victoria, what about…”

“Oh I’ve got what I need.” Victoria held up several winter leggings and the only practical tunic she’d been able to find in the store; they were easily the least cutesy looking garments.  They were a small price to pay considering the amount of time and patience saved.

Sandra wasn’t completely taken in Victoria could see, but with Katy’s opinion effectively neutralized and no shop sale’s people about, Sandra had no choice but to take what she had purchased and conclude business; just as Victoria had planned.

All of them headed toward the nearest purchase point, Sandra leading the way confidently with Katy in toll and Ralgar keeping is position just behind the blond haired youngster; just close enough to keep her quiet.

As part of the deal, Victoria whispered in Ralgar’s ear her instructions from behind him.

“Extra large shoulder width, two twenty four, that one over there.  You’ll need to modify for her hips I’d say but play your cards right and you’ll be on her right side and your lady’s for a long time.”

“Nicely done Victoria, appreciated.” Concurred Ralgar

“All in a days work Ralgar.”

Sandra and Katy were waiting for her at the door, disappointed expressions prepared and hands already on their hips.

“That was so mean!” Sandra declared, glaring as best she could at Victoria.  “Poor Katy told me what you did.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Victoria replied innocently.  Katy was glaring at her as well but sadly the two youngsters were not yet skilled in that particular regard; the glare from Katy in particular looked down right adorable.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Katy settled on, crossing her hands and seeming to huff.

“Look, no harm was done.” Victoria advised.  “I got my cloths, Sandra got hers.  Everyone wins.”

The girls remained silent.  They’d probably be huffing with her for a few weeks.

“Anyway, I’m off.” Victoria said, her adventure done for the day.  Or so she thought.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Katy rather suddenly.  Victoria turned, frowning.

“Well, home.  We’ve been cloths shopping.”

Both Sandra and Katy suddenly adapted the most devilish looking smiles Victoria had ever observed.  She actually found herself stepping back as the two youngsters approached and with a speed that took Victoria completely off guard, hooked their arms into Victoria’s.

It was Katy who indicated why the change in attitude

“We’ve been to one shop yes.” She said, grinning.  “Let’s see what’s next!”

Victoria gave herself a very serious mental kick as she was lead away.

What a brilliant start to the day…

Well where have you been?

“Well, where have you been?”

Yes, well.  It’s been a busy few months!

Apologises to my regular readers for the lack of full scale updates, though I have attempted to keep my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn up to date.

Work has been very busy within recent weeks and even now it’s still pretty tough though I’ve adapted to the higher workload.  Wedding prep is going better and I’ve taken the very sensible action of not selling my house until after the honeymoon. This has taken a great deal of stress off both our shoulders!

Meanwhile, in between all this, I have still been writing you’ll be glad to hear.

The good news is Tales of Larrick City has been gone well, with the latest draft submitted to my first round of proof readers (my family).  Unfortunately, it’s not been well received.

Looking at it now I can see why. They said it was too dry and detailed, and having looked through it again myself, I agree.  It’s prehapes ahead of its time.  As a companion book once more of the Haldred Chronicles series is out it would be perfect, but right now, with only two books written so far, it’s just not what’s needed. That and I’ve realized that the name is a little misleading; ‘Tales of Larrick City’ would suggest that the book is mostly short stories set in Larrick City.  Not the series of in-fiction articles that I wrote.  There’s only one of which is an actual story.

So, new plans.  The fiction articles and glossary of terms already written will be stored away for another time.  Likewise, I will write a series of proper short stories and name them ‘Tales of Larrick City’ so that I still get to use Mat’s excellent cover art sometime in the future.  Most pressingly, I will finish work on the true 3^rd book in the Haldred Chronicles series.

The book will be called ‘Haldred Chronicles: Shade’ and I’m already at 30,000 words.  So you could say I’m glad that even whilst writing Tales of Larrick City I was still adding to Shade.

It’s likely the book will still not be done until the summer or even beyond.  But I’ll give it a go!

Meanwhile, I have updated my social networking presence.

You can now find me on Tumblr!  Look for this blog at jgcully.tumblr.com.  Basically the exact same post except on Tumblr…yeah.

Likewise, I’ve also created a pinterest account.  Find me at www.pinterest.com/jgcully.  I’ve already taken the liberty of uploading a few choice images.  Enjoy!

So plenty still going on.  To everyone who has continued to encourage me in my writing, once again, thank you so much.  Until next time everyone J.

Hello 2014!

First blog post of 2014!  Lots to report.

First, and most importantly, I’m getting married.  I proposed to my girlfriend at the start of January, and she said yes.  So my fiancée and I are very, very happy and celebrated by staying over at the fantastic Slieve Donard hotel that night.  A good start to 2014 I think you’ll all agree.

Even with the immense excitement of this new life event, I have still been writing.  ‘Tales of Larrick City’ I hope to have ready for proof reading by the middle of February at the latest, and out by the end of March.  This short story compendium will be free to download when it comes out and I hope to use the stories in it to further expand on the world of Haldred Chronicles.  I hope you will all enjoy once it’s released.

It’s turned into a good excuse for me to explore a number of different writing styles and expand on little plot hints here and there found in the first 2 books.  That, and it will also include a glossary of terms used in Haldred Chronicles; useful in particular for those un-used to some of the Northern Irish style humour and phases.  Well it is my home country, the mannerisms were bound to slip in!

I’ve also been making progress on the 3^rd official Haldred Chronicles novel.  I’ve written almost 30,000 words and I’m really happy with the way things are panning out.  The style will be closer to ‘Kalla’ than ‘Alyssa’ and will further expand on the relationships between the various characters, as well as keeping up with everyone’s favourite characters.

On top of that, I still have a lot of ideas for future novels.  14 if I’m being precise (the number varies from day to day).  I definitely want to keep Haldred Chronicles going and if things pan out properly, you’ll get not 1 but 2 books out in 2014!  Just don’t expect the official 3^rd book until maybe the summer.  Meantime, you should all have Tales of Larrick City to keep you interested!

So lots to look forward to and I’ll keep you all informed.  Have a great 2014 everyone.

My Nanowrimo experience

Hello everyone.  Yes, I know it’s been a while.  But I have lots to tell I’m glad to report.

As I reported in my last blog post way back at the end of October, my plan was to take part in the National Novel writing month run by www.nanowrimo.org.  An event known on Facebook and Twitter as #nanowrimo.  I am glad to report that I took part in the event throughout November, though I did not complete it as intended.  The plan was to write 50,000 words but I only managed 26,000.

Still, the entire experience was one I would definitely recommend to any budding writer or current writer looking to boost there creativity.  The event forces you to concentrate on writing, even writing for the sake of writing.  Quantity is better than quality, the idea being that you complete a 1^st draft then spend the next while perfecting what you manage to write in the tight time scale.

26,000 words was not what was required to ‘win’, but it certainly gave me a lot to think about and has set a solid foundation for Haldred Chronicles book 4.  The main characters, major plot points and scenes have all been formed in one way or another.  What is needed now is some time to properly connect them all together and fill in the details, particularly regards the descriptions.

A lot of the writing was often just dialogue between characters, to be filled in at a later date.  But that’s part of the fun!  Letting you set things up so that later you can go back and fill out the details; updating descriptions and making the scenes truly breath.

I had a lot of positive experiences during November as the challenge went ahead.  For example, I noticed certain activates I’d been doing in my life influenced my writing.  Obviously every writer will take some kind of small influence from there own life in writing, but during Nanowrimo this seemed to be heightened due to the challenge to put words on the page.  One example was my experience with the boxed set of all the seasons of the TV comedy series Frazier in my DVD collection that played in the background whenever I was writing.  I have found that some of the humour in book four has been influenced by the Frazier style of comedy; that unique sort of dry sarcastic wit.  Indeed, one of the characters I can say with confidence is definitely my own take on Frazier Crane, though given the setting he is sufficiently different not to just be a direct copy.

It was a fantastic experience as well due to the community involvement.  The multiple forums on the nanowrimo website were highly active during November and before, offering help and tips as well as places to brag / encourage.  The topic posts were a treasure trove of helpful material from ‘how do you escape a burning building’ to ‘dress sense of the 17^th century’.  Anything and everything could be covered and when you asked a question, however obscure, someone somewhere on the boards would be able to answer it for you, often very quickly.  For those interested, the forums are still up and the community still very active.  Go take a look!

The experience was further enhanced by the writing buddies system.

Before the event began, I was able to connect with a number of like minded individuals in order to encourage each other, share work and comment.  This provided a more personal connection for developing the story and putting words on the page.  Constantly these writing buddies encouraged me to ‘keep writing!’.  They were part of the reason I got as far as I did.

I must send a particular big congrats to my writing buddies BriegeH, Daireen, Eimi111, Erin Funk, GabzWritez and ValkyrieMist who did successfully complete the challenge.  Good job all of you!  I assure you, I am immensely jealous J.

I may not have completed the Nanowrimo challenge, but I have certainly benefited from the event and now, the future is clear for books 3 and 4 to grow.  The plan will be to return to book 3 in about a months time and finish it.  Before that, I will continue for another month on book 4 and fill in a few more of the scenes.  I want to leave book 4 in at least draft 2 form. 

Book 3, ‘Tales of Larrick City’ will then be finished and I will look to release it in the first quarter of 2014. 

Once again, my thanks to all my writing buddies on Nanowrimo and everyone who encouraged me in completing the challenge.  Thank you so much!  Good luck with your own endeavours.

Till next time.

Other people's blog's...again!

As I’ve been working away on Tales of Larrick City (now up to 7500 words) I’ve again been taking a look at a lot of Blog’s out there.  Here are 4 posts in particular that I found very interesting.

First up, a post up by Toddi Gutner on the Entrepreneur site.  This post is all about your LinkedIn profile and gave me a lot to think about regards my own presence on the network.  It has a lot of hints and tips about improving how you as individual can present yourself on the network, although it is primarily aimed at company profiles.

http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/226895

Second, another ‘how to’ post, on, well, how to Blog!  It lays out in concise and practical terms just how to Blog properly and I’m already reading through it and thinking ‘yeah, I missed that step’.  Very useful for putting you on the straight and narrow and making yours updates not only more relevant to what you do, but also more interesting in general.  I hope to implement the suggestions in future posts.

http://m.blogher.com/how-set-blog

Next, a more writing centred post by Diane Mae Robinson on the Imogen Knight Blog. It’s about how to write a good children’s story.  Although only aspects of the post were relevant to what I’m doing (my stories are primarily directed toward teenager / adult level) it’s very well laid out and provides excellent advise.  Well worth the read for any writer of fiction.

http://imogenknightreikicircle.co.uk/plotting-for-children-plotting-plot-childrens-books/

Finally, if you’ve had enough of ‘advise’ post’s, here’s a fantastically funny post by the legendary Conan O’Brien, who has recently become an influencer on LinkedIn.  Yes, I’m scared too!

https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20131020183000-288872202-hello-linkedin?_mSplash=1

My writing space

A slightly late blog this time (I normally try to post on Mondays and Fridays) so apologies.

At the weekend I did something that I don’t get to do often; type up my novel seated at my ‘writing space’; my specific little area that I’ve cleared for writing.  It was…liberating.

Normally, I just write where-ever I have somewhere I can put the laptop down or make a note on, but I have also set aside a place in my house specifically for writing.  I’ve set up my perch in the spare bedroom, opposite the window on a nice big table, with plenty of room for the laptop and notes.  I managed to bring my word count up to 5,000 for Tales of Larrick City as well as making a few more notes on the future.

To describe it further, I’ll go through what I see when I sit down.  On my left is the Google Chrome book laptop that I use to check out forums / blogs etc.  Beside it are some of my reference book’s (Forensics’ for dummies for example, very good book) and my note books too.  In the corner are more note books and previous book drafts for easy access.

Directly in front of me at the end of the table is a pile of RPG source books and rulebooks from various gaming systems.  Good for inspiration and visual reference.

Moving on to my right hand side I find my main laptop: a small Dell Latitude D430.  This is where I actually do my writing, hammering away on the keyboard which is nice and clickly (I don’t like the new silent keyboards, no response!).

Everything at the table is nice and spaced out, with stationary in the drawers out of the way and space to place a cup of tea or coffee without it being in danger of spilling over a keyboard.

This blog isn’t so much an instruction on how to create your own writing space, it’s just a comment on how I’ve organized mine.  If you’re a writer, how do you organize your writing area?  Do you even have a writing area or just write where-ever there is room?

Meanwhile, like I said, I’ve made good progress on Tales of Larrick City as we are up to 5,000 words and climbing.  November is getting closer which is prompting more work in that regard as I want to have a solid, 1^st Draft for Tales of Larrick City before I hammer into Nanowrimo and start on the 4^th book properly.  It will be an intense November; the writing space will be a critical battleground!

Till next time.

Story time

I’ve not posted up a short story in a long time so for today’s Blog, why not?

This was a short story done a while back with Katrina and Matt.  It was an experiment in different language styles and a more ‘action’ orientated style of writing.  It’s a break from the norm I must admit and didn’t quite work out how I wanted, but it was a good excuse to try something new. 

The original writing challenge was to write an alternative take on a Fairytale.  This is my attempt.  Please excuse the rather unoriginal names of the characters.

Hope it entertains at any rate :).

* * * * *

“Big Dog this is Wolf Pack!  We’re falling back!”

“Big Dog to Wolf Pack, say again, what do you mean falling back?”

A massive explosion answered the question for Captain John Spartan, making everyone around him duck for cover as a plume of black smoke bellowed up from behind the house his SWAT team had been assaulting.  Seconds later, members of the SWAT team came dashing round the battered wooden residence.  They were carrying one of their own in a casualty tarpaulin; others appeared wounded or in shock, face’s blackened.

“Get those men behind the line!” barked the Captain, bringing the stunned police men and women around him out of there shock.  Uniformed officers rushed to the SWAT team’s aid, escorting them back behind the protective line of security tape and police cruisers.  No sooner had they gotten the injured officers to the ambulances than gunfire started from the house, huge muzzle flashes erupting from the windows.

Officers, civilians and TV-crews dived for cover as bullets tore apart the police cruisers for a third time, peppering them with bullet holes.  Mercifully no-one was hurt but John didn’t want to think about the bill for repairing all the damage the ‘Pig Skin’s Brothers’ had inflicted.

They were only 3 men, but from the looks of the damage inflicted and the harsh treatment they had given the SWAT team they had enough explosives and firepower to continue the siege for a long time.

“Captain Sparta!” yelled a disheveled looking reporter as she scrambled over to where John was kneeling by the side of the one of the battered cruisers, followed by her equally disheveled looking camera-man. 

“Kate Appleton, Channel 9 news.  What’s your assessment of the situation?”

John paused, making sure to give Kate as confused as expression as possible. 

“Well the situation is I’ve got armed criminals shooting at me and reporters asking me stupid questions.”

“Sir, we’re live on air.”

John smiled at the accompanying camera.  “I know.” He said. 

“Riddick!” John yelled over his shoulder, ignoring Kate as she opened her mouth to continue questioning; she sensibility shuffled off.

“Sir!” bellowed a gruff formidable looking uniformed sergeant, who quickly sprinted over to the Captain’s side.

“I think it’s time.”

Riddick gave his commander a confused expression behind his black aviator glasses.  “You sure?  Hell of a lot of people around.”

“I know, but considering what the Pigs are packing I don’t want to risk any more lives.”

“Send in the Lupin.” ordered the Captain.

* * * * *

“Ha ha! Yeah!” screamed Stray Hat Willie, punching the air with one hand.  “Did yah see that bro?  Look at them cops a’ running!”

“It’s a beau-ta-ful thin’.” Agreed his brother, Two-by-four Tommy, shouldering a plank of wood.  “No way is we go’in back to the big house now, no way!  They aien’t getting us out fo’ a lo’arong time!”

“Yeah got that right!” declared the final member of the trio, Stone Wall Freddy, the mountain a man slapping a fresh box magazine into his M60 machinegun and grinning toward his brothers.  “Cops ‘ill fuss and fetch out there till they’s gone stupid.  By then, we’ll have dug the tunnel and be away out in’ta the swamps.  Old daddy would ah been proud!”

The brothers briefly took their hats off at the thought of their dearly departed ‘Pa’. 

“Now.” Freddy said next, looking over toward Willie.  “Willie, it’s your turn down in the hole.”

“Ah come on Freddy!” whined the younger brother.  “I wants ta throw more grenades!”

“You’ll get your chance.” Freddy assured his concerned cohort.  “But we all take’s our turn, you know that.”

“I guess so.” agreed Willie reluctantly.  “But yeah’s better keep’s me a few cops ta explode!”

“Hell yeah!” shouted both of the other brothers.

Just as Willie was about to open the attic hatch and descend to the tunnel digging area, a strange humming sound started to build up from outside the house.

“What the heck is that?” asked Freddy, frowning and heading back to the window, machine gun in hand.

“Hey, yeah should see this boy’s.  Them cops got some kind ah ray-dar thing out there!” he declared, beckoning his two comrades over. 

The brothers took a window each, peering carefully out of the shattered glass.  Sure enough, an armored vehicle painted in police blue and white was parked up by the perimeter.  Atop it was what looked very much like a radar dish, pointed at the house.  The humming seemed to be coming from the vehicle.

“Ah!” said Tommy, grinning.  “If they’s trying that old psycho-ma-logical warfare on us they going ta be disappointed.  I could go fur some of that Rock-in-Roll!”

“I hear that!” agreed Willie. 

Freddy, considered a little smarter than the other two, wasn’t so sure.  He was particularly concerned by that fact that everyone he could see at the police perimeter had there hands over their ears. 

“Boys.” He said, as the humming from outside seemed to intensify.  “I think we should maybe all get digging, just this once.”

His brothers looked over.  “Why’s that Freddy?”

Freddy didn’t get a chance to answer; he was interrupted by the house falling down.

* * * * *

Kate Appleton was beaming at the camera.  The makeup boys had cleaned her up and she had an exclusive interview with Captain Spartan.  This would be a perfect boost to her career, even if Captain Spartan wasn’t known for his media appearances.

“Captain Spartan.” She said, microphone in hand, flashing a toothy smile.  “can you tell us just what has occurred here.”

“Lupin.” said John, eyeing the reporter and wondering why the hell he had agreed to the damn interview.

“Ah…can you elaborate for our viewers?” Kate asked, trying to maintain her fake smile and resisting the urge to beg the good Captain to act like a normal human being for once.

“Fine.” John relented, producing a slip of paper from his back pocket and rather obviously reading from it.

“Lupin is the latest weapon in the fight against crime.  This highly specialist police armoured vehicle is equipped with a turret mounted sonic non-lethal weapon designed to collapse constructs under controlled circumstances.  Given the danger faced here at Brick Street we decided to deploy Lupin to prevent lose of life.”

Trying his best to look a little bit more interested, John addressed the camera.

“Basically folks.” He said, actually managing to crack a smile.  “We huffed and we puffed and we blew there house in.”

The camera just happened to pan past the Captains head to the scene of the 3 Pig brothers being lead away in handcuff’s.  Each of them was covered in the dust of fallen masonry and still had shocked expressions plastered over there faces.

“So remember.” John declared, face serious as he pointed at finger at the camera.  “Crime doesn’t pay.  Commit a crime…”

He thumbed back toward where the Lupin vehicle was parked.

“…And the Big Bad Wolf will come knocking at your door!”

Good days and bad

Don’t be worried by the title, JG’s not having a bad day.  I am just reflecting on the tendency with writing to have your good days and bad.

A good day is when you get a lot of writing done, obviously.  My Sunday yesterday was such a day, were I was able to sit down and make a lot of good progress on not only ‘Tales of Larrick City’ but also on a number of other little projects; that’s a good writing day.

A bad writing day is just a day were either you’ve set time aside for writing and get nothing done, or a day where you just don’t have the time to get anything done in the first place!  How does one overcome such obstacles?

For me, half the battle is fought and won when you have set some time aside.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be a strict routine thing (e.g. 1 hour every day).  Just means that if you’re planning your week you make sure that you’ve set some time aside to write.  Secondly, to defeat the problem of having nothing to write during those times, taking quick notes is a must.

Inspiration, after all, can come at any time but you might not be in a position to elaborate on something you thought off at the time.  So, instead, quickly jot it down or make a note on a phone.  Then, when it comes to your ‘writing’ time, you can bring out the note / phone and properly write up the idea, which might possibly cascade into further ideas.

Now as I said in my previous blog, I don’t think I’ve been in the game long enough to be dispensing advice, so veterans may consider this just ‘what I do’ as apposed to definitive directions on how to write up your story.  Just a little thought J.

Meanwhile, as I said, I made very good progress on Tales of Larrick City and have now got a lot of the ground work done.  However, the middle of the mouth is coming soon so I really need to kick it up a gear if I am to finish the 1^st draft by the end of the month and be ready for Nanowrimo.  Hopefully over this week I will grab some ‘writing time’ as intended and get more done.  I also now have 6 reviews on Amazon.co.uk for Kalla which is fantastic.  My thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing my book, it really helps!

Till next time all.

Plans within plans...

It’s been over twenty days since the release of the second book in my fantasy detective series ‘Haldred Chronicles’.  I am very happy with the response.

So far, I have two five-star reviews on Amazon for ‘Haldred Chronicles: Kalla’, which is just fantastic.  As well as this lots of people are now reading the second book and thoroughly enjoying.  Likewise, I have seen a further uptake on book one so the ‘cascade’ effect is taking shape.  I hope this continues.

Here’s the link on Amazon for book two, if anyone is feeling very kind and wishes to purchase or even better, review!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Haldred-Chronicles-Kalla-ebook/dp/B00EW8T8PO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1379752302&sr=8-5&keywords=kalla

Looking to the future now, I hope to start ‘official’ work on ‘Tales of Larrick City’ very soon.  My original intention was to leave Haldred Chronicles writing for about a month, then start into it again, but I have found myself already writing little scenes here and there.  That and I’ve been writing other stories as well.

One of which you can catch over at the Aeronautica ‘Airspace’ forum (http://z8.invisionfree.com/Airspace/index.php?showtopic=963). 

I warn you, this one is written in haste and not as well polished as my published work but I hope you enjoy.  As before (from last year), it is a companion to the wargaming campaign currently ongoing over at the forum, and is of a different style to that found in Haldred Chronicles.

Other plans afoot are more work on the various websites and networks that I am now part of.  The likes of Authonomy (http://authonomy.com/), The Indie Writers Network (http://indiewritenet.com) and the Kindle Boards (http://www.kboards.com).  I hope to take a more active part in these internet sites over the next while, as well as many others.  This should increase exposure for the books (and the insanity of them of course!)

The ultimate objective is to be published by an official company.  As such, my other big project for the next few months is to prepare a basic synopsis and detailed synopsis for submission to publishers.  The intention is to write them up for both books and so I have a good variety to send on.

So I’ve lots going on and I hope you will all continue to enjoy the fruits of my labour.  Thanks again to everyone for there fantastic support and encouragement over the last while.  Thank you all of you.

Until next time, lots more to come!

Onward, to glory!

Taking full advantage of being back to 100% I have made a lot of progress on the novel this last week.  I have chapters 1 to 6 pretty much done, with 40’000 words now written.  Chapters 7 to 12 have a lot of major scenes already completed, I just need to fill things out and that’s it.  I hope to have the whole novel completed on schedule at the end of May, in which case I shall at last be sending off to various proof readers!

That’s the plan anyway.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing other writing projects as well just to keep me occupied.  I had 3 little ideas during the week which I have taken note of and hope to be developing further once I sit down properly and figure them out.  2 novel ideas and a short story.  Right now, the short story is more likely to get developed given time available.  Novel ideas are nice but time is very restricted!

I also did a little fiction for the Paradiso infinity campaign which has got back on track at our local gaming centre, which I present to you all below.

So only a small blog update but hope you guys enjoy the little story below and progress has definitely been good!

* * * * *

“Sergev!  You look like hell!”

Dimitri Trencov walked from behind the folding table and embraced his old comrade in a bear hug.  Sergev Vortravic hugged his old fighting companion back, glad to see a familiar face.

The two Ariadna veterans were in Dimitri’s work tent, an old and battered affair that had seen its fare share of war, off-planet and on.  The Veteran Kazak had earned the nickname of ‘old bear’ referring to his huge stature and veteran status amongst the line Kazak’s.  In comparison to Sergev’s shorter but no less muscular form, he was indeed a bear; a bear meeting a wolf.

For Sergev was a Stavka operative, nick named ‘wolfcub’ for his youthful appearance yet ruthless efficiency.  The wolf, the hunter, let lose on the planet Paradiso.

“Dimitri” he said as they broke off.  “It has been too long Old Bear.”

“Ha!  Old Bear is right, and getting older!”

Dimitri was in his fifties now, a true veteran, with a well groomed greying moustache and bright blue eyes.  He indicated a folding chair and crossed the tent space to a metal cabinet.

“How long’s it been?” Dimitri asked as he opened the cabinet and retrieved the expected clear bottle of quality Kazak vodka and 2 small shoot glasses.  Sergev took the offered seat.

“3 years” replied Sergev.  “3 long years with too much time behind a desk.”

“That’s what you get for joining Stavko!  I warned you!”

“That you did.  What was it you said? ‘Too much paperwork and not enough action?’”

“Certainly sounds like me!” replied the Old Bear boisterously as he set the two glasses on the folding table and poured the two of them drinks.

“To fallen comrades and dead foes!” intoned Dimitri, raising his glass.  Sergev copied the gesture.

“May the fallen be remembered and our enemies stay dead!” replied Sergev in the time honoured manner.

They both downed their glasses

Sergev did his best not to cough but Dimitri smirked regardless.

“They must be serving you the watered down stuff da?”

“Very funny you old ruffian.”

Dimitri refilled the glasses regardless, his grin widening.

“Well I take it your not just here to talk just of old times?”

Sergev nodded, taking the now refilled glass as his expression turned serious.  “Regrettably yes my old friend.  I’ve a prisoner with me, an engineer from the Haqqislam.  He has information and we need that information fast.”

“So you come to the Old Bear because you know the Old Bear can get that information fast.”

“Exactly.”

Dimitri nodded “What do you need to know?”

“Specifically, coordinates of an alien artefact and what, if any, research they have conducted on it.”

“You think this engineer will know?”

“We hope so.”

They downed glasses again.  Sergev had to wipe a few tears from his eyes.

“It’s good stuff.  Brewed it myself!” declared Dimitri in triumph.

“That explains a lot.”

The Old Bear laughed, having downed his own glass to little effect.  He refilled both drinks again.

“I take it when you say Alien you mean the Combined army?”

Sergev shook his head.  “Not this time Old Bear.  This…this is something new.”

The Old Bear frowned.  “Now you have me intrigued old friend.”

Sergev, having recomposed himself, raised his glass.  “That was my intent.”

He downed the powerful tasting concoction, again doing his best not to cough as the liquid burned its way down his throat.  He was aware that his vision was blurred slightly but felt sure he could survive at least a few more glasses.  It was a tradition of the Old Bears; the drinking of a lot of vodka during briefing’s.  He respected you more, the more you drank.

The Old Bear downed his glass likewise, before nodding sagely.

“Alright Sergev, I’ll try.”

“Please.  We are up against it.  The Pan Oceania, Nomads and the Japanese have all captured similar individuals.  Not to mention other forces we have not identified yet.  The race is on to see who will get to the device first.”

“I will do my best.  Let’s just hope this engineer you have acquired can help us.”

He had by now refilled the glasses yet again.  Sergev was thanking a variety of Gods that they hadn’t been talking too long else he strongly suspected he would be on the floor in only a few more servings; the old man was right, he’d not kept the practice up during his time with Stavko, a failing he was now paying for.

“I will do as you ask.” The Old Bear raised his glass.  Sergev, recognising the gesture, did likewise.  The glasses touched and both men drank deeply.

“Ypa”

“Thank you.”

Business concluded, Sergev got carefully to his feat, head swimming.

“Gods Dimitri, what was in that?”

“What else but damn good Vodka!”

“Next time.” Sergev suppressed a cough.  “I’m bringing my own bottle.”

The Old Bears laughter followed him as he made his way out of the tent on unsteady legs.  He reserved to himself to find a cot to collapse in, at least for a while.