alex_beecroft

Seriously, this fight against piracy is a lot worse than the piracy itself. I used MegaUpload a lot in order to send perfectly legal high resolution book cover art which I made with legally bought stock photos over to publishers so they could put them on their books. The high resolution files were simply too big to send in an email.

How am I going to get my cover art to its legal purchaser if people keep taking down file sharing sites just because some bozos are using them illegally?

I thought I’d pass this along:

Originally posted by dmatkins at Why SOPA is dangerous, an explanation of the bill

Originally posted by nyxmidnight at Why SOPA is dangerous, an explanation of the bill

Why SOPA is dangerous

To Sum Up
SOPA:

• Gives the government the right to unilaterally censor foreign websites.
• Gives copyright holders the right to issue economic takedowns and bring lawsuits against website owners and operators, if those websites have features that make it possible to post infringing content. [A comment feature is enough.]
• Makes it a felony offense to post a copyrighted song or video.

This bill turns us all into criminals. If it passes, then you either stop using the Internet, or you simply hope that you never end up in the crosshairs, because if you’re targeted, you will be destroyed by this bill. You don’t have to be a big, mean, nasty criminal — common Internet usage is effectively criminalized under this law. This bill will kill American innovation and development of the Internet, as it will become too risky to do anything of value. It is toxic and dangerous, and should not, under any circumstances, be supported.

And to reiterate that this does affect those of us who are not American if

(a) we want people in the USA to be able to see our sites,

(b) we want to be able to continue to use American sites like YouTube, Fanfiction.net, LJ, wikipedia (too late for poor old MegaUpload, alas) etc,

(c) we don’t want our American friends to be living in a country where they can no longer take free speech for granted and

(d) we don’t want America to become a huge black hole in the middle of the internet, with who knows what kind of gravitational consequences.

On a more personal note, I only just finished revamping my site after taking advice from Jessewave’s readers on my post about authors who write in more than one genre. Everyone seemed to be unanimous that they didn’t mind an author writing in several genres as long as there was no likelihood of them picking up one kind of book in mistake for another. So I’ve re-vamped my website to sort my books out by genre. Take a look now while you still can, I guess!

My newly revamped site.

And now I think I’m off to write some fanfiction while there’s still a chance of being able to find readers for that.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

Whoops! I had a bit of time this morning, so I thought I’d organise my ebook reader. One slip of the keyboard later and all my m/m books are gone. I thought I had them all backed up on my computer hard-drive, but now I go to look, I find I don’t.

No doubt some of them will still be on my various bookshop bookshelves for re-download, and perhaps some can be found on Calibre. But Calibre is no longer talking to my reader (what the hell did I do? How did I break things this badly without knowing what I did?) and I’ve kind of lost the will to live as far as finding everything again goes, even if that’s possible at all.

I don’t think “whoops” covers it, but any word that might is probably unprintable.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

If anyone ever says to you – as English people seem inclined to say – “what a shame we have no culture of our own at all.” Tell them they should have been at the Straw Bear Festival this year, but that it’s not too late to go to next year’s.

Or perhaps they were just ignoring what we do have because it’s not noble or serious enough. If so, tell them to come anyway and learn to embrace the riotous, ridiculous, vulgar and fun spirit of the morris – on the streets and unashamed.

As for us, we had a great day on Saturday. It was one of those winter days when the sunshine is the colour of champagne, there’s an icy mist over the fens, it’s almost warm in the sun, but stepping out of it is like running face first into a snowdrift. We set off in the procession with hoards of other morris, molly, rapper and clog dancers at half ten in the morning, dancing through streets that were packed with onlookers, and then we danced, on and off, until 3pm, when the lowering of the sun made us all feel like we were about to die of exposure.

Ely and Littleport Riot’s kit may be partly at fault here. It’s great in the summer to dance in a light blouse, skirt and waistcoat, but not even adding a pair of gloves and maybe a regulation red woolly hat really makes it suitable in the winter, no matter how many thermal vests and long johns you wear underneath.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

A DIY guide.

I decided on Monday that I would talk about this. On Tuesday Chuck Wendig, freelance penmonkey, posted 25 Things Authors should know about finding their voice on his blog, at which point I threw my hands in the air and went “Oh, fine, I won’t write a blog post then!”

(Because, let’s be honest, I am outclassed in every way, and that’s not a competition I want to get into.)

However, I read the post and then I read it again, and while it says many useful and entertaining things about finding your voice – many things which if you’re at all interested, you should go and read now – it didn’t quite say the one thing I was going to say. So I’m going to say the one thing anyway. Possibly in a slightly smaller voice than I might have done if I’d got in first. But then if I had got in first, I would be even more embarrassed and without the chance to say so.

Polite British self depreciating introduction over with, here’s what I was thinking recently about finding your style as an author. It’s couched in the form of a ramble about cover art, but there is a point in there somewhere, like a pin left behind in a tailored suit – useful if you can get it out, but a nagging worry if you can’t.

I started making cover art a while ago. It’s nice to have something that engages parts of your brain that writing cannot reach. When I set out to make my first cover, I had no idea what my style would be. I would have said it was a bit pretentious of me to hope to have a style at all. All I wanted to do was to put some pictures together in a way that would result in the sort of cover I could imagine on a book.

So I got some photos I liked and fiddled with them until they looked OK together, and paged through fonts until I found some I thought looked nice, and I made my first cover. I didn’t worry about style. I didn’t say “what’s going to be my signature move? What’s going to be the thing that identifies this as a cover by me, as opposed to someone else? What’s my cover artist’s voice?”

I didn’t say that because I was too busy trying to get the damn thing to work in a way that was possible and looked good to me, given all the stuff I wanted to include.

Rinse and repeat with several more covers, and I began to notice something interesting. I loved and admired covers with subtle colour in misty, soft-focus. I loved complicated covers with big design elements superimposed over textural brushes so the picture looked aged and painted-over and intricate. In short, I loved covers like this:

or this

But when I made cover art myself I consistently went for as few design elements as possible, choosing to make them as bold as I could. I went for hard-edged lines, sharp focus, strong colours, clarity and simplicity. This sort of thing:

or this

and it dawned on me that without giving it a thought, I had achieved a recognisable style of my own. It’s peculiar and a little ironic that my style in no way resembles the things that I like. It’s odd that my own style came as a surprise to me. But it’s amazing and rather gratifying to find that I have one, and it came as a free gift with the process of just getting on with it.

Which is my conclusion, really. Don’t worry about finding your authorial voice. Just tell your stories in the only way you can get them to work, given the stuff you’ve chosen to put in them. Tell them in a way that pleases you, without worrying that other authors – even the ones that you love – do it differently. Do it your way, because you are you, so doing it your way is the only way for you to be authentic. Then, when you’ve done it for five books or so, your author’s voice will jump out and laugh at you and say “Stupid! You’ve had a voice all along. You write like this!” And it may be an odd surprise, but it should be a pleasant one, if only because it didn’t ever need to be a big deal.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

Cor, the length of that title. Anyway, if you remember, I mentioned that Diesel ebooks was doing a special offer on By Honor Betrayed on 01/03/2012. Being British, I saw that date and thought “first of March? I’ll never remember to remind people that far off.” However, thanks to the lovely Jay Rookwood, I’ve been reminded that dates work differently in the US and that 01/03/2012 is actually the third of January there.

So, ten copies of By Honor Betrayed will be available at Diesel ebooks here http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/index.php?page=item&id=9781426892554 at the princely sum of 60c, starting from 11am EST. First come, first served.

In a miracle of good timing (I say a miracle because it certainly wasn’t planned) By Honor Betrayed has just had another wonderful review, this time from Lena at Queer Magazine Online: http://queermagazineonline.com/component/content/article/223-book-reviews/book-reviews/41683-by-honor-betrayed-by-alex-beecroft

“’By Honor Portrayed’ is an excellent, well written, exciting, passionate love story which I highly recommend to anyone who believes as Conrad does, that love is the most important thing in the world and that life without the one you love is not worth living.”

This is a really good way to start the new year Thanks, Lena!

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

I never quite saw the point of marking the passing of the year – after all, it’s only meaningless numbers on an arbitrary calendar, which could quite easily end or begin somewhere else. It’s not a real thing in the way that a solstice is a real thing – measurable and with observable consequences.

Now, however, I feel like I’m starting to get it. A change from one year to another is an opportunity to stop and take stock, to look back on what you’ve achieved and to decide what to stop doing, and what to do more of. An arbitrary change over it might be, but the chance to put down the old habits that aren’t working and turn in hope to new behaviours, that just might make a difference? That’s a valuable thing.

As usual, it’s taken me longer than anyone else to see the obvious, but having seen it, I feel quite good about it. So here are some things I’ve learned in 2011 and the resolutions that result.

The main thing I learned during 2011 was the value of persistence. Despite the occasional day of having a blow-out, I persisted in my diet and I lost weight. Despite the occasional day where I couldn’t practice, I practiced my whistle every day I could, and I learned how to play it. Despite the occasional week when I couldn’t write, I wrote every day that I could, and I finished 190K words.

So, my resolutions for 2012 are pretty much more of the same: Keep watching the weight, learn more tunes so I can play for the Riot as well as Coton, and write at least 200K words.

To the end of writing 200K words, I’ve signed up to the getyourwordsout community on LJ http://getyourwordsout.livejournal.com/profile

I subtracted the number of weeks in the year when I can expect the school holidays to interfere with my writing, and came up with 40 weeks in the year when I can hope to write. So to make 200,000 words, I need to write 5,000 words a week for all 40 of those weeks – which seems pretty manageable. But of course there will be weeks of illness and other stuff, so I think I will try to do 2000 words a day (10,000 words a week) when I can, and see how that turns out. I often get less time than I hope for, so I want to make sure I fill the time I do have as productively as possible.

I’ve been somewhat inspired (or challenged, maybe?) by Dean Wesley Smith’s blog to approach writing in a more business-like way. His recent posts on the value of not giving up have made a lot of sense in the light of 2011’s modest successes. So maybe, health permitting, my main resolution for 2012 is to work just that little bit harder, and to keep going. I feel like I’ve learned a useful lesson in 2011 and this year’s work is to turn it from a new insight into a habit. It’s way past time that I acquired a work ethic, after all

Good luck to all of you in your new, and continuing, endeavours!

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

I have emerged from Christmas, and yet I still don’t feel as if it actually happened this year. It’s an odd feeling, comparable to going through some frightening initiation rite and coming out the other side completely unchanged. Something ought to have happened, but it didn’t.

One of the things that didn’t happen was a blazing family row, so that’s a plus. I also got a wonderful haul of presents including a new tuneable whistle in the key of D. (My previous one was untuneable, which meant that everyone else had to adjust their expensive, complicated instruments to sound nice with my simple cheap one. Now I can adjust my, still relatively cheap and easy to adjust, whistle instead and much annoyance is spared for everyone.)

This close to the end of the year, with nothing much due to happen between now and the beginning of 2012 it seems like a good time to look back on 2011 and get an overview of what that year was all about.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

The historical gay romance review site, Speak Its Name is doing its awards competition at the moment.
I understand that all books which received 4-5 star reviews are entrants. 

Erastes says They are quite simple: Best book, best cover, best
author. I'd like to add a "Reader's Choice" for the readers favourite
novels so I've compiled a list of 4, 4½ and 5 star novels from the Blog.
There aren't that many, considering how many reviews we did.

Here's the poll - PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG, tweet, facebook, blogit, etc.
http://erastes.livejournal.com/710444.html

*By Honor Betrayed by Alex
Beecroft <http://speakitsname.com/2011/11/16/review-by-honor-betrayed-by-alex-beecroft/>
*

*The Lilac Tree by Marion Husband (short
story)<http://speakitsname.com/2011/10/10/review-the-lilac-tree-by-marion-husband-short-story/>
*

*Captain Harding’s Six Day War by Elliott
Mackle<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/20/review-captain-hardings-six-day-war-by-elliott-mackle/>
*

*If It Ain’t Love by Tamara Allen (short
story)<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/17/review-if-it-aint-love-by-tamara-allen-short-story/>
*

*Well Traveled by Margaret Mills and Tedy
Ward<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/15/review-well-traveled-by-margaret-mills-and-tedy-ward/>
*

*Placing Out by P.A.
Brown<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/11/review-placing-out-by-p-a-brown/>
*

*Violet Thunder by Kate
Cotoner<http://speakitsname.com/2011/08/19/review-violet-thunder-by-kate-cotoner/>
*

*This Rough Magic by Josh
Lanyon<http://speakitsname.com/2011/07/10/review-this-rough-magic-by-josh-lanyon/>
*

*Muffled Drum by
Erastes<http://speakitsname.com/2011/07/07/review-muffled-drum-by-erastes/>
*

*The Puppet Master by Kate
Cotoner<http://speakitsname.com/2011/06/09/review-the-puppet-master-by-kate-cotoner/>
*

*Kindred Hearts by G.S.
Wiley<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/28/review-kindred-hearts-by-g-s-wiley-2/>
*

*The Affair of the Porcelain Dog by Jess
Faraday<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/20/review-the-affair-of-the-porcelain-dog-by-jess-faraday/>
*

*Wingmen by Ensan
Case<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/08/review-wingmen-by-ensan-case/>
*

*Bound Forever by Ava
March<http://speakitsname.com/2011/04/13/review-bound-forever-by-ava-march/>
*

*Missouri by Christine
Wunnicke<http://speakitsname.com/2011/03/06/review-missouri-by-christine-wunnicke/>
*

*Suffer the Little Children by Tracy
Rowan<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/16/review-suffer-the-little-children-by-tracy-rowan/>
*

*Eromenos by Melanie
McDonald<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/14/review-eromenos-by-melanie-mcdonald/>
*

*Under the Poppy by Kathe
Koja<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/12/review-under-the-poppy-by-kathe-koja/>
*

*Home is the Sailor by Lee
Rowan<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/10/review-home-is-the-sailor-by-lee-rowan/>
*

*Sal Mineo: a biography by Michael Gregg
Michaud<http://speakitsname.com/2011/01/24/review-sal-mineo-a-biography-by-michael-gregg-michaud/>
*

*The Nobleman and the Spy by Bonnie Dee and Summer
Devon<http://speakitsname.com/2011/01/20/review-the-nobleman-and-the-spy-by-summer-dee-and-bonnie-devon/>
*

*Midnight Dude by
Various<http://speakitsname.com/2011/10/06/review-midnight-dude-by-various/>
*

*Beloved Pilgrim by Nan
Hawthorne<http://speakitsname.com/2011/10/02/review-beloved-pilgrim-by-nan-hawthorne/>
*

*Earth and Sun, Cedar and Sage by Margaret Mills and Tedy
Ward<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/22/review-earth-and-sun-cedar-and-sage-by-margaret-mills-and-tedy-ward/>
*

*Kindred Hearts by Rowan
Speedwell<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/07/review-kindred-hearts-by-rowan-speedwell/>
*

*The Last Tallyho by Richard
Newhafer<http://speakitsname.com/2011/09/01/review-the-last-tallyho-by-richard-newhafer/>
*

*The Painting by FK
Wallace<http://speakitsname.com/2011/08/10/review-the-painting-by-fk-wallace/>
*

*Algerian Nights by Graeme
Roland<http://speakitsname.com/2011/07/03/review-algerian-nights-by-graeme-roland/>
*

*Game of Chance by Kate
Roman<http://speakitsname.com/2011/06/20/review-game-of-chance-by-kate-roman/>
*

*Willing Flesh by J S Cook (Inspector Raft Mysteries
#1)<http://speakitsname.com/2011/06/11/review-willing-flesh-by-j-s-cook-inspector-raft-mysteries-1/>
*

*Perfect Score by Susan
Roebuck<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/18/review-perfect-score-by-susan-roebuck/>
*

*Dulce et Decorum Est by JL
Merrow<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/12/review-dulce-et-decorum-est-by-jl-merrow/>
*

*Mere Mortals by
Erastes<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/04/review-mere-mortals-by-erastes/>
*

*Lion of Kent by Aleksandr Voinov and Kate
Cotoner<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/02/review-lion-of-kent-by-aleksandr-voinov-and-kate-cotoner/>
*

*Young Man in Paris by Sophia
Deri-Bowen<http://speakitsname.com/2011/04/20/review-young-man-in-paris-by-sophia-deri-bowen/>
*

*Raised by Wolves 2 Matelots by WA
Hoffman<http://speakitsname.com/2011/04/18/3294/>
*

*The Wanderer by Jan
Irving<http://speakitsname.com/2011/04/11/review-the-wanderer-by-jan-irving/>
*

*Arson! The Dakota Series 1 by Cap
Iversen<http://speakitsname.com/2011/03/12/review-arson-the-dakota-series-1-by-cap-iversen/>
*

*Living the Spirit: a Gay American Indian Anthology, compiled by Gay
American Indians, Will
Roscoe<http://speakitsname.com/2011/03/02/review-living-the-spirit-a-gay-american-indian-anthology-compiled-by-gay-american-indians-will-roscoe/>
*

*Precious Jade by Fyn Alexander <http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/24/3101/>*

*Sam’s Hill by Jack
Ricardo<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/18/review-sams-hill-by-jack-ricardo/>
*

*Home Station on the Prairie Series-1 and 2 by Kara
Larson<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/02/review-home-station-on-the-prairie-series-1-and-2-by-kara-larson/>
*

*Walking in Two Worlds by Terry
O’Reilly<http://speakitsname.com/2011/01/28/review-walking-in-two-worlds-by-terry-o%e2%80%99reilly/>
*

*Comstock by Aaron
Michaels<http://speakitsname.com/2011/01/05/review-comstock-by-aaron-michaels/>
*

*Home Fires Burning by Charlie
Cochrane<http://speakitsname.com/2011/11/11/review-home-fires-burning-by-charlie-cochrane/>
*

*Pioneers by Lynn
Lorenz<http://speakitsname.com/2011/08/22/review-pioneers-by-lynn-lorenz/>
*

*Giovanni’s Room by James
Baldwin<http://speakitsname.com/2011/08/02/review-giovannis-room-by-james-baldwin/>
*

*A Faint Wash of Lavender by Lucius
Parhelion<http://speakitsname.com/2011/06/27/review-a-faint-wash-of-lavender-by-lucius-parhelion/>
*

*Silver-Silver Lining by Lucius
Parhelion<http://speakitsname.com/2011/06/07/review-silver-silver-lining-by-lucius-parhelion/>
*

*The Soldier of Raetia: Valerian’s Legion by Heather
Domin<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/26/review-the-soldier-of-raetia-valerian%e2%80%99s-legion-by-heather-domin/>
*

*The Only Gold by Tamara
Allen<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/16/review-the-only-gold-by-tamara-allen/>
*

*House of Mirrors by Bonnie Dee and Summer
Devon<http://speakitsname.com/2011/05/14/review-house-of-mirrors-by-bonnie-dee-and-summer-devon/>
*

*Icy Pavements by Lee
Wyndham<http://speakitsname.com/2011/04/08/review-icy-pavements-by-lee-wyndham/>
*

*According to Hoyle by Abigail
Roux<http://speakitsname.com/2011/03/24/review-according-to-hoyle-by-abigail-roux/>
*

*All Lessons Learned by Charlie
Cochrane<http://speakitsname.com/2011/03/15/review-all-lessons-learned-by-charlie-cochrane/>
*

*The Evening Crowd at Kirmser’s by Ricardo J.
Brown<http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/26/review-the-evening-crowd-at-kirmsers-by-ricardo-j-brown/>
*

*His Client by Ava
March <http://speakitsname.com/2011/02/04/review-his-client-by-ava-march/>
*

*The Praise Singer by Mary
Renault <http://speakitsname.com/2011/01/07/review-the-praise-singer-by-mary-renault/>
*

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

That branding exercise was a good exercise to do, I think, even if nothing comes of it on the ‘finding your readers’ front. It certainly helped with the ancient Greek principle of “know thyself.”

One thing I did notice was that several people said my fictional worlds felt grounded and real in a way that brought the past (or the fantasy setting) to life. So I thought I would share the advice that I followed in order to achieve that. This is probably the only writing advice about style that I’ve ever made a consistent effort to follow, because the prevalent advice at the moment – to make your language as invisible as you can, so that people only notice the plot – has always struck me as a sad, barren, grey timidity in a language that can provide fireworks if you let it.

Two of my three favourite authors of all time are Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin. (Patrick O’Brian is the third, and although he doesn’t talk about this stuff, his books are hard to jam closed for the exuberance of their language and settings. He practices what the other two preach.) What I like about them all is not just because they have great plots and good characters – it’s because their worlds are lush and sensual and full of juice. You fall into them and you’re there, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching something that never existed at all, and being overwhelmed by it.

I wanted to be able to do that! So naturally when I found out that they had published writing advice, I went and got hold of it. If you’re at all interested in doing the same thing, it’s worth getting hold of it yourself, but in the meantime I’ll pass along a few quotes.

Here’s what Ursula LeGuin has to say in the opening of Steering the Craft

Most children enjoy the sound of language for its own sake. They wallow in repetitions and luscious word-sounds and the crunch and slither of onomatopoeia; they fall in love with musical or impressive words and use them in all the wrong places. Some writers keep this childish love for the sounds of language… Others “outgrow” their oral/aural sense of language as they learn to read in silence. That’s a loss.

Skipping over most of the book, here’s another paragraph that resonates with me:

Crowding is what Keats meant when he told poets to “load every rift with ore.” It’s what we mean when we exhort ourselves to avoid flabby language and cliches, never to use ten vague words where two will do, always to seek the vivid phrase, the exact word. By crowding I also mean keeping the story full, always full of what’s happening in it; keeping it moving, not slacking and wandering into irrelevancies; keeping it interconnected with itself, rich with echoes forward and backward. Vivid, exact, concrete, accurate, dense, rich: these adjectives describe a prose that is crowded with sensations, meanings and implications.

If I join up those two things, I get the advice to enjoy language, play with it, using all of its poetic qualities and techniques wherever you think they’ll enhance the read. But at the same time, keep it concrete, specific and as singular as you can.

Tolkien says something very similar in his essay “On Fairy Stories” (among many other thought provoking things):

The “fantastic” elements in verse and prose of other kinds, even when only decorative or
occasional, help in this release. But not so thoroughly as a fairy-story, a thing built on or
about Fantasy, of which Fantasy is the core. Fantasy is made out of the Primary World, but a
good craftsman loves his material, and has a knowledge and feeling for clay, stone and wood
which only the art of making can give. By the forging of Gram cold iron was revealed; by
the making of Pegasus horses were ennobled; in the Trees of the Sun and Moon root and
stock, flower and fruit are manifested in glory.
And actually fairy-stories deal largely, or (the better ones) mainly, with simple or
fundamental things, untouched by Fantasy, but these simplicities are made all the more
luminous by their setting. For the story-maker who allows himself to be “free with” Nature
can be her lover not her slave. It was in fairy-stories that I first divined the potency of the
words, and the wonder of the things, such as stone, and wood, and iron; tree and grass; house and fire; bread and wine.

Which I take to mean “remember that even the simplest things in your fictional world – the sea, the rain, the tea-cup in your character’s hand, reflect things in our own world which are real, and remarkable. There is a kind of miracle in the existence of anything at all, and in the same way everything that you put into a book is something created out of nothing.” The details of your fictional world are little marvels of creation and ought to be treated as (as LeGuin says) “Vivid, exact, concrete, accurate, dense, rich.” In your subcreated world, all the things are real things, which you summoned out of non-existence with your mere words. It’s well worth treating them with the kind of care you would give to anything magical, potent and strange.

A writer can draw your attention to grass in their imaginary world in such a way that when you come back, you see grass in your own land as the remarkable and peculiar thing that it is. The pundits may tell you that everyone knows what grass looks like, so just drop the word and move on. But it’s not so – few people have the time to really notice grass. If you do it for them, you can give them back some of their childish wonder at how amazing everything is. So don’t just drop the word ‘grass’ and move on. Take the time to notice whether it’s close cropped, hair fine grass, striped in two greens, or long, coarse grass with moss and dandelions, just turning blond in the summer heat. Your worlds will be better for it and you may end up working enchantment.

That’s the theory, anyway. I don’t think I match up to it yet, but I try.

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.

A bit of a round-up post today, mainly consisting of things which I think of as good news. First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on my branding questionnaire post. I’ve thought about it over the week and decided that I can’t really handle historical and fantasy under completely different pen names, because there will be many situations in which I’ll be doing something that’s historical fantasy or fantasy historical. So all three things bunch together.

I have, however, come up with a new tag-line to describe the sort of historical and/or fantasy writer I am, and re-vamped the header on my website to match. I like it more the more I see it. At least it’s not as grim as the old ones. What do you think?

The new historical, fantasy and historical fantasy header revealed

Other nice stuff for me – I’ve just sent in the final line edit of Under the Moon: Dogfighters. So now I can wrap and send presents with some hope of them arriving on time. Even better, Samhain tell me they will get Dogfighters available for pre-order just as soon as the cover art is OKed.

Under the Hill: Bomber’s Moon is already available to pre-order, which I think is astonishing and very cool, as it’s not out until April. It has a new blurb, rather better than the one it’s been using in the past -

The faeries at the bottom of the garden are coming back—with an army.

Under the Hill, Part 1

When Ben Chaudhry is attacked in his own home by elves, they disappear as quickly as they came. He reaches for the phone book, but what kind of exterminator gets rid of the Fae? Maybe the Paranormal Defense Agency will ride to his rescue.

Sadly, they turn out to be another rare breed: a bunch of UFO hunters led by Chris Gatrell, who—while distractingly hot—was forcibly retired from the RAF on grounds of insanity.

Shot down in WWII—and shot forward seventy years in time, stranded far from his wartime sweetheart—Chris has been a victim of the elves himself. He fears they could destroy Ben’s life as thoroughly as they destroyed his. Chris is more than willing to protect Ben with his body. He never bargained for his heart getting involved.

Just when they think there’s a chance to build a life together, a ghostly voice from Chris’s past warns that the danger is greater than they can imagine. And it may take more than a team of rank amateurs to keep Ben—and the world—out of the elf queen’s snatching hands…

Warning: Brace yourself for mystery, suspense, sexual tension, elves in space and a nail-biting cliffhanger ending.

~

On the free story front, thanks to Gaye who gave me the heads up that the link to Insubordination (the Captain’s Surrender tie-in) was not working on my website. I’ve fixed that, and – in the process – I’ve made the story into a .pdf with a nice new cover. It’s now back up and available for anyone to download to their e-reader or computer.

I’ve also fixed the link to Communion (the Wages of Sin tie-in) which is also available in pdf form suitable for your e-reader.

I’ll work through and give the other freebies their own cover art in due course. And possibly also put up Wildfire for anyone who wants it. Now I really need to get wrapping!

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.