Review of The Monarch

  I was given a copy of The Monarch to review. My review is my opinion and was not influenced by the author.

The Monarch opens with a compelling few chapters that draw the connection between a world of microwaves and pub crawls with ancient poems and the Viking heritage of Northumbria. The scenes change from the dog track to hotel lounge bars to ICU and back to pool tables as Jennings develops intriguing characters. There are quite a few storylines interwoven as Jennings reveals the many sides of the main protagonist, Jerry Compton. However, it should be said that the landscape of modern Northumbria is every bit just as real a character as Jerry. 

 

The dialogue and language take a bit of getting used to but ultimately bring an authenticity to the narrative. In between the current moments of a dad and son skipping stones and the heritage of the land’s Viking past, the author pulls in anchor points to draw the reader unfamiliar with the area into the story such as comparison to The Blues Brother’s Rawhide scene. These connections help someone unfamiliar with the language and history of the area feel a little more at home in the story.

I imagine the book would benefit from a proof, but I hesitate to say that (and did not with my Amazon review) because I am so unfamiliar with the dialect it is written in. Sometimes the narrative reads like more modern English, and sometimes it has similar dialect as the dialogue carries. The characters were interesting and in so many ways humanity is the same no matter where we are. There were moments in the story I connected with as a father in particular. The overall pace of the book was good once I became more competent hearing the characters in their own voices.

HERE IS THE INITIAL INTERVIEW:

I had the pleasure to correspond with John Jennings 

about his new work, The Monarch, recently. 

John's Website

https://www.facebook.com/john.jennings.1232

It was always (my) ambition to write a novel though. And that all became serious when I was still teaching in England.

John, Thank you for speaking with me. Tell us a little about yourself and what led you to be a writer? 

 

Well, I have been writing pretty much my whole life in one form or another. I went to university at 20 and studied English literature as a major. This was after an interest in English literature at school and college. I then worked for a while on a paper in London before going on to study journalism. I had my first article published when I was in my mid-twenties and have continued to write ever since.

It was always the ambition to write a novel though. And that all became serious when I was still teaching in England. I was encouraging so many of my students, all adults, that they should follow their interests and dreams. I offered to pay the fees for a young lad to submit his application to enter the university system. Like many people in Sunderland I met, he was pretty poor, working part-time as a cleaner, but with big well justified ambitions to become an artist. I thought, here I am encouraging everyone else. Get your finger out! I looked into a PhD, but my MA credits weren’t gonna be recognized as they were from 2000 – this was around 2016. That’s when I started focusing on the idea of the novel, and the idea of self-publishing - as opposed to vanity publishing - was born.  

Reading and writing can be the best escape, potentially helping counter the onset of depression and the sense of isolation, especially in these strange times with lock-downs and everything. 

Where do you get your inspiration, information, and ideas for books?

 

I have always written about what I know about, whether through direct experience or through knowledge gained through reading. I am a big fan of James Joyce, as well as the Classic English and Irish, Russian and French novelists, especially from the Nineteenth Century.

 

What are your hobbies and do they ever play into your writing?

 

Travel is my biggest hobby, that’s the beauty of living here in Ireland. I am away from my home-town of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and have visited many countries, The US and Canada on four occasions. I intend to write a lot more books encompassing my travels, either in novel form or as contemporary travel literature. I love Michael Palin and Louis Theroux.

I am also hugely into films of all descriptions, mainly American and British, but I do like Australian, European and World Cinema.

 

What advice would you give someone who wants to be a writer?

 

Try to get your head in the right place. Ignore the distractions, as best you can.  Definitely do some research on Barnes and Noble and Kindle Direct Publishing, just to give you the reassurance that you will get your work out there. Once you have written a fair few sections of your book, upload it, but don’t publish. Leave it as a draft to be previewed. I did this and it really inspired me in the process of publishing through Amazon. Nothing like seeing the draft on the tablet to provide motivation.

 

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

The fees for my MA in journalism. And the bus fare to London. After that, anything was possible.

What is the best advice you have ever been given as a writer?

 

Just get on and write. Nothing more to it than that really. Although, I have been keen to develop over the years, and have been involved in writing, website creation and desk-top publishing for years, without those skills and experience I would have never known where to start, I doubt. It has been a gradual evolution, more of a pursuit of an ambition developed years ago from a spark. But ultimately, you need to follow your dream.

 

My favorite part, undoubtedly, is during the editing process. 

As you’d imagine, finishing the final edit and getting it up there in print.  

What is your favorite part about writing?

 

My favorite part, undoubtedly, is during the editing process. As you’d imagine, finishing the final edit and getting it up there in print. I look forward to getting the paperback. I love computers and, unlike my wife who can’t abide the e-copy format, I have no problems, and generally read on my phone or on my laptop, even on my kids’ tablets. Nevertheless, there is still something to be said for the feeling of having the tangible paper format in your hand. Nothing beats that really. It is every writer’s dream.

 

Please tell us about your current release.

 

My book The Monarch is the exploration of small town mentality amid the stagnation of post industrial North-East England and Ireland. Although Northern England was a hive of industry and innovation, and formed the backdrop for much of the Industrial Revolution for a couple of centuries, it was left devastated in the Eighties. Even afterwards the area still suffers. The book, which reflects my marriage and move to Ireland, another country which certainly had its share of hardship, is a kind of symbolic catharsis, a reflection on the times and hopefully a part of the healing process, for me at least. It is supposed to be reflective of the change from the machismo of these areas towards a softer more feminine outlook complete with psychological symbology. It is essentially quite feministic, really, despite first appearances, and being written by a man.

 

Can you read / provide us with a small exert? 

 

Jerry longed to leave the bay. Surrounded by glass. Cocooned within the carpeted windowed outward-looking enclave, staring at the birds and longing for the open sea, or the pub cellar, his inner sanctum, his own sanctuary. Here he sat exposed and open to all. Unable to hide away, manipulated hourly by well-meaning nurses or care staff. Often less than well meaning.

Jerry was almost constantly and patiently persuaded to drink up, sit up or turn round. The daily exercise class, better than sitting doing nothing, he knew, but boycotted. A principled protest waning towards acceptance. The sea beckoned.

He looked out as the rain gushed onto the path ahead. Leading to the cliff edge, out to the North Sea, Jerry looked ahead, the wind-swept greenery of the garden, the gazebo to the left, cloven by the asphalt and bordered by the fenced off cliff edge. Beyond, the sea beckoned.

Fishing, trawling with his cobble. Managing the bar. Laughing, joking and idling away the time with friends, his family and the custom. Arthur. His long-time friend – side kick, some had said. Ahead the sea beckoned.

Thanks for sharing. What exciting story are you working on next?

 

I have begun, and I mean that, just the first few pages, of a new novel. Again it will be set between two places. Newcastle upon Tyne and London, England. I really don’t know much more, although I expect it will center around the youths of father and son, different places, different times – memories and the present juxtaposed alongside other characters’ stories. I’ll see how it develops, but I intend to again focus on differences in dialect and perceptions.

 

You mentioned a few earlier, but who are your favorite authors?

 

As I said earlier, I am a big fan of the Classic novels of the Nineteenth Century, and similar types of work which progressed from them. Hardy and Dickens were staples growing up, and I went on to study and love Joyce, EM Forster, Balzac, Flaubert, Conrad and Tolstoy.  I love dystopian works, like Swift and Aldous Huxley. I read We by Zamyatin, the inspiration for Nineteen Eighty Four, but I never really enjoyed Orwell’s fiction. I love all his non-fiction commentaries though, as well as all of Laurie Lee. - I hope to explore Orwell’s fiction in coming months I have also read all of Irvine Welsh, and was always impressed by his use of dialect. Edinburgh used to be part of the Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, geographically where The Monarch is set, and it is actually Northumbrian English that Scottish people are speaking when not using Gallic. His books inspired me to publish in North-Eastern English dialect, which is spattered throughout The Monarch amongst traditional English. I have always liked George McDonald Fraser, whose work I have read completely. I just recently read a lot of his daughter’s stuff, Caro Fraser, which actually provided some motivation.

 

Any plans for the near future other than writing?

 

I am planning on undertaking more reviews alongside progressing with my current novel. I often like to work on poetry, which I find rewarding given the right inspiration, which could be anything, anywhere, whenever.

 

What is your writer’s kryptonite?

Distractions, which are everywhere.

 

Yes, they are!  I have a friend who has an app that grows him a tree if he sets his phone down and doesn't pick it up. It is so easy to shift our focus. I have found other writers struggle with distraction as well. Are you involved in any writer groups?

 

I am not currently working with any groups, but I did help out with teaching a group Sikh women with Creative Writing, and have taught countless people various forms of writing. I am now working mainly online and am currently reviewing two novels with more expected to follow. I am thinking of contacting a local book club, not far from my home in Ireland. They are a  couple of English lawyers I know who frequently host book readings. It could be interesting.

 

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

 

I hope you all enjoy the book, and any further works I publish. Reading and writing can be the best escape, potentially helping counter the onset of depression and the sense of isolation, especially in these strange times with lock-downs and everything. If anyone wishes to contact me via my website, I will always do my best to reply. Nothing beats the contact of other people.

 

 

One more time, where can someone go to purchase your book?

Add your links here again

 

Although it will be available to order form bookshops in future, the easiest way to get the book is from amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QVYF5ZL

It can also be read on Kindle Unlimited, the reading library available to members who pay a monthly subscription to Amazon.

If anyone wishes to buy a signed copy this can be arranged by contacting me though my website:

https://jenningsje.wixsite.com/writing

 

Potato and Carrot Soup

 We love soup season. And this is one of our favorites. Don't be scared by the multiple steps. It is totally worth it.

And compared to many recipes it still fits the category of simple but fresh. I do not like canned potato soups. Never have. I also don't like cooking where intructions are more chemistry and baking than just playing in the kitchen. This recipe is versatile, doesn't involve "rue's" or "whisking."

And it is delicious. Ready?

INGREDIENTS:

5-6 potatoes (russet or golden)

2 stalks celery

1/2 small bag of carrots

Medium onion

 12oz or more of bacon

32 oz chicken broth

8oz heavy cream

Shredded cheese

salt, pepper, cajun spice (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

-1. Cut the bacon into small pieces (later it will be topping - you can cook it whole and break up later if you prefer). Cook in your pot on medium heat (5 on my stove)

-2. While the bacon cooks, cut up the celery, onion, and potatoes. I cut the carrots in half also. Approximately 1 cup celery, 1 cup onion, one cup carrots, and four cups potatoes.

-3, Scoop bacon out and set aside for later. DO NOT DRAIN GREASE. It is your topping. Keep heat on medium and stir in all veggies. Make sure you stir them around so all are coated in the bacon grease. Cook for 10 minutes 

-4. Add salt, pepper, and, if desired, cajun spice to taste. I put about a teaspoon of each. Actually, I pour out in my hand what looks to be about the size of a nickel. That is how I was taught. Try a teaspoon, you can always add more later. Two teaspoons of cajun if you like it hot.

-5. Pour in chicken broth. Turn on high and bring to a boil. Boil (may want to back it down to 7 or 8 after get to a boil) for another ten minutes. Longer is okay. Want potatoes to be tender.

-6. Scoop out about half the soup and put in a blender. Blend till smooth and then replace it in the pot. This gives you that creamy texture. I suppose it isn't necessary, but I think essential. If you don't have a blender, just get some in a mixing bowl and smash.

-7. Lower heat to low. Mix in creamer and stir in till warm. Then serve!!

A few notes:

- If have too much bacon grease (some bacon produces more than others) you can pour some in a cup before stiring in veggies. Then you you can pour it in slowly to make sure it is all absorbed by the veggies. That said, a little extra bacon isn't going to hurt anyone.

- If you want yours to be thicker you can mix milk and flour and stir in. 1/2 cup of milk and 1 tablespoon of flour. Or 1 cup and 2 tbs. Be sure to mix well enough that NO flour chunks are visible. If they are, they WILL NOT dissolve in the soup. I don't ever do this step, but I know the trick from when I ran a restaurant.

- My family loves the grilled cheese with the soup. Easy to make and toss in the oven while soup boiling

Interview and Review: David Doub's Little Deaths

 

KICKSTARTER

 I know. That art is awesome. It reminds me of the work of Wendi Pini I used to read back when I was younger and you could snag a comic for fifteen cents. I have always loved comics and graphic novels. My friends and I growing up would subscribe to different series and then swap comics each week as they arrived in our mailbox. I had a box at a comic store for years where I would go dump a huge part of my paycheck each month. 

Like most of us, I have enjoyed the advent of cg animation and special effects that allow movies to portray almost real comic book action. However, there is still nothing like the smell of fresh ink and the imaginings your brain produces between the panels.  I think that is why I love comics. You have the visual stimuli but not all the thinking is done for you like it is in a movie. And unlike a movie, you are in control of the pace.  So, it was a real joy for me when David Doub and I connected over his kickstarter and new work: Little Deaths. 

First, let me thank you for joining me.  I appreciate you giving me your links and I want to share those with our readers.

 

Author name: David Doub       

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

And today we are promoting the new work, Little Deaths. 

There is a kickstarter for the project.

 

Kickstarter - http://tiny.cc/d55rtz        

Or click here: KICKSTARTER

 

David, Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?

 

I’ve been an avid reader all my life so it only seemed natural that I would become a writer.  I so wanted to make stories and entertain people just like what I had read.

 

I remember when I was young I had two little writing projects.  One was in this little notebook I had, I tried to do my own version of James Bond, called Max Louket.  I was obviously very much in a James Bond phase then, watching all I could.  

Who was your favorite Bond?

Roger Moore was my favorite because he was the modern one at the time and had all the crazy scifi stuff, like Moonraker, a kid like me loved.  

What was your second project?

Another one was a superhero comic, called Pulberizer (I was trying to spell pulverize).  It had supporting characters like Metal Man and his sidekick Metal Dog.  The villains were Blowhard and Lady Blowhard.  These were all very serious names for very serious comics.

 

 

Those sound like names from a Bond movie or from a game that is tongue and cheek. 

 

I love to play table top roleplaying games and some of those sessions sometime turn into comics (after I scrub off the copyrighted material from the games).

Dusk, the comic I’ve worked the most on was born from Vampire Roleplaying games, including Live Action

 

Vampire Roleplaying? That sounds cool. My kids and I like the Zombiecide games a lot. And, of course, a bit of D&D.

Miss Tilney, is actually born from a Dungeon and Dragons game.  There is a subset of D&D called Ravenloft.  Ravenloft is medieval fantasy like the rest of D&D but it’s all gothic with Vampires, Ghosts, Curses, and No Hope.  There is then a subset of Ravenloft called The Masque of the Red Death.  That setting is set in the 1890s Earth but has magic and monsters in it like Ravenloft

 

That sounds awesome. And I love that there is a character named "Lord Harwood."

So you have written and published several titles it looks like. In D&D and similar games characters always have a weakness. Do you have one you would identify as a writer? Your kryptonite so to speak?

 

Ultimately, it’s frustration.  Frustration makes me a sad and bitter person.  I will blame everyone and everything on why my books are doing better when I frustrated.  

 

I’ve blamed anime voice actors, fan art, cosplayers, conventions, superhero comics, superhero movies, T&A, other creators, and lot of others when I’ve been frustrated.

 

"What I always say is you have to write to get past that fear. That’s why I think starting small makes the fear less in a way."

But that doesn’t help.  It just makes you angry and pushes away potential readers because who honestly wants to be around all that negativity.

 

So, while I still get frustrated, I try to catch myself in negative behavior and work on positive solutions to help promote my comic better.

 

It’s aliens from space that are sabotaging my comic success.  They are in orbital and beaming subliminal messages to keep people away from my obviously awesome comics (J/K)

 

Please tell us about your current release.

 

Little Deaths is based on the historical person, Julie d'Aubigny (1670/1673–1707), better known as Mademoiselle Maupin or La Maupin.

 

I love historical fiction. And Julie seems like one whose story will resonate with many today?

She was a very colorful character who lived her live her own way.  She dueled, sang opera, bisexual.

 

The most famous story about her is a popular meme (hence how I found out about her) is how the parents of one of Julie’s lesbian lovers sent their daughter to a convent to escape Julie and her influence.  In turn, Julie also joined the convent as a postulant (a candidate of the convent) to take her lover away.  To cover up their escape, Julie dug up the corpse of a dead nun, placed it in her girlfriend’s bed and set fire to the room.

But yours has a bit of magic in it as well from my read of the work?

 

So we took this already wild character and added some supernatural elements and started making wild comic stories about her.

What advice would you give someone who wants to be a writer?

 

To do it.  I know that sounds simple, but I’ve seen to many writers who worry too much or set themselves up with goals that seem impossible (like say writing a 100 volume epic).

 

What I always say is you have to write to get past that fear. That’s why I think starting small makes the fear less in a way.

 

It’s easy to produce and edit say a short story (or short comic) and if you do fail, you can do it again with minimal effort over and over until you get to the place you want to be as a writer.

 

That’s why I like anthologies and collections because it helps gather up shorter works and promote them as a whole.  Strength in numbers and all that.

 

That is so true. My first published piece was in an anthology. My first book was middle grade. I chose it because I know the genre but also because the word count would be smaller.

Shoot, my first Graphic Novel, Dusk started as one short, and then another, until for that title I adopted the format of doing short separate comic stories in each Graphic Novel.  It fit the aesthetic of Dusk so I could easily shift tones.  I could even make the lead the hero in one story and then the villain in the next

 

That is great. I have the opposite tale. I started writing a graphic novel with a buddy who does the art. His life went crazy during COVID so it turned into a novella Three Ravens picked up. 

Shameless Self Promotion here: Twelve Hours on the Block by Jerry Harwood

So, What exciting story are you planning next?

 

The next project I am working on is called Necrophilia Presents, which is a horror anthology.  It’s named after the front woman of a local Dallas Texas band called the NecroTonz, an undead lounge act.

 

The horror anthology is filled with more relevant topics brought more into the light because of the pandemic.  Like one is called Mask It or Casket It where a psycho starts surgically attaching masks to people.  It’s obviously born from my frustration with people who don’t believe in science and we’re in actual pandemic.  It was hard work to write the story that wasn’t just wish fulfillment and show how in an war of escalation no one wins.

 

That is true. I have read stories often that seemed more treatise than fiction, more indoctrination and axe-grinding agenda than fun. It is good you are thinking about that balance as you write and I will say from what I have read of your work it certainly comes out.

David offered me a preview of Little Deaths. I have to say that the art was tremendous. It reminded me of Wendi Pini who is probably my favorite illustrator. I loved the characters and the storyline. While I am not part of the LGBTQ community, I have many friends who are and I love the voice this work gives them. But beyond it being a character who is different in an era when different was possibly criminal, the story is just damn good. I loved the interspersion of french where there really didn't need to be any translation. That was a great technique. The dialogue overall brought the images to life and made a compelling read. 

I know when my friend and I talked about doing a graphic novel with my Aztec God story I was really surprised at the cost. 

With comics there is a lot more costs because you have to pay for art, coloring, lettering and such.

Now you have a kickstarter. Tell us about that. What is it for?

Getting my books made and published.

I know there is a section of readers and writers who look down at people who self-publish, but for a lot of us in comics, it’s really the only way to get started.  Shoot, besides a few of the biggest publishers like Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, most publishers can afford to fund a comic and you have to come to them with the book already finished.

 

That’s why in recent years crowdfunding, like Kickstarter, has been a great way to fund book without having to do it all out of pocket.

Check it out here: KICKSTARTER

 

When I started though crowdfunding wasn’t really a thing, so I had to pay out of pocket.  I’ve always viewed it as an investment in my future.  I also try to help others get their stuff made because I know how hard it is to get a comic made.

That is awesome. It is why I do this blog. I love to see others succeed. Ultimately, we all want people to read cool stories. The more people read, the better success we as writers will have. I wish you the absolute best on Little Deaths.

 

 

 

 

 

Interview with Mathias Lindgaard, Author of Drunk Drivers.

  

Today, we have an opportunity 

to talk to Mathias Lindgaard.  

Mathias has written the book, 

Drunk Drivers.  

 

First, let me thank you for joining me. 

 I appreciate you giving me your links and I want to share those with our readers.

 

Instagram

Publisher Buy Page

 

That is great.  Can you tell us a little about yourself and what led you to start writing?

 

My name is Mathias, I’m now 24 years old and I’m born and raised in Denmark, Aarhus. I think my story with writing might be a bit different from most authors, without knowing it of course. But I started writing poetry and short stories very early on, about 11-12 years old. My motivation for writing in the beginning was really fleeing the outside world and creating a sanctuary for me to be myself and to remove all the outside noise.  My family life was never particularly easy, it wasn’t hard compared to many others, but as a very emotional kid I struggled a lot with my father leaving when I was 12, and the alcoholism that ran in my family. I spent most of my time alone, always running from things I couldn’t control, and that’s when writing really played its part – my opportunity to create my own reality. 

 
   Since I heard music for the first time, I knew that was something I wanted to for the rest of my life, so as I got older, I started moving towards a musical career, which was very strange because I couldn’t play any instruments or had any musical knowledge from my family either. But when push comes to shove, I push hard, because I wanted it so bad. Eventually, I made enough connections to start making music professionally for a Danish publishing label, which was mind-blowing for me. But writing music lyrically well, is really about constantly taking out the essence of every feeling, situation and so forth, and that can be tiring when you do it averagely 8-12 hours a day. So, I remember being 19, sitting at home and just wanting to write whatever came to mind. Completely forgetting everything that I had learned about songwriting, and just writing without releasing pen from paper, and writing like nobody was watching. I remember writing 20 pages of just something that night, I just couldn’t stop. 

    So, at 4 or 5 in the morning on a school night, I got into bed. And the next day, the only thing I could think about was doing it again. After a month or so, the idea of Drunk Drivers slowly started to form. But I knew I had to experience the story – I was already in an environment of drugs, and was doing them daily, but I hadn’t figured what that really meant for me. So, the following year and half the story formed unconsciously, and one day I just knew I had it. And 3 months later, I had a manuscript of 200 pages. So, what really led me to writing was just escape, which eventually got me into self-exploration, and that self-exploration became both a way for me to heal myself as well as an opportunity to transfer it into a story I saw more fit, or something that was easier for me to deal with.

 

"My motivation for writing in the beginning was really fleeing the outside world and creating a sanctuary for me to be myself and to remove all the outside noise." 

 

So does your inspiration come out of your life experience?

 

Usually, I have to have an explicit connection to it myself. I have to have experienced it in some way, or else I feel like I’m scrambling for thoughts without a compass, which talks into the self-exploration part I mentioned before. Other than that, I’m usually on the lookout for something unpredictable and emotionally extreme. To me, that just makes it more fun and exciting.

 

What are your hobbies and do they ever play into your writing?

 

Music definitely does, yes. And just everything that surrounds it. Also, I’m an entrepreneur, so self-improvement, as it’s called now, is definitely something that’s luring in the back of my mind too. I’m a high-performance obsessive, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have experienced making an impact on somebody before, so giving back what I have learned definitely plays a big part on how I write as well – even though it can throw me off once in a while.

 

What is the best advice you have ever been given as a writer?

 

Write like nobody’s watching. Definitely. The best things I ever wrote, and the things that has opened most doors for me, was the things I wrote solely for myself. And that’s books, music, poetry, doesn’t matter. And it leads you into this waiting game, you won’t ever make sense of. My poetry hit randomly for example, so I have to listen carefully all the time, and when it does, I stop everything I’m doing or the feeling might go away, and there’s a chance I won’t be able to grasp it again

 

What advice would you give someone who wants to be a writer?

 

Don’t do it for anyone or anything, do it solely for yourself. If you do it for the accolades, you’re probably going to be disappointed. As it is with every form of art; people don’t buy or support things because you want them to, they do it because they believe you believing it’s the truth. Meaning you create an opportunity of your story to become their own reflection – but everyone is well aware when you’re just trying to sell them a mirror.

 

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?

 

I honestly don’t know. I’ve only spent money on a typewriter I’ve never used, and a small amount on the publishing deal for my first book. But so far, publishing my first book. Just taking a bet on myself – because it turned out pretty great.

Do you write full-time or around another job? How do you schedule your time to write?

 

I’m studying, still working as a songwriter and now I also have promotion of Drunk Drivers in Denmark, on top of already writing my next book. How I schedule it really variates. If I’m still not 100% sure of how the book is going to end, I write a minimum of 10 pages every day – or I write nothing, but spent a minimum of 2-3 hours a day thinking about it, going in different directions and gathering information from basically everything that connects to the feeling I have. When I know the story (which to me means knowing the exact ending, and have few ideas of characters, situations and so) I write as much as I possibly can, every single day. I have to write every single day, to keep my mind in the story, but how many hours a day variates, because life have this funny tendency of just happening. So, I might write 8-10 hours one day, and then 1 hour the next, but I just have to write every day when I have the story. Because then I’m constantly thinking about the story, I keep getting reminded – and it becomes more truthful.

 

What is your favorite part about writing?

 

The process. Even though, I can push myself way to far haha. But just the process of being curious, becoming better, exploring and hopefully creating something that has use for somebody else.

 

"Drunk Drivers is my journey with drug addiction, the mental health issues I’ve had, creating an identity and just becoming more calm and peaceful being who I am. I never realized it would surround itself so much about love, but that was really the cure all for me."

Please tell us about your current release.

 

Drunk Drivers is my journey with drug addiction, the mental health issues I’ve had, creating an identity and just becoming more calm and peaceful being who I am. I never realized it would surround itself so much about love, but that was really the cure all for me. The story is also written as fictive story, both to still have opportunity to follow my curiosity, but also to be able to push it a bit away from me. It just became easier for me to deal with a lot of the emotions and thoughts I had when it wasn’t “me”. Drunk Drivers is also solely written when I was high, to make it as authentic as possible, which was a really hard process at times – but absolutely necessary.

 

Can you read / provide us with a small exert?

 

This is definitely one of my favourite parts:
I was walking through the gate. On the other side, the proud consumers of schedule 1 narcotics met me. Drinking, snorting, suffocating – enforcing they’re vanity. 1. Class vanity. This could very well be a night of mine. I felt on home-turf. A world so fragile. A world so familiar. A world where you believed in the curse of living forever and the deep desire for nevermore. The fascinating satisfaction there was in thoughts of endless desire and a life of eternity. Where you can drink till you puke. Fuck till you are dickless. Snort till you remember; when the night’s over you are going to wake up and be drawn to your deliberate path while your mind is suffocating, and neck strangled.  The misbelief of a road. Because roads lead somewhere. You are in a circle. As if you were a strapped down psychopath being transported back and forth. Prison to prison. You believe that your destiny is determined. Unhappy with desires of the uniquely extravagant. So lonely but comfortably manifested to the belief that a king, a legend can only be deprived his last breath but not his life nor his legacy. I walked into a mirage of the Garden of Eden. Where there were no Gods. Only fiends. Where there was no despair in enjoying the goods from the Tree of Life. Where desire was encouraged, and the disrupting ends of meeting satisfaction wasn’t seen frown upon. Where the snake was the king and his legacy enormous.

 

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next story is going to be totally different. I wanted to let my curiosity run the show, and I got totally obsessed with extreme contradicting feelings, which questions our morality. So, I’m really really excited for the next story I’m writing. It’s going to be some sort of a psychological thriller about a kid who constantly tries to retain his control over himself, but his circumstances just won’t allow him to, which leads him down some horrible paths and misunderstandings about self-preservation. I won’t say too much because most of it has to come as a surprise. Otherwise, it won’t work the way I want it to.

 

I followed a similar journey where my first work came from known experiences but since I have enjoyed exploring my curiosity. I find I draw often from great writers I have read. Who are your favorite authors?

 

I honestly haven’t read many books in my life. But Charles Bukowski and Scott Fitzgerald are definitely two I enjoy, even though I haven’t read much of their work yet. But I’m also a stoic, so The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is something I read a phrase in every morning.

 

What is your writer’s kryptonite?

 

My ego. No doubt. It just leads me into overthinking and overanalyzing, which is the opposite of feeling it out. And that just prevents the good stuff from flourishing, and usually leads to me procrastinating when I dwell on the result. But I also write in three stages; idea, scripting and perfecting.

 

Are you involved in any writer groups?

 

Unfortunately, no. Writing is pretty much a solo project for me, but I would really love to get involved with more writers.

 

Anything additional you want to share with the readers? 

 

If you are a writer, or you just have an idea. Please just do it. Please just write it. And please just share it. Art only lives if someone breathes it, and what you think suck, might be another man’s treasure – so don’t judge it in advance, that was never your job. Please just do it. And to the readers, a sincere and utter; thank you. Nothing would live without you. It’s a symbiotic relationship, and we’re totally dependent on each other.

 

That’s great! I wish you the absolute best on marketing your debut novel.

 

 One more time, where can someone go to purchase your book?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drunkdriversofficial/
Publisher buy page: https://olympiapublishers.com/books/drunk-drivers

And almost on every book site you know. Everything from bookdepository.com to Amazon.us/uk and saxo.dk

Review of eConscience Beta

 Buy it here!

eConscience Beta is a fast paced read with good dialogue. 

A classic “Is it okay to do bad in order to stop greater bad” tale with enough twists and surprises to keep you turning pages. 

So often, stories with nanites or similar tech get consumed in the creation of the world that we lose the story. eConscience Beta succeeds in both building a cool world and developing great characters. 

The villain is not a bumbling imbecile and our heroes are not flawless, super people incapable of failing. 

As Transki declares about our squad of heroes at one point:

"They are “an upstart high-strung coat-tailing female, a barely competent stuttering weak-willed fidget-fest of a man, and a completely moronic societal dreg.”

That might not be a completely fair appraisal, as Transki has a bit of bias. But the snippet reflects the read. 

Overall, this is a great addition to one of my favorite genres.

I also would mention that I have gotten to know the author, J. D. Beckworth, through an anthology of flash fiction I was honored to participate in. In the process of submitting we were all asked to "bleed" on each other's works. I found Beckworth's comments and critiques of my work in the anthology, a little tale about a hiker who ends up in a haunted village, superb. He gave my story attention to detail, asked questions that led me to quality rewrites, and had a real ability to teach as he critiqued. As I read eConscience Beta, I saw that same attention in his own writing. I have read many good stories that I enjoyed less because the author got in his own way. There are entire blogs out there committed to such things as bad grammar, switching point of view, giving the reader twists at the wrong time, etc... Beckworth, in my opinion, does not fall into these traps. His yarn is well told. Pick up a copy and enjoy the read.

Oh, and should you desire to see it. The anthology is posted here:

Children of the Corner: A Corner Scribblers Collection