Thursday 27 January 2022

Rozia’s U-Log, a novella between two novels

 

The blurb:

In the year 3519 Rozia struggles to rebuild her shattered life.

She uses her U-log, written in obscure Wordtext that only a few can read, to help herself to recover from a serious injury, to mend a broken heart and to come to terms with a demanding new role. Will her new-found friends be able to help?  Especially when she meets an even greater challenge?

Rozia's U-Log, a heart-wrenching and life-affirming story, bridges the gap between books two and three, Babel and The Tower of Gill James' Peace Child series.  

Enjoy reading the episodes now.”

This is a novella, some 15,000 words long. It was first presented in the form of a blog – representing a U-log – a universal log. When I first wrote it I was doing a lot of school visits and promoting the Peace Child series  in secondary schools. Many students engaged with story after the visits.

It’s important to realise that our characters have a life beyond the one that we present in the pages of our stories.  So, this helps to fill in some background on one of the main players. Kaleem is the protagonist in books 1-4 of the series but Rozia is his significant other. There is a gap between books 2 and 3 and at the beginning of book 3 we find out what has happened to Kaleem but we don’t know much about Rozia. This fills that gap.

There are some bizarre twist and turns.

I have now taken the blog down and at the moment it is serialised via Channillo – find it here.  

Later I shall publish it as a novella.      

Sunday 23 January 2022

An interview with Richard T Burke, a contributor to Bridge House's 'Resolutions' anthology

 So, Richard, what do you write? Why this in particular? 

My books are predominantly thrillers, but most have a scientific or technology element thrown in (such as a deadly virus that kills women the moment they give birth). I try to write the type of books I enjoy reading: an interesting premise, believable characters and some good twists.

What got you started on writing in the first place?

I have always been an avid reader and had been meaning to try my hand at writing, but life always seemed to get in the way. My first book, The Rage, took three years to write, and I finally self-published it in late 2015. Since then, I have released another five books, including the Decimation trilogy, at a rate of roughly one per year. My short stories have also been published in anthologies by Bloodhound Books (Dark Minds), Corona Books (The Corona Book of Science Fiction) and most recently, Bridge House Publishing (Resolutions).

When did you decide you could call yourself a writer? Do you do that in fact?

In my view, anybody who writes should call themselves a writer. After six novels and three published short stories, I most certainly classify myself as such.

 How supportive are your friends and family? Do they understand what you're doing?

My wife is very supportive, but she is not a great reader. I think she is fed up of our discussions about the plots of books I am working on. Unfortunately, to date she has only completed my first two books.

What are you most proud of in your writing?

I am most proud when a reader enjoys my work. Last October, I received an email from a reader in Australia who had been suffering from a serious illness and picked up my Decimation trilogy. She thanked me for “an entertaining week of reading” and told me she had “thoroughly enjoyed every page”. That message made my day! I read all reader reviews (both good and not so good!), but I am also currently running an advertising campaign on Facebook and have had several complimentary messages about my writing in the comments section. Moments like those make all the hard work worthwhile.

 



How do you get on with editing and research?

I have an engineering background, so research is something that comes naturally to me. The Internet is an obvious source of information, but I also try to read books with a similar theme before starting work on a new project.

I quite enjoy editing because I know I am on the home stretch by that stage. I make extensive use of automated tools, including ProWritingAid and Grammarly, but I also have a diverse group that helps to review my work before publication, including an editor and several beta readers, some of whom are authors themselves.

Do you have any goals for the future?

I would like to accelerate the rate at which I put out books to at least two a year. It would also be nice to have a book picked up by one of the big publishers, mainly because it would allow me to spend more time on the writing and less on the admin and marketing side of things.

Which writers have inspired you?

 In terms of authors, Blake Crouch, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Andy Weir rank highest in terms of reading enjoyment at the moment. I also particularly enjoy the work of Chris Whitaker, Lynwood Barclay, John Marrs and Sibel Hodge. 

But Ross Greenwood, who is published by Boldwood Books, is probably my biggest source of inspiration. We started writing around the same time and regularly provide feedback on each other’s novels. Despite his increasing status as a writer of crime fiction, he still finds time to offer his support to others in the publishing business.

 

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Ideas often just pop into my head or originate from something I have read or watched. Take Decimation, for example. I know Dan Brown is a bit like Marmite with readers, but I quite enjoy his work. I was discussing the plot of Inferno with my wife (terrorists plan to release a plague that will sterilise the human race) when I had a flash of inspiration. I asked her what would happen if, instead of simply making women infertile, a virus killed mothers immediately after giving birth. Rather than the main character trying to prevent the disease from spreading (as in Inferno), what if the virus had already been around for sixteen years? And what if the main character was pregnant herself?

How do you pick your characters’ names?

The name of the main character in Decimation, Antimone (AN-TIM-OH-NEE), just came into my head. I suspect my subconscious mind was influenced by the Harry Potter books (which my daughter loved as a child) and the character of Hermione (HER-MY-OH-NEE) Granger.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

It would have to be Blake Crouch. I’d like to ask him how he got the ideas for his recent novels.

If you could re-write the ending to any book, what would it be, and what would you change?

I’m not going to be specific, but I hate books where the story is left unresolved. Cliff-hangers are a particular pet hate. Even in a series, I think an author owes it to the reader to resolve the major plot points.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

I have to go with Recursion by Blake Crouch. When you find your dreams are affected by a book, the author has done a good job!



If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?  

Made in Blackburn: the tale of an engineer and author

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee, who would it be and where would you take them?

I’m fascinated by new technology, so I’d invite Marty McFly (Back to the Future). I’d take him to a coffee shop a hundred years in the future—if they still drink coffee—to see how the world has changed.

What are you working on right now?

My next book is in the planning stage and has a working title of “The Last Thirty Seconds”. It will be a near future Sci-Fi / Thriller story, but I don’t want to give too much away yet!

Tell me about your last book

My latest book, Annihilation: Origins and Endings, is the third in the Decimation trilogy and was published in September 2021 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0917PF5XW). The underlying theme of a deadly pandemic is apposite in these strange times, but I published the first book (Decimation) two years before COVID-19 emerged.

The Decimation series takes place in a world where a virus has infected every living person. It lies dormant until a woman gives birth, then she dies. For the past sixteen years, no woman has survived childbirth. Until now.

The third instalment, Annihilation: Origins and Endings, is written in two timeframes, one that goes back to the beginning and covers the initial outbreak, and another which follows the main characters as they help the scientists to develop a cure. But not everybody is working towards the same goals. There are several twists and turns, which eventually bring the two timelines together.