Excerpt from Into Darkness

“... “There were seven of us,” Carth repeated. His voice remained quiet and almost distant and Dravish realised that the old soldier was reminiscing, something that he rarely, if ever, did. “In the evenings we dug the well and during the day we guarded the people going to the river. We were tired all of the time and there were not enough of us, but that is no excuse.” Carth sighed heavily before raising his gaze, eyes glistening in the starlight with painful memories. “Your father died the day before the well was finished,” he stated quickly, as though forcing the words out.
Dravish blinked and shook his head, stunned, feeling like he had been struck across the face, hard. An image of a woman in a darkened room flittered across his memory; a huddled figure wrapped in a worn blanket, a monochrome study of grief.
“But…but you always told me that he died fighting for the freedom of the peoples,” Dravish said, almost in a whisper.
“Are you now saying that he did not?” asked Carth. His voice with a firm edge and his brow furrowed almost to a fierce scowl.
Dravish paused, thinking honestly about the question. He realised that somewhere in his mind he had always thought that his father had died in a glorious battle, perhaps defying the gods themselves. It was a vague notion; something no doubt concocted by a child’s mind with the practicalities never really thought through. He shook his head slowly.
“It seems so futile,” he said with a soft sigh.
Carth nodded his head in agreement and there seemed an age of understanding in the movement. “It often does,” he said. ...”

Cheer up you miserable bugger

Had one of those days today when I brood on the past and the useless yet inevitable regrets rear their ugly heads. It seems that despite how well a life turns out...admittedly, that's a strange turn of phrase due to the fact that a life doesn't really turn out any way as all lives end the same way; but you know what I mean (see what I mean about the mood I've been in today)...we all seem to have regrets.

Who’ll watch Watchmen?

For those of you who don't know; the film adaption of Watchmen is scheduled for UK release in March. And I expect that there are not many of you who don't. Regardless of any advertising efforts by the film company (Warner Bros.), pretty much everyone who is going to see this movie will already be in eager anticipation of its release. Last year alone the paperback of Watchmen sold more than half-a-million copies; not bad for a 22 year old comic-book!

The Art of Blogging?

As a writer I am well aware of the horrors of the blank page or screen. As someone who enjoys confronting and overcoming the difficulty such a horror creates, I have long been fascinated by the art of blogging. After all, it seems to me that a blogger takes every day as an opportunity to sit in front of a blank screen with the aim of putting down something that others will find interesting.
So, if all this is true, then why have I only now turned myself into a blogger?