My Blog Is Moving

I now have a new blog site running that will be taking over from Blogger as of this week.  The new blog will be focusing on genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and supernatural fiction along with various subjects related to these genres, including history and horror. All the current posts here will still be available for some time yet, however, but I do hope you will all join me in my new home. You can still follow me by email at the new site and keep up to date.

http://narrativespace.wordpress.com/

All the best Xx

RED--Short Stories Coming Soon...

The next Cafe Three-Zero book is due for release on April 1st and I thought I'd share the new book cover with you. Again, the collection of stories, written by various authors will provide readers with a great many genres to choose from. It will be available for all e-readers from most good on-line e-stores. So keep watching for more updates...

Cafe Three-Zero are also shouting out for Blog hosts for the new book, so if anyone is interested you can find out more via this link http://bookblogs.ning.com/profile/CafeThreeZero, the Blog link below or email contacts@cafethreezero.com.

Also, coming soon...I will be launching my new replacement Blog that will feature reviews, ramblings and articles on the Fantasy and Supernatural genres that inspire me.

www.cafethreezero.wordpress.com

Just Read -- How To Get Inspired To Write

Inspiration is something that all writers struggle with at some point of the creative process. Stewart Ferris's book  How to Get Inspired to Write - and the secret of writing without inspiration aims to reduce those moments of procrastination and staring at blank pages. He demonstrates that writers, with a few tricks and guidelines, never have to wait for inspiration to strike; that they can just write and the words take care of themselves.

  It's available through Amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006KC32OS/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb and is my book recommendation of the month.

  Also, there is a great section that discusses redrafting and how to break the edit down into 10 stages or sweeps; each redraft stage, concentrating on one element of the story - such as structure, dialogue or description, through to a final sweep for punctuation.

  I'm currently reading a few eBooks about writing - all of which will find their way onto the blog in the near future. You can keep up to date with all my reads following by email (you will find the box at the top right-hand side of the blog page) or via Networked Blogs etc. I'm on Facebook and Google+ too.
   http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-C-Fullwood/129194753843309
   https://plus.google.com/101830726018717301586?hl=en#me/posts
 

The Daily Grind

I am now a good way through my next short story - the basic draft that is - still with tons of editing to plough through. Things have been a little slow for me this month; understandable when you move house and what with the daily grind (the real world, which none of us can avoid, no matter how fertile our imaginations are) it's a miracle I've even got to the computer at all!
     I'm doing my usual; putting unnecessary pressure on myself; taking far too much on and not sleeping when I should be. But then, sometimes - that works for me. I can't get too complacent after all. Easy to do when most of your work is produced at home and under your own steam.
    Deadlines are good; they help to keep you focused. Deadlines are what I need as I'm so easily distracted by old or shiny things, food...oh and the all consuming social network. With that in mind, I'm keeping the post short today - knowing that I really should be writing stories and not blogs. Then again, it's all practise, isn't it!
    The next Cafe Three-Zero eBook is out in the Spring - which gives us a few months to organise everything. However, that has to allow time for edits, book design, checks and double checks. The only brief for this collection of stories is that they're inspired by the word RED. I've done my brainstorming and have finally settled on an idea with the working title of Find The Lady. 
     There will be updates aplenty over the next few weeks, confirming the authors and final release dates. Volume 2 is shaping up to be bigger and better than Volume 1, with the word count for each story around 3000 words or more. So lots to look forward to in the Cafe Three-Zero camp and lots to read.

     Thanks for stopping by and if you wish to comment, please do so. I always do my best to reply. You can also follow me by email - so my posts go direct to you.  

2012 - Arrrrgh!

As it's the new year and 2012 at that, I thought I'd start with a rather cheerful post - the subject of 2012 itself, albeit, a little later than planned.  Some of you might be aware after reading my short story To Wander A Pale Sky in Tales From The Cafe: Vol 1 that I'm a bit of a dystopian fan. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not at all negative and most people who know me perhaps find me cheerful. But when it comes to writing - I love a good disaster.  I can't help it. It's an affliction that I was clearly born with (so don't blame my parents).

      With that in mind, I like to challenge my characters and throw some good old fashioned drama at them.  This is when stories get really interesting. Drama shows both a character's flaws, strengths and allows them to grow. And without challenges and growth you have no story.  Life is also like that of course and we as humans need a little bit of disaster to make us see what's really important and enjoy the good times.

      Now you might well ask...yes, but why are all these books and films out now so dark, and why do we all feed from all this negativity? Well, I guess it stems from the beginning of time. When humans became self aware and they sought answers about the world around them.  They asked, why are we here? For what purpose and is there anything else; anything out there, bigger than ourselves?  I think that when you become self aware you begin to look at life in it's entirety; that it has a beginning and end and everything in between is the journey; albeit a mixed one emotionally. So yes, life has an end and we, as a species have become a little obsessed with the end of the world scenario. Faced with the end, we are forced to look at ourselves and try to change for the better - whether or not we will die.

     There's no doubt that views are influenced by morals or religion; we all have our own take on this and everyone is different after all - no matter what science tells us. Believe me, I have had many late night philosophical debates with close friends; most of which end with, well you have your opinion and I have mine.  So we never really solve anything. The fact of the matter is - we just don't know...and that's the point; it's the not knowing that drives us...it makes us crazy. Humans by design have to challenge the world, understand and try to conquer it. We do whatever it takes to gain control of our life and destiny.  So maybe we create our own End Times - this is how it will end - the film says so doesn't it?

      So what if it doesn't end. Now, that would throw a spanner in the works, wouldn't it? We as individuals are of course going to die, it's biological (unless we cheat that with science one day) - but the universe, is still growing. Science tells us it might shrink but how do we really know for sure when there are new discoveries like finding particles faster than the speed of light.  So, we are sent back at square one again.  Science discovers, then realises... actually, it doesn't know anything at all.

     Okay, so this post isn't really about science as such, nor the spirit world, it's about good old 2012.  The Mayan calender ends and begins again.  Does this mean the end for us then? Some think that it will be a spiritual awakening, others believe it's an astronomical calculation.  Some think that it is - well - it...the end.  It could mark the beginning of natural disasters too, though I don't really think we can attribute it to a spiritual intervention. We are quite good at making the planet a dirty place to live all on our own.

      Now, do I believe that December 2012 will be the end for us all? In a word - no.  If I did, I wouldn't be planning the next few years of novel ideas and I wouldn't be writing short stories for Cafe three-Zero.  I like the idea of a spiritual awakening; a new time of consciousness, a milestone in human evolution, physically and spiritually.  There is something positive about that.  A kind of internal alchemy where we understand ourselves more to attain a higher plane of existence.  I really like the idea of us caring about where we live and each other more too.  Weather we do remains to be seen. It's part of being human, isn't it; dreaming, hoping, creating. 

     I could babble on all day with this; talk about who we are and why. So I won't start on that thread of, yes, but...where did we come from...and what created the big bang anyway. What came before and how big is the universe? Is there more than one reality?  These are of course questions to raise at another time, somewhere in the future.

     So what do you think about 2012? Will it end? Do you even care? Will the UK win tons of gold medals at the home Olympics? It's over to you readers... and if you liked the post, feel free to comment or share. You can now even follow me via email. 

Tales From The Cafe:Vol 1 - Our First Publication

Well the day is finally here, and the first of hopefully many e-books has been published. It is available through all good on-line book shops, the links for which will follow this post.  Here's a little bit about our joint venture.

CafeThree-Zero is an on-line collaborative literary venture, a publisher of e-books, and a fertile environment for creative writing.
The members of the Cafe met whilst studying an on-line creative writing course with the Open University.  None of the authors have ever met but have pooled their talents to produce their first book, “Tales from the Cafe – Volume 1″. This book, available from the 10th November 2011 contains twenty-three short stories with a wide range of subject matter from Gothic horror in the Wild West to the battlefields of World War II, from Twitter-obsessed fairytale princesses to a time travelling taxidermist.
The authors come from all walks of life, hold down day jobs, and share a strong interest in writing fiction. All the contributing author’s stories start from original ideas, forum inspired themes, and undergo peer review before seeing the “e” light of day.

You can find information about Cafe Three-Zero on the website and blog. You can also follow by Twitter and Facebook.  Don't forget to look out for my contribution to the book "To Wander A Pale Sky" and check out all the very talented author's own blogs/Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Tales From The Cafe:Volume 1 on sale now at:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006584WHS

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/103508

Find Cafe Three-Zero at:-

http://www.cafethreezero.com/

http://cafethreezero.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Three-Zero/140193642738699

http://twitter.com/#!/CafeThreeZero

Snippets From The Notebook

It was not really meant to be poetry nor prose - perhaps more of an exercise in stream of consciousness.
Strange stuff from the notebook...

Uttered words, soulless, empty - though blackened meadows on a moonless night.
Alone but not forgotten.
Darkness calls with a message from beyond, revealing the passage of time.
Love that binds spirit.
Despair deepens, within dreams, she searches, with a realisation of beckoning freedom.
They are divided not destroyed.
There, amongst the lengthening shadows and parting hills...She takes her last breath.
They are whole....