M. Leon Smith has been very quiet of late. This is due to a number of factors - some personal, some professional but although he has bee quiet, he has still been writing.Soon to be released is a complete version of the 'The Fallen'. This story, originally published as a flash fiction series on this site, will soon be available as a rewritten (and finished) .pdf. Best of all - it will be completely free!Many thanks to those who read the story as it was originally published and huge apologies to those who contacted M. Leon Smith wondering when the ending would appear.
Not long now!
"The doorbell rang and Wren swore. He knew the Trick or Treaters had finally ventured up his driveway. He had hoped that the bending, curving drive which climbed in a series of wheelchair manageable gradients would mean the house would be ignored.
To answer, or not to answer: that was the question..."
It's Halloween! Even for Vampires. Wren is hoping for 'A Quiet Night In' in Olverston Grange... and Other Stories but that's not likely. A lesson in horror for the horrific...Available on Smashwords and Amazon.
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 Olverston Grange... and Other Stories is now available at Smashwords! A collection of dark natural and supernatural horror from author M. Leon Smith can nopw be read on just about every ebook reader as well as you
Another round of edits are being made to the site so some things will change and others disappear completely. I am doing all the work myself so it'll take a day or two to complete (possibly longer) - once complete hopefully the site will be more relevant.I have a new site for my disability blogs and hopefully that will evolve into a hub for a a pan-disability forum but at the moment it is horribly under-developed but (if you must) it can be seen at notafullstop.com
The Muse, the long-held notion of a being that inspires authors and artists, has been absent with me recently. People are quick to apply the term 'Writer's Block' but I counter that there is no block, nothing there to stop me physically writing, just a paucity of words.
I find it very easy to believe in a Muse because, at times, I have words that spill from me and fill the page easily and require the bare minimum of re-writing. Other days it seems like every sentence is like skiing uphill.
Recently I was challenged to write a story about a worm dealing with a motorway. More than that - it had to be a children's story. Literature for children has been my Achilles Heel for such a long time. I do not have children and don't really understand them in the way others seem to be able to so easily.
OK, I said. And a couple of days later 'The Lazy Worm' was written. Being a children's story I wasn't too keen on it I sent it to my friend,
Here it is:
The Lazy Worm © 2012 M. Leon Smith
Wilmot yawned, stretched and yawned again. All around him the other worms were squiggling and squirming in a terrible hurry. He ignored them - his bed was warm and comfy.
"Wilmot! Wilmot!" they shouted but he just snuggled down into his duvet and went back to sleep.
When he woke up it was quiet. Wilmot liked the quiet, it made sleeping so much easier. He stretched again, yawned some more and had another nap.
He dreamt a sweet dream of soft mud and mushy over-ripe apples. It was a lovely dream and Wilmot was sorry when it was rudely interrupted.
"What is that awful noise?" he asked out loud. None of the other worms answered. Suddenly there was another, even scarier, roar. Then another and another.
"Where are you?" Wilmot shouted to the other worms but got no answer except for another thundering roar.
He slid out of bed and squiggled around his bedroom. He wiggled into the next room and shouted again but there was no answer.
"I should see what is making that horrible noise," muttered the little worm to himself but instead he yawned, stretched and went back to bed.
He couldn't sleep. The noise got louder and came more often. It simply would not do! Wilmot decided to see who was making the noise and tell them to keep it down. He started to dig up in that special way worms have so he could poke his head he'd up through the ground and take a look.
Wilmot wasn't the fastest digger. He was much better at lying down and resting. There were times on his slow climb through the soil when he wanted to simply go back to bed but the noise was so awful he had to stop it.
After much pushing and digging and earth moving he banged his head.
"Ow!!!"
What had he banged his head on? He looked up and saw something hard and black. The horrible din from above came back and was much louder now he was so close to it. It hurt his little worm ears. The black rattled when the noise came.
Wilmot was suddenly very scared. He rushed back to his little worm house and looked for clues. He searched the house until he found a note.
Dear Wilmot,
We tried to wake you but you wouldn't get out of bed. The humans have built a motorway. Right over our house! We have moved to get away from the cars and lorries. We are in Farmer Flannigan's horse field. We went across the top but the motorway means you will have to dig all the way.
Your friends.
Wilmot knew he would have to follow them. The noise would never, ever stop. It would be hard work digging so far but he knew the journey had to be made. He would roll up his sleeves and find his friends. It would be tiring but he could do it. He would make it to his new house!
But... if it was going to be so tiring, he better have a nap first.
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My friend, it would be fair to say, was delighted by the piece. She considered herself to be a Muse. And I can't really argue with that. She had an idea, gave it to me, a story was written. She decided to have another go and told me to write a story called 'The Secret Rock Pool'
The effect of that was Muse-like. Within an hour a fully formed story was emailed to her. The character, Lucy-May, popped into my head complete with description, personality and problems. I love the story and it's not going to appear here as it has already been sent to a publisher. Will it get picked up? I don't know but it will see print eventually, one way or another..
So, yes, it would seem I have a Muse...
Once upon a time there was a lonely little Prince. He lived alone with his father, the King, because his mother, the Queen, now lived with an evil Warlock in a different castle. His visits to the strange castle in a distant land were rare and soon stopped all together.
All the Prince wanted was a Princess of his own, to be loved and be allowed to love her in return but he did not trust anyone. With no trust there was no love and the Prince remained lonely, watching as his friends found Princesses of their own.
One day, years after the Queen had left, he met a Princess that he loved immediately but he could say nothing to let her know how he felt. What a dilemma for the lonely little Prince! Everything he had ever wanted was right in front of him but he didn't trust her or himself to woo her. Eventually, after kissing lots of frogs, she found a Prince of her own. The little Prince was lonelier than ever.
Then another Princess came into his life, She was as lonely as he was because she was trapped in a run-down cottage with an evil witch, Eventually the lonely Prince and the lonely Princess fell in love and, much later than that, each other's arms.
The little Prince was lonely no more,
Then, as is the way with love sometimes, the Princess left. The Prince was suddenly more lonely than he had ever been before. He roamed the land looking for a new Princess but none could equal her beauty, kindness or immaculate spirit. The Princesses he tried to love were no replacement for her.
To defeat the loneliness the Prince visited a wizard who left words of great power emblazoned on his flesh. A talisman against the fear, a source of comfort to banish the loneliness.
Time passed and the Price tried once again to woo his Princess. She missed him as much as he missed her and they lived happily ever after.
* * *
Life is not a Fairytale. She said no but that's fine. This little Prince is not lonely any more and might have met his Princess recently...
The most difficult thing for many writers is the blank page. It taunts you, dares you to put some mark on it. If those marks are words then so much the better. If those words make a sentence then you might just be onto a winner.To overcome this I have often written to prompt. I use a site call Duotrope that lists the calls for submissions from publishers. It states what they want - approximate word counts and themes. I find that a great help to overcome the dreaded writer's block.But I have things that I want to write. I want to write the things I would like to read. I have started and put aside novels on more than one occasion. The first of these was hideously self-indulgent (and semi-autobiographical) and following the recent big things on the literary scene, I'm glad I didn't pursue it further. The novel I am (sort of) working on is already annoying me. I am writing it like me but that is not the book I want to read... I will need to change my style to do it justice. It'll be fun to see if I can do that.Recently I read an interview with Will Self where he states that he does not write for readers. I think I might need to take a leaf out of that book. I am going to write for myself, much as I read.In that spirit I have begun the fourth Blue Jackets instalment. As yet untitled it carries on the tale that has been established in Induction, Growth Spurt and Thursday's Child but is going to take it in a darker direction as originally planned for the series.I have expressed doubts about the series and at one point decided to discontinue it. But I want to write it. I want to read it. I want to do this so it will happen.If I can overcome my second thoughts then I can surely overcome the fear of the blank page. Onwards and upwards!Follow me on Twitter @GeordieWriter
Join the Blue Jackets on Facebook
Read The Fallen each week for free
Olverston Grange on Amazon UK, USA
Blue Jackets on Amazon
Thursday's Child: Blue Jackets Part 3 UK, USA
Growth Spurt: Blue Jackets Part 2 UK, USA
Induction: Blue Jackets Part 1 UK, USA
First of all - thanks to everyone (that's more than 100 of you!) who took the offer of the free promotion of Olverston Grange ...and Other Stories. It is really gratifying that my words will be read by so many people in the UK, US, Germany and Spain! Makes me feel so happy!
Now for something I've been wanting to post for a while... How to enjoy a party (for the English) So. You've been invited to a party. How do you prepare?
1) What to wear? If you're a woman then you will need to acquire a cheap copy of whatever your favourite actress was wearing in a magazine a couple of months ago. That is not important. What is important is you buy shoes that will cripple you inside of two hours. Without this important accessory you will not have a reason to complain about spilled beer and broken glass on the dancefloor when you remove said shoes. If you're a man you will, of course, wear what your wife/girlfriend has prepared for you. If you're single then whatever smells clean(ish) will do. 2) Arrive "fashionably late". It makes no difference that your appearance (or lack thereof) is of no difference to just about everyone in the room. You heard the phrase with regards to movie stars once, so it must be de rigeur, right? Unfortunately everybody else is applying the same tactic with the result that the first 45 minutes the host feels foolish and unloved but that's a good thing! We're English and no-one can enjoy their moment in the spotlight.3) Complain about the beer. You have a local pub and drinking anywhere else feels like cheating on your partner. Worse, really. If that girl in accounts would look at you twice then you would cheat far more happily than enjoying a pint somewhere other than your regular haunt.4) Dancing. On no uncertain terms dance before the buffet.
5) Buffet. After a hesitant and insincere speech that begins with "I'd like to thank everyone for coming...." and ends with "the buffet is now open" food will be served. Irrespective of whether it's a few sweaty cheese sandwiches or a feast of Bacchanalian standards you MUST NOT leave your seat unless any of the following conditions are met:a) A minute passes without anyone approaching the foodb) A queue so long that you have to wait over five minutes to reach the vol-au-vents has formed.c) There is no food left. This is an excellent opportunity to complain.6) Dancing. You have been fed so dancing is now obligatory but only when two conditions are met:a) You are so drunk that the very concept of rhythm and co-ordination is beyond you.b) The DJ plays YMCA.7) The DJ. It is your duty as an Englishman to belittle and annoy the poor sap playing the music all night then act like they're your best friend when you want 'the best song ever' played. Your choice, of course, is NOT the best song ever - it is the B-side to a one hit wonder from the 1970s that no-one in the room knows. Well, we can't have all that dancing can we?8) Last orders. Despite drinking enough to sink a small flotilla you would like another (possibly two) pints. It it therefore VITAL you ignore the call for last orders at the bar.9) Time at the bar. When time is called and the bar staff begin to clear down for the night, this is the time to order more alcohol. This provides another excellent opportunity for complaining when service is refused.10) You've survived the night. As you leave the building with a stolen helium balloon and your necktie around your head, you can be sure that you will NEVER go to another party.*You have survived a party. You will have earned bonus points if you have sat all night with your arms folded, ignoring your partner with stoic indifference.*Until next time...Follow me on Twitter @GeordieWriterJoin the Blue Jackets on FacebookRead The Fallen each week for freeOlverston Grange on Amazon UK, USABlue Jackets on AmazonThursday's Child: Blue Jackets Part 3 UK, USAGrowth Spurt: Blue Jackets Part 2 UK, USA Induction: Blue Jackets Part 1 UK, USA
I find myself wondering from time to time about this blog. What is it for? Is it a promotional tool? A diary? A confessional?What I had hoped was that I would find my readership and be able to talk with them. Being able to talk to authors has always given me a buzz but maybe that's just me. Even if it is I'm still going to tweet @neilgaiman!One thing I do know about the site is that I am not going to hide behind a fiction. I'll save that for my stories, thank you very much. I have been upfront and honest about my medical conditions and as such I have no shame in telling you that my depression reared its head and mixed me quite badly for a few days.I found myself in a bleak place, one I thought I had left behind for good. It just goes to show - if you're not vigilant, the black dog can bite.I started pulling out of the gloom yesterday afternoon and by early evening I was looking through Duotrope for open anthologies that I could write something for. I found one that was to a first line prompt and began to write without an idea or plan as to what I was going to create.It wasn't until I was about three paragraphs into the (as yet untitled) story that I realised what I was writing. I finished it off in about 45mins (only 1000 words) and it is currently in my 'cooling down' folder before I go back to correct/rewrite as necessary. I felt good - on a high. It has been some time since I have written to prompt and the feeling was both familiar and exciting.Then I opened Facebook and things took a downward turn.Lorrie Struiff (a fellow author - check her stuff out) had posted about a site that was offering to 'lend' eBooks for free. I decided to check to see if my material was available on the site and sure enough it was. I was angry to say the least.I have made my books available to lend through Amazon. I am all for the lending of books and have been since the tender age of 8 when my Dad's friend entrusted his copies of Lord of the Rings trilogy to me while he was working abroad. So the concept of loaning a book out is very natural to me. What the site does, however, is circumvent Amazon's (and presumably Barnes&Noble's) lending system. This has several effects on me. I would hope to be able to turn writing into a full time career but the actions of sites like this one make that less likely.There is a sense that if a book is available on a digital format it is somehow worth less than a paper copy of the same words. People cite the costs of producing a book as a justification for the higher price of a physical book and use that as an argument that electronic books should be very cheap or indeed free!Does the author not deserve payment because of the chosen delivery medium? Does the proof reader not deserve a wage for going through the manuscript letter by letter? Does the publisher not deserve an income for taking the initial risk of putting the book out there in the first place? How about the cover artist? Do they have to draw for free?Of course they do! is the only sensible answer. The manufacturing costs of a book reach far wider than the price of pulped wood and some ink.Please support authors by buying from an outlet that does their part in supporting them (or go find a great second hand shop - I'm all for that too ;) )But now the pirates are being handled, the black dog is in its kennel and I am back on an even keel I think I'll make a cuppa and put some words down on paper (well... LCD screen but you know what I mean!)Follow me on Twitter @GeordieWriter
Join the Blue Jackets on Facebook
Read The Fallen each week for free
Olverston Grange on Amazon
Blue Jackets on Amazon
Thursday's Child: Blue Jackets Part 3 UK, USA
Growth Spurt: Blue Jackets Part 2 UK, USA
Induction: Blue Jackets Part 1 UK, USA
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