L.L. Thomsen's Blog, page 6

Amidst these hot English summer days, I have managed to lock myself away in my office for long enough to upload and publish the 4th instalment of The Missing Shield.

The episode is called 'Running the Gauntlet' and if you like dark dungeons, demons, nasty sleek protagonist and no choice scenarios, this one will catch your interest for sure - but really, unless you cheat and read 'the story so far' section, you really wanna start at the beginning!😉

This is fantasy with a twist - deep and layered! Why not pop on over to my Pinterest page and check out some of the pictures that inspire the books - they keep growing in numbers as I cannot help myself and am always looking for new images to cement a character or develop ideas for new settings. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/llthomsen...

As a 100% indie author, I thought I'd researched all and everything in regards to going it alone. I reckoned that if I was going to 'do this', I wanted to put my name to it all, including the imprint and ISBN - I mean, my hard work, so why not?
Still, I got this interesting little email the other day that suddenly made me think that maybe - just maybe - I might have made a mistake! See the email was from ALDL - otherwise known as the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries.
Basically, I was very kindly and respectfully asked to deposit 5x copies of my book, A Change of Rules, episode 1 of The Missing Shield, in accordance with the legal requirements, free of charge, and to be delivered no later than one month after the receipt of said request.
WOW!
Part of me cannot argue with the awesome idea of protecting all UK published works 'for eternity' as a kind of National Treasure for the future - but... but... but...
All books? Really? I see the dilemma - if not all books who would determine which book to include and which not to? What holds merit to one person does not to another, but again... ALL books?
I have visions of a Warehouse13/Indiana Jones Raider's of the Lost Ark storage unit with crates and crates of wisened books that are never seen and yet they have to be stored.
Why not request that a book sells at least 100 copies before a request is deemed necessary? Oh well, I don't make the rules, but I do feel split.
The bookworm in me loves it, whilst the brassic author/publisher in charge (AKA me) cringes. This is one law that my research did sadly not include and sure, it's my own oversight, but nevertheless, I can guarantee that I would not have split The Missing Shield into 13 episodes If I had known (Lol, come on ... the maths do not look good!)
Anyway, this is just a little heads up to any other UK writers out there. Check out the link - because I wish I had ;-)
Have a great weekend!
www.legaldeposit.org.uk

When you wake up in the morning - is anyone else ever so tired that you are forced to wonder if you have actually slept at all?

Authors are not such a different species from other hardworking people - when the sun shines, I am so full of excuses as to why I do not need to barricade myself behind the PC that my procrastination can reach epic proportions!
As a writer of high EPIC fantasy, the parallels are kinda funny to contemplate, but I cannot deny that any 'skiving' also rides me like a good guilt trip should do.
In truth, though I love to write, on a day like today, I'd much rather sit in the sun (under my parasol - I know... the paradox maddens) with a good book and a glass of Pims. It's just the way it is.
Hanging out the washing took me way too long today and the chat over tomato plants with the neighbour who's kindly donated me and the family 6 - took... well let's just say that when I looked at the clock, I surprised myself. ;-)
Still, guilt trip or no, the beauty of it is that I cannot stay away from where the action takes place. My imagination will take care of that - and if the spirit is lacking, the buzz of a new sword fight or a savvy twist in the storyline will always drag me back after the sun has set.
I figure it's give and take. I think most things are. The trick is just to realise that you should enjoy that bit of sunshine once in a while and not feel too guilty that you have left your MC hanging in the middle of a bar fight with two elves, one kendar and four dwarves!
Though the prospects of what you might find when you return, could frighten you something rotten, it's ok to kick back when you need to.
And besides... your MC will be alright. The Kender will DEFINITELY be okay. Oh... and so will you. :-)

You know when you have a bad day but you try to make the best of it...

“What’s the matter? Can’t get the girl you want?”
Solancei heard the teasing, double-edged words fly forth before she could check herself, but didn’t much care anyway. The perfectly-honed New Wood accent helped add slight to every syllable and with her eyes locked upon her sparring partner in casual readiness, her sardonic ‘concern’ held just the right measure of caustic disdain to make his nostrils flare, if only for a broken heartbeat.
It was precious little to feel encouraged by, but hey... right now she’d take what she could and run with it; the banter was a welcome chance to relieve some of the stress that came with the fact that she’d been stupid enough to almost let a rookie mistake cost her this jackal fight in the very first round. It was not good enough! She was uncommonly distracted today; for this, her mentor would have her guts – and worse. The thought made her want to grimace. She didn’t.
“Oh you may rest assured wench: I always get the ‘girl’ I want!” her opponent told her with a chilling slow drag of syllables. “It’s only ever a question of time - but I like to prolong the chase since it is by far the most enjoyable part.”
Smirking just enough to show his words were not meant to be all good-natured, the pale-eyed man faced her with a wolfish smile and flourished his haitu as if to remind her of the threat he posed, but she did not retreat, and he was unfortunately not put off.

Excerpt from Episode 1 'A Change Of Rules'.
In truth, I was always envious of Solancei's martial skillset, however, I don't know if I'd rather keep this spiffing backache that's making me a grumpy witch at the moment, or whether I'd prefer to be in Solancei's boots right now. Considering what I know, I think I might prefer the backache. Unlike Solancei, at least I have painkillers and won't have to rely on the State of Veranto - a glitchy magic-related mastery of mind-over-matter that doesn't appear to work for you when you most need it. ;-)
Just saying...
Sometimes I am glad I am the writer, not the character.

Just sharing...
So it's Saturday and it's bank holiday weekend here in the UK. This means time to relax, right?
NO, wrong! Big no!
I don't know about anyone else, but in my head, I had the whole thing planned out. I knew that the weekend would be my time to have a lie in, to drink my coffee in bed and to read my new favourite book till 11 am (or later, if I was able to wing it, lol) - so what went wrong?
Oh, what went 'wrong' was the fact that I (as per usual) failed to take life into consideration. It's a flaw of mine and it's not great, but I keep fooling myself into believing that I can cram in so much more than what our daily, statutory 24 hours allow (What was that? Do we need to eat and sleep too? ;-).
Dog walking, friends, appointments, mowing the grass, washing the car, running the kids about, shopping for those weird things on the internet that I've been meaning to get a week ago... see, really, those are what Saturday's about.
So why does the writer in me not get this? Why is it that meanwhile, 'the intrepid, never sleeping author' is locked inside my head, banging on some stupid, see-through safety glass, shouting that I need to edit and rewrite a chapter as promised.
I think that part of me is sometimes deranged, lol - the weather is nice and there's a spot of gardening to do as well, so I shall just ignore the beast in my head. Afterall, what there to complain about? I did sleep a little later than usual, and and I also managed an hour in pjs with a coffee and a new book! Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all!
Happy weekend all!