S.J.Budd

I was introduced to this book as part of Fantasy Faction's Book Club where we all get together and discuss our favourite books. This time the administrator chose a title that had been self published. Out now via Amazon Now I'm going to let you in on a little secret, that yes of course there are a lot of really bad self published books out there, but there are also some really good ones. Since buying a kindle I've bought numerous self published titles for as little as 49p and have enjoyed most of them. Recently I read The Lady of the Helm by T.O.Munro and that was really very good. I'm going off track a bit here but if you love fantasy fiction and want to read really amazing self published fiction then head over to Mark Lawrence's site where he hosts the annual SPFBO - The Self Published Fantasy Blog-Off in which top bloggers read through the top 273 self published fantasy  novels to determine an overall winner. So back to  the Stone Road by G.R.Matthews. ...

It's your characters that makes your books truly memorable. It is them alone who really bring your tales to life. Which is why characterisation is so important. It's the essence of the characters that the readers take away once they've finished reading. Look at J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series. Why is it so successful and deeply loved by millions worldwide? Because it's jam packed with great characters, even the small secondary characters such as Dobby the house elf, Luna  Lovegood and Professor McGonagall have their fully formed personalities. So how can you create a great character? Characterization is often overlooked so don't make that mistake. Take the time to really get to know your characters and they'll end up writing the story for you. There are many different methods of characterisation. I personally find it quite helpful to form a strong mental image of what the character looks like. You can use it by basing their appearance on someone ...

Yippee I'm delighted to announce that my latest short story the knocker is set to appear in the latest issue of Danse Macabre Magazine Danse Macabre is an online literary magazine that is " committed to expanding the creative landscape of the literary web."   This is a great magazine that  really stands out their website is beautifully designed and I implore to head over and take a look. "There's a knock at the door. Edward lies awakes in their bed; he's been waiting for it. It is not the first time he's heard it. Every night the knocker comes. But he won't let it in." You can read it here for free at Danse Macabre Magazine

This epic tale is a fictional memoir of Uhtred, son of Uhtred who's destiny was forged in battle between the pagan Viking warriors and the pious Christian Anglo-Saxons in 9th century Britain. "My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred, who was the son of Uhtred and his father was also called Uhtred. My father’s clerk, a priest called Beocca, spelt it Utred. I do not know if that was how my father would have written it, for he could neither read nor write, but I can do both and sometimes I take the old parchments from their wooden chest and I see the name spelled Uhtred or Utred or Ughtred or Ootred, and I look at the deeds which say that Uhtred, son of Uhtred, is the lawful and sole owner of the lands that are carefully marked by stones and by dykes, by oaks and by ash, by marsh and by sea, and I dream of those lands, wave-beaten and wild beneath the wind driven sky. I dream, and know that one day I will take back the land from those who stole it from me." (Taken from...