Happy Halloween - All Hallows Read, Halloween Blog Hop & Trick of Treat Book Blog Hop

So this year, rather than just doing a book for All Hallows Read, Soph and I have also signed up for a couple of blog hops: Sara C. Snider's Halloween Blog Hop and Patricia Lynne's Trick-or-Treat Book Blog Hop.

Soph is also doing the hops over at her blog and both of us are doing them over at the Wittegen Press Blog where there are lots and lots of drabbles for all our books with horror or paranormal content.

All Hallows Read 

All Hallows Read is a Halloween tradition supported by Neil Gaiman where the idea is to give someone a scary book on Halloween. As with the past two years Soph and I have written a short story each and put it in a book and it is free just for today.

Cursed - A Horror Collection

by Natasha Duncan-Drake and Sophie Duncan

If Wishes Were … by Natasha Duncan-Drake

Essie and her friend Beth are taking a trip to commiserate Beth’s loss of yet another boyfriend. When they visit a spooky old graveyard and Essie makes a wish on a haunted mausoleum things don’t turn out how she expected at all.

Happy Families by Sophie Duncan

Bridget loves Happy Families, so when she finds and old pack in a junk shop she buys them. She lives to regret it as strange and nasty things start to happen to her house-mates.

You can download it for free from either Smashwords, Google Play or iTunes - just use the buttons below.

  

Halloween Blog Hop

Sara's Halloween Blog Hop is all about sharing something to do with Halloween, be it fiction, poetry, art or something else entirely. To see everyone taking part, scoll to almost the bottom of my post and this Hop is the first list.

I decided to write a little flash fic for you all. I do hope it makes you shiver :).

The Dead of Night

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

Maggie shifted yet again and demanded that her brain turn off. Of course it didn't. It was one of those nights where she kept dropping off, but then something would prod her mental map and she'd wake up again. Unfortunately that was how her mind worked and it made for the odd sleepless night.

She was just contemplating picking up her phone and playing something mindless when the bed beside her shifted.

"Can't sleep?" she asked as the bed dipped and then lifted, creaking along the way.

"Hmm," was the inarticulate response from her husband Jack, "pee."

Such was her other half's ability to communicate when mostly asleep.

In response Maggie rolled over and tried to find a comfortable spot to actually get some sleep.

It couldn't have been more than two minutes later when there was a thud at the base of the bed. She had just been drifting off, finally, so she wasn't overly pleased.

"Did you walk into the bed post again?" she asked, not overly sympathetic.

Her night vision was absolutely crap, but she looked over to the vaguely familiar silhouette against the streetlight diffusing through the curtains. A grunt was the only response.

"Well get back into bed then," she said and rolled her eyes even though Jack wouldn't be able to see her.

Jack when almost comatose was not exactly the life and soul of the moment.

There was some shuffling that made her feel guilty; maybe Jack had actually hurt himself this time, but then the bed dipped and there was the expected creaking as Jack settled in. Maggie put her hand out in a silent apology.

"Shit you're cold," she said; "is the bathroom freezing again. We really have to have that radiator replaced. Want to snuggle to warm up?"

There was only a hum of response. Maggie took that to mean no, but she moved a bit closer anyway to share some of her body heat. The last thing she wanted was a sick husband to deal with. A very cold hand settled on her hip, so she figured the gesture was appreciated.

"Bugger," she said as she tried to fall asleep again, "I'm wide awake."

She really didn't expect a low chuckle to come back at that and Jack's fingers tightened on her hip for a second.

"Don't tell me you took that as an innuendo," she said, but smiling to herself; "you can get horny in under a second can't you?"

Another laugh replied.

"Well don't get any ideas, because you might be the love of my life, but I have a big meeting tomorrow and I have to sleep," she told him firmly.

Jack just laughed again, this time a little higher and he didn't stop.

"Jack," she said, "don't."

He didn't comply, in fact he laughed harder.

"Jack," Maggie tried again, an edge coming into her voice, "that's enough; you're starting to weird me out."

Jack just kept going and the laugh was getting higher all the time. Maggie wasn't exactly afraid, but her heart began beating faster and she didn't like it at all. She slapped his hand. He just laughed more. Her annoyance began to morph into worry; this wasn't like Jack at all.

"Jack," she said, turning over to face him; "what's wrong?"

Then, just as suddenly as Jack had started laughing, he stopped.

"Mags," said the voice of her husband from behind her, "who are you talking to?"

Then the light flicked on and Maggie began to scream.

Trick-or-Treat Book Blog Hop

Patricia's Trick-or-Treat Book Blog Hop is all about giving away books instead of candy (much easier to do through the internet, wouldn't you agree :)). To see everyone taking part, scoll to the bottom of my post and this Hop is the second list.

Soph and I have taken all our horror or paranormal related books that were greater than 99c and reduced them to 99c for one day with a Smashwords coupon. We also have a collection of titles at Wittegen Press that are always free, and, of course, our All Hallows Read book (Cursed - A Horror Collection) is free for today.

The following books of mine are discounted (see their individual pages for details by clicking on the covers):

Here's a tip, if you want all the stories in the books with the orange covers, buy Myriad Imaginings, if you want just the stories by me buy Half of Everything and only go for the other three if you just want a particular genre (Bright Young Things = YA Speculative Fiction, Supernature = Paranormal Romance and Book of Darkness = Horror). Since they are all discounted to 99c I'd personally go for the one with the most stories in it ;).

What is your favourite thing about Halloween?

Halloween Blog Hop List

Trick-or-Treat Book Blog Hop List

Review: Dracula Untold (2014)

Title: Dracula Untold
Rating: 15
Cast:
Luke Evans ... Vlad
Sarah Gadon ... Mirena
Dominic Cooper ... Mehmed
Art Parkinson ... Ingeras
Charles Dance ... Master Vampire
Summary:
Vlad, as the prince of his people must maintain peace with the feared Turks, but when the Sultan demands 1000 boys for his army and Vlad's son, he can no longer pay the tribute. Instead he goes to the monster living in the mountains and makes a bargain to give him the strength to defeat his enemy.

I really enjoyed this film. It could have done with some more female characters who actually had lines, but it was still entertaining and had a good story line.

There are no surprises as far as how the plot goes because we all know this is about Vlad becoming Dracula so he has to make certain choices and go a certain way, but I really liked how they did it. It was exciting even though we all knew where it was heading. This is not a film with grey areas and the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad, in this case good guys are Vlad's people and bad guys are the Turks are bad. Charles Dance might be the monster in the mountains, but he's more of chaotic neutral as far as the plot goes.

One of the things I really enjoyed was how Vlad is the hero all the way through. It doesn't matter that he's a monster, he is still the hero and it is awesome. Luke Evans does a great job in the part. He's sexy and tormented and wild around the edges; just what you want of Dracula.

Then you have the rest of the cast. Sarah Gadon is vital as Mirena, Vlad's wife. Her passion for Vlad and her need to protect her son come through so clearly. She is strong and a force to be reckoned with without ever picking up a weapon. Dominic Cooper is delightfully nasty as Mehmed, ruthless in his demand for Vlad's people and son. He is a character designed to be hated and Cooper makes you want to stab him between the eyes the moment you first meet him. Then we had Ingeras, Vlad's son played by Art Parkinson who is brilliant. He is a loyal son and brave, but still a child - a great balance.

And, of course, we have Charles Dance as the Master Vampire. He is delightfully evil and yet the lesser of two when it comes to the Turks. The scene where he and Vlad meet properly for the first time is so beautifully filmed. I do hope they make the sequel the whole film points to, because I would love to see more of him.

The rest of the cast is like spot the actor and then you have to work out if you saw them in Midsomer Murders or Game of Thrones :). I exaggerate, but this is a cast you will recognise from all over the place and they stand up well.

The film is only 92 mins long and I think this is perfect. It has action and enough character building that it's satisfying and any longer and parts would have dragged. There are plot points I have not seen used before in Dracula and it was a refreshing take on his legend. This is by no means a perfect movie, but it is good. I hope they make a sequel because I think that will be even more interesting and I will definitely be adding this to my collection as soon as it turns up on Blu-ray.

Cthulhu - Band Loom Pattern

So, I might be into band looming :D - but I would like to point out I discovered it over a year ago before every other ten year old did as well! It's fun and I especially like the little critters you can make.

I played around with several Youtube tutorials and I was looking for a Cthulhu pattern, but I couldn't find one, so I created one myself.

The design is based off this Iron Man one by PG's Loomacy, so if you want to see how most of the looping works in action, go watch the video:

 I don't have a video camera and all you'd see if I did was me pinging bands all over the place and swearing, so it's probably better that I do this with images :).

You will need: 

• ~200 body colour bands (I used a random selection of turquoise, green and bright green)
• 4 black bands
• 2 red bands
• 1 loom (2 if you are doing the larger wings)
• 1 hook
• something like tooth picks for loop holding - I use the little plastic hooks that come with some packets of loom bands

Arms

click to enlarge

For each arm you need 17 bands and you need to make 2.

The loom shown is a Rainbow loom - hence the little red arrow. If you do not have a little red arrow just make sure the openings in your pegs are pointing down.

1. First layout the bands as shown. All band are double bands (2 bands) unless otherwise stated (e.g. 3bs means 3 bands). The green numbers show what order to lay the bands, starting at 1 and working up.
2. The cap band on the bottom peg goes on last and needs to be wrapped around the peg 3 times.
3. Now loop following the red arrows in the order of the black numbers (you know you have looped the correct bands when you see the tear drop shape).
4. Remove the arm from the loom, placing a cocktail stick/spare hook through the top two loops to keep them secure and set aside.
    

   

   This is what is should look like when looped.

Feet

For each foot you will need 6 bands.

1. Layout the bands as shown following the green numbers (double bands unless otherwise stated).
2. The cap band goes on last and needs to be wrapped around the peg 3 times.
3. Loop following the red arrows and the black numbering.
4. Remove from loom and leave to the side (you can use cocktail sticks to secure the open loops or just be very careful not to pull them out.

Main Body Layout

Be careful if you are looking at the original video, this is where the design starts to differ in places.

click to enlarge

You will need 77 body coloured bands for this part of the layout.

1. Place the bands on the loom in the order indicated by the green numbers in the diagram (all double bands unless otherwise stated).
2. Place the feet on the last pegs to act as cap bands.

The design differs from the video design in that:

• there is no neck, 
• the legs are longer 
• the legs are all 3 bands

Eyes

The eyes act as one of the horizontal bands for shaping the head.

You need 1 body coloured band, 2 iris coloured bands and 4 'whites' coloured bands (I used red and black).

These are a little fiddly because you have to twist each band onto the hook three times to make four loops one after another, so they are all on the hook at the same time in the order shown.

Then you put the body coloured band on the end of your hook, stretch it, and work all the twisted bands onto it so you get the diagram above.

click to enlarge

Now place the eyes on the loom as shown in the diagram.

1. Take one end of the body coloured band and put to on the right peg shown.
2. Take the other end of the body coloured band and put it on the left peg.
3. Push two black and one red band to the right and two black and one red band to the left.
4. Use your hook to catch one strand of the band between the two eyes.
5. Hook this over the central peg so that it keeps the two eyes separate.

Tentacles

The tentacles are a set of simple chains. To make a chain you use the following technique:

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

You need six simple chains ranging in length from between 3 and 5 bands. Which lengths you use is up to you. Depending on what you choose you will need between 19 and 31 bands for this section.

1. Once you have made the 6 chains, slip them all onto your hook.
2. Put one band on the end of your hook and stretch it.
3. Slide all your chains onto the single band similar to the diagram (only you'll have 6 not 3).

click to enlarge

Now place the tentacles on the loom as show in the diagram.

1. Take one end of the single band and push it onto the right peg shown.
2. Take the other end of the single band and push it onto the left peg shown.

Placing the Arms

This is kind of complicated - I would suggest you go watch the video and skip to 14:20 to see exactly how it's done.

1. Slide one arm off its holding stick.
2. Take hold of each end of one of the double free loops.
3. Push one end on the shoulder peg and one end on the next peg down.
4. Take hold of each end of the other double free loops.
5. Push one end on the shoulder peg and one end on the next peg down.
6. Repeat on the other side of the loom.

Horizontal Body Bands

click to enlarge

You need three horizontal body bands.

1. Place one single band in a triangle over the first three pegs after the shoulders (i.e. the outside pegs are the bottom of the arms).
2. Take one band and double it as follows:
   twist into a figure 8
   fold in half
   hold both loops and stretch over the next three pegs
3. Repeat step 2 and place the band over the next three pegs as shown.

This will give you a wider chest going to abs.

Your loom should end up looking like this:

click to enlarge

Looping

Loop the Legs

click to enlarge

This is the easy part - loop the legs following the arrows and the black numbers.

Loop the Torso

click to enlarge

Now this is pretty straight forwards except for two things:

1. When you get to the pegs where the arms are, make sure you are collecting only the bottom bands for looping. These will be the underlying bands that you placed first.
2. Make sure you loop to the central peg for 10, 11 and 12 in the right order.

Loop the Head

click to enlarge

Now comes the tricky part.

1. The middle peg is the hardest because it has so many bands on it. DO NOT pick up any of the bands looped to it when looping the head bands.
2. Make sure you loop the chin in the correct order - start with the top two of the bands you need to loop - these should loop to the left (check for the tear drop shape).
3. Then pick up the next 2 and loop them to the right.
4. Finally loop the centre bands up - BUT - DO NOT loop over the tentacles. When you have looped 1 and 2 carefully lift the tentacles over the peg below (i.e. the neck peg), then loop band 3, then put the tentacles back.
5. Continue to loop following the arrows and the numbers - MAKE SURE to loop the centre top bands last because this gives him a nice brow ridge.

Take off the Loom

To prevent it all falling apart when you remove it from the loom you need a securing band.

1. Push your hook through the space in the top peg so you can see it beneath all the bands on the peg.
2. Take one single band and use your hook to pull it up through all the bands on the peg.
3. Put both ends of the band on the hook.
4. Pull the end closest to your hand over the other end of the band and off the hook.
5. Slide the remaining end from the hook onto your finger and pull tight (you should have a single slip knot).
6. With the loop still on your finger remove Cthulhu from the loom.
7. Make sure the securing band is pulled as tight as you can without breaking it and then use your hook to hide it under some of the other bands in the project.

Wings

If you do not have two looms you can link together, just leave out one of the two middle rows. His wings won't be as wide, but don't worry.

click to enlarge

You will need 39 bands for each wing.

Layout double bands as shown in the diagram following the numbering scheme. (As long as you lay the horizontal band on the top middle pegs first and the diagonal bands on the top outside pegs after that it doesn't matter which column of bands you lay in which order only that you start from the top and work down).

click to enlarge

Add a horizontal band across the 4 pegs under the top 4 pegs as shown. Repeat for the 4 pegs below that and the 4 pegs below them (3 bands total).

Add a single cap band to each column, twisted only once to form two loops.

click to enlarge

You'll be glad to hear looping the wings is easy.

Simply start from the bottom and loop up each column. I've numbered them in the diagram, but you can loop them in any order.

The only three that really need to be looped in a specific order other than bottom up, are 16, 17 and 18.

Once it is looped put a securing band through the bands on the last peg to which you looped as you did with the main body and remove the wing from the loom.

Make a second wing.

Attaching the Wings to the Body

Sorry for the awful drawing in this one ;)

First of all attach a second securing band somewhere on the same edge of each wing as the original securing band. See my terrible drawing as an illustration.

You do this by sticking your hook through an available loop, drawing a single band through then looping one end of it over the other and pulling tight.

Once you have your two loops on each wing it's time to attach them to Cthulhu.

1. Push your hook from the front through Cthulhu at about shoulder level to right or left of the body.
2. Hook the top securing band on one wing and pull it back through the body.
3. Push your hook through the body just below where you did before, from the back this time.
4. Pull the band back through.
5. Loop the free end of the band over the wing which will secure it.
6. Repeat all steps for the second securing band a little further down the body.
7. Do the same for the second wing so it matches the first on the other side of the back.

Ta da - you should now have a Cthulhu :). All hail the elder gods.

Almost NaNoWriMo time - yay!

NaNoWriMo is almost here!

This year I actually have a strong idea of what I'm writing before November 1st - so yay! I've decided to do something completely new that I think will make a good 50k book, rather than what I usually do, which is write 50k of a longer book.

My working title is:

Mirabel's Bad Day and Beyond

and this is my synopsis:

Miri, or Mirabel if you're her mother, is a very powerful witch. When she wakes up on an obnoxiously bright morning she knows it's going to be a bad day. First of all her familiar, Ran, has decided being a cat is no longer interesting enough and has taken to walking around as a naked young man. Not good for her equilibrium, not good at all. Then she bumps into a friend, Ted Hanson, she hasn't seen in five years and she starts feeling the witch's mating urge. Think hornier than Sid James in a Carry On film, only worse. Being a demisexual with few close friends, this is kind of new and confusing.

Oh and her next door neighbour has been murdered, which might be a problem.

I have ideas so far about Mirabel, her mother and a little bit about the murder, but not a lot else. The idea came to me while lying in bed the other day and I think it's a good one for just writing by the seat of my pants (which I often do anyway ;)) and should flow for NaNo.

The camaraderie of NaNo is always so much fun. Lots of authors all doing the same thing at the same time. If you would like to become writing buddies I'm beren_writes over there.

So, who else is doing NaNoWriMo this year? Do you know what you are writing yet? Do you make lots of preparations?

Yay - Forgotten Soul is back in searches on Amazon

For a while now my book Forgotten Soul has not been turning up in searches on Amazon because the cover was deemed too risqué. The fact it had a naked man under a sheet on it seemed to upset them. I think some people through it was a woman??!!

Anyway, at first it didn't turn up in searches outside Kindle, then it started to stop turning up at all except on my author's page.

Well as you all know, last week I changed all the covers for The Soul Reader Series, of which Forgotten Soul is #1. It now only has a naked man on it (yes, if you read the book you'll realise he is naked at this point, even if you can't see it ;)) from mid chest up and he's not doing anything apart from looking rather conflicted :).

So yesterday (Oct 9th) I submitted a request to Amazon KDP to have the book reinserted into searches.

Now in the past I have not had the greatest success when dealing with support at Amazon. I think mostly because I asked questions they didn't actually, at the time, know the answer to :). So I thought I would have to wait for ages for them to get back to me and sort it all out.

Yet ... no! They reviewed my request, took a look at the book and reinstated Forgotten Soul right away and it's there all within 24 hours. I have to say, I'm impressed.

So, thank you, Amazon KDP for being so professional and swift and letting Forgotten Soul show up in searches again.

Anyone else have similar issues with Amazon ever? Were they sorted out?

New Covers for the Soul Reader Series - Vampire Romance and Action

So the original covers for the current books in The Soul Reader Series were all created at different times over the course of publication. This means they were all slightly different. With a new book in the works I decided I wanted the covers to be more homogeneous. Hence a flurry of activity and producing three new covers. I've also recorded exactly how they were produces so future covers can be done in the same way - not something I ever thought to do in the beginning.

The links below will take you to the WittegenPress.com website which lists all buying/downloading options if anyone is interested in reading the books.

Title: Forgotten Soul (Soul Reader #1)

John knows that at best he can be described as a male escort and at worst as a whore, but it’s what he does and he’s good at it. He sells his body and his clients come with fangs so it’s more about blood than sex. Hiding behind a false smile and his acting skills is the only way he survives, but when he meets one of his latest clients, Michael, his professional detachment is severely threatened, leading him into very dangerous territory.

An exciting, sexy read in Soul Reader #1.

(~10K wds)

Price: FREE

Title: Forbidden Soul (Soul Reader #2)

John’s life used to be on the risky side, but it had been simple. Allowing vampires to suck his blood had never been safe, but now there is Michael and having a vampire who actually cares about him is complicated. It’s even more complicated because Michael is urging him to reconnect with the family he hasn’t seen in over five years. The fact his recent past also doesn’t want to die quietly is making his life less than easy and it’s about to become deadly.

(~22.5K wds)

Price: 99c (or local equiv)

Title: Fortunate Soul (Soul Reader #3)

With a lot of help from Michael, John is recovering slowly from his kidnapping ordeal at the hands of his previous employers. However, John has noticed changes in Michael’s behaviour towards him now that he has been marked by the organisation’s captive vampires. He’s worried his scars will be too much for their fledgling relationship.

(~6.75K wds)

Price: FREE

They're vaguely inspired by Art Deco and I wanted them to be eye catching as well as illustrative. They work well at 80x120px (the size I use for thumbnails for advertising) as well as full size, which, with eBooks especially can be very important. I wanted it to be very obvious they were vampire books, hence the surround :).

I also changed the font to one of the ones recommended by 300+ Fool-Proof Fonts to use for your Book Cover Design by Derek Murphy. I think it looks less clunky than the old one.

Review: The Blade Trilogy

Right, so back to reviewing the vampire movies I own. Sorry for the delay, been kind of busy with the writing lately.

Title: Blade (1998)
Rating: 18
Cast:
Wesley Snipes ... Blade
Stephen Dorff ... Deacon Frost
Kris Kristofferson ... Whistler
N'Bushe Wright ... Karen
Summary: After his mother is bitten by a vampire just before his birth, Blade is born half human, half vampire. With the help of Whistler, he hunts vampires and protects humans from their blood lust.

Blade is a superb movie. I remember seeing it in the cinema and loving it and I've watched it many times since. It was one of the first DVDs my husband and I ever bought and had to be imported from the US.

I love the fact that vampire society is as tiered as human society. That they have their gentry and their commoners, only theirs are born vampires and turned vampires. The fact that Blade is a complete badass, but is still flawed is great.

This is definitely the grittiest of the three movies. It tries to be more real, or at least as real as a vampire movie can be. The realities of vampire infection and the cure are almost scientific, where as in the later movies they are less so.

The cast is great. Wesley Snipes is an arrogant arsehole as Blade, but with a core of heroism that makes him likeable. Stephen Dorff is brilliant as Deacon Frost with his plan to take over the world. He's evil and yet he's going after some of the vampires too and you have to sympathise with his reasons. Kris Kristofferson is awesome as Whistler and takes no shit from anyone. Then there is N'Bushe Wright as Karen, a competent woman willing to try and save herself as well as relying on Blade.

A great start to the trilogy.

Title: Blade II
Rating: 18
Cast:
Wesley Snipes ... Blade
Kris Kristofferson ... Whistler
Ron Perlman ... Reinhardt
Leonor Varela ... Nyssa
Norman Reedus ... Scud
Thomas Kretschmann ... Damaskinos
Luke Goss ... Nomak
Summary: When a new kind of vampire starts attacking vampires as well as humans, turning them into same kind of monsters, the vampire community turn to their greatest enemy for help: Blade.

This and Trinity are my two favourite Blade movies. I love them because they are that little bit more fantastic.

Luke Goss is brilliant as Nomak; vindictive, focused and ruthless.

I also love the idea that there is something that vampires might fear, just like the humans fear them. It's beautifully done.

The blood pack; the group of vampires set up to hunt Blade down who now have to work with him are awesome. One of them is Ron Perlman for a start, so they have to gain points just for that. They have an interesting dynamic and give yet another view of vampire society.

The way this film also blurs the lines of all vampires are bad also appeals to me.

This is a fast paced, well written and plotted film that is exciting to watch.

Title: Blade Trinity
Rating: 15
Cast:
Wesley Snipes ... Blade
Kris Kristofferson ... Whistler
Dominic Purcell ... Drake
Jessica Biel ... Abigail Whistler
Ryan Reynolds ... Hannibal King
Parker Posey ... Danica Talos
Summary: The vampire nation is looking for a new leader and they dig up the original himself: Drake. He is an evolutionary step above them in the same way they are to humans. Blade joins with a team of hunters called the Nightstalkers to counter this threat.

Now this is the eye candy film of the three, I admit it. There are bare chests and muscles and very attractive young women all over the place. The rating is also down from 18 to 15, so it shows that the emphasis has shifted, but I still love it.

The Nightstalkers are awesome, especially Abi and Hannibal, Danica is brilliantly psychotic and Drake is just completely rutheless.

This film is action packed and non-stop, but don't turn your brain on too much :). The plot holds together, but this isn't a make you think kind of film; it's pure entertainment. There are wise cracks, fight scenes and oiled muscles and it entertains me every time. That's not to say there isn't science in it, but the science is even more handwavy than the other two, so very little brain power is required.

This is the one out of the three that makes me want to write fanfic because I want to explore the characters more. The other two simply entertained me; with this one I want more.

I have no idea if there will ever be number four, but I am quite happy with the three. Although I would take more semi-naked Ryan Reynolds if it's on offer :D.

Have you seen the Blade films? Which is your favourite and why?