Hello everyone!

Well it's been a bit of a week. I've actually been quite busy in several regards.

Straight into writing news, I've been getting quite a lot done. I have a new fantasy novella starring a regular character, an elf barbarian by the name of Gwaeloch Irisgarth, and it's all plotted out with the relevant world building, character development outlines and background all sorted out. It has taken a lot longer than I planned to get it all done, but I was getting some old world building redone.

All in all, I've actually written about 15,500 words this last week. I'm pleased with that, but it's a shame that its all background stuff that folks probably aren't going to properly see. I just hope that I can keep that up that average word count when I come to actually start writing this novella. I think I feel more capable doing so now I've made a few dietary changes - please see last weeks blog post.

I feel My writing has been revitalised at the moment. It may be the dietary changes, but its started warming up here a bit. I don't now if this is a sign that Spring is coming here, or if we'll get another cold spell. I wouldn't be surprised if we do, we can get cold spells and snow up until the end of March, and sometimes into early April around here.

Anyway, this evening, I'll be able to sit down and full concentrating on this new novella. There'll be a Black Knight protector spirit and the remnants of lost elves. There'll also be a mad human general worshiping egotistical gods too.

I feel like writing this will go well.

Afterwards, I think I'd better start editing a few of the stories I have in the archive and start getting them actually published, but I have a feeling that I want to get the first draft for a third novella done before that, so I can get them out in quick-ish succession. Then worry about other works and getting a certain other novella finished that turned out to basically be a full on novel. I', putting that to one side for now as it's so long. It just feels like a better use of my time to concentrate on shorter pieces at the moment. I think one of the reasons I was so grumpy before Christmas was because I'd decided to get so many first drafts done before doing any editing, so I was feeling very bogged down by things, like I wouldn't be seeing the fruits of labour any time soon, probably for a couple of years.

But regardless, things are progressing very well at the moment and I intend to capitalise on it.

Onto other literary news, I managed to get a book delivery from the dreaded Amazon arrive during the week. I got a couple of Judith Sonnet splatterpunk volumes. One, Judith Sonnet wrote a few months ago called Torture the Sinners and one has just been released recently as part of a series.

Torture the Sinners looks good. There are undead monks in a monastery. It reminds me of one of the old Giallo books and films, like Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento.

Torture the Sinners,
a splatterpunk book by Judith Sonnet

The other Judith Sonnet is called Carnage on 84th Street and was written in conjunction with Brian G Berry's Hooker Massacre of Trash City and Otis Bateman's Medusa's Son. All are part of a trilogy called Splatter Crimes and I hope they are made into an actual series, even if it's only occasional with volumes added every six months or once a year or something.

I've only started reading Judith Sonnet's Carnage on 84th Street so far and I'm enjoying it. The three books are meant to be in the old '70s Grindhouse vein and I am getting that so far, with a strong dose of other exploitatin films. I can't help but imagine stuff like the Death Wish films or some of the Mickey Spillane stuff when I pick it up to read more.

Carnage on 84th Street
by Judith Sonnet,
Hooker Massacre in Trash City
by Brian G Berry,
and Medusa's Son by Otis Bateman,
Splatter Crimes books

That's pretty much it for literary news from me this week.

The only other thing is that I'd like to share a Kickstarter with you.

It's for the first two actual issues of New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine. I wrote a blog post during the week about it and you can see it by scrolling down a bit once you've finished reading this fine post.

But I'm impressed by what they are trying to achieve. I got their issue 0 in late August last year and the stories were a real fresh take on the Sword and Sorcery genre, with some really nice takes on the main character being an outcast, thrust into an uncaring, vicious world.

They have articles included too. The ones in issue zero were really intriguing, with one about women in Sword and Sorcery and one about Black Agnes, one of Robert E Howard's female main characters.

If you would be interested in looking at the Kickstarter, take a look here. They have even wrangled a certain Michael Moorcock into contributing, which has impressed me. He was one of the earliest fantasy authors I ever read and have been reading his stuff since.

New Edge Sword & Sorcery
Issue 0

Michael Moorcock, author of Elric of Melnibone,
contributor to New Edge Sword & Sorcery

I even have fond memories of enjoying New Edge Sword & Sorcery's issue 0 in Derby's oldest pub, the Dolphin, with a lovely pint of Bass.

New Edge Sword & Sorcery issue 0
in The Dolphin, Derby

Well into New Edge Sword & Sorcery
Issue 0 that I needed a 2nd pint of Bass
in The Dolphin, the oldest pub in Derby

There isn't much in the way of any wargaming news this week. I've been knuckling down with my writing mainly this last week. But I have ordered a few more things from Oakbound Studio to go with my The Woods warbands. Hopefully I'll get it all painted up soon. I want to get some games in and hopefully start getting some of those games filmed for YouTube.

Delivery from Oakbound Studios
that I received last week.
Reinforcements for The Woods'
Pixie Badger-Rider warband

But otherwise, I've been slowly painting up the models I had ordered last week and trying to finish off the human Druid warband I received from Oakbound Studio's Patreon.

The Druids of Anglesey warband
for The Woods by Oakbound Studio
Patreon exclusive

It's time for a regular slot now, just before I go. As probably usual, I've been drinking a nice mug of refreshing tea while writing this. I'm getting used to having it without sugar now that I've had a bit of a health scare with diabetes. But I am also watching the lovely, tipsy guys from Battlehammer play a game of Dystopian Wars. I think they're great, but I will say as a bit of a warning, there is some swearing and drinking in this, so it may not be fully safe for work.

And with that done, I wish you all safe travels and wellness.

 Hello everyone!

It's book review time today.

I believe this is my first actual book review post that I've done for this blog, the first proper one anyway. And the book I'll be reviewing?

Magick by Judith Sonnet.

Magick by Judith Sonnet

Now, I will say off the bat that this is not really a book for the faint-hearted as it can get quite extreme at times.

But, if you were to look at any of Judith Sonnet's work, that is plain to see and she allows you to know what you are getting yourself into before you purchase.

It may be a surprise, but I'm a bit of a fan of a a good old splatterpunk horror and love many of the Troma films and this fits in well with that genre, and you can see that from many of her available books. It very much the case of them 'doing what they say on the tin' - to use an English saying.

Magick is a novella very much in the same vein, full of blood, gore and sex with a crew of pornographers turning up at a seemingly empty, haunted brothel and for everything to go as you'd expect when the ghosts get very much into sadism and letting their tendencies run riot.

There is a satisfying ending, of which I won't provide spoilers, and things are set up for a sequel, should Judith Sonnet wish. Magick in Space anyone? I could imagine it joining the ranks of the Jason and Leprechaun movies that went cosmic and us getting some hellish, gorey orgy, with lasers and anti-gravity. But I'm getting away from things.

From the Lucio Fulci films I've seen, I can well see that Judith Sonnet has been inspired by them, but unfortunately, I'm not an aficionado of his films. Much like with his films, he has a lot of style over function. There are a couple of bits that make no sense, like a ballet school having a room for barbed wire. But they are there, because of drama, and sexy gore reasons. The little bits that back no sense matter little, other than wishing to know a little more about them.

I would have liked to have known a little more about the main character, or the two paranormal investigators that provided and opening to the book, or more about the graveyard near the brothel that seems to be part of the premises, or who the cleaning crew were, but I really am not bothered by them. Finding out about all of that would have spoiled the flow of the story And with them, I probably would have felt that the story was bogged down with minutiae, so its good that explanations were left out. But that really is just me being petty. They would really just be there to satisfy a curiosity. Perhaps they would make curious little pieces of flash fiction for some deluxe or anniversary edition.

To conclude, I really enjoyed this book, its got a style to it that is really engaging and rattles on through the premises, presenting you with a panoply of gore and sexiness. It really is like something that could be made into a Troma film or some Indie Splatterpunk film. I'm kind of reminded of some of the old Grindhouse films from the seventies that Quentin Tarantino is so found of. Any down points to the book are not really noticeable and are a matter of curiosity that would spoil the 'page turner' effect if dwelt on and explained further. If you are going into the mindset of expecting the right things - that it's a stylish, sex filled gore-fest - then this is a fantastic book. Though of course, that isn't for everyone.

Now, for where to find Judith Sonnet. It can be found here for UK readers, and here for readers in the USA.

If you'd like to give her a follow, you can find her here on Twitter and here on Instagram. Any other subsidiary links can be easily found by following the relevant links on those sites. Take a look at some of her other work.

as a side note, I hope to do some other book reviews as and when I finish them. I had thought of doing some rating system, like a five star thing, or an out of ten. In short, I don't really want to. I think most of the time, liking a book is subjective to some degree. So including a rating system sort of goes against that. What I'll try to do is be honest about whether I liked the book or not and to include the whys and wherefores so that if you are have a similar taste in books, you'll have an idea of where it'd be enjoyable.

Anyway, enough blather, I hope you manage to get some reading in and enjoy yourself!