Deleted Preface to new short story, A Father's Fears

My short story, A Father's Fears, will be out soon. But in the meantime, here is a chapter I have since eliminated from the book. I hope you dig it.

Prelude

Lord Imagination sauntered through the room of dreams with his hands clasped behind his back. The colors around him drifted like the liquid in a lava lamp. These colors were mankind’s dreams.

This was always his favorite room in the skyscraper. From the inception of human consciousness, mankind has always dreamed. Over the years, this room has changed in a multitude of ways. The dreams have become brighter and more elaborate with the passing of time, and now, the wavy lines snap about like bullet trains. In simpler times, the multicolored strips would trail across Lord Imagination’s vision slowly like currents in a lazy river. He didn’t even have to squint to see what individuals were dreaming about. Hell, if he wanted to, he could even dip his hands into the strips to provide his own images. This wasn’t, of course, the same thing as altering dreams to inspire a specific result. He would need Lord Instinct to do that. Lord Imagination still occasionally thought about that one time he had to surf the currents of dreams to locate Instinct’s soul after a mishap had occurred. It had been like wading through knee-high mud with the wind constantly pushing him back. He never wanted to endure that again.

But he did want to have some fun. And later today, a man in the outside world named Jeff Haunt was going to go on an adventure. What humored Imagination was that Jeff Haunt had no idea that his life would be changed forever in only a few hours time. Neither did his wife, Marigold, who slept right beside him in bed.

Lord Imagination searched the strips to find Jeff Haunt’s dreams. When he located them, he plunged his arms deep into the yellow tide. He swirled his hands around and moved events to suit his liking. It wouldn’t inspire Jeff Haunt to do anything when he woke up, but it would fill him with doubt and uncertainty. Like a great sculptor admiring her achievement, Lord Imagination grinned at his creations. The weaver of dreams could do no wrong.

Writer's Digest Self-Published eBook Awards Evaluation

I submitted my book, The Darkness of the Womb, to Writer's Digest Self-Published eBook competition, and this is what they had to say:

Structure and Organization: 3

Grammar: 3

Production Quality and Cover Design: 3

Plot (if applicable): 5

Character Development (if applicable): 4

Judges Commentary*:

What a frightening, thought provoking, terrifying and yet utterly entertaining read. This book really impressed me and I wasn't expecting this reaction after the sort cover. Note to author, consider a cover re-design as this book is so much more powerful than you've depicted here.

I love this story's premise. How ingenious, really! The author is to be commended for actually conceiving (pun intended) of something utterly unique in the often times repetitive book marketplace.

That being said¦there are some issues on the editorial side. I'm concerned with the point of view swapping throughout as it often times makes it difficult to follow. For a story this complex, I'd recommend only one or two at most.

I like the way the author has created realistic dialogue but I'm unsure about the over abundance of internal dialogue. I believe this weakens the impact of several scenes. When you want to emphasize a word like at the end of Chapter 2, there is no need to use all caps or and definitely don't underline and use (!). A simple use of italics to show emphasis is all that is needed. These are small things but they add up and can be distracting to a reader who would otherwise be lost in the fantastic fantasy world you've created.

I'd recommend a thorough line edit by a qualified editor. Otherwise, well done!

What are your thoughts? This is Rich talking again. Do you think I should fix the book and get it out there again? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Kirkus Review

Kirkus is one tough nut to crack. So I'm proud to say that they actually LIKED my book, The Darkness of the Womb. You can find the review on this link.

The Darkness of the Womb Has Been Indie Author Approved!

My book, The Darkness of the Womb, has been Indie author approved. How cool is that? Check out the review for my book here. I'm so excited!

Interview with Indie Author Land

Check out my interview with Indie Author Land. You can find it here. We talk about my book, The Darkness of the Womb. Thanks for your support, everyone.

Interview with author, Michael Brookes

Ever since I put out my book, The Darkness of the Womb, I've met a lot of independent writers, mostly on Goodreads. I thought I'd interview some of them because 1: I like interviewing people (It takes me back to my old journalism days), and 2: I find that independent writers are really fascinating. Today, I'm interviewing writer and game producer, Michael Brookes. Let's see what he has to say.

(Image taken from: Goodreads)

According to your blog, The Cult of Me, you are a game producer by day. What kind of games do you produce?

I work at one of the leading game develops here in the UK - Frontier Developments. I've worked on a number of titles - RCT3, Thrillville, Kinectimals, LostWinds and I'm currently working on Elite: Dangerous, which is pretty cool as this is the sequel to the game that got me into gaming back in the mid-eighties.

You also say that you're a writer by night. What kind of books and stories do you write?

I tend to write horror (ish) stories, generally with a metaphysical flavour. I've recently branched into science fiction with my novel Faust 2.0 and I have just completed the first draft for Sun Dragon, the story about the first manned mission to Mars.

One of your books is actually called "The Cult of Me". You seem to really like that title. What does it mean to you?

When I was coming up with the title for that novel it fitted the idea of the story (about a person who centres everything on himself and is able to mould people around him to the same way of thinking). I also like the sound of it, so I used it for my blog as well.

You have done a lot of author interviews on your blog. Is there any reason why you've chosen to support so many independent writers?

I found the indie author scene to be full of helpful people, so I decided that I want to give something back so I do what I can to help promote other indie authors. It's also a great way to meet new authors.

It is! What is your favorite song, and why do you love it so much?

Always a tricky question to reduce it to one choice! I'll go with the 'Mythhistory' by a band called Sabbat. The reason is mainly for the lyrics which are simply superb:

Mother, sister, virgin, whore
She is all these, and yet still more
That I could to understand,
She takes my heart, I take her hand

And can you blame me?
Is it such a crime?
To crave for one small piece of Heaven.
that I can call mine.

Wonderful lyrics.

One of your favorite things to do is sleep when you have the time (Which seems to be rarely). What's the craziest dream you've ever had?

Another tricky question as I tend to only remember fragments. I like falling dreams though, there's something quite awesome about leaping from asteroid to asteroid or jumping into the Sun.

I see that you like to write horror. Do you also like to read horror? And if so, who are your favorite authors in the medium?

I do enjoy reading horror and have a number of authors I love reading, as well as the classics like Poe and Lovecraft I also like contemporary authors like King and James Herbert. Clive Barker is also my favourite horror writer.

There's also some great indie horror writers, David Haynes and Kit Tinsley stand out for me.

Two part question: If you could have any superpower, what would it be, and with this power, would you be a hero or a villain? Why?

I would be a villian on the face of it, but I would be using my powers to change the world for good. I love the juxtaposition of bad people doing good things for the wrong reasons.

My choice of superpower is a bit trickier, I would probably go for something boring like being able to read people's minds and see the secrets hidden there.

What are you currently working on and where can we find it?

I'm currently working on 'An Odder Quintet' which is the follow up to my previous short story collection:

A quartet of dark short stories (10,000 words total) each with a twist in the tale. The drabble enhanced edition also contains some of my favourite drabbles (100 word stories).
The Yellow Lady
Grave robbing is a dirty business, in more ways than one. When he disturbs the grave from a childhood scary story he discovers it's not always treasure to be found.

This Empty Place
At the heat death of the universe, Death contemplates his existence.

Forced Entry
Terrorists seize an average suburban house. A Special Forces hostage rescue team is sent in and encounter more than they were trained for.

The Reluctant Demon
A young demon prepares to take his possession exam.

Available from:
Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-...
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.com/An-Odd-Quartet-...
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-od...
iTunes (US): https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id63...
iTunes(UK): https://itunes.apple.com/uk/book/id63...
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/An-Odd...

Do you have any last thing that you want to talk about or plug?

I do - thanks. I run a monthly short fiction contest on my blog. There's no entry fee and you could win a £50 Amazon gift card. Find out more at this month's competition page:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/p/w...

The Darkness of the Womb on Nook

You can now purchase The Darkness of the Womb on Nook as well. So yep, you have options. :) You can purchase it here.

My book, The Darkness of the Womb, is out now!

Hey, all, my debut novel, The Darkness of the Womb, is available for purchase. Just click on the link and you can pick it up. For those who don't know, the story concerns a pregnant mother who journeys into her unborn child's subconscious to prevent him from miscarrying himself. It's a dark, contemporary fantasy novel, and I hope you'll give it a look. Thanks and take care.

The Darkness of the Womb Links

Hey, everybody. For those who don't know, I've written a book called The Darkness of the Womb. See the logo to your left, homies.

I've put everything I've got into this story and I hope you could spread the word about it. It would really mean a lot. I have a website for it here, a facebook page here, where I put up brand new content (Please like the page!), and a separate blog  for the story here. Again, please support! Thanks, y'all. Who loves you, baby?

The Darkness of the Womb

The website for my book, The Darkness of the Womb, has some new comics and podcasts up. Check it out here.

The new website

Man, it's been a long time since I've been here. I've mostly been working on the new website for my book, The Darkness of the Womb. You can check it out here. Please let me know what you think.