Category: Small Talk

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It’s Good, But It’s Not Good. You Should, But You Shouldn’t – Now I’m Confused!

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Hello Readers,

I submitted my latest story to my writer’s group and got some feedback yesterday. It is always interesting when you receive differing opinions, but it makes it hard to work out which way to go with your writing sometimes. The submission was a fantasy/horror piece that started as a short story. I finished it some time ago and had been letting it sit after some previous feedback. The general consensus at that time was, they loved the concept, but it was more than a short story and I should continue writing it.

I picked it back up about a month or two ago and started to add to it. I have some new characters and I’ve built a bit more of a plot. I’ve also added more details around the concept and had to alter some of the previous content to align it with the changes. Anyway, after my latest submission there were a couple of people that really loved it and gave me glowing feedback. And then there were others who felt confused, said it needed to be clearer,  and had questions on how the concept works. I’m not big on the details, as a writer I don’t think everything needs to be explained. I like to throw things out there and let my readers read between the lines, drawing their own conclusions. After all, I write fantasy and some things can’t be explained, they just are. But my dilemma is that some people thought I should leave it as a short story and others thought it could be a longer work. Now I’m wondering what to do. Do I leave it as a short story, publish now and move on to my next project, or do I carry on and turn it into a novella or a novel? I may just keep writing, send both versions to my Beta readers to see which they prefer, hoping there is a clear winner.

Happy Reading.

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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Mortal Engines the Movie – Who’s been waiting for this?

 

 

Hello Readers (and movie fans),

I’ve been waiting for this to come out ever since I heard Peter Jackson was involved in the project. Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t read the book, it is an old one, but a good one.

Enjoy!

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.

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Here Are My Top 10 Reads, What Are Yours?

For this post I thought I would give you a rundown of my 10 favourite books as they stand right now. You may notice that the top 5 are all by the same author. I make no apologies for this. This is my favourite author and I’m yet to find another whose writing I enjoy so much. Then the next three are again from one author – but I note that one of these titles is clearly different from the other two. Anyway, here they are:

1 – The Blade Itself by Joe Abercombie.

The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)

Wow! I love this book so much. It has everything I want: fantasy, magic, blood, gore, great characters and more. If you haven’t read this, you’re missing out.

2 – Before they are hanged by Joe Abercombie.

Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)

Oh, so awesome.

3 – Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercombie.

Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)

Oh, so twisted.

4 – The Heros by Joe Abercombie.

The Heroes (First Law World, #5)

Oh, so gory!

5 – Best Served Cold by Joe Abercombie.

Best Served Cold

Oh, so good!

6 – Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz, #1)

This book was a pleasure to read. It is witty and quirky, well paced and fun.

7 – The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

I loved the magic system in this book, I found it to be very original and interesting.

8 – The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson.

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

Because I enjoyed the first book so much and this continues the story.

9 – The Lascars Dagger by Glenda Larke.

The Lascar's Dagger (The Forsaken Lands, #1)

I liked this because the characters were interesting and the paganism that was included in the story really helped to build a magical world for me.

10 – Blood Faerie by India Drummond.

Blood Faerie (Caledonia Fae, #1)

This book surprised me and I found it a really enjoyable read.

And there you have it. So what’s your top ten?

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries.

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Hidden Gems and Book Surprises. What Are Yours?

Hello Readers,

I recently read a book that really surprised me. It is called Blood Faerie by India Drummond, if you’re wondering and you can find my review on my previous blog post. Anyway, I was browsing on amazon when I came across this freebie. I had not read anything by the author previously and it appeared to be in the fantasy Genre, which is my genre of choice, so I thought I’s grab a copy and give it a go. The book was not what I expected at all. While it had a large element of fantasy, it was set in the real world and was more of a crime/thriller. And do you know what? I really enjoyed it.

Here are a few others I picked up blindly that turned out to be really good:

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke
A Keepers Tale by JA Andrews

So, it set me wondering, how many readers had stumbled across a book they really enjoyed? I don’t have any answers on that question, but you may be able to help out. I’m interested to know what books you have stumbled upon that turned out to be a hidden gem?

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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What Does This Writer Do When He’s Not Writing? A weekend of fun in Brisbane City.

Brisbane City
Hello Readers,

It is a long weekend here in sunny Queensland as we have a public holiday for Labour Day, a celebration of the 8 hour working day. And what a weekend it has been. It started off a bit lacklustre with some cleaning up around the house, washing down the deck out back, filling and sanding some small cracks in the walls and stuff like that as we prepare our house for sale – but then we moved onto the fun stuff; my amazing woman had organized an amazing weekend.
We began on Saturday night. Myself, my partner, and a small group of friends had dinner out at a local burger joint called Miss May’s, and it was packed! There was literally a queue out of the door from the time we arrived right through until we left about an hour later. The venue was nice, the food was good and the bar had quick service with numerous beers on tap. Something you don’t usually find around here.
The following day I forewent my monthly writer’s group session and spent the day at a festival called Cinco De Mayo (which translates to 5th of May). A Mexican festival celebrating the day that Mexico gained independence from Spain. It was a fantastic day out on the Brisbane riverside, and while it was colourful and vibrant, there was a very chilled and relaxing atmosphere. They had live music, dancing, Mexican street food, and of course, I had some great company. That night we stayed in the city at an apartment with a view that overlooked the Brisbane river.
The next morning we treated ourselves to a cooked breakfast and made our way down to the museum to check out the Egyptian mummy exhibit. Six mummies on loan from the British Museum that have been scanned and reveal what is inside the mummifications. It really was pretty interesting stuff. Then it was off to the arts museum to admire some true works of art (and a few I reckon they picked up from the local kinder-garden. Art really is very subjective). After walking around for a couple of hours our feet were starting to tire, so we made our way to the Munich Brau House at Southbank for a hearty meal, a well-earned beverage and some Bavarian entertainment with some family members.
And now the fun ends. It’s back to work tomorrow to earn back some of the cash we spent on an awesome weekend, but it was well worth it, after all – life is for living!
So how about you? What did you do over the weekend?

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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It’s all about me, but it’s just for you.

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Hello Readers,

Okay, so I know readers are an inquisitive bunch and most of you like to get to know a little about the authors you read, so I thought I would make this post about myself. Hopefully it will give you a bit of an insight into who I am and what I like to do with my spare time.

Now where do I start? Hobbies is probably a good place. To be honest, with a full-time job, most of my spare time is taken up with my writing and the business of being an author. On the occasion when I find I do have some spare time or those days when I really just want a bit of a break, I do love a good movie. My favourite genres would be action/adventure and sci-fi movie. I don’t just watch mainstream movies either, I will watch movies from around the world. I love a good international movie and recently watched an awesome South Korean flick called ‘The Villainess’. Some of my favourite movies would have to be The Matrix, Ninja Assassin and The Princess Bride. As for TV shows, well I can’t go past Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and the recent version of West World for the commonly known shows, but I also like things like Untouchables and Acquitted on the lesser watched world TV scene.

What else can I share with you? Ah… I really enjoy going out somewhere for a coffee, whether it be a new café in a peaceful surround or an established coffee shop in a bustling, inner-city suburb. Similarly, I like to go out for a drink in a small bar somewhere with a couple of mates or have a small group of friends over for a few beers and something to eat.

As far as sports go, I love martial arts and I enjoy watching UFC or other contact sports on the TV. I also like to think of myself as a bit of an artist and I’ve been told that I’m quite accomplished at painting miniatures (and while I don’t play D&D, I do love the card game ‘Magic the Gathering’). I’m not so good with watercolours, but I enjoy painting with them. I am my own worst critic when it come to my art , but while I don’t generally like the pictures I paint, I do have some pieces that I’m proud of. I also like ink as a medium, I really like the look of things drawn in black ink on white paper.

Activity wise, I enjoy bush walking from time to time, but more-so adrenaline fuelled experiences, especially the ones that involve me driving. Whether it is a V8 dune buggy, a Lotus on a skid pan, or an HSV speed trial – I’m up for it!

And that’s about it for now,

I hope you enjoyed learning something about me.

Happy Reading!

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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Time To Check In – How Are Things Looking?

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Hello Readers,

Welcome to my new site – allanwalshauthor.com, I hope you like what you’ve seen so far. I’m quite pleased with the result and feel it looks more professional than my last website. The new site has been up and running for a few weeks now, and so far I haven’t come across any teething problems. I don’t tend to view my own site from the front end as much as my readers though, so I thought I would reach out to you and see if you have had any issues. If you have come across any stray links, problems with downloadable content, or just spotted a spelling mistake or two, please reach out to me by email and let me know. Alternately, you can leave me a comment below to let me know what you think of the new site, any issues or ideas on how to improve it.

Over the last weekend I was thinking about the sort of posts to put on this new site. I certainly want to gear it towards my readers and your interests. If you’ve been following the site, you will have noticed that I have re-posted my 10% club posts from my old blog. I wanted to get the samples of my work up on here for new readers visiting the site that might want to see some of my work. I’ve also decided to continue with my book review posts, this way you can see what I’ve been reading and what I thought of the books. I may also transfer some of my previous reviews over from the old site, but I will try to layer these between new posts so you are not just getting a lot of content you have seen before. I’ve started this off with a brand new review of The Destroyer by Michael Scott-Earle.

Being an Indie Author can be time consuming at the best of times. It is a big machine and the cogs need oiling to keep everything running smoothly. I have spent the last few months setting things up so the wheels don’t need as much grease, and now that I have established my new site and set up the tools I need to continue my journey with a little less effort, I hope to focus more on my writing. I look forward to giving you all something new to read in the future.

Until then, happy reading!

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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Welcome to the Official Website for Allan Walsh – Author!

Hello Readers and Welcome!

This is the first post on my new website. If you’re after a welcome gift, jump over to my ‘Home’ page and grab yourself some free books.

For those of you who have followed me previously on ‘Allan Walsh – Author, A Writer’s Journey’, I say thank you. Rest assured, I have brought you over to this new site, so you should receive all my blog posts as normal. If you have not got your copies of the free books on the home page, go and grab them now.

Happy Reading. 

Allan Walsh writes Fantasy and Horror. If you’re looking for something new to read in these genres, why not check out his books here. You can also find his titles available in some libraries. 

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