Shot in the Dark

A wee vignette for your pleasure today.

Shot in the Dark

I was shot today. By whom or why I have no idea. It was dark, I was half asleep, waiting for a train at an isolated station.

It wasn't an accident, I wasn't caught in cross-fire or mistaken for someone else, there was no one else at the station. Just me, oh and my killer of course.

I'm not really sure what to do now. I feel strangely reluctant to leave my still warm, but rapidly cooling, body. There has been no door, no light, no figure robed in black to meet me, none of the clichés I kind of half hoped would actually be true. I really don't want to leave my body alone on the platform. I realise that it is an empty shell but it is still my empty shell and I liked it, was comfortable in it.

I sit, or rather hover, on the station wall, waiting for someone to discover my body. The last train is due any minute but I was in the shelter and my body has fallen behind the low stone wall that forms the front of it, I may not be discovered until the morning commute.

At last the train arrives. People hurry out of the doors and along the platform, rushing to get home to their loved ones. I float about trying to get someone to slow down, but I have no body, no substance, I am nothing more than thoughts drifting in the cold night air, a few people shiver as they pass through what remains of me but nothing more.

Eventually they are gone and I am alone with my body once more.

End.

Comments, criticisms, etc welcome.

Thanks for reading.

The Turn of the Screw - Part 2

Wayhay, I have finished! Now, on with the review.

I found The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James, to be a quaint, compelling, and eerie read. I will admit that I found the sentence structure challenging, some sentences went on for what felt like pages and pages, but complicated and archaic sentence structure notwithstanding, it was a great book.

The basic story is that of a young woman, engaged to work as a governess for two orphaned children by their uncle-and guardian-who wants not to be bothered by them, or her. When she arrives at the house in the country where the children stay it is to discover that the young boy has been expelled from school, the previous governess left in mysterious circumstances-and subsequently died soon after-and that the whole house had been in thrall at some point to the absent uncle's manservant Quint-who has also died in mysterious circumstances.

During the course of the story our heroine "sees", whilst walking at twilight, a mysterious figure high up in a tower on the grounds of the house, she goes on to see this figure again, becomes convinced that it is Quint, and realises that there is a plot to possess the children. About halfway through Miss Jessel, the previous governess, also appears-seen at a distance-to join in the attempts at possession.

Or do they?

Just as I settled into thinking that this was a charming little ghost story the whole thing turned on me and I found myself wondering if I was in fact watching an unstable woman's descent into madness.

A deliciously creepy and unsettling story.

I'm a bit behind on posting reviews of books...Oops!

I have read quite a few books since the start of the year, I just haven't reviewed any.

Last night I finished the final book in the Wheel of Time Cycle - A Memory of Light.

I started the Wheel of Time books a few years ago on the recommendation of an acquaintance and I was hooked instantly. I devoured those books and read every one as soon as I could get my hands on it. When Robert Jordan died I was saddened both for his passing and for the loss of the end of the story, I desperately wanted to know what would happen to them all - Nynaeve, Egwene, Rand, Mat, etc, etc - would they succeed, would they beat Shai'tan or would it all ultimately end in disaster?

When Brandon Sanderson was chosen to use Robert Jordan's extensive notes to finish the story I rejoiced, more so when it transpired that there was just too much to fit into just one book and there would now be three more to enjoy.

Brandon Sanderson is a good writer and he did a great job of finishing the series, but it was different, the voices of the characters were different, the feel of the books was different and the whole thing sort of lost it's appeal for me.

That said I still read them, I still enjoyed them - until A Memory of Light that is.

It was good but it dragged somehow, there were just too many threads all having to be followed, loose ends having to be tidied up. It felt messy and out of control and I kept having to bring myself back to it.

Ultimately I did enjoy the story, it was good to say goodbye to that world and the people in it, I'm glad I know how it ended and how they all got there in the end. I don't think I will be going back to revisit it any time soon though - if ever!

The Turn of the Screw

I was supposed to post a review of The Turn of the Screw by MR James on Monday. Clearly I failed to do so as I'm posting this on Friday.

I have to admit I have failed to even finish the story. This is an Epic Fail on my part. The story is great, atmospheric, well written, all of that and I am going to keep reading it {slowly!}, but I cannot read it in a week or even two, possibly not even three. It is written in the most convoluted way with great long rambling sentences that go on for what sometimes feels like pages and, as much as I am enjoying the story, I keep getting distracted by shinier, easier to read stories like Bait Dog by Chuck Wendig.

I am disappointed in myself, but I will persevere. I will read and review other books. I will continue the challenge and I will not let this first disaster colour the rest of the challenge!

If you get a chance, and have lots of patience, or possibly just more brain power than me, then do read this book as it well worth a look even if you do feel, as I do frequently, like grabbing the woman and telling her to stop being so silly sometimes.

52 Books in 52 Weeks

So, if you read my last post, you'll have noticed that I planned to start reviewing books. I thought it might be good to tie this resolution into the 52 books challenge.

The first book on my list is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I'm hoping to post the review on Monday.

The next few books are :

1. The Herland Trilogy - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
2. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow
3. The Invisible Man - HG Wells
4. Battle Tales From Burma - John Randle
5. Ratcatcher - Tim Stevens
6. Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K Jerome
7. Greyfriars Bobby - Eleanor Atkinson

So, that's me for the next two months or so. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, otherwise I'll be aiming to post a review every Monday.

Resolutions? Oh well if I must!

So, I don't really hold with resolutions. As I see it they tend to be a  lot of empty promises that are forgotten by the end of the month-if they last that long-they sound nice but mean little.

That said, there are a few things I would like to do this year and what better time to start than at the start of a shiny new year?

So, for what is's worth here are my New Year promises to myself.

1. Write every day.
2. Review some of the books I read - at least one a week posted here.
3. Finish my book and try to get it published.
4. Start cycling again.
5. Attempt to get on top of the housework {this one probably won't happen but I'd like to at least try!}.
6. Keep my cool/not lose my temper.
7. Write every day.

So there you have it; by the end of the year I will be a lean mean, good tempered, writing machine with a {maybe}clean house and {hopefully} a published {or at least on the way to being published} book.