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KINGDOM COME – Sample Chapter
Secretary of State, Samantha Bernstein, early 60s, pencil thin, voice like a coffee grinder, her makeup applied so that it would last the whole day without too much maintenance, wearing down slowly layer-by-layer like an archaeological dig. “Mr President,” she announced, “you’re not going to believe this.”
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KINGDOM COME – the back page blurb
The President’s chopper goes down over Syria. Extremists parade him on the Internet, battered and bruised but alive. They also have the man who carries the briefcase that contains the launch codes for the superpower’s thermonuclear ICBMs. And those missiles are still targeting US cities. Yes, it’s the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT that has been captured.
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Meet the sig
The Sig Sauer 226 is the standard weapon of the AFOSI (Cooper’s unit). It’s weighty at 34 ounces when loaded with 13 rounds of 9mm ball (12 in the mag and one in the chamber), but Cooper likes it because the weight of it reminds him of the Colt .45, his favourite handgun.
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You don’t mess with a Ranger
The Texas Rangers is a 144-man team that represents the pinnacle of Texas Law enforcement. “You don’t mess with a Ranger” was something I heard time and again when I was in Texas recently, researching STANDOFF (2012).
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Don’t leave home without one
Hanging out with US Army, Air Force, Navy or law enforcement types can get very expensive if you don’t have one of these in your pocket. They’re bar coins. If you’re at a bar and someone produces their unit bar coin and you can’t match it with one of your own, the drinks are on you, sucker.
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Biography
When I left school, I hoped to walk into a job with the military flying fighters or choppers, I didn’t care which, just so long as it flew. I didn’t end up making the cut. Looking back on it, and knowing now that I don’t take well to authority, I think the defence forces made the right decision for the both of us…
Podcast with moi
I can’t remember doing this podcast, which is a concern. I was either drunk or have Alzheimers. I do hope I haven’t slagged anyone off. Unless it’s one of the top three – Hitler, Stalin, Trump…
The Lost Second Book
It’s prophetic, right? The legion marches off into the desert never to be seen again, and maybe ends up fighting in China. And then I go and write a trilogy about this lost legion and the second book just, like, disappears…. Wow, it’s a plot for something else entirely, perhaps. Author writes novel only to have it swallowed by the mists of time. How can a book just, you know, vanish?
Blog series: How to Write
4. Send your empathy muscle to the gym.
Empathy is to the writer what a spirit level is to a builder. It’s very difficult to construct a story that won’t fall over without it; an essential tool of the trade
3. Character, and a little more about plot.
Character before plot? Plot before character? Chicken before egg? I’ve come down on the character side of the coin because I think it’s true that people remember characters more clearly and evocatively than they ever remember plot
2. Do you have a backbone?
Write out your book first in outline. Knowing the journey your characters will take – the beginning, the middle and the end – is too critical to ignore.
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Is there a secret to this writing game? Maybe. Here’s mine. You’ve written your...
Empathy is to the writer what a spirit level is to a builder. It’s very difficult to construct a story that won’t fall over without it; an essential tool of the trade
In the history of filmmaking, there have been many deaths on set. But not a single film...
Character before plot? Plot before character? Chicken before egg? I’ve come down on the character side of the coin because I think it’s true that people remember characters more clearly and evocatively than they ever remember plot
Write out your book first in outline. Knowing the journey your characters will take – the beginning, the middle and the end – is too critical to ignore.
Having an idea is fundamental to the writing process. Without one, trust me, all you’ll be doing is corralling a bunch of words on the page and hoping they lead somewhere cohesive. As they say, good luck with that.
Let’s assume you really do have a best selling book in you. I’m gonna help you write it with a series of posts aimed at the first time novelist. David Rollins.
Secretary of State, Samantha Bernstein, early 60s, pencil thin, voice like a coffee grinder, her makeup applied so that it would last the whole day without too much maintenance, wearing down slowly layer-by-layer like an archaeological dig. “Mr President,” she announced, “you’re not going to believe this.”
The President’s chopper goes down over Syria. Extremists parade him on the Internet, battered and bruised but alive. They also have the man who carries the briefcase that contains the launch codes for the superpower’s thermonuclear ICBMs. And those missiles are still targeting US cities. Yes, it’s the RUSSIAN PRESIDENT that has been captured.
Marcus Licinius Crassus’s lust for gold and glory was legendary. What became of his army is myth.
In Crassus the tyrant, Rufinius the soldier, Appius the historian, Mena the hag and Lucia the Golden Whore, David Rollins brings to life a mystery that has plagued historians for centuries. Field of Mars coverThe only constant in this world is Mars, the god of war, and who he will favour is anyone’s guess.