The Realm of Katherine Vick

I'm a little short on original material today so I hope you'll forgive me if I simply take this opportunity to share a sneak peek of what is to come in my upcoming sequel to The Disposable. The Merry Band, coming to you on 2nd August 2021! :)

 I wrote this quickly off the top of my head a few weeks ago off the back of a conversation expressing the idea that certain names create certain… expectations in a character and can sometimes be used by an author as a shortcut to do some character developmental heavy lifting. The female name especially highlighted in this matter is the one I have used below. ;) What’s in a Name? “Freeze, demon spawn!” “Why, hello dear. Whatever is the matter?” “Oh, give it up, your sweet little old lady act is fooling no-one! We know it was you that released the hell hound into the football stadium!” “Hell hound? Oh no, dear, I’m much more of a cat person. See here, on the tea cosy? And my cushion covers? And the little knick-knacks on the mantlepiece, now that one on the left is my favourite, isn’t his face the sweetest thing?” “I don’t care about your… oh, it is quite sweet, look at that little smile, bless , what a…hey! Stop trying to distract me with cats!” “You seem very angry,...

 A very silly dialogue only short piece written for a writing challenge to the prompt "No Brainer". I took my usual unconventional approach to this...;) The No-Brainer “Ummm…. Master?” “Now, now, now, yes! The body parts are all stitched together – lovely backstitch by the way, Igor…” “Thank you Master, but…” “The lightning rod is in place – yeeesss! And a perfect storm is bubbling away, hahahaha! This is going to be magnificent!” “Yes, Master but…”   “The equipment is ready, I’ve got my goggles and my white overalls – all the stains came out beautifully, Igor, do commend the cleaner…”   “Actually, I believe she’s the right buttock, Master. But…” “Everything is ready! Soon the power will surge into it and my creation will rise, rise, RISE!!!!! Hahahahahaha …” “But Master…” “What is it, Igor? Can’t you see I’m being melodramatic?” “Master, haven’t you… forgotten something?” “No, I don’t think so… Monster, storm, lightning rod, goggles, overall, evi...

 Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to reveal to you the cover of my approaching sequel to The Disposable . Brace yourselves for The Merry Band, coming August 2nd 2021! :)

 Maybe it’s just me. It could be. A lot of things are. But does anyone else who writes out there sometimes find their feelings about a certain scene or story they’ve written can be unduly influenced by how they were feeling when they wrote it? Take Grim. Please. Yes, I know that sounds odd, to speak thus of one of the characters of my own work. But the trouble is – I associate him with trouble. I think I must have spent more time on that section of The Disposable , the scenes with Grim at his Fortress, than any other part of the book. Certainly, with only the possible exception of the opening of the second book of my trilogy (we’ll get to that some later day!), it’s the most rewritten and the most problematic scene I’ve ever written. Grim the Dark General has been through so many incarnations, so many different ways of responding and being that I honestly struggle to remember which one I ended up with. I’m still not even entirely sure to this day that it’s right. In my head, I’m ...

  Ask the Author – April 2021 My second round of Ask the Authors questions is this month’s offering to blogdom – please find the questions and answers below, I hope they pass muster! From Jeannie Ingraham If you didn't write fantasy, what other genre do you think you'd try?  I suspect I would be writing either science fiction or historical fiction. I know some people bunch scifi and fantasy in together but to me they are both opposite ends of the imaginative spectrum – science at the base of one and magic at the base of the other – while sharing the same creative new world-building-and-exploring traits. And in many ways, historical fiction, setting characters in a different cultural society and seeing how things pan out, is of a similar ilk – they all involve playing about in a world not quite our own. As a lover of geography, history and imagination, I need to have that kind of playground. I couldn’t write stories set in our own, ordinary, modern world – I prefer to s...

I firmly believe there is a book out there for everyone. The problem is finding it. I have to be honest and say I find it really hard to understand why it is some people don’t like to read. But I’m also well aware that’s because I was brought in a home full of books by a family of heavy readers and therefore to me, that was just normal. Books were a part of life. Everyone in my immediate circle always had at least one book on the go, be it fact or fiction, and my home was awash with crammed bookshelves. Reading was for fun. But I know that many others aren’t so lucky. That, to many, reading was nothing but a chore associated with school or something that through no fault of their own, they found difficult and frustrating. When reading is an activity only done in association with something dull or even despised, it becomes a symbol of unhappiness and displeasure, with no association with enjoyment whatsoever. I’m aware in this time of lockdown learning, many children learning from...

 https://www.thinklingsbooks.com/blog/new-books-are-springing-forth?fbclid=IwAR1osvidKI_9D_YB6TlGEChr3jNWDhSpGED14d5KSujY52eJpA1RMCU1xPY It is official - The sequel to The Disposable will be out later this year! Get ready for The Merry Band !

I actually wrote this as an office joke in honour of the previous census in 2011. To be fair, the tone of the 2021 census was slightly less militant than that one but I stand by being bewildered as to why the bloody hell they need to know my qualifications, means of getting to work, state of health and type of central flipping heating! In the olden days, they just wrote down who you were, where you lived, where you were born, what you did and if you were nuts and that just about covered it... This is your census speaking. You WILL complete every question. You will NOT skip anything. You will NOT make jokes. You will NOT say you're a bloody JEDI. You WILL read every line of every page and divulge every piece of information we ask of you or say goodbye to your house pet, sunshine. Answer and weep, suckers.... HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONS (Example selection) Can we see your house from here? Yes/No How many plug sockets do you have in your walls? How many are on average in use on the thir...

 Ironically, I don't drink so have never experienced a hangover myself but I have been in the company of those who have and out of those observations arose the below. I wrote this short story for a writing group challenge years ago and for reasons I probably can't ever explain, I decided to write it in the form of epic prose. I'm like that...;) The Saga of the Hangover Once upon a time there was a man. This was not unusual. Nor was the fact that this man was holding a party, for twas his birthday and such things are often augmented by the copious consumption of alcohol. And lo, were a great variety of drinks clustered on his table together and lo, did he consume them and the world span greatly and he was glad and fell in a heap of joy. But upon the morn, the joy had departed from him. So, verily, had much self-respect, a copious volume of vomit and all of his brave companions of the night before. And lo, did he upon first waking and finding his eyelids glued to his eyeballs...