Monday, September 3, 2012

Update on UNLIKELY HERO

IFWG will be releasing my second novel Unlikely Hero Soon. The editing for Unlikely Hero is half way through. And as good and quick as my editor is publication will be coming up soon.


Constructed in action scenes that take place on a Global scale, and involve both law and outlaw where the distinction between the two is often muddy. So in the final chapter the murders are solved but a rather likeable criminal escapes retribution.

This statement, revenge is best savored when it’s no longer expected, describes the plot behind the story of ‘Unlikely Hero’. There are a number of angry people in this tale of murder with a sufficient reason to commit the crimes.

Alex Cahill lives a double life as a news reporter and a paid assassin. He has no reservations about killing anyone for money, and does so many times in different circumstances through out the pages. His unusual concern when he accidentally injures a child surprises his cohorts.

That child, Garth Ahern, believes he is predestined to die in prison like his father. He has reached the age of nine convinced of this by the screeches of an abusive mother and the condemnation of an old priest. Deprived of a daddy, the boy needed a hero.

Set in the late seventies, the Ahern brothers raised in the turmoil of Northern Ireland have followed very different paths. The Eldest, with the help of friends escaped to America; his natural ability in electronics in the growing age of computers allowed him to carve out a financial empire. The Youngest, the victim of treachery put this schooling to his advantage by becoming a paid killer. Only the middle brother married, his wife bore a son eight months after his death.

Violence surrounds that boy. Garth is orphaned by his mother’s murder; the event draws his ‘Yankee Uncles’, who previously hadn’t known of his existence, not only into his life but also into each others’. One becomes the predator and the other the prey in a battle where financial gain appears to be the prime consideration. Revenge, however, is the more volatile reason for murder.

Garth’s Uncle Mathew attempts to give the child a secure home and decent future. Those efforts may be wasted when his Uncle David accepts a contract to kill Mathew.

While there is no effort made to hide the actual identity of Alex Cahill from the reader, certain situations will make them ponder which brother is he. Can he be Garth’s father?

Lots of Irish wandering through these pages so the work must impart some humorous incidents along with the violence. I hope to garner a few chuckles when Cahill interacts with certain members of English and Irish law enforcement. A smile or two should occur as the foreign child, Garth, attempts to dominate the Yankees. And if I can’t draw a few giggles along with the

Sunday, August 12, 2012

To The Battle Born

To The Battle Born is now avaiable on Nook.




Battle Born [NOOK Book]



Overview

A political thriller novelette.

Two similar warriors condemned by their nature. Alex seeks financial gains; with Ryan it is a desire to improve society. Once established, a true belief for something creates a powerful passion in some men that allows them to use any method to accomplish their aim.

The two main characters are taken from Geraldine Fitzsimmons' novel, Unlikely Hero.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Update on Unlikely Hero


IFWG will be releasing my second novel Unlikely Hero Soon. The editing for Unlikely Hero is due to start. And as good and quick as my editor is publication will be coming up soon.


Constructed in action scenes that take place on a Global scale, and involve both law and outlaw where the distinction between the two is often muddy. So in the final chapter the murders are solved but a rather likeable criminal escapes retribution.

This statement, revenge is best savored when it’s no longer expected, describes the plot behind the story of ‘Unlikely Hero’. There are a number of angry people in this tale of murder with a sufficient reason to commit the crimes.

Alex Cahill lives a double life as a news reporter and a paid assassin. He has no reservations about killing anyone for money, and does so many times in different circumstances through out the pages. His unusual concern when he accidentally injures a child surprises his cohorts.

That child, Garth Ahern, believes he is predestined to die in prison like his father. He has reached the age of nine convinced of this by the screeches of an abusive mother and the condemnation of an old priest. Deprived of a daddy, the boy needed a hero.

Set in the late seventies, the Ahern brothers raised in the turmoil of Northern Ireland have followed very different paths. The Eldest, with the help of friends escaped to America; his natural ability in electronics in the growing age of computers allowed him to carve out a financial empire. The Youngest, the victim of treachery put this schooling to his advantage by becoming a paid killer. Only the middle brother married, his wife bore a son eight months after his death.

Violence surrounds that boy. Garth is orphaned by his mother’s murder; the event draws his ‘Yankee Uncles’, who previously hadn’t known of his existence, not only into his life but also into each others’. One becomes the predator and the other the prey in a battle where financial gain appears to be the prime consideration. Revenge, however, is the more volatile reason for murder.

Garth’s Uncle Mathew attempts to give the child a secure home and decent future. Those efforts may be wasted when his Uncle David accepts a contract to kill Mathew.

While there is no effort made to hide the actual identity of Alex Cahill from the reader, certain situations will make them ponder which brother is he. Can he be Garth’s father?

Lots of Irish wandering through these pages so the work must impart some humorous incidents along with the violence. I hope to garner a few chuckles when Cahill interacts with certain members of English and Irish law enforcement. A smile or two should occur as the foreign child, Garth, attempts to dominate the Yankees. And if I can’t draw a few giggles along with the sighs and shudders during murder or sex, I’ll have to toss my passport in the Atlantic.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Werewolves: New Twists on an Old Monster Tale

Three Werewolf Movies that Provide Different Takes on the Classic Horror Creature.
Bloodcurdling stories of werewolf encounters have been prowling around for centuries. Nothing chills the soul more than some cursed unfortunate metamorphosing into a hairy beast under the light of the full moon. But just when you thought there was nothing new or unique that could be added to such lycanthropic legends, three recent horror (or urban fantasy, depending on your definition) movies put a new spin on a favorite furry supernatural beastie.
Dog Soldiers
Dog Soldiers (2002), written and directed by Neil Marshall (who later went on to write and direct The Descent, Doomsday and The Centurion) pits a pack of werewolves against a military unit staging exercises in a remote area of the Scottish Highlands. Starring Sean Pertwee (son of actor Jon who portrayed the third Dr. Who), Dog Soldiers is a combination of gore, black humor and intense, violent action.
The story turns the werewolf mythos on its head by depicting not just one but a pack of werewolves with the point-of-view focusing strictly on the humans being hunted (no touchy-feely, internal human persona vs. animal persona conflict here!). The struggles of the military unit’s members and the mysterious woman who helps them are front-and-center as they can either give in to fear or stand and fight the horror surrounding them.
Skinwalkers
Skinwalkers (2006 – not to be confused with the Tony Hillerman novel of the same name), directed by James Isaac and starring Jason Behr, Rhona Mitra and Elias Koteas, depicts a pack of dangerous werewolf bikers on the loose. They are “skinwalkers,” according to Navajo lore--humans who are able to change their forms into those of animals.
Opposing them are good skinwalkers who are trying to live their lives without killing. They do this by shackling themselves to the inside of their RV on the nights of the full moon. If they taste human blood for the first time, their animal nature will take over completely. And their human personas must remain intact in order to protect the one member of their family who has the power to end the werewolf curse once and for all--a 13 year-old boy who is half human and half skinwalker.
The expert werewolf facial makeup was done by the late, great Stan Winston, giving credence to the expression, “Less is More.” These werewolves really look bestial without the makeup effects being over-the-top or cheesy.
Underworld
The big budget entry of this trio of films, Underworld (2003), directed by Len Wiseman and starring Kate Beckinsdale, Scott Speedman and Bill Nighy, reimagines werewolves and vampires as rival gangs engaging in high-tech urban (fantasy) warfare. Stylishly cool and sexy, the film shows both groups adapting very well to the modern era. The vampires shoot bullets containing silver nitrate at the “Lycans” and the werewolves return fire to the “Death Dealers” with bullets that emit ultraviolet light. Both opposing groups utilize laptops, the internet and cell phones as tools in their centuries-long struggle.
In addition, the werewolves are trying to create a powerful vampire/werewolf hybrid to help them in their battle against the blood-suckers. They live beneath the city streets (the “underworld” of the title) while their vampire foes reside in luxurious mansions replete with state-of-the-art technology.
Oddly enough (with a couple of exceptions), the much bigger, more powerful Lycans get their behinds kicked in this film. Preferring to get down and dirty in their werewolf forms, most of them fall easy victims to the Death Dealers’ modern weaponry.
Stylized action sequences and an in-depth backstory on the ancient war between these two toothy groups give this film a little more substance than most run-of-the mill creature features.
At the end of the day, a werewolf is a werewolf is a werewolf, but kudos to those artists who won’t take the easy way out. Their imaginative slants on classic horror tropes make the old seem new again.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

To The Battle Born is now avaiable on Nook.




Battle Born [NOOK Book]



Overview

A political thriller novelette.

Two similar warriors condemned by their nature. Alex seeks financial gains; with Ryan it is a desire to improve society. Once established, a true belief for something creates a powerful passion in some men that allows them to use any method to accomplish their aim.

The two main characters are taken from Geraldine Fitzsimmons' novel, Unlikely Hero.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

'chap-ebook'!

June 2012 Newsletter 'Word from the Editor'

We are happy to announce the creation of a new line of products for IFWG Publishing. We all know about 'chapbooks', that oddity in publishing that started off as a newsletter a few centuries ago - small books (normally 40 pages or less) that contained a story, or newsletter, or the like. Some authors publish similarly sized beasts as ebooks, and we thought it was a great idea to marry the two concepts together, hence creating the 'chap-ebook'!

We aren't doing this in a big way; we are expressly publishing chap-ebooks only written by our current authors - those who we published novels, anthologies and non-fiction. No one else. The reasoning behind this is to provide readers with extra material from their favorite authors, and sometimes also supplement larger stories with smaller work. We are delighted to do this, and in the spirit of chapbooks, we will turn them over rather quickly, and not necessarily spend a great deal of time polishing the covers. We will be numbering our 'chap-ebook' series in the order they are published.

Gift Horse is the first cab off the rank, and has the honor of being number #001. It is a wonderful science-fiction piece written by our Managing Director, and author of the KnorraSky series of novels, R.A. Knowlton. Over coming weeks we will be adding three more chap-ebooks to our collection - just stay tuned.

Gerry Huntman
Chief Editor
IFWG Publishing