Monday sees the launch of Son of Zeus, the first in my new Heracles trilogy. My Odysseus series has taken up so much of my life (I started planning King of Ithaca back in 1999) that it seems strange to be embarking on a new adventure, but I’m very much looking forward to it. I’m a little nervous, of course – especially as these books will be quite different to the previous ones – but I’m excited at the thought of starting afresh. Someone has already tweeted that they’ve read Son of Zeus and are looking forward to the next book (I don’t know how they got an early copy, but in view of their kind comments, they’re very welcome). Still no date for the paperback release, but Canelo are hosting an authors’ party on 25th April so I hope to get a better idea then.
If you read Son of Zeus and enjoy it, please leave feedback on Amazon, Goodreads or wherever you like. We authors need all the encouragement we can get, and feedback really makes a difference to sales. Thanks in advance.
Last week, I stayed at a Premier Inn in Sheffield while my wife went to the Geography Association conference (she’s a teacher). I usually stay at a Premier Inn when I have my annual daddy-daughter weekends with the girls, because the beds are always comfortable and the eat-all-you-can breakfasts set you up perfectly for the day. I also like that they have a Gideons Bible in the room – you used to find them in every hotel or B&B not so long back, but it doesn’t seem very fashionable nowadays.
On the first morning there, I took the girls up Mam Tor (also called the ShiveringMountain) in the Peak District. I misread the map and we ended up going twice as far as we meant to, but it was nice to spend some time walking and talking together. We also found the remains of an old road that was abandoned after a rockslide. After that, we went down the BluejohnCave and visited PeverilCastle in Castleton. The next day, we walked even further – about twelve miles, there and back – along Stanage Edge. Nice bonding time; it was just a shame Jane wasn’t there to share it with us.
Have you ever seen the film Warriors (1979)? I last watched it on VHS in about 1982, but caught it by chance on TV the other night. It’s about a New York gang who get framed for killing the leader of another gang, and are hunted down as they try to make it back to their own turf on Coney Island. Sound familiar? It’s not an exact allegory of the Odyssey – far from it – but has lots of parallels. Three of the gang get picked up by a group of girls called the Lizzies, who show them a good time and almost make them forget about going home – before trying to kill them. Then there’s the group of baseball-wielding thugs who paint their faces and always have one eye painted within a black circle. In the final scene, the survivors who’ve made it home to Coney Island walk off along the beach with the waves crashing along the sand. It’s a bit of a cheesy film in places, but I enjoyed watching it.
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