La Mano de Fatima, Ildelfonso Falcones

La Mano de Fatima, Ildelfonso Falcones. Or, The Hand of Fatima, in English. This is quite possible the best book I have ever read. Which is a good thing, because it took 8 months to read. This is because it’s a very heavy book - literally. So can only be read at home and when you’ve got a very, very busy schedule that only leaves the weekends. It’s a whopping 950 pages long, so it’s not a quick read anyway.

In summary, the story follows the life of Hernando, the son of a Moor who was raped by a priest in 16^th century Andalucia. The reader joins him when he’s 8 years old at this point he has been educated in both the Christian and Muslim faiths. Spanish Moors at the time were called New Christians and were obliged to follow Christian traditions. However, being the son of a priest, Hernando spends a lot of time in church where is he’s taught to read and write, which becomes the greatest love of his life.

The story follows Hernando all the way to his early 60s. He witnesses many atrocities and wars between the two communities and makes it his lifelong ambition to join them together. Unfortunately he finds himself rejected by both communities. Nevertheless, he never gives up hope.

As an aspiring writer, I found this book fascinating. No stone is left unturned. Every single event, no matter how small, has a counter-effect. The plotting is in depth and anyone who wants to be an outstanding author should read this book for inspiration.  The details are truly awesome. There is nothing in this book that could be described as superfluous, it is amazing.

The Hand Of Fatima will be available in English in the UK on 17th March 2011. At present there are no release dates the the English version in the USA.

Dark Tales, Vol14. Touch, Typing, by Georgina Bruce.

As I stated in my New Year's Resolutions, I intend to enter some writing competitions this year.

Before entering a writing competition, it's always a good idea to check out previous winners in order to know what the judges favour.

So, when I arrived home the other day, after spending Christmas with my family, I was thrilled to see that my copy of Dark Tales had arrived. Published quarterly, each anthology contains ten pieces of speculative and horror fiction from new writers.

The prizes for making it into the top ten are generous, “First prize is £500, £250 goes to the runner-up and third place £100” and all other published entrants receive £5. However, the greatest prize of all is being able to add that ISBN number to your CV/résumé.

So, last night, I tucked myself into bed with the latest winner of this fabulous prize. I had to switch my FanStory head off— that one which goes in search for typos and SPaG errors. I did spot one missing comma, but it couldn’t stop me from enjoying the tale. Touch, Typing is an eccentric and bizarre, yet captivating tale of a young man, Nathan, who gets a new job as a clerk. His boss’s secretary is a robot, a wooden doll that is obvious to the world and spends her whole day typing. The click-clacking of the old typewriter seems to bewitch Nathan; he becomes obsessed with the doll and will stop at nothing to get her attention. The story’s author Georgina Bruce has proved that she has a fabulous imagination and the creative skill transfer it into writing. Let’s hope we see more of her in the future.

In my nosy little world I have discovered that Georgina has her own website http://thebeardedlady.wordpress.com/ where she posts some of her work. Another one of her stories is published on the E-zine, “The Three Lobed Burning Eye,” http://www.3lobedmag.com/issue19/3lbe19_story1.html

In upcoming blogs I shall be reviewing the other 9 short stories in the Dark Tales Anthology, Vol. XIV

Resolutions for 2011

• Get driving licence before April.
• Post something on FanStory at least once a month.
• Go for NANOWriMo, even if it’s solo and not in November.
• Get a man.
• Enter at least 2 writing competitions outside of FanStory.
• Save about 20% of wages.
• Learn some French.

The First Step Accomplished

Ok, so here goes- my first atttempted at writing a Blog. They've been around for ever, but I've only just thought about starting one. I'm just getting the hang of it, so it is rather boring at the moment. I have no links or fancy gadgets.

It took me the best part of an hour to figure out how to add my own background. That's Caerlaverock Castle, by the way. Near my Granda's home town of Dumfries and where a few of my family tree's branches can be traced to. I'm very proud of my heritage and that is why I have taken on the pen name, "Border Reiver".

I am an all round amateur. An amateur genealogist, an amateur historian, an amateur linguist, an amateur reviewer and an amateur writer. Luckily these traits can all be nicely blended together to make an enthusiastic storyteller with lots of fodder to feed off.

My main reason to start a Blog is as a platform to promote my own writing. Unfortunately, I am... er... a bit of an amateur and haven't got round to... er... writing. Not to worry. In the meantime, I plan to review bits and bobs I've read, seen or heard, and hopefully, once having given myself a little kick up the backside,  I'll also get around to sharing some of my own creations.