Free download of the award winning short story 'Brighid'

  If you have not had the chance to read my short story 'Brighid', it is currently available as a free download via Lulu Publishing.  Just go to this link http://bit.ly/1pxb80z and you can download it for free in ebook format, readable on nearly any type of ereader device, as well as PC and Mac computers.

'Brighid', by RD Williams, was originally published in 2007 as part of Donard Anthology, don't miss the chance to download a copy of this award winning short story for free.  Now available from lulu.com Free Download of 'Brighid'

Book review: 'The First King of Shannara' by Terry Brooks

This week I thought I would share my thoughts on 'The First King of Shannara' by Terry Brooks.

**Warning, possible light spoilers below.

Jerle Shannara, the Kingship of the Elves thrust upon him after the tragic destruction of the heart of the Royal family, finds his land and people in the deadliest peril. The Druid Bremen also stands against this peril, which threatens the lands of Dwarves and Men as well as the Elves.

Bremen, together with a small group of comrades, must somehow find the black elfstone and hide it from the deadly enemy that threatens them all, yet at the same time they struggle to rally the people of the free lands to stand against the armies of Trolls, Gnomes, and other dire creatures, led by the evil creatures known as Skullbearers. Their greatest hope against the leader of these deadly creatures is a mystical sword that Bremen aids in forging, combining the strength of magic and of science within its blade. Yet what is the mystical power that is held by this sword?

The First King of Shannara being the prequel to Terry Brooks' Shanarra series, has many foreshadows of the other books in the series within its pages. It is well written, if not as superb as some of the greatest, such as Tolkien, from whom Brooks seems to have found some of his greatest inspirations. An enjoyable read for any fantasy fan, and should be on the list of any fan of the Shanarra series, and I highly recommend it for any fan of fantasy adventure.

The book can be found on Amazon.com among other book sellers.

Zombies, zombies, zombies, a grumpy cat at Christmas and a live musical on...NBC???

Greetings everyone.  At least a couple times a week I take the virtual walk among the blogs, news sites, message boards, etc. that have the latest news in the world of movies, TV shows, books, comics, and other related items.  This week as I scrolled through various stories about the announcements of new TV series, such as the planned Supergirl coming to CBS, I found a couple other neat little gems that caught my eye.

Now, as anyone that has not been under a rock for the last few years can tell you, zombies and the undead are big BIG in movies and TV, for instance the popular Walking Dead, which I believe is about to begin it's 5th season.  Thus I was not surprised when I heard about the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies movie that is slated for 2015.  As for myself, I am not as firmly on the Zombie bandwagon, BUT, it seems that Matt Smith(formally of Doctor Who) has signed on for a role in the film.  Ok, NOW I am interested, so I think I'll be digging a little further as time goes on.  For those that are interested, there is a little more info here:  http://screenrant.com/pride-prejudice-zombies-doctor-who-matt-smith/

Next I stumble across a brief snippet that mentioned an upcoming musical production of Peter Pan that will be Live on NBC.  "Wait, did I read that right?  A LIVE musical on...NBC?"  Now, some of you may have heard of this already, but for me it was news that this is not NBC's first foray into the world of Live musicals  Credit points in my book for NBC for doing something a little different and spreading a little culture!  But, only vaguely interesting to me at the moment, on to the next...wait...did I see that right??  Christopher Walken as Captain Hook?!  That's right boys and girls, Christopher Walken as Captain Hook.  NOW they have my attention.  I have got to see what he does with this role, which by the way I myself think he will do wonderful in.  Here's the website for the venture for those that would like a little more info:  http://www.nbc.com/peter-pan-live

Then I move along through another couple of sites and hit the point at which I knew that I have now seen everything.  Now, we all know that there are tons of Christmas specials that have been(and continue to be) turned out over time.  Everything from classics to movies you have to see to believe that it's real.  This one falls somewhere close to the "have to see to believe" category I think.  This Christmas Grumpy Cat breaks away from the world of internet memes and jumps into the world of made for TV movies with "Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever".  That's right, that sour faced cat that has been all over the internet will have a Christmas special.

This makes me wonder, what's next?  Maybe the next step is Zombie Christmas movies.  Oh wait, I just remembered, we had that back in 1996, "The Munster's Scary Little Christmas"(not nearly as good as it could have been with the original Munsters cast but *shrug*).

So how about it guys and gals?  Any predictions on what's next to hit the world of TV movies?  Leave any ideas in the comments below.

The freedom to read is a precious thing

This week, September 21st through September 27th, 2014 is Banned Books Week, a week set aside  here in the US to celebrate the freedom to read.  In local communities across the US, and I'm sure in the online communities as well, events will be held to celebrate the freedom to read.  Speaking of which, you can search for events in your local area here: http://bannedbooksweek.org/events

For me, the idea of banning books from being read is almost a foreign concept.  Oh, there are those novels, stories, etc. out there that I don't like, or that expound ideas and concepts that I don't agree with, but then again I'm sure there are those that don't like what I write either.  To me, everyone is welcome to their opinion, and if there is a book, story or article that they disagree with, they are perfectly within their personal rights to not read it further.  To ban others, carte blanche, from even reading certain writings simply because one person, or group of persons, disagrees with it, is a step backward as a global society, and those that do ban any works completely, are, in my opinion, doing the same work done by groups like the Nazis who banned and burned many writings.

And now, I will leave you to ponder the following, a list of writings that have, at one time or another, been banned, some may very well surprise you:

(this list is in no way conclusive or complete)

-The American Heritage Dictionary & The Merriam Webster Dictionary  ((banned in the Anchorage Alaska School System over "objectionable" entries, in 1987))

- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

- The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling  ((2007))

- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

- Charlotte's Webb by EB White

- The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X

- Beloved by Toni Morrison

- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

- The Call of the Wild by Jack London

- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

- The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

- Howl by Allen Ginsberg

-  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

-  Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison ((banned just in 2013 in Randolph County, NC))

- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

- Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

- Moby-Dick  by Herman Melville

- Native Son by Richard Wright

- Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Book Collective

- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

- Sexual Behavior in the Human Male by Alfred C Kinsey

- A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

- To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee

- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

- The Color Purple by Alice Walker

- Ulysses by James Joyce

- The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

- 1984 by George Orwell

- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

- Animal Farm by George Orwell

- The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein

Review of 'Mystic and Rider' by Sharon Shinn

I thought I would start posting my review of books I have and/or am reading.  I hope you find them useful and enjoyable.  Cheers!

Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn

'Mystic and Rider', by Sharon Shinn. I am not sure what led me to picking up this book, maybe something in the title caught my imagination, or perhaps it was the front cover image, which has a strangely compelling feeling of mystery to it, or maybe it was just blind luck on my part. However that may be, I am very glad that it caught my eye. From the moment I opened the cover and read the first few lines, I was hooked and could not put it down until I had read the very last lines.

In 'Mystic and Rider', the mysterious and powerful female mystic, Senneth, takes up a mission for the aging King of Gillengaria. She is joined by a small band of individuals that not only each have their own diverse talents, but are also a strange mix of companions. An aristocratic shapshifter and her servant, who shares in this talent, two members of the elite guard known as King's Riders, a young, very gifted empath, and a wild, and dangerous creature. Their mission, which sounds at first relatively simple, is made increasingly more difficult, as they travel among the southern houses of the Kingdom, gauging the sentiment of the land, seeking for any signs of discontent among these southern nobles.

Shinn has created characters that jump off of the page and come to life so very easily, amid a world that is different, and yet so close to our own in certain basic ways. She takes the themes of power, and friendship, distrust, and romantic love, and blends them together into a most powerful and dynamic story set amid a world that is on the brink of plunging into chaotic war and rebellion. The magical system of Gillengaria, as well as its political, social, and religious structure are wonderfully complex and interwoven, and superbly explained through the story, all of these elements being very crucial to the story line, not just added on like decoration, or as an after thought.

'Mystic and Rider' is a book that I highly recommend for any lover of fantasy tales, or even the casual fantasy reader who enjoys a good romance with an unusual setting.