Martyn Stanley's Blog

Well... I said I was still working on it. And... I was. I have one chapter left to edit.

I don't know if anyone will even be interested in reading part 6 given the epic amount of time since I released part 5. Will I release part 6? Yes, even nobody wants to read it, I will finish it and get it published. Will there be a part 7?

That, I really don't know! There should be! I used to know what was going to happen and how it all fitted together, but my mental health has been in freefall since I released Ofelia and it's never really fully recovered. I'd like to finish the series, I could maybe do it in another one or two books.

I think, after I've finally finished and released book 6 I will have to see what kind of feedback I'm getting in reviews. Maybe try and start promoting and pushing the series again (I've abandoned Marketting for years.)

The sad truth is despite being actually a lot more popular than many of the indie authors I've met over the years, I've come to see 'being an author' as something I had a crack at and failed at.

How I get out of that mindset - I don't know.

We'll see, I'll get Deathsworn Ar 6 out, then I'll see what comes next. I'm not saying I won't finish the series, but I'm not saying I definitely will be. I want to, but I don't know if I can.

Apologies for anyone who's been waiting patiently to find out what happens. :(

Martyn

I know, I know... I should have published it years ago. YEARS ago. Sadly, there've been times I thought it would NEVER be published. Back in 2019, my mum died of cancer at the age of 71. That hit hard, for many, many complex ways I can't talk about here. Months later we were into a full-on global death pandemic. My writing dried up completely. My desire to edit and work on writing evaporated. It's crazy really, there was a time I was all geared up to start a masters in Creative Writing... But all that died. ALL of it.

It's been a tough three years, but I'm trying to pull myself together. This last two weeks I've been working with the present Mrs. Stanley to edit Deathsworn Arc 6: Emergence. I have the artwork thanks to legend Uwe Jarling. I will publish Deathsworn Arc 6 if it kills me. If you've been waiting to see what happens - I'm sorry. I never planned to just stop dead, I'd always wanted to release a Deathsworn Arc title at least once per 2 years, ideally once a year. I released the first book back in 2012, that's over ten years ago. I honestly thought I'd have finished the series and be working on another series by now! I DO have 50k words of a sequel to Ofelia, but I don't know if I like it. Ofelia I think, was an amazing book and continuing Ofelia's story might not be the right thing to do. I really need to show this rough draft of a part 2 to someone I trust so I can decide whether to start it or not. Anyway, I am alive! I will be releasing Deathsworn Arc 6! Sorry it's taking forever!

First of all, apologies to the fans (both of them!) but this isn't a Deathsworn Arc novel. This is something new. I've been working on it alongside Deathsworn Arc 6 for the last two years and I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. It still needs a few tweaks, but I think this is a great novel that will be enjoyed by anyone who likes the Deathsworn Arc. Yes it's a vampire story - but I think it's a really new take on the genre. Here's the blurb I've settled on:-

For centuries, a hidden clique of vampires ruled Europe from the shadows. Then they created Ofelia. Turned into a vampire at the age of 11 in the 15th century, Ofelia has never aged.

After centuries of hunting vampires she's on her way to Stonehenge to perform a ritual, which she hopes will restore her humanity. However, an unfortunate turn of events will see her taken for an orphan, placed in a children's home and forced to attend school.

When her copy of the ritual vanishes, she loses all hope of lifting her curse.

Worse still, it turns out she hadn't defeated all the vampires, and the one remaining vampire needs her blood to rebuild the vampire dynasty with him ad the head.

Now Ofelia faces a choice: embrace her immortality and usher in a new generation of vampires, or finish what she started.

I'm getting closer to releasing my latest novel! It's been 2 years in the making. Currently trying to come up with a useable blurb. What do you think of this? Currently I think It's my best attempt:

For centuries, a hidden clique of vampires ruled Europe from the shadows. Then they created Ofelia. Turned into a vampire against her will at the age of 11 in the 14th century, Ofelia has never aged.

After centuries of hunting vampires, she's on her way to Stonehenge to complete a ritual which will restore her humanity. However, an unfortunate turn of events will see her taken for an orphan, drawn into the British Social Care system and forced to attend school.

When her copy of the ritual vanishes, she loses all hope of lifting her curse. Worse still, it turns out she hadn't defeated all the vampires, and the one remaining vampire needs her blood to rebuild the vampire dynasty with him at the head.

Now Ofelia faces a choice: embrace her immortality and usher in a new generation of vampires, or finish what she started.

For anyone interested, the Open University recently decided to publish my Alumni Story:-

https://alumni.open.ac.uk/stories/mar...

A couple of decades ago I was in a band called the Liability Crisis. We made a punk song about a man called Ian Thomas who used to work for Rathbones Bakery. A talented individual has reworked this classic for the modern age. I give you 'Boris Johnson'

https://www.facebook.com/causeofaccid...

You can see the original here (I'm on lead guitar) :- https://youtu.be/E9lzK6s9yAs?t=45

Coming soon, pre-orders from 14th October, release on 21st October. All proceeds go to The Trussell Trust - A Foodbank Charity.

I would love for this song to break into the mainstream media.

Well, I'd been looking forward to that episode for a long time. So far Season 8 has been all about tying up plot lines and bringing stories full circle. It spent two episodes focused on reunions and setting up this battle. Now the Night King has been defeated, it's on to the main boss. The Queen of Evil herself - Cersei.

What? Cersei more evil than the Night King? Well, I would argue yes. You really have to feel a bit sorry for the Night King. Was just some ordinary guy thousands of years ago, that got turned into the Night King by the Children of the Forest (Or Singers if you mean the books I think.) so they had a weapon of mass destruction to use against the First Men and the Andals. How were they to know he'd go rogue? Well, I have to say they should have guessed. Creating the Night King seems like such a retrospectively dumb-ass plan that I can't...

Anyway, so the Night King is actually a bit of a victim in this. Cersei is more evil not because of what she does, but her motivations and her character development. Many characters in Westeros have been on journeys of redemption. Jaimie, Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, Jorah, Danaerys, Jon Snow - they've all become better people for the hardships they've faced. Cersei has done the opposite. Her incestuous relationship with Jaimie and efforts to hide said relationship are the root cause of a LOT of the fighting and killing in Game of Thrones. She shows a likeness to the Mad King Aerys when she doesn't send troops to fight the dead. In that she'd rather rule over a pile of ashen corpses than give up the throne. There was no guarantee Jon Snow and his armies would win against the dead. If they'd lost, then Cersei would be facing an even HUGER undead army and Jon Snow had taken pretty much all the Dragon Glass on Dragonstone. I think almost all of the known Valerian Steel Swords were North as well. I suppose Cersei would have had her pyromancers and wildfire, but as we saw - White Walkers aren't vulnerable to fire. Only Wights are.

So how was the actual filming?
------------------------------------
Spectacular in a word. Some might complain that at times it was a blurry, mess, dark and difficult to tell what was going at all in places. This would be true, it's the same style that was used for the Battle of the Bastards. War IS chaotic, filming it in this way makes the episode incredible immersive. You don't feel like a passive observer - you feel like you're right there in the action. You can sense the danger and nobody ever feels completely safe.

What did you think of the Deaths?
[SPOILER MAJOR ALERT!]
-----------------------------------------
The Nights Watch guy who saved Sam went out like a punk. He was a bit player though and so his death was pretty 'Meh'. Jorah went out like a boss. He fought his ass off using Heartsbane? The Tarly family Valerian Steel sword. It was a really emotional scene when Danny watched him die of his wounds. Theon, at the end of his redemptive arc was fighting like a boss too. I knew he was going to bite it when Bran told him he was a good man. His charge at the Night King though was rather pathetic. I get it, the Night King is this 1000 year old supernatural mythical monster, near invulnerable... But couldn't they have had a little fight? Y'know? Wouldn't the Night King have at least toyed with him a bit? Then there's the death that bothered me the most. Who? Lyanna Mormont. She was a character who I loved to see on screen. She was feisty and badass and I would have liked to have seen more of her. The actress who plays her did a blinding job. They say she stayed in character on set even when they weren't shooting and you can tell she was loving the work. She went out like a boss, putting down an undead giant - yes. But I really would have liked it better if she'd survived. I really think her untold story of having to become who she was at such a young age would be worth reading/watching. Then there's the Night King himself. I first thought he might bite it when he got knocked off his dragon. Then when Danny char-grilled him. (As soon as she said Drakaris I knew he was immune to fire. Then I thought when he was on the ground with Jon Snow. Except Jon couldn't get to him in time and he did the whole. 'Let's raise the dead' thing again, putting a mass of bodies between him and Jon. So Arya assassinates the Night King. I actually thought it made sense. Mellissandre despite several seasons of utter stupidity and completely getting prophecies wrong seemed to know it was Arya's job to kill the Night King. Did Jaq'en H'Gar know her destiny and that's why he spent so long trying to teach her to be the ultimate assassin? I don't know if a fight between Jon and the Night King would have been that satisfying. I can imagine it, but I think it could have been anticlimatic and might have humanized the Night King too much. As it was, Arya appearing out of the shadows and leaping at him - dagger held high. That WORKED! The Night King grabs her throat and weapon arm - tying up both his hands, but only one of hers. Then in a beautifully foreshadowed moment of grace (See Arya vs Brienne from Season 7) she drops her dagger, catches it in her spare hand and 'Sticks him with the pointy end'. I have to say I called this. I thought about the possibles, and I thought the Night King really needed to be assassinated rather than fought - and he was. Proving I think beyond doubt that Arya IS the ultimate assassin in Westeros.

What about the Battle plans of the Humans?
-----------------------------------------------------
The battle of the Bastards was very historical, It drew on a couple of historic sources for the tactics. It was clever too how Ramsey used the Tactic Jon had intended to use on him - using Rickon to completely disrupt Jon's plan. This battle was always going to be unconventional though. How do you strategise against a massive, invulnerable 'Army of the Dead' ?

The Winterfell preparations were good I thought. The lit trench was a good idea, the dragon glass was great. Falling back as the dead advanced - all fine.

Once the battle was started though, I think the Winterfell side failed in a number of areas. Sending the Dothraki Blood Riders in a suicide charge at the dead was a waste of troops. I think they could have been much more effective if they'd waited until the dead were slowed by the trench, then they could have used a flanking maneuver. I also thought the dragons were seriously ineffective. It's mainly because the Night King made them ineffective by magicking up the fog and hiding with his dragon - it meant Danny and Jon didn't dare get involved as much as they'd wanted to. I also think they should have some backup plans on how to light the trench if the dragons couldn't. Luckily Melissandre was there.

When you looked at the little battle plan map with the models on it, you can see Winterfell knew they were outnumbered. However I'm not sure they knew just by how much. If the Bloodriders had charged into a shuffling ambling herd of skeletons they might have been more effective. As it was charging into a thirty foot tall tide of dead rolling over each other...

So mistakes were made, the humans fought hard and defended well. If the Night King hadn't been as well prepared they might have fared better.

And the Night King's tactics?
-----------------------------------
He seemed to know almost exactly what Winterfell was up to and he had an answer for everything. Keeping your generals away from the frontline is always a good tactic in battle. Yes, a general on the front can be good for moral - but not when he's killed. With the Night King it's WORSE than that because his death results in the death of his entire army. It should make for bizarre and interesting tactics and it did. The White Walkers sensible sent the dead to do the bulk of the fighting and only entered the battle themselves when their undead army's numbers were dwindling. The plan being to replenish their number by raising the humans their army had just killed. The Night Kings personal tactic of calling in the fog and flying around harassing Danny and Jon, then hiding worked brilliantly. If they'd have had free reign to defend the castle the dead would have suffered masses more casualties. As it was, the Night King cleverly kept them busy and let his grunts storm the castle unhindered by dragon fire.

Really the Night King SHOULD have won! But Arya had been training for that moment for YEARS unbeknownst to her. Right back to Jon telling her to 'stick them with the pointy end' and Syrio teaching her to be 'quiet as a shadow'.

I can't imagine how Game of Thrones is going to go now. There's a long queue of people who want to kill Cersei. However the dead have left the Winterfell army shattered. The Dothraki Bloodriders seem to be wiped out along with most of the Unsullied. The other units were smashed and even four major characters bit the dust. It also looked like they lost BOTH their dragons. Though one might just be injured? Either way, they are in a bad state and the Golden Company and Euron Grey Joy are going to be ready for them.

I also don't know what's going to happen between Danny and Jon. They're in love, but they're related, but they're Targareans? Can't they just share the Iron Throne?

Who will kill Cersei? I'd like to say Arya, but she got the Night King. I wonder if it could be Jaimie? Bronn won't betray his friends - he'll warn them. I think Sandor Clegane will kill the Mountain. Will they find Elia Martell locked in the dungeon with the rotting corpse of Tyle Sand? Will they find Septa Mordane, strapped to a table having spent months being periodically raped by the undead Sir Gregor Clegane? There's a lot to be wrapped up in three episodes. The really interesting thing is that the old moral ambiguity has gone somewhat. People have changed. There is now a clear distinction between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies'. The Night King is gone, but something tells me the final battle will be even harder and bloodier. We will see the deaths of more beloved characters.

After their little moment in the crypts I even wonder if Tyrion and Sansa might get back together and make a go of it. It seems an odd match, but they appear to 'have something' I just hope to god, they don't kill off Arya. She's always been my favourite character and Season 8 Episode 3 just reinforced that.

Poor Lyanna Mormant. She rocked! So sad. :(

Martyn Stanley

I don't get into town much these days. I spend most of my time in the quiet village I call home. Last night though I was in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre to take my daughter to a LaserQuest birthday party.

The effects of online shopping, brexit and years of Tory austerity were very starkly on show. The high-street appears to be dying. It's not that so many shops were shut, but that so many had shut down.

Britain is in a mess at the moment, our society as divided as our shambolic political establishment. We're a nation made up of individualists desperate to be closer to America and collectivists, desperate to be more integrated into Europe.

While I was walking to meet my wife and kids at McDonalds, I saw a rough-sleeper sitting in a shop doorway, her hands black with grime, covered by a ragged old blanket, barely thicker than a piece of paper.

I'll be honest, I feel uncomfortable when confronted with rough-sleepers and beggars. It's far easier to look the other. There are some things we don't want to see. Some truths we don't want to accept. I suppose I don't like being stared at and I expect most people feel the same way. However, I did look.

Maybe because I had my family with me, maybe because I'm so despairing at the state of the UK at the moment... I don't know why. But I didn't just see a scary homeless person. She was about 19 to 23. She wasn't begging. I didn't just see a scary homeless person. I saw someone's little girl, forced to sleep on the street. I saw someone who society had let down. I thought of the Footballers, F1 Drivers and Hedge Fund managers, splashing out millions on private jets and yachts. It's sick that we live in a society with such division, where some people, mainly by the privilege of birthright have access to anything in the world they want, while others don't even have access to a meal or a roof over the head.

Hoping not to offend, I approached her, asked if she was okay and asked if she wanted something to eat and drink. The look on her face as I approached was haunting. It wasn't relief, it was a mixture of bemusement and fear. I don't think most people who approach rough-sleepers are kind. When she realised I was simply offering food, a look of shear relief came over her face and she responded politely, almost humbly. 'Oh yes, please, if you don't mind. Thank you.'

I asked what she'd like and offered to get her some McDonalds. I asked if she'd prefer a hot drink and she asked for a Hot Chocolate.

After ordering her a double-cheeseburger, medium fries and a hot chocolate I took them out to her. She seemed genuinely surprised and appreciative. I think she thought it was a wind up and that'd I'd disappear. I offered to contact a rough-sleeper charity to see if they could get someone to come out to her. At that she said they were trying to find a bed for her in a hostel and that someone would be coming around in the morning with a cup of tea.

At that I wished her luck and said goodbye. Still feeling a little uneasy. Not because I feared that I'd been scammed, in that she wasn't really sleeping rough or was a junkie who created the situation she was in herself, but because I didn't think I'd really done enough. I provided one rough-sleeper with a hot meal and a hot drink. It cost me £4.07 which is almost nothing. Would she have gotten something to eat if I hadn't? I don't know. Was she a junkie? I couldn't say either way, but I don't think it matters. Our society created the drugs problem. For the record I don't think she was. She sounded intelligent, polite and if anything a little timid. Maybe the getting dirty and huddling under a blanket in a shop doorway WAS an act. If it was it was a good one, I wouldn't be prepared to spend my evenings on the street for a cheap McDonalds meal and some loose change.

I wasn't left with a heroic sense of 'not all heroes wear capes'. It was nothing, and in that it wasn't enough. It's worse in Manchester. You'd find it harder to stop and help someone in Manchester, because there are so many on the run up to the train station that you'd feel uncomfortable helping one without helping the others. Plus I suspect some of the Manchester beggars ARE fake beggars.

I didn't know where I was going with this post. I suppose I just feel sad that we live in such a shitty society where some people are sitting on billions of pounds, while others can't afford a packet of crisps.

Martyn Stanley

I did it! I finished the Buried Giant and reviewed it in detail! Check out my review here, please like and comment!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Martyn

Well, over the Christmas break, I've been catching up. I've started watching Season 5 of Game of Thrones. I'm six episodes in at the moment. I DO like the series. It's gritty, brutal and unforgiving. It also has some very human characters who you can empathise with.

I've been telling myself for a long time I ought to start reading the books. When I was in Smith's just after Christmas I saw the first book on sale for £4. I thought, what the hell - why not? I'm nearly finished The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro and I haven't really taken on a monster read since 'The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I never read the sequel to that - World Without End because after 'Pillars' I was a bit 'Ken Follett'd out'.

The interesting thing about A Game of Thrones is the first book is about 1000 pages. Looking at the trim size and my own page counts, I'd estimate that the first book of George R.R. Martin series is actually about the same length as my entire 5 book series.

I'll be honest, though I like self-publishing I'd really like to move to the hybrid model and end up in a position where I publish most of my work through the traditional routes. I'd also like to write a longer, more complex series like Game of Thrones, maybe even set in a post-Deathsworn Arc Torea. However would anyone publish it?

I tend to think a journeyman author, dumping a manuscript as long as 'Game of Thrones' on an agent's desk and explaining it's the FIRST book of a SEVEN book series would be laughed at best.

Let's be honest it would have zero chance of being picked up - even if it was amazing.

This leaves me in a situation where ultimately if I want to go trad pub, I probably need to write a specific book. What book? It should probably be a stand-alone novel, which is 85,000 - 120,000 words long MAX. It should probably leave the ending open for an optional sequel but not be a book 1 in a series.

To write this sort of book probably requires a different approach than 'The Deathsworn Arc' it probably needs a degree of planning. Martin spent a long time meticulously planning aspects of Game of Thrones, then altered his plans as he wrote. He calls himself a 'gardener' when asked what sort of writer he is. Neither a planner, nor pantser but something in between.

At the moment I'm bogged down writing scripts for film as part of A363 Advanced Creative Writing. I also don't want to continue Deathsworn Arc until I've had more detailed feedback on book 5. I know what needs to happen, but I'm at a point where I'm thinking, do I try and wrap up the series in one big book? Or spread the ending over two or three titles?

I know some of my readers LIKE my writing, but want to see what else I've got besides Deathsworn Arc. Maybe I should take a break and write something submit to an agent? I sold well over 200 books in December 2017. If the rising trend continues and I can submit a manuscript to an agent at a time when my stats are looking particularly good... Well, that might just stand in my favour. In some ways you might ask why I want to begin publishing through an agent or publisher.

It isn't a financial consideration. I don't think being trad published automatically means you'll earn more. I think in many cases it can mean you earn less. No, I think for me at least, it's a matter of wanting what all writers want - READERS!

I recently took The Last Dragon Slayer out of perma-free. I was getting over 1000 downloads a month, but not that many sales of book 2. I've always suspected this is simply down to people downloading it because it's free, then forgetting about it. Since I've made it a paid book I've sold triple figures of book 1 in only half a month! I've also already had a great month for the rest of the series.

Was going perma-free a bad idea? I don't think it was. At least not at the time. At the moment though I don't think it's the way forward. I sold more books in 2016 than 2017. I did that by giving away tons and tons of copies of book 1. When I sit back and look at the figures though, it was disheartening. I sold a lot of books, but I had a read-through rate of less than 5%. My read-through of rate of books 2 - 3 was over 75%. That's too much of a discrepancy and really proves my suspicion that most people who downloaded perma-free book one will probably never read it.

It's a tough game, writing and publishing. You have to stick at it. And you have to analyse how your books are selling and what's working or not, then be prepared to change your strategy. If you want to make a go of it, you've really got to be prepared to wear a lot of hats.

That's the attraction of trad pub of course. But that's not to say it'll be easy, or that you'll instantly sell a ton of books. It'll still take time. I think ultimately if you want to make a success of your writing career your goals have to be to write more, writer better and to always be prepared to look at your marketing strategy.

Oh, hopefully 'The Temple of the Mad God will have it's paperback edition out this month!

Happy New Year everyone, and happy reading and writing!

Martyn