David J Rodger's Oakfield

All right everyone let's welcome David J Rodger

 

David J Rodger is known for writing fast-paced thrillers that crossover into Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy. Cyberpunk and the Cthulhu Mythos are key themes. With excellent reviews, he is also the creator of the role-playing game “Yellow Dawn – The Age of Hastur”. He has written non-fiction for magazines such as SFX and had short stories published in UK, US, Canada and Japan.

 

 

 

 

His latest novel is Oakfield

 

Oakfield is ultimately a story of redemption. The main character is trying to adjust to the reality of a new body after being killed in action during military conflict. The body is courtesy of top grade medical cover. But physical miracles can’t heal the mind. When his sister inherits a house from their estranged grandfather and invites him to join her there for a week, he treats it as part of his recovery and as a chance to heal the wounds that sit deep within their family. However, once at the house it quickly transpires the grandfather did not die of natural causes. Strange locals dominate the town. There is worship of nefarious gods and there are monsters in the quiet places nearby. The characters must face this horror whilst picking apart the emotional turmoil of their own relationships.

Prologue

The figure was skeletally thin, a ragged man dressed in loosely fitted robes. Nothing more than torn sacks crudely stitched together. Clothes, as such, were not a normal aspect for its being. It clung to the side of the tall, finger-like stack of rock as an insect might cling to a plant stem... there was an aspect about it that was almost human, but much more that was not. It knew it was an abomination. Something made for the sole purpose of moving amongst human folk. It carried

out orders without question, without emotion. It lived to serve. A crooked smile stretched thin, rubbery lips as it released its grip on the rock and tumbled into the swift, pulling embrace of gravity.

 

So there you go, a nice taste of his work.

Pretty damn good writing.

Where can you get Oakfield you ask?

PAPERBACK LULU: http://www.lulu.com/shop/david-j-rodger/oakfield/paperback/product-22073451.html

PAPERBACK Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oakfield-Mr-David-J-Rodger/dp/1508762546

KINDLE http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oakfield-David-J-Rodger-ebook/dp/B00UC1HUEG

 

 

And David can be found here

http://www.davidjrodger.com

 

 

So stop reading my blog and go buy the man's story. And get a copy of my book, Junior Inquisitor while you're at it.

Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

Nook - http://goo.gl/MVLXia

Google Play - http://goo.gl/g2kNPa

 

Enhancing MacGyver

S.M. Williams claims that 80s superhero, who's power is to build machines out of nothing, MacGyver, is the best at building suspense when it comes to image enhancement.

http://www.internetmanifestation.com/?p=321

Is Williams right? Probably not, the 80s were awesome, but I not ready to declare MacGyver as the pinnacle of the “Enhance” command. It did get me to thinking, what was the purpose of everyone giving directions to clarify an image? Obviously it was to build tension. What will they find? Will the killer be unmasked? Will the mystery be solved? Will Scooby get one or two snacks? Important questions that the audience wants to know and leans forward to will the information out of the screen.

Glossing over my Scooby reference, the giving of the command “Enhance,” and other directions was to slow things down, to build tension. As authors we can do the same thing, by having the protagonist check their weapons one last time, looking over the rest of the team, saying a quick prayer, or going for a full out literary version of the final showdown of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, where eyes keep zipping back and forth between opponents while hands creep ever so slowly towards weapons.

The difficulty, of course is to build just enough tension that the reader remains fixated on what is going on, and not ready to toss the book because it is dragging.

The other issue is the payoff. There had to be a release for the tension. Having everyone ready to breach the door for three pages, just to find the terrorist gone and the apartment empty, works once, maybe twice, but at some point there has to be a payoff, a discovery, a clue, that drives the plot forward. 

 

And that's the point, driving the plot forward, but every now and then giving the reader a break, from the action to develop the character, expand the plot, introduce alternative scenarios, and to build tension. Done right, you have a great story. Swing to far, and.... you know.

The Protagonist's Watch

As a rather voracious reader, every now and then I come across similar themes, or plot constructs, or even rehashed characters. I guess this should not be seen as laziness on the writers part, but clever ways to honor past authors. Of course, sometimes a concept is so delicious that one can not help but recycle what has been done before with a different twist. I am hardly unique in allowing other authors to mentor my writing.

Also noted, mostly in television and movies, is product placement. It's understandable, movies and television are expensive sliding in some subtle advertising to defray the cost is probably unavoidable. After all the hero has to drink something, drive some make and model of car, use a brand of computer, might as well help underwrite the cost of production as well.

Tying in these two different themes together, what I have noticed is almost product placement in books that I have read. Specifically the protagonist's watch. I'm not talking about phrases like, “he leaned his grizzled chin down until the piercing blues eyes half-closed in a gunfighter squint focused on his Timex and showed he had just sixty seconds to disarm the bomb, save the girl, and open the bunny rehabilitation clinic,” but more like, “He tilted his gaze down to the face of his Rolex Submariner model number 16613 watch; the coolness of the intricately forged metal watchband gripping his arm firmly, and subtly winked in the dim light. Tilting the blue and gold bezeled face so that he could check the time, he tought for just a second, “Yeah, I deserve a manly watch like this one.” The smooth Rolex movements showed he had sixty seconds left to disarm the bomb, rescue the girl, and open the bunny rehabilitation clinic.” Jeffery Deaver, Robert Ludlum, Brad Thor, all come readily to mind when I think of excessive description of the protagonist's watch.

Now before any one goes all tu quoque on me and points out I talk about Glock pistols and MP-5 sub-machine guns, I would point point out that firstly a watch and a weapon are not the same thing, and secondly I describe a brand name, and caliber, but go no further. There are 4 different models of Glock chambered 9mm, and up to four different generations of Glock design for each model. I keep it generic so that the reader can envision which particular weapon Sebastian is using. I will also admit, I'm not against being bribed, it's just that sadly, Glock has never offered me anything (sigh).

In the end I leave it up to the reader to decide if an overly loving description of a watch, or shoes, or a gun is done because the author really likes the item, or there has been a quiet exchange and a bit of product placement.

Reader's reaction to Junior Inquisitor

                      So what do the readers think?

5* review “I couldn't put it down, each page had me anticipating the next.”

5* review “Be warned, when reading, the normal wall between you and horror may cease to protect you.”

5 * review "If you enjoy being terrorized, this may become your fav series ever."

 

 

 

 

Blurb - Brother Sebastian is halfway up a mountain in Vermont, hell-bent on interrogating an old woman in a shack, when he gets the order to abandon his quest for personal vengeance. He has to find a missing  Inquisitor, or, more likely, his remains. He’s reluctant, to say the least. Not only will he have to stop chasing the best potential lead he’s had in years, this job—his first solo mission—will mean setting foot  in the grubby black hole of Providence, Rhode Island. And, somehow, it only gets worse…
If he’d known he would end up ass deep in witches, werewolves, and ogres, and that this mission
would jeopardize not only his sanity but also his immortal soul, he never would’ve answered the damn
phone.

So what are you waiting for? Get your copy today!

Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

Nook - http://goo.gl/MVLXia

The long wait is over!

                           Finally, 1 March has arrived and my book, Junior Inquisitor is available.

Blurb - Brother Sebastian is halfway up a mountain in Vermont, hell-bent on interrogating an old woman in a shack, when he gets the order to abandon his quest for personal vengeance. He has to find a missing  Inquisitor, or, more likely, his remains. He’s reluctant, to say the least. Not only will he have to stop chasing the best potential lead he’s had in years, this job—his first solo mission—will mean setting foot  in the grubby black hole of Providence, Rhode Island. And, somehow, it only gets worse…
If he’d known he would end up ass deep in witches, werewolves, and ogres, and that this mission
would jeopardize not only his sanity but also his immortal soul, he never would’ve answered the damn
phone.

Amazon - http://goo.gl/D6KrbX

Smashwords - http://goo.gl/XsGgAC

Nook - http://goo.gl/MVLXia