What Am I Reading Wednesday: All The Time In The World by Michael Siddall

First off, let me say that I actually have voice enough this week to make a video. What a whopper that will be...


All The Time In The World Begins with Ben, a lawyer some where I'm guessing not London but definitely in that region of the planet. He is pretty much every single man at age 49.  Widowed, questionably grown or not children and very much settled into what is his life.

He gets this mysterious catalog in the mail and instead of tossing it out with the trash, like normal people do, he actually takes the time to look at it. Out of that he thinks he's buying a GPS, a 5000 pound GPS, but a GPS all the same. Hey I thought they used Euros???

Hey I have 5000 any currency laying around  just waiting for me to waste on a GPS I could get for $50 at Target. I'm just saying.

But he spends the money and gets a time machine that at first is really bored with him. It talks and tells him what the machine can do. Yet through out the book we find Ben having to figure stuff out. WHAT??? You have a 5000 BP talking time machine and you still have to work stuff out? Ask the Machine you Dummy.

Ben decided that he likes time traveling and spends the rest of the book alternating between learning about the world and studying the habits of certifiably insane famous people. His goal is to understand the mind of the man who rapes and kills his wife. The man who committed the crime seems more than a bit off

He once he figures out how to change history he visit the Captain of the Titanic, the alley where the first Jack the Ripper Victim was found, the birth, lives and death of Bonnie and Clyde and a slew of other people places and things. 

He even visits himself in the future only to realize that he's been followed by another time traveller who's purpose does not get revealed ever. We know why it exist and what it's purpose WAS but as the story progresses, it's priority changes and that is never expressed.

Here's why this book is getting such a bad reveiw. It does not tie up all it's loose ends. The questions, I as the reader should  have aren't good questions. Ben at one point is in both his vacation cabin and his home close to his work at once in the same time. Early in the book he says he takes two weeks off, but then a year goes by. He doesn't quit work until nearing the closest thing to a climax. I had to guess the climax.

In a section where four people die there's only two people in the room? I spent more time screaming "what the fuck" at my living room than actually letting this story flow. Only because in my humble opinion it did not flow. The word for this story is inconsistent.

I get a little bit more vitriolic on YouTube:

 I can honestly say that if I could revise this story and eliminate all the simpleton errors I'd like this book. Truth be told, this is probably a first draft that got printed by accident, I hope. The concept behind it rocks my world, however the presentation from the front cover to the back and it's description and how it works with the book are just awful. Not to mention how much the writing needs stream lining.  This story seems rushed and unedited.

Sorry Michael Siddall but this novella should have never hit the streets in this condition.
No Thumbs, not even a fist.


Next week: Lothaire by Kresely Cole.

Bad subs and a boo boo buddy

This week does not bring anything new to the table. I finally managed some how to get the rent paid this month. WOOHOO we're not homeless. As for writing you can just call me looser because I haven't written anything since last week. Things like eating and keeping a roof over my head sort of do that.


Honestly I would have continued to write if I knew there was nothing I could have done. But the was and between the two of us, RFKAO and I managed to do them all.


Work though has been interesting.  I was given a client who is supposed to be a submissive. That's cool you body isn't your own, I get it. This ass clown was a disobedient sub. I hate disobedient subs. The little selfish pansies want you to give them 3000 percent while they sit there looking stupid and saying dumb shite like "I don't Know." It's like being back in the service and talking to a junior Sailor. Don't tell me you don't fucking know. Of course you fucking know, your dumb ass is just too ashamed to say it. I hate disobedient subs, just as much as Gorgeous George hates Pikeys.

---

Gorgeous George: It's a camp site, a pikey campsite... 
Tommy: Ten points. 
Gorgeous George: What we doing here? 
Tommy: We're buying a caravan. 
Gorgeous George: Off a pack of fuckin' pikeys? What's wrong with you? This will get messy. 
Tommy: Well not if you're here. 
Gorgeous George: Oh, you bastard! I fuckin' hate pikeys! 

I shouldn't complain right because they are the one coming out of pocket. But I will and I'm not going to waste my time on some caller who doesn't know what they want. I don't care how many times you call back. If you're a bad sub I won't like you. We don't have that kind of relationship, and I will refuse the call. I don't get paid enough to mind read how to punish you. I'm not emotionally involved with your fantasy and personally I really don't care of you even get off. It's a boost for my ego if you do but I still get paid regardless. So no I'm not going to figure out how to punish you for the next call. I just don't care. You as my client can be a good sub or you can find a new master.

I could be considered a cop out, that's fine. I'm not a Dom in real life so asking me to deal with a difficult sub is really beyond my realm. The question is, do I want to invest more time into this JOB (not a career) and not be compensated for it? Heck no.

My other new client whom I can't stand is some crusty old fart who has never been hurt in his entire life. Hence his fetish for wanting to be completely destroyed. I'd be okay with this except he calls off my schedule and can't remember shit. If this guy asks me one more time what my bra size is, is the bra made by Vanity Fair (who the heck wears Vanity Fair?) and what color is my hair one mo'gin... 

This jack tard calls more than once a day. He hogs up all my time and frankly I'd rather talk to my other clients. I've built up a good report with them and personally I think it's selfish of this guy to take up so much time when he's not going to remember any of it an hour from now.

I have a routine and these two are screwing it up. I could be writing here, or in one of the books or walking the dog, which thanks to re-re number two I wasn't able to before sunset. Because if these two I really want to find another agency. They aren't worth getting by blood pressure up for and if it weren't for my other customers I really think I would have quit by now.

I do not enjoy arguing with someone about what's the best way to break a jaw. Because in my nerd geek brain using the heel will not break it sufficiently in one blow. What the heel of a stiletto will do, is miss the hinge completely and puncture a blood vessel. No broken jaw, just a bleed out. Best use the platform portion of the ball on the shoe. But NNNOOOOOOO crazy pants insists on the heel. Crazy pants thinks he'll survive. I'm thinking a well aimed shot on either side will break open his mouth using the ball, I'm telling him what will most likely happen, and yet he still insist he's right. Crazy old fart wants me to break out all his teeth and feed him hair dye. What a freaking weirdo, and he has no memory so ten minutes after he asks me how much i weigh he's going to nag me about my bra again or start in with bleach and pyrex measuring glasses for the fifth time.

I feel like this is time wasted, and since I get paid by the minute I know it's costing them a fortune. I don't feel bad for them I feel bad for me. I really could have done something  a million times more valuable with my time. Even if I did get paid for it.

I just want to smash my soap box right now.

The Friday Fictioneers Photo Prompt will be up shortly. I have one more short from last week that still needs posting and thanks to the week me and the roomy have been having I haven't done that. Bad Tia, Bad... anyway if you made it to the bottom of this entry then you deserve a hearty handshake, maybe a hug, and definitely a cookie. 

Kickin it back to Old Skool

I'm in love with "Clearing the Wire", so much so that I'd decided to make it a new project. The New God's chapter seven is being as troublesome as chapter six. But I must keep writing or else I'll never have anything to show.

If you read the Flash Fiction entry for Friday you'd have noticed it's not 100 words at all. Only because I found a rich story waiting to be told, from that one well taken picture. The comments on that entry were astounding. Even the negative feed back was good. And like I said in the comments, it screams project in flashing neon lights.


That cinched it in my mind. So yesterday I went old school and found a notebook. I began writing about "Boy",  her real name is Casey Marjorie Bennet. I can tell you now that I like her and I hope to do the whole thing in first person.


So far my "Boy" is an adult living in Boston, she's got a very rich life in Boston. All that changes with one pre-dawn phone call from home. The story is of the trip back and all that happens there where she doesn't have to hide what she is.


"Clearing the Wire" will be featured there as a flash back to her youth and I'm really hoping that it becomes a great story.


So if I forget the Bean Counter this Thursday, please forgive me. I'm lo-tech on this story and it feels right to be that way. 


Speaking on Flash Fiction, Madison Woods has kindly started putting the photo prompt out on Tuesday's instead of Wednesday's I'm thinking of featuring the picture here. Just in case any of you decided to join in the fun. The rules are over here in her page and it's pretty much the same as what I've been doing. I only ask that if you DO post a shortie that your post the link to her blog, then post it to mine so that I can see it on Friday, like every one else. Plus I'm just really nosey and a little on the lazy side I don't want to chase down your stories if you got the idea from me. I might never see it if you don't.


So I'll be pages deep into my notebook  for a few days/weeks making "Boy" come to life.  Grand Pa's got a name already and "Boy" even has a supporting character: Officer Pleasant, Officer Jericho D. Pleasant. I wonder if giving him a name like that is going to help him or hurt him...

Trashy Mass-Produced Romance Novels

I've got this thing for trashy mass produced romance novels, I love them. They are like literary junk food for your brain. I should be reading something more along the lines of what I'm supposed to be writing; I prefer this stuff. I find myself leaning towards the fantasy side; where one or both of the characters are not human. There always seems to be some kind of struggle and there is never a happy ending with out some kind of loss. Sounds pretty tragic right? 

What I love about these books is the level of imagination these writers have. Most books I find have just the right amount of smut in them to channel my inner pervert, and a wonderful story filled with unbelievable actions. I may have stated that wrong, I haven't eaten yet. If there was a reality where all the things I read about in these novels were to ever become true; can you imagine what stories you'd tell around the water cooler?

Right now on my Ipod and in my bookshelf are Gini Koch, Tina Folsom, Dana Marie Bell, Dakota Cassidy and Kresley Cole. I used to be and to a degree still am, a fan of Lisa Kleypas, Gaelen Foley, Megan Hart, and Victoria Dahl. But I've graduated into the supernatural. It might be a while before I come back. The constant here is that everyone has or finds love. I guess that is what my quest is for.

In my book, The New God, my main characters face several challenges. One the battle of good and evil (or the truth vs. the lies). Two the seduction of power. The balance of love an d friendship. And obsession. for some reason I like to give myself a huge mountain to climb when ever I get a mind to do something.

The conflict in my story is centered around three people with several supporting characters, that move the story around. One person Celine has magical powers that she hides for fear of being used for the wrong reasons. Malik: a young man in Celine's group that will do anything to be on the receiving end of her love. Ruddick: the team leader Celine's best friend and the man she loves from afar. The creepy part is that they are all aware of each other's struggles and continue on through out the book skirting these problems. I can not wait until I let their obsessions become a hindrance to the jobs they each perform. 

I am just s eager as you to see the level of compromise they create for the others in their team. With my character developments coming along you should see that these three become critical in the other's survival. I can't wait to finish this book.

Kresley Cole and Gini Koch both have new books out. I want them. Thanks to my eminent discharge I will have to wait until I find a place to land until I can order them. I can get them electronically but I want to actually hold the book. I want to feel the paper under my fingers every time I turn the page. I owe these two super awesome writers my respect and a place on my book shelf. With out them I'd never get up the nerve to think I could possibly make my book happen.

Plus they write a great sex scene, who doesn't like a great sex scene?