I’ve been very lazy with updating this blog…I wish I could say “recently” but such has been the case from the very beginning.

That ends now (I hope.)

I’m giving myself full permission to slap myself in the face if I don’t post more regularly.

So from now on, I’ll be throwing out some reviews and rants and other things that I feel like writing. Oh, and in case you’re wondering about how much I raised from the recent hair-dyeing (and then shaving) efforts…€1,410 (so thanks to everyone who read about it, posted about it, shared and contributed.)

Last week I wrote this piece about just why I’m dyeing my hair for charity.

This week, I’ve changed my mind.

I’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by people’s generosity (somewhat overwhelmed is a polite way of saying “blown away.”) I managed to meet my €500 target within a week, only doing one colour. And the second colour…well, it’s meant to be blue, but it’s come out looking a lot more like black.

Let’s be fair, my hairline has been receding since I was a teenager. And part of the reason why I was dyeing was because I’m afraid of shaving and being horrified by the results.)

But as of this morning, I’ve raised nearly €600 euro, so I decided…I’m upping the game.

I’m shaving it when I get to €750.

Get in there: http://www.mycharity.ie/event/ken_dyes_2012

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here; must remedy that situation. But when important things happen, sometimes you’ve just got to write them down.

And that important thing is…hair dye. And cancer. And death and loss and sadness and everything that goes along with it.

Why? Because I’m taking part in Today FM’s Shave Or Dye to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society: that’s no surprise, it’s a worthy cause, but I also felt like talking about why I’m doing it, and what it means to me. (In case you want to go straight ahead and donate, you can do so here.) Read the rest of this entry »

Sure, The Simpsons did it. Sure, there’s probably many other people who’ve done it too…but here’s a complete form of Jingle Bells with a Batman theme. Because I’m a nerd and I’d nothing better to do in the shower/at the bus-stop/on the bus this morning.

Jingle bells, Batman fells
Villains every day
Sometime he gets help from Supes
Or the JLA. Read the rest of this entry »

A crack. A sting. Awake.

His eyes opened, but there was nothing to see. It was dark, that cold, deep dark where barely a crack of light enters, where everything seems to be absorbed by the darkness itself, like some solid mass. Someone was on top of him: he could feel their pressure as they leaned over his chest, their arms on his shoulders, the warmth of their flank just next to his hips.

“Shh, do not speak. If they hear you, they will come for, take you down there. You do not want that.” Read the rest of this entry »

It was a pressure that woke her, a sensation like falling and her legs flailed as she tried to balance herself. There was no need: she was lying on a bed, the pressure was caused by a woman leaning over her, with her knee pushing against the mattress.

Sofia’s head still ached. She wanted to rub her hand against her forehead, but there was a pain in her left wrist which she didn’t want to acknowledge. But now, the woman was resting a cold, clammy hand against her forehead.

She was in her forties, and wore a tight white dress: Sofia didn’t need more information to figure out she was in a hospital bed.

“You might want to stay where you are for a little bit, you had a fairly bad trip.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so you’ll have to excuse the first-draft-iness of it all. But the creative juices started flowing last night and resulted in this.

But seriously, ignore the first-draft-iness.

***

It was dark when the doors opened, just like it always was: the automatic lights would take a few more seconds to turn on, activated as the elevator arrived at its floor. The uneasy fingers of gravity played with her stomach and chest: the ride to the ninty-sixth floor was always a bit too fast for her liking, but she hadn’t eaten since lunchtime, and although she was afraid to check the time on her watch, she knew it was nearly midnight.

The lights overhead flickered slowly into life, and she stepped into the corridor. They would only be bright enough to help her find her way to the door: it took close to five minutes for the bulbs to illuminate fully, although it only took thirty seconds to get to the front door of her apartment.

Sofia Hastings was twenty-nine years of age, soon to be thirty, though she didn’t like to think too much about that. It was a young age to be the owner and sole inhabitant of a penthouse apartment in one of the most exclusive buildings in London. The lift and stairs were in a glass corridor connecting two hub buildings: Sofia’s apartment was to her right, one of two on the top floor of South Block.

There was a full moon outside, shining like a beacon in the dark over the city’s landscape. She thought she saw flames and smoke in the distance, but she ignored them all as she turned towards her apartment: it was nothing she hadn’t seen before, and she was more interested in food and her bed, her only solace being that, being a Friday night, she could sleep late the following morning.

There was a cough from in front of her as she approached her door: a man in dressed all in black stepped away from the wall and moved slowly towards her.

“Ms Hasting,” he said, partly a question, but more of a statement. “We need to talk.”

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I updated this, but hoping to do so more frequently. Part 3 is fairly short, the last part of the prologue.

Parts one and two can be found here (one) and here (two.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Part one can be found here.

***

Read the rest of this entry »

Below is the prologue to something I started writing a few years ago, a novel going under the working title of The Magician’s Kiss. Again, I have to say that this is a very early draft, but something I’ve been thinking of going back to.

So if you like it, let me know: I’ll go back, work on it some more and maybe even finish writing it some time soon.

Read the rest of this entry »