Shaytonian Chronicles – Book 1: Destiny Sets

Karen Fainges

Author Bio: http://shayton.net/Author.htm

Karen Fainges works as a trainer in business and computing. A wife and mother, she started thinking up sci-fi stories at the age of 10. Editor of the K-tips business and computing ezine, she longed to present her fiction to the world. So she took those long ago stories, a love of the absurd and wrote about beings that were not humans. Sometimes you see a lot more about humanity and yourself when you are looking at someone else.

Author Links

Website | http://shayton.net/

Facebook Author page | https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Fainges/83671225033

Facebook Series page | https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaytonian-Vampire-Fiction/88608175544

Twitter | https://twitter.com/annalisamara
Linkedin | http://au.linkedin.com/pub/karen-fainges/a/b99/424/

Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10612018

Amazon| http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Fainges/e/B0050KEU3S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1382177091&sr=8-3

About The Book

Book Genre: Scifi/Fantasy Vampire

Publisher: Writers Exchange

Release Date:

Buy Link(s): http://astore.amazon.com/shaytonchroni-20

Book Description:

Destiny Sets is the first novel in the Shaytonian Chronicles.

Lightning sears a scene against the eye. Trapped between reality and death, every scrap of life is fighting for existence. To stop fighting is to die.

Some precious moments of peace can be stolen from small pockets of calm. Life can take a breath and wonder at the harsh beauty. But only for a moment, then struggle resumes. And others watch.

The Shayton Chronicles begins in Destiny Sets, the story of one man. He is that drop of chaos that can spell success or failure.

Born from a vampiric race of slaves, genetically moulded to provide comfort for their masters, he alone decides to be truly free. Irreverent humour and a fierce need to know ‘why’, war within him and entire worlds are changed.

“The Stainless Steel Rat with fangs.”

Guest Post

How to Meet Deadlines and Remain Sane

Deadlines can be wonderful motivators, or they can be objects from hell and largely, which depends on you.

The first step to meeting a deadline is work out how many steps it takes to complete your article/story whatever. Say you have to research, rough out an outline, do three drafts, proof, find photos and then do a final edit before submitting.

Break each of those steps down. Estimate roughly how long they are going to take and what order you are going to do them in. For example, if you keep an eye out for pictures as you are researching, that can save time later.

Now is where the fun starts. Check and see if you have enough time to complete the job before the deadline. Remember to add a fudge factor of at least 10% to the times. No one ever complained about work getting there early, but it is all too easy to get it there late. The power can go out, your internet can go down, the computer blows up, you run out of ink, stamps, data download, whatever. You need that fudge factor to allow for the panic when something goes wrong. If there really isn’t enough time, get back to the person setting the deadline and let them know early.

Give them options, like “I can do the article but not the photos in the time allowed”. Be realistic and up front and they will quite often be very reasonable, a lot more reasonable than if you tell them you can’t do it after the deadline goes past. Sometimes they aren’t reasonable and you have to ask yourself, is the job worth it? Sometimes it’s worth the lost sleep, or dumping a different job, or feeding the kids pizza for a day or two until it’s finished, sometimes it’s not.

Last of all, do it. Don’t give in to the temptation to tell yourself you will get to it on the weekend. It doesn’t happen. A little bit often is the way to go. Set up your work in a place where you can lock yourself away and get it done. Send the kids for a walk with their Dad/Grandma/neighbour whoever. Or go for a walk yourself. I often find, if I have a piece I must get done, if I leave the house and write in a coffee shop or similar, I actually get a lot more done. Tell everyone you have the deadline and you must spend 10 minutes/2 hours/ three days – whatever, to get it done. For children and spouses that don’t take writing seriously as a “proper job”, especially if you’re working from home, tell them what will happen if you get this work done.

I often bargain, “if I get this article finished, we can go out but I can’t leave until I’m done.” She actually runs interference for me, taking messages on the phone and telling people I am busy. She also nags me if I am not writing. Find the tie of the day that works for you, and use it. Good luck.

Excerpt

Painting the mythic vampire

The deep royal blue sky of the Italian Riviera provided the perfect backdrop to the posed woman. She was an otherworldly figure set amongst the ancient columns. Her softly accented voice broke the stillness. “Are you sure about this?”

She watched as he added a daub more paint, “I am sure. You said it yourself, the best way to deny something it is to say it is true.”

“And what if the Council finds out?”

Alfredo dabbed on a different colour. Going by the look on his face, he still did not have the skin colour the exactly right colour of purple. It had been frustrating him all evening. There was a timeline that neither one of them had mentioned, but it loomed in their thoughts. He was getting older, and no one lived forever. His words dragged her out of the wave of sadness that swept through her. “This mythical Council of yours, what if they do notice the paintings? They are just paintings.”

“The Council is no myth. They rule our world.”

“I thought the King ruled your homeworld?”

Lisa started to shrug but remembered in time not to move from the pose. “His rule is absolute, so long as he leaves all the day to day decisions, like whether to exile his daughter to Earth, to the Council.”

“And you, as this poor exiled waif are concerned that one of those ‘day to day’ decisions may be objecting to this painting?”

Lisa snorted at the sarcasm in his voice, knowing it was meant more to chide her out of the doldrums than anything else. “They defend of the safety of Shayton. They hold dear her anonymity. It keeps her from being destroyed by those that fear the different, which, my dear, you must agree describes most humans remarkably well.”

Alfredo nodded, “And trust me, the picture of a masked dancer with obviously fake wings…” Lisa snorted again at this description of her body, “will ensure that any little slip ups like the one in Venice, will be seen as a publicity stunt and nothing else. Your Council will thank us.”

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