The girl in the moonlight danced slowly and rhythmically to the haunting music. She danced for no one but herself. Her movements were not one of seduction or lust but those of joy and oneness with the moment. But her eyes betrayed an anxiety she kept hidden just below the surface. Happiness and belonging she…
What makes a great villain? By Alexander Ballard Published January 16, 2014 By now I’m sure we’ve all see season 3 of Sherlock, or at least those of us in the UK have. Season 3 introduced Charles Augustus Magnussen a very different kind of villain from Moriarty but in many ways far more sinister and…
By Alexander Ballard Published December 31, 2013 I’ve decided to start keep track of my weekly writing progress here on my blog instead of just in my daily tracking journals. I have been hit or miss the week a couple of days above target and a few zero words days. I blame the recent bout…
By Alexander Ballard Published December 18, 2013 Well it began as an idea and a few sentences a little over a year ago but after seven edits and many hours of writing I’ve finally finished my first novel. Legacy – Book One of the Black Prince Saga is an epic fantasy novel taking place twelve…
By Alexander Ballard Published November 12, 2013 Well after searching for a while I managed to find a talented artist to do the cover art for my first novel Legacy by the name of Christof Grobelski. It was my first time hiring a freelance artist and I must say I was very impressed with speed…
By Alexander Ballard Published August 16, 2013 Well the winning entries for the Sword and Laser Anthology have been announced. Sadly I didn’t make the cut but congratulations to those who did. I had a lot of fun working on my short story prey and who knows I might write more in that world in…
By Alexander Ballard Published July 2, 2013 Well I’ve gotten the first few bits of feedback back from one of my beta readers and I’m still looking for an artist do the cover art for my book Legacy but it is all coming together now. In the meantime I’ve started planning my next novel and…
By Alexander Ballard Published May 28, 2013 Well it’s taken longer than I would have liked but I finally finished off the second draft of my novel Legacy this morning. It took a good six weeks to get to this point but it’s exciting to have it done. There were countless grammar and spelling mistakes…
By Alexander Ballard Published May 5 2013 Well Developed Believable Consistent Characters are one of the key elements of any piece. They can make or break a novel. Their actions and reactions to events dictates the flow of the story and impacts how the plot unfolds. In order for characters to work well in a…
By Alexander Ballard Published April 26, 2013 Well after starring at pages 100 to 106 of my novel Legacy for three days struggling to rewrite a scene that I never liked to begin with I’ve finally managed to make a decent go of it. For a while there I just banged my head against a…
The Aspiring Writer 