All posts by V.M.Sang

I was born and educated in the north west of England. I trained as a teacher in Manchester and taught in Salford, Lancashire, Hampshire and Croydon. I write fantasy novels currently. I also make cards, knit, crochet, tat, do cross stitch and paint. I enjoy walking on the Downs, cycling and kayaking. I do not enjoy housework, but like cooking.
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Special offer

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The relaunched version of The Wolf Pack is on special offer from tomorrow, 10th June until 17th June. Don’t miss this chance to get it at the ridiculous price of $0.99 or £0.99.

Please tell your friends about it too.

newcoverwolfpack

To end his apprenticeship and be admitted to the ranks of the mages is all that Carthinal wants and so he is excited to travel from Bluehaven to Hambara, where the tests will take place. He did not expect to end up travelling far beyond Hambara on a quest to find the long lost sword of the legendary King Sauvern.

Along with three strangers that he met on his journey, the beautiful but headstrong elven cleric, Asphodel, Fero, a dark foreigner from lands far to the south, known as the Black Ranger and a fearless dwarf, Basalt, Carthinal reluctantly sets out on this seemingly impossible quest.  

Followed by Randa, the snooty aristocratic daughter of the Duke of Hambara and a very young runaway thief, known as Thad, Carthinal has to decide whether to send them back or allow them to continue on this dangerous quest. There will certainly be fireworks as Randa will try to take over the leadership of the group.

Faced with floods, wolf attacks and near death in the mountains, Carthinal and his friends will have to accept help from the least likely sources and face their innermost fears.

But this is more than a simple adventure. The fate of a nation hangs in the balance.

Get your copy from http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.amazon.co.uk/

 

fantasy, Poetry

A Dwarf Work Song

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Today is the fifth Tuesday in the month, so we have an extra blog. This time I’m posting a poem.The blog is short because I”m on holiday. I hope you enjoy it.

DWARF WORK SONG

Deep, deep below the ground
Wielding spade and pick.
Dwarven miners found
Minerals lying thick.

Tin, iron copper too,
We dig the all day long.
The solid rocks we hew
With sturdy arms and strong.

Precious stones we find.
Opals, rubies, jet.
We leave non behind.
Everyone we get.

But don’t you delve too deep.
We don’t know what lies there.
All kind of dangers sleep
And fearsome things lie there.

Please comment on this poem in the comments section.

entertainment, fantasy

Interview with Basalt Strongarm

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newcoverwolfpack

 

Me: Thank you for allowing this interview. I know you are a
busy man.

Basalt: Fine, but be quick about it as I have work to do. I
am working on a particularly difficult piece of metalwork for
the Duke and I want to get back to it.

Me: OK, I’ll try to be quick. Tell me how you came to be in
Grosmer please.

Basalt: Hmph! I should be working my own mine now, not
doing wrought ironwork for someone else!

Me: Please explain.

Basalt: My parents owned a fine mine in Ghraali. They had
just one son, called Schist, but always wanted another child,
they said. When I was born many years later, they were
delighted.

Me: Where is Ghraali?

Basalt: It is the dwarven homeland at the southern end of the Western Mountains, just to the west of the Inner Sea. Fine ores and gems can be found there. It was once volcanic, but not any more. Not like the Mountains of Doom!

Here he shuddered as if he was remembering an unpleasant experience.

Me: Did the mine fail then?

Basalt: Not at all! It was all my brother and his wife.

Me: Please explain.

Basalt: Well, my brother was very caring towards me at first. He was nearly fully grown when I was born. He used to make wooden toys for me. He was a very good wood carver and he taught me how to carve too. Then he met HER.

Me: Her?

Basalt: His wife! She was called Opal. He met her one day in the town. She was visiting a relative or something. Oh, she was beautiful, of that there is no doubt, but she was hard and cold inside. She had ambition. Her ambition was to be rich.

Me: So how did that affect you?

Basalt. She poisoned Schist against me. She wanted him to have sole control of the mine, see. My parents were going to leave it to us jointly. After they were married, she came to work with us in our mine, of course. One day, there was an accident in the mine. Mother had taken me with her to the face. This was common practice with youngsters as both men and women work in the mines. I was playing with a small hammer a little distance away, tapping at a little rock when I heard a terrible rumbling and the rock face fell down covering mother.

Here he paused and sniffed. I waited for him to continue.

Basalt: I ran and tried to clear some of the rocks with my little hammer and bare hands. Others came to help, but when we finally pulled her out it was too late.

Me: I’m sorry, Basalt. It must have been dreadful for a small boy.

Basalt: Yes, it was.

Me: But you still had your father.

Basalt: Yes, for a little time. Then a similar thing happened again. This time it was my father who was killed. So here was I with only my brother and his wife to look after me.

Me: Did she show you any animosity at that time?

Basalt. No, not really. she was cold, did all that she had to for me, but no more. Schist tried to do as much as he could at first, but gradually he froze towards me too. I swear she poisoned his mind with false tales. I know she did tell him some things against me.

Me: But you were now part owner of the mine.

Basalt: Yes, but still a minor so had no say. Schist did all the decision making and day to day running.

Me: What happened when you came of age?

Basalt: That was when the worst started. There were a few falls in the mine and Opal accused me of causing them. Firstly she said it was carelessness, then she began to imply that it was sabotage–that I wanted the mine for myself and was trying to kill her and Schist. Eventually a fall, quite natural this one, just missed Schist. She took her opportunity and somehow managed to convince the elders of the town that I had engineered it. She even got some of the workers to testify that they had seen me interfering with the workface. They were believed and I was told that I could face the death penalty or exile. I chose to leave and that is how I came to be in Grosmer.
I am beginning to think that Opal also had something to do with the death of my parents, but I have no proof, and after all these years I cannot possibly prove anything.

Me: Thank you for your time, Basalt.

Basalt: Thank you. Now I must go to finish that job.

grammar

4 More Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

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Even More Commonly Confused Words

I was reading the BT news the other day. Their journalists ought to read this blog I think because they keep making errors. The first one here I noticed a couple of days ago.

Peek/Peak
The article headline said something like ‘A sneak peak at…’
Peak, of course is the top of a mountain, while Peek is a quick glimpse of something. Perhaps there was a mountain hiding behind another, or a very sly one that was hiding, but I doubt it.

To, Too and Two.
This frequently appears in comments by people, and also in, I’m afraid to say, posts by writers.
To indicates movement towards as in ‘He gave the parcel to me.’
Too is an excess of something. ‘I had eaten too much and so I felt ill.’
I don’t often see Two misused. It is, of course the number. ‘Two buses passed me before the one I wanted arrived.’

Breath/Breathe
This can be a tricky one.
Breath is a noun and is what you take.
‘The doctor told me to take a deep breath.’
Breathe is a verb and is what you do.
‘The room seemed airless and I was finding it hard to breathe.’

Baring (bare)/Bearing(bear)
Another one from BT news.
Baring is the act of making bare, or naked. It is also used when revealing truths.
‘Baring all, the spy held nothing back in his interrogation.’
‘She removed her clothes, baring all.’
Bearing is carrying. (or of course, a large mammal living in the northern regions of the planet.)
‘The messenger arrived bearing the news of the king’s death.’

Then there is the problem of the past tense of these verbs. The past tense of Bear is Bore.
‘She bore the news that she had not got the job with equinamity.’
BUT, the past tense of Bare is Bared.
‘During the investigation, the criminal bared all.’

entertainment, fantasy, novel

Re-launch of The Wolf Pack

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newcoverwolfpack

 

The Wolf Pack has now gone live on Amazon for Kindle, complete with new cover and some alterations to the story. It will be on special offer from June 11th to 17th. £0.99 or $0.99.

This is very exciting. Now for The Never Dying Man and then Part 3, Wolf Moon, which hasn’t been published yet at all.

Here is a bit about the story

The Wolf Pack

To end his apprenticeship and be admitted to the ranks of the mages is all that Carthinal wants and so he is excited to travel from Bluehaven to Hambara, where the tests will take place. He did not expect to end up travelling far beyond Hambara on a quest to find the long lost sword of the legendary King Sauvern.

Along with three strangers that he met on his journey, the beautiful but headstrong elven cleric, Asphodel, Fero, a dark foreigner from lands far to the south, known as the Black Ranger and a fearless dwarf, Basalt, Carthinal reluctantly sets out on this seemingly impossible quest.

Followed by Randa, the snooty aristocratic daughter of the Duke of Hambara and a very young runaway thief, known as Thad, Carthinal has to decide whether to send them back or allow them to continue on this dangerous quest. There will certainly be fireworks as Randa will try to take over the leadership of the group.

Faced with floods, wolf attacks and near death in the mountains, Carthinal and his friends will have to accept help from the least likely sources and face their innermost fears.

But this is more than a simple adventure. The fate of a nation hangs in the balance.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments section.

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Pre-view of new cover

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An extra post this week because I’ve just received the art work for the new cover for the relaunch of The Wolf Pack. I thought I’d let you all have a sneak preview. Here it is.

newcoverwolfpack

 

Let me know what you think in the comments section. I’ll be very interested in your views.

 

fantasy

An Interview with Asphodel

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094Fungi

 

Me: Good morning and thank you for agreeing to this
interview.

Asphodel: Good morning. I am pleased to help you in your
work. It must be difficult getting people to talk. What is it you
want to know?

Me: Tell me a bit about life in Rindissillarshan, please. I am sure
my readers would like to know about how the elves live.

Asphodel: The capital of Rindissillarshan is Quantissarrillishon.
It is a beautiful city. When we went there, the Wolves and I,
they thought that we weren’t there yet. It is built in the trees.
I mean literally built in the trees. The trees themselves are
opened up into homes. We take great care not to damage
them so they cannot live, but many are hollow anyway.

Me: So you live inside the trees?

Asphodel: Yes. Many of us do. Others build houses in the
branches. they are so built that they are almost invisible to
anyone on the ground if they don’t know what they are
looking for. that was the case with the others, and they were
astonished when they saw the homes, shop and inns.

Me: Your people are very eager not to damage nature then?

Asphodel: Yes. We live with nature and don’t try to tame it. Our god, Grillon, taught us that we should respect all life, both plant and animal, and that we should try to have as little impact on nature as possible.

Me: Are you all vegetarian then?

Asphodel (laughing): Oh, no. We eat meat. It is an essential part of our diet. We were designed to be omnivorous. We respect the animals that we eat, and apologise to them when we have to kill them. We also say a very brief prayer to Grillon to take the animal’s soul.

Me: Very interesting. Perhaps we should respect our animals a bit more. Tell me about the politics of your land. How are you ruled?

Asphodel: We are ruled by the Elflord. It is a hereditary position and is held for life.

Me: A bit like a king then?

Asphodel: We-el, sort of, I suppose, but the Elflord can be deposed easier than a king can be. It takes two votes of no confidence by the government to depose him.

Me: Who would take over then? Who would be the next Elflord? Would you the government vote for a new one?

Asphodel: No. His sister’s oldest son would take over.

Me: Is the Elflord always a man?

Asphodel: Yes.

Me: Does that not seem a little old-fashioned? Most countries on Vimar, or at least on Khalram, now have equality for the sexes.

Asphodel: Don’t think that women have no power in Rindissillashan. They can hold any position except that of the Elflord, and even then they can have a great deal of power. Heard of ‘The Power Behind the Throne’? Many an Elflord’s wife, mother or sister have, in effect, ruled the country through him.

Me: How is it decided who will inherit?

Asphodel: We trace our family through the female line. Thus the Elflord will always be the eldest son of the previous Elflord’s sister or nearest female relative if either she has no sons or he has no sisters.

Me: That sounds complicated.

Asphodel: Not when you get used to it.

Me: Why do the elves use the female line then?

Asphodel: Many long years ago there was a dispute. We used to follow the male line like many other people. Then there was a dispute as to whether the son of the then Elflord was actually his son or the son of another man who rumour had it had had an affair with the Elflord’s wife. It nearly came to a civil war. It was resolved by making the son of the deceased Elflord’s sister into tthe Elflord. It was certain that she was the mother, and that she was of the Blood Royal. So from then on it was decided that, because there was no doubt as to the mother of a child, we would henceforth trace our descent through the female line and not the male. It has been that way ever since.

Me: I believe that you, yourself, are of House Royal. Could your son be Elflord someday?

Asphodel: Very unlikely! I am quite a long way from the throne and I have an older sister who has a son, not to mention cousins who are closer to the throne than I am.

Me: Thank you very much for your enlightening conversation. I will let you get back to your healing.

Asphodel: Thank you. Good bye.

grammar

How to use collective nouns correctly

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I have recently been a little irritated by people’s use of collective nouns, or rather the use of the verb with them. Many people seem to think that it should always be a plural verb.

Now, collective nouns do refer to a number of things, but these things are ‘collected’ into one, hence the name ‘collective nouns.’

When I was a little girl at school, we learned a lot of collective nouns:

a FLOCK of sheep
a HERD of cows
a MURDER of crows (I particularly liked this one.)
a CHARM of larks

There are also a great many more. They all refer to a GROUP of people or things. Here are some more examples.

army
team
choir
committee
array
council
school
class
pack
shoal
family

You get the idea? Each of those things are made up of a number of people, animals or things. The problem arises as to whether the verb that is with it should be singular or plural.

What has been annoying me recently is that many people, and educated ones too, are using the plural all the time with these nouns when they should be using the singular.

The rule is that if they are acting as a group, all doing the same thing, then the noun takes the singular verb, but if they are acting as individuals, then the verb should be plural.

I’ll give you some examples.

One is in a song for Manchester United Football Club. The fans sing ‘United ARE the team for me.’ now, they are all playing a game of football, and all the players are acting together (one would hope) in order to wim that game. The team is acting as a unit. Therefore the song should be ‘United IS the team for me.’

When the match is over, the players are no longer acting together. They are going home to their separate families and so now we say ‘The team are all going home.’

Here is another. When a flock of sheep sees the sheepdogs coming, they bunch together and run in the same direction to try to get away from them. They are all acting together to try to escape this perceived threat. This time it is correct to say ‘The flock WAS driven towards the gate by the sheepdogs so that it could eat the new grass.’ Note the use of the singular pronoun too.

When they are through the gate and in the pasture, the sheep will spread around, each one grazing, but not acting as a unit. Therefore we use the plural and say ‘The flock are now eating the new grass and they seem to be enjoying it.’ Here the verb and pronoun are plural because the sheep are acting as individuals.

I hope this has helped you to sort out these problems. Grammar can be a bit tricky at times, but I think it is important. People generally do not complain about correct grammar, but incorrect grammar can make a reader stop reading a book, and not buy any others by that author. They also tell other people not to bother. I know, I have done it myself.

Another downside of poor grammar is when applying for jobs. If your grammar is poor, your letter will go straight in the bin.

Please leave a comment by clicking on the comment button. I love reading what you have to say, and answering you.

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Confusion.

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I don’t know what’s going on here, but the post on entertainment for young people I scheduled to come out  Tuesday but it seems to have come out on the same day as the interview with Carthinal. Sorry about that!