Neil Mach's Blog / en-US Thu, 29 Oct 2020 02:00:07 -0700 60 Neil Mach's Blog / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/20529782-how-to-awaken-your-gypsy-nature Thu, 29 Oct 2020 02:00:07 -0700 <![CDATA[How to awaken your gypsy nature]]> /author_blog_posts/20529782-how-to-awaken-your-gypsy-nature

A gypsy soul knows that life is not just about collecting points and grabbing belongings.

Life is not about the ownership of material things. No, life is about wholeness and mindfulness. Life is about loving-kindness and transcending beyond a human body to move into the light. Life is about becoming the best spiritual being that you can be...

But how do you do this when you are trapped within four walls, maybe for days, with an outside world that tries to manipulate your heart? How do you do this when infiltrating weasels sneak up on you (via the media) to bring your spirit down?

The answer is to be inspired by the ideas, attitudes and experiences that you find within yourself. Don't try to prove things to anyone else � prove things to yourself.

Validate yourself in your own heart! And be unpredictable: Learn new skills, find enthusiasm in daily tasks, dance to your own hand claps (and dance frequently). And look for magic in ordinary things.

Above all: radiate sunbeams and good auras for your own good

Tips:

* Never follow the leader
* Never jump on a bandwagon
* Question what you hear
* Remember you are unique
* Embrace fairy tales and miracles
* Find new ways to do old things
* Channel angry energy into creativity
* Channel frustration into music, poetry, and art
* Be the boss of your own thoughts
* Be the treasurer of your own ambitions
* Have faith in your intuition, it is almost always correct



Words: @neilmach 2020 ©

posted by Neil Mach on October, 29 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15661616-bedevilment-of-bertie-giveaway Mon, 04 Sep 2017 13:00:07 -0700 <![CDATA[Bedevilment of Bertie Giveaway]]> /author_blog_posts/15661616-bedevilment-of-bertie-giveaway



Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Book Giveaway



The Bedevilment of Bertie Lunn by Neil Mach




The Bedevilment of Bertie Lunn


by Neil Mach




Giveaway ends September 15, 2017.



See the giveaway details
at Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.







Enter Giveaway




posted by Neil Mach on March, 12 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15644166-bedevilment-arc Thu, 31 Aug 2017 14:46:33 -0700 Bedevilment ARC /author_blog_posts/15644166-bedevilment-arc The Bedevilment of Bertie Lunn

I have ten ARC paperbacks "The Bedevilment of Bertie Lunn" available right now to send out to followers, friends, and well-wishers - each paperback will be packed with a special gift.

The publication date is 26th September 2017

It's a sexy thriller about a very strong & powerful young lady who dabbles in magic and mystery. Suitable only for adults.

Bertie Lunn uses forensic pseudoscience like folk-magic. To control and manipulate her sex-victims.

Her trifling in this hoodoo leads to disastrous consequences when she unintentionally ensnares a dangerous serial killer.

Her only hope is to enlist a former conquest, a state-level detective. But he's a grudging ally and time is running out for both of them.

If you're interested, message me. This is a paperback so I'll need a postal address to send off to

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Neil Mach (Sept 26, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0993230644
ISBN-13: 978-0993230646

posted by Neil Mach on February, 15 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15314638-the-lighthouse-by-alison-moore Wed, 21 Jun 2017 04:40:26 -0700 <![CDATA[The Lighthouse by Alison Moore]]> /author_blog_posts/15314638-the-lighthouse-by-alison-moore The Lighthouse The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Lighthouse

I enjoyed reading the Lighthouse and I started it after I was lucky enough to meet the novelist at a conference of writers I attended earlier this year. Alison is perhaps best known for her short stories, so this is a thin volume [183 pages] and is full of small yet powerful vignettes.

The main character, Futh, is not a particularly loving or winning guy, so this book feels oddly glum.

His miserable existence is gradually explored and the story of his unpleasant, fatalistic beginnings is rolled out like a length of loo paper. He seems resigned to the whims of a host of browbeating characters � the only exemplar being his mother. All other characters manipulate him and bully, even though he doesn't seem to mind.

He works as a perfumer and so smells play a big part in this story � camphor, rain, violets, the scent from the lighthouse. I also liked the way the lighthouse, a leading light, can be experienced as an aroma.


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I found I could dip into it easily enough but didn't get drawn back to to the book for days. And, without giving too much away, there's a feeling of imminent failure that never quite goes go away.

Incidentally, the author says she visited the Rhineland to research the sense of place � but it's not richly drawn, just a bunch of fairly humdrum scenes dotted by sad feet and an empty belly.

Probably, exploring the inner disturbance of this character is the best feature of the novel, but the banality of his life made the encounter an uncomfortable read.



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posted by Neil Mach on October, 18 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15116077-illuminae Wed, 10 May 2017 06:15:36 -0700 Illuminae /author_blog_posts/15116077-illuminae Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1) Illuminae by Amie Kaufman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




Graphics in novels are not new � explanatory deviations, little illustrations, and other non-linear devices were used to add contextual colour to stories during the Age of Enlightenment.

Illuminae 'feels' fresh because it's set within the space opera genre and makes use of photocopied documents, censored emails and transcripts of interviews as well as other graphics...

My persistent and enduring thought, while reading this [ “to read� might be too strong a verb? Maybe one “absorbs� a work like this] is this � it's set in 2575 so why, why, why in the age of futuristic weaponry and sophisticated technologies � do they still have emails, written duty-statements and call-logs?

It's as if Kady and Ezra and all the other peoples who populate these “worlds� [actually they live aboard ships for the most part] are throw-backs to a time and place that even us back here in 2017 have travelled way beyond.

I realize that interplanetary science fiction romances are basically old-style Westerns set in rickety science futures where clans clash and boys meet girls... but in Illuminae there is hardly any attempt to manufacture science wonder...

That said, it is a very realistic tale that parallels current events [gas attacks in the Syrian Civil War, for example] and the quick-fire and often funny text, delivered for pure entertainment, reminded me of the works of Harry Harrison.

The sentient A.I. was reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke's HAL 9000 in that it is totally reliable and yet can never be fully trusted. And other add-on characters are just a bunch of Starship Troopers or drop-outs from Battlestar Galactica.

So innovative it ain't... But lack of originality aside, this is still an epic work.

It's a novel that embraces those heroic conventions we love so much... in other words it's a treasure chest of old-style adventuring, and absorbs other genres as it goes, such as film noir, whilst it spits out gangster jargon and retro space-chat. And in that respect it is more like something done by Jim Steranko... but for Generation Z readers.

You'd almost expect this to be an obscure fan publication but it's not. In fact I'd even go so far as saying that it feels decentered and futuristic [which it's not] and that's because it is so well executed.

So it's not modernist or revolutionary? No, not at all. It's simply a riveting yarn delivered in an easily chewable format and as retro as retro could be.

I loved it. I pawed and re-thumbed every single page. And want to read it all over again...



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posted by Neil Mach on March, 08 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15109891-gypsy-boy Tue, 09 May 2017 04:44:02 -0700 Gypsy Boy /author_blog_posts/15109891-gypsy-boy Gypsy Boy Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh

My rating: 3 of 5 stars






I have Roma blood running in my family and through my veins, so thought I should read this. It is an anguished story and part of it [though nothing so bad, I'm pleased to say, ever happened to me] resonated with my experiences in a personal and emotional way. Certainly, the requirement to be physically strong and punchy was something I experienced as a lad. Also my father hated the idea that I might grow up into a �poof� [his words.]

This story is often humourless and gloomy ... and reminded me a lot of Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes. Except that McCourt's writing is more entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny. I wish this had been the same. But it's far more grim.

Probably this seems stronger and less forgiving than Angela's Ashes because of the inbuilt repression and persistent nagging pain of flagrant homophobia that seems present in every agonized little recollection.

True or not [and to be fair, this biography definitely did ring true to me] this is not a pleasant journey to take. Even though the writing is quick and easy and things get more entertaining as we get into it Poor Mikey ... who goes from one unpleasant disaster to the next in a brutal semi-existence ... can never seem to escape from the brutal life.

Like I say, reminiscent of Angela's Ashes but with less death. And little or no lightness.

Maybe I'll try Caravans and wedding bands by Eva Petulengro next...



View all my reviews

posted by Neil Mach on March, 21 ]]> /author_blog_posts/14261908-bertie-lunn-my-nanowrimo2016-novel Thu, 17 Nov 2016 02:29:00 -0800 <![CDATA[Bertie Lunn � My NaNoWriMo2016 Novel]]> /author_blog_posts/14261908-bertie-lunn-my-nanowrimo2016-novel
Just got to an interesting part in my #NaNoWriMo2016 novel.

Bertie has visited three modern witches � The Weird Sisters � to ask them to conjure her up a man...

“I need a man.� Bertie told the Weird Sisters.



If you're watching my word count � I'm a little behind � but past the half-way mark!

posted by Neil Mach on February, 13 ]]> /author_blog_posts/14224612-nanowrimo Thu, 10 Nov 2016 01:24:00 -0800 #NaNoWriMo /author_blog_posts/14224612-nanowrimo

I am busy toiling on my entry for this years National Novel Writing Month �

To succeed I must write 50,000 words in 30 days!

This year's story is about a modern day witch. She uses forensic trickery to control and manipulate her sex-victims. Alberta Lunn's trifling in this scientifc hoodoo leads to disastrous consequences when she unwittingly ensnares a dangerous serial-killer. Her only hope is to enlist an erstwhile conquest, a state-level detective.

But he's a grudging and disinclined ally and time is running out...

So far I have written 11720 goodish words... So I am at least 3000 terrific words behind schedule!



posted by Neil Mach on March, 07 ]]> /author_blog_posts/9717797-the-last-music-bearer Sun, 10 Jan 2016 09:23:20 -0800 The Last Music Bearer /author_blog_posts/9717797-the-last-music-bearer
I was imagining a world in which there was NO MUSIC. Then I read about Islamist Extremists who were trying to stop music being played in the African country of Mali (music is an intrinsic part of their culture ) and I began to wonder - could that really happen? Could organized religion really stamp-out music altogether?

So I re-imagined a world where music had actually been banned and eradicated by a supreme religious authority. My fantasy is set in Britain during the Middle Ages. Around 900AD in the British Isles - the rule of law comes from the church of Rome. Regional Kings were not omnipotent, so they had to take their lead from the Holy Empire. All power and all influence came from the church � and much of this power was exercised by secretive monastic communities.

In my story, one such group of secret wandering monks was still bringing the gift of music to small communities ... In fact they were offering Music Therapy. But another (more radical) sect were intent on hunting them down and wiping out the last vestiges of music for good.

My story follows a young adult (Elis) who is trained to be a Music Bearer by the Music Bearing Monks and also follows his hunter ( a member of the sinister Black Hounds) whose 'God Given' task is to exterminate Elis and all his kind.



posted by Neil Mach on March, 07 ]]>