Thursday 24 March 2011

Competiton time ~ Win some books!

I came across this competition on the great horror site, Indie Horror. Over on the site they have seven paperback copies of The Well by Peter Labrow to people who submit a review of an indie horror book they have read.

Pretty good deal, huh?

So here's my part of the competition. If you've read or plan to read one of my novels, and have either left or plan to leave me a review, then email me at marissafarrar@yahoo.co.uk or leave me a comment together with your email addy (so I can get in touch with you if you win). Tell where the  review was left (or again, where you plan to leave your review) and in two weeks time I will do a draw for a paperback copy of 2013: The Aftermath, the anthology which includes my short story After The Revelation.

Then all you need to do is email the same review to Indie Horror in order to win The Well!

So you, could  win 2013: The Anthology AND get the chance of winning The Well by Peter Labrow if you submit your review of one of my novels to the site!

Good luck everyone!

Wednesday 23 March 2011

20 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me...

I saw someone on twitter doing this and it looked like fun, so here goes!


1.) I have four tattoos and plan to have more (sorry mum!).

2.) I’m an advanced Padi scuba diver.

3.) I’ve hiked a glacier in New Zealand.

4.) I have a phobia of Daddy-long-legs (Crane-flies).

5.) I could eat Asian food every day of the week.

6.) I once ran a small catering company.

7.) I make pretty damn good cakes. 

8.) Though I act hard, at heart I’m a total romantic.

9.) I would love to have another child one day (shhh, don’t tell my husband!).

10.) I miss my cats

11.) I love the gym but hate regular exercise.

12.) I love going to concerts, but haven't been able to go since having the kids. Boo.

13.) Bugs love me. If something in my vicinity bites, it will get me!

14.) I have a degree in Zoology and a diploma in Pharmaceuticals.

15.) I once wanted to be a forensic pathologist (until I realised I had to become a doctor first! Dealing with live patients...gross!)

16.) I love crappy drama television; Greys Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, House. Brilliant!

17.) I probably drink waaaaay too much, but put it under the ‘artistic type’ file.

18.) My husband is also my best friend.

19.) I dream of having houses all over the world, but not big expensive ones. Just shacks by the beach in places like Bali, Thailand, and India.

20.) I used to have five piercings (not including my ears!).

So there you have it. Got anything interesting people probably wouldn't know about you? Please share!

Thursday 10 March 2011

Letting Go

Letting Go



I’m standing on the bridge, certain he won’t come.

How many years has it been now? Ten, at least. The tenth time I’ve come here, hoping he will show, yet knowing he won’t.

It’s July twelfth, the anniversary of the day he asked me to marry him. My heart is sick with grief and I wonder how it is that I cannot move on. Every day I wander without direction, searching for him, yet he is always just out of reach. It is as if when I enter one door, he slips out of another.

The night is warm and I can smell honeysuckle on the air. Below me, the stream trickles, singing a gentle song to the stones and gravel it passes over. Trees line both sides of the stream, their branches reaching out to each other, like lovers hands grasping, creating a canopy over the water.

I sigh and lean against the small wooden bridge. My fingers twist the platinum band of my engagement ring, the moonlight catching the small cluster of diamonds. I no longer wear it on my left hand, switching it to the right as a sign of our separation, but I cannot bring myself to take it off completely.

Why do I keep torturing myself like this? Too many years have passed for him to still care. He probably has a different life now, one filled with a new family of his own. I cannot believe he still thinks of me, even though thoughts of him seem to be the only thing I know.

Movement catches my eye and I turn to see a figure approaching out of the darkness. My heart picks up a beat, my breath catching in my throat.

Mark?

He walks toward me, but I don’t know how to react. It’s such a long time since I’ve seen him and I can see the years on his face; in the lines upon his skin and the grey in his hair.

I cannot speak as he stands beside me and leans his forearms on the bridge. He looks down at the flowing water, as if he cannot bear to look at me.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” I say.

“I don’t know why I’m here, Lisa. It’s been such a long time.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“I think I just needed to say goodbye properly. You’ve been playing on my mind and it’s simply not right. I need to get on with my own life.”

“Please, Mark,” I beg. “Let’s just spend some time together, talk things over. If you came, then you must still...”

But his actions still my words. He opens his hand and nestled in his palm is the platinum band and cluster of diamonds of my engagement ring.

My heart stops and I look down at my own ring. How is that possible? Did he have another, identical one made? Why would he do that?

“I need to say goodbye now, Lisa. I’m moving on, just like you have.”

He tilts his hand to drop the ring into the water. I reach out to catch it as it falls, but to my horror, the small circle of metal passes right through my hand, as if I were not even there.

My eyes fill with tears of terror. What the hell was happening?

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” he says, addressing the air. “It wasn’t your fault you left me. The accident was nothing more than that, just a horrible accident. But I need to get on with my life now. It’s been too long and I’m letting you go.”

At his words, I feel something pull against me, as if invisible hands have hold of my shoulders and legs and are tugging me from behind. I look down to see my limbs suddenly seem insubstantial, as if I cannot quite see them or am looking through a mist.

“Help me, Mark,” I call out, terror firing adrenaline through my veins. But now I know he cannot hear me and my voice sounds faint, even to my own ears.

It suddenly dawns on me that I do not know where I’ve been all these years, only that I’ve been searching for Mark, his own grief and longing holding me near. Now he has finally let me go and I am moving on, going to whatever life—or death—holds for me next.

My body is little more than smoke now and still something pulls on me, taking me away from him. The distance between us is growing and now he is simply the figure of a man standing on a bridge.

A man saying goodbye.

Thursday 3 March 2011

An Epiphany!

I logged onto Goodreads today to discover someone had left Alone a two star rating. Now this is the first two star and so far lowest rating Alone has received and my initial reaction was to get annoyed. But then I realised that you can't please everyone.

Books, like anything else in life, are all down to personal taste. Maybe this person loves soppy romances, in which case there is no way Alone was ever going to be for her. Just the same as if someone doesn't like spicy food, I'm sure the chef in a curry house wouldn't take it personally.

When your work is out there, and people are reading it, reviews are just part of the course. There is no way I can control what people are saying about my book, but at least people are reading it! So far the reviews for Alone have been great. It's got a steady 4 stars out of 36 reviews on Barnes and Noble, with some of the review headings being 'Wonderful Book' and 'Great Read', with people saying they couldn't put it down and can't wait for the sequel.

I know I can't please everyone, but as long as I am pleasing the majority, and above all, that people are actually taking the time to read my books, then I am happy. And look out for the paperback guys! The proof as been ordered, so it won't be long now!