Elin Gregory

Zombies!!!!

No, not really

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Ypres – though the lads who went there tended to call it Wipers.

Click on the picture for access to the list, Last but one chance!

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Great War – a conflict that finally put paid to the notion that war was glorious and buried it under a crossroads with a stake through its heart.

My little town did its best to play its part and sent a battalion of young men. They arrived on the front line to take part in the assault upon the Ypres Salient on February 14th 1915 and by May 12th 1915 so many were dead that the battalion was disbanded and the few survivors moved to other units.

Another battalion was raised. They went out in 1917, just in time for a big push and 3 months later, again, the battalion was disbanded and the survivors moved to other units.

Of the 1500 men who went out 80 returned. Of the officers of the battalion, one survived the war.  I don’t have the heart to post pictures.

The Menin Gate at Ypres

Interior of the Menin Gate showing the names of some of the 54896 men who disappeared into the mud of the battlefield and whose fate remains unknown.

My guest today has many strings to his bow with a successful publishing history in both German and English and now, additionally, as part owner of a highly successful publishing house, Riptide Publishing . Aleksandr Voinov’s work has been described as “darkly erotic, filled with gritty, violent, sexy incident” and I am very pleased that he has agreed to take the time to answer some of my questions.

Hi Aleks!

 Aleks: Hi Elin! Thank you for inviting me over for a chat!

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Ten — in Roman numerals

Oh come on! How much in history begins with X?

Click on the picture for the long linky list of participants in the A to Z Challenge, which is now drawing to its close.

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Wistman’s Wood

[Click on the picture to gain access to a tremendous list of bloggers, writing about every subject you can probably imagine. Well everything I can imagine. Some of you might be able to imagine stuff that would make my head explode.]

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The next few days are listed on my calendar as reserved for the Tortured Hero Blog Hop but unfortunately Carrie Ann had to cancel it due to circumstances very much beyond her control.

However, I’ve noticed blog hop posts going up so the word obviously hasn’t reached everyone, and I feel I ought to do something for people who hop in this direction if they haven’t realised that the blog isn’t going forward.

So – tortured heroes.  Do we like them or don’t we?

Absolutely my favourite ‘tortured hero’ – T E Lawrence ‘of Arabia’

I think the answer has to be a resounding ‘hell yes’, because a hero who has no issues, has no vulnerabilities, short comings or regrets, nothing to beat himself up over, is a very boring hero indeed. In order to be an interesting character he needs to have things he’s not sure about – he needs help. He doesn’t have to enjoy needing help, it can be even better if he doesn’t want to ask and resents it when it’s offered, but help means interaction. Interaction means opening up to tell what his issues are and why he is as he is. Opening up is part of his character development.

On the other hand, you may be one of those people who enjoys their heroes suffering physical as well as mental anguish. That can be fun to write as well. Pitting a hero against incredible physical challenges, whether in battle, or terrain, or sickness, or just a plain old fashioned beating, then seeing how he handles the situation, especially when he’s losing, tells you a lot about him.

Then there’s physical torture for realz if the plot calls for it. Secret agents, undercover cops, captured soldiers, might face a good deal worse than a questionnaire if caught by their antagonists. Personally, I’m a very squeamish writer and don’t think I could go all the way with that kind of thing  – I’ve tried and it made me feel faint – but it can be a very powerful part of a plot [as long as the author doesn’t seem to expect me to get off on it.]

Comment below explaining your own favourite tortured hero and I’ll – um – pick a winner and – um – I dunno – send you one of my unique and incredibly sought after swag items through the snail mail post?

  Vengeance

{click on the pictures for the link to the other participants} Continue Reading »

                                    Urban Legend

      [click on the picture for the list of all particpants to the A to Z Challenge]

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