Ben Lees's Blog
October 12, 2015
August 8, 2015
New chapters
Just added a couple of chapters of a space opera- style story I'm working on (no title as yet). You can find them here if you want to check them out - https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/... - all comments welcome!
April 7, 2015
New short story - Waypoint Five
Waypoint Five, my new short story involving space and time is now available in the creative writing section here. Please feel free to check it out and hope you enjoy!
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
February 28, 2015
New story
A new short story featuring Alex from A-Wolf is now available in the goodreads creative writing section here:
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Hope you enjoy!
https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Hope you enjoy!
February 8, 2015
On Kobo and Nook!
A-Wolf is now available on Nook and Kobo at these links:
Nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-wol...
Kobo
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
Nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-wol...
Kobo
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
November 17, 2014
A review!
My first Amazon review appeared a little while ago. Thanks kind reader!
See it here:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Wolf-Ben-Lees...
See it here:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Wolf-Ben-Lees...
October 11, 2014
Excerpt from A-Wolf sequel
This is an excerpt from an early section of my sequel to A-Wolf (working title Tenebrae). It's still a work in progress and still subject to revision.
Several months after the events in A-Wolf Alex is woken in the early hours of a winter morning by the sound of what turns out to be a car crash just outside his house. Unable to wake his parents who seem to be in some sort of comatose state Alex goes outside to check on the crashed car...
It was empty. The driver's door was open. When Alex looked inside he saw that the airbag had deployed and now sat limply like a deflated white balloon hanging from the centre of the steering wheel. The force of the impact had shifted the dashboard and it now sat at a strange angle to the rest of the inside of the car which Alex thought made it look a bit eerie in a way he couldn’t quite explain. There was no sign of the driver or any passengers.
Alex straightened up and looked all three ways along the street: the road to his right and along each fork to his left as far as he could see. There was nobody in sight. Was he the only person who could have heard the crash? Had someone else come already and helped get the driver indoors somewhere?
He stood, confused. His breath, misting in the cold, was orange under the light of the nearby streetlamp. The situation was bizarre. What was he supposed to do now?
Then he heard the sound of an engine. Alex looked back up the main road to see a silver people carrier approaching. It slowed down to a stop as it came near and the driver opened the door and looked out. He was a balding man somewhere in his thirties wearing a light coloured fleece. He looked very tired.
"You okay?" the man asked. "What was it? Crash?"
"I'm okay," Alex said. "I wasn't in it. But I can't see where the driver's gone."
"Gone?" the man said. "Driven off, you mean?"
Alex looked at him. The man seemed confused. Why was he asking if the driver of the crashed car had driven off?
"No," Alex said. "But I don't know where they are. I've phoned for an ambulance."
"Ambulance," said the man, getting out of his car. He was looking around as if he was lost. "No. That's okay. Don't need an ambulance. Fine now..."
Alex wasn't sure how to answer. Was the man all right? Had he been driving all night and was just exhausted? He shouldn't be driving at all if he was that tired.
The man looked over his shoulder, behind his car at a point Alex couldn't see.
"Here's someone," the man said.
Alex watched as the man stood passively as a shape suddenly rose up from behind the car. It was tall and black, a heavily built body with thick, powerful arms. Its head was long and almost oval-shaped, ending in a sharp point at the top and bottom. In the first glimpse he got of the creature Alex was sure it had no eyes or mouth.
For a second Alex was frozen with the shock and could just watch as the creature reached out to grab the man. As it raised its arms Alex saw two wings - massive folds of skin or some sort of membrane attached to them, ending just below the elbow. Actually it ended just below the second elbow - the creature's arms had three joints!
It took hold of the unprotesting man by his upper arms and pulled him towards it, enfolding him with its wings. As it clung to the man the creature took a step forward - and then vanished, dissolving into nothing. There was a faint popping sound and a rush of air and both man and creature were gone.
The man's car still stood there, the engine still idling.
Alex blinked. The whole thing had happened so fast he could hardly have said he had seen it at all. But he had. He even thought he knew what he'd seen. He had been transported by a matter transport device three times last summer. For a human being that made him something like a veteran. And having seen what he'd seen last summer he was sure of what he'd seen right now. Someone - and something - being matter transported away.
Alex looked round. Down the street: nothing. Up towards his house again: two shapes, big and black and winged, were moving slowly along the left hand road towards him.
Several months after the events in A-Wolf Alex is woken in the early hours of a winter morning by the sound of what turns out to be a car crash just outside his house. Unable to wake his parents who seem to be in some sort of comatose state Alex goes outside to check on the crashed car...
It was empty. The driver's door was open. When Alex looked inside he saw that the airbag had deployed and now sat limply like a deflated white balloon hanging from the centre of the steering wheel. The force of the impact had shifted the dashboard and it now sat at a strange angle to the rest of the inside of the car which Alex thought made it look a bit eerie in a way he couldn’t quite explain. There was no sign of the driver or any passengers.
Alex straightened up and looked all three ways along the street: the road to his right and along each fork to his left as far as he could see. There was nobody in sight. Was he the only person who could have heard the crash? Had someone else come already and helped get the driver indoors somewhere?
He stood, confused. His breath, misting in the cold, was orange under the light of the nearby streetlamp. The situation was bizarre. What was he supposed to do now?
Then he heard the sound of an engine. Alex looked back up the main road to see a silver people carrier approaching. It slowed down to a stop as it came near and the driver opened the door and looked out. He was a balding man somewhere in his thirties wearing a light coloured fleece. He looked very tired.
"You okay?" the man asked. "What was it? Crash?"
"I'm okay," Alex said. "I wasn't in it. But I can't see where the driver's gone."
"Gone?" the man said. "Driven off, you mean?"
Alex looked at him. The man seemed confused. Why was he asking if the driver of the crashed car had driven off?
"No," Alex said. "But I don't know where they are. I've phoned for an ambulance."
"Ambulance," said the man, getting out of his car. He was looking around as if he was lost. "No. That's okay. Don't need an ambulance. Fine now..."
Alex wasn't sure how to answer. Was the man all right? Had he been driving all night and was just exhausted? He shouldn't be driving at all if he was that tired.
The man looked over his shoulder, behind his car at a point Alex couldn't see.
"Here's someone," the man said.
Alex watched as the man stood passively as a shape suddenly rose up from behind the car. It was tall and black, a heavily built body with thick, powerful arms. Its head was long and almost oval-shaped, ending in a sharp point at the top and bottom. In the first glimpse he got of the creature Alex was sure it had no eyes or mouth.
For a second Alex was frozen with the shock and could just watch as the creature reached out to grab the man. As it raised its arms Alex saw two wings - massive folds of skin or some sort of membrane attached to them, ending just below the elbow. Actually it ended just below the second elbow - the creature's arms had three joints!
It took hold of the unprotesting man by his upper arms and pulled him towards it, enfolding him with its wings. As it clung to the man the creature took a step forward - and then vanished, dissolving into nothing. There was a faint popping sound and a rush of air and both man and creature were gone.
The man's car still stood there, the engine still idling.
Alex blinked. The whole thing had happened so fast he could hardly have said he had seen it at all. But he had. He even thought he knew what he'd seen. He had been transported by a matter transport device three times last summer. For a human being that made him something like a veteran. And having seen what he'd seen last summer he was sure of what he'd seen right now. Someone - and something - being matter transported away.
Alex looked round. Down the street: nothing. Up towards his house again: two shapes, big and black and winged, were moving slowly along the left hand road towards him.
July 9, 2014
Influences
Have slowly begun rating and adding my 20 books recently, mostly on my "influences" shelf. It's made me think about what my real favourite reads are (rather than just the enjoying of whatever I'm reading just now because it was the thing that caught my eye most recently - which has made up a surprising amount of my reading over the years now I look back) and has turned up with a few surprises for me. It's strange how something like Second Foundation has stuck with me over the years where many other more conventional literary "classics", however much I've appreciated or admired the writing in them, have not done so in the same way. Just shows how personal the whole reading experience is.
