Burimen Brothers

‘The Burimen Brothers’ is an on-going Fantasy story that I will be writing on my blog. It was going to be my first novel but I thought I would express it to my followers.

I hope you enjoy the first installment and follow the journey I will take you on. Each week I will release a segment. Enjoy!

 

I stood on the edge of the fiery lake. My village burned in the reflection, and underneath the dawn light. People screamed in agony and animals fled for higher ground. Mother urged me to leave before the chaos begun, she said the Wndith were after me.

Ashes drifted high above the fiery lake, smoke rose with it and I watched the villagers burn. On the opposite side of the lake, the morning dew moistened the short grass. It was a brisk morning but the villagers would disagree; they were underneath burning logs.

‘Hunter!’ a man yelled out, running towards me from the eastern side of the lake. I was ready to pounce. As he got closer I recognized him. It was the village Butcher, Clyd.

‘Leave now!’ He continued, ‘Go to Edenra over the mountains and find a young lady, Deanna.’

Before I had the chance to ask a question, an arrow flung through his neck. His body collapsed to the ground. I scanned the trees to find the bowman. I couldn’t see them and I didn’t want to hang around.

I fled for the cradling mountains. The mountain ridge kept our village secret for many years, hid me from the outside world but that time was up. I had been found.

DWTSmith. #amwritingfantasy

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Caged Bird

I speak but noone can hear

I flap but noone lets me out.

I want to fly,

free into the big blue thing,

sometimes it changes to dark.

that’s okay. I’d rather be

up high, away from this black prison.

Big things moving,

Help let me out I squawk

but no help.

Do I stay here till I die?

all I want to do is fly.

 

DWTSmith. #poetrymonth

Cold. Freezing cold

It was quiet but not anymore,

school holidays filled the absence.

The whoosing of driving cars,

steam from the hot road.

 

A stretch of trees – dull colours

dragged through the raindrops.

Birds chirped across the clouded sky.

Cold. Freezing cold.

The winter sky hugged the hills,

yet the moon is hidden

and I could not relax.
DWTSmith. #poetrymonth

Footprint

My brother asked me, “what do I want to accomplish with writing?” The first thing that popped into my head was to leave a footprint. Not an environmental footprint but one I can call my own, show my own individuality and show my passion.

I learned from University, to create your literary footprint you must read a

diverse range of books to find your own voice. So I did. I read: teeth-clenching mysteries, predictable thrillers, philosophical fiction, dystopian science-fiction and heptalogy fantasy series (I had to google that, it’s a 7-book series); after all the page-flicking, I have found a voice I am comfortable to call my own.

I still read a wide range now. I found my genre I want to write in and now I read a diverse range of Fantasy writers.

My blog will also contain book reviews of all the books I have read, reading or hoping to read. To showcase, that I might have a bit more of an idea with writing than people tend to think.

For now I’ll let you ponder, as a writer or reader, on what kind of voice

you have in the literary world.

 

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Inspiration

The Authors life’s inspire their writing, a few of them were writers without consciously choosing; a natural flow into the field. To a high degree their facts mixed with fiction, for example Tim Pear starting writing as he moved to England, his reflective journals of his presence in the new world – a realization of his new location – inspired his first novel.

The main element of my life  that will influence my writing is Relationships: family relationships, sexual relationships, friendships, good/ bad and animals/ humans.

I watched a live video of Alison Tait, author of The MapMakers Chronicles (link here) and one of the comments she made was, ‘write what you know’. That for me resonates and will always be something that I fall back to and that’s what other aspiring authors can remember.

Fantasy has always been revolved around my life. I guess my goal for writing is to intertwine these real relationships with fantasy to make readers relate to it.

An appropriate photo for inspiration and influence is a

photo I took a few years ago. I decided  to visit New Zealand

and draw inspiration from Hobbiton

and the picturesque landscape.

Hobbiton: Where Hobbits Live.

 

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Timeline

I sat at my desk and pondered on what my next post could be, then it hit me. An introduction of who I am and why I am posting this.

I grew up and live in Port Macquarie. I moved down to Wollongong when I was 21 to study but at the time I was unsure what I wanted to do. I dabbled in different fields and subjects but nothing interested me except, Sociology. After a summer break I got immersed into The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings. I had always been drawn to fantasy but not in a literature sense, after I fell back into reality I thought to myself, I could create a world with characters and underlying messages that can apply to real life.

Once I had that moment of clarity I rushed to my computer to see if I could major in Creative Writing. I scanned the computer screen and it was meant to be, I could.

I went to university the next day and organised another major to be added on and that is where my Creative Writing spark begun. After 4 years of learning how to apply and break the rules of writing, existential break-downs, all-nighter assessments, an excessive amount of alcohol, traveling to foreign countries alone and living with no money; I can say with all my heart, I want to be an author.

I moved back to Port Macquarie, started working at The Beach House Cafe/Pub and trying to get students for an English Tutor.

From here I want to create a space to share my progress, thoughts, short stories, what I am reading, ideas that continue to inspire me and my own story to become an author.

At the moment I am in the draft stage of my first novel, however I am not comfortable in sharing any piece of that yet. In the meantime it will just be all the other things listed above.

My main focus of writing is Fantasy. I am open to fiction, especially the classics, like J.D Salinger, Charles Dickons, Keith Waterhouse, Harper Lee, Jack Keuroc, Frans Kafka etc.  but I will always fall back to fantasy on either side of finishing a book.

 

I hope I haven’t bored you with my story. I hope to join the writing community and build a strong relationship with people like myself.

Tell next time, here is a photo my friend Charlie Black captured (check out his page here) which inspired me to write a scene in my book.

 

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Where have I been?

It’s been a long time since I have been on here. I actually forgot about this space. To fill in the gaps, I have been graduating University (champagne bottle pops!) and paying back an enormous debt.

I am on the other side of that and in the draft stage of my first novel. My goal is to try build an audience whilst writing, so when the time comes I have an audience outside the family scope.

I hope to see you on here soon, in the meantime I will share posts, short stories and poems I have written. If they are not mine, I will correctly source them.

 

Peace.

Douglas W T Smith

Follow Your Bliss

The first post is my step into the unknown. This is for my writing, which one day will hopefully turn myself from a writer into an author. Plants all start off small, with enough water, sunlight and fresh air they can grow as high as they can possible stretch their trunks and branches. That is my plan, to grow until my heart is content and not my wallet full. I feel I am on the first step towards my bliss.

Bliss is your perfect happiness, a state of happiness were your oblivious to your surroundings.

I didn’t know what bliss was. I had heard it before but after watching Joseph Campbell’s documentary (below) it made it a lot clearer. I advise to people to watch this documentary. It makes you step back from your own day-to-day life and achieve what you want to, accept the challenges life throws at you and how to deal with it. In the present day it is hard to be completely oblivious to your surroundings, it is a challenge, a challenge that I accept.

For the first post, enjoy this documentary, it goes for an hour and twenty minutes but it is not time you will want back.

Till next time…

Joseph Campbell – The Hero’s Journey Movie from Gangaji Videos on Vimeo.