I wanted to study at Hogwarts and live in the Lord of the Rings, It's not how you tell it but WHERE you tell it.

Location Location Location.
Not just about the house you buy, maybe, but also about the books you read. Every story I loved as a child had something about the setting.
For a while I was obsessed with Brendon Chase, by 'BB.' I tried to find it on maps, and the place names and their descriptions enchanted me so much that I remember them easily now. The town of Martyr Bar, Blind Pool, deep in the forest.

I stared at maps from the Lord of the Rings until my eyes bugged out. I was seriously disappointed that I could never actually go there. The writing of Laurie Lee had the same effect, apart from I COULD go there, and so the first holiday I went on by myself was a bike tour of Northern Spain, visiting Burgos and Leon, and other destinations he passed through in the beautifully written, wonderfully titled 'As I walked out One Midsummer Morning.'

And now I write myself, and magical, real life places are where I try my hardest to set my work. There are several, but the most important is Glastonbury and the Somerset Levels, where I lived for two years, where I set 'Song to Wake to' and th source of the name for the characters school and the entire series itself.
Truth is stranger than fiction, and why make somewhere up, when there is a real place as wonderful as the Levels?

Big News...

Levels 3 has a name...
After mulling over dozens of options I've christened it 'Lullaby of Lies.' Next I need to get onto Olly Prentice and get a cover sorted...
Thanks to everybody who had some input. What do you think?

See Keira Knightley! Win an eBook! Complete a Fun Survey! Decide how to save the world!

By now you probably know that my LEVELS series of stories has something to do with King Arthur. If you don't, please feel free to click on the link on the right and find out for yourself...
You probably read some King Arthur stories before, the original myths. Maybe you've seen one of the King Arthur movies. Doubtless you have some preconceptions about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, what they did, what they were like.
I would love to know what your concept of Camelot is, and so I've put together a fun little quiz to find out. Please complete it, let me know what you think, and put yourself in the running to win a free copy of ROCK ANTHEM, 2nd in the Levels series.
This survey has now been included in the Autism awareness Blog Hop, and I have upped the prizes to ten (TEN) copies of Rock Anthem...

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

What do Famous People Read?

Do celebs read? This post is much more question than answer. All I've really got is this picture of the Twilight movies' Chaske Spencer with 'The Emperor's Tomb' by Steve Berry.

You can find more pictures of celebs with books HERE, including a Spiderman Star also drawn to the very popular Steve Berry...

Do famous people tell us about the books they read? Have you heard them? If you have please let us know in the comments section below. If not, what do you think they read? For example, I can completely see Robert Pattinson digging into Proust, while Emma Watson - I think - is much more about re-reading the lion the Witch and the Wardrobe for the 14th time. Make a guess...

Brad Pitt on a horse, win a book, have genuine input into the title of another book, and some Mortal Instruments.

What's in a title?
In the case of the title of this post, the answer's easy.
Too much.
But title's can fail in all sorts of ways. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Absolutely. That's right. But its title? Judging a book by it's title is one of the things you're supposed to do.
The Mortal Instruments series are my current favourite YA books, amazing characters, plotting, imagination.
Rubbish titles. 'City of Ashes,' 'City of Glass.'
Yawn.
'City of Fallen Angels' is the best, but it's not actually true, so that's hardly fair.
'The Iron King.' Similar.
There's definitely something about books in a series having vanilla titles. I guess it's difficult to be both striking, and fit into a theme, but I'm going to give it a shot. After 'Song to Wake to' and 'Rock Anthem' the third levels book will have a title that's got something to do with lullabies. I've got two options.

'Lullaby of Lies'
or
'Lullaby for a Sleeping Lion.'

Please tell me what you think. I'd be really grateful for any input. Use the comments section to tell us which title you prefer, and if you like, tell us your favourite book title. I'm going to start off with 'Legends of the Fall.' Not the film, the book by Jim Harrison, which is brilliant. The film is overblown and histrionic, but if you advance the clip at the top of the page to minute 3:00 you'll find its winning scene. This is how all men should ideally arrive, preceded by a vanguard of galloping horses. It's an Eddy Moon moment.
I look forward to getting your input. One of the comments will win a FREE copy of Rock Anthem...

Congratulations, you're a winner! As is Kelly Clarkson

So when I was a kid it was my firm ambition to have my moment on top of the podium at the Olympic games. I gave everything a try and I swear I would have been a decent runner if my legs actually had some muscle on them, instead of being like sticks of uncooked spaghetti. My legs were also an obstacle to my being a swimming champion. I couldn't get them to stay near the surface of the water, so I would labour through the pool in a kind of upside down 'L' shape.
Other sporting success was affected by a lack of hand eye co-ordination.
Or timing.
So then I thought maybe X factor? Something like that. However I sing like a cat in the rain.
In the end, I'm left with hoping that one day I may win a minor lottery prize. You, on the other hand, may have won a copy of Song to Wake to. Check your email.
And in a stunted, text version of a rubbish Oscar winning speech, thanks so much everybody who entered the blog hop competition! You couldn't have done it without me. Winning stuff is always cool, even if it's just a 99cent e-book. Okay it doesn't quite merit a podium, a medal or an anthem (though that would be nice). I doubt you feel much like Kelly Clarkson either, but in case you wanted to check, here's what winning moments can be like...


If you left your details, but haven't heard from me drop me a line, I had problems with some email addresses and you may have won. jdfield@jdfield.com

FREE books.

So here it is, the YA and Fantasy giveaway hop. I'm giving away TEN free e-book copies of Song to Wake to. In order to be entered in the draw for the book please like my Facebook page HERE (or alternatively share this post) and leave your name and contacts in the comments section below.
When you've done that check out the rest of the marvellous giveaways...