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Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

At 16, Jai's great emotional insight will see her involved in chaos. Even a death.

 

Hi,

I'm so excited to give you a real look inside this amazing true story. We can all relate to the ups and downs of being a teenager but throw all of this into the mix and you've got real trouble. 



True Love Kills

 

A girl begins a journal to battle her depression but instead, documents a murder.

Inspired by a true Sydney story


It all goes down inside.

 



Sydney, 2008.


Jai lives alone with her mother and is prompted to begin a diary to deal with her gloomy, obsessive thoughts. Her world is shaken further when beautiful and headstrong Laura breaks into her circle of friends. Laura meets Xavier, a wild boy with dark hair and brooding complexion. The result is more explosive than anyone could have imagined.

 

Why do people have to hurt others? What makes people do the things they do? You may think you have your friends figured out, but do we ever really know anyone? Do we ever really know ourselves?

 



Jai knows things.


             A foreboding feeling follows Jai to school. She meets up with Cin, one of her best friends but when they go into their class, there’s no sign of the teacher. Her small group of friends are there. Five of them, diverse in personality and culture but all entertaining in their own right. Miss Freeman enters with a new student, Laura. She is strikingly beautiful but there is something about her that Jai can sense. Laura is bitter, or angry, Jai can’t quite determine. Not yet. Why has she changed schools?

             Laura is put in with her group. They must show her the ropes. Before long, headstrong Laura is proving that she doesn’t follow the rules. Trouble has followed her but it’s everyone else’s fault. Soon, Laura is practically the head of the group, much to Jai’s consternation. Jai does not trust her and Laura seems to know it. Why can’t the others see it?

              It’s the beginning of a set of complex, often amusing, sometimes combative, interpersonal relatiosnhips between all six girls, always shifting.

            After school, at the train station, other teenagers from the nearby boy’s school banter with them as always. Laura turns more than a few heads, one in particular. Xavier. The boy with the dark eyes and brooding complexion. Their eyes meet. He targets her. It’s like a flame meeting a petrol tank. There is an instant attraction, but their union will bring nothing good for anyone around them. Their relationship starts with chaos at the mall. Making out in the library. Petty theft at a local shop follows, getting drunk and eventually mild drugs. Laura’s home life seems reasonably stable but she gets away with blue murder. Is that why she is the way she is? Are there not enough boundaries or is it the lack of attention? What about Xavier’s home life? Are people born bad or are they created? We soon get the insights.


Where it happens.

           Meanwhile Cin must deal with her mother’s illness and sexual pressures from her boyfriend. Antinio brags about her new love life but no one has met this mysterious person. Also, Jai has been receiving some unwanted attention online from someone she doesn’t even know. Or does she? Social media in 2008 is proving to be a challenge, something the adults know little about.

           Xavier’s temper is proving to be a real problem and frightening for those around him. Jai does not like him and for good reason. He’s soon involved in a fight at his school which results in a student being badly hurt. Trouble follows this kid like the wind.


            Laura doesn’t care. She’s only in the moment. All there is, is her love for Xavier and to hell with anyone who gets in her way, including her family, including her new friends. She’s soon rubbing some of them up the wrong way. Cin is no pushover. She doesn’t like her friends being disrespected like that. There’s a real battle now for leadership of the group. Neither will back down. It will culminate in a physical clash.






           Meanwhile Laura’s widening circle includes people outside of school, some much older. One is an eighteen-year-old named Johnny. It’s obvious he likes her but despite his age, he’s out of her league. Besides, she’s with Xavier but there’s no harm in flirting, right?

          With each passing page, there’s a tightening of the tension, with each dilemma coming to a head. In the middle is Jai, documenting each and every situation, wishing she was outside of it but unable to avoid being a part of it. Being a teenager is tough but it shouldn’t be this hard.

            For one individual, it will cost them their life.

 

‘Puberty Blues for the Digital Age.’

 Coming soon. 







All books now on Sale, just in time for Christmas!

Signed/Inscribed any way you wish!

Makes for the perfect gift! 



Order on my Books site or click the book covers below.


Debut Novel - Bold Literary fiction



Debut novella

    

Second Novel. Highly controversial. Obviously 😉


 

Two novellas in one book





    
Stories and Poems on Connection, many based on real people and events.








Debut Story Collection



Debut Poetry Collection






I really hope you can support this book, in any way. Even sharing the word, these posts, anything. Word of mouth is the best form of getting the word out. And I can't afford to pay for promotion. The book alone will set me back. But it's an important book. I think it's my best. It's universal. It was written at my writing peak. I'm so proud of it. Much of it is true so I can't claim ownership for all the content. However, Jai spoke to me. It's like she wrote it and dictated it to me. She's a very strong emotional force but with all the fallibilities of being a young person. I admire her so much.

Peace
Anthony






Bottomless River - A Novella (Debut book) - Purchase Here

 

Bottomless River - A Novella




Three teenage friends are having the time of their lives. Two guys and a girl in the country. Nothing can wrong. Until it does.​

And sets in motion the next twenty years.


Regret runs deep.

Like a Bottomless River.



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Debut Novella from 2012. 
Signed/Inscribed however you wish.
Write to anthonyjlangford2@yahoo.com.au. 
Makes for the perfect gift!


Trailer



Promo shot for the book






Purchase Pseudo Stars HERE


Purchase PERVE HERE

Purchase Us and Them HERE

Purchase A Refugee's Rage HERE

Purchase Lone Wolf World HERE

Purchase Allowing a love to die is not Murder HERE









Lone Wolf World - The Aussie 'American Psycho' Novel - Now Available to Purchase Here

 


A Loner with the World on his shoulders seeks to point out 'their hypocrisy' when he stumbles upon an opportunity that will bring about a catastrophic event. 








‘Some soldiers say that War is the only reality that made them feel alive. Feasibly they didn’t want it, but they got it. They can never go back. Neither can I.’

 

There is no place more lonely than the inner city. No place more fitting to make observations on the fallibility of human beings and the easiest to design their downfall. Ideology isn’t his motivation. He hates everyone, equally. His voice is unique. And he will be heard.
The Australian Catcher in the Rye



Like all books, can be signed/inscribed if you wish. Makes for a perfect gift. 
Simply email me at anthonyjlangford2@yahoo.com.au


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Order Paperback or eBook directly from Amazon U.S.


or 



Purchase PERVE HERE

Purchase Us and Them HERE

Purchase A Refugee's Rage HERE

Purchase Pseudo Stars HERE

Purchase Allowing a love to die is not Murder HERE

Purchase Bottomless River HERE






                                     


My 'great' unpublished novel - Will it ever see the light of day?

  

My unpublished Young Adult Novel (s)


A killer energy ring has surrounded the City. It’s closing in fast, but when the Entities show up, the real massacre begins!  




The two images are covers I made for my two novel Young Adult dystopian series. (One story, two books). I tried to get them published for years, to no avail. I was very proud of them both and thought they'd make an excellent movie, (or two). I was planning to self-publish at some point in the future. Not sure if I will now but thought it interesting to share the covers. Created them around 2009. Novels were written from 2005-'07. I had such high hopes for them. Hence why I held out, hoping a publisher would take them on. Makes me very sad but that's the life of the creative. 




At the risk of sounding miserable (and trite), my 'career' as an author has been 95% disappointment. You need to have a very thick skin to deal with the rejections and lack of interest. My skin ain't as thick as it used to be so I've taken a step back since my last book in 2022. Mentally been on the decline for years (anti-depressant withdrawal a big part of it, the story here), so feels beyond my reach at present. Probably a good lesson in there. Don't put things off!  I really do hope to return to it at some point but not in the foreseeable future. 

In the meantime, there are published books and many videos and downloads that are available right now! 










I DO NOT! (Or did I already do it?)

 

Warning - Rant Ahead. 


This was written in 2010 before I had any books published. Did I stick to my guns?



I  D O  N O T

 

I do not aspire to be the next Bruce Courtney. I do not aspire to be the next Di Morrissey. I do not aspire to be like Matthew Reilly. I don't aspire to be the next Dan Brown. Or Stephen King (even though I like his early books). Or Stephanie Myer, (God Forbid) or any other mainstream populist novelist.

They are the entertainers of their day and that is their right. They are the circus come to town. They are clowns in paint and frivolity. The court jesters in rhyme and folly.

 

But they will not be worth a word beyond their time. Their work will be forgotten as quickly as it was consumed. The McDonalds of Publishing.

 

I aspire to create something that is worthwhile, that I can be proud of. That perhaps can be admired by a few, and that's all I'm after, as long as it has some merit. Who wants to leave this world knowing what they did and left behind was disposable, as disposable as the day they created it?

Gone. Forgotten. Yesterday's story.

It's like an architect who wants their work to be respected in decades hence, rather than a kit home than will only suffice. For Now.

 

Sure we might need them. The masses have to be entertained somehow. But just don't justify it to me. Don't tell me your worth more than the literary sect, because you sell the most. Or that they really want to be like you, but can't do it. You're totally misguided. You're only kidding yourselves. Bubble gum. Burger. Coke. Takeaway coffee. Daily newspaper.

 

Circa 2009


They claim that their mass appeal gives them worthiness. That numbers speak higher than critics. And it may provide them the means with which to exist comfortably. But we all meet in the same place in the end, and I'd rather have left something worth savouring, perhaps kept in a dusty bookcase or drawer somewhere, or even relegated to some digital archive as something perhaps worth reviewing to some future individual, than end up as recycled pulp for next year's toilet paper.

 

History has taught us that these mainstream diatribes do not survive. I'll take my chances. For I must be able to hold my head high, that I wrote to satisfy art, and to satisfy myself, than to satisfy the masses. I cannot think of a crime more heinous, than a person with artistic qualities, however minute, who shelved them in pursuit of something far more shallow. That is a crime that one cannot return from.

 

I'd rather die in obscurity that aim for the so called Bestseller List. I will never be there. I'll make sure of it. If by some absurd situation, I do, then I have failed.

 

12/5/2010


Pen is mightier ... Around 2010




Bit harsh on Stephen King. I love his books. He'll be remembered for a long time.

I certainly had a lot of confidence then, even arrogance perhaps. Maybe that's what was required in order to get to the point where books could be written and published. It took a lot of drive and work.

Since then I have had nine books published, from 2012 - 2022. If you've read any of them, maybe you will know if I stuck to the ideals of that idealistic, determined writer. Did I?


Bottomless River - Novella

Caged Without Walls - Poetry Collection

For your pleasure - Poems and art coffee table book (collaboration with Paolo Rassu)

Pseudo Stars - Story Collection

Allowing a love to die is not murder - Poetry Collection (on relationships)

A Refugee's Rage - Novella

Lone Wolf World - Novel

Perve - Novel

Us & Them and the things in-between - Story/Poetry Collection


(This post, July 2024).



Questions for now;

Have I lost my drive? Yes. Much of it is due to anti-depressant withdrawal. My story here.  It's robbed me of my confidence. 

Will I ever write another book? I don't know. Not in the near future.

Do I have books ready to be published? Yes

Will I publish them? I don't know. Maybe one or two but not all. 

Does anyone care? Probably not haha.

If you have read any though, I would be interested in your opinion.


My Books HERE




or try these Amazon Author links.


Amazon Profile 1


Amazon Profile 2



Until next time,

Peace

Anthony