Posts Tagged ‘Oxford’

  1. Mawbray: Secret of the Rift is released

    8 May, 2011 by Alexa Chipman

    The fantasy novella based on one of my popular radio play series’ is now available! A group of students at Mawbray college find a rift has opened that allows mythological creatures to pass between realms. As they attempt to reason with Loki, and fend off dangerous creatures, they uncover the original secret of the rift.

    BUY ON AMAZON
    http://www.amazon.com/Mawbray-Secret-Rift-Alexa-Chipman/dp/1460950062/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304897330&sr=8-2

    Anyone who writes a review on Amazon can receive a special illustration of the original series by Anke Eissmann. Just drop me a not here or on Facebook/Twitter and I will email it over!

    Category Fiction, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. New Maudelayne Novel Prep

    30 September, 2010 by Alexa Chipman

    Due to popular demand, I’ve started prepping to create a Maudelayne novel. Due to my arrangement with the college bursar, I am only allowed to use Maudelayne’s name for free audio drama.

    Therefore, in order to sell the novel, I did a bit of a name tweek, which those of you on Twitter saw the result of.

    Maudelayne = Mawbray now, which is both a location and family that was significant during the Wars of the Roses.

    The location is not the only thing to have a facelift: due to the fact it is a novel for profit, I have to remove any references to actual people. Thus:

    Lord David Cecil -> Professor Esmond Cecil

    C.L. Wrenn & J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis -> Professor Aedon (I combined them)

    President George Gordon -> President Barton

    Other changes include:
    - Sophie Roberts never leaves
    - Jane Worsley is now Nigel’s older sister
    - Certain events in the series that are mentioned I have reordered

    The subtitle of the novel is “Secret of the Rift” quite frankly because so many people have asked me about it, and it isn’t the sort of thing that can be clearly explained in the current Maudelayne format. I also like to keep the radio plays up to the user’s imagination, rather than dictating to them.

    The novel will have two main plots:
    - Atherton & the River Nymph
    - So what is this rift thing, anyway? aka we finally find out!

    If you would like to see anything in the novel, please drop me a comment or tweet. Already I’ve had requests for some bits written from Worsley’s perspective (why is he so easily upset?) some from Atherton’s (is he really that noble or does he have inner conflict?) and more Sophie Roberts. Feel free to add your requests!

    Category Fiction | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments

  3. Maudelayne Episode 5 Series 4

    11 September, 2010 by Alexa Chipman

    Due to the continuing saga of the car which completely broke down today when I should have been at a Re-enactment helping at a museum, I had a few hours of free time this morning. I chose to fill it by completing another Maud episode. Yes I am writing these out of order, and for some reason I’d left episode 5 for later— mostly because I had no ideas for it.

    Ireland – Worsley & Cecil

    That is the entirety of my notes on what to write for this episode before I began. I ended up using Aillen Trechenn, which is a triple headed vicious oversized bird monster that haunts burial mounds and hates humans. I thought it would be amusing to trap Worsley in the dark with a monster. Yes I am cruel. But there was a motive for all this— little by little he has been becoming braver and braver throughout the entire Maudelayne series, and though there are of course a few trademark Worsley shrieks, he ends up successfully teaming up with Cecil to slay the monster and free the mound.

    After this, I’ll be able to seriously start working on Worsley’s change of character. The nice thing about a long-running series is that I can be more realistic about such things. People don’t turn from screaming and running at the first sign of trouble to being a staunch hero in the space of 45 minutes. It’s taken 40 half hour episodes to get Worsley to this point, but this way I hope listeners won’t be going “oh please, Worsley wouldn’t do that” but that the change has been so slow and natural that they’ll not even notice. Or they wouldn’t have if I hadn’t just told them… okay forget what you just read.

    Other than the monster, I highly enjoy dumping Worsley and Cecil together in an enclosed space:

    Excerpt:

    Cecil: Are you certain nothing is seriously injured?

    Worsley: Only a few bruises. It was the hardback War & Peace I think.

    Cecil: Next time, consider writing a paper on one of his shorter works— The Death of Ivan Ilyich for example— quite undervalued in literary circles.

    Worsley: I’ll keep that in mind.

    SFX: Overall background turns to dripping cavern in Ireland

    Worsley: Professor? I think I am badly hurt.

    Cecil: Oh?

    Worsley: I’ve just gone blind, and I’m hearing things.

    Cecil: Nonsense, that is only because we are suddenly in a dark cavern that is rather moist.

    (beat)

    Worsley: You see it, too?

    Cecil: Of course not. It is pitch black. How could I be seeing anything?

    Worsley: I mean we aren’t by the library any longer!

    Cecil: A logical conclusion.

    Worsley: Should we sit here until it goes away?

    Cecil: The library is incapable of walking. It is a building.

    Worsley: I know that!

    Cecil: My eyes are beginning to adjust and I see a faint glimmering. I believe I shall go explore.

    SFX: Walking on wet stone and mud

    Worsley: Wait! Don’t leave me all alone, who knows what could be in here?

    Cecil: Precisely— and the longer we stay in one place the easier it would be for a fell creature to discover our whereabouts.

    Worsley: But what if it is another enchanted princess?

    Cecil: All the more reason for her not to discover your whereabouts.

    Category Podcasts | Tags: ,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

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