Christmas -- And a photo I took near my house.

The end of the year approaches... While we still have Christmas to enjoy, it will soon be upon us. Time to reflect on how the year has gone, and make plans for the New Year soon to arrive. Hopefully it will bring many opportunities for us to succeed in whatever we attempt. I intend to improve my writing skills and write more if possible. I also plan to dust off my paints and try to do at least one painting before summer. All while reading a lot. That is something I enjoy immensely at the moment. It helps fuel my imagination for my own novels, alongside watching good drama and tv programs. Wishing everyone a great Christmas! I may write here before it again....
 

The Eternal Challenge -- Darker Paths My Third Book and the Second in my Series

The Eternal Challenge -- Darker Paths is the second book in my ongoing series. I am currently writing Book 3. It has over a 1050 pages of content, over 255k words so far.

Darker Paths : The Eternal Challenge, Book 2 is on Kindle Unlimited here.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DD992ZCG

Unknown Realms : The Eternal Challenge, Book 1 is on Kindle Unlimited here.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQ5L73Z2

Both books are available on KU, or to buy on Kindle or in Print.

The series is a first person LitRPG with a system that rewards risk and a main character who has to work hard to gain power in a dangerous world.

Jon is a bounty hunter, who pursued a fugitive just too far. Now he is trapped in the world of the Eternal Challenge. Follow his journey in search of a way home which can only be gained if he can overcome the forces raged against him.

Traps and trials await, and only death is a certainty. Can one human survive where even more powerful challengers have failed?No harem. LitRPG epic adventure. A vast dangerous world. Battles against the odds using wits and strength and risk-taking.

The Eternal Challenge -- Unknown Realms My Second Book

The Eternal Challenge - Unknown Realms is the first book in my Lit RPG series. 

It is available on Amazon at this link. Unknown Realms If you like exciting adventure in a fantasy realm why not give it a read.

A vast and threatening world. The unknown territories of a deadly game.

One hasty decision. One rash leap through a mysterious circle of light in pursuit of a fugitive. That was all it took for Jon to be trapped in The Eternal Challenge. Life as a bounty hunter had just become much more interesting and dangerous.

Losing means dying. How long could you survive?
Faced with a new reality where possession of the right weapon or power marks the difference between success or failure, tenuous life or certain death, Jon is forced to embrace a perilous journey towards freedom and a way home, which will only be granted at the end of the final level.

Can he succeed when even the deadliest of rivals have struggled?
Using only his wits and instinct for survival, he must gain in experience and adapt to the increased dangers that each new zone presents. Join Jon on his epic voyage through the realms of The Eternal Challenge.

An exciting test of endurance and skill. The beginning of a legendary trial awaits.

The Serpent of Time Available on Amazon

 

Here is my fantasy book which I published in the Summer of 2022. It is 406 pages, 98.6 K words. It tells the story of Ember Willowleaf who is called to join a dangerous quest.

It can be found on Amazon at : The Serpent of Time

If you'd like to explore a world of unpredictable danger alongside wondrous beauty, feel free to try this book. 

John Lavery Irish Painter (1856 - 1941)

Under the Cherry Tree, (previously known as On the Loing, An Afternoon Chat). 

(Photo Credit: National Museum, Northern Ireland)

John Lavery

An exhibition of the works of the Irish Artist, John Lavery, was held recently in the National Gallery of Ireland, here in my home city of Dublin.

I unfortunately missed getting to see it, as life was just so busy, but I decided to research his background and write a little about him here.

The First Wounded, London Hospital, August, 1914

He was an orphan, born in Belfast, March 20 1856. He moved to Scotland to live in Glasgow while still a child. He began his artistic training in Glasgow where he attended the Haldane Academy during the 1870's. He set up a studio which was destroyed by fire in 1878. He received an insurance payout which he used to attend the Heatherley School in London, where he spent a year, before going to further art study in Paris at the Academie Julian in the early 1880's.

He made visits to the artists' colony at Grez-Sur-Loing, near Fontainbleau. This was a picturesque village which encouraged him to paint en Plein-Air, a term used to describe painting in the open air. 'Under the Cherry Tree' is one of the larger and more ambitious works by him at that point in his career.

He married in 1889, but his wife died of TB. They had one daughter, Eileen, who he outlived. He remarried in 1909, to Hazel Martyn. She was an Irish-American.

He returned to Glasgow, and became part of the Glasgow Boys, a group of Scottish and Irish artists. His work had a sketch-like quality which often emphasised brushstrokes. This was a style similar to James McNeill Whistler. It was a reaction to the more traditional Victorian artists of that period.

He was commissioned to paint the state visit of Queen Victoria to the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888, and this launched a career as a society portrait artist. He thus moved to London to pursue this.

He is best known for his portraiture work, and open-air paintings.

He died in Rossenarra House, near Kilmaganny, County Kilkenny on 10 January, 1941.

Lavender Field

 

Lavender Field.    This is a shot of an acrylic on rolled canvas painting that I created from taking ideas from various sources. It is not an actual place. I am experimenting with colours to see what works best. Enjoy.

The Serpent of Time and Unknown Realms My Books for Sale on Amazon

This post is an update on what I have been concentrating part of my focus on for the last two years. I have published two books and am working on a third book at the moment. 

The first book is a Fantasy novel. The genre is epic fantasy.

It tells the story of a small elf-girl called Ember Willowleaf, who is asked to join a quest for which she feels she is inadequately qualified, but her kingdom and family are in danger, so she relents and goes. The story is one of adventure, daring and excitement, in similar fashion to Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter or The Hobbit. If you like any of those books, you will probably like this also. The story is a standalone tale, and is totally my own creation.

It was published on Amazon in July 2022. It is called    The Serpent of Time    and you can find it for sale in Kindle or read for free at Kindle Unlimited at the moment. You can also buy it in print. 

Here's the link:

THE SERPENT OF TIME

The second book is in the genre know as LitRPG which means literature of Role Playing Games. The character is a hero traversing a world that is controlled by game-like elements. It is a genre popular by those who enjoy the online dungeon and dragon type games.

The second book is called    Unknown Realms : The Eternal Challenge Book I.    It was published on Amazon in December 2023 and you can find it for sale in Kindle or read for free at Kindle Unlimited at the moment. You can also buy it in print. 

Here's the link: 

UNKNOWN REALMS

I am working on the continuation of this series, and the next book is more than forty per cent complete.

Anyway, that's it for today. I will try to post more often, as this blog has been dormant over several years, but it will be useful to display progress in my writing and art here again. 

I hope that anyone who likes fantasy and adventurous reads will enjoy giving my books a try. Thanks! Jim