Monster book almost finished.

Iv'e been working hard all day since the weather has been awful - what a surprise for an English summer.

   As a result I've managed a goodly portion of my monster novel Kongomato. If I keep this up I should be able to finish and upload it to Kindle by Wednesday. Then, allowing for all the mucking about with CreateSpace, get a paperback version by the weekend. 

   I've enjoyed writing this, if for no other reason than it gave me the chance to swear and tear people apart. That's not an unconscious desire but just something I wanted to do in a book.

   Here's the final cover. I've just about done it to death now and the only other change I can make is to paint the whole thing again. I don't think I can. Here's another few pages from it to whet your appetite. Only a few but enough to give you the gist of what's to come.

Julian, on the verge of dragging the axe out of the stone, froze as his brain, now completely confused, clumsily sifted through this new phenomenon. Then, remembering what Adolph would have done and why they were there he collected his shattered wits. Prizing the axe free and grunting with the strain he swung it up and repeated his first attack. This time the blade glancing across the strange engraving before dropping uselessly to the floor.

    The hissing stopped as quickly as it had begun, but its rank foulness was everywhere. The stench of something buried for a long time and carelessly uncovered by a boot. The beam, a brilliant white searchlight cut through the dusty air, its sides still rigid, unmoving. It had illuminated a painting on the wall behind them, and if their panic had not been so total one or all of them might have wondered why the light had not diffused, illuminating the whole room instead of just that one spot on the distant wall

   ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’ Julian finally found his voice. Something was wrong. Break in, smash the rock and get out. That had been the plan. So far less than three minutes had elapsed from his first blow but it felt like a lifetime. ‘Let’s go!’ And he would have gone, alone if they hadn’t been fast enough. He turned, one foot free of the ground as he lurched forward. Only to hear another grating sound. He turned back. He didn’t want to and immediately wished that he hadn’t. The panel, the entire engraved panel had suddenly, without warning, shot free from the side of the damaged rock structure with an ear-splitting screech. Then apparently defying the laws of gravity, soared about twenty feet into the air where it hovered motionless above them.

    Events became a little blurred then. The light, free now of the tiny crack flew across the room in an immense horizontal pillar to bathe the far wall with a seemingly solid block of brilliance that blinded them all. Eric and Vince first since they were in direct line with it. For a second Julian had no idea why they were screaming. Even though the incredible intensity had imprinted itself onto his retinas he was standing at an angle to the hole which had somehow lessened the impact. But still with an agonising burning in his eyes which he could smell as well a feel, he just made out, a few seconds later, a black figure suddenly totter towards him in the darkness.

   Julian had no idea which one of them it was. What he could see in the agonisingly bright light was that Vince or Eric, had no eyes, just two charred, blackened holes from which were dribbling rivulets of grey sticky fluid. And a gaping mouth from which issued the longest, loudest, most blood-curdling screech he’d ever heard. Then with a lifeless lurch whichever of his friends it was fell to the ground in a graceless slump to leave him in an awkward sitting position, his head slumped onto his chest.