Heya everyone!

I'm Drazer434 (please don't ask about the name, it's one of those that I've had long enough that it would be too confusing changing), and I am an author. Or at least I like to think I am.

I'm a male Brit, and I'm probably being rained on as you're reading this, so if you live in a nice sunny country feel free to be smug. I'm also an aspiring writer (of course). I enjoy reading and writing, but that's a bit of a given on this site, and my preferred genre is Fantasy, although I also read a lot of Sci-Fi, Supernatural and Action books.

I'm a teenager, again something that's a bit of a given on this site, although I won't say my actual age (tries to be mysterious despite the fact that I've inevitably given it away somewhere in my story).

I don't have a huge amount to say about myself here, just really to thank the people who have managed to stumble across this page and read my story.

The story I'm working on at the moment is a large scale fantasy story, but in the future I definitely want to write something more Sci-Fi, Supernatural or perhaps Urban Fantasy. I like to think I'm a good writer, so if you like fantasy stories may I direct you to the one at the bottom of this page. I'm not biased honest.

I'm trying very hard to update as regularly as possible, and have set myself the aim, as of 04/05/2011, to update at least every two weeks, and more often if I can. In reality I may push this deadline in extenuating circumstances, mainly for exams.

The avatar is something I made myself using my very elementary Photoshop skills.

Important Note: Everyone who puts the time and effort in to reviewing my work will get the review returned. It may not be instantly - because I have a life outside fictionpress, amazing as that may seem - but it will be returned within a couple of days, perhaps longer in extenuating circumstances (I'm using that phrase a lot I know).

Like most writers, I do have likes and dislikes in my choice of reading, and that may affect the enthusiasm and length of my reviews. Generally Fantasy stories and Sci-Fi stories will be reviewed with the most enthusiasm, gradually decreasing to pure romance stories, which are a pet hate of mine. I don't really understand the attraction to them, especially the whole "High School Romance" thing which is so prevalent here. Maybe it's the the cynic in me. I do seem to be in the minority on this sight, and I don't would to put off a large number of possible reviewers, so of course I will review romance stories if called upon with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

Important Note #2: I'm looking for "review buddies" who can regularly review my stories and in return I will regularly review theirs. There's no particular criteria for this apart from that I enjoy reading my review buddy's story, so anyone writing Fantasy or Sci-Fi especially don't hesitate to drop me a PM if you're interested.

Any fantasy writer who wants to improve their writing should read these rants from Limyaael:

http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=limyaael&keyword=Limyaael'sFantasyRants&filter=all

There are a lot of them, but they all give brilliant advice, and I think that even looking through just a few could help. They certainly helped me a lot. They're a great read as well, so be warned, you could find yourself spending hours just reading through them.

Forums:

http://www.fictionpress.com/forum/The_Review_Game/1867/ Anyone who's able to give a good review join here and have your efforts rewarded with reviews of your own work, so if you're a keen reader and reviewer and want more reviews of your own come hither.

http://www.fictionpress.com/forum/The_Roadhouse/2560/ Here is another great place to get reviews. Simply put the name of the story you want to be reviewed and watch the reviews come in. The community there is awesome and everyone is really cool, plus there's loads of brilliant writers with fantastic stories that you probably wouldn't come across otherwise.

Current Works:

Shades of Legend: A millenia ago the terrifying Bel'Mord and his Daemon hordes escaped from their hellish homeland and clashed with the majestic might of the Fae in the most bloody and destructive battle in history. There were no survivors, and the battlefield became a Wasteland. As the years passed their memory faded, until that fateful day was consigned to obscure, misleading myths misunderstood by even the greatest scholars, and stories so very different from the truth. But now the Waste seethes with dark activity, and all portents and omens signal that history is about to repeat itself.

Only the fortress of Denzin, that squats defiantly amongst the Artehc mountains, stands between the Waste and civilization. And above it all, the transcendent, omnipotent, omniscient Moirae manipulate the strings of Fate, playing games with the lives of those below. But is it they who are the tools of Fate, or are even the Moirae themselves tangled in their own creation, watching powerlessly as their timeless machinations are thrown off course by their so called tools? For even the Moirae have their limits. There are three free from their control. Three free to ruin everything. The Black Bard. Solomon. Osprey. And ruin they will.

Into the battle, between humans and Daemons, between humans and the Moirae, between humans and humans, come four young people, with parts to play in the conflict greater than they would ever have thought. Two come from a simple fishing village, sheltered from the horror of the world, yet they have hidden talents. One is an assassin, blessed with power beyond most humans, but only a pawn in the game of bigger players. The last is an illegitimate princess, barred from the throne by her conception and fighting desperately to save her mother from a crime lord's web. But life is all too fragile, and the parts they will play come with more loss than they ever could have anticipated.

Excerpt:

Clouds floated slowly and majestically across the continent of Damerae. In the south-east, furiously swirling snowstorms covered the harsh whiteness of the icefields like a twisting, churning white blanket. Further north, the massive grey fortress of Denzin squatted defiantly amongst the ominous Artehc Mountains - an ugly but ever so solid barrier against the grey expanse of the Waste above.

Towards the centre of the continent the grass and vegetation wilted under the burning heat of the sun - an endless savannah surrounding the stark, massive monoliths of the Klaeth-Dorn Mountains. And finally, moving westwards along the sparkling blue meanders of the River Fainne, you end up in the sprawling metropolis of Thar - an oasis of sin amongst the barren purity of the eponymously named desert surrounding it.

Thar was really two cities. The Inner City and the Rip-Rap. The Inner City described the decadent, towering houses that surrounded the solid gold monstrosity sarcastically named Little Palace. Only the richest, most privileged citizens stayed there. They were the lucky ones. The Rip-Rap was the collective name of the Thar slums, so called because of the sound of the massive hailstones - brought it by the furious sea storms - on the corrugated iron roofs. No-one entered the Rip-Rap. People only left, fleeing eastwards towards the Thar Desert or, if they were lucky, northwards into the Republic of Tamire. Wherever they went, their lives were better. Anywhere was better than the Rip-Rap.

Looking down on Thar from above, you get the impression of an upended termite mound, heaving with the activity of the little, vicious, insignificant insects within. If you moved a bit closer, you might have caught a glimpse of the criminal activities going on within the shadows of the Rip-Rap. Rapes, murders, assaults, muggings - they all went on once night fell, and the patrols of the Golden Hand retreated to protect the walls of the Inner City.

If you fell closer still, so that the cloying stench of decay and death enveloped you, you might have been able to discern a pattern amongst the seemingly random attacks. You might even have seen the tenuous outlines of territories and, if you were very observant, the crime bosses within, like fat spiders in their webs. If you were brave enough to let Thar grab hold of you, and drag you down into its putrid depths, you might have encountered a young girl, out of her depth in a place she didn't belong.

EDIT: I'm suffering from a lack of motivation and "would much rather write in first person" syndrome with this story, so I'm putting it on an indefinite hiatus although that is subject to change with my motivation. I will definitely pick it back up in the future, and whether that is a month or so or a year is a mystery even to me.

P.S. If you steal my stuff, I will hunt you down and shit will go down. It'll be messy, unpleasant, and I don't really want to have to do it, so please don't. If you really have that little imagination why are you on this site?