Location: United Kingdom
Member Since: Feb. 11, 2010
1 user has added this author as a favorite.

Nick Daws


Biography

I am a full-time professional freelance writer and editor, living in Burntwood, Staffordshire, UK.

Where to find Nick Daws online

Website: http://www.nickdaws.co.uk
Twitter: nickdaws
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/nickdaws
Blog: http://www.mywritingblog.com

Books

The Festival On Lyris Five    by Nick Daws
Price: $0.99 USD. 10260 words. Published on February 12, 2010. Fiction.
(5.00 from 4 reviews)
Former Ten Stars pilot Rick Barrett is having a bad day. Not only is he jobless and broke, in a seedy spaceport bar he has been forced into a winner-takes-all poker game with a homicidal cauliflower. Salvation is at hand in the shapely form of Irish redhead Julie Halloran. Julie has a proposition for Rick that could end his financial worries - but does she also have a secret agenda of her own?

Nick Daws’s tag cloud

adventure    comedy    novella    science fantasy    science fiction    science fiction comedy    science fiction romance   

Nick Daws's favorite authors on Smashwords


Smashwords book reviews by Nick Daws

  • Take control of your pain on Oct. 01, 2010
    star star star star star
    Take Control of Your Pain is a guide for anyone suffering from pain, be it acute, chronic, post-operative, emotional, joint pain, or something else. As the title suggests, the emphasis is very much on 'taking control' of your pain and working collaboratively with your medical practitioner to manage and relieve it. The manual has a strongly practical approach, with checklists and exercises to set you thinking about the nature of your pain and how best to deal with it. But there is also plenty of advice on drugs, diet, lifestyle, and so on, all written in Lesley's chatty, friendly style. If you suffer from any sort of pain, this manual - written by a nurse with over 25 years' experience - will help you understand and deal with it, and guide you towards a happier and hopefully pain-free life.
  • Cave on June 11, 2011
    star star star star star
    Cave is an intriguing and unusual novel, with vividly portrayed and believable characters, and a plot that keeps you guessing to the end. I would describe it as a mystery adventure. At the beginning, the protagonist, Marty, finds himself trapped in a deep cave in North Wales and left to die. The action revolves around Marty’s attempts to find a way out, alongside flashbacks that introduce readers to the other people in his life. Through these, we gradually piece together what has happened to Marty and who has tried to kill him (and why). Marty is a flawed individual with a few skeletons in his closet. He nevertheless captures the reader's interest, if not always our sympathy. Through the flashbacks we find out about his relationships with the two women in his life, his estranged wife Carole and university girlfriend Beth. We also meet his circle of (mostly male) caving buddies, some of whom have surprising secrets of their own. The majority of the novel is actually set above ground, focusing on Marty's job as a forensic chemist, his student days, his return to single life (and his old hobby of caving), and other trips and expeditions he has undertaken. Although self-published, Cave has been written and edited to a professional standard. It’s not an all-out action adventure (though there certainly are some dramatic scenes in it), but rather a novel about people and relationships, secrets and regrets. As such, it should appeal equally to both male and female readers. In my opinion, it would also make an excellent movie. Highly recommended for lovers of intelligent fiction.
  • Space Truckers - Coronallium Conundrum on July 18, 2011
    star star star star star
    Dougles Adams would be proud of this story about the unsung heroes of the future - the space truckers who keep the wheels of interplanetary commerce turning, ensuring that the Darth Vaders of the universe never run short of liquid soap or toilet rolls. The heroes of Coronallium Conundrum are two such individuals, who find themselves in deep trouble when they are conned into transporting an illegal consignment of deadly coronallium on board their spaceship, The Chuckling Pig. Matters quickly spiral out of control, and the two find themselves on the run from the military authorities, with death or 25 years' hard labour in the mines of Phobos the unpalatable alternatives if they are caught. At Doomy's Choke 'n' Go they meet the determined Sulin Tassil, who promises to help them find the mobster who conned them - the only person who can clear their names. But does Sulin also have a secret agenda of her own? Coronallium Conundrum is an hilarious, fast-moving sci-fi adventure. The truckers, Bazill Beatel and Grenlon Garamine, along with their invective-spouting robot Mekkano, make an engaging team. Along with the humour there are some genuinely exciting moments, culminating in a clever ending that ties up most of the loose ends. I hope there will be more Space Trucker stories from David Robinson. I could also easily imagine this concept being turned into a TV series or animation. I recommend Coronallium Conundrum to anyone who enjoys well-written, intelligent science fiction with a lighter edge. And I particularly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed my own sci-fi novella "The Festival on Lyris Five" (also available on Smashwords) - and vice versa, of course ;-)
  • E-book Formatting & Publishing on Smashwords on Sep. 29, 2011
    star star star star star
    E-Book Formatting and Publishing on Smashwords is a beautifully written and illustrated guide to this subject, from someone who has successfully published a string of titles on the Smashwords platform. As anyone who has tried will tell you, publishing your work on Smashwords can be quite tricky (more so, actually, than publishing to the Kindle), and there are plenty of pitfalls for the unwary. David Robinson's guide will help you avoid all the obvious mistakes, and with just a little luck get your e-book accepted on Smashwords the first time around.
  • Sean T. Close on Jan. 11, 2012
    star star star star
    I enjoyed reading this story, although it is aimed at readers a good bit younger than I am. The author certainly isn't afraid to take liberties with the traditional view of Santa, explaining that 'many years ago' he lived in Ireland, not Iceland! The story swings along nicely, with Sean T. Close (Santa Claus?) having to take over his Dad's sleigh to deliver all the presents for Christmas, after Dad suffers an unfortunate accident due to unauthorized modifications made to the sleigh by Sean's mischievous friend. Needless to say, Sean faces various challenges along the way, and suffers a few frights from witches and other ill-wishers. But, with a little help from his friends, I don't suppose it will surprise anyone to learn that he succeeds in his mission! My only criticisms are that some of the character names struck me as slightly inappropriate, e.g. a girl with long hair is given the title The Hairy Girl, which I'm afraid conjures a rather less-than-appealing image in my mind! I also found the science-fictional explanations (e.g. a device that shrinks presents so that they will all fit on the sleigh) sat a little uneasily at times with the long-ago setting, although Star Wars did this as well, I suppose. Overall, Sean T. Close is an unusual and exciting tale I'm sure will hold young readers spellbound. No doubt it's only cynical old adults like me that will find any fault with it! (reviewed within a month of purchase)