Introduction

Greetings all! Welcome to Mightier Than the Sword, a home for the written word. My name is Paul Carroll. I'm one of two founders of The Literary Den, an avid reader, editor for my school's magazine and a writer. Over the course of this blog, I will be leaving reviews on books I enjoyed, be they hardcopies from a bookstore, or internet available books (such as those on Bebo.) I will also be using this chance to tell you all about my own books and work, explain more about The Literary Den, and hopefully persuade you to support our most recent cause - The Literary Den Book of New Fiction.

I'll begin there, if you don't mind. The Literary Den Book of New Fiction was first suggested in September 2007 by a Literary Den member, Rocket Rabbit. Over the following months, fourteen members produced a total of fourteen stories, all in aid of one charity. That charity, is The Laura Crane Trust (reg. 1058464). Set up to fund research into cancers affecting young people between the ages of 13 and 25, The Laura Crane Trust became the first charity The Literary Den decided to support. After a lot of hard work from Andy Walker, a source of knowledge in the Den, as well as a might horror writer, The Literary Den Book of New Fiction 2008 became available to the public. And it hasn't been out too long either! It was only yesterday that I found out it was on sale, due my lack of being online the day before. However, since it's release on Tuesday, it has already sold a fair few (and I mean a few) copies. The Literary Den, and indeed The Laura Crane Trust, need your help to make this project work.

As to my own work, I'll tell you that it is most often compared to X-Men, for my use of the term "mutant." The story is called Geneticide; it's based in a warped version of Ireland, without actually saying that, of course. The term "mutant" is media given, and adopted amongst those with abilities as a way of identifying themselves. There are two generalised views amongst them - those that feel different for having their ability, and those that feel superior for having it. The latter are, of course, the villains. One man in particular, who has given himself the name Number One, despises humans. While the reason for this is revealed in a side story (as part of my Origins stories), I can tell you now, it is not because he was abused for his ability. In truth, he simply enjoys the power.

Now, before I go any further, I suppose I'd better tell you a little more about myself. I'm seventeen years of age, I live in Dublin, and I've got the weirdest tastes in music. Not that the music is weird, just that the genres don't quite fit together. During Transition Year (early 2007 I'm on about now), I got into Soul music, thanks to Irish writer Roddy Doyle and his novel, The Commitments. Sometime around then, my older brother David got me into Muse (I'm sure most people know who they are now.) And most recently I got into Nightwish, the symphonic power metal band from Finland. I also enjoy artists such as Leona Lewis and Rihanna, I can stand to listen to Kanye West, and let's not forget the all important factor that I'm in a gospel choir. Not that I can sing, but my best friend set it up and asked me to join, so I did. We're based in Beaumont if anyone's interested!

As to my tastes in books - the first book I ever truly enjoyed was In Deep Dark Wood by Marita Conlon-McKenna. I read every book in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the Harry Potter books. I love His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, and anything I've read by Garth Nix I've loved. Darren Shan is my connection to horror (and oftentimes mindless slaying) and the cherry on the Kids' Section cake is Michael Scott. I've gotten into Steven Erikson's books (The Malazan Book of the Fallen) and I've read a few David Gemmell books. I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the books following it, and I've started reading Stephenie Meyer's books. I've read everything Dan Brown has published, despite the often pointed out repetitiveness of them. I've also read some titles you may not have heard of, such as Greely's Cove by John Gideon and Despite Losing it on Finkle Street by Samantha Priestley (a member of the Literary Den.)

That's it for now, but remember - The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.