Dale Renton's Writing

By correctly identifying some of the references I’ve quoted from the novel, you will be in with a chance of winning one of FOUR paperback copies of DART which I will sign and mail to each winner.

DART includes a multitude of references to literature, music and popular culture, none of them “direct” but all of them identifiable (with varying degrees of thought required) – which is where the fun comes in.

Here’s a quick example –

‘Dart joined him in the elevator and Jimmy punched the topmost of a vertical line of buttons on the wall. The syl flexed along the back of Dart’s legs as the elevator began its ascent. A speaker beside the buttons pumped out an ancient song about lakeside arson.’

This is a reference to the Deep Purple song, Smoke on the Water *. You don’t need to know that to follow the story but adding little ‘nuggets’ like this brought a little more fun to the writing for me and offers the reader, hopefully, a little extra enjoyment.

*  Darthanil ‘Dart’ Black lives on a distant planet, 600 years in the future but as a teenager he spent many hours watching archives from ancient Earth. He often references that era in his comments – sometimes to the confusion of his contemporaries.

How To Enter:

Listed below are 5 (five) brief excerpts from DART by Dale Renton. In each excerpt, there is a well-known(?) literary, musical or TV reference.

Copy and paste the list into an email and write a (brief) explanation for each reference. For example –

Reference: “To be or not to be?”

Explanation: A quote from ‘Hamlet’, by William Shakespeare.

When completed, please send the email to jdalerentonATyahooDOTcom with DART COMPETITION as the subject. All emails will be read (unless blocked by anti-virus software) and entries assessed. I will send a “received” reply on request.

EVERY entry with AT LEAST ONE CORRECT answer will go into the random draw for one of the FOUR free paperback copies of DART. At the beginning of JUNE 2020 I will publish the correct answers and the names of the winners on this website as well as contacting the winners by return email to confirm mailing details for the prizes.

Now for the questions!

Reference 1: “We are the holo men…“

Reference 2: “The quality of mercy may not be strained, but every now and then it could work a little harder…“

Reference 3: “Have syl, will travel.”

Reference 4: “When geography and geology combine in just the right way, you end up with a permanent season of mist and mellow fruitfulness…“

Reference 5: “The song reached a multi-voiced climax, the lead vocalist pleading with the other voices to let him go.”

If you have any queries, please use the email address above to contact me. Good Luck!