A couple of dates have switched around for the COME SING FOR THE HARROWING virtual tour. My interview with @runalongwomble.bsky.social will now be going live tomorrow (23rd), while the Nightmare Magazine interview will be on the 29th (next week).
#horror #folkhorror #booktour
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. I’d learned the hard way not to presume a strange tree would be willing to help me. The shock when I got rejected was like licking a battery. To my relief, this elder seemed happy enough. Sweet, familiar fragrance embraced me. My greenwood sense swept outwards as I closed my eyes. I ignored the vibrant sparks of animals and birds doing their own thing, unconcerned. An unfamiliar sensation was heading west a fair distance away, but that vanished a second later. I ignored it. I had to find Fin. As I gripped the elder branch tighter, relief made me dizzy. There she was, not too far away. I didn’t get any sense she was hurt. That was even better. Even so, she wasn’t moving. Something was – maybe not wrong, but definitely not right. I opened my eyes. That was a stupid move. Trying to map what I sensed through the trees onto the landscape I could see ahead of me was so disorienting I nearly threw up. I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. Dryad radar showed me Fin was still where I had found her. I let go of the elder tree’s branch. ‘Thank you.’ Book extract reads:
Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'better' #BookQW #BookSky
The Green Man sends Dan Mackmain to sort out clashes between the supernatural and the everyday world. Dan's mum is a dryad and learning to use the abilities he inherited with his greenwood blood definitely improves his chances.
After discussions with my new publisher, an update on the ‘a Quiet APOCALYPSE’ audiobooks is coming soon!
Exciting times.
Busy breakfast time at the bird feeders this morning. Erm, hang on … You ain’t no bird, fella 😀
So, today I decided to send my Mood Swings feature script somewhere. The odds are stacked against, but y’gotta try, right?
Have a great day, everyone xxx
HEaR TODaY…
“A mature, brutal, but quite beautiful work, putting A QUIET APOCALYPSE up there with the greatest post-apocalyptic fiction.” —TIM LEBBON, author of THE SILENCE.
Time to vote for your favourite reads of last year!
It’s time …
"This Way Lies Madness weaves a beguiling and profoundly revealing tapestry of psychological terror with such nuance and depth in each collected story." - Eric LaRocca, author of We Are Always Tender With Our Dead, and Wretch.
Thanks so much, mate. Appreciated as always.
Okay, plot locked and ready to rock. Next week, work starts on EARTHFALL, the final book in the FROSTBITE TRILOGY. Parts one and two out now from Crossroad Press.
Cover art and design: David Dodds.
Have a great day, everyone xxx
My wonderful editor has sent back thoughts on the current short story and I’ve started work on fixing the deficits.
A note to those just starting out in writing: editors are your friend. Ignore them at your peril.
Have a great day, everyone xxx
Salò Press are now publishing short stories under a new imprint named Infidelities (with poetry distinct under the Flirtations imprint). The first five are up for pre-orders (including my short story, The Good Men), available individually or in a bundle. Check out the link: www.salopress.com/store/
Great to see our project well underway. Our thanks as ever to @leverhulme.ac.uk for funding this Research Project Grant.
The latest short story was inspired by this marvellous music experience. The current draft is currently with a trusted professional editor who will, no doubt, tell me what needs fixing!
Next week I will move on to the next project. But, for now, it’s time for a cuppa.
If you’ve not discovered my multiple award-nominated horror trilogy Juniper yet, let this persuade you…
mybook.to/el5vn7 - get your copy here!
Lee Murray and I have an interview with Georgia Walton from @uofglasgowasc.bsky.social British Horror and Psychologization Project. This is a follow up conversation after our recent article in @psychmag.bsky.social
Here’s the link:
horror.glasgow.ac.uk/bonus-interv...
Titles containing rare examples of my ventures into writing poetry …
Book mail! Huge thank you to the mighty Trevor Kennedy for this contributor copy of the latest Phantasmagoria Magazine. As always, there’s so much fantastic content in this edition. Out now from all the usual places.
I’ve been informed by my publisher that my psychological thriller False Prophet will be getting some marketing love in the coming months, including personalised merchandising.
Watch this space for further details.
One week to go - the sun may be out but the darkness is never far away, with SPRING SCARES serving up six weeks of guest horror writing workshops and more! www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-sca... #horror #horrorfiction #horrorwriting #horrorwriters #horrorauthors #horrorcourse #horrorcourses
Can’t wait for this event next month. A fantastic line up, including Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent). My MOOD SWINGS script is also a finalist for the horror feature screenplay award. Time to dig out the dinner jacket for the awards gala!
I loved watching this film as a kid, and it was certainly an inspirational element on my journey as a speculative fiction/horror writer. Those who follow my work will know this from my author notes at the back of the False Prophet novel.
Wow. A rather nice review of MOOD SWINGS has landed today. Thank you so much, @lordsamper.bsky.social !!
Up early (couldn’t sleep) so outlined a new short story. Pretty excited about this one as it has a surreal sci-fi vibe that I’ve never attempted before.
It might very well turn out awful, but it’s all about the challenge of trying something different.
Have a great day, everyone xxx
Trevor Kennedy and Kayleigh Dobbs of Phantasmagoria Magazine interview the mighty Joe Hill. Here is a YouTube link via Happy Goat Horror.
youtu.be/DU2iM1LIDw8
A quick trip to EasterCon yields a few purchases, and chats with Dave Brzeski, Gary Couzens, Nick Wells, Jilly Paddock, snd Shona Kinsella.
Which was nice …
Huge thank you to BFS Chair Shona Kinsella for this British Fantasy Award PIN to commemorate the nomination of MOOD SWINGS for best collection last year. I picked this up today while at EasterCon.
Great to have a little reminder of the achievement, and it now has a place on my brag shelf!
Out now!
amzn.eu/d/0epXXoMK
Today, @leemurraywriter.bsky.social and I are interviewed Dr Georgia Walton for @psychmag.bsky.social, where we talk about the portrayal of mental illness in the horror genre, and the obligation of genre creatives to reduce mental health stigma.
@horrorwritersassoc.bsky.social
