In Search of Perdition

The other night I was out at the British Fantasy Society Christmas Social (and a great night it was too). I got chatting with a number of top folks and we got on to the subject of writing as is inevitable at these things. I made the following statement (or words to that effect):"I cannot see myself making enough from my writing for it to be anything other than a hobby." And in one fell swoop I had settled. It was as easy as that. I had dismissed my dream of being a professional writer as being too hard, the likelihood of me achieving it too astronomically small when you call the maths in to play. This right at the moment when folks are saying some amazing things about the stuff I am putting out there. So this is a message for current me and future me (and anyone else who might be in a similar position). NEVER EVER SETTLE. I may not make more than my current salary each year through my writing. But then again I might and then some. One thing is for certain - the minu...

Getting your work noticed in this age of the internet is tough. There's lots of people shouting to be heard so how do you get your work noticed by reviewers and up on their sites. I don't have a magic bullet but as an author who used to be a reviewer I can offer some words which I hope are useful. First up, find out who the reviewers in your genre are. I write mainly horror so tend to go to places like Ginger Nuts of Horror, DLS Reviews, British Fantasy Society and so forth (there are loads out there so don't be offended if I haven't mentioned your favourite site - in fact, let me know of your favourite site as I love to discover great reviewers and hear what they are reading). Next, have a read of what they review. Does your book fit their preferred genres? If your book is splatterpunk but the site tends towards quieter, more psychological tales then they might not be interested. Read the site's review policy! This is really, really important which is why I...

Exciting times for me. I have published my first novella and it is with the wonderful Hersham Horror as part of their Primal Range of novellas  alongside Mark West, James Everington, Stephen Bacon and also Marie O'Regan who has her collection out with Hersham. Becoming David  is a dark tale about a cannibal and what happens when David comes into his life. You can read the blurb here: Richard leads a simple, uncomplicated life in the suburbs of London where anonymity is a virtue. His life has a routine. His cleaner visits twice a week and he works out in his basement, where occasionally he kills people. Everything is as Richard wants it until David enters his life. What happens next changes his whole existence and the lives of those around him. Is he able to trust anything to be true? And will he be able to escape David or will David take over his life completely? The artwork for the cover is excellent and undertaken by the talented Neil Williams. There are s...

In 1991 Gerald Ratner wiped £500 million pounds off the value of his business following one speech after suggesting the merchandise his jewellery business sold was total crap. So what does this have to do with you? Over the past year or so I have noticed a lot of up and coming authors being incredibly self-depricating. Phrases along the lines of "I've written some stuff but it's not very good." Why would you say that? It is all very well to be coy about your ability but you are essentially saying "Do not bother reading my work because you will not like it." I get that it is a defence mechanism whereby you get the dig in before someone does it to you (hell, I've done it myself so you can call me a hypocrite). There is a very British tradition which suggests we should not be too brash or bold, that we should not tout our wares in public. And that can be fine to a degree. I personally think you should be promoting the value of your writing but I caveat ...

Testing, testing, is anyone still out there. Well it's been a while since I last posted to this site. Why? The simple reason was really life. And, having given up The Prediction, I didn't have somewhere I needed to keep swept and polished for all the visitors that I was receiving previously. In the 18+ months since my last post (wow, has it been that long?) I've been busy with writing although there are loads of authors out there who would easily put my output to shame. I've mainly been writing short stories and have been fortunate to have a number published (see the right hand side of this blog for the stories and blogs). I also have been asked to write a novella for a great independent press. Not naming names in case the final output is not up to scratch but I am very excited about the opportunity to say the least. The reason I've decided to dust this blog off a bit because in author bios I point people here but 'here' was looking quite neglected. I h...

A good friend of mine, (and great writer) Lily Childs , is working on her novel as I work on mine. We found that we are about the same way through in terms of word count (Lily has just hit 50k and I am just over 48k as I write this). Now the interesting thing is that we have been 'racing' each other to see who can hit the 50k mark first (curse you Lily for beating me). Whilst word count is just a number and it is the quality of the writing that matters as well as the strength of the plot plus a hundred other things people might want to throw into a debate, this provides a good motivator. Writing is potentially a lonely business, just you, a computer screen and your own, twisted imagination to keep you company. As someone without a book deal lined up, there is no one out there waiting to know when the next piece from me is coming out and no deadline to pressure me other than those that are self-imposed. I have a life away from writing, family commitments, work commitments, th...

A few weeks ago, I was invited to go and play over at the excellent Elephant Words website run by the talented Nicolas Papaconstantinou. As the site says: The premise of the site is simple: Every Sunday, one writer will post a picture, and every day for the next six days, they and five other writers will interpret it for your entertainment. The writers can be as literal or as “out there” with how much they allow the image to inspire them, and their brief is to write whatever they want, as long as they do it interestingly and on time, so you as a reader may get to enjoy prose, poetry, maybe the odd cartoon, in genres ranging across the board, from fiction to anecdotal autobiography, science-fiction to period drama… Really, the possibilities are only limited by our contributors’ imaginations. I want the creators here to have as much fun as the readers, and stretch their wings a little, so we can’t guarantee that you will always get to read what you expect, but then, who would want to? ...