You stood beside the lake, crestfallen, steel blue eyes weeping salty tears into the freshwater lake. This place was so beautiful in the summer. We had a perfect angle on the sun, right next to that old oak where the bank sloped down and we caught the fading light in all its fractal beauty. The … Continue reading The Lake
If you haven't seen John Carpenter's The Thing, then why the hell not? This film is not a just a masterpiece in suspense, fear and paranoia, it's an example of how you can really explore character. Read on to see what makes it tick. (SPOILERS AHEAD) 1. Location, Location, Location. It’s Antarctica. It’s winter. … Continue reading Five Reasons why The Thing is the best Sci-Fi Horror. Period.
Had a great time chatting with Dan and Luke from Hawk & Cleaver on their Story Studio podcast. We talked about self-publishing in general, then got into more detail with world building, linked stories and Foreverland, the latest novella from the Forest Town Chronicles. You can listen to it for free on iTunes store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/tss-014-linking-stories-w/id1140596479?i=1000377996845&mt=2 Also, … Continue reading Podcast Interview – Hawk & Cleaver
I've been deliberating over this for a while, but I finally decided that I needed to rebrand myself to offer a stronger identity to my work. A Wilderness Within served me well in the beginning. It played to my sensibilities as a writer, an introvert who viewed the writing journey as a vast, lonely wasteland … Continue reading Blurred Worlds…the new name for a Wilderness Within
Okay guys, here it is...the first look at the cover for the next instalment of the Forest Town Chronicles: Foreverland. Due out Oct 31st. Would love your thoughts. Also....I'm looking for ARC readers to receive a pre-launch copy of the book for an honest review on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. If you're interested please leave a … Continue reading Foreverland – Cover Reveal
I'm awake, and all I hear is some twat on TV selling kitchen knives. I can’t move. I can’t open my eyes. I think I was shot last night. Or stabbed. I have the worst pain in my side, like TV twat is actually stabbing me with a paring knife. I can live with the … Continue reading Nothing Else Matters
In this never ending struggle to get words onto paper we have to celebrate the small wins when they happen. So...yay me, I've finally finished that short fiction piece I was supposed to have published back in November. (Admittedly, I did have a data-loss meltdown that made me question my whole existential being and philosophy on … Continue reading Five golden nuggets for writers to take-away!
She sells sanctuary, twenty-five pounds a turn in the comfort of your own car. We used to sit together in fifth-year English, drawing graffiti on the desks and throwing paper-bombs behind the teacher's back. Now she plies her trade along the broken pavements where the foundries were left to ruin, their chimney stacks ready to … Continue reading She Sells Sanctuary
She plays to an audience of one, battered fingers repeating notes that remind her of the summer rain (la lluvia de verano), that fell in arpeggios on the courtyard where the jasmin bloomed. Gone are the flowers (all the colour), yet their perfume lingers in the bedsheets where she surrendered to his overtures, the … Continue reading Audience of One
I always enjoyed creative writing at primary school, but I think it was Basic Instinct that made we want to be a writer for real. (That kinda sounds like we regularly watched soft porn/ murder flicks at school. We didn't. It was only some of the time!) For anyone who hasn't seen the film, Catherine … Continue reading I think Basic Instinct made me want to be a writer…
