Monthly Round-up: November 2014

It's the end of November already. Lots of stuff going on at the moment, and I don't just mean writing-wise. Sometimes Real Life gets in the way as well.

COMING SOON/OUT NOW

Quite a lot to report in this category!

DEATH SCENE is part of a promotional bundle pack organised by MuseItUp, which includes four mysteries by five authors for the bargain price of $1.99. This is a limited-time deal, so get it now. And, of course, DEATH SCENE is available on its own, too.

DEAD COOL, the second Shara Summers book, is out now!  Yay!!

I am also pleased to be able to announce that a story of mine is included in the forthcoming anthology THE DARK HEART OF PEEPING TOM, by Exaggerated Press. The anthology features stories that appeared in the 1990s horror fanzine PEEPING TOM, which included early work from a lot of now well-known British horror writers. And me...

The story of mine that features is "Jim Hendrix Eyes" which is now my most-published story - this is its fourth appearance. The anthology will be launched at the British Fantasy Society open night on 5 December.  Everyone is welcome at open nights, whether you are a member of the BFS or not.  If you happen to be in London that night, do come along.

If you can't, well you can still buy the book - just click on the link above.

PROMOTIONAL STUFF

This month I've been interviewed by Stuart West, and I was a guest on the Red River Radio blog talk radio show, the recording of which is still available to listen to.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Let's not go there.  Really.  My WIP is not co-operating.  When I get it behaving itself again, I will report.

My next update will be at the end of 2014 - where has this year gone??

A Publishing Milestone

(Cross-posted)

This month, I finally achieved something I'd been wanting to do for the past two years. I self-published my first collection of short dark suspense stories on Amazon, both for Kindle and the upcoming print edition. Malice and Mayhem: Tales of the Macabre are eleven stories, five previously published, that deal with how strong emotions like jealousy, obsession, and vengeance can often have detrimental, even deadly consequences.

I noticed that many of my characters, both in my short stories and in my longer works, are often seeking vengeance or are obsessed with wanting something, no matter how dangerous it might be. In "Obsession," Corinne cannot get over the fact her dead ex-boyfriend had a girlfriend before her, and she's determined to use necromancy to find out who he loved more. In "Family Tradition," a cursed kris (wavy dagger) forces a young man to commit murder, and he finds getting rid of the weapon is a lot harder than he expected.

These stories are influenced by the dark suspense shows of my past, namely Thriller, Night Gallery, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The idea is not to slather the stories in gore for the sake of scaring readers, but to leave them feeling uneasy. (Although there are some graphic descriptions, the overall rating for the book would probably be 14 and up.)

You can find out more about Malice and Mayhem and read the entire first short story, "It's in Your Blood" by clicking here.

Sometimes, there's truth to the warning, "Be careful what you wish for..."