Monthly Round-Up: September 2015

This blog has been a tad neglected of late. That doesn't mean there's nothing going on. On the contrary - things have been extremely busy, and thus I have a lot of news to report as we move out of September.

OUT NOW
 
I am pleased to announce that FEMME FATALE, an anthology of horror stories by women, is now available in print and on the Kindle. All profits from this book are going to a charity that supports victims of domestic violence, so if you buy a copy, your hard-earned cash is going to a good cause. And of course you get to enjoy an outstanding collection of stories. My story 'The Haunted Dolls' House' features.

And of course THE WHISPERING DEATH is also available to buy now. I also want to add a reminder that another anthology featuring one of my stories, FORMER HEROES, has also been released recently.

PUBLICITY/FORTHCOMING EVENTS
 
I had a blog swap earlier this week with fellow MuseItUp author Susan Royal. She appeared on my blog talking about tim travel, and I appeared on hers talking about why I wear many hats.

There are a great deal of events going on in real space in the forthcoming month, and I shall be kept very busy. For starters I am attending two conventions in October. The first is Bristol Horror Con on the 17th, where I am appearing on a panel at 11am about the use and abuse of horror in literature through the ages.

The following weekend I'm off to FantasyCon in Nottingham, which runs from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October. On the Friday at 5pm I'm on a panel about the use of fear in horror - an appropriate topic, since I did my dissertation on this very subject when studying for my English degree. The launch for THE WHISPERING DEATH will be happening at FantasyCon on the Saturday, at 8pm. That day also happens to be my birthday. If you're at FantasyCon please come to the launch; that will be enough of a birthday gift.

And, speaking of launches, this is of course the second launch for THE WHISPERING DEATH. The first will be held at The Brook independent arts centre and bar in Wallington, Surrey at 7pm on Wednesday 14 October. This launch is for everyone who isn't going to be at FantasyCon, and if you're UK based in the London/South East area and can attend, do please drop me a line. I am attaching a copy of the official invite. There will be free bubbly, if that makes a difference...

WORK IN PROGRESS
 
And amongst all this, I'm still hard at work on two WIPs. The third Shara Summers novel, SPOTLIGHT ON DEATH, stands at nearly 40,000 words and I am aiming to get this finished by the end of this year.

The second WIP is a horror novel about urban explorers, as yet untitled. Thus far only 2,000 words of it exist. I'm aiming to get this one finished by Summer 2016.

So, I have a lot of work to do. I may be neglecting the blog a bit longer as I race my way through my busy October. But if you're going to be at the Cons at either Bristol or Nottingham, do say hello!

Fiends: Ten Tales of Demons is Live

Cover for Fiends: Ten Tales of Demons

I'm a bit late posting this, since Fiends: Ten Tales of Demons has been out since August. But considering I had two conventions since then (Indie Gathering and Imaginarium), plus books to read and score for a contest, I suppose I can be forgiven the delay.

Fiends is the eleventh Ten Tales anthology edited and published by Rayne Hall, and the sixth one I have a story in, this one being "Inner Demon," about a hemophobic serial killer desperate to break his homicidal curse.

I've written short stories and short novels ever since I first started writing. My first attempts at writing horror were penning three stories on notebook paper and stapling them together, then passing them around for my sixth grade classmates to read. On the back of each "issue" I asked for their feedback. Despite being the unpopular kid, the one bullied, and picked last in gym, my fellow students liked my writing. Go figure.

Other authors have told me they can't write short stories, that they can't condense their plots like the format requires. Maybe growing up reading collections of short stories in Alfred Hitchcock anthologies, or perusing pulp fiction "trained" me to write concisely, and that's why it tends to be easier for me. Then again, I don't overthink it.

However, because I now have an agent, I have to write longer books, and that has not been as difficult as I'd feared, although I do find it a challenge. So one might say I'm like the authors I mentioned above, only on the other side of the spectrum. But I've done it, and now I'm awaiting to hear from a publisher on one of those books.

You can find Fiends: Ten Tales of Demons on Amazon Kindle. A print book is scheduled for release later this year.

Indie Gathering

This past weekend, I attended Indie Gathering International Film Festival in Hudson, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. I went with two author friends, Amy and Missy, and we had a table in the vendor hall, so I took copies of the Reel Dark anthology to sell. I also had rack cards of Death Sword and Exterminating Angel, my two paranormal angel suspense stories. They were the reason I was at Indie Gathering. Both short novels had received an award each.

I'll admit, this is one of the best-run festivals I've been to. All events took place in the hotel, and there was plenty of networking as well as viewing films and attending panels. I went to the short thriller-suspense films and Missy attended the panel on crowd funding. Amy had a couple of short films also screening.

Which got me thinking, could I come up with a short film for submission for next year, plus another screenplay or two? Seeing how they show micro films, maybe it's a possibility that I can enter a project I'm currently playing around with.

Anyway, I have one more con to attend this year in Louisville, Kentucky: Imaginarium. It's a multi-genre writers' conference, with panels, a vendor hall, and a film festival, plus awards banquet.  I'll be sharing a table with Amy and Missy in the vendor hall, which is free to the public this year. Looking forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends again.