Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Deshca Designs - metal sculpture

I've been spending a lot of time sculpting lately, and my Etsy shop, Deshca Designs (the name comes from the first two initials of each family member) is now open for business: http://t.co/XxywRzbWCS 

You can also get £5 toward your first Etsy purchase! Redeem now or use later to buy something you’ll love. http://t.co/qpWOyVySuY

I hope you might find something you like. At the moment, postage outside of the UK is expensive, but if you live outside the UK, and there's something you really want to buy, just contact me and I'll let you know the price. 







Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Zombies: More Recent Dead


Edited by Paula Guran and due to be published by Prime Books in September, Zombies: More Recent Dead will feature my story, Till Death do us Part. The collection contains stories by Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry and many others, and I'm pleased to have been selected to feature alongside such great names. 

The living dead are more alive than ever! Zombies have become more than an iconic monster for the twenty-first century: they are now a phenomenon constantly revealing as much about ourselves—and our fascination with death, resurrection, and survival—as our love for the supernatural or post-apocalyptic speculation. Our most imaginative literary minds have been devoured by these incredible creatures and produced exciting, insightful, and unflinching new works of zombie fiction. We've again dug up the best stories published in the last few years and compiled them into an anthology to feed your insatiable hunger... 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Metal Sculpture

I've started a new hobby, making metal sculptures. I've still got a lot of learning to do, but I'm enjoying 'creating' my metal menagerie. Each one takes me a few hours, and I'm learning more with each one I make. These are what I've created so far:








I always enjoyed metalwork classes at school (yes, I can just about remember that far back), so I'm rekindling an early passion. Like anything, practice makes perfect, or at least helps you improve, so now onto the next one ...

My first commission (from my son) for a rhino beetle:


Monday, April 28, 2014

Evilution

Although it was done a couple of months ago, I didn't update on here that my novel Evilution has a new cover by Karri Klawiter and it's been re-edited by Stacey Turner. Both of these people are a pleasure to work with.

It seems a lifetime ago when this was originally published back in 2003! I've learned a lot since then with regards writing, but you never stop learning.

http://www.amazon.com/Evilution-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B004S81HW0/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evilution-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B004S81HW0/

Humankind is about to change ...

Shrouded by fog for nearly two years, the picturesque village of Paradise harbours more than its share of secrets. Having won a cottage in a competition she can't remember entering, Chase Black moves to Paradise, only to discover that its beauty is skin deep - murder and madness fester in its shadows. When her travelling companion, Jane mysteriously disappears, she starts asking questions. Why are the villagers behaving so oddly? Who are the strange figures she sees lurking in the fog? As Chase becomes afraid that something terrible has happened, events escalate dangerously out of control. A virtual prisoner; too late she discovers the real reason she's there ... 

Monday, December 09, 2013

Fangtooth and Voyeurs of Death

Now I have the rights back to both these books, I've re-released them both on Kindle. Fangtooth was previously only available as a limited edition hardback and as a paperback.

After the death of his wife, Bruce Holden moves to the quaint coastal fishing village of Mulberry with his son, Jack. He is hoping for a fresh start, but the locals greet their arrival with mixed reactions, from friendliness to open hostility. Bruce puts it down to them being outsiders, but when a tourist is killed while swimming, the real horror is unleashed. There's something ravenous in the sea. Something that's coming ashore in search of prey. Now Bruce and Jack find themselves embroiled in a nightmare where humankind is no longer at the top of the food chain. 

First there was the Creature From The Black Lagoon… 
Then there was Jaws… 
Prepare yourself for Fangtooth.


http://www.amazon.com/Fangtooth-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B00H6QKXP8/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fangtooth-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B00H6QKXP8/

Herein are found a diverse mix of the sinister, erotic, strange and surreal. From the foreboding alleyways of Venice to a bleak Scottish island, the horror is never far away. A young boy fixes dead things. You can't always judge a man by the cut of his suit, especially when the suit isn't made of cloth. A relaxing cruise is anything but once the passengers start to die, only to then come back to life. And a trip to the past has dire consequences for the future. Now turn the page and join the voyeurs of death.

http://www.amazon.com/Voyeurs-Death-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B00H6UJO18/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Voyeurs-Death-Shaun-Jeffrey-ebook/dp/B00H6UJO18/

Saturday, September 07, 2013

Sanctuary (or to some, a shed)

I've spent the last week building a Summerhouse, which is to be my new writing retreat. It's a cabin that I don't have to trek through the woods to reach (unless I use my imagination). Some people might call it a shed, but regardless of what it's called, I hope that it will help inspire me to write more. It can be hard to write in the house, surrounded by distractions, so I hope that it helps, otherwise I'll have to turn it into an outdoor bar and get drunk instead ;)








Thursday, July 11, 2013

Guest post by Eric Tomlinson

Jumping through hoops is for circus animals

Life would be so much easier if I could learn how to jump through hoops. Not doing has been a character flaw I’ve had since birth. Teacher’s told me to question everything and then became irate when I asked why?
Where others backed their books, did the assignments and prepared for lessons, I was the kid doing his homework in the playground, a few scribbled lines instead of a page. Term marks were one of those hoops I didn’t understand.
The school said I was intelligent and had to work hard so that I could go to University. I had other ideas. I wanted to work and had no intention of staying in school for any longer than I needed to, far too many rules.
Even when I started working, the first thing I was told was “You’re really bright. It would be a waste not sending you to college, maybe even university.” What was wrong with these people?
Once, I even tried to do what they asked and went back to school. I’m big, loud and noticeable. When I’m bored, I become even more noticeable. When I’m in a room with a halfwit, who doesn’t know the subject they’re teaching, I’m obnoxious.
Probably the main reason I started to write is I love to entertain. Of course I’d like to get rich from it, but I need to enthral and make people laugh. I can be a show-off, always craving an audience.
I wrote, wrote and wrote again until I believed I had something worth showing to the world. The time had come to publish. After a few queries I found the route to the audience was barred by publishers and agents.
No problem, I’ve got a good product (I thought.) After a few rejections, I started to research more about what these people wanted. I knew it had to be modern (tick,) well written (tick), grammatically correct (tick), targeted at the agent’s market (tick).
Then I started to notice the weirder conditions coming out in blogs, tweets and interviews. “If I see ‘was’ on the first page, I reject it.” “If I can touch two -ly words with two fingers, I give it two fingers.” One
that really cracked me up was, “I hate books with a character called Isabel who is called Izzy.”
To the best of my knowledge I’d never break a law, but I don’t get along too well with rules.
Mathematics is governed by laws, such as, BODMAS. Publishing appears to be governed by rules. When the runaway successes of recent years ignore them, there’s little incentive to join the game.
For me, when a story is done. It’s done. I’m not going to revisit it to rework the style, remove or add characters because somebody else feels it might help. I need to file the job away and move on.
This is why I decided to self-publish; I’d rather have a smaller audience now, than keep waiting for the gate-keepers to give me a chance to play on the big stage.
What’s it cost so far?
I don’t count the cost of the writing course. That was about three hundred pounds and proved the best money I’ve ever spent. I loved it and when it finished, I seriously considered going back to do it again.
I needed an editor to work through the story with me, a cover and ISBN’s. So far, that totals six hundred and twenty-five pounds. As leisure activities go, I think this is acceptable.
The biggest cost by far, is time. That’s a commodity I don’t have enough of.
Writing time is my most precious. I try to guard that, but often find I can only manage twenty- thirty minutes a day. Oh, the delight of a client at the end of the train line, rather than up the M6.
The editing, I originally thought was boring, but now appreciate as part of the creative process. Michael Angelo didn’t hack David out of a block of stone with a single massive chisel. He used increasingly finer, more delicate tools. I swap from screen, to paper, to Kindle as I progress, going around the loop about three times.
Preparing the documents for publication has been fairly trivial. The Kindle format took a couple of days. Createspace will be easier next time, taking about five days. One of my biggest glitches was that I’d not included the first three pages, copyright, title etc. They took hours to get right.
By far, the most begrudged cost is the time spent marketing. I know I should love it. Whilst I’ve already hinted I’m an extrovert. Seeking an audience has always been on my terms. Marketing is staying active, regardless of how I’m feeling.
If I didn’t see Dawn French and Richard Madeley doing Breakfast TV, I’d feel hard done to. They have to get up, wear makeup and appear cheerful at that god-awful time. Hang on, that’s how my day starts …

Amara's Daughter by E H Howard
One Liner:
Swords, Sandals and Sex – High fantasy on speed
Blurb:
Carved from ice with blades of fire, the rigidly feminist state of Serenia breeds heroes. Unimaginably perfect, Amara the Magnificent, the legendary Ultimate Warrior is their greatest.
Five years since Amara’s mysterious disappearance, her daughter, Maryan, struggles to escape her mother’s formidable shadow. Shunned by most, her only friends are oddball characters from the edge of society.
The Queen sees Maryan as an asset to the nation, a pawn to play with and a pretty bauble to appease the neighbouring king, but lurking beneath the surface, an ancient terror plots to wipe out Maryan’s bloodline.
Friend, lover, and more, Amara’s Daughter is a turbulent, rite of passage story tracing Maryan’s growth from naive schoolgirl to the woman destiny needs her to be.
Extract:
On the arena floor, Asti dropped her full weight through her knee on Barag’s windpipe. A short stab wedged her tiny scissors deep into the man’s left eye. She stood up and pounded them into his brain with her heel.
In the silence that followed, she pointed at the Queen. “If you won’t honour our traditions, maybe it’s time for us to change the leader of our nation.” Keeping her back rigidly straight, she marched purposefully across to the shadow of the tunnel.

Nobody moved and nobody cheered. The body of the fallen man twitched in a growing pool of blood.

Biography:
Living in Cheshire with my wife and our two dogs (Milly and Molly,) I’ve run a successful computer consultancy for many years. The business continues to thrive and I feel blessed that people pay me to solve complex problems for them.
One day, we hope to spend a portion of our year on the Greek islands, where I would love to spend most days writing, but for now, I’m content that with three adult children, I’m being presented with grandchildren at a fabulous rate.
I split my writing time between short stories and novels. I love to take the challenge of creating a viable story in a reduced number of words for flash competitions.
At the top of my list of all-time favourites are CS Lewis and JRR Tolkein. Following them are Robert Jordan and Trudi Canavan, with a whole host of modern writers cramming up behind, including Kim Harrison (Hollows series), Margaret Stohl/ kami Garcia (Caster Chronicles) and Ben Aaaronovitch (Rivers of London.)
Links:
Website:

Blog:

Facebook:

Amara's Daughter is available from:

Twitter: @ehhowarduk

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Mini Promotion Blitz

After the last promotion blitz that I did for The Kult, I decided to plan another one for the second book in the series, Killers. Using the results from last time, I am using the following places for ads to promote the 99c sale:

June 25th: Bookbub
June 25th: Ebook bargain news
June 25th: Indie Book Bargains
June 27th: Bookblast
June 28th: ENT
July 1st: Kindle Books and Tips





Three of those are prepaid ads, which have cost $325 ((£211). ENT charge after the promotion, asking for 25% of the money from the sales their ad generated. 

For the last promotion, Bookbub ran the The Kult as a horror novel, this time Killers is being run as a thriller. 


The results after the first day are excellent and any reservations I had about promoting the second book in a series have been blown away.

Amazon.com total sales: 811
Amazon.co.uk: 8

Amazon.com sales rank: #150 Paid in Kindle Store

Sales of the first book, The Kult at full price, 42

Barnes & Noble sales rank: 30 (won't know actual sales there until Smashwords updates)



http://www.amazon.com/Killers-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B005U3KOUI/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Killers-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B005U3KOUI/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/killers-shaun-jeffrey/1107044351?ean=2940032810643&itm=1&usri=shaun+jeffrey




Saturday, May 04, 2013

Paid Promotion Blitz Experiment

My experiences with paid advertising have been mediocre, but in those cases, it's usually been a single random add posted now and again. Now I've planned a promotion blitz with my novel, The Kult, starting next weekend. I'm using lots of sites to see whether combining them over a few days will work better (of course what works for one book won't work for another and there are lots of variables).

 So first, the stats. The Kult has been out for a few years now, but I've decided to give it a big push. The story has been filmed by an independent production company and is currently in post production. On Amazon.com it has 28 reviews and an average of 4.4 stars. On Amazon.co.uk it has 25 reviews and an average of 4.4 stars too. (On Goodreads it has 191 ratings with an average of 4.02).

Now I've already reduced the price from $2.99 to 99c to avoid any mishaps for the planned week, and I'm promoting utilising the following sites: 

May 11th
http://www.bookbub.com/home/
http://bargainebookhunter.com/ 
http://storyfinds.com/ 
http://www.booktweetingservice.com/
http://www.indie-book-bargains.co.uk/
http://booksliced.com/
http://mommasaysread.com/
http://addictedtoebooks.com/
http://www.freebookshub.co.uk/
http://www.eBookLister.net
http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/ 

May 12th
http://www.freebooksy.com/
http://kindlenationdaily.com/ 
http://bookiniste.com/
http://www.ehorrorbargains.com/

May 13th
http://www.thekindlebookreview.net/
http://www.kboards.com/
http://thecheapebook.com/live/
http://www.ereaderutopia.com/
http://ereadernewstoday.com/

May 14th
http://www.bookblast.co/
http://thefrugalereader.com/
http://digitalbooktoday.com/

May 15th
http://www.kuforum.co.uk/ 

(I've also contacted the following sites, but promotion is not guaranteed and I've not heard back from them at the moment: http://www.pixelofink.com) and http://blog.booksontheknob.org/)

Of course I'd love any help people can give me by reposting any ads or links they see during the promotion.

The total cost of this promotion blitz is $613 (£393) and to recoup my costs I've got to sell 1751 copies. I'll post the results after the event. And here's a couple of links to the books:

http://www.amazon.com/Kult-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B004TGT3S6/ 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kult-Prosper-Snow-novel-ebook/dp/B004TGT3S6/ 

Barnes & Noble

Sunday, April 28, 2013

The subconscious mind and acupuncture.


Have you ever turned left when you should have turned right, or vice-versa? Ever wondered why? I did this last week when taking my son to the hospital at Liverpool. Although we make the trip a couple of times a year, and although I know the way perfectly well, at the end of my road, I turned left instead of right, and it wasn’t until I was a hundred yards or so along the road that I realised my mistake and turned around. But my question is ‘why did I turn left?’ Did something happen subconsciously that made me take the turn? Did my subconscious know something that I didn’t, such as if I’d turned right as I was supposed to, we might have been involved in a traffic accident? I’d like to believe that we do things for a reason, even if we don’t know what that reason is, and that sometimes, a far greater power steps in to help us avoid incidents. Of course I could have just not been concentrating, and I’ll never know for sure, but it would be nice to think someone was watching out for us.

As anyone who has read my blog knows, I sprained my ankle in a mudrun last year, and I’ve been plagued by problems with it since. In order to help my recovery, last week I went for some acupuncture. I also had treatment for my hip, which is also painful, and although I was a little sceptical, I must say that a couple of days later, the pain has noticeably lessened, which is a good thing as next Sunday I’m competing in the Mad Monk run. I will be going back next week for some more treatment, but I wonder who first thought it would be a good idea to use people as pin cushions to help treat them, and who was the first person to actually let them do it? It sounds more like something a sadist would do, but as long as it works, I’m quite happy to continue with the treatment. 


Now although these two things are about different things, they are tied by another strange occurrence. When I was in a running shop in Chester a few weeks ago having my gait tested and buying some new running shoes, the lady serving me mentioned that if I hadn't tried it, then acupuncture might help with the pain from my sprained ankle. I didn't think much of it until a week or so later I was on a course and the instructor mentioned that he had just been for acupuncture, and that he swore by it. Again it seemed that someone or something was guiding me to give it a try, so I obtained the details of the person the instructor used, and well, if you've read this far, you know the rest. 

Serendipity. Chance. Good fortune. Divine intervention. Whatever it is, things often fall into place for reasons we cannot fathom. Shakespeare said it best when he wrote: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Sunday, April 07, 2013

Deadfall (new cover), marathon training and a short break

I recently hired Karri Klawiter to design a new cover for Deadfall (she has previously done covers for The Kult, Killers, Day by Day and The Heist, http://artbykarri.com/) The novel hasn't been available in paperback since the previous publisher closed up shop, but I'm preparing a new paperback version that will hopefully be available soon.

For now, Kindle and Smashwords ebook copies are still available:




                                         ***


A team of mercenaries race to an abandoned mining village to rescue two children held hostage by rogue ex-soldiers. But the kidnappers are a ruse, the real threat more terrifying than any of them could imagine.



Aided by a couple of unsuspecting eco-warriors, mercenary team leader Amber Redgrave must fight to survive against foes that don't sleep and don't feel pain.



Now as the body count rises, so do the stakes, and when the dead won't stay dead, there's going to be hell to pay.

                                                      ***

I recently decided to enter my first marathon (I think all this exercise is either my mid-life crisis or the fear of my own mortality. Either that or I'm just going crazy): The Lock Ness Marathon in September. It's still around five months away, but my training has already hit an obstacle when my previously sprained ankle started playing up again. I don't know whether this was compounded by changing my running style, as I have tried to adopt a midfoot strike, which involves different muscles to those I was using previously. It's supposed to be a more efficient way of running, as my previous style was more of a heel strike, which is like putting the brakes on all the time. I will have to reserve judgement until I can run again. 

I also had my running gait analysed at Up & Running in Chester, and as I assumed I do slightly overpronate, but not as badly as I feared. While there, I purchased a new pair of shoes (Brooks Adrenaline GTS 13), but I've not been able to try them yet. But as I'm running in the next Wild Warrior race, The Mad Monk next month, I really need to get training again (this one involves yet more obstacles and an open water swim across a river), but I don't want to rush it and make the pain worse, so I'll just have to settle for less impact exercises such as cycling for now, just to keep my fitness levels up to scratch. 

I really missed not being able to run over the last couple of days though as we had a short break in Greenacres at Porthmadog. I was itching to run along the beach (featured in the picture below), but knew that I had to restrain myself. Anyway, here are a couple of photos I took while there:

It was quite strange seeing a little sunshine while on Black Rock Sands, but then having snow-capped mountains in the distance. 


This second photo is of Llyn Celyn, a large reservoir in the valley of the River Tryweryn in Gwynedd, North Wales. The water was so calm that it resulted in this perfect mirror image. 

Monday, March 04, 2013

Win a special limited edition novella, The Heist

I'm running a very special competition to win 1 of 10 physical copies of my new release, The Heist. These are a special limited edition as there are no other physical copies available, and they are not for sale (ebook Kindle copies are available to buy from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk). 

Each copy is signed and numbered and I'll be giving 6 copies away. Instructions to win one are below, but it's easy to enter and just requires either signing up to the newsletter, posting on Twitter etc, or a combination of all possible ways. 

Good luck to all those who enter. 





a Rafflecopter giveaway


After a vicious robbery at a theme park, callous gang leader, Greg Armstrong blows up a rollercoaster to aid their escape, resulting in eighty-seven deaths. Months later, Kurt Vaughn and his family are enjoying a day out geocaching, but Kurt is about to discover that there’s more to the treasure hunt than he realises as the caches supposedly lead to the stolen money, and the crooks are on the trail. Now Kurt and his family find themselves pawns in a far more deadly game. 

Novella approximately 24k words.

(For all budding sleuths or those who like puzzles, there's a puzzle at the end of the story that if you can work it out, gives you details of a webpage where you can play a mini, interactive text adventure. It ideally requires a Java enabled web browser for one part, although it will work without.)


Monday, February 25, 2013

Horror and Dark Fiction in the U.S. Guest Blog By JG Faherty






 
Today I have a guest post by JG Faherty, whose work I would highly recommend you check out. So without further ado, take it away, JG:

You folks reading this may not know me, but Shaun Jeffrey does. That's why I'm guest blogging today.



Shaun and I go way back, although we've never met. We became acquainted via the internet (no dirty thoughts – it was a writer's critique group!) and grew to be friends. This happened because we enjoyed each other's writing and shared a love of horror and what I call dark fiction, which can cover everything from straightforward mysteries to mystery-action adventure with a supernatural twist.

Shaun has graciously allowed me to hog his blog today because I'm promoting a new novel, The Burning Time. It's a supernatural tale involving country magic, good-vs.-evil, a town under siege by a malevolent being, and a touch of Lovecraftian mythos tossed in for good measure. You folks in the U.K. can purchase it on Amazon or barnesandnoble.com. But that's not what I want to talk about today.Today I want to talk about the similarities and differences between U.K. horror and U.S. horror. At least as I see them.

I don't know about your side of the pond, but over here some people find it difficult to read U.K. writers. Oh, sure, you've got the big names who do well: Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Tim Lebbon. And I'm sure we've got a few names who you'd recognize immediately: Stephen King, Peter Straub, Dean Koontz. But we both have many other writers, fine writers, who seem to get lost in the shuffle or overlooked because of the which side of the Atlantic they write on.

Now, right off the bat, let's do away with the silly claims that it's all about language. Sure, there are some differences. Your writers use 'ou' instead of just 'o' in certain words (color vs. colour) or 's' instead of 'z' (realisation vs. realization). Some of your slang is different ('er' or 'erm' for you, 'um' for us when expression hesitation; you use 'bloody' as an adjective to express strong irritation or to emphasize foul language while we usually just add a second naughty word). But it's not like we speak two different languages (Cockney aside; I mean, who the hell can understand that? It's worse than trying to decipher Australian slang!). Seriously. I'm pretty sure you're understanding everything I write for this blog, and if I read a sentence like "Tim realised Derrick was a creature from another planet right before the bloody arsehole shot him in the leg." I'm not sitting there scratching my head in confusion. Furthermore, with the way our planet is turning into one big community, thanks to phones and TV and Twitter and Facebook, we're sharing plenty of common slang and definitely cursing at each other in common ways.

So language is off the table. Is it sensibilities? I doubt it. If you read the horror and dark fiction genres, you're not easily offended, man or woman. Just check out Sarah Pinborough's website and blog, or her facebook page. She looks like an angel but curses like a sailor. And she's written many a bloody, gory scene in her novels to go along with the terrifyingly suspenseful ones.

Is it political or economic differences? No. That may have been true a hundred years ago, but no longer. You have a Queen and a Parliment; we have a President and a Congress. But we share a common problem – most politicians are damn crooks! Plus, we're all in the same economic downward spiral. Jobs are scarce, we hate our bosses, the rich are always trying to screw the middle class. Other than Europe mucking around with the Euro and trying to create a global currency, the only difference is who we have to pay our taxes to.

So what is it, then? Well, I have an idea. It's style.

The U.K, style for horror and dark fiction involves more suspense; things don't always start with a big bang and then rocket page after page, adventure to adventure, until a climax is reached. The pace is often slower, with a steady, suspenseful build up to the climax.
Here in the U.S., much more of our writing is rapid and fast from the start; even the pace of the language is faster.

Now, I'm not blaming you for this. I can blame you for Simon Cowell and haggis and the unexplainable popularity of Indian food, but not for the differences in our writing. This one falls entirely on us, much like Justin Bieber and the Kardashians.

America is a land of instant gratification. Fast food (we invented McDonalds so we could eat on the go), fast music (we corrupted classic heavy metal into speed metal), and fast movies/television (we took the rapid style of MTV videos and made it an essential part of all movies and TV shows). And we've done it with books, too. Nowadays, you have about ten seconds to grab a reader's interest or he/she is gone. Attention spans over here are like those of children on sugar highs.

Sure, there are some American writers who have succeeded while sticking with the more traditional suspense model – what Charles L. Grant called 'quiet horror' – but they are few and far between. Peter Straub. Charles L. Grant. Ray Bradbury. These are writers who did – and still do, in Straub's case – build a story slowly, using atmosphere like a main character. Every chapter didn't have to be the literary equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino or Guy Richie movie.

Here's the problem, though. In the U.S., most readers want that rapid-fire style, because it's the only thing that keeps their attention focused on the book. For us, it's like going back and watching the movies of the 40s or 50s. Tooooo Sloooooow.

We don't know how to sit down, relax, and just read.

This is a particular problem for me, as a writer, because I tend to prefer the slow, suspenseful model. Not that I'm writing with the same pace as Masterpiece Theater – god help me! But I do like to create layers, to build to climaxes instead of just slapping readers with one after another.

This is probably one of the reasons Shaun and I grew to appreciate each other's writing. He knows how to do this, too. He doesn't shy away from blood and guts, he doesn't forget to include the chapter and ending climaxes that make your hair stand on end or keep you wondering who the killer is until the very last page, but he does build to those climaxes. He sets the stage, he uses setting and feelings and tiny, hidden clues to make you climb that ladder before you suddenly realize how high you are and you're about to fall off.

A book is like a roller coaster. There are two kinds: the ones that race up and down the hills with two speeds – fast and really fast. Then there are the ones that go slower up the hills, so you feel each vibration, each clink and clunk that makes you wonder if the tracks are falling apart and you're about to tumble to your death. That steady uphill climb also give you time to think about exactly how high you are, and how steep and dangerous that eventual downhill run is going to be. It puts that knot in your stomach as you wait.....

It's called anticipation, and it's what's lacking in a lot of U.S. novels today. It's a style I wish more writers would return to.

Think about movies. What scared you more, The Exorcist or Saw? Sure, Saw was bloody, but did it leave you frightened afterwards? Or how about the difference between the original Alien and the foolishness of Alien vs. Predator?

Suspense. It's what makes horror and mysteries truly terrifying.

So, if you like to be frightened, like to be kept on the edge of your seat, let me recommend some books to you:

By me (gotta plug myself!): The Burning Time, Carnival of Fear, The Cold Spot
By Shaun (gotta plug my friend!): The Heist, The Kult, Voyeurs of Death
By other writers: The Hidden (Sarah Pinborough), Julia, Shadowland (Peter Straub), Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury), Pressure (Jeff Strand)

Besides THE BURNING TIME, JG Faherty is the author of the Bram Stoker Award®-nominated GHOSTS OF CORONADO BAY. His other books include CEMETERY CLUB, CARNIVAL OF FEAR, THE COLD SPOT, and HE WAITS, along with 50-odd short stories. Although he is American to the core, he does enjoy Guinness, fish & chips, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and British heavy metal. As a child, his favorite playground was a 17th-century cemetery, which many people feel explains a lot. You can follow him at www.twitter.com/jgfaherty, www.facebook.com/jgfaherty, http://about.me/jgfaherty, and www.jgfaherty.com.

Thursday, February 07, 2013

The Heist

After a vicious robbery at a theme park, the callous gang leader, Greg Armstrong blows up a rollercoaster to aid their escape, resulting in eighty-seven deaths. Months later, Kurt Vaughn and his family are enjoying a day out geocaching, but Kurt is about to discover that there’s more to the treasure hunt than he realises as the caches supposedly lead to the stolen money, and the crooks are on the trail. Now Kurt and his family find themselves pawns in a far more deadly game. 

Novella approximately 24k words.

(For budding sleuths and those who like puzzles there's a bonus puzzle at the end of the story that leads to a webpage to play a mini text adventure. It ideally requires a Java enabled web browser for one part, although the game will work without.)

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk


I'd wanted to write a story that involved geocaching, and this is what I came up with. Now as geocaching is basically a form of treasure hunting that involves GPS, I thought it might be cool to try to incorporate a puzzle based treasure hunt. I achieved this by creating a mini text based adventure that can be found by cracking the code at the end of the story, which leads to a webpage where the interactive element begins. I hope people enjoy it!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Warhammer 40k, Heldrake



Okay, the next model I've attempted to paint, is the Heldrake. The Heldrake is a mechanical flying creature, a Chaos fusion of flesh, metal and bone which preys upon both troops and vehicles alike. With a pair of huge claws that it uses to rip apart enemy units, the Hell Drake utilises surprise tactics to swoop down from the skies and deliver enemy troops to their doom. This one is fitted with a baleflamer, which spews daemonic fire.

It took me about three days to finish painting ( I made the mistake of assembling most of it first, which made it trickier to tackle), and I decided to have a little fun with it and mix it up so that it's not all one colour. All that's left to do now is the base.