Vacation Reads Blog Tour - week 2

If you're planning your holiday, don't forget to pack an exciting book.

This week's Vacation Reads Blog Tour features four new titles, including interviews with the authors, book blurbs, and more. Check for more information at the Vacation Reads web site and don't forget to leave comments on at least one of the participating blogs (see Vacation Reads for the full list), as well as on the site itself, to enter the drawing to win prizes that include copies of the authors' books, and more!




AETHER AGE ANTHOLOGY, edited by Brandon Bell

A past remade…

Take flight on airships, balloons, and wooden rockets. Soar with winged hoplites, exiled princesses, explorers and philosophers. Witness the struggle for equality, freedom, and power like you never have before.

Explore a history transformed and travel into the heavens to discover what awaits the civilizations of Humanity in...

Tell us about this anthology, Brandon. What was it like for you to work as editor?

Aether Age: Helios was my first crack at working as editor. By the time Aether Age grew into something almost ready to open to submissions, Chris Fletcher made the offer for me to co-edit the anthology, probably on the basis of my involvement to that point, coupled with what he knew of me as a writer. Being a decent writer does not equal a decent editor, but I'd also done the guest post on M-Brane outlining my ideas about what makes a good story, so Chris must have believed he had enough data about what kind of editor I might be to feel some confidence.

I've read interviews with editors that I respect and blog posts by writers discussing their experience in magazines and anthologies. Writers sometimes feel betrayed by the inclusion of another story, or otherwise compromised due to an inclusion, exclusion, or lack of editorial vision. And depending on the lens, Chris and I could look either terribly unpromising or a potential win —at least in the matter of a diversity of views: two white guys (ah, hmmm), a gay guy and a straight guy (oh, could be interesting), a non-christian and a buddhist (really?). All these are just details, though. Diversity was never even a discussion we had, it just happened. I'm happy on this point: we have a nice balance of female to male and a great world-spanning contributor list.

Ok, but what about the stories?

Yes, that's what matters. I won't name names, but I find reassurance that the tale I liked least during our reading period has grown into one of my favorites. Story, well told, trumps the most jaded of reader expectations.

Our guiding editorial principle was simply to cover the range of time envisioned with interesting tales that varied in tone. We didn't want a bunch of dark stories or only stories that dealt with swashbuckling and adventure. Though AeA has all that.

Some of the stories are not 'my type of tale'. Not the sort of thing I'd typically read. And I'm really happy about those stories. I know a book like Aether Age, so difficult to blurb or explain, is going to be a hard sell for readers of a more romantic or mainstream bent, but I wish I could put it in the hands of exactly that reader. There's just enough darkness, danger, and adventure to make the gentle moments and so very human relationships echo in the way that only seems to happen when a set of stories are presented as facets of their own history.

We all love superstars. Having a superstar in AeA would help sell copies, for sure. Well, we didn't get the literary equivalent of U2 or The Beatles. And that is good. If you are like me, you've had that pet band you know and love that just never attained the household name-recognition of the superstars. The Mars Volta, The Tragically Hip, Arcade Fire, Portishead... notwithstanding my Canadian readers for whom a couple of these ARE huge bands, down here in Texas these are the good stuff that no one seems to know about.

Maybe we have some future superstars in our midst among the AeA table of contents. We certainly have writers who are widely published and making names for themselves. But for now, here's the short story equivalent to the 'educational mixtape' you might put together in the hopes of pulling your hopelessly misled buddies away from Lil Wayne and Justin Beaber.

In that same spirit I present to you The Aether Age: Helios. For your enjoyment and edification.



THE KULT by Shaun Jeffrey

The Kult - People are predictable. That's what makes them easy to kill.

Tell us about yourself, Shaun.

My name’s Shaun Jeffrey, and having grown up in a house in a cemetery, it’s pretty safe to assume I was never going to be writing love stories, and perhaps goes some way to explaining my attraction to the dark side of the literary spectrum.

I’ve been writing on and off for around twenty years, and it never gets any easier. But then that’s all part of the challenge and the fun. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and while everyone may have a story to tell, not everyone can tell it.

Now along with cover pictures, I think taglines are important. They sum up the story in as few words as possible and hopefully entice readers to buy the book. Or at least to give it more than a passing glance. ‘People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.’ That’s the tagline to my novel, The Kult, which is a fast paced serial killer story that contains a mix of horror, crime and mystery.

Is it true that it has been optioned for a movie?

The book was optioned at the end of last year by Gharial Productions, and shooting on the film begins in September. www.gharialproductions.com. It will be interesting and exciting to see my story brought to life, a story that award winning author Jonathan Maberry called ‘a bumpy ride through nightmare country’. I have two other novels available, ‘Deadfall’ – when the dead won’t stay dead there’s going to be hell to pay. And ‘Evilution’ – humankind is about to change.

Details of these and any other projects can be found on my website: www.shaunjeffrey.com and sample chapters and my previously published short story collection ‘Voyeurs of Death’ can be read for free at http://www.scribd.com/document_collections/2519626



BASED UPON AVAILABILITY by Alix Strauss

What is your book about, Alix?

Based Upon Availability delves into the lives of eight seemingly ordinary women, each who pass through Manhattan’s swanky Four Seasons Hotel. While offering sanctuary to some, solace to others, the hotel captures their darkest and twisted moments as they grapple with family, sex, power, love, and death. Trish, a gallery owner, obsesses over her best friend’s wedding and dramatic weight loss. Robin wants revenge after a lifetime of abuse at the hands of her older sister. Anne is single, lonely, and suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Drug-addicted rock star Louise needs to dry out. Southerner-turned-wannabe Manhattanite Franny is envious of her neighbors’ lives. Sheila wants to punish her boyfriend for returning to his wife. Ellen so desperately wants children, she’s willing to pretend to be pregnant. And Morgan, the hotel manager— haunted by the memory of her dead sister—is the thread that weaves these women’s lives together.

In this an utterly original read, I try to ask and answer the age-old question; ‘what happens behind closed doors’ while examining the walls we put up as we attempt intimacy, and inspecting the ruins when they’re knocked down.

Alix Strauss
Journalist/Author
www.alixstrauss.com


NATIVE VENGEANCE by Julie Achterhoff

Julie Achterhoff is the author of three books, Native Vengeance, Quantum Earth, and Deadly Lucidity. They are paranormal thrillers. She grew up reading such authors as Stephen King and Dean Koontz, which influenced her own writing. She has been writing since childhood, scaring her teachers with her horror stories. Reading has also been a great influence on her. Her books can be found on amazon.com in regular form, and now on Kindle for $3.19 a piece. They can also be purchased from the publisher at allthingsthatmatterpress.com. You can read parts of her books on BookBuzzr.

Why did you become involved in your particular genre?

I just love scary stuff! It's exciting for me to write stories that will scare people and make them wonder if something like that could really happen. When I was a kid I read every scary book I could get my hands on. I loved H.P. Lovecraft and others that kept me up at night. I enjoy creating characters who are strong, yet also vulnerable, so the reader can relate to them throughout the story. I also enjoy writing a strong storyline that will keep readers engrossed until the very end. I also like adding a romantic element in my books. I think that gives them a little spice. I believe that thrillers are the most interesting books. They can really get to you!

Read more about these, and other great titles at Vacation Reads.

Vacation Reads Blog Tour

Something a little different this week. During the month of July I’m participating with several authors in a group blog tour called Seasonal Reading that will feature different books to lose yourself in during the summer months. My book will feature on another weekend.

Also:

1. Each weekend there will be great prizes, including copies of the featured titles, promotional items, and more! To enter the drawing, please leave a comment on one of the blogs AND on the master site at Seasonal Reads.

2. BONUS DRAWING: If anyone features any of the titles on their blogs and sends the link (in the comments section), they will be eligible for a second drawing, to win more of our great prizes.

Winners will be notified in early August.


* * *

ALIEN DREAMS, by John Rosenman
http://www.johnrosenman.com

Captain Eric Latimore leads a four-person crew to Lagos to investigate a previous team’s mysterious disappearance. Once there, he discovers that an ominous alien presence is invading their dreams. Each member of his crew has the same dream–huge, seductively beautiful “angels” speak to them telepathically.

The creatures strand his crew on the planet and only Latimore can free them–if he survives.

What is different about ALIEN DREAMS, John?

I think Alien Dreams stands out from other space operas because I tried to open myself to and expand the vast conceptual possibilities of the genre. Captain Latimore faces a unique threat to his crew on the planet Lagos: beautiful but deadly angel-like aliens who invade their dreams. To save his crew, he must not only change into a gigantic angel himself, but mate with their ravishing queen for thousands of subjective years. I believe this erotic scene breaks new ground, as does the hero himself, who is not one but two: a silent brother exists within his mind and ultimately tries to take over. Finally, Latimore must travel across the universe and do battle with a cosmic Gatekeeper for control of the universe. In such areas, I try not only to explore new dimensions but to illuminate what it truly means to be human.

* * *

UNSEELIE, by Meredith Holmes
http://www.meredithholmes.com

When Alfhild was a little girl, her grandmother called her a fairy princess and told her all of her favorite tales.

She’d never imagined they were real.

Anxious to avoid the swarming reporters and ghoulish souvenir hunters who won’t leave her alone when her brother Gulliver is tried and acquitted for multiple murders he almost certainly committed, a grown up Alfhild changes her name to Lorelei and flees Louisiana to the sanctuary she inherited from her grandmother, the ancestral home in England.

All is well until she wakes one morning to find a naked man in her rosebush.

And the games begin . . .

Can you tell about your book, Meredith?

I fell in love with urban fantasy by accident–one day I saw a card in a local metaphysical shop, one of those blank jobs that you fill out for random occasions, when you forgot a birthday or need to send a thank you note and don’t like what the mainstream card shops have to offer (you can only deal with so many dancing bunnies and softly flourished flowers, after all). The card had a picture of a autumn-colored man clad in green velvet and wearing a crown of dark leaves. A story sprang into my head about him and I called him Cadfael. By that night, I had the first six chapters of Unseelie written (in their earliest, raw form); Alfhild, Cadfael and Du had taken off and were running away with my plot and the twists and turns of the Unseelie and Seelie Courts were just pouring out into the digital pages. I blithely called it a romance but within a few more chapters, I realized no, it was urban fantasy, a genre I’d shunned as a fantasy purist… Well, fool me! Now that is my genre of choice when I write and I’ve expanded from faeries to include demons, witches, and creatures of all sorts.

* * *

IVAN AND MARYA, by Anna Kashina
http://annakashina.com

Every Solstice, every year, a young girl dies to prolong the life of a madman.

Every Solstice a hero tries to stop them…and dies.

But this is Ivan’s year. Though his brothers plot his death, and the villagers whose daughters are dying warn him not to interfere, Ivan the Fool is determined to stop the sacrifice.

With the help of the immortals, gotten by sympathy, force, or guile, Ivan believes his love will save the beautiful Marya from herself.

Where did the idea for IVAN AND MARYA come from?

I felt that Russian fairy tales have not been explored enough in fiction, and they have so much to offer to a writer and a reader. I built on a most classical one, but also did something different with it. My story is told from two points of view — Marya, who is on the side of ‘evil’, and Ivan, who is on the side of ‘good’, and the contrast between the two creates shades of depth that amazed me when I was working on the story. It was a pleasure to write, and I constantly had this feeling of revelation, as if I am not making this up but uncovering yet another layer of a fascinating world. I also did my best to make it as authentic as possible, down to the details of the Russian Solstice celebration, an ancient tradition that is very much practiced today.

* * *

CHOCOLATIER’S WIFE, Cindy Lynn Speer
http://www.apenandfire.com

Tasmin, William’s wife to be, was chosen by a spell, as all wives and husbands are chosen. It’s a nice, tidy way to find a reasonable mate for almost everyone. Unfortunately, Tasmin is from the North, a place of magic and strange ritual, and William is from the South, where people pride themselves on being above that kind of insanity.

William doesn’t seem in a hurry to send for Tasmin, for which none of his family blame him. After all, she’s a barbarian. She, on the other hand, would like to know what’s keeping him. When he’s framed for murdering his patron, Tasmin takes matters into her own hands. She’s gotten to know William from his letters. He’s not a murderer and she’s going to help him prove it.

Someone out there doesn’t like him and is beginning to dislike Tasmin almost as much, and that someone isn’t at all averse to making sure William and Tasmin aren’t around long enough to celebrate their wedding.

Tasmin, of course, has other plans.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

I am a part time writer… like everyone, I’m juggling a lot of delicate porcelain plates… one for writing, one for work, one for family, one for fencing. It splits your focus… but it also gives you a lot of great ideas and experiences to pull from. Would I like to be a full time writer? For certain. But I think that being forced to go out and talk to people every day, being exposed to life, enriches me and therefore will, hopefully, be reflected in my work. So, in that way, it affects things positively… in the whole productivity issue, well… sometimes things are not so positive.

* * *

COMPOSING MAGIC, Elizabeth Barrette
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

Composing Magic: How to Create Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants, and Prayers guides you through the exciting realm of magical and spiritual writing. Explore the process of writing, its tools and techniques, individual types of composition, and ways of sharing your work with other people. Each type of writing includes its history and uses, covering diverse traditions; plus step-by-step instructions, finished compositions, and exercises. Intended for alternative religions, but it can be generalized to others or used by fiction writers to create background tidbits.

Why did you write this book, Elizabeth?

I spotted a gap in previous material — I have a knack for doing that. Pagan/magical books tell people to write their own rituals, spells, etc. but rarely give any guidance on doing it. Writing books tell people how to write in general, but there were no specific guides for magical writing and not many for spiritual writing. I’m good at figuring out how I do what I do and then explaining it to other folks so they can work through the steps. It wasn’t until the reviews came in for _Composing Magic_ that I realized this is a rather rare skill — most of them mention how clear and doable the instructions are. So now I’m trying to make more use of this skill.

Kindle and doldrums

Firstly, The Kult and Deadfall are now available for the Kindle:

Kult - People are predictable. That's what makes them easy to kill: http://amzn.to/caU4ba

Deadfall - When the dead won't stay dead, there's going to be hell to pay: http://amzn.to/91pRXn

There have been lots of good reviews on Goodreads now for both The Kult and Deadfall, but a number of people still point out that The Kult has spelling and grammatical errors. Now I know what the selling errors are, but the grammatical errors still leave me stumped as I can't spot them - but then I guess if I or the editors had spotted them, they would have been corrected. It's embarrassing, but I hope it doesn't spoil anyone's enjoyment too much.

On the writing front, I'm in a slump. I have a novel to go through but haven't been able to muster up the required enthusiasm. As for writing anything new, I have the ghost of an idea, but nothing concrete, and my lack of enthusiasm leaves me questioning my reason for writing, so I have stalled at the post once more. I'm sure I'll get going soon, but it gets harder and harder to continue. I'm in the literary doldrums, wondering what's the point of it all ...

Fangtooth, props and tattoos

Now anyone who’s followed me for a while knows that I have a manuscript called Fangtooth that I’ve had accepted for publication twice, and both times I’ve withdrawn it for one reason or another. Well I’m pleased to report that it’s been accepted for publication again, this time with the publisher of The Kult and Deadfall. Yes, I’ve just signed a contract with Leucrota Press for it. Hopefully it’s third time lucky. When I get the green light, I’ll post a picture of the cover. The tag line: There’s something in the sea. Something ravenous.

As for the film, a post has been made in The Kult film update about props. I hadn’t really thought about them before, but the article makes me realise how important they are, right down to a tiny thing like a pill bottle! Please feel free to check it out and let me know what you think: http://gharialproductions.com/projects/the-kult/the-filmmaking-process-props/ I’m planning on flying out to see some of the shoot, so I’m just waiting on a schedule so that I can make arrangements. Really looking forwards to it.

As a celebration of all that’s happening, and as a reminder that dreams can come true, I’ve booked an appointment with the tattooist for July 30th (day after my birthday for anyone who wants to buy me a present;)). I’m having my full sleeve done, combining the tattoos that I already have on one arm. I’m planning on a Japanese theme of samurai and koi. The tattooist I’m going to is one that I used to visit 25 years ago, Kev Shercliff of The Midlands Tattoo Centre. There’s a sample of some of his work here: http://www.midlandstattoocentre.com/gallery.php?a=kevs

On the reading front, I’m currently delving into two books: Zombie: An Anthology of the Undead by Christopher Golden and The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)
by Guillermo Del Toro. Highlights so far in the Zombie antho have been Tim Lebbon’s ‘In the Dust’ and Jonathan Maberry’s ‘Family Business’. Lebbon has crafted a poignant story that pulls at the heartstrings, and Maberry has crafted a hauntingly realistic world in the zombie aftermath. The Strain has its moments, but I’m finding the factual interludes distracting as they drag me out of the plot, but it’s well written and engaging when it concentrates on the story.

Hex

We visited the Staffordshire theme park, Alton Towers today (rode the worlds first free fall drop roller coaster, Thirteen - very good), and it reminded me of an artical I wrote a while ago. I had sold the article, but the magazine it was going to appear in went bump, so I thought I'd post it here:

Back in 2000, a new attraction called Hex was unveiled at the popular UK theme park, Alton Towers, which resides in the sleepy heart of Staffordshire. Apart from the ancient castle in the middle of the grounds, Alton Towers seems like any other amusement park with its sinisterly named white knuckle rides like Nemesis and Oblivion. But the Hex attraction stands apart, as it’s based on a true legend.

Advertisements proclaimed it was unlike anything else the park had to offer. It’s not a ride in the conventional sense, but a multimedia tour based around a local legend that goes like this:

“On an autumn night in 1821, the Earl of Shrewsbury was returning to his home in Alton Towers when an old woman suddenly appeared in the road.

The coach stopped to find out why she was there, at which point the old woman begged for a coin.

The Earl cruelly dismissed her, so the old woman placed a curse on him: 'For every branch on the Old Oak Tree here that falls, a member of your family will die.' The Earl dismissed the old woman and carried on his way.
That night, during a violent storm a single branch from the old oak tree broke and fell. Later that same night, a member of the Earl’s family suddenly and mysteriously died. To prevent any more deaths the Earl ordered his servants to chain every branch of the tree together to prevent other branches from falling. To this day the oak tree remains chained up.”

Now although I had been on the Hex ride a couple of times, like most people, I presumed the legend was ‘made up’ for the benefit of the attraction. But then I discovered that the chained oak supposedly really existed in a wood outside the park, and that as a result, the legend had a basis in fact, not fiction.

Intrigued, I wanted to ascertain the chained oak’s validity for myself, and so with my family in tow, I set out to find it.

According to articles I found on the internet, the oak tree could be found a mile or so away from the theme park, in a place called Dimmingsdale wood.

Despite the use of satellite navigation, I still had trouble locating the wood, which didn’t bode well for finding a single tree, but eventually, after navigating a narrow lane only just about wide enough for the car, we arrived at a parking spot from which to begin our search.

With the help of a little advanced internet research and a modern day global positioning satellite system, we exited the car park on foot and proceeded into the trees. After a couple of false starts, we crossed a bridge over the river, and made a steady uphill climb through the green mantle. But as the trees crowded closer, the foliage overhead played havoc with the GPS and I kept losing the signal – at least I told myself it was only a result of the foliage, as I recalled reading online posts from other people that had set out to find the chained oak, only to have been waylaid by misfortune, from simple things such as their cameras not working when they wanted to photograph the tree, to people falling and injuring themselves, or being involved in car crashes after leaving the site.

With the GPS now out of commission, we proceeded up the path, in the direction that the device had indicated before it gave up the ghost. As we climbed, I became aware of a distant rumbling that reverberated through the ground, followed by bloodcurdling screams that gave me pause for thought. It took a moment to realise it was just the adrenaline fuelled cries of the brave souls riding the rollercoaster’s in the theme park somewhere in the distance, and not some distant echo of past tragedies.

As we continued, I spotted a set of stone steps set into the bank up ahead, trailing beside which were rusted chains. Heart pounding, I looked up and there it was, the chained oak.


From the number of branches that had fallen from the tree, if the curse is real, the Earl’s family must now be decimated, but it is still an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

One large branch lay beside the steps. It broke off in 2007, and the present Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot was happy to report at the time that no member of his family died as a result.

Chains had been assimilated by the wood that had grown around it, revealing that the chains must have been in situ for a considerable time. And they certainly weren’t dainty little chains either, but big, clunking rings of metal as big as my fist that had rusted over the years.

The boughs creaked in the slight wind, creating an almost unearthly timbre, and dappled sunlight cast lurid shadows, adding to the ambience of the place, a place where fact and fiction intertwined like the branches overhead.

Standing in quiet contemplation, I tried to imagine the people that had climbed the tree to attach the chains. Some people say the tree was chained for nothing more sinister than a hoax. Others say that the chains were used to pull things up the bank. Yet others say they were used for some form of witchcraft ritual. Whatever the reason, someone had taken the considerable time and effort to attach them. But it is certainly easy to imagine that they were attached upon the Earl’s orders. After all, the eighteenth century was still an age of superstition and among the populace, the belief in witchcraft and a hundred other superstitions still flourished, so being cursed would certainly encourage someone to do whatever they could to stop it coming true.

Another story behind the chained oak is no less intriguing, and states that at the opening ball in the Banqueting Hall, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury hosted nobility and royalty. Into their midst came an old man, hoping to earn a night's keep by telling their fortunes. Mocked and ejected by the company, he turned to the host and said: "Every time a branch falls from the giant oak by your entrance, so will a member of your family fall and die". The next day, the Earl had all its branches chained.

A third version goes that the Earl's son was out riding the next day and as he passed the old oak tree the woman had been standing under, a branch fell on top of him, knocking him from his horse and killing him. This story is slightly more plausible, as there are records of a riding accident around that time.
Another piece of the puzzle that adds a touch of authenticity to the tale is that in 1807, a coach road was cut through the wooded dell, and it used to be the main thoroughfare to Alton Towers, and it is on this road that the chained oak stands, and so would have been used by the Earl in 1821. The road is now reported to be haunted by a headless horseman (that of the felled rider?), which is easy to imagine as you stand beneath the creaking branches.

There is certainly an eerie atmosphere surrounding the area, and whatever the reality behind the chained oak, as we left, I couldn’t help thinking about the screams ringing in my ears. Whatever their origin, they couldn’t be more fitting, and I’m sure that as with many things, at the heart of the mighty oak there might yet lie another story, a story far more sinister than the fiction.

***

And finally, a third casting call for minor characters for The Kult film will be held on June 26th at 9 am. 41133 Raintree Court, Murrieta, Ca 92562.

The Kult cast announced.

Very quick post to say that the principal cast of The Kult has been announced: http://gharialproductions.com/news/principal-cast-for-the-kult-announced/

Now that it's starting to come together, it seems more real - and more exciting :)

Holidays and energy

Well I’ve been away with the family this week to Sussex. While there, we visited Brighton – a couple of months too late for the World Horror Convention, but we still had a great time. The travelling wasn’t so great though. Four and half hours to get there, and six hours to get home. At least the sun made a rare appearance during our break and stayed with us for the duration.

While I was down that way I called into a couple of Waterstone’s shops, talked to some very nice people that worked there, left some info sheets and they agreed to order in a couple of copies of Deadfall (I’d already spoken to the Waterstone’s staff in my local store in Crewe, and they’ve ordered some copies in too). I’ll be writing to a few other stores to see if they would be interested in stocking the book, and calling into a few more when I get the chance - if any other shops want to order copies in, of course that would be great. Talking of Deadfall, a couple of reviews appeared online while I was away:

http://www.elizabethawhite.com/2010/05/24/deadfall-by-shaun-jeffrey/

http://ablogofmars.blogspot.com/2010/05/deadfall-by-shaun-jeffrey.html

Also the day before I went away, the second auditions for The Kult took place. You can read the directors journal on the process here: http://gharialproductions.com/the-kult-directors-journal/casting-week-2/

And for yet more linkage, you can read a PDF of The Kult for the bargain price of $2.36 at Drive Thru Horror (where the book is currently number 2 in the top 100): http://horror.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=79941&language=en
Or of course there’s always the printed version available from most online vendors.

Now in recent years, I’ve been feeling very tired, so I was very interested in a bracelet I saw in a shop made by Trion:Z. Trion:Z combines the natural power of magnets and the energising effect of negative ions to balance the bodies magnetic and electrical fields.

Many users have reported that Trion:Z and Colantotte products, have helped relieve pain, stress and improved concentration, stamina and energy levels.

While many people will probably call it all rubbish, I purchased one and can honestly say that after a few weeks, I do have more energy and don’t feel as tired, so that alone is worth the purchase cost to me. Of course I can’t say it would work for everyone, but if you suffer from a lack of energy or anything else that it’s supposed to help, it’s got to be worth a shot, and I certainly wouldn’t endorse it if I didn’t think it worked: http://www.trionz.co.uk/

Right, now with all my newfound energy, I’m going back to the grind.

The Philosopher's Stone

A few more bruises have been added to my collection, but my son and I received our Taekwondo blue belts on Monday.

For those who have been following news about The Kult film, the director Kip Shelton has been posting a journal about the progress, which makes for eye-opening reading. You can read it here, and then click the other links that continue the journey: http://gharialproductions.com/the-kult-directors-journal/

And for anyone in the Nantwich area of Cheshire, the Nantwich Bookshop now has copies of my books with my spidery scrawl inside, so you can check out the book that the film’s based on.

Now as a small press author, promotion and the selling of books is one of the hardest things. I’m competing against thousands of other authors. To give an idea of how vast the market is, I recently read that in 1975 there were 3,000 publishers in the United States. Today that number has grown to 200,000 publishers made up of large, medium, small, as well as print on demand companies. Together, they put out 560,000 books a year of which approximately 295,000 are self-published. So as you can see, competition is fierce. But what’s the best way to reach your target audience?

Of course having books in shops helps, but that’s not always possible with small press books as the shops won’t stock them, preferring to stick with the major publishers with whom they have a tried and tested relationship.

Now I’ve tried most things that I can think of to promote my work, from adverts to message boards, and I’ve had numerous good reviews, but I just haven’t hit upon what I call ‘quantity x’. Now ‘quantity x’ is a magic formula, a metaphorical philosopher’s stone that occurs when there’s an increased awareness in an authors work, and everything seems to fall into place. Like the alchemists of old, I’m still searching for it, but if anyone can give me some clues …

Kult auditions and kicking ass.

Well it’s the first of The Kult auditions this Sunday (May 16th) and I’m looking forwards to seeing who lands the roles, and whether any of them match the descriptions I had in my head when writing the novel. Of course having a film made of my work is a dream come true, and not something I ever really imagined would happen. Now I’m getting fed up of pinching myself, and I have the bruises to show for it. Or perhaps those are from Taekwondo, the latest grading of which I took last Thursday with my son. If we passed – results on Monday - then we’ll be blue belts (4th Kup). Obviously being 7 years old, my son is a hell of a lot more flexible than me, but I’m getting there, one creaking joint at a time.

Writing wise, I’m working on a screenplay with the writer of The Kult screenplay, Danielle Kaheaku. It’s a departure compared to what I’m used to writing, but it’s interesting to try a different format.

And finally, had a couple of great reviews for Deadfall this week:

http://www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm (scroll down)

http://www.famousmonstersoffilmland.com/book-review-deadfall-by-shaun-jeffrey/

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7540697-deadfall

In the bag

It’s been one of those weeks when I can’t really get into my stride. Having said that, I finally finished the first draft of my second Prosper Snow novel, tentatively titled ‘Killers’. It will need a lot of sorting in the second run-through, but the bones are there. Just needs fleshing out now. Speaking of Prosper, if anyone wants to read The Kult, it’s currently available as a PDF download from Drive Thru Horror for the bargain price of $2.36: http://horror.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=79941&language=en Or if you prefer your books from dead trees, it’s available at another bargain price from the Book Depository for £4.93 with free worldwide delivery: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780980033984/The-Kult

As for my latest novel, Deadfall, it’s had a couple of great reviews on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7540697-deadfall I’m also giving away three copies of The Kult and three copies of Deadfall on the Goodreads giveaways if anyone wants to enter. Just click on the books on the site and follow the giveaway links to enter the draw.

Although The Kult has continually suffered from an availability issue in the UK, which is something to do with the ISBN listing, Deadfall doesn’t suffer the same problem and is available to order from most bookshops and is listed on WH Smiths, Waterstone’s etc. Now if only they stocked the book in the shops ...

But if anyone ever sees any of my books on the bookshop shelves, I’d love to hear about it. They're like an endangered species, so any reports are welcome to help keep them alive in the minds and hearts (at least in mine anyway.)

Piracy and self publishing.

I was following a message board thread recently that discussed written works being offered illegally on download sites all over the net. Some of these sites offer the work for free, others want to charge for it. All have one thing in common: they do not have the right to offer the work in the first place.

Now of course I don’t agree with this, and I wouldn’t like seeing my own work offered in this way. But it’s a bit of the pot calling the kettle black, because who can hand on heart say they’ve never watched a pirated copy of a film, who’s never bought or downloaded an illegal computer game, who’s never seen and bought a ‘brand name’ article sold on a market stall that’s clearly not the real deal, who’s not succumbed to anything that’s been offered to them at a knock down price because it’s not legal: a fake watch, bag etc. Where pirates once sailed the high seas, they now ride the internet wave and trawl the high street. And the reason they proliferate is down to money. If something costs £10 and up for the official item, but you can pick it up for £5 from a nudge, nudge, wink, wink seller, then many people will turn a blind eye and hand over the money. It’s a fact of life. And it’s not something I think anyone will ever be able to stop.

For those who follow my writing, they’ll know that I wrote a novel called Fangtooth. Said novel was accepted twice by different publishers, but for varying reasons, I withdrew it from both parties. Now I was recently made aware of a film called Snakehead Terror that when I read the synopsis, sounded an awful lot like my story. To make sure, I rented the film (an official version to boot), and I’m glad to say that the actual film is hardly anything like my manuscript. I was relieved as it takes me months to write a novel, and I’d hate to think it was all a waste of time. Of course, I’ve not yet sold Fangtooth again, but then I’ve not really submitted it to many places either. The submission process is the worst part about writing.

Which brings me on to self publishing. There seems to be a renaissance surrounding this path. With the advent of electronic books, more and more people are putting their own work out at little to no cost to themselves. Of course, there’s still a lot of bad writing out there, and it helps if someone has a fan base, but what do people think about self publishing? Would you be prepared to pay for a book published by the author? Does it make a difference if you’ve read something by the author before? Do you prefer printed copies or electronic copies?

And last but not least, the Audition Sides for The Kult are online for those intending to go for one of the roles in the film. Auditions are set to take place at 41133 Raintree Court Murrieta, Ca 92562 on May 16th and 23rd at 8:00 am – 5:00 pm: http://gharialproductions.com/the-kult-directors-journal/audition-sides/

News and stuff

Okay, another week, another blog. I’m going to try to make these posts a little more regular, but don’t count on it!

We’ve been blessed with a little sunshine this week, so I’ve been out on the garden doing a little reading. At the moment, I’m dipping into Johnny Mains’ BACK FROM THE DEAD: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories. Anyone old enough to remember the Pan series of books will know that they were the cornerstone of horror up until the late 80s. Mr Mains is single handedly carrying the torch for this series and in this limited edition collection, he’s gathered a host of new scares from a plethora of the original Pan authors: http://www.nooseandgibbetpublishing.com/ This morning, I was reading it in the Play Barn, surrounded by screaming children. Now that’s true horror.

On news of The Kult, the director, Kip Shelton has started a journal about the film. Check it out here: http://gharialproductions.com/the-kult-directors-journal/ Also, casting starts next month. For any actors out there interested in the film, which will be shooting in Late September, they are looking for 5 males in their 30s, 2 females in their 30s and 1 female between 20 and 40. Auditions will be held on May 16th and May 23rd, 2010 in Temecula, California. Those wishing to audition should contact the director, Kip Shelton at kip@kipshelton.com for information.

Well Deadfall is now shipping from various locations, and I'm hearing reports that people are receiving copies. I’m hoping to see some reviews of Deadfall start cropping up soon, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that people like it. There are also some giveaways for both Deadfall and The Kult on http://www.goodreads.com/

On the writing front, progress on the latest Prosper Snow novel has slowed as I’ve put him in a situation that’s hard to find a way out of. But I’m sure he’ll get out of it eventually. At least I hope he does, anyway.

This, that and t'other

I was having a browse through the charity shop yesterday, and picked up:
The Black Druid - Frank Belknap Long (Panther 1975)
The Taste of Fear - Edited by Hugh Lamb (Coronet 1977)
A Wave of Fear - Edited by Hugh Lamb (Coronet 1976)
Weird Tales - Selected and Introduced by Peter Haining (Sphere 1978)
More Weird Tales - Selected and Introduced by Peter Haining (Sphere 1978)
The Blockhouse - Jean-Paul Clebert (Ace Books 1960)

There are some real gems out there waiting to be unearthed.

Talking of books, I don’t know whether it’s just me, but I’ve been pretty disillusioned with what I’ve been reading lately. Nothing seems to have grabbed me, and I find that after struggling through a number of pages, I abandon the story. Still, I’ve got plenty of unread books to have a go at, and I’m sure there must be something among them that keeps my interest.

As for my own writing, I’m nearing the end of another novel featuring the protagonist from The Kult, Prosper Snow. I’ve put him through the grinder again, but then if I didn’t, it wouldn’t make for much of a story, would it.

There’s also progress on The Kult film too, and casting calls have been set for May 16th and 23rd. It will be a real revelation seeing my story translated to film. The director, Kip Shelton has been seeking some unsigned metal bands for the project, and I believe he’s approached a few to see whether he can acquire their work. The film is going to rock in more ways than one.

In other news, the first review of my latest book, Deadfall was a good one: http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/reviews/deadfall-shaun-jeffrey.html

And in a scenario straight out of a novel, it will be interesting to see the long term repercussions of the Icelandic volcano. We take so much for granted nowadays, and we don’t realise that so many things enter the country via the airports. One thing that immediately springs to mind is airmail postage. Then there’s food that’s now rotting in warehouses that was destined for these shores. If the situation continues, then I think food shortages are certain to happen, and as of yet, no one knows how long the ash will leave us a no fly zone. For the first time in ages, we can see how small an island we are, but more importantly, how reliant we are on international trade.

Director chosen for The Kult

I'm pleased to announce that a director has been chosen for The Kult: Kip Shelton.


Kip Shelton has been a writer, editor, special effects designer, composer, producer, and director for the last thirty years. He has done work for companies such as DreamWorks, MTV, VH-1, Discovery, and countless motion pictures and television projects. With credits from Behind The Music to Amistad, Kip's experience provides a well rounded foundation for almost any pre-production, production, or post production role.

Shooting is slated for September 2010 and casting calls are taking place soon.

Deadfall sample

For anyone interested, I've made the first three chapters of my next novel, Deadfall available to read online: http://www.scribd.com/doc/27554341/Deadfall

The story's got action, adventure, horror, mercenaries and zombies. Did I mention the zombies!

I should also have an update on The Kult film front soon ...

Voyeurs of Death free to read

I have decided to share this collection with anyone who wants to read it: 'Voyeurs Of Death': http://www.scribd.com/doc/25760006

Kult optioned

From the Leucrota Press blog: "Gharial Productions has just optioned movie rights to Shaun Jeffrey's The Kult.

The screenplay, adapted from the novel by Danielle Kaheaku and Robert Hunter, went into negotiations in the middle of November with Gharial Productions and has finally come out with a solid contract offer and acceptance by Leucrota Press.

Gharial Productions is an emerging movie and film production company based in San Diego, California, and is currently working on pre-production arrangements for the filming of the movie, tentatively scheduled to begin June 2010."

***

Anyone who has had a book optioned knows that it's far from actually being filmed, but it's still a nice early Christmas present.

Read the first 3 chapters of The Kult for free

http://www.shaunjeffrey.com/kultsample.pdf

Competition winners

The answer was Henry Tomb and the winners of The Kult competition were:

First: Tara Noble
Second: Jan Darga
Third: Rich Hagan

Congratulations to you all.

26 days left to crack the code

The clock is ticking, and there are now only 26 days left to enter The Kult competition. Are you clever enough to crack the code? http://www.shaunjeffrey.com/kultcompetition.html

While I was away recently, I booked a session with photographer Dave Cable of http://www.arcadiaphotographic.com/ to take some photos that I could use for websites, book covers etc. I'll post a couple of my favourites here:

How important is factual accuracy in fiction?

Someone who’s a police academy graduate, majored in criminology for 2 years, and who is currently a Fire Prevention Officer has slated my novel The Kult on Goodreads.com and given it a one star review: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6393198-the-kult

The reviewer stated that the book was slow and the characters uninteresting, and he read it with a critical eye regards the police aspect, and was disappointed that it contained so many flaws.

Okay, I try not to write anything that reads slow, as I personally don’t like slow books, so I kind of disagree with that one, as for the characters being uninteresting, well I guess that’s down to personal opinion. But I’m more interested in the factual accuracy aspect. When I wrote the novel, I wrote it as a piece of fiction. I did some research, but knowing that I would never be able to get all the facts regarding police procedure correct, I tried to gloss over much of that side of it. A police officer friend of mine told me that if I did write it accurately, it would be boring, as most police work is boring.

So what are other people’s opinions on the importance of factual accuracy in fiction?

And for those who don’t know, there has been an issue with the company that lists the books ISBN, and publisher details, and because of a cock-up, the book was locked out of the system. It is listed on Amazon, but as unavailable. But it is available direct from the publisher at the moment for $8.95. It might also be orderable from bookshops, but I’m not 100% sure on that because of the listing problem, but you could always try. Anyway, here are the details for ordering etc:

http://www.leucrotapress.com/Jeffrey.html

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0980033985/shaunjeffreho-20

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0980033985/ref=ase_shaunjeffreho-21/202-3440358-2866222


Title: The Kult
Author: Shaun Jeffrey
Publisher: Leucrota Press
ISBN-10: 0980033985
ISBN-13: 978-0980033984

The Bucket of Blood

With a name like 'The Bucket of Blood', how could I not want to visit? The pub is in Phillack, Hayle in Cornwall.

Legend has it that many years ago, the landlord went to the on-site well to get a bucket of water, but when he pulled the bucket up, it was found to be full of blood. Upon further investigation, a badly mutilated body was found at the bottom of the well, who turned out to be an excise man (taxman) that had been murdered. The pub now has reports of ghostly figures, strange noises and other strange phenomena.

If not for the story, then it's a nice place to visit for the food.

Bodmin Jail

We started our recent holiday with a visit to Bodmin Jail on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Now partially ruined, the ominous, crumbling building looms over the town of Bodmin and within the thick, stone walls, over 50 executions have taken place, for crimes such as rape, murder and stealing. 51 of these executions were open to the public.



















The last public hanging took place at Bodmin Jail in 1909, and while supposed to be a deterrent, the executions became popular excursions of the time.

Bodmin was the first jail to feature separate "cells", and a couple of the well-known prisoners included: Anne Jefferies, thought to be a witch, who was starved to death and Selina Wadge, who was publicly executed for the murder of her bastard son. Hardly surprising then that Bodmin Jail has become known as a haunted hotspot.
























Over the years, the jail went through a number of changes, including a major extension in 1859 to deal with overcrowding. At one point several prisons were located on the site. These included the Civil Prison for males, The Civil Prison for females, The Debtors prison, the Naval Prison and at one point the prison for Juvenile offenders. The roof has now collapsed, and so have many of the floors underneath.
























Inside the building, you enter through the licensed bar and as you descend the steps into the jail, the cold seems to seep through the very brickwork. It’s hard to imagine being cooped up inside one of the gloomy cells for a long duration, where there would have been a lack of light and the smell was probably horrendous at the time when the jail was in use.
























Now the visible cells only occupants are the most repellent looking mannequins I have ever seen. They are marginally lit, adding to their creepiness, especially when you turn a corner and run into one, but using the camera brings the flash into play, only highlighting their ugliness.



















Accompanying plaques describe the prisoners, and what crime and punishment they suffered, everything from bestiality to murder.






















Although we didn’t see anything strange while we roamed through the building, we didn’t linger too long either.

Midnight Echo #2

Coming next month: Midnight Echo #2, edited by Angela Challis & Shane Jiraiya Cummings, and featuring creepy stories by Kurt Newton, Bob Franklin, David Conyers, Andrew McKiernan, Joanne Anderton, Shaun Jeffrey, Felicity Dowker, and many more... plus artwork from David Schembri and many talented dark fantasy artists.

The evolution of a novel - the fear

So what do I mean by 'the fear'? Well, in this case, it's the fear of people thinking the book is crap. Now that advance review copies are about to be sent out, the realisation hits home that people are going to start reading the novel. Up until this point, very few people have read it. My partner, a few trusted readers, the publisher and editor and a couple of authors that offered blurbs.

Writing is a very solitary occupation. Me and my demons. Even though the work is a piece of fiction, there is obviously some of 'me' in the story as it originated from me. I gave birth to it. And like anyone with children knows, you care about them. You want to protect them. You want them to get on in life. You want them to be accepted. Liked. Successful. If you find your child is being bullied, picked on because someone has taken a dislike to them, it hurts. It's the same with anything you write. Of course over the years I've learned to harden myself to the criticism. You have to. But that's not to say that it doesn't hurt when someone calls your work crap.

That's not to say I like false praise, and people saying they like something just because they are worried about hurting my feelings. Sticks and stones and all that. Honest constructive criticism is one of the most valuable things people can offer. If someone thinks it's crap, tell me why you think it's crap. That's all I ask. That way I can learn.

So now my child is about to leave the nest, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that people welcome it's first tentative steps into the world.

The evolution of a novel - the blurbs

In the hope of receiving quotes for the book, I contacted a few authors that I respect. Many are obviously very busy, so I'm very pleased that Jonathan Maberry and Jon F. Merz took time out of their busy schedules to read the manuscript and comment:

“With KULT, Shaun Jeffrey hits one out of the park with this creepy, character-driven thriller that starts with a jolt, stays in the fast lane, and plunges into the darkest territory of the human mind. It’s a bumpy ride through nightmare country.” -Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PATIENT ZERO and PUNISHER: NAKED KILL

"The Kult is a creeping stalk through a shadowy labyrinth of thrills and terror. Shaun Jeffrey delivers a pulse-pounding novel of superb skill and unequivocal horror. Fans of many genres should be ready to embrace one of the brightest new talents on the scene today." - Jon F. Merz author of Parallax and the Lawson Vampire novels

Win an ARC of The Kult

If anyone is interested in winning an ARC of my upcoming novel, The Kult, please check out the publishers blog: http://blog.leucrotapress.com/?p=432

10 winners will be chosen at random, but the one condition of entry is that if chosen, you promise to read the entire novel, and then write a short and honest review about what you thought of the novel, and then email it to the publisher as well as post on Amazon.com, Barnesandnobel.com, or any other review sites you enjoy.

The evolution of a novel - the cover

As promised, here is the cover for The Kult. It was exactly what I asked for, but I would welcome people's opinions as to what they think when they look at it.



I have also now contacted a couple of authors that I respect asking whether they will read the manuscript with the possibility of offering a blurb for the back.

The evolution of a novel - final proof

OK, on March 14th I received the final proof of The Kult. I read through it, and despite numerous reads by the editors and myself, I spotted a couple of continuity errors that had slipped through the cracks! I corrected these and returned the manuscript on March 17th. Now it’s going through layout.

A cover artist was also assigned, Mediterranean artist Daniele Serra: http://www.multigrade.it/index.html

Daniele has designed many book covers, and his work has a distinctive style that suits my story. He submitted a preliminary cover on March 19th, and it’s just being tweaked, but I hope to post a picture soon.

The evolution of a novel - Chapter 1 (sample)

I received the final proof of the manuscript yesterday and I am reading though it, but as promised, here is the first chapter so you may get a feel for the novel.

The Kult by Shaun Jeffrey

CHAPTER 1

People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.

At least that’s what the Oracle hoped. He had studied and plotted Jane Numan’s routine over the weeks. Watched without her seeing, making note of every nuance, every step of her schedule until he had a complete diary of her movements, probably knowing more about her than she did about herself.

He crouched in the recessed doorway of the kebab shop opposite where she lived and gripped the handle of the knife in the sheath inside his jacket. His weapon of choice, he hoped the mere sight of the blade would instil terror in his prey, making it more personal, and putting him close enough that he could smell his quarry and see the fear in her eyes.

He looked at his watch; 6:29 a.m. and counting.

Any second now…

Like clockwork, the front door of what to anyone else would be a nondescript house opened and Jane walked out. The Oracle sank back into the shadows as he stared at the facial disfigurement that made it appear half her face was melting. Although only 23 years of age, she probably hadn’t had the easiest of lives, which made her all the more desirable as a victim as the more public sympathy his kill received, the more publicity he would generate, and as people were fond of saying, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, especially not for what he had planned.

The Oracle watched her check that the door was locked, pushing once, twice, then a third time, as she always did when she left the house. His pulse increased, a volcano waiting to erupt within his chest. He rubbed the sweat coated fingers of his free hand down his trousers. Everything was going according to schedule.

He knew that if he had broken into her flat to stage the attack, there was the potential to leave too much evidence that might be used to track him down, and he couldn’t have that. His motto was ‘leave no trace,’ which is why he planned to snatch her off the street.

Like many neighbourhoods clinging to the hub of British cities, the area Jane lived in was rundown, with discarded trash bags spewing their contents across the pavement—fodder for the rats and feral cats that prowled the streets once the sun went down. McDonald’s packaging and the remains of half eaten kebabs discarded by late night drunks littered the gutters, and the tang of rotten produce and sour piss permeated the air. Dirt and grime coated the walls of the buildings, many of which were boarded up and covered with graffiti, the culprits marking their territory like dogs.

No one took much notice of him in areas like these, and the distinct lack of community spirit associated with the modern generation meant that people ignored most of what they saw, just trying to make it through each day as best they could.

The Oracle watched the girl walk across Hope Street, dressed for the heat of another day in a yellow t-shirt and a black knee length skirt. She clutched a brown shoulder bag to her side, and kept her head bowed, eyes focused on her white Nike trainers.

It would take Jane ten minutes to reach the main road. There she would wait for the number seven bus, which arrived at 6:45. Today, she was blissfully unaware her journey would terminate early. As usual, she would take the shortcut down an alley between two buildings, which saved her five minutes of extra walking. It was a simple routine to follow. Too simple, and his reconnaissance had revealed that the dingy alleyway between the buildings was the perfect spot to stage the abduction—it wasn’t overlooked by any windows, there was only ambient light so much of it was in darkness, and the towering buildings would muffle her screams.

The Oracle followed Jane at a discreet distance of about forty feet, which he gauged to be far enough back so as not to appear threatening if she should discern his presence. He had parked his car near to the shortcut—not too close that she would notice the vehicle, because anything out of the ordinary might make her change something about her routine, but close enough that he wouldn’t have to carry her too far.

She reached the corner of the road and turned left. When she disappeared out of sight, the Oracle hurried to close the gap. His body throbbed with anticipation, all of his senses highly aware of everything around him. It had been a while since he felt like this, and truth be told, he had missed the feeling.

Pursuing someone always gave him a buzz. The thrill of the chase. But it didn’t come close to the euphoria he felt during the actual act of killing. That was something else. The biggest thrill ride in the world. Thinking about it made him smile; his balls tightened and goose bumps mottled his arms. Although the circumstances surrounding his choice of target were completely different now to those he had killed before, it didn’t lessen the feeling—it actually enhanced it.

Jane walked with her arms folded across her ample chest, a subconscious form of protection and the barrier of the weak. Not that it would help her today.

Her footsteps echoed along the road, the Oracle’s almost silent as he followed in her wake, well versed in covert manoeuvres as he matched her step for step, becoming as one with his victim. The anticipation was almost too much to bear and he took deep breaths to control the beat of his heart. His fingers tingled and he licked his dry lips.

As soon as she turned into the alley between houses, he would strike.

With mere seconds to go, he withdrew a pair of disposable latex gloves and tugged them onto his hands, then pulled the chloroform soaked cloth from a bag in his pocket, the sodden material feeling cold and spongy through the gloves.

Jane turned the corner to take the short cut.

The Oracle followed, cloth held tightly in his fist, senses attuned to the task at hand. Jane was about eight feet ahead, her footfalls echoing between the walls. The aroma of Chinese food filled the air, a pile of discarded boxes piled up outside the back door to the restaurant. Stalactites of grease hung from an extractor fan on the wall.

It was time to make his move.

The Oracle readied himself to strike, one hand on the cloth, the other about to withdraw the knife when a young lad with a pockmarked face walked into the alley from the opposite end, a Staffordshire bull terrier tugging at the leash in his hand. The Oracle clenched his teeth, released the knife, rammed the cloth back into his pocket and watched as Jane exited the short cut.

The dog strained at the leash as it approached the Oracle, its small, muscular body set to pounce, teeth bared as it looked up at him. The owner struggled to pull it away, using both hands to yank at the lead.

“He’s not usually like this,” the lad said.

The Oracle guessed that the dog could sense the bloodlust on his mind. He could easily take them both out, but they weren’t his target. If he killed randomly, then he’d be just a savage, and they weren’t part of his plan so he kept his gloved hands out of sight in his pockets so as not to arouse suspicion.

He wasn’t happy about it, but he had considered this scenario, like he considered everything.

There would be another opportunity to grab Jane Numan.

People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.

The evolution of a novel - editor jumps aboard

Now after taking on board the editors requests for The Kult, I read through the manuscript, and keeping everything in mind that the editor required, I did the revisions and submitted the rewritten manuscript on January 11th. I added 15,500 words to it, taking it to 85,500. To be honest, all of the requested changes were excellent, and I felt that they all helped improve the manuscript no end, especially some of the characterisation and the killer’s motivation.

As a different example, my novel Fangtooth that is being published by Ghostwriter Publications later in the year worked in the opposite way. The publisher wanted a shorter novel, so it was edited down to around 61,000 words from over 80k. An editor was assigned to make the cuts, and although they were substantial, I was surprised by how tight it made the prose. I had initially feared that losing a quarter of the story would rip the heart out of it, but in fact, it had the opposite effect, and made it much tighter.

I received the next reply regarding The Kult on January 22nd that basically said, ‘So far from what I've seen I'm very happy with the plot, so there won't be much to do aside from a line edit and some additional descriptions, character movement, etc.’ At this point, I was also asked to submit cover ideas.

I received the manuscript back on February 11th. At this point, another editor (Christina Celentano) had gone over the manuscript, making corrections and comments on the plot and deleting those portions that she felt didn’t work. There probably wasn’t a page where something wasn’t highlighted, so then it was a case of going through it all again and doing some more writing, accepting deletions or commenting why I thought something should stay. I went through it quickly, and returned the manuscript on February 13th.

I was sent it back on February 27th. The editor had gone through it with a fine toothcomb, and there were yet more changes and comments, but they were all helping shape the novel. At this point, they were only minor things, so I went through it quite quickly, and then emailed the manuscript back on February 28th. After the latest edits, the novel now stood at 82,500 words and that’s brought its evolution bang up to date. I am now waiting for the final edit, and then it will be a matter of focusing on the cover and marketing, which I will post updates on as and when they happen.

The evolution of a novel - acceptance

Okay, back to the submissions process of The Kult. I sent the complete manuscript out as requested on December 2nd, 2008. Then on December 22nd, I received an email from the acquisitions editor, David, saying that he read the whole manuscript in a single sitting and had passed it on to the editor in chief.

On December 27th, I received an email from the editor in chief, Danielle Kaheaku. Attached to the email was the letter concerning my submission. The letter started off with her telling me she thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel, but then she went on to tell me everything she didn’t like about the novel! Most of this was centred around the places where I was ‘telling instead of showing’ and my character development.

As I read through, I was expecting to reach the part that said, ‘Thanks for taking the time to submit your novel, but we will have to pass.’ But it didn’t say that. Instead, it said: Now, if you were able to stomach your way through the entire list of possibly disappointing yet obviously meant-to-be-constructive criticism, I would like to congratulate you on your talent and obvious accomplishment, and on the acceptance of your manuscript for publication.

As I wasn’t expecting it, this came as more than a bit of a surprise. The acceptance was conditional though, as the editor wanted to see substantial changes, including certain character development, plot line changes, more showing instead of telling, and she wanted the manuscript extending by around 20,000 words to accommodate these changes.

I was sent a contract on December 30th, which I requested a few changes to, and then at the start of the New Year, I started on another round of rewrites.

The evolution of a novel - submission package

As someone pointed out, I didn’t mention the ‘submission package’ in my last post. This includes the cover letter and the synopsis. Like most people, I find it hard to write a synopsis. When you’ve written something over 80,000 words, it’s difficult to then break it down into a page or two that tells the complete story.

Here’s a few tips that might help:

Firstly, what is your book about?

It may seem a silly question, because you know what it’s about, don’t you? But if someone asked, and you had 20 seconds, could you explain the heart of the story and grab their interest? This is important, because you need to be able to explain the story in its simplest form, in one powerful sentence. If you can do this, then you know what the heart of the story is in its simplest form.

This is called the logline or hook line, and it usually includes ‘who’ the story is about (protagonist), ‘what’ he strives for (goal) and ‘what’ stands in his way (antagonistic force).

Here are some examples from the world of film:

In a future where criminals are arrested before the crime occurs, a despondent cop struggles on the lam to prove his innocence for a murder he has not yet committed. – Minority Report.

A psychologist struggles to cure a troubled boy who is haunted by a bizarre affliction – he sees dead people. – The Sixth Sense.

When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an insane and corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. – Gladiator.

As another example, here’s the hook line for The Kult:

Acting out of misguided loyalty, police officer Prosper Snow helps his friends perform a copycat killing in the style of a serial killer, only for the real killer to hunt them down.

In this example, the ‘who’ the story is about (protagonist), is Prosper Snow. The ‘what’ he strives for (goal), is to help his friends. And the ‘what’ stands in his way (antagonistic force), is the real killer hunting them down.

Also in the submission package is the synopsis. This is a condensed version of the novel, concentrating on the major plot points. I always put the hook line at the start of the synopsis, as like the name implies, this is the hook to draw the reader in. The synopsis itself has to tell the entire story, without leaving out the ending. It’s often easier to look at examples and take from them what you can, so here are a couple of links that lead to other authors’ synopses samples, but at its heart, a synopsis tells the most relevant parts of the story, written in a vivid, exciting way:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71843

http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/143076.html

There’s also the cover letter. I like to keep it pretty simple. My first paragraph is my hook, then I say who I am, what I’ve sent, my track record, and how to get hold of me. And that’s it.

The evolution of a novel - submitting

As I mentioned before, I had submitted The Kult in its initial incarnation to an agent (I have a few agent stories, none of them good – but that’s another story), who took me on and sent the manuscript out, but she failed to secure a publisher for it. I still feel the fact that it didn’t sell wasn’t down to the writing, but more because the story wasn’t that good, which is why I rewrote it, basically from scratch. So now I was ready to start submitting it again, but who to submit it too?

In the Stone Age before the internet, I used to buy a copy of The Writers and Artists Yearbook, and then trawl through the pages for possible markets. Nowadays, I use internet sites that list markets I would never otherwise have discovered. The search sites I commonly use are:

http://www.ralan.com/
http://www.specficworld.com/

I also regularly check out forums and message boards that talk about horror, where there are sometimes posts about new markets.

Now the submission procedure itself is the most nerve-wracking and tedious part of the process. For a start, you are sending your baby out into the world on its own for the first time, hoping and praying that it can stand on its own two feet and that people welcome it with open arms. The reality is that many of the people you submit to will look upon it as the ugly duckling. But then sometimes, someone will see something in what you’ve written and might request to read more. That’s when all fingers and toes get crossed. Of course, to reach this point might take many years and many submissions. Or of course, it could happen the first time you submit it.

I made a list of the markets I was interested in submitting to, read each of their specific guidelines and then sent to them what was requested for an initial submission (usually a covering letter, a synopsis and the first three chapters).

Now among those I had selected to submit to was Leucrota Press. Although they aren’t a major publisher, and are pretty new on the block, I submitted to them because I liked what I read on their website. They seemed to have their heads screwed on straight, I got the impression that they cared about the books they published, and I just had a good feeling about them. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they paid an advance, which shows that they were prepared to put their money where their mouth is.

So I sent off my submission to them on November 22nd 2008.

On December 1st, I received a reply from David Peak, the acquisitions editor, which said he was in a bit of a pickle. He felt that from what he had read, the book seemed more along the lines of a crime or a mystery novel than horror, and Leucrota Press only publishes science fiction, fantasy and horror, so he wanted me to clue him in with a better overall picture of what the novel was about.

So the next day I sat down and composed a reply, and here is what I wrote (I have deleted a small portion of the reply as it gives away a bit of the story, but you’ll get the gist):

‘To answer that question I guess you would have to ask what horror fiction is. Some people believe that it has to have a supernatural element, revolving around witches, zombies, vampires and their ilk. While that is certainly true, I believe it’s also anything that elicits fear, and nothing elicits that feeling more than real life horrors: hate, murder, cruelty.

There have been many, many stories about serial killers that are classed as horror. Some linger in the grey area between thriller and horror, and others are just pigeonholed into what might be perceived a more acceptable genre. I believe that at its heart, The Kult is a horror story as it deals with ordinary people being forced into real life horrors over which they have no control. Ordinary people. People like you and I. It’s a story about the decisions people make in life, and the terrifying repercussions that happen as a result. THE FOLLOWING SECTION WAS DELETED AS IT CONTAINS SPOILERS.

The real monsters are all around us. Being able to spot them is the problem.’

So then I sat back and waited. I expected a long wait, but I received a reply the same day asking to read the complete manuscript, so I emailed it off post haste.

Next time, I will talk about the next stage in the process.

The evolution of a novel - editing

OK, so to backtrack a little, I will talk about the initial editing of The Kult.

I believe that since the publication of my first novel, Evilution, I have learned a lot, especially about the process of writing, and I’m still learning. It’s easy to string a couple of words together – the art is making those words the best ones possible for what you are trying to say. Now I won’t claim to be an expert on the matter, but when I write my first draft, I pretty much just let the writing flow without bothering too much how good it is. That’s where the editing comes in after.

Now some people might be able to get away with a couple of edits. Me, I have to keep going through whatever I’ve written a number of times before I’m anywhere near happy with it. My edits are an ongoing process and go something like this:

After I’ve finished the manuscript, I leave it alone for a few weeks to let the dust settle. It’s much easier to look at it then with a more critical eye. On the read through, I look for many things, such as the following:

Are my characters engaging? After all, they have got to drive the story forwards. The reader has to care about them and engage with them, especially on an emotional level. For that reason they need a journey. They need a goal, and they need obstacles in their way, with dilemmas and decisions to make.

I believe anything you write in a novel has to either inform about a character or drive the story forwards. If it doesn’t, then I cut it out. I can probably expect to delete about 10 to 20% of what I’ve written just because it doesn’t really add anything to the story, and makes for boring reading. Then I look for redundant words and anything that stands out as flowery prose. There are many redundant words that can be deleted quite easily, many of which are those words that make a sentence passive instead of active, and by the deletion of which, the sentence becomes much snappier and easier to read. Prime suspects are the words ‘had’ ‘that’ and ‘was’. Here’s an example:

‘The scowl that his face had been wearing was replaced by a mischievous grin.’ This is a passive and wordy sentence. I would make it active by rewriting something like this: ‘The man’s scowl melted into a mischievous grin.’ That cuts 14 words down to 8. A near 50% reduction that makes the sentence flow much better. Also, where else would the scowl be but on his face? So the use of the word ‘face’ is unnecessary. It’s a redundant word.

As I use Microsoft Word, it’s easy to use the ‘find’ function to highlight the passive offenders mentioned above (had, that, was) and then to see if I can delete them or rewrite the section wherever they appear.

Another thing I look for is cases of ‘telling instead of showing’. The difference between the two is that ‘telling’ is the reliance of simple exposition. ‘Showing’ is the use of evocative description. For example, I might first write:

‘Prosper felt sick.’ That’s telling you how he feels. In the rewrite I might write: ‘Prosper’s mouth watered and he clutched his stomach, doubling over as he tried not to vomit.’ One sentence states a fact, the other paints a picture.

I also like to delete adverbs, those pesky words often ending in -ly. Here’s an example:

‘He ran quickly into the room’. One solution is simply to delete ‘quickly’. But to make a more powerful sentence, you could write, ‘He charged into the room’, or ‘He sprinted into the room’.

After I’ve been through the manuscript a few times, I like to pass it on to a beta reader, someone I trust to be honest. They will undoubtedly spot things I missed, leading to yet another rewrite or two.

So that’s my initial editing process. As you can see, there’s a lot to consider and look for, which is why it takes me lots of rewrites. It’s all about the words. Finding the right word(s) can make your prose shine.

The evolution of a novel.

I thought I would talk a little about how a novel comes about, the changes it goes through, and the long hard road to publication. For this example, I’m going to use The Kult, which is being published by Leucrota Press. Of course, there are many roads and many ways to write and get published. This is but one.

At my age, specific dates become fuzzy, but I originally wrote The Kult about 4 years ago at a guess. The book I wrote then was a completely different beast to what it is now. Firstly, it started off as a supernatural thriller that I wrote off the cuff, without any planning, and it came in at about 85,000 words and took about 6 months to write.

There are many things that can spur a story, and the genesis for this one was actually a building that I sometimes drive past during my day job. Because it’s such a fantastic building, I wanted to use it for something, so it provided part of the seed, from which the rest of the story grew. And here's a picture of the building so you can see what it looks like:

I must then have rewritten the novel about 5 times within a 2 year period, but deep down, I was never really happy with it. It’s hard to explain really, but it didn’t ‘feel’ right. It was as though there was another story clawing to escape, but I wouldn’t let it. Although I didn’t have a set plan laid out, I did have a rough idea in my head about what I wanted the story to be, and so I kept restraining it, moulding it to my predetermined plan. But it didn’t work, which is why it felt ‘off’.

I did send it out in this state, and I snared an agent (with whom I have since amicably parted company), and I know she submitted it to a couple of places, but it was rejected, which didn’t really surprise me. Again though, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that the story wasn’t right. Something about it was wrong.

After parting ways with the agent, I put the novel aside and continued writing other stuff, but The Kult kept niggling at my subconscious. I knew there was a story there, but I didn’t know what to do with it. Then I guess there was the sort of epiphany moment, when I decided to rewrite the novel again, removing the supernatural aspects, and making it a purely horror/thriller story. In essence, I let the real story come out, and stopped trying to dictate the direction that the story took, instead literally allowing it to write itself.

At this point, I probably did a couple more rewrites, so it now stood at about 7 or 8 revisions. After the rewrites, the novel came in at 70,000 words, and although shorter, I now liked what I had written and felt it was something that had a chance at publication. So now that I was happy with the story, it was time to start submitting it.

Next time, I’ll continue talking about The Kult’s road to publication.

I'm back!!!

Okay, it’s been a while. Quite a long while, and I feel as though I’ve just returned from the desert after a severe drought.

So what’s been happening? Well, firstly I’ve got news. Good news in that I have sold a couple of novels and a novella.

The first novel I sold was Fangtooth to Ghostwriter Publications http://www.ghostwriterpublications.com

A short summary:

The fishing trawler, was the first. All hands lost and its nets shredded. The fishing village of Mulberry has been suffering with declining fish stocks but two people discover one reason for the decline... Anoplogaster cornuta...better known as Fangtooth.

Ghostwriter Publications have also accepted a novella with the working title, Dead Man’s Eyes.

I’ve also sold a novel called The Kult to Leucrota Press (http://www.leucrotapress.com).

A short summary:

People are predictable. That's what makes them easy to kill.

Acting out of misguided loyalty to his friends, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping them perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it’s not only his life on the line, but his family's too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn't, he risks being killed.

Both novels are due later this year, so I will post updates as and when.

Number 1 bestseller

Although the charts change all the time, my collection Voyeurs of Death became a number 1 bestseller at online bookshop, The Horror Mall.

1. VOYEURS OF DEATH by Shaun Jeffrey
2. THE SCALDING ROOM by Conrad Williams
3. FRIED! FAST FOOD, SLOW DEATHS edited by Colleen Morris & Joel A. Sutherland
4. EARTHWORM GODS: SELECTED SCENES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD by Brian Keene (Limited Edition HC)
5. EXORCISING ANGELS by Simon Clark & Tim Lebbon
6. WORMWOOD NIGHTS by Charlee Jacob
7. THE BIGHEAD by Edward Lee (Audiobook)
8. VAMPIRE OUTLAW OF THE MILKY WAY BY Weston Ochse
9. DEADBEAT: Makes You Stronger by Guy Adams (UK Import)
10. WINGS OF A BUTTERFLY by John Urbancik

Film project - please support

I am just trying to build ground support for my latest project, as co-producer with Ethan Dettenmaier (director of upcoming film, Sin-Jin Smyth) for the film, Deadfall. It is currently under development and will be in production as soon as possible.

If you're on Myspace, please send a friend request to the Deadfall Myspace site and register to receive the blog updates. I don't run the site, but all the latest news will be posted there as it happens.

http://www.myspace.com/experience_deadfall

Cemetery Dance sale

Only my second ever submission to Cemetery Dance, and I'm over the moon to report I've just received word that they have accepted my short story, 'In Darkness' for a future issue.

Now I do believe in Santa.

Not sure what issue my story will appear in yet, but I will be in good company, as they've previously published Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, William Peter Blatty, David Morrell, F. Paul Wilson, Joe R. Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Edward Lee, Graham Masterton, Richard Laymon and hundreds of others.


Cemetery Dance

Rare horror books on Ebay

I'm selling a few books on ebay if anyone would care to take a look:

Blood and Grit by Simon Clark. Rare 1st Edition, Signed
Annabelle Says by Simon Clark and Stephen Laws. Signed
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Subterranean Press 1st edition. Signed.
Postscripts 10. Signed by all authors, including King and Hill.
The Sinister Mr Corpse by Jeff Strand. Signed.
The Turtle Boy by Kealan Patrick Burke. Rare. Signed.
The Wicked by Douglas Clegg. Signed.
Madman Stan by Richard Laymon. Rare. 1st
Once Upon a Halloween by Richard Laymon. Rare. Signed

Ebay link