The Lake District

We arrived home yesterday after a short break in Keswick in the Lake District. No matter how many times I visit the area, it never fails to fill me with awe with its sweeping vistas and majestic mountains.


We’ve camped on the same site a couple of times before, at the edge of Derwentwater (the location of the site means that it can easily flood, but we were lucky enough that it only rained for one day during our stay otherwise the resident ducks would have been swimming around the tent instead of waddling.) We were also field-testing (quite literally) our new tent, an Outwell Colorado 5. I think we now have five tents stashed around the house, but this is by far the best of the bunch. It’s big enough to stand up in, and has a large sitting area.

During our stay, we met up with my brother who is fortunate enough to live just outside Keswick in the village of Borrowdale. He’s lived there for a number of years, and I often wonder if he knows how lucky he is to live in such breathtaking surrounds. Anyway while there we tackled Helvellyn, which is the third highest peak in England at 3118 feet (only 75 feet less than the highest, Scafell Pike).

It took us around 2 hours to climb to the summit, a feat that some people achieve by running, but they are obviously part machine or just plain crazy. The stunning view at the top makes the effort of the climb seem more than worthwhile, but my aching calves and thighs might not agree.


While visiting the Lakes, we also went in search of a couple of Geocaches, which we haven’t done for a while, taking in a route along Walla Crag. This is a short fell walk that gives superb views across Derwentwater. The only problem on the day we went was that the heavens opened and we ended up putting drowned rats to shame. Coupled with a cold wind, it makes you realise how unpredictable and dangerous the weather can be, especially when you’re caught out in the open.

But it’s no wonder the landscape has been the inspiration for countless artists and writers over the years. Majestic, stunning and awe inspiring. That’s the only way to sum it up.

Slaughter House Interview

Here's the link to an interview that I did at The Slaughter House. Hope you find it interesting: http://www.richardgodwin.net/interviews/chin-wag-at-the-slaughterhouse-interview-with-shaun-jeffrey

Phantasmagoria

The very short story below was originally published in a magazine called Premonitions back in 1992, and I just thought I'd put it up here for anyone interested in my early work to have a read ( I made a couple of changes to update it, such as changing videos to DVDs).

Phantasmagoria

By

Shaun Jeffrey

The television screen flickered through myriad images that painted the walls of the living room in rainbow patterns.

Tara Stone reclined in the armchair, unblinking as she stared at the screen. Each picture merged with the next in a succession of subliminal images.

The tribal drumbeats that accompanied the images made her heart beat fast, made her unaware of anything but the here and now.

Seconds later, the phantasmagoria of images came to a stop and the screen turned white with static.

Tara blinked and wiped her eyes. She felt as though she was waking from a dream.

She stood up and turned the television off. Then she removed the disc from the DVD player and returned it to its case.

She felt wonderful.

Invigorated.

She walked through to the kitchen and stared at the box of matches on the table. Without hesitating, she snatched the box up, removed a match and struck it. The flame flared and she stared at it for a moment, and then blew it out.

Now for the ultimate test.

The wind howled outside, so she plucked a coat from the hook behind the door, dropped the matches into her pocket and left the house.

The sky was clear of clouds, and the setting sun painted an orange band across the horizon.

Inhaling the crisp air, she headed toward the town centre. The box of matches rattled in her pocket with each step.

Up ahead the illuminated windows of a tower block formed a giant crossword puzzle grid.

When she reached the base of the tower, she wandered around until she found a door into the service bay. The lock was broken, the walls either side of the entrance daubed with the modern day hieroglyphics of graffiti artists.

Once inside the building, she waited until her eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light. Shapes materialised from the darkness: old electrical appliances skulked in the corner, opposite which a pile of old newspapers had been stacked in a haphazard mountain. Tins of paint sat atop the electrical appliances, and she walked across and inspected them. As well as the paint, she found a half-full tub of white spirits and a rusty screwdriver. She couldn't have wished for more.

Smiling to herself, Tara prised the lids off the paint, and sloshed the contents over the mountain of paper. When that was done, she poured the white spirits over the pile and then took the matches out of her pocket.

She had a momentary flicker of doubt, but then she looked at the multicoloured rivers of paint that flowed over the paper and it triggered something in her subconscious.

She struck a match, marvelled at the flame for a moment, and then flung it onto the paper. She continued to throw burning matches until the paper mountain was ablaze, the rivers of paint bubbling like molten lava.

The heat warmed her cheeks, and when it became unbearable she retreated outside and walked a safe distance away.

It didn't take long before tongues of flame licked out of the doorway, and it wasn't much longer until the flames began to devour the lower floors.

People appeared at windows, screaming, their clothes and hair alight. Glass exploded as people jumped in an attempt to save themselves.

Tara watched from further along the road, mesmerised by the flames pirouetting around the structure, painting the sky in ribbons of fire. It was only the sound of approaching sirens that broke the spell.

With a final look at her handiwork, she stood up and made her way home.

Once inside her house, she looked out of the window and watched the flames light up the horizon like a living painting. It looked marvellous.

She glimpsed at the disc she had played earlier and read the title: Fire and how to beat the phobia. A self help guide.

Tara smiled to herself and wondered which of her many phobias she should overcome next.

#SampleSunday The Kult #kindle #crimedrama #horror

For Sample Sunday, here's the first chapter to The Kult.

Title: The Kult
Author: Shaun Jeffrey
Kindle Price: $3.45
Available from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Kult-ebook/dp/B004TGT3S6/

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Kult-ebook/dp/B004TGT3S6/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-kult-shaun-jeffrey/1016974624?ean=2940011245626&itm=1&usri=the%2bkult

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934

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.

Down memory lane (music festivals)

I was reminiscing last night, looking back at some of the concerts and festivals that I’ve been to, and some of the awesome punk and alternative bands that I’ve seen in the past (haven’t been to a gig for ages now). The list involves Nirvana, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, Theatre of Hate, Southern Death Cult, Killing Joke, The Cramps, Pixies, Faith No More, Public Image, Nick Cave, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Iggy Pop, New Order, The Damned. The list goes on, and I’ve posted some of the flyers below. I can’t remember them all, but some other bands I saw live included loads of punk bands such as GBH, Discharge, Broken Bones, and then there was Sisters of Mercy, Toyah Wilcox, Fields of the Nephilim, The Human League, Altered Images, Motorhead. Be interested to know if anyone was at these gigs, or if you’ve seen any of these bands too from an era when music to my mind (and ear) was at its height.

The Evil That Men Do

I was doing a lot of research into human experimentation for the second Prosper Snow novel, and until I started, I didn’t realise how much of this has actually gone on through the ages. Most people are familiar with the Nazis and the Holocaust, but some of the other disturbing cases I came across are as follows:

The Stanford Prison Experiment. This was a psychological study about human responses to captivity and its behavioural effects on both authorities and inmates in a prison environment. The experiment was led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University. Undergraduate volunteers played the roles of both guards and prisoners living in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.

The prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited “genuine” sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early. Finally, Zimbardo, alarmed at the increasingly abusive anti-social behavior from his subjects, terminated the entire experiment early.

Project MKULTRA, or MK-ULTRA, was the code name for a CIA mind-control research program, run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence.

It began in the early 1950s and continued through the late 1960s. There is much published evidence that the project involved the surreptitious use of many types of drugs, as well as other methodologies, to manipulate individual mental states and to alter brain function.

Experiments included administering LSD to CIA employees, military personnel, doctors, other government agents, prostitutes, mentally ill patients, and members of the general public in order to study their reactions. LSD and other drugs were usually administered without the subject’s knowledge and informed consent.

In 1973, CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKULTRA files destroyed. Pursuant to this order, most CIA documents regarding the project were destroyed, making a full investigation of MKULTRA virtually impossible.

The Aversion Project. In the 1970’s and the 1980’s, South Africa’s apartheid army forced white lesbian and gay soldiers to undergo ‘sex-change’ operations, and submitted many to chemical castration, electric shock, and other unethical medical experiments. Although the exact number is not known, former apartheid army surgeons estimate that as many as 900 forced ‘sexual reassignment’ operations may have been performed between 1971 and 1989 at military hospitals, as part of a top-secret program to root out homosexuality from the service.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study was an investigation of untreated syphilis in the Negro Male, conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

399 (plus 201 control group without syphilis) poor – and mostly illiterate – African American sharecroppers were denied treatment for Syphilis.

This study became notorious because it was conducted without due care to its subjects, and led to major changes in how patients are protected in clinical studies. Individuals enrolled in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study did not give informed consent and were not informed of their diagnosis; instead they were told they had “bad blood” and could receive free medical treatment, rides to the clinic, meals and burial insurance in case of death in return for participating. In 1932, when the study started, standard treatments for syphilis were toxic, dangerous, and of questionable effectiveness. Part of the original goal of the study was to determine if patients were better off not being treated with these toxic remedies. For many participants, treatment was intentionally denied. Many patients were lied to and given placebo treatments—in order to observe the fatal progression of the disease.

By the end of the study, only 74 of the test subjects were still alive. Twenty-eight of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis.

Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel.

Some of the numerous atrocities committed by the commander Shiro Ishii and others under his command in Unit 731 include: vivisection of living people (including pregnant women who were impregnated by the doctors), prisoners had limbs amputated and reattached to other parts of their body, some prisoners had parts of their bodies frozen and thawed to study the resulting untreated gangrene. Humans were also used as living test cases for grenades and flame throwers. Prisoners were injected with strains of diseases, disguised as vaccinations, to study their effects. To study the effects of untreated venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhoea via rape, then studied.

Then there was an experiment that involved intradermal injections of live human cancer cells into 22 chronically ill, debilitated non-cancer patients in 1963 without their consent in the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital case, to learn if foreign cancer cells would live longer in debilitated non-cancer patients than in patients debilitated by cancer.

Then there was the case of severely retarded children at the Willowbrook State Hospital in New York being injected with hepatitis virus. This Hospital did not admit new patients after 1964, unless their parents "consented" to the experiment.

Cancer patients (mostly Negroes of below-average intelligence who were charity patients) during 1960-72 in Cincinnati were exposed to large doses of whole body radiation as part of an experiment sponsored by the U.S. military.

A University of Minnesota study in the late 1940s injected 11 public service employee volunteers with malaria, then starved them for five days.

For a study in 1957, when the Asian flu pandemic was spreading, federal researchers sprayed the virus in the noses of 23 inmates at Patuxent prison in Jessup, Md., to compare their reactions to those of 32 virus-exposed inmates who had been given a new vaccine.

Government researchers in the 1950s tried to infect about two dozen volunteering prison inmates with gonorrhea using two different methods in an experiment at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta. The bacteria was pumped directly into the urinary tract through the penis, according to their paper.

***

Although I was researching for a fictional work, the truth is that much of what I wrote about has actually happened in one way or another.

The truth may be stranger than fiction, but it’s also a hell of a lot scarier too.

Self publishing (the view from the trenches)

Since the upsurge in ebooks, self publishing or indie publishing is the latest hot potato. Now anyone who self publishes or is thinking of self publishing has probably heard the success stories of people such as Amanda Hocking and JA Konrath, but for every success story there are thousands and thousands of struggling authors that might sell a handful of copies a month if they’re lucky. And I’m firmly in the latter camp.

To put this into perspective, I’ll share my details and my story for those interested, or for those contemplating going this route.

To start at the beginning, I had my first novel published in 2003, but it wasn’t until 2009 that my next one appeared in print. Since then I've had one novel adapted for film, which is now awaiting release. I put my first self published work up for sale in December of 2010 and I now have 4 works available (3 of those were previously published in paperback and I received advances and royalties). The 4 books are Dead Man’s Eye, The Kult, Deadfall and Evilution. Now I won’t go into individual sales as it’s not really relevant, just the totals from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Smashwords on these books. They are priced low (some may say too low, others might say too high) between $0.99 and $1.49:

Amazon.com sales from December to May this year have totalled 164 copies, which resulted in royalties of $75.42 (£46.58)

Amazon.co.uk sales for the same period totalled 90 copies with royalties of $45.81 (£28.30)

Smashwords sales are more erratic to work out as they include copies that I’ve given away for free, but paid sales, which includes sales from Barnes & Noble, Sony etc, came to $60.70 (£37.49)

So total money earned from December to May = $181.93 (£112.37)

When you take into account the hours put in writing the books (on average each book took me about 6 months to write), and then the many more hours promoting them, you can see that in this case, it’s not paid me back. Also take into account that I paid for promotion at various places such as Kindle Boards, Goodreads etc, which totalled more than $125 and total profit falls to less than $55 (£33.97). And that’s for 6 months solid promotion using message boards, forums, paid adverts etc! So that’s hardly enough for a meal and a few drinks on a night out. Not much return for all the hard work. And this is for books that have received some excellent reviews at various places which you can check on Goodreads and Amazon.

Luckily my paperback sales before the publisher went bankrupt and before I withdrew one book were far better, so I made more money on the paperback books. I won’t list advances or how much these paid, but just let me say that even the lowest selling one made far more in royalties after earning out the advance than I’ve made in the last 6 months through ebook sales.

Now to be honest, I used to dream of making a living as a writer, and the embers of that dream are still there, but the realist in me knows that it doesn’t look as though that is going to happen. But I’ll continue writing because I love writing. Being paid is icing on the cake.

So for those contemplating taking the indie road, good luck. Because believe me, no matter how good an author you are, you’ll need it.

Book versus the film

I guess deep down it’s every author's dream to see their work made into a film, so I feel extremely lucky that The Kult has been adapted. Now most people always say that the book is better than the film, so I’ll be very interested to see if that holds true this time.

The reason why most people prefer the books probably comes from that fact that a film is a condensed version. Also, a film doesn’t allow you to get inside the characters heads as much as a book. I recall being excited about seeing Stephen King’s Misery on the big screen as I’d loved the book, but I walked away very disappointed as it didn’t compare for me personally. Another example was Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island, where again I much preferred the book as it allowed you to ‘walk in the characters shoes’ while reading. I think part of this is because reading is a much more personal thing, and at times we come to feel that the characters we are reading about are real people, and that sometimes they become people that we know and so it can be quite a wrench to have to finish a book and realise that we’re going to lose the good friend that we’ve made along the way.

Anyway, here are some examples of books that I felt were better than their adaptations: The Beach, Christine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Day of the Triffids.

Examples where I preferred the film include: Fight Club, Lord of the Flies, Trainspotting, The Bourne Identity and the television series, Dexter.

So what are your thoughts? Do you prefer the books or the adaptations? Have any good examples? As for The Kult, only time will tell …

Links to buy the book:
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/jNwiPc

Film trailer:

Summer Holiday and The Kult movie

I’ve just arrived home (well at 4 a.m.) from a holiday in Lanzarote. Had a great time chilling in the sun (now I know why they call Lanzarote the windy island though as the wind never stops blowing.) The only disconcerting bit was while waiting for the plane to take off on the way home, and the civil aviation authority wouldn’t let it go. People were getting on and off and talking animatedly with the captain. Eventually the captain announced that there was a minor technical problem that would be fixed soon. An hour and a half later, after a succession of engineers appeared on the scene, we were told it was because there was a screw missing from somewhere underneath the plane, and they had had trouble locating one to replace it with. I’d hate to think what would have happened and how long it would have taken if it was something ‘really’ technical.

I’ll post some pictures when I sort them out, but for anyone who’s never been to Lanzarote it’s certainly got a unique landscape, and resembles the surface of the moon in places. Aside from lazing by the pool, we had a trip to the Timanfaya National Park http://www.discoverlanzarote.com/timanfaya.asp We also dived underneath the ocean in a submarine, which was great fun. Now I just need to get rid of the excess weight I've put on as I guess I gorged and drank too much, making the most of the all inclusive package!

Anyway, now that I’m refreshed I hope to get back to writing as I've let it slide a lot as of late.

Also while I was away the trailer for The Kult movie was posted. I hope you’ll all check it out, and that if you enjoy it, you’ll click the ‘like’ button and hopefully share the link. And just in case you could have forgotten, the book that the film is based on is still available ;)

Anyway, here are the obligatory links:



Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934

Authors and books

I’ve never professed to be the best writer in the world but I enjoy making stuff up. Of course I hope other people like it too (the stuff I make up that is), because if you’re spending money on what I’ve written, I don’t want you, the reader to be disappointed. But you’re never going to please everyone, and people will find fault somewhere, whether it’s the prose, punctuation, grammar, spelling, characters, dialogue etc, but I try to write engaging fiction that I hope makes people keep turning the pages. It’s even more important to please people with a digital book as when you have a paperback, you can at least sell it on or use it to wipe your arse or stick it under a wobbly table leg, but in the digital age you can’t even say it’s worth the paper it’s written on. That’s why I appreciate it when anyone takes a chance on me and purchases something I’ve written. With so much choice out there it’s hard to sort the wheat from the chaff and as a reader myself, I know what it’s like to take a chance and buy something from an author you’ve never read before, so in alphabetical order I’m going to give a shout out to some of the perhaps less well known authors I’ve recently read whose work I've enjoyed in the hope you find something you might like too:

Kealan Patrick Burke http://www.kealanpatrickburke.com/
Garry Charles http://www.garrycharles.co.uk/
Rick Chesler http://rickchesler.com/
JG Faherty http://www.jgfaherty.com/
Guido Henkel http://guidohenkel.com/
Dave Jeffery http://davejeffery.webs.com/
Gary McMahon http://www.garymcmahon.com/
Scott Nicholson http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/
Rod Rees http://www.thedemi-monde.com/
Simon Royle http://www.simon-royle.com/
Daniel I Russell http://www.danielirussell.com/
Jeff Strand http://jeffstrand.wordpress.com/
Lee Thompson http://alongthispathsodarkly.blogspot.com/
Vicki Tyley http://www.vickityley.com/
Zoe Winters http://www.zoewinters.org/

The many masks we wear

I’ve been thinking about masks. The masks we all wear to be precise. You see, we all wear different masks around different people. Take for example a character I shall call Derek Macmillan.

Derek is married with two children. He works in a factory.

His parents call him Derek, using the name often when addressing him. Derek never swears around his parents and even though he is in his late thirties, he would probably get a clip around the ear if he did so.

His wife on the other hand rarely calls him by any name as she has no need of such appellations, although she sometimes calls him Del when needing to speak to him directly (when she’s angry she calls him by his full name). Derek only swears in front of his wife when he is really, really pissed off, which gives the profanity more significance.

Derek’s son calls him Dad. Before he turned eight, he called him Daddy. His daughter calls him Dad too. Derek has never sworn within earshot of his children as he doesn’t want to set a bad example.

At work, they call him Del. He swears like a trooper at work, mainly using the cussing in the form of light hearted banter. He also says things at work that he would never tell his wife.

Derek also has a close circle of friends that he grew up with. To them he is known as Mac, an abbreviation of his surname. He has no problem swearing while around his closest friends, but he doesn’t overdo it.

To those who address him formally, he is called Mr. Macmillan. He never swears around people he doesn’t know very well as he doesn’t want them to judge him by his use of bad language. He also adopts certain airs and graces with people he doesn’t know, trying to make himself sound more eloquent.

So here we have one man with five masks in the forms of Derek, Dad, Del, Mac and Mr. Macmillan. Each name gives Derek a different personality, although at heart he is one and the same.

I guess this is why authors should explore every facet of their fictional characters, and take into account what mannerism they adopt when wearing each mask.

The Kult

Now that the film of The Kult is just about complete, I've reduced the eBook price by a whopping 50% to celebrate:

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934

It's hard work getting word out about the book, so please feel free to help me spread the word by reposting the link or telling anyone you think might be interested. And if you've read the book and would consider writing a review on Amazon, however brief, that would be awesome. Thank you.

Nurturing a love of books

I can’t resist keep buying books. I was in Rhyl yesterday and popped into The Works (which is a discount bookshop) and picked up Stephen King’s Duma Key, Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold and Andrew Davidson’s The Gargoyle in a £5 for 3 books deal. I don’t know when I’ll have chance to read them, but they’ll be added to my ever growing ‘to be read’ pile.

But that’s the thing. I love books. Ebooks, printed books, it doesn’t matter. I love reading - always have - and I’ve instilled that love in my son, who at 8 years of age will stop awake late at night reading to himself (which is something that I can't tell him off for) He’s already far advanced in terms of his reading ability and was above the reading age that he should be years ago (I also bought him another book yesterday. I think his book collection will be competing with mine soon). Although he reads to himself, Deb and I still read to him every night too, so even though I don’t always get time to read my own books, I read lots of children’s books. We take him to the library every month and he takes out about 6 books at a time.

Recently The Education Secretary, Michael Gove said that children as young as 11 should be expected to read 50 books a year as part of a national drive to improve literacy standards, because the academic demands placed on English schoolchildren have been “too low for too long”.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said the vast majority of teenagers read just one or two books as part of their GCSEs, normally including John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.

Mr Gove said all schools should “raise the bar” by requiring pupils to read large numbers of whole books at the end of primary school and throughout secondary education.

It follows the publication of a report in December showing that reading standards among British teenagers had slumped from 17th to 25th in a major international league table.

***

One of the most important things you can teach your children is to love reading and it needn’t cost anything but time to do. Find a subject they are interested in and then nurture it. Above all, make it fun.

And for something completely different to read, here’s an interview where I talk about serial killers: http://readhorror.wordpress.com/interviews/shaun_jeffrey_on_serial_killers/

Monsters, Winter's Bone and book discounts

Watched two films over the weekend, both of which were quite cheaply shot, but both of which showed that you don't need giant budgets to make decent films, especially if there's a good script and actors that can do their job well. First up was Monsters:
“Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.”

Now reading that you’d think this would be an action packed, monster laden movie, much like District 9, but in fact the action is in short supply and the ‘monsters’ hardly feature at all. The film is more a character study and revolves around Samantha Wynden, played by Whitney Able and Andrew Kaulder played by Scoot McNairy and their interaction together as they try to get across the Mexican border back to the US. Both actors play their parts pretty well, but Whitney was the better of the two. Essentially it was about the human side of the story, but I felt that a few action scenes would have helped raise the bar for what is otherwise not a bad film, but one that could have been far better. 7/10

The second film was Winter’s Bone:
This was another film that forsakes action for character, but in this case it worked really well: “An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.”

Lead character, Ree Dolly played by Jennifer Lawrence was superb in her role as the 17 year old responsible for raising her younger brother and sister and coping with her withdrawn mother. When a local Sheriff tells her that her father, who manufactures crystal meth, has put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all, she sets out to find him, but the community of mountain people are staying tight lipped, forcing Ree to delve deeper if she’s to get to the truth and save her family home. Jennifer Lawrence’s performance was strong enough to carry this film on her own, but the other characters, many who had never acted before, gave a real sense of place and added to the feeling of mistrust that bubbled beneath the surface. 8.5/10

Finally, if you haven’t heard, Dark Regions Press, publisher of my collection Voyeurs of Death and the upcoming Fangtooth have been awarded the Horror Writer Association’s Speciality Award, and to celebrate they are offering 25% of everything for a very limited time using the coupon code: HWA2010. So what are you waiting for?
http://www.darkregions.com/

Book better than film?

The book is always better than the film. Isn't that what they say? You can't judge The Kult yet as the film hasn't been released, but you could always check out the book first, just like these other people have:

"Jeffrey, one of horror's rising young stars, has really hit his stride with THE KULT. Part mystery, part police procedural, part horror story, it's one thrilling ride. Jeffrey had me guessing at the killer's identity half a dozen times, and the reveal, when it finally came, knocked me over. You don't want to miss this one!" --Nate Kenyon, author of THE REACH and THE BONE FACTORY

"The Kult is a satisfying read that digs its bloody hooks in from the first sentence and drags the reader through its pages at a velocity far exceeding that of lesser novels." -- Dark Scribe Magazine

"The tension in this story is beyond anything I’ve read before, really intense and edge-of-your seat reading with the plot seeming to turn with every page." -- Book Chick City

"Shaun Jeffrey has written a cracking good story that I really enjoyed reading and I highly recommend it to other crime thriller fans." -- Booklore

"If you decide to read The Kult (which you should!), make sure you block out an entire weekend strictly for reading because you won’t be able to put it down once you’ve started!" -- Fatally Yours

"The Kult is a gripping read that’s part horror, part mystery, part police procedural, and completely in-your-face." -- Musings of an All Purpose Monkey

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934

Fangtooth

Okay, I hinted yesterday that there might be word about my next book that would be up for pre-order, well here it is (I feel like a proper writer me what with all this book news!) Cover art by Frank Walls www.frankwalls.net:


First there was the Creature From The Black Lagoon
Then there was Jaws
Prepare yourself for Fangtooth: http://www.darkregions.com/products/Fangtooth-by-Shaun-Jeffrey.html

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.

Ups and downs of publishing

As some people might already know, sadly Leucrota Press is no more. As I didn’t want my books, The Kult and Deadfall left in limbo, I’ve re-released them in eBook format. Both have new covers. While The Kult remains the same, Deadfall is a revised edition that I call the ‘Author’s cut’. This edition also features a bonus alternative ending, which was actually the original ending before I had a change of heart and altered it. Both books are available via Amazon and Smashwords and I’d appreciate any help spreading the word that they are available.

While on one hand I'm sad that they are no longer available in paperback (except second hand copies), I do like the fact that they are now under my control (of course if someone offered me a good enough deal, I'd accept and perhaps if the film is a success, the novel rights to The Kult might be more appealing - not that it's not a fantastic book anyway ;)). But with stories of Leisure Books ripping off their authors and lots of uncertainty in the publishing world, it's strange times that's for sure. I mean apart from a few visionaries, most people never believed that eBooks would ever become popular. They also never believed that people would ever make a success of self publishing, but now you have authors such as Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath and Scott Nicholson making a good living at it. And now Barry Eisler has announced that he is going down the self publishing road. But these are the exceptions. Most people who release their own work are lucky if they sell a copy a week or a month, and they'd be lucky to ever make a living at it. I'm among those, but I still love writing, and I know there are a few people out there who like my work, which makes it all seem worthwhile. So thanks :)

In other news, I’m hoping there will be an announcement tomorrow of my next book that will be up for pre order. Watch this space …



















The Kult

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/h0KuGw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/h9sj9R
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48934


















Deadfall

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/eqE01J
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/fZIsdO
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/48929

I am not a monster ...

At least not all the time.

OK, I was reading a post someone made the other day where they remarked upon meeting one of their idols in the form of a horror writer. They then went on to say how surprised they were that said writer was ‘so normal’, just like everybody else, and it got me to thinking (I know, it’s dangerous thinking) about how we (or namely me) are perceived as writers. Do people really think that because I write about killing people, monsters and suchlike that I am inherently evil? Am I a product of my own imagination? Just because I have a vivid (perhaps sometimes sick) imagination, it doesn’t mean I really go out and do the things I write about. Well, you didn’t think I’d admit to my crimes, did you?

So what do other people think? Do you believe that if someone writes about something evil, that it must mean they are an evil person themselves?

Newsletter

Whenever I can, I'll try to give the members of my newsletter a discount on the books I release. The recent first issue gave readers the chance to get 50% off the cover price of Evilution at Smashwords with a coupon code, bringing the price down to just $0.99. There will be more news soon, and more discounts so if you're interested, please sign up at www.shaunjeffrey.com). And for those who missed it, here's a link to the first issue:
http://p0.vresp.com/OMUvDG


One thing I will announce is that there will soon be a revised edition of Deadfall available. This will also include the bonus of an alternative ending (it was the original ending before I changed it). For now, here's what the new cover will look like:

Evilution

My novel Evilution is going out of print, but I’m pleased to announce that it's now available in eBook format. For those who don’t know, Evilution was the first book I had published back in 2003. The synopsis is as follows:

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 ...

"A classic chiller from a talented new author." - Guy N. Smith, Author of Writing Horror Fiction and The Dark One

"Shaun Jeffrey's debut novel is haunting, disturbing and spooky as hell." - Tim Lebbon, Stoker Award-winning author of Face

"Jeffrey handles the pace and the mood well in this chiller, and certainly has the skills in shifting expectations as quickly s the gears... You will experience a genuinely creepy story that goes somewhere more sophisticated than schlock-horroville. Just book the cottage at the top of the hill in Paradise with Miss Black - You will find it hard to leave." - Paul Terry, Dreamwatch Magazine

"Evilution is certainly one of the most enjoyable horror debuts that I can remember reading in recent times." - Joe Rattigan, The Alien Online

"A gripping horror story that will have you on the edge of your seat!" - Booklore


Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46855
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/gZzmwI
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/fzqMzw