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

Latest story free to read online

If you're into free fiction, then you can check out my latest story, 'Not So Different' at Magus Press if you're so inclined.

Voyeurs of Death now available.

Okay, my short story collection is now available from various online bookshops (Yay). My advice if you're looking for a copy is to use a service such as Book Butler to find the cheapest one, as some places want to charge way too much for a copy.

There's also another review up at Horror World (scroll down the page).

First review ...

Okay, the first review of Voyeurs of Death is in. The book should be available very soon now, and I'll let everyone know when and where it appears. For now, I hope you'll check the review out and that it will leave you salivating to purchase a copy: Necro Carnival

EVILUTION book trailer

I thought I would have a go at doing a book trailer for Evilution, and this is what I came up with:

MagusZine

I just want to give a shout out to a new FREE online zine called MagusZine. It will be available for download from Magus Press and will also be e-mailed to those who subscribe. The first issue is due out in July, and I have a story entitled, 'Not so Different' appearing in the September issue.

So sign up now if you want FREE fiction delivered to your inbox every month.

And did I mention, it's FREE ...

Voyeurs of Death available to pre-order

In the words of Linkin Park, I'm one step closer to the edge, and Voyeurs of Death is now available to pre-order from online bookstore, Shocklines:
http://shocklines.stores.yahoo.net/voofdebyshje.html

Some samples of Zach McCain's interior illustrations:

Interview and sale

I recently made the front page of a newspaper in my old home town of Uttoxeter (or at least my photograph did), and I didn't have to rob a bank to get there: Uttoxeter Post and Times In other news, I've just sold a second story entitled Sweet Music to Shadowed Realms

Cover art

Here's the preliminary wraparound cover by artist Zach McCain for my collection, Voyeurs of Death.

Happy New Year

Just a quick note to wish all those who pass through in the shadows a very happy New Year.

Deadfall

Well I've just finished the first draft of my latest novel, Deadfall. It's a zombie story, and I'll lay it to rest for a few weeks before reanimating it for the rewrites (I know, terrible but intentional pun)

Latest publications

I would just like to give a shout out to the recently published Wicked Karnival #7 featuring work by Edward Lee, Wrath James White, John Everson, Graham Masterton, Ramsey Campbell, Greg Lamberson and me, and another shout out to the new mass-market paperback anthology, Book of Shadows, Volume One that features work from the first six issues of "Shadowed Realms" online magazine along with some originals, including work by Poppy Z. Brite, Kurt Newton, Mark Zirbel, Josh Rountree, Craig Wolf, Stephen Dedman and me! Both of these are available through the greatest online horror bookshop in the world, Shocklines.

Update time

Okay, I thought it was time for a quick update on what I’m up to. Well, the zombie novel that I’m writing, tentatively titled ‘Deadfall’ has entered the home straight. The first draft should be finished within the next couple of weeks. Then I’ll lay it to rest, probably until after Christmas before bringing it back to life to do the revisions. I’ve had a blast writing this one.

I’ve had a new short story called ‘Clockwork’ published in the latest and last issue of Wicked Karnival. Clockwork is also one of the stories that’ll feature in my collection ‘Voyeurs of Death’ (you remember the collection; I've mentioned it before - keep up;-)) which is slated for release early 2007. The artist, Zach McCain is working on the interior illustrations and the cover, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. The list of stories appearing in Voyeurs of Death is:

The Flibbertigibbet (previously published in DeathGrip: Legacy of Terror #2003 and reprinted Dark Tales #2005)

The Watchers (previously published in Dark Discoveries #Volume 2 issue 2 2005)

Paranoid (unpublished)

The Tunnel (previously published in Hauntings #2004)

Sin Eater (unpublished)

Voyeurs of Death (previously published in Black tears #7 1995)

Life Cycle (previously published in Surreal Magazine #1 2005)

Clockwork (previously published in Wicked Karnival #7 2006)

Peacock Lawn (previously published in New Voices in Horror #2004)

Envy (unpublished)

Snake Charmer (previously published in Peep Show #2004)

Venetian Kiss (previously published in Monsters Ink #2005)

The Quilters of Thurmond (previously published in Grotesque #3 1993)

Dark Inside (unpublished)

Park Life (previously published in Shadowed Realms #2005)

As for my other unsold novels, The Kult and Fangtooth, my agent is shopping them around. There’ve been a few nibbles, but I know she’ll get them to bite eventually. I guess the publishers are just wondering how they’ll be able to keep up with demand if they take them on:-) Anyone interested in reading the first chapters of either novel can visit my website www.shaunjeffrey.com and click on the stories link.

Exorcising the Demon

In the spirit of Halloween, and to celebrate, I've posted a micro-length short story below for the 99 words of horror contest.

Father Doherty stood beside the door, his ear pressed to the cold wood. Grunts, groans and the odd scream emanated from the room beyond and he nodded approvingly. The doubts he harboured at the young priests ability to conduct the ritual seemed unfounded, and he opened the door to watch him in action, only to roll his eyes in dismay at the sight of the woman sweating on the treadmill.

“Father Freer,” he shouted, addressing the man with the whip stood behind the woman. “This isn’t what I had in mind when I asked you to exorcise the demon!”

Shocklines bookshop

Anyone who purchases horror books should check out Shocklines. You will not find an online store with more choice. From small press to large press, this store has it all. From advance orders to new releases, you'll find it all here.

If you do purchase any books, please mention my name in the "Comments" section of the checkout process.

Limited Edition Halloween T-Shirt

Anyone interested in purchasing a limited edition Halloween t-shirt designed by Alex McVey should check this out: Click me!!!

There are only going to be 200 of these bad boys printed.

Voyeurs of Death update

Grafika Press are no longer associated with my collection, Voyeurs of Death - it's now going to be published solely by Wicked Karnival. I'll post further details as they are released.

Horror Fest UK

Horror Fest UK is a new film festival that is taking place from November 16th - 18th in Portsmouth, England.


Horror Fest

Creepycast

For anyone interested in listening to a paranormal variety show with interviews of dark musicians, artists and writers, then check out: Creepycast

Horror Day

Creators in the horror community have launched the "Horror Day of Action," a campaign to inspire all lovers of the horror genre to reach out to the world on Friday, Oct. 13, 2006. The idea caught fire and spread to every area of horror, from haunted house operators to videogame designers to movie makers and writers. But the most important and basic ingredient of Horror Day is each fan's participation.

On Oct. 13, fans are asked to buy a horror book, give away a horror book, rent a horror video, read ghost stories to children, host an art show, or talk to the nearest library, bookstore, video store, newspaper and to call your local radio station.

The official site for Horror Day, along with suggestions for action, can be found at Horrorday.

"We expected this idea to gain momentum quickly because it's so simple," said a volunteer, "But to see it grow so rapidly, and to see the enthusiasm of the people who love this genre has been totally amazing. Horror is often considered a fringe taste, but the reality is it has millions of fans in every sector of society. And our combined voices can have a positive effect on the world at large."

While the Horror Day site has action tips, creativity is the key to the event's success. Fans are asked to come up with their own imaginative spin to promote the genre and share them in the "Comments" section of the MySpace site and on all the various horror message boards.

Most importantly, remember this year Friday the 13th is HORROR DAY!

Evilution (revised edition)

There is now a revised edition of my novel Evilution available. After listening to the constructive comments people kindly offered, I sat down and made some changes that have now been implemented. Hopefully this has addressed the problems people picked up on. As there are a lot of old copies floating around, the best option with regard purchasing a new copy is probably to buy direct from Amazon.co.uk or from Amazon.com.

Fangtooth

I've updated the story page on my website and added the first chapter of my latest novel, Fangtooth. Any comments/feedback would be appreciated. The novel is with my agent at the moment, and she's shopping it around.

The Frontlist

Among the many ways to try to reach the editor's desk, I've just been informed of a new one: The Frontlist. In their words: 'The Frontlist is, we believe, the first serious online route for an unpublished novelist to get a completed fictional novel considered by a publisher. It allows a new writer to test samples from a completed manuscript within a community, and to have it undergo structured critiques by other writers. All work will move up and down a list within its genre, according to the reviews that have been written. We have an informal agreement with a senior editor at Picador to consider top reviewed work from the site each month. The process is free - no upfront money, and we don't climb into any deals that may subsequently emerge between writer and publisher. To fund the project, we simply ask that if a writer wishes to read the individual reviews on his or her work, then they pay a one-off fee. But if they chose not to, that's fine - it will have absolutely no impact on their chances of being considered by the publisher. So writers are able to use The Frontlist completely and utterly free.'

So far they are only accepting submissions under two genres: Crime and General fiction, but hopefully the list will grow if they get enough support and interest.

Update

It's been a while since I posted here, so I thought I would just give a short update on what I'm up to. On the writing front, I'm working on a new zombie novel. The story's coming along well at the moment and I'm about a quarter of the way through writing it. My agent's had some enquiries about my other novels, so I've got my fingers crossed that something might take off, and a couple of my short stories are due to be published around now; I'll post more when that happens. Anyway, I hear the dead getting restless, so it's back to the writing.

Silent Hill

As I enjoyed playing the game, I had high hopes for Silent Hill the film, but as with many things in life, high expectations only lead to disappointment. It was nicely shot, very atmospheric, with some great scenery that could have been lifted straight from the game. But the storyline was cobbled together to try to make sense of it, and unfortunately, it didn’t work. And then there’s the dialogue. It was so stilted and unnatural, you wanted to grab the scriptwriter and throttle him. As I walked out, I heard comments ranging from 'That was shit' to 'What the hell was that about. Did you understand any of it?' I didn't think it was that bad, and it’s worth seeing on the big screen if only for the impressive scenery, but make sure you switch your brain off upon entering and then remember to turn it on again upon exit. Ultimately, it’s like a nice looking cake, but when you slice it open, there’s nothing inside. And I like my cake to have substance as well as decoration.

MySpace

If anyone is on MySpace and wishes to add me as a friend, feel free.
Find me on MySpace and be my friend!

Scary Moments

As someone who obviously wants to scare his readers, I have a quick question: What scares you? What makes a story scare the bejesus out of you?

Latest News

I've had a group of my short stories accepted for a collection, which will be published by the newly combined force of Wicked Karnival and Grafika Press. The collection will be titled Voyeurs of Death and will include 11 of my tales. I'm very excited about this, and can't wait to see the finished product. Check out the artwork on the Grafika website. You won't be disappointed.

First to be published by the company will be an anthology of short stories by horror author David A. Riley. Other authors with work accepted so far for various projects are: Dan Waters, Jason Brannon and Christopher Fulbright.

Latest News

And another sale to report, this time to Wicked Karnival, with my story, Clockwork, due to apear in issue #7. It looks as though 2006 is shaping up to be a good year.

This issue will feature fiction by:

1. GAST excerpt from the novel Edward Lee is working on.
2. COACH POTATO by Wrath James White
3. FIFTEEN MINUTES by Louise Bohmer
4. SWALLOWED SICKLE by Richard h. Pitaniello
5. CICADAS By Nickolas Cook
6. A GLASSY STARE, AN IDIOT'S GRIN by Patrick G. Rabe
7. EXOTIC FLOWER by John Irvine
8. THE WHITE DEATH By Debbie Kuhn
9. MUSIC FROM THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE by Andersen Prunty
10. THE KEY TO HER HEART By John Everson
11. THE DARKNESS OF EXALTED FLESH (A Tale from the Book of Dark Memory) by Joseph Armstead
12. TIN LIZZE by Cathy Buburuz
13. CLOCKWORK by Shaun Jeffrey
14. DEVIL'S TOY by Liam Davies
15. MADNESS by William Ollie

Non-Fiction by:

1. Greg Lamberson
2. Graham Masterton (and a flash story)
3. Nick Cato

Interviews with:

Ramsey Campbell
Edward Lee
Greg Lamberson

Latest News

Well here I am again with news of a short story sale, Bugs sold to Dark Wisdom, a quarterly publication of Dark Fiction and Lovecraftian horror. No definite date for publication yet, but it’s slated for issue #14, although it may appear sooner.

Free Fiction

I would just like to give a shout out to two free fiction venues. The first is Devil's Work, where if you sign up, you get a free story emailed to you every Friday. And the second is Shadowed Realms, which offers dark online flash fiction. Both are worth checking out, and as it's free admission, you have nothing to lose.

Newsletter update

For those who signed up to my newsletter, the free serialised novel, Dark Seduction, which I stared sending out last halloween, has almost reached its climax (for anyone who signs up now, the complete novel is available in the message archives). From the responses I received, people have enjoyed reading it – even those who didn’t think they would read a serialised novel online have written to say how much they look forward to the weekly chapters. Someone else compared the story to something written by Clive Barker, but not as wordy, which is praise indeed (now if only I could be as successful ;-))

When I have sent the final chapter of the novel out, the newsletter will be used for irregular news, the odd giveaway and anything else relevant, so it’s always worth signing up. Just pay me a visit at Shaun Jeffrey. You never know, you might find something you like.

Peter Benchley - RIP

Peter Benchley, whose novel "Jaws" made millions think twice about stepping into the water even as the author himself became an advocate for the conservation of sharks, has died at age 65, his widow said Sunday. His legacy to me, and probably countless others, will be the fear I have of going into the water in warmer climates.

First draft in the bag (or in this case, computer)

Well one year ago this month, I started writing Fangtooth. What with one thing and another, it took longer than anticipated, but I’m very pleased to report that I’ve just finished the first draft. Woohoo. It always gives me a great feeling of accomplishment to finish a novel. Now even though I’m eager to start rewriting, I’ll put it a way for a month to let the story settle. In the meantime, I’m going to rewrite an earlier novel, tentatively titled, Sacrifice.

With regard what Fangtooth is about, all I will say is this:

In an attempt to 'save' his son from the lifestyle he can see him drifting into in the city, recently widowed father, Bruce Holden and his wayward teenage son, Jack move to the coast. They soon discover that the house they have bought has stood empty for years as the previous occupants mysteriously disappeared. But that's only the start of their problems. Something's stirring in the sea. Something hungry.

I’ve got everything crossed that this novel will find a home.

Al Lewis - RIP

I was sad to hear that Al Lewis, who starred as Grandpa in the 1960s sitcom, The Munsters, has died. Sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, he became a pop culture icon playing the temperamental father-in-law to Fred Gwynne's ever-bumbling Herman Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on Car 54, Where Are You?

The Munsters was one of the two "creepy" sitcoms that began in 1964. CBS aired The Munsters and ABC aired The Addams Family. Both of them lasted only two years and finished their network run within a week of each other. Although people often call him Grandpa Munster, Grandpa was Lily's father, and their family name was "Dracula".

The first episode of The Munsters aired in September, 1964, 10 months before I was born, but its appeal meant that it continues to be shown to this day. I always used to enjoy watching the Munsters, and although it only lasted a couple of years, it racked up an impressive 70 episodes. Long may it continue to be aired.

Novel update

Well I'm on the home straight with the first draft of my latest novel, Fangtooth. I'm excited about this story, and I hope publishers will like it just as much. Hopefully I'll have the first draft finished by the end of this month. Then I'm going to set it aside while I rewrite a novel that I wrote about 10 years ago, tentatively titled Sacrifice. I liked the original idea for Sacrifice, but it needs rewriting to make the most of it. Basically it's a story about love, revenge and monsters - a winning combination.

I've got plans for further novels filed away, so the only thing I'm short on is time and luck, and I truly believe that luck plays an important part in this thing called life, so I've got fingers, legs and everything else crossed that this is my lucky year.

Latest News

Just a couple of quick snippets of news. First, a new short story of mine entitled The Sin Box has been published in Entertainment Wickedly, a Fanzine specialising in alternative cinema. It's available in pdf format and is free to download. Next up, I've sold a short mystery story to Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine. I hope the rest of the year now continues in the same way.

Scrapbook snippet

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. I've not posted much lately as I've been busy working on Fangtooth, the first draft of which I expect to finish this month all being well.

Anyway, here's another of those snippets that makes for bizarre reading.

A housewife in Funtua town of Katsina State woke from a night’s sleep to find a mysterious 6-inch nail driven into her head.

The incident was made more bizarre by the fact that she did not know when or how it happened to her.

Mrs. Adama Shuaibu was hale and hearty when she left for her room on Wednesday night, but apparently, while she slept, some cruel person crept into her room and drove the nail into her skull.

A nurse at Funtua General Hospital said the case was horrible and puzzling.
“I don’t know how to explain her situation. The lady could eat but could not talk and her behaviour was abnormal. We cannot rule out the possibility that she was under the influence of a strong charm for her to have been ignorant of a nail being driven into her head”, the nurse said.

Merry Christmas

Well, I've been busy working on my new novel Fangtooth, but now it's time for a couple of days break. Merry Christmas everyone.

Bleach

Shooting of the film, Bleach will begin in January on the UK’s Isle of Wight, with writer/director Jason Bradbury heading up a filmmaking team that is almost entirely in their late teens.

BLEACH is set at an abandoned factory where a group of youths decide to hold an illegal rave—little knowing that the building serves as home to a deformed maniac (Matthew Fuller) who is obsessed with cleanliness and hates anything dirty—including sex.

To show your support for independent films, or if just interested as it does look cool, check it out at: http://www.bleachthemovie.com

AA Independent Press Guide

For anyone in need of markets for illustrations, short stories or poetry to send their work to, then check out the awesome AA Independent Press Guide. A free online guide to 2000+ lit mags and publishers.

Dark Tales

On the news front, my story The Flibbertigibbet is now available to read in Dark Tales, a free to download online anthology available in PDF format from SpecFicWorld. My story originally appeared in the limited print run Hellbound Books anthology, Deathgrip: Legacy of Terror in 2003, so I'm glad to see it now available for a wider audience.

Dark Tales features fiction by James S Dorr, Angeline Hawkes-Craig, Karen Sandler, Rebecca M. Senese, James R. Cain, Mark Justice, Rob Hunter, K.G. McAbee, Shaun Jeffrey, and Carol Hightshoe.

Follow this link to download a copy:

Dark Tales

Christmas Prize Draw

As the first flurries of snow drift upon the shores of this country, it puts me in the Christmas spirit, which is of course a time for giving. Therefore, to celebrate, I will be posting a simple question through my newsletter, and everyone who answers correctly will be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of my novel, Evilution. The question will be emailed on Thursday, December 1st, and the draw will take place on Sunday, December 11th. There will be two copies available, so if you want the chance to win one of them, and you aren’t already signed up, do it now, and good luck.

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Tasty snacks

At first sight, this picture looks like a macabre slaughterhouse; mangled body parts strewn about a room; arms, legs and heads resting on shelves and dangling from meat hooks - but it might surprise you to know that it's actually bread sculptures made by Kittiwat Unarrom, a 28-year-old art student.

Using anatomy books and his vivid memories from visits to forensics museums help him to create this edible art.

He says, “When people see the bread, they don’t want to eat it. But when they taste it, it’s just normal bread. The lesson is ‘don’t judge just by outer appearances.’”

Flash Mind Reader

The flash mind reader seems to have been puzzling a lot of people. Anyone who wants to know how it works, click the reply to this message and I'll tell you. But like many tricks, sometimes you're better of just not knowing so the magic never dies.

Scrapbook snippet

Here's one for the scrapbook: A four-year-old girl was stopped from taking her teeth home from hospital for the tooth fairy because doctors classed them as "body parts". Kimberley Cumming's mother Lorraine was told the teeth had to be disposed of by Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Mrs Cumming had explained the tooth fairy story to make her daughter less anxious about the procedure, during which four teeth were taken out.

Kimberley had made a special box and was upset about not getting her teeth.

The girl, from Inverness, had gone in to have one tooth out but the dental surgeon removed three others to stop the rot from spreading.

But doctors said the teeth were now classed as body parts and had to be disposed of by the hospital.

Website redesigned and a FREE serialised novel

To celebrate the launch of my redesigned website, and to showcase my work, I'm offering a FREE serialised copy my novel Dark Seduction to anyone who signs up to the newsletter. The first chapter will be emailed out on Halloween, and the other chapters will follow around every one to two weeks. Previous chapters will be available in the archives for those who sign up later. Go on, I know you want to. ;-)Feel free to post any comments about the story here on my blog.

Website redesign underway

I'm just starting to redesign my website, and hopefully when it's up and running, I'll have some freebies to give away to celebrate its launch. Watch this space.

2 for 1 offer

Just a quick mention that until Xmas, whenever someone orders an Invisible College Press book via the ICP site, they'll receive a 2nd ICP book of the publisher's choice thrown in for free. So fill up them sacks, because Santa's sled won't deliver after Christmas. And remember, postage in the US and Canada is free for books ordered from the site.

Update

I've just received word from Darren Smith, the editor of Tales from the Transdimensional Horror Express, a magazine for which I am helping write the back story. The magazine was initially a dual language magazine, printed in German and English, but now it's going to be all in English. I am currently plotting the back story out, and it should be an interesting development. On the novel front, I'm still typing away on Fangtooth. When that's finished, I'm not short of ideas. I've got a novel to rewrite that I wrote a few years ago, another idea partially mapped out that I'm really excited about (not that I'm not excited about all my ideas, but some spark the imagination more than others), and another story that needs developing. All I need now is for my agent to secure a publisher.

I'll be away at the coast for the next week, so hopefully I'll have even more ideas upon my return.

Latest news

I've been a bit slack posting lately as I've been busy working on my new novel, Fangtooth (and you all thought I'd abandoned it;-)). It's going great at the moment. I got a little sidetracked with work and suchlike, but things are now back on track. In other news, I've been interviewed for Gold Dust Magazine, which will appear in print at some point in the not too distant future.

The Echo

I was emailed by Chuck Gutierrez, webmaster for the new film, The Echo (Sigaw), and in the wake of the other Asian films, thought it sounded interesting enough to mention it here. This is a Filipino ghost movie directed by Yam Laranas. It’s about a haunted apartment building that exists both in the present and the past.

To escape his overbearing mother, Marvin (Richard Gutierrez), moves into a cheap apartment building, and is helped in decorating it by his girlfriend, Pinky. Initially, the unit Marvin has moved into appears like any ordinary apartment building -- there are occasional spats between a couple, Anna and Bert (Jomari Yllano), down the hallway -- but paying them no heed, his life continues. Then things start getting worse, and he moves back home for a few days until he can figure out his next plan of action.

In his absence, Pinky visits his unit unaware that he is no longer there. She falls victim to the abusive element within the building and Marvin can take no more. He goes back in for one final battle with the evil memories that have taken hold of the house.

Autograph_Collectors

Inspired by all the autograph requests I've been receiving, I've written a quick, quirky short story in the form of message posts, which I've put on my website for anyone who wants to read it. Autograph_Collectors

For the right price, you can be a character in a King novel.

Some people might be interested to know that there is an auction on Ebay involving Stephen King: If you’ve ever wanted to be a character in a Stephen King novel, here’s your chance! From September 1-25, 2005, Auction Cause will be conducting an auction through eBay Giving Works in which 17 authors are auctioning the opportunity to be a character in an upcoming novel, with the proceeds being donated to the First Amendment Project, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. The auction for the Stephen King character will be from September 8th-18th.

The latest bid stands at: US $11,100.00, so it's only for those with a large wallet or purse.

Sin-Jin Smyth

For anyone who remembers The Cult, it's been announced that BILLY DUFFY will contribute original guitar work to the Score of Sin-Jin Smyth. To show my age, I remember when The Cult were Southern Death Cult, one of my favourite bands of the time along with Theatre of Hate (which Duffy also played in) and Bauhaus. Those were the days ...

The film (Written and Directed by Ethan Dettenmaier)--- follows two federal marshals who man an isolated Federal Outpost in the American Midwest. One night they receive an emergency message (over Halloween weekend) to blitz across the border into the Kansas Badlands (moments after a tornado warning) for the midnight prisoner transfer of a man with no identity (and set against a Kansas legend about a Midnight appearance of the Devil every Halloween in a quiet, local cemetery).

Dark Discoveries

I received my contributor copy of Dark Discoveries today. I've had a quick glimpse through, and it seems like a magazine that's well worth purchasing. The contents include interviews with Brian Keene, Craig Spector, Michael Laimo, Michael Arnzen, and Shane Ryan Staley. Fiction by Michael Laimo, Steve Vernon, Paul Finch,Josh Rountree and yours truly.

Photograph requests

I've been receiving a number of emails asking for signed photographs of me. While I know I'm good looking ;-), I'm confused. As a small press author who has yet to achieve greatness, I'm wondering why all the sudden requests have started to arrive. Is there something I don't know? Have I suddenly become desirable? (in the photographic sense). Being a small press author, I don't have signed photos as there’s no demand for them (sits here wondering whether people just want something to throw darts at). If anyone knows why there's the sudden interest, please let me know.

Amazon Shorts

I noticed that Amazon are starting something new by offering short stories from their main page for 49 cents a pop. They list the benefits as:

*Access a powerful marketing tool to promote an author's backlist in a new and meaningful way
*Create an author profile page with biography, photo, and complete backlist
*Maintain author's visibility between published projects
*Establish a more direct and frequent communication with readers
*Introduce readers to unfamiliar writers
*Provide a new outlet to sell short fiction and nonfiction

In short, Amazon Shorts are never-before-seen short works from a wide variety of well-known authors, available only on Amazon.com. I have emailed my interest in the program and received an automatic response that says they'll be in contact in a few days. I imagine they will be selective with their authors, but it's worth a try.

Porn can make you go blind

I've been away on a course all week, and will be away again next week, but upon my return I did find this interesting article in New Scientist:

Researchers have finally found evidence that erotic images make you go blind. The effect is temporary and lasts just a moment, but the research has added to road-safety campaigners’ calls to ban sexy billboard-advertising near busy roads, in the hope of preventing accidents.

The new study by US psychologists found that people shown erotic or gory images frequently fail to process images they see immediately afterwards. And the researchers say some personality types appear to be affected more than others by the phenomenon, known as “emotion-induced blindness”.

So that means I'll have to stop reading top rack magazines while driving;-)

On other news, I'm keeping a watchful eye out for Sin-Jin Smyth which is filming at the moment. The story concerns a pair of federal marshals (played by Jason Hildebrandt and Richard Tyson, both from BLACK HAWK DOWN) who arrive in a town called Shin Bone on November 2 (the Day of the Dead) to transport a prisoner with no past and no identity ... he is known only as Sin-Jin Smyth.

On my own news front, my agent is hard at work trying to sell my novel The Kult, so watch this space ...

Daily Grammar

A useful online site for those who want to learn about grammar is Daily Grammar. They no longer send out daily grammar tips, but they are all available online to read.

Google Earth

For those who have never seen it, and those with the necessary computer specs, check out Google Earth, a 3D interface to the planet.

Online radio drama

I've discovered a good online source of listening material from BBC 7. Called 7th Dimension, you can listen to radio plays such as 'Doctor Who', Terry Pratchett's 'Guards! Guards!' and a whole host of other sci-fi programs. There's also a section for drama, crime and thrillers and bestsellers to listen to, and if you miss a show, each broadcast is saved for 7 days.

A new writing gig

I heard yesterday (but was too busy getting ready to go out and celebrate my 40th birthday to mention it) that I've got a gig helping write the back story to a new magazine, Tales from the Transdimensional Horror Express. It's an illustrated, quarterly, dual language (English-German) horror fiction publication with nostalgic style and content - somewhere between a 1930’s weird fiction pulp and a Victorian periodical.

The back story is an ongoing story, not unlike a TV soap, that will involve all of the regulars onboard the Trans-Horror Express. It will unfold through comments, hints and observations made by each passenger whilst introducing a featured story or article.

The reader finds themselves onboard a phantom express train in the company of an elderly and rather eccentric band of revenant dead travellers all of whom, naturally, have their own weird, macabre and chilling tales to tell…

I'm excited about this as I feel it will stretch me as a writer.

The art of rejection

I read what I thought was a useful bit of advice somewhere the other day, which basically said don't mention story rejections on blogs or websites as you never know who's reading. In effect, any prospective publisher or agent who's interested in your work could find the posts with a simple search, and where they once wanted to publish/accept the work, they see it's been rejected x amount of times and change their mind.

Also on the matter of rejection, I doubt there's an author alive or dead who's not been rejected hundreds of times. It's something you have to learn to accept. Some rejections are helpful, others come in the shape of form letters. It doesn't always mean the story's no good, just that it wasn't suitable this time. Like countless authors, I've got loads of short stories and 3 novels sitting in a drawer that are no good, or which I abandoned. The interesting thing with them is going back years later and rereading to see how much you have improved. In 1997 I submitted one of the novels that's now basking in a drawer to an agent who represented Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Richard Laymon. He interestingly wrote: 'My feeling is that one day you will have a novel published - GIMOKODAN [which was the title for it then]is very much a borderline case.'

Although the above agent's comment inspired me, not long after that I ceased writing for a number of years due to work commitments. But that manuscript with the crap title - Gimokodan is the underworld of the Bagobo people of the Philippines - still gnaws away at me to rewrite it. One day I will. As with most things, too many projects, too little time.

The Land of the Dead

I've just returned from visiting my brother in the Lake District, and on the way home the family and I called in at Morecambe 'holiday' resort. Now I've visited many such resorts in the past, and as a kid I loved them, but I've noticed that lately, most of them are abysmal. In this instance, the attractions hunched empty and unused on the sea front. A few forlorn chip shops, gaudily painted signs and boarded up buildings are now what constitute a holiday destination on the west coast.

It's no wonder bookings at such resorts are down - I wouldn't fancy spending a week in one, that's for sure. The worst resorts seem to be in the North of the country, as down south and around Cornwall, the towns and villages seem to be maintained - perhaps it's a money thing, something to do with the north/south divide. Even the small funfair in this resort was terrible, with half the attractions looking liable to collapse. The people strolling around looked like zombies, and the people running the ‘attractions’ didn't look old enough to be out of school.

This particular resort once had Frontierland Western Theme Park - now closed and abandoned, which I took a couple of photographs of, mainly because it inspired me. I know there have been numerous books on abandoned funfairs before, but the same could easily be said of vampires (which up until yet I have not penned a tale of), so it's another story on the back burner. It's a shame such places are left to rot; now the only cries are when someone cuts themselves on the glass that litters the floor after they've broken in to smooch around. What was once a popular holiday destination is now the fodder of a horror writer.

Evilution Sale Now On

I've sorted out a deal with the publisher of my novel, and if people order Evilution via the Invisible College Press web site, and type the word SALE into the coupon code, they'll get $5.00 off their order. Also postage within the US and Canada is free (to all other countries it's £2.99 - $5.00). So people can purchase a copy for only $9.95.

Planet of the Apes

A team of neuro-scientists on the Caribbean island of St Kitts have created primates with partially human brains. They injected human brain cells into monkey foetuses, giving them up to eight million human brain cells each. The modified monkeys have been called 'chimeras', which in Greek literature are mythical monsters combined of lion, goat and snake.


The reported reason for this experiment is to assist with medical research into neurological illnesses, but this never sits comfortably with me. By altering the genetic makeup of a species, scientists are playing at God. This case puts me in mind of the film, Planet of the Apes. They [scientists] say that incorporating eight million human brain cells into a primate is not that significant as the brain has 20 to 40 billion cells, so is unlikely to do anything to change the characteristics of that brain. I'm not convinced. Anything that alters a species, no matter how small, must have an impact. What would be the result if one of these animals escaped and bred? And then there's the ethical issue of these experiments.

It ultimately poses the question, when man becomes the creator, what use have we for gods? To whom should the faithful bow down? Some people say that science is the new religion; perhaps they are closer to the truth than they realise.

The Horror

I work on the railways here in the UK, but I'm based about 150 miles away from London. After todays horrific events, we are on amber alert at the moment, so having to be extra vigilant. I've been 'out in the field' all day at a specific hotspot in our area, making sure the trains being rerouted and diverted from London can run without delay. It's frightening stuff, and another case of the reality being worse than the fiction when it's real life.

A reprint

I've just had a reprint acceptance (The Flibbertigibbet) for an as yet untitled subscribers anthology at SpecFicWorld, which will be a free download when it appears. Although this venue doesn't pay, the previous anthologies they published had over 30,000 downloads, which is a lot of potential readers. The editor accepted the story within 1 day. I always liked The Flibbertigibbet, and it was previously published in Hellbound Book's anthology, Deathgrip: Legacy of Terror, which is now out of print, so it'll be good to let a wider audience have the opportunity to read the story.

Dark Discoveries magazine is now at the printers, so it shouldn't be long before it's available with my story, The Watchers.

The Value of Awards

I notice from the many venues I visit that it's award time again. I do vote for work that I liked, and there are numerous awards being presented around this time, and not to detract from any winners’ success, but I do question the value of certain awards. The main problem (as I see it) is that they (awards) depend on people reading said work and then voting for it if they like it enough. So if writer 'A' has published a story/book etc in an obscure little 'zine with a low readership, and writer 'B' has published a story in a 'zine with a large readership, then it's statistically more likely writer 'B' will have more people vote for his story (assuming both stories are of equal calibre). That's not to say writer 'A' had written a worse story, just that not many people read it.

I know if I was ever lucky enough to win an award, I would appreciate it, but I do feel the awards process in many instances is flawed, and I wonder if there could be a fairer system of voting.

When I look down the lists of final recommendations for an award, I know that I will only vote for those that I read and enjoyed, but it doesn't mean it was the best. And this is the problem. Without reading everything on the list, how do I really know that story 'A' was not as good as story 'B'?

I suppose the only way around this is an unbiased panel of readers whose job it is to read through everything submitted, but I imagine this would be a time consuming and expensive way of doing things. Although it works for some film festivals, such as Cannes, where I believe (although I may be wrong) films are submitted for consideration and then voted on by a panel in a secret ballot. The Booker Prize (and perhaps others) works along similar lines: UK publishers may enter up to two full-length novels for a specific year. In addition, any title by an author who has won the Booker Prize and any title by an author who has been shortlisted in the last ten years may be submitted. Publishers may also submit a list of up to five further titles for the judges' consideration. The judges are required to call in no less than eight and no more than twelve of these titles. One thing that distinguishes the Man Booker Prize from other literary awards is that the judges read all of the submitted books. The list of submitted titles is strictly confidential.

Oh well, perhaps I shouldn't think so much. Congratulations to those who have won, and to those who are yet to win any award, no matter how it comes to be.

B.C. Book Awards:

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
VanCity Book Prize

Canadian Book Awards:

Amazon.com/Books in Canada
Giller Prize
Governor General's Awards
Marian Engel
Matt Cohen Prize
Stephen Leacock Prize for Humour
Timothy Findley Award
Trillium Awards
W.O. Mitchell Prize
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

American Book Awards:

National Book Awards
National Book Critic's Circle
PEN/Faulkner Prize (Fiction)
Pulizter Prize

British Book Awards:

Whitbread awards - First Novel
Whitbread - Book of the Year
Whitbread Literary Prize (Fiction)

International Book Awards:

Betty Trask Prize
Booker Prize
Commonweath Writer's Prize
International IMPAC Dublin Literary awards
Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize
Nobel Prize in Literature
Orange Prize for Fiction

Fantasy Book Awards:

World Fantasy Award

Science Fiction Book Awards:

Aurthur C. Clarke Awards
Hugo Awards
Nebula Awards
Prix Aurora Prize

Mystery Book Awards:

Agatha Awards
Anthony Awards
Arthur Ellis Awards
CWA Dagger Awards
CWA Ellis Peters Historical Dagger
Edgar Allan Poe Awards
Hammett Prize
John Creasey Memorial Awards
Macavity Awards
Shamus Awards
Spotted Owl

Horror Book Awards:

Bram Stoker Awards
International Horror Guild

I Dig the Dead competition

For those who love the undead, here's a trio of competitions running at The Horror Channel that may be of interest.

Urban Gaming

'Uncle Roy All Around You' was an elaborate experimental game across the streets of London. The scenario: You're abandoned on Tower Bridge, London, with nothing except your clothes and a mobile phone when a woman dressed in black walks past, and you receive a text message to follow her. You don't know who she is, or where she is going. All you know is that you must follow her if you are to find Uncle Roy.

Urban gamers are harnessing the power of global positioning systems (GPS), high-resolution screens and cameras and the latest mobile phones to play games across our towns and cities, where they become spies, vampire slayers, celebrities and even Pac-Man.

And in Uncle Roy, for example, not only does the game involve innocent bystanders - the woman dressed in black had no knowledge she was taking part in the exercise - but it culminates in the street player climbing into a stranger's car, which means the player has to trust the organisers.

These real-world games sound interesting, but they also sound dangerous. How far will a gamer go when ordered to do something? And eventually, how will they know if it's just a game, or if it's real life?

Doctor Who freebie

For those who like Doctor Who and something for nothing, the BBC has made rare and acclaimed Doctor Who novels available to read for free!Doctor Who

Active and agented

Well, today I achieved active status in the Horror Writers Association (which puts me in the ranks of HWA's professional writer members) and it looks like I've acquired the services of an agent on the same day. Now I only hope events in the future continue in the same way.

Latest story

Another story of mine entitled, Venetian Kiss has now appeared in the Monsters Ink anthology, which makes one story a month published for the last three months.

Upon my return ...

I've just returned from Majorca, where I've been recharging the batteries. Upon my return, I found my contributors copy of Surreal Magazine on the mat. It looks an interesting publication, but it was annoying to see they had misspelled my name on the contents page (spelling it Shawn, instead of Shaun), although it was spelt correctly on the actual story page!

The story I sold to Dark Discoveries will appear in issue 5, which will be published in late June. Contents: INTERVIEWS WITH: BRIAN KEENE, MICHAEL LAIMO, CRAIG SPECTOR, MICHAEL A. ARNZEN and SHANE RYAN STALEY (DELIRIUM BOOKS).

FICTION BY: MICHAEL LAIMO (A special Excerpt from THE DEMONOLOGIST), PAUL FINCH, STEVE VERNON, SHAUN JEFFREY, and JOSH ROUNTREE.

NONFICTION: BILL GAUTHIER, DARK REVIEWS

Scrapbook snippet

Here's another story from my scrapbook concerning the little town of Ringaskiddy on Ireland's south coast, and home to the local Viagra factory, the fumes from which are reported to have sent the locals sex crazy.

"One sniff and they're stiff," one wife smiled.

The plant makes something called sildenafil citrate, which just happens to be the active ingredient in Viagra.

In three local pubs, regulars ages 18 to 80 bragged about their capacity for loving, rather than supping Guinness.

A spokesman for the company said, "As far as we are concerned there isn't any Viagra dust in the air."

But the locals swear something is escaping from the plant. The local infant population, they say, has soared.

Plant officials say emissions are strictly controlled by Irish environmental laws. No chance of a leak.

I think they're perhaps taking too hard a stance.

Latest short story

My latest story, a flash fiction piece, has gone online at Shadowed Realms

Common sense

A report in New Scientist states that at a cost of $24 million and with the help of 1300 scientists in 95 countries, they have published the first ever global inventory, the overwhelming conclusion of which is: we are living way beyond our means.

"According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), approximately 60 per cent of the planet's "ecosystem services" - natural products and processes that support life, such as water purification - are being degraded or used unsustainably. What is more, this degradation increases the risk of abrupt and drastic changes, such as climate shifts and the collapse of fisheries."

And they needed to spend all that money and employ the services of all those people to tell them that! Just look around and use a bit of commonsense and you come to the same conclusion for substantially less money. I think I should offer my services next time if they want to throw money away (which when you think about it only exacerbated the problem - more trees chopped down to make the notes, more deposits mined to mint the coins.)

On another note, I have withdrawn a short story that was previously accepted for an anthology. I didn't enjoy taking it out, but after what I felt was less than helpful co-operation by the editor, I decided to withdraw my submission.

The day my computer died

Well, for the last few days I've been incommunicado - a result of a broken computer. Not only had my power pack packed up, but the motherboard was fried as well. Because of this, I've been unable to write. The loss of the computer left me twiddling my thumbs, and I felt like a part of myself was missing. Am I becoming as one with my insentient machine? Is my interaction through the keyboard more than just a play of words? It's quite scary to see how dependant one becomes on technology. How would I or others like me cope with the loss of our gadgets. In this modern world we have become soft. It's a life of convenience, of frozen meals and machinery, of cars and aeroplanes. It would be an interesting scenario to see (at least for a short while) our modern age grind to a halt.

There was a program on not long ago where a man travelled to the Amazon to live with the indigenous people. One of the most surprising things about the program was when he revealed that they had forgotten how to light a fire without the use of matches or a lighter. To give something back, he showed them how to start a fire from scratch, reinstalling a forgotten art. How many other arts have we as a race already lost? And how many more may we yet lose?

I watched the second part of Doctor Who, and found myself disappointed. After the promise I felt at the first episode, I felt the second episode was too light-hearted and Eccleston's Doctor character became a little too smug. Time will tell if the program can redeem itself as I wait for the return of the Daleks.

Short story sale

Don't know any details yet, but I've had confirmation of a short story sale to Dark Discoveries

Doctor Who

Well, the new series of Doctor Who aired last night (although some people have already seen it as episodes have been available for download from some nefarious sites). On the whole, I enjoyed the first episode. Christopher Eccleston played the Doctor character tongue in cheek with a slightly frenetic pace, but it worked. And Billie Piper was surprisingly engaging as his new assistant, Rose Tyler. The first episode was a self-contained story with a beginning, middle and end, but I'm hoping that the other stories in the series will be multiple chapters, and that the first episode was just an opener to introduce the characters. The old style cliff-hangers used to be one of the things I liked about the series, so I hope they continue with that scenario. So it'll be cushions at the ready as I wait for next weeks episiode.

Signed copies of Evilution

I have some copies of my book, Evilution available at the moment that can be signed if anyone would like one. I can only accept payment by paypal, and the cost including p+p is:

Destination: UK second class = £7.50 Takes about 3 days to arrive.

Destination: US using Airmail= $19.50 (£10.50) Takes about 5 days to arrive.

Destination: US using Surface mail= $17.50 (£9.50) Takes about 8 weeks to arrive.

Please query for other destinations, and to check the above prices are still correct.

I would sign the copy of the book, but if you wanted a personal inscription with your name included (or anyone else's name if it's for a gift), make sure you let me know in advance. The only other thing I would need from you is the mailing address, which you can include with the payment info on paypal (specifying whether you require surface or airmail - you could also put on the notes there whether you would like an inscription, or just a signature). I hope all that makes sense. If anyone is interested, please email me to make sure copies are still available, and I'll supply the paypal email address to make payment to.

A pause in the writing

Yet again, I've had to stop work on Fangtooth. For some time now, I've been in talks with a movie tie-in publisher who contacted me for ideas. The original proposal that I submitted was well received by the editors, but the publishers themselves thought it too gory. I reworked the proposal, and the editors emailed me today with their views, stating they think it's an even tighter story line with a better ending. I've been asked to expand on it slightly, add a one sentence selling point, and then it will be resubmitted to the publishers. I'm loathe to say much more about it until it gets the green light, but I'm confident that it will eventually be accepted. So for the next few days I'll be busy revising my proposal.

The power of a good book

I have to admit, my writing has suffered over the past few days, and for that, I blame The Cheltenham Festival. Not adverse to the odd flutter, I've been waylaid by one of the greatest horse racing events in the calendar. During the meeting, I recalled one of the earliest books I remember buying from the school book shop, 'Mylor, The Most Powerful Horse In The World' by Michael Maguire. The book concerned a group of inventors racing to create a robot horse that could win the Grand National without being detected as being a robot. The story has stuck with me to this day, and it reminds me how powerful and long-lasting fiction can be, especially to a young, impressionable mind.

I still have the book, tucked away in a box somewhere (our house grows more like a bookshop by the day). When my my two-year-old son's old enough to read books on his own, I will open my treasure-chest, and I hope that he too will be as enchanted as I was when I discovered the power of a good book.

Scrapbook snippet

I came across the following website about designing rings with bioengineered bone tissue, which I thought was perfect scrapbook material that offers countless story opportunities:

Biojewelry

Some will think it a romantic gesture, others will find it grisly. But one willing couple in the UK is about to get the chance, thanks to a government-funded project intended to promote awareness of the issues surrounding tissue engineering, to have bone rings grown from their own cells. The rough bone circles will then be given to the designers, who will consult with the couple and shape the bone into customised rings. Each partner will give the other the ring grown from their cells.

"It's for people who want to give a bit of their body to each other," says Nikki Stott, a jewellery designer at the Royal College of Art in London.


On another note, I was informed of a review of a new magazine featuring one of my stories. Usually people misspell my surname, in this review, it's my forename. I've yet to see a copy of the magazine myself, but I hope my name's spelt correctly.

Tangent

Cliff-hangers

I love incorporating cliff-hangers into my books (the word alone conjures up an image of people hanging by the tips of their fingers as they wait to be rescued.) A good cliff-hanger makes the reader want to turn the page to see what happens next. The celluloid equivalent was the old Flash Gordon series, where you had to tune in the following week to see if Flash and Dale survived.

The cliff-hanger is another way of maintaining suspense, but it can become jaded if overused.

Fangtooth is going well at the moment. I've started reading my research books, and have already picked up a few tips that can be incorporated into the story. The hard part is making the factual pieces flow, and not seem as though they were copied straight from a book. But then that's what writing is all about.

The horror

Work on Fangtooth is going slower than I planned, mainly due to needing to do more research than I thought.

There's a saying: 'Write about what you know', which is all fine and dandy, but it's a very narrow way of looking at things. If that was the case, how would a horror writer be able to describe a murder in gruesome detail (assuming they've never gone out and committed the crime), or how would anyone who's never left the planet be able to describe such alien landscapes. In my own novel, I've got to research the life of a trawlerman, and also life on board a submarine. In both instances, I've had to order books that I've now got to read through and take notes. I love researching as it imparts completely new ways of life, new ideas, and new knowledge, but I love writing the story more, which is why I'll keep skipping chapters that need too much study. By concentrating on chapters that don't require a lot of research, I can keep the story flowing. If I stop, I have difficulty taking up the reins again for a particular project. Obviously, this will mean a lot of back-tracking when I've got the information that I need, but as long as I keep note of what's missing/required (which I note in capitals on the manuscript as I write to remind me), it shouldn't be too difficult.

Show, don't tell

What does the above saying mean? "Telling" is a way of delivering facts to the reader—the wrong way. "Showing" involves the reader, giving them information through the use of action, dialogue, and the five senses.

Here are a couple of examples:
Telling: Jim was so angry that Susan was afraid.
Showing: Jim flexed his fists and his face flushed. He grabbed the front of Susan's blouse and slammed her into the wall. Susan fought to breathe, her heart hammering.

Telling: Jack was scared.
Showing: The footsteps tapped closer and closer. Jack felt his stomach muscles go taut. He flattened himself against the wall, the bricks cold and sharp against his body. Sweat trickled down his brow. He started to shake.

In the first example we see Jim's anger. In the second example, we live Jack's fear, rather than merely being told of it.

By showing and not telling, we show the characters experiencing events rather than telling about what happened to them. When we tell something, the reader isn't involved.

Scrapbook snippet

Urban and underground exploration is a subject that fires my imagination. If you have never heard of it, the practitioners want to explore abandoned buildings, they want to know what's behind all those funny little doors that you may have seen in canal bridges, railway bridges, public parkland, private walls, public places, road bridges - they want to know what's behind the doors marked private.

One such place they have 'discovered' is a buried street in Bristol in the Laurence Hill area. Supposedly you lift a man-hole cover, and in you go. There you'll find old victorian shops with intact gas-lights. Unfortunatelty, the man-hole cover is outside a pub, on a fast main-road, so access is not supposed to be easy. Other reports say the access is from inside the pub itself.

But there are lots of these types of hidden/forgotten places. One story that intrigued me was when Police in Paris recently discovered a fully equipped cinema-cum-restaurant in a large and previously uncharted cavern underneath the capital's chic 16th arrondissement.

Members of the force's sports squad, responsible - among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.

After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access.

Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.

Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs.

There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.

A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar.

The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there.

Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."

There's a wealth of material in this subject, and I've got an idea for another novel brewing away.

Words paint a picture

The saying goes: 'A picture paints a thousand words', but my palette is words, so I have to paint a cerebral picture. The key is finding the right combination of words. When you read something that's well written, you hardly notice the words. Instead, everything comes alive in the mental cinema. You can actually smell the coffee percolating in that old log cabin; you can see the four young teens, can almost feel that you are in the room with them, joking and throwing sexual innuendo around like confetti. There's a sharp knock at the door - you can sense their unease (it's night time, the sky's blanketed by thick cloud, the cabin's miles from anywhere); you can literally taste their fear as they pluck up the courage to answer the door ... So a picture may paint a thousand words, but words can also paint a picture.

Conflict

Conflict 1. a struggle between opposing forces; battle. 2 opposition between ideas, interests, etc.; controversy. 3 Psychol. opposition between two simultaneous but incompatible wishes or drives, sometimes leading to emotional tension.

In real life, most people try to avoid conflict, but in fiction it's vitally important if the story is to progress and keep the readers interest. The need to overcome the conflict is often the focus of the hero. If nothing in the story forces the character to see something in a new light, to confront their worst fear or greatest personal challenges, then there is no conflict and no character growth.

Whether it be through internal conflict: guilt at cheating at a test or on a partner, a phobia etc., or external conflict: arguments, a fight, being pursued, being ditched at the altar, create conflict.

Plotting and saving a story

Because the novel, Fangtooth that I'm working on has quite a few subplots, I'm having to spend a while plotting it out. Some of the subplots didn't appear until I was already writing it, so to stop me losing track of them, I'm having to work out the scenes first. Some people write novels off the cuff without plotting; others plot. My first novel, Evilution was written off the cuff, which is like flying by the seat of your pants because you don't know what to expect next. Now, I prefer to plot a story. Fangtooth started out with a basic plot, but now as it's becoming more diverse, I'm having to spend more time plotting the various threads. For me, plotting a story consists of a brainstorming session, imaginging a lot of 'what ifs', and then seeing which ones work best or seem more appealing. Eventually, an uncanny sort of rhythm seems to take over and things fall into place.

On another point, it's always a good idea to regularly save your work. As well as saving to a seperate disk, I have found it useful and reassuring to save my work to a hotmail account (made all the easier now they offer 250mb of space.) Now there's no worry about losing everything if the worst case scenario happened.

POV

Point of view is an important consideration when telling a story.

There are basically three points of view you can use:

First person, in which the main character experiences everything directly, using the words 'I' and 'me'. 'When I walked into the bar, all hell broke loose.' etc. What makes this difficult is that you can only see everything through that one person's eyes.

Second person is hardly ever used when writing a story or book (except when quoting a character). When writing in second person it gives the reader a certain 'feeling' in which they are put into the actual situation. The reader then responds more openly about the situation. Second person point of view is something most writers have a hard time dealing with. It is used by the word 'you.'

The last point of view is third person. There are actually two separate third person points of view. The 'regular' type and the omnipotent. The regular type is when the writer uses 'he' or 'she' or directs the question/statement to a particular thing or person. This is one of the most popular styles of writing.

Omnipotent is like a 'god.' The narrator knows everything about the circumstance and knows exactly what everyone is thinking at any given point of time. Using this style gives you the chance as the narrator to fill the story with ominous foreshadowing: They had no idea that by the end, only two of them would live.

The choice of viewpoint is an important one to the tone and style of the story. In third person POV, the choice of which character's viewpoint to use is important too. There may be a whole stage of characters, but which one is going to have the best viewpoint to tell a particular scene? It's like imagining each character has a camera on their shoulder, and you can only see what they see.