"Don't Go Back" - Happy Book Birthday!

Although it doesn't seem quite possible, my debut mainstream thriller Don't Go Back, published by those fine people The Book Folks, is a year old!

A captivating thriller about a woman whose past suddenly catches up with her

When Beth receives news that a once-close friend has died, after years away she reluctantly returns to the seaside town where she grew up.

Beth becomes increasingly unsettled as she attends the funeral, encounters people from her past, and visits her teenage haunts.

She is forced to take herself back to the awful summer when she left for good. Yet it is not just memories that are resurfacing, but simmering resentments.

Someone else hasn’t quite so readily put their past behind them, and unwittingly Beth will become the key to their catharsis.

As she puts two and two together, the question is: whatever possessed her to return?

DON’T GO BACK is a truly nail-biting read that will appeal to fans of Claire McGowan, Vanessa Garbin, Teresa Driscoll, Linwood Barclay and Anna Willett.

This is the best book you’ll read all year!

* * *

The book is set in Seagrave (a British seaside town that feels very much like Great Yarmouth and is, indeed, just down the coast from Lowestoft) and told in two timelines, which were great fun to write. My good friend David Roberts & I plotted it out on one of our Friday Night Walks and I wrote it during the lockdowns (which might explain why the first draft was twice as long as the second!). The novel took a few twists and turns in its progress from idea to finished tale and the novel features tension and suspense, some scary parts, some funny bits and a few sad moments too. 

Having come out of the UK horror small press I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but the reaction has been better than I could have imagined. People - some my friends from real life (Ross Warren deserves a mention for leading the charge) and Facebook, others I had never interacted with - were hugely helpful and supportive, sharing my posts and tolerating me talking about the book a lot and letting their friends and followers know that Don't Go Back was out there.

The book has acquitted itself well over the year and, as I write this, it's sitting with 1,025 ratings on Amazon and a 4.1/5 average. I'm grateful to everyone who's bought a copy and left a rating or review (Steve Bacon posted his to his blog here). People seem to have taken well to the dual timeline which is pleasing because the writing process for that and trying to get it all tied together seemed - at times - to be a never-ending headache.

Like most writers, I create the stories because they're in my head and I enjoy the process of getting them out onto paper but to know that someone else derives pleasure from it makes all those painful parts (why won't this character do what I want her to, why isn't this part working, why on earth did I think it was a good idea to have a dual timeline?) worthwhile.

And if there's anyone you think might like a dual timeline thriller novel set in an English seaside town with some funny bits, a few scary bits, a couple of sad bits and a whole lot of suspense, please tell them all about Don't Go Back. 

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Review for STILL WATERS RUN

I'm happy to report that my fourth mainstream thriller, Still Waters Run from The Book Folks is doing okay for itself and picking up some nice reviews.

In late summer, sixteen-year-old Dan and his recently divorced mother head to a Norfolk seaside town’s holiday park for a vacation.

Shy Dan soon strikes up a friendship with a girl of his age, quirky and pretty Charlie, and his mother is swept off her feet by a suave local property developer.

Yet a shadow is cast over their stay when one of the camp attendants, Mia, goes missing. And things go from bad to worse when her body turns up near the town’s derelict lido.

Charlie draws Dan into her efforts to discover the truth about Mia’s death. But as the locals close ranks, cracks begin to show in their new friendships, and he’ll soon find himself in deep water.

This could turn out to be a holiday that mother and son will remember for all the wrong reasons, if they survive.

* *

Stephen Bacon posted a review on his own blog and said he had "a real blast reading" it. As well as picking up on the nostalgia, he also made the perceptive comment that "there's an interesting romantic aspect for Jude here too, and one that has much to say about the desires and vulnerabilities of middle-aged characters, an angle that is often neglected in crime fiction."

I'm really pleased about that, because the Jude thread is as important as the Dan/Charlie teenaged one in the book and I came to really like Jude as a character - both in herself and also writing her.

You can check out the rest of Steve's review here and there's more to see at both Amazon and Goodreads (links below).

As we move into 2023 I'm hard at work on the first draft of Book 5, which features a married couple going on a guided hike in Northumberland and finding that someone in their party doesn't want everyone to come away alive.

In the meantime, thank you for your continued support and if you choose to read one of my books, don't forget to leave a rating/review!

Buy it from Amazon.co.uk

Buy it from Amazon.com

click here for the Universal Amazon link

Tell all your friends!

More details on my Facebook Author Page, which you can follow from this link

Don't Go Back update

As hard as it is for me to believe, my debut mainstream thriller Don't Go Back (published by those good people at The Book Folks) has been available for a fortnight. And what a two weeks it's been!

Having come out of the UK small press I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but the reaction has been better than I could have imagined. People - some my friends from real life and Facebook, others I had never interacted with - were hugely helpful and supportive, sharing my posts and tolerating me talking about the book a lot and letting their friends and followers know that Don't Go Back was out there.

The book went straight into the Hot New Releases Chart in the top twenty and as I write this on Sunday 6th it's currently sitting at #31 which I am really happy with - after all, if I'm known for anything at all, it's as a horror writer, not a thriller writer. Even better, the book charted in the US, Australia and Canada which is hugely gratifying, especially for a novel that is set in a very typical English seaside town.

Reviews and ratings have been very good and we're showing a 4.5/5 on Amazon and 4.39/5 on Goodreads (and Steve Bacon was good enough to blog his review too). People seem to have taken well to the dual timeline which is pleasing because the writing process for that and trying to get it all tied together seemed - at times - to be a never-ending headache.

So if you're one of those people who bought, rated and/or reviewed Don't Go Back then I want to thank you (with a special mention for Ross Warren). Like most writers, I create the stories because they're in my head and I enjoy the process of getting them out onto paper but to know that someone else derives pleasure from it makes all those painful parts (why won't this character do what I want her to, why isn't this part working, why on earth did I think it was a good idea to have a dual timeline?) worthwhile.

And if there's anyone you think might like a dual timeline thriller novel set in an English seaside town with some funny bits, a few scary bits, a couple of sad bits and a whole lot of suspense, please tell them all about Don't Go Back.

 

A captivating thriller about a woman whose past suddenly catches up with her

When Beth receives news that a once-close friend has died, after years away she reluctantly returns to the seaside town where she grew up.

Beth becomes increasingly unsettled as she attends the funeral, encounters people from her past, and visits her teenage haunts.

She is forced to take herself back to the awful summer when she left for good. Yet it is not just memories that are resurfacing, but simmering resentments.

Someone else hasn’t quite so readily put their past behind them, and unwittingly Beth will become the key to their catharsis.

As she puts two and two together, the question is: whatever possessed her to return?

DON’T GO BACK is a truly nail-biting read that will appeal to fans of Claire McGowan, Vanessa Garbin, Teresa Driscoll, Linwood Barclay and Anna Willett.

This is the best book you’ll read all year!

Click here for the universal Amazon book-link

Tell all your friends!

FantasyCon Memories

This past weekend should have seen FantasyCon 2020 take place in London but, due to Covid-19, it was understandably cancelled.  Absolutely the right decision but it meant a lot of us missed out on one of the few chances we get in a year to catch up, in real life and in living colour, with our writing friends, a weekend full of chatter (books, writing and general bollocks), laughter and eating.

The FantasyCon Boyband publicity shoot went well - Richard Farren Barber, Steve Bacon, me, Wayne Parkin on Scarborough sea front, 2016

I've missed meeting up with my writing family this year, so I thought I'd share some of my favourite FantasyCon memories from over the years here.  If you were at any of these with me, it was a real pleasure to spend time with you and roll on next year, when hopefully we can finally do it again!


FantasyCon 2018 - Chester (I wrote about it here).  Set in another grand hotel, highlights from this include great book launches, being on a panel with Joanne Harris and the inaugural Best Legs In Horror contest (tightly fought by me, Phil Sloman & Jim Mcleod, I was robbed...)

In the Jubilee Room for the Black Room Manuscripts 4 launch with, from left, Tracy Fahey (who co-edited the anthology), Duncan Bradshaw, Peter Mark May, Steve, Penny Jones, me, Neil Williams, Michelle Williams and James Everington

Me & Jim Mcleod (I can't remember now why he suggested I sit on his knee) - pic by Lisa Childs

The "no pressure whatsover panel" featuring, from left, Juliet Kemp, Joanne Harris, me and Lesley Jones - some of these people are more nervous than others...

Fantasycon 2017 - Peterborough (I wrote about it here).

On a panel with some stellar writers - Ramsey Campbell, Phil Sloman, me, Helen Armfield, Nina Allan and James (pic by Peter Mark May)

Out for lunch with Dave Jeffery, Sue Moorcroft, Phil (his left arm isn't really that long!), Peter Mark May, me, Richard

Priya Sharma, Steve Harris, me, Simon Bestwick (front) and Peter

FantasyCon 2016 - Scarborough (I wrote about it here).  Probably my favourite Con of all time, this had everything - a wonderfully gothic hotel, great friends, excellent weather, successful book launches, fish & chips on the front and lots of laughter.

from left - John Gilbert, Sue Moorcroft, Neil, James, Priya, Phil, me, Lisa Childs, Ross Warren, Wayne, Cate Gardner

At the launch of Hersham Horror Books' 4 Novella's - Phil, Steve, me, James

In the back bar (pic by Chris Teague) - from left (bottom) Wayne, Gavin Williams, Amanda Rutter, Steve, Sharon Ring, me, Ross, John Travis, Peter, Lisa, Sue, Phil, Steve, James

Me, Alison Littlewood, Gary Fry and Gary McMahon - sarcasm not pictured

FantasyCon 2015 - Nottingham (I wrote about it here).  A real highlight, this included the launch of The Lost Film, the "surprise" book launch of Jim Mcleod Must Die, a cracking disco and lots and lots of laughing with friends.  The hotel menu wasn't brilliant, nor was the service at the curry house...

Launching "The Lost Film" with Steve and Christoper Teague

"Jim Mcleod Must Die!" - the big man is overcome at all the love in the room for him, with Sue, Phil (who organised the wonderful project) and Steve

Jim, me, Charlotte Bond, Paul Melhuish and Richard 

A misted up camera lens produced this - Peter, me, Phil and Steven Chapman, boogie-ing the night away...

l to r - Paul Woodward, Phil, Steve, me, Alison, Jim and James with Gavin Williams in front.  I am NOT fiddling with his ear...

FantasyCon 2014 - York (I wrote about it here).  This was just after my heart attack and it still gives me a warm glow, remembering the way people came up for a hug or to say how good it was to see me.  That meant an awful lot to me then and it still does today.

In the Dealers Room (again) with Steven, Phil, Jim, me, Sue, Neil and Chris

World Fantasy 2013 - the third in Brighton and this was huge (I wrote about it here)

In the dealers room with Stephen Volk, Gard Goldsmith and Paul Finch

Neil Bond displays his autographs, with Steven and Ruth Booth

FantasyCon 2012 - the second in Brighton (I wrote about it here)

In the dealers room with Selina Lock, Richard and Stuart Young

Having a great time at the disco!

Alison & I having a laugh in the Hauntings book signing.  Poor old Paul Kane doesn't look so amused...

FantasyCon 2011 - my first in Brighton (I wrote about it here).  This was also the Con where I got to see Simon Duric's masterful short film Later (which I wrote about here).

At the Alt-Dead launch with Stuart Hughes, me, Dave, Steve Lockley and Stuart Young.  Peter Mark May is handing out the cake.

FantasyCon 2010 - the first one where I stayed over night (I wrote about it here)

In the bar at the Brittania in Nottingham
(left to right: Gary McMahon, hiding behind his proof, Shaun Hamilton, Steve, me, David Price, Simon Kurt Unsworth, with Simon Marshall-Jones in front

Glorious Beasts: A Q&A with Gary McMahon

Gary McMahon & I have known one another for a long time now and I'm a big fan of his writing.  When Peter Mark May told me he was publishing a new McMahon novella (originally scheduled to launch at Stokercon this coming weekend, before the world went into Lockdown) I was thrilled, especially since Pete tends to send me Hersham Horror books to read through before they're released.  So I read the novella and loved it, got in touch with Gary to tell him and he happily agreed to answer some questions for me.

Cable makes his living tracking down bad men. His young son, Walker, is unable to speak, but the boy notices signs and tracks that others fail to see. When they offer to help a woman whose baby was snatched in the night, they realise they might be searching the wilderness for something unlike anything they've seen before. 

When men become beasts, something ancient awakes, and things worse than death roam the land.

MW:   The novella is a tough read at times, with plenty of your trademark bleakness to it. Are you finding that kind of style easier to write as you get older or harder?

GM:   It seems to me that the older I get, the bleaker my worldview becomes. What’s changed is my acceptance of it. I no longer fight that pessimistic side of me; instead, I embrace it. I’m never purposefully trying to be “dark”. I’ve always just been the kind of guy who prefers the sad songs...

People always seem to go on about how bleak my work is, and to be honest it’s become a bit tiresome to me. I don’t think my writing is bleak. It’s sad. It’s melancholy. Shades of grey.

I personally believe there’s a lot of light in my work: a lot of heart, a lot of soul, and a lot of humanity. But a reader has to work for it. They aren’t getting it spoon-fed from me. To get to the light, they have to walk through a lot of darkness.

The world isn’t a very nice place. All people are not inherently good. Love is rarely enough to save you. Your scars won’t fade entirely.

It isn’t my job to reassure you. I’d rather deal in these harsh truths in my work than pretend the darkness doesn’t exist, or that it can be vanquished for good. All we can ever do is push it back for a while, but it always returns.

MW:   I know it’s difficult to pin a story down to a single image, but where did this come from?

GM:   I can tell you exactly which image came first, but it would be a spoiler. It’s the cruellest image in the story, the one that will hopefully make people wince when they read it.

Then I started thinking I’d like to tie in some of the mythology surrounding those big cats some people think are roaming the English countryside. The Beast of Bodmin and its ilk. I’d always wanted to use that in a story.

If I’m honest, a lot of Brexit paranoia probably found its way into the tale. We always use what’s happening around us, don’t we? It’s all meat for the beast.

With the Secret Horror Cabal (we have a sarky Messenger group) at FCon Scaborough in 2016 (see my report here) with me, Alison Littlewood, Gary Fry and Gary McMahon - sarcasm not pictured

MW:   The world is thoroughly well realised (if fleetingly described), did you do much research to get the look and feel of it?

GM:   I did no research whatsoever. I just wanted a world that was slowly winding down. Decades before, there’d been a plague that had wiped out half the population. The ones who survived abandoned a lot of modern technology and started to turn insular and feudal, fighting tribal wars. After those wars were over, beliefs began to slip back to those of medieval times. Things that were once local folklore became real. Witches. Warlocks. Mythical beasts like the big cat.

In this story, the world stopped advancing in 1974. That’s when The Plague Years began. Home computers hadn’t yet been invented. There was no internet. No mobile phones. None of that stuff.

There’s a lot of Mad Max in the setting, and The Hills Have Eyes, and The Road. Julia Leigh’s superb novel The Hunter. A book about the Sawney Bean clan I read when I was a kid. The structure was borrowed from the film Bone Tomahawk. I think it’s safe to say my story wears it’s influences on its sleeve.

MW:   Can you see yourself writing more in this world?

GM:   Oh, definitely. I’d actually like to write a series of novellas set in this world.

I’m sick of having to write mobile phones, the internet, and iPads into stories. It’s boring. I love the simplicity of this stripped back, hard-scrabble place, the characters that live in it, the limitless possibilities of telling simple stories that actually have a lot of substance behind them.

At Sledge-Lit in November 2016 (see my report here) with Gary and Stephen Bacon

MW:   The novella has a brisk style, with wonderfully clipped dialogue and tells the story quickly and precisely. Do you prefer to work in this format, the short story or the novel or does it totally depend on the tale?

GM:   I find it tough to write novels these days. I think I burned myself out on the novel format a few years ago, when I committed to writing so damn many of them in a short space of time. I was also burned by poor sales. You bleed onto the page and nobody cares. It’s a harsh lesson to learn.

Glorious Beasts needed to be told in a spare fashion. The characters speak in a clipped manner because this is a hard, no-nonsense world. There’s no time for messing about with unnecessary niceties: these damaged people are all focused on survival.

I’ve always liked the novella format. I think it suits my clipped prose style. And it isn’t as daunting as writing a novel, as holding that whole world inside your head.

Novel writing, to me, feels so much like a form of madness. I’m a little scared to get back to that mindset. I will go back there, of course, but I’m not in a hurry. I’ll let it occur naturally, once I find a story that can’t be told any other way. I’m a great believer in the story dictating the form. I know there are more novel-length stories inside me, they just haven’t surfaced yet.


For more information on Gary and his writing, check out his blog here.

Five Years Of The Crusty Exterior

Another round-up post (following the Mixtape one a fortnight ago and last weeks Q&A one) as we continue in isolation and hopefully stay safe and healthy.  Out of everything, one thing I've really missed is interaction - yes, I've been online, I've spoken on the phone, I've video-messaged - but none of those compare with standing next to a good friend and having a chat.

To that end, on the fifth anniversary of our first gathering, here's a round-up of meetings with friends who mean a great deal to me (moreso now, because it seems like we might not be able to get together this year).

At the Southbank Book Market, London, April 2015 - James, Phil, Steve and me

The Crusty Exterior is a group of friends, united in their love for the horror genre, books and, of course, a good curry.  The core of the group - James Everington, Phil Sloman, Steve Harris and me - met up for the first time at Andromeda Con in 2013 (see my report here), though Steve & I go back much further, first corresponding in the late 90s when he ran a newsletter called The Inner Circle.

At Edge-Lit 3 in 2014 (see my report here), we were talking about how good it was to see one another again and made plans to meet up at some point nearer to Christmas, though with Mrs Sloman and Mrs Everington giving birth as the year drew to a close, those plans were put back to 2015.  So we finally managed that first meet (organised by Phil) on April 13th 2015, starting at the Southbank Book Market and working our way through the capital's 2nd hand bookshops during the day.  It was great fun.

You can read the original post here (it's been very popular over the years, constantly in the top 5 of all-time viewed).

In Victoria Park Leicester, April 2018, with (from left), Steve Bacon, Phil, Jay Eales, John Travis, me, Linda Nagle, Steve H, Tim Jarvis and James (thanks to the nice lady walking her dog who agreed to take the picture!)

It would be three years before we managed to properly get together again (we all met up for Steve's 50th in 2017), though we'd all attended various conventions in between.  I organised this gathering in Leicester (the city has some great 2nd hand book shops and curry houses!) and our increased ranks had a cracking afternoon (incidentally, this was Linda & Steve's first date and I'm happy to say they're still going strong!).

You can read the original post here.

In Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, Nottingham, April 2019 with, from left, Wayne Parkin, Penny Jones, Simon Jones, me, Ross Warren, Phil and James

The Crusty Exterior struck back in 2019 (with even more members), meeting in Nottingham (arranged by James), where we enjoyed the local pubs and bookshops, visited the Paupers Graves, played Horror Top Trumps and had an excellent curry.

You can read the full report here.

Me, Phil and James in Covent Garden, 2015 - Phil & I are NOT goosing the Highlander

Ah, curry.  In the Tavistock Tandoori - we don't know why the waiter chose to cut most of Steve off...

In The Rise Of The Raj, Leicester 2018, with from left Phil, James, Linda, Steve, Tim, John, Steve B, me, Jay

Central Nottingham, April 2019, with Wayne, Simon, Penny, Selina, Richard, James, Phil & Jay

Phil in Nottingham 2019, taking great delight in a local brewery name...

In addition, three quarters of the founding gang were involved in the Hersham Horror Books launch at FantasyCon-by-the-sea, in Scarborough, September 2016 (I wrote about it here)

Celebrating birthdays - Steve Harris' 50th in Wolverhampton, May 2017 and my 50th in Leicester, February 2019

In the curry house at Wolverhampton with, from left, James, John, Steve, me, Phil, Steve B

Carluccio's, Leicester, with, from left, me, Sue Moorcroft, Linda, Steve, John, Steve B, James, David Roberts

We also did our own variation on the mixtape, with a compilation of our favourite horror films for Halloween 2019.  You can read the full post here.

In case you were wondering, the name of the group comes from an off-hand comment made at Edge-Lit.  We were sitting in the cafe comparing scars (or, more to the point, the worst rejection letters we'd ever received) and, following Steve's newsletter, Phil said "we're not the Inner Circle, more like The Crusty Exterior".  That made us all laugh so when he set up an FB group to organise the meeting, that's the name he chose!

Stay safe, people and here's to many more meet-ups in the future!