Arts website The State of the Arts is featuring a preview of the Big Bookend Festival today. You can read it here.
ps. Don’t forget about my event on Saturday 6th June at Leeds Central Library. Details can be found on my Amazon Author Page in the Events section.
There’s an excellent feature in the (online version of) The Yorkshire Evening Post regarding the forthcoming Leeds Big Bookend Festival. You can read it here.
Remember, folks, I’ll be appearing at the Festival alongside my fellow West Yorkshire author Richard Smyth, on Saturday 6th June at 1pm at the Leeds Central Library.
Richard Smyth and I will be appearing at an event in aid of the Leeds Big Bookend Festival in 2 weeks’ time (on Saturday 6th June at 1pm at the Leeds Central Library) and in order to whet your appetite, I’m delighted to bring you a review (from the Culture Vulture website) of the ls13 anthology which was published at the inaugural Bookend event 2 years ago, featuring the writing of ‘the best 20 writers under 40 from/ living in Leeds today’. Richard and I were both in the book, and you can read a review of it here. And you can buy the book here. And you can attend the event on 6th June by booking tickets FREE here.
After the success of yesterday’s post regarding my novel Sharkways, I thought it was time I went back through the annals (be careful with that spelling) and revisit another of my horror successes. Therefore I’m delighted to bring you Terror Scribes, a 2013 anthology which featured two of my stories and which was published by Doghorn. Edited by Adam Lowe and Chris Kelso, the book is available from the publisher’s website here.
The book was very well reviewed, with my stories in particular coming in for high praise. One reviewer on her blogsite ‘The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed’ called my story Hairy Palms “a great twist on a werewolf tale”. You can read the full review here.
Every once in a while, I take out one of my backlist, dust off the cover, and run a feature on it. This week I’ve chosen Sharkways, which was published in 2012 by Damnation Books.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Bill Minto is a world-weary property developer. His marriage is on the rocks. His health is failing. His cut-cornered projects constantly threaten to come back and haunt him. So when a mysterious caller offers him the job of a lifetime – all he must do is excavate the hidden tunnels under a country house—he jumps at the chance. But it soon becomes clear Bill is not alone in the tunnels. A past he’d long believed hidden lurches after him in the darkness, smelling blood. And guilt.
Buy Sharkways as an ebook or paperback from here.
MY THOUGHTS
First up, I love the cover of the book, and second up, I’m quite partial to the story too. Turns out quite a few readers and reviewers agreed. Here’s a few headlines:
Matt Molgaard’s Horror Novel Reviews: “Kirby ratchets the tension up to ten and delivers a gratifying finale…” Read the full review here.
– Anna Stephens The Writer: “A must-read novella for Halloween and those long, dark nights of winter which are coming…” Read the full review here.
– Marilyn Baron, author of The Edger: “Sharkways will haunt you…”
There was one main disappointment with the book. Having been nominated for the 2012 ‘Fantastic Reviews’ Battle of the Books, the novel failed to win. You can read all about that here.
I’m wearing my writing tutor hat today, as my piece ‘D for Dialogue’ has been published in the excellent Spry Magazine’s ABC of Fiction Writing. Here’s a letter from Spry’s editor regarding the whys and wherefores of puiblishing the ABC, here’s the full menu of articles, and here’s my piece, ‘D for Dialogue’.
My new short story (deep breath) ‘A MESSAGE BLU-TACKED TO THE OFFICE DOOR OF JOHN D. MARSH, ASSISTANT OPERATIONS MANAGER, JHC TECHNOLOGY LTD’ has been published in the Susurrus*-themed issue of Storyboard Magazine. You can read the story for free by following this link.
*For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t) here’s the definition of susurrus:
Prior to tomorrow’s General Election, I’ve been writing for (the brilliant) Home Defence UK magazine, channelling the ghost of Margaret Thatcher and the Bullingdon Club Code for laughs. You can read my piece – as well as some other very insightful stories – here.
And here’s your links for the rest of the issue:
Lace up your walking boots and join me for a literary ramble at the Leeds Big Bookend…
paintthistownred 