Further updates

I posted a week ago that after a lot of back and forth between the publisher and me, there would be a change to the release schedule for my next two books. I was assured that ‘it would be a better press going forward’.

This is not the case.

The publisher posted a message on Facebook Friday night to the private page for authors to let us know they were closing down so all rights would be reverted to the writers and all current books would be removed from sale. This includes my book Burn which was published last August.

Rage does not come close.

I am not going into any further detail about the reasons for the publisher’s decision. It is their decision alone. All I and a large number of other writers have is our disappointment and our anger at how this has been handled. Personally speaking, I am now left with two books that are homeless after planning for their release since the beginning of last year, and another which will more than likely never see publication again (most publishers don’t touch reprints unless you’re famous or successful). I can do my best to find other publishers for the two books but there are no gurantees of if or when this will happen. I was looking forward very much to seeing what others thought of Chaos and The Fall. As the situation stands right now, the chances of this happening are close to zero. At my last count, this is the fourth time I have gone through this with publishers, leaving my books out of print. As you can imagine, this wears pretty fucking thin pretty fucking quickly.

In the meantime, I’ll work on my new book. Because it’s all I can do. And if you want to buy Burn while you still can, please do so. I’m proud of this one and to have zero reviews because of zero marketing has been tough.

LINK – BURN

Chaos and The Fall – updates

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know I signed contracts for two books last year. Chaos and The Fall. And if you’ve been paying further attention, you’ll know Chaos was set for publication very soon. This coming Friday, in fact. The Fall was due in September.

This has now changed.

I’m not going into the extensive details of why. The basics are things happen and you can either roll with that or call it a day. After a week of ups and downs, I’m rolling with it. The upshot is that Chaos will now be published in June, and The Fall is out next January. Not ideal when we’re less than a week from the original publication of the first, but as the alternative was pulling both books from publication, this is where we are. I’m still genuinely excited about both books and looking forward very much to having them out in the world. Hoping others feel the same. I should have a cover for Chaos to share in May, so keep your eyes open for that. I have zero idea what I want for a cover for The Fall so that will be as much as a surprise for you as it will be me.

So, that’s my update. Disappointing not to have a new book out in a matter of days, but at least you get to meet Chaos soon.

He’s looking forward to it.

January 2026 (just)

Despite January lasting longer than eternity, today’s the last day of the month. I’ve been planning on an update for the last week or so but wanted to leave it in case I was able to share the cover for Chaos (published in a couple of weeks). Yet to receive the cover so thought I’d post a general update and hopefully be able to share it in the next few days.

I’ve been working on the first draft of a new book for most of the month and it’s going surprisingly well. I say ‘surprisingly’ because the first drafts of the last two books were crap. This one is a little messy and has a few issues that will need work, but at 35k of what will probably end up somewhere between 80 and 90k, it’s actually pretty decent. As I mentioned somewhere here, it’s a different beast to my usual stuff. Think much more real world thriller than out and out horror. Although I’m still going into the dark here because. . .well, what else am I supposed to do? In any case, I’m aiming to have the first version finished in another six weeks. A lot of that depends on the house situation – my wife and I have started looking at new places. As work is Monday to Friday and 9-5, that really only leaves weekends to view. With a bit of luck, we can find somewhere soon and then begin the hideous process of arranging the move. We’ve been in this house for over a decade (it was supposed to be a max of around three years) so I’m not looking forward to the stress of moving. Not to mention what it’ll do to our elderly cat who likes nothing more than to sleep and…that’s about it. Cross that bridge and so on.

More to come about the current book and obviously the new one as soon as I have stuff to share. Talk soon, people.

2025. That’s that.

Well, another year done (almost). Things are getting darker, aren’t they? To be honest, I doubt we’ll fix things in any major way. All we can do is keep our little lights on. If that’s with our friends, families, our jokes and our work, then that’s where we are and what we own. It has to be enough because if it isn’t, then we really are up shit creek.

Anyway. For me, 2025 saw the publication of my horror/thriller Burn which was very cool. I also signed two contracts for Chaos (published very soon) and The Fall (published next autumn), and had a short story selected for the publisher’s best of as well as a different tale published. As I’ve mentioned before, the market for short fiction seems to be a lot more limited than it was a few years ago. Most of my focus this year has been on longer fiction – as much I still love a good short piece – which may continue next year. I don’t write to themes but when a good idea for a short tale hits me, then I write it. I’ve got a couple out on sub at the moment so will hopefully hear something soon. On a slight downer, I’ve got the rights back for a short story I sold Christmas Day last year but was never published so that one is looking for a new home. And on the positive side, I’ve had a full request for a particular book and sent that today.

Novel-wise, I wrote a third draft of a difficult book and the first draft of another which also has issues beyond the standard first draft crap. Outside those, I came up with another one which I really like and have high hopes for. The problem two are resting for now and I will come back to them eventually. For the immediate future, I’m writing a new one which will be a different beast for me. Think more grounded thriller than horror. Not to say it won’t be dark and nasty, of course, but it will be a lot more real world dark than most of my stuff. We’ll see if anything comes of trying something new. After that . . .who knows? More tales, in any case.

My wife and I are more than likely moving house in 2026 which will disrupt things but will be worth it once it’s all done. We’ve been in our current house for close to eleven years but circumstances are changing so it’s time to make a move. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to throw stuff away instead of carting it from house to house.

I think that’s me done for the year. Tomorrow, I’m planning the opening scene to my next book, then starting work on it this weekend. January will be all about Chaos prior to publication so watch this space for info on that one. So, time for me for sign off. In a couple of hours, my wife and I are having a drink with some of our closest friends.

Because you have to keep your lights on.

December 2025

A week off work and just like my week off last year around the same time, I have a shitty cold. I’m putting it down to being in the office more than usual lately (people ugh). On the plus side, not being in my 9-5 gives me time to take care of writing stuff that isn’t actually writing. I remember as a kid thinking about how I wanted to write books and assuming that was all there was to it. Joke’s on teenage me all these years later. Researching markets, subbing to them, keeping track of the subs, chasing them when required, checking social media accounts and sites to see if the markets have updated their status to CLOSED since you sent the initial sub. And then there’s rewriting, editing, polishing, deciding if a piece has legs or needs to be retired. And by ‘retired’, I mean ‘binned’.

That’s what I’ve been up to over the last few weeks. I went back to a book I wrote three versions of and then put to one side in order to write another book and take care of few other bits. Reading through it, noting I had another twenty pages to read and slowly realising that the version I was reading wasn’t complete. That it was missing the final 20k. You see, my old laptop crashed and died in the summer. I back up to a stick, external hard drive and email myself. Problem was I took a version saved a couple of weeks before the crash and uploaded that to my new laptop. Then overwrote the other saved versions. Turns out the most recent emailed version was slightly out of date. End result? A third draft of the book without any ending.

Ordinarily, this would be a total disaster but as the book has a lot of problems and needs a fourth version, I’m relatively calm about it. It does tie in with a bigger issue about this book and what I’m writing at the moment – basically, is this one worth keeping at all or put it to one side and the come back to it in the future? A big decision. Same decision I need to make about the book I wrote after the first one. Usually, I stick to one book at a time but that might not work with these two. Something to think about over the next week or so.

Outside of that, I’ve written a short story I really like. Genuis that I am, I’ve written a Christmas themed horror story WAY too late to sub it anywhere for this Christmas. I did the same thing about five years ago with a story I really like. As with that one, this new tale will have to wait until next year before I do anything with it. At some point, I’ll write a Christmas horror story at the right time to then sub it for (hopefully) publication in December. Which means writing it the previous January. I’ve got another tale I’ll be posting here in the next few weeks – something to add to the winter chill with a bit of luck. Keep your eyes peeled.

That’s it for now. Take care of yourselves.

On imposter syndrome

A couple of days ago, a writer friend (the thoroughly excellent Ally Wilkes) asked me if I was going to the World Fantasy Convention which is on in Brighton (a part of the country I can get to although I don’t really live anywhere near it). It was a big no from me partly because my wife and I are hoping to move house next year so all my spare cash is going towards that. And because of imposter syndrome.

For those who don’t know about this, let me share the opening paragraph from the Wiki page:

Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological experience in which a person suffers from feelings of intellectual and/or professional fraudulence. One source defines it as “the subjective experience of perceived self-doubt in one’s abilities and accomplishments compared with others, despite evidence to suggest the contrary”.

These days, it’s piss easy for people to say they’re a little bit OCD or ‘aren’t we all on the spectrum in some way’. Crucially, imposter syndrome isn’t a mental disorder (if it were, it would be up to someone with actual qualifications and expertise to diagnose it) but that doesn’t stop it from kicking people’s arses. Including mine. And stopping me from attending events like the WFC.

I’m not at my best with new people. Or crowds. I quite like the seaside so Brighton would be an ideal destination. Sadly, the focus at something like the WFC would be more on people rather than wandering around the beach in November. Thing is, I know a lot of people who’d be there after spending most of the last fifteen odd years on social media. I’ve met up with a handful once or twice but that’s been more of a ‘drink in the pub’ thing rather than a fuck off big convention. I went to Comic-Con in London about seven years ago at the request of a publisher I was with at the time. Being there with the Godfather of Gore that is Shaun Hutson (one of the funniest people I’ve met) and trying to pimp the book I had with that publisher to anyone who came over to our display while I stood next to the Red Dwarf crew – a pretty unusual experience for me. But the WFC with the great and the good of the publishing world and a genre I’ve loved since I was a kid. . .you know in the film Inside Out when you see the brain characters going absolutely nuts or dying of embarrassment? That would be my head every single second. Literally.

My first book was published by a tiny US publisher in 2012. The second the year after. Both went out of print when the publisher closed the year after that. Since then, I’ve had books published by small presses, done a few myself, been signed by an agent after two decades of trying, been dropped by that agent when nothing happened, written twenty or so books and accumulated rejections in the four figures after twenty-six years of submitting my stuff to agents and publishers. I’d have to double check but I think my next book, Chaos, (published early next year) will be my thirteenth release if you include everything outside of my short stories. So, on paper, I’m not exactly setting the world on fire but thirteen books isn’t bad. A hell of a lot more than some writers manage. And I’m proud of each book even though I know without a doubt that I could open up any one of them at any random page and spot massive chunks I would want to rewrite.

None of this matters when it comes to imposter syndrome.

The fact these books haven’t done well; the fact my agent dropped me like a rock and I haven’t landed another one in the last three years; the fact that I’m horribly close to 50 without being anywhere with this; the fact my current book doing the submissions rounds hasn’t hit with anyone; the fact that if I stopped writing tomorrow, I honestly believe nobody would really give a shit.

This is what matters when it comes to imposter syndrome.

Please don’t think for one minute this is a pity party. It isn’t. The publishing world doesn’t owe me anything. Readers don’t owe me anything if they don’t buy my books. This whole thing is on me and what I choose to do with my time. I could stop right now and there’s no more imposter syndrome because I wouldn’t be in the position where attending the WFC comes up. Problem is, enough of me still wants to write these stories that I keep going even while the rest of me says there’s no way you of all people can go to the WFC you fucking loser you’d absolutely die on your arse.

Hopefully, I will get to an event like the WFC one day. If I do and you see me there, you’ll know I managed to drown out that second voice just enough to walk through the door. And to keep walking.

Newsflash – two short stories

Just a quick one for you on a misty Sunday morning (it could not look more like a Sunday in autumn right now). I’ve got news regarding two short stories of mine. First up, my story Reunion which was published a little while ago has made it into the publisher’s latest best of which is a massive boost for me. I’ve mentioned the background to that tale before and how it came to life so feel free to have a look on my site for the details. Some tales are fully formed before the writer starts and that was one of them.

Secondly, my new story The Sun Shines Down On England has been published. That was another that hit me with most of the details already worked out. Bit of a ‘me working out my anger about the state of the housing market in this country’ tale. Not that I’m any less pissed off about it now its written and published but at least I got a horror story out of it. I’m really happy with both stories which doesn’t always happen. My short story output has shrunk in the last year or so mainly because it seems the market is now so much smaller than it was in the recent past. I don’t tend to write to a theme which limits me. I’ve found if I try, the result is pretty flat and there’s little fun in the process. This isn’t to say my short story days are behind me, but the focus now is more on novels.

Anyway, you can buy the collection featuring Reunion here –Penumbric Best of – October 2025

And The Sun Shines Down On England over here – Penumbric – Current issue

That’s it for now. Back to my current book while the mist presses against my window.

October 2025

My plan has always been to post an update at least once a month (more if there’s some sexy news to share). Problem is there isn’t always any news (sexy or otherwise) to share. The day to day process isn’t interesting to non-writers and as the publishing world moves so very slowly, it can be many long months between subbing a short story or the opening to a book and then actually hearing anything at all let alone positive news to then share it with people. Case in point, I subbed a short story in December 2023 to a market that had an average response time of 50 days. We’re now approaching two years and the last time I checked, my sub was around the 200 mark in the queue. That’s a a short piece not a book or even just the opening chapters to a book. And if you’re keeping score, the longest I waited for a reply from an agent regarding a book was sub was three years.

Told you publishing is slow.

It’s not just that’s why things are quiet here, though. The initial burst of optimism a writer feels when starting a new book fades soon (for me, anyway). After that, it’s wading through the first draft, knowing that it will take a second and possibly a third to turn it into something decent. I know of writers who edit every page as they go, so their second draft is basically just a spit and polish. I’d lose my mind writing like that so I save the fixes for a second draft. And a third. Sometimes a fourth, but let’s not talk about those. I’m 45k into a new book which I started with a loose idea and enough of a concept to carry me through the opening 15k. Since around the 25k mark, I’ve been winging it so the current scenes feel very different to the opening. Again, one to sort in a later draft. I’ve got an idea of where it’s going although not a clear one of how it’s going to get there. I absolutely love the whole completely winging it thing so what happens on the next page is as much of a surprise as it hopefully is to the reader. Sadly, I tend to get lost if I do that and end up with a directionless, dull mess of a book. So it’s better for me to have some kind of sense of what’s going to happen. I think across the 20+ books I’ve written, I’ve winged maybe four. The rest are a combination of trusting to luck and a page of scribbled notes usually headed what the fuck happens now.

Again, it’s not just that, though.

I’ve posted before about how it feels like writers are expected to be 100% upbeat all the time and how I think this is a dangerous and depressing idea. We’re all human. Being upbeat all the time is as damaging as being down all the time. We need to be allowed to say hey things have been shite for a while and I don’t see how they’re going to improve just as we’re allowed to celebrate our successes. For me, publishing is not being kind for the most part. Burn has not done well. While I didn’t expect it to set the world on fire (boom, boom), I hoped for a little more than it’s achieved. Of course, talking about this can be a self-fulfiling prophecy. The book tanks; I mention this and people figure the book is crap so they don’t buy it. All I can tell you is that, impartially, I think it’s a damn good tale and I’m very proud and happy with the finished result. I know when I’ve screwed up a story just as I know when I’ve done my best and come up with something special. Burn is one those. I’d love to see people give it a go and post an honest review if only to feel like there’s some small point to what I do and I’m not just writing in a void.

In the meantime, I’ll keep going with my new one. And then another story. Just to keep us warm.

Burn – horror or thriller?

Yes.

Both.

A few years ago, I read a book that seemed to be a psych thriller until a very precise point at which it turned into speculative fiction. Not horror but definitely not the grounded in the real world thriller it appeared to be. When I finished the book., I checked the reviews online – so many pissed off readers who felt cheated because they didn’t like that speculative stuff. They wanted a thriller that could actually happen, not this made up rubbish. There was genuine anger in those reviews which I found amusing because. . .well, I’m me. The idea that the book could be both a grounded thriller and go into the weird and wonderful was totally alien to those readers.

Not to me.

I think of Burn as a horror story. My publisher calls it a thriller. I couldn’t care less what someone calls it. Horror is such a massive genre. It’s completely possible to have a tale set very much in the real world of family, jobs, watching a film on a Saturday night, raising your kids, seeing your siblings and their kids and put all that next to a murder mystery. . .then totally fuck things up by adding in the utterly impossible. The real life; the murder; the impossible. After all, what’s more frightening than your known life upended by something that can’t happen? But has happened.

Horror isn’t simply scaring the reader or viewer. It sure as hell isn’t just grossing them out. And it’s not just sticking them into something they know in the comfort of their daily lives will never happen to them. It’s showing them the things going wrong in their wider world becoming stronger. More alive. Eager to break things down and stomp it all into the dirt. Those things they can try to ignore by not paying attention to the news or by closing their eyes. Those terrible things remain. And they’re getting closer.

That’s part of horror for me and probably one of the reasons I write it. The thriller side of Burn was, for me, a happy accident. So the book is both thriller and horror. And for me, it’s more than a fact. It’s true.

Burn – Now available

Here it is – my new book available for you to get your hands on (ebook and paperback). I’ll post more about it soon, but in the meantime, it would mean a lot to me if you could spread the word. Obviously it would also mean quite a bit if you bought a copy, but that should go without saying.