Hartmouth Horrors

This Monday morning, my mind is on  my current work in progress. You’ll have to forgive the dramatic blog title, by the way, as the blood in question refers not to the story itself but a shark’s killer instinct, the same one I’m feeling right now as I sniff the end of this opening draft. So yeah, sorry, not going to be writing much today as there ’s a thrashing swimmer who needs gobbling up, but I suppose the situation does raise a few writerly questions… What do you do when the end of your story comes swimming into view? Do you maintain your discipline, keep it steady, hold the line? Do you go hell for leather and pick up the pieces later, hoping your enthusiasm translates into a suitably breathless finale? Or do you have a secret third approach? Feel free to let me know in the comments. And that’s my penny’s worth for today. Until next week, happy writing to you all.

This Monday morning, my mind is on the fantastic Kingdom Horror Collective, the writers’ group I’ve been helping to set up these past few months. It was finally launched on Friday and I’m ready to crow about it now. First, a few words on the group and our ethos. We are six British authors united by our love of gritty horror with a focus on integrity, honesty, and the bravery needed to tackle tricky topics regardless of the fact some readers might be offended. We aim to promote one another’s books, get our faces and stories out to a wider audience, and become known for the quality of our work. Second, I want to thank everyone who helped set the group up, including the website and Discord servers, who offered their support and enthusiasm throughout the process, and who had a hand in launching and promoting Kingdom Horror Collective. You are greatly appreciated, every one of you. The launch itself was announced on our friend Saffron’s stellar Booked podcast, and you can find the episode i...

This Monday morning, after a longish hiatus for some hardcore editing work, my mind is on next Friday. Or to be more precise, on some indie horror news due to be announced on a friend’s podcast. This of course gives me precious little to write about here, since I don’t want to spoil said announcement, but suffice it to say I’ve been working with some other indie authors and am excited as a Gen-X Brit can be (think lowercase yay) for horror fans to know what we’ve been up to. If you want to find out what it is in real time, be sure to tune in to the wonderful Booked podcast at 3pm CST on Friday 08 May (YT channel link here ), at which time host Saffron and Northern Irish horror writer Eamonn Bradley will be making the announcement. And that’s my penny’s worth for today. Until next week, happy writing to you all.