Hi everybody, and welcome to my February blog! Thank God that January is behind us and spring is fast approaching. Enough of these cold, wet days and dark evenings already. We need some sunshine and heat!
The last month has been pretty busy. In January, I exhibited at the Cannes of the horror movie industry in the UK - the Horror-On-Sea festival in Southend on Sea. I was there for three days, got to meet some really interesting people, and signed lots of books. It was a great event and we had a really good time. If you follow my social media, you'll know that even PC Tony Stamp from The Bill (a.k.a. actor Graham Cole) loved The Faraway People.
My son and I also headed to Guildford for Striking Event's Comic and Toy convention, where we met lots of horror and fantasy fiction fans. It's great to chat with everyone, discuss speculative fiction literature in general, and sign some books. We even got to chat with a Dalek (cue photo).
In the next month I'll be exhibiting at two Comic and Gaming Conventions. On the 2nd March I'll be at the King's Centre, Oxford, and on the 29th and 30th March I'll be at the Redlands Leisure and Community Park, Weymouth. If you're in the area, please come along and say hi.
I'm also really happy to announce that, once again, I'll be exhibiting at HorrorCon, Sheffield. The event is being held over two days at the Magna Centre on 11th and 12th May. Guests so far include Kane Hodder, Britt Ekland, and Courtney Gains, as well as others. We had a great time last year, and this one looks to be even better.
The Faraway People continues to get lots of positive reviews on Goodreads, with almost 160 ratings posted in the last couple of months. It's a great feeling to know that readers are enjoying my work. I even like reading the constructive critique, which I always (sometimes) take on board.
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know I was hoping the audiobook version of The Faraway People would have been completed by now. As usual, I completely under estimated the process. However, I'm happy to say that the first draft is done, and the voice actor and I are just going through final edits. It's sounding great, and the actor I am working with has really brought Hattie, Richard, Glanna and the other characters to life. If you're a fan of audiobooks, I think you'll really love this.
Work progresses on my next book. I'm hoping to finish the first draft in the next two weeks, and then begin the seemingly endless process of editing, re-shaping, and ultimately finalising. I'll keep you posted, but I'm really happy with how it's turning out. If you like At The Mountains of Madness by HP Lovecraft, Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, and the movie, The Thing, then this will tick all the boxes for you. There'll be snippets on here once the final draft is completed.
On the reading front, in the last month I completed The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison, and Little Eve by Catriona Ward. I recommend all three. The Exorcist was such an engaging read. It draws you in page after page. Such Sharp Teeth is a really cool, contemporary werewolf story, and Rachel Harrison writes some of the punchiest dialogue I've ever read. Little Eve is a haunting tale about a family who are found murdered on a remote Scottish island. I'm a huge Catriona Ward fan. In my opinion, her descriptive narrative is second to none, and for me, this book absolutely proves it.
Anyway, that's pretty much it from me for now. Have a great month of reading, and enjoy whatever it is you're up to.
All the best,
SD