Tomorrow (Aug 1) is the release day for my short story collection, Broken Mirror and Other Morbid Tales. To celebrate and explain the background to some of the stories, this week I will be posting what inspired me to write some of the tales. Today I will discuss the background to Cracked. Cracked is set in an abandoned mental hospital. The idea for the story came from a photo shoot for Drac-in-a-Box Gothic Clothing in 2004. I was always on the look out for exciting locations

Scott stands beneath the shower rose. Clouds of steam rise from the angry jet of water. The steam billows and expands, filling the small room and pressing against the ceiling and cool tiled walls, reverting to its origins in drips and rivulets which snake submissively down the ceramic surfaces. Scott’s head hangs low. Water splutters and hisses as it rushes to splash onto the raised white blotches and cherry red skin of his shoulders and neck. He scrubs his forearm with a woo

I can hardly remember my childhood. Snippets here and there, mostly built around photographs I still possess. I wasn’t Carmilla then. I was someone else, but even then, I wrote. One of my proudest moments as a child was reading my story in front of the entire school. Later my writing grew darker and caused concern. I was asked questions to which I didn’t know the answers. The child lived and loved and got her heart broken. In that way everything was perfectly normal. It was l

I love the potential of a blank page, where possibilities are limitless. The first sentence narrows what might happen. Word by word a story is funnelled to a finer point. When the end is reached, it seems inevitable. No other possibilities exist, including the most unexpected final scene. #Writing

Books take a long time to write and unless the author is lucky or already famous the chances are they won't sell enough copies to make more than a very meagre living. So why do we do it? I do it because there is nothing I love more than reading or creating a beautiful story that says something new about the human condition. I do it because I am too shy to be an orator, but I am desperate to be heard. I do it because every now and again a reader will tell me that I touched the

Working on a new novella (or possibly a short story) with the working title "The Violinist". It's a horror piece. I've paused at 1646 words. My character's arrived at the place she needs to be, and the whole thing is shrouded in magic and mystery as much as possible. First draft so too much telling and not enough showing, but I will sort that out later. Writing, a wonderful way to spend a hot afternoon. Here are the first few paragraphs of the first draft as a wee teaser for

The club is dark and full of a sweet smelling mist. Lilith cannot see the magician in the swarm of black wrapped bodies. Standing at the edge of the dance floor, she looks around the room. Dancers’ teeth glow, as do the white and neon flyers on every table. Shining drinks look like lanterns under the black light. It feels like home. She sees a man bouncing forwards and backwards across the dance floor. He wears a black trench coat and shiny jeans and the skin just below his m

The white-haired man plants kisses on his lips, but the boy shakes his head. Letting his lover sleep, the man sits naked on top of the covers, smiling. He glances up at Lilith then reaches for his glasses. Slowly, as if every muscle in his body has turned to gelatine, he pushes himself up and stumbles bow-legged towards the window. Their eyes meet and he reaches out his own hand and places it on the other side of the glass. She smiles at him as he reaches for the window latch

Excerpt one - Chapter 1 Satori stands in the centre of his bedroom. His fingers and the lace cuffs of his shirt are stained from the charcoal he uses to scribble symbols. Markings cover every surface: the bare floorboards, ceiling and walls. Even his wardrobe and door are covered in intricate black sigils. He unbuttons his shirt, swearing as he leaves fingerprints on the cotton. After tossing the garment on to his bed, he unzips his jeans, and forces the denim over his legs a

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR Satori, an adept Chaos Magician, casts a spell to try and win back his lost love, Star. Lilith, mother of demons, has other ideas. Summoned by Satori's magic, she makes it her mission to manipulate and separate the doomed lovers. Satori knows he and Star are meant to be together. He battles demons, travels worlds and even transcends death for her but, however much she begs, he can't grant her the freedom she craves. The Starblood Trilogy is a tale

I have been busy. Sent the edited MS for "Slice Girls" to Stitched Smile, uploaded "The Erotic Tales of Carmilla Voiez" to Kindle, it may go live as early as this evening, and uploaded the Kindle version of "The Starblood Trilogy" to KDP for pre-orders. I shall post links when the two are available to buy and pre-order respectively. Save #Writing