A Thorn in Winter is Out Today!

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My new supernaturally tinged mystery thriller novel, A Thorn in Winter, is out today! I’m thrilled to finally share this nail-biter with you, and I hope you find it suitably page-turning.

Here’s a bit of a plot tease, from the back cover:

Bored council worker Leila is restless in her marriage. Secretly relieved by the sudden death of her husband’s best friend, who’d been blackmailing her over an affair she’d had with a local TV news presenter, she is alarmed to discover a link between the blackmail and a decades-old unsolved murder. What’s more, she bears an uncanny resemblance to the victim. 

With the affair still threatening to destroy her marriage, an encounter with a tarot card reader pushes Leila into further investigation. With every discovery she makes, Leila becomes less certain who she can trust. A myriad of secrets lie along her perilous path to a terrifying truth that could cost her life.

Also, for good measure, here’s the bio about yours truly, also from the back cover:

Simon Dillon is a prolific author, primarily of thriller and horror novels including Death Nest, The Irresistible Summons, Spectre of Springwell Forest, and his latest, A Thorn in Winter. An avid advocate of page-turning mystery and suspense, he lives in southwest England with his wife and children, deriving endless inspiration from his surroundings, local history, folklore, and mythology. When he’s not exploring the moors and coasts or submerged in a book, he’s probably at the cinema.

Over the next few weeks on this site, there will be further articles exploring different aspects of the novel, excerpts, and even a short documentary exploring this novel in more detail (but without spoilers). Watch this space.

Paperbacks and ebooks of A Thorn in Winter are now available directly from my publisher, Ring of Culture. Additional retail outlets will follow later, but for now, you can order the novel here.

(Header image created by author in Canva. Novel cover courtesy of Ring of Culture Creative Services.)

All Simon Dillon Novels Currently Available

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Horror and Thrillers

A Thorn in Winter: A young woman being blackmailed discovers a link between the blackmail and a decades-old unsolved murder. What’s more, she bears an uncanny resemblance to the victim. Is she being targeted by the same mysterious killer?

Death Nest: A widower fears his young son is cursed when he shows disturbing behaviour akin to that of the widower’s younger brother, before he vanished twenty years previously.

The Irresistible Summons: A television producer who debunks the supernatural encounters a genuine haunting in a London office block.

The Birds Began to Sing: An aspiring novelist enters a mysterious writing competition at a sinister mansion.

Phantom Audition: The grieving widow of a famous actor begins to suspect a supernatural hand at work in his apparent suicide, linked to his final acting role.

Spectre of Springwell Forest: A mother comes to believe her young daughter is cursed, after discovering a mysterious painting in her attic containing a gradually revealed figure, which only she can see.

The Thistlewood Curse: A detective and her paranormal consultant suspect supernaturally assisted murder after the sudden heart attack of a Lord’s son on Lundy Island.

Children’s Adventures

Uncle Flynn: A timid boy gradually overcomes fear and mollycoddling as he searches for hidden treasure on Dartmoor with his enigmatic uncle.

Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge: A monster, a mad scientist, and a haunted house… That’s just the beginning for a boy who finds himself caught between spy factions near the end of the Cold War.

Echo and the White Howl: A exiled young wolf seeks revenge after his Alpha father is murdered by a pack rival.

The George Hughes Trilogy

The Martian Inheritance, The Titan War, and The Neptune Conspiracy: Teenager George Hughes unexpectedly inherits the planet Mars. He finds himself the target of covert assassins, hostile aliens, and even darker forces. But he also comes under the protection of a mysterious secret agent, and finds friends in unlikely places.

Other Novels

Children of the Folded Valley: A man looks back on his past when he grew up in a mysterious cult cut off from the rest of the world.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Forbidden lovers fall foul of laws in both nations that emerged following the Second American Civil War.

Love vs Honour: Teenage lovers pretend to convert to Islam and Christianity to appease each respective set of parents.

Ravenseed: As a teenage girl reads a mysterious account of two knights in the Dark Ages attempting to break an enchantment, her face is gradually disfigured. But she is obsessed with discovering the outcome and unable to stop reading.

A Thorn in Winter is available from Ring of Culture publications here.

All other titles are available from Amazon here (in the UK) and here (in the US).

If you enjoy my novels and short stories, please consider supporting my writing on Patreon or Ko-fi. Thank you.

A Thorn in Winter: Cover Tease!

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As you may know, my new mystery thriller novel A Thorn in Winter is out soon (precise released date to be announced). I’ve been going back and forth with my publisher, Ring of Culture, preparing for this release. Here’s a tiny tease of the cover, which I’ll reveal in full soon.

(Courtesy of Ring of Culture Creative Services.)

Update: August 2026

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I barely have time to give an update this month, so I’ll be brief. In addition to trying to grab a bit of holiday here and there, most of my time has been spent making final tweaks to the manuscript for my supernaturally tinged mystery thriller novel, A Thorn in Winter, along with providing input into blurbs, bios, and cover art for my publisher, Ring of Culture. All the above is now finalised, with the novel now going into production, and I will be announcing a publication date very soon. Watch this space.

On a related note, I’ve been shooting and editing a short documentary that provides some insight into A Thorn in Winter. In addition to an interview with yours truly, it features me out and about in southwest England at some of the locations in the novel, and some no-budget dramatic recreations of a few scenes. You’ll see the results here soon enough. Again, watch this space.

Finally, I have now finished the first draft of the second novel I’ve written this year (the current draft clocks in at around 106,000 words). It’s another instalment in the supernatural mystery thriller series I’m working on that, for now at least, must remain shrouded in secrecy. I’m pleased to have got that far with it and look forward to polishing it with fresh eyes next year.

That’s it for now. However, more expect more news (quite a lot more) soon.

(Header image created by author in Canva. Not official publisher artwork.)

Update: July 2026

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This is turning out to be quite the bumper year for yours truly. As I announced last month, my supernaturally tinged mystery thriller novel A Thorn in Winter will be published this autumn by the Ireland-based Ring of Culture. I’m immensely excited about that and can tell you all is progressing well in terms of finalising the manuscript, preparing covers, and so forth. I’m remaining fairly tight-lipped on the plot, but it involves a young woman initially caught in a web of blackmail, only for her to uncover something much more sinister when a tarot card reading links her situation to a decades-old unsolved murder case. She discovers an alarming personal connection to the victim and consequently finds herself in deadly peril.

Elsewhere, I’ve been busy working on the first draft of my latest novel, the second I’ve written this year in my newly embarked-upon supernatural thriller series. Well, perhaps “newly” is the wrong way of putting it, since I wrote the first in the series last year, and by the end of this year, there will be three manuscripts sitting on my shelf, in a series that could end up featuring as many as a dozen instalments. It’s a hugely ambitious project, and I’m greatly enjoying working on it.

Beyond that pleasing surge of literary productivity, I’ve recently rekindled my love of filmmaking. Safe Space is a short psychological horror film that is now available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure (see below embed). It’s an amateur, no-budget, rough-around-the-edges piece, shot on an iPhone, but it features a splendid central performance from the up-and-coming Abi Stevens. The plot concerns a frustrated wannabe novelist who enters an existential nightmare (no, it’s not wholly autobiographical). Do check it out.

That’s about it from me for now. More updates soon, especially regarding A Thorn in Winter. There’s a lot more information coming (including the publication date), so watch this space.

(Please note: The header image, created by yours truly in Canva, is not official artwork for the novel from the publisher. In fact, rather amusingly, the novel itself is set in summer, not winter, and does not feature literal thorns. There’s another reason for the title, which I obviously won’t reveal here.)

Thrilling News! Novel Publication Announcement

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I am ecstatic to announce that my mystery thriller novel, A Thorn in Winter, will be published this autumn. The precise date is to be confirmed, but my publisher, the Ireland-based Ring of Culture, has agreed to let me make the announcement early on my website.

Needless to say, I’m absolutely thrilled by this news. Thank you all so much for all your support and encouragement over the years. This publication deal is a major victory and the culmination of many years of hard work. I wrote A Thorn in Winter in early 2023, and it has since been through a few drafts, but beta reader response has been ecstatic. I can’t wait to share this book with you, so watch this space.

At this point, I’m remaining tight-lipped on the plot, but I can tell you it’s a page-turning whodunnit involving a young woman initially caught in a web of blackmail, only for her to uncover something much more sinister when a tarot card reading links her situation to a decades-old unsolved murder case. She discovers an alarming personal connection to the victim and consequently finds herself in deadly peril.

This twist-laden tale features everything you’ve come to expect from my modern gothic thrillers, including an imperilled heroine, sinister locations, buried secrets (literally and figuratively), and a host of supporting characters who aren’t quite what they seem. There’s also a romantic subplot of sorts, amid themes of infidelity, revenge, and something potentially supernatural. A rollercoaster of suspicion and suspense, you won’t want to miss this one.

Over the next few months, more will be revealed (include an exact publication date), so watch this space. Please note, the above image is not the official artwork, merely something I put together for this update.

(Image created by author in Canva.)

Update: May 2026

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To begin this month’s update, I’ll point to Substack. I’m serialising the George Hughes trilogy for paying readers, starting with the initial novel, The Martian Inheritance. Chapter one is up today, as a free taster (click here to read it). If you’ve been considering delving into the vast cache of my short stories, novellas, and serialised novels peeking out tantalisingly from behind that particular paywall, you now have an even more compelling reason to do so. For a full rundown of why becoming one of my paid readers on Substack is a rather splendid idea, check out this article.

In case you’re unfamiliar with it, The Martian Inheritance is a science fiction adventure aimed at the young and young at heart (think the Harry Potter/Alex Rider demographic in that they appeal to children and adults alike). Here’s a brief blurb from the back of the novel to whet your appetite:

When George Hughes discovers he has inherited the planet Mars, he goes from poverty to becoming the richest boy on Earth overnight.

Accompanied by his new guardian, a mysterious secret agent, and a crew of astronauts, George makes the voyage to Mars to sell land to celebrities wanting to build interplanetary holiday homes.

But sabotage, assassination attempts, and the possibility of an alien threat plunge him into a deadly adventure.

As promised in last month’s update, here’s a bit more detail about the slightly unusual sideways leap I’ve taken regarding the series of supernatural mystery thriller novels I’m currently writing. I’d previously announced that I’d completed the first draft of book two. However, I’m throwing a curveball into my plans. Book two will become book three, because I’m now writing an entirely new novel, set between the two novels in this series that I’ve written so far.

I’m about 45,000 words into the first draft of this book and it’s moving at lightning speed. Why? Because all I needed to do was meld this new concept with a story outline I already had. I’ve outlined several of the novels in this series (including the last one), so I know where everything is headed. Each book is a standalone mystery, but somewhere around book four or five, a much bigger mystery in the background becomes apparent (it hides in plain sight for at least the first three novels).

Obviously, plot details remain top secret for now. I’ll update you again next month, when I hope I’ll be much further along with the draft. In the meantime, please do check out the other nail-biting novels I currently have available to buy on ebook or in paperback form by clicking here.

(Header image created by author in Canva.)

Update: April 2026

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I’ll keep this month’s update brief. Firstly, there’s a new short story for paying Substack subscribers that’s just started to be serialised today. As usual, part one is free as a taster (click here), so if you’ve been hovering in the wings for some time, wondering whether to take the plunge and unlock the treasure trove of my short stories, novellas, and serialised novels lurking exclusively behind that paywall, now is an excellent time to do so. For the full benefits of become one of my paid readers on Substack, check out this article.

This new story, 16:27, is another in my current “horror series” (for want of a better expression). It’s a supernatural cautionary tale involving a wealthy 18-year-old teenager who begins taking an interest in his mysterious neighbour, and why he’s digging a huge hole in his back garden. Faustian shenanigans ensue. Incidentally, the title refers to a particular Bible verse from Proverbs.

Elsewhere, I’ve been busy working on plans for the next novel in the supernatural mystery thriller series I’m writing (I’ve written two novels so far). There will be a bit more detail on that announced next month, so watch this space. I’ll leave it there for now, but if you’re new, thank you for browsing here. Please do check out the novels I currently have available to buy on ebook or in paperback form by clicking here.

(Header image created by author in Canva.)

Update: March 2026

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I have three exciting updates this month. Firstly, and most importantly, the first draft of my next novel is now complete. Book two in the supernatural mystery thriller series I started last year clocked in at 110,000 words. I daresay some of that will be shaved off in the rewriting/editing stages, but either way, it’s a little bit longer than the first instalment. I’m going back through it at present, tweaking minor elements, and adding a few tiny details here and there. Once that is done, it will sit on the shelf for a while until I can review it again with fresh eyes.

Secondly, I have a new short story that I’m serialising exclusively for paying readers on Substack. Having finished serialising my previous dystopian horror tale, Surrogate Sensor (part one is available as a free taster here), I’m now moving on to a more traditional, bone-chilling ghost story entitled Margaret Ursula Moore. It concerns a recently bereaved, recently divorced, overprotective mother of a young son. Her new house is directly opposite the school where her boy attends pre-school. When watching the school whilst her son is there, she begins to see peculiar things. I won’t spoil what, exactly, but instead will point you in the direction of part one, which can be read as a taster for free, here.

Finally, with immense reluctance, I’m finally on TikTok promoting my novels. This is something I’m doing with immense reluctance, as I’m not a fan of social media at the best of times. For that reason, I chose my opening salvo of videos to be a reflection of that reluctance, entitled “Petulant Promotions”. In the first few videos, I sit in sulky silence, whilst my “social media manager” gets increasingly irked by said sulk. Eventually, I start talking and promoting some of my novels with a suitably petulant attitude. It’s a running gag that’s probably not very funny, but the little insert of my “social media manager” reacting to my behaviour makes it a little smirk-worthy, I think. At any rate, I plan to post fairly regularly there now, not so petulantly once I get the hang of the platform a little more. If you’re on TikTok, please check out my page here, like, follow, and by all means, leave petulant responses to my petulant videos.

(Header image created by author in Canva.)

Update: February 2026

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What have I been up to over the last month? Mostly, I’ve been hard at work on the new novel. This is the second in a supernatural mystery thriller series that I started last year. I’m working from a thorough outline that I planned during the last few months of last year, and the manuscript is proceeding at a decent pace. I’m now at about 78,000 words, and I reckon by the end of next month I’ll have a first draft clocking in at around the 100,000-word mark, possibly a little over. That would make it a slightly longer book than the previous novel.

What’s this one about? It’s still top secret, I’m afraid, as are the events in the previous novel of this series, the first draft of which I wrote this time a year ago. But I can tell you it involves an ex-police officer protagonist and her young assistant. Their relationship (which is not a romantic one) is, I hope, what will sustain the interest as this series progresses, as each character evolves in interesting and unexpected ways, amid the baffling and sinister scenarios in which they are caught up. Each novel will feature a standalone mystery, but there’s a bigger mystery that gradually emerges in the background. At first, it hides in plain sight, but soon it becomes impossible to ignore. I must confess I’m having a blast writing this, and when it is finally unleashed on readers, I hope you will enjoy it too.

In the meantime, I’m running some horror short stories on Substack for paying readers. However, as a teaser, I’m making part one of this short story, Surrogate Sensor, available completely free. This story was inspired by a recent medical research breakthrough involving helping paralysed people regain feeling in their limbs. Naturally, I imagined a way for this technology to go horrifically wrong, and this is it. I hope you find it suitably gripping. Check out part one for free here.

(Image created by author in Canva.)