Monthly Archives: November 2019

Christmas Presents: Children’s Novels

Posted on by

Looking for the perfect Christmas present for that difficult relative? Why not give them a book this year? To be more specific, why not give them one of my books?

In this second of three articles, this post explores my children’s novels. Yes, I don’t just write gothic mystery horror thrillers. I have also dabbled in children’s adventures, mainly aimed at the Harry Potter/Alex Rider demographic. Most of these novels were written for my children, often at their request (Echo and the White Howl was penned for my youngest for instance, who wanted a story about wolves). But these stories aren’t just for children. They are for the young and young at heart, often tackling themes and ideas that are just as incisive for the adult reader.

Here’s is the blurb from the back of each novel:

Uncle Flynn_CoverUncle Flynn

When timid eleven year old Max Bradley embarks on a hunt for buried treasure on Dartmoor with his mysterious Uncle Flynn, he discovers he is braver than he thought.

Together they decipher clues, find a hidden map and explore secret tunnels in their search.

But with both police and rival treasure hunters on their tail, Max begins to wonder if his uncle is all he seems…

Click here to order Uncle Flynn.

DrGibbles_1600x2400_front coverDr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge

September 1987.

Curiosity lands Tim Rawling in a world of secrets, spies and a desperate race against time.

The haunted house, the monster and the mad scientist are only the beginning of a terrifying adventure…

Click here to order Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge.

Echo and the White Howl Cover 10 (FINAL)Echo and the White Howl

When a wolf pack discovers humans lurking near their territory, Echo senses dark times ahead.

Despite the warnings and omens, Aatag, the pack Alpha, refuses to flee… leading to a cruel turn of events that forces Echo into exile, and a quest for revenge that will change the pack forever.

Click here to order Echo and the White Howl.

 

B17Kak0+TOS._SL250_FMpng_George Hughes Trilogy (comprising George goes to Mars, George goes to Titan, George goes to Neptune)

From the back of George goes to Mars:

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 voyages to Mars to sell land to celebrities wanting to build interplanetary homes.

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

Click here to order the George Hughes Trilogy.

Christmas Presents: The Spooky Quintet

Posted on by

Looking for the perfect Christmas present for that difficult relative? Why not give them a book this year? To be more specific, why not give them one of my books?

In the first of three articles, this post explores the gothic mystery horror/thriller offerings from yours truly. Incredibly, none of these five novels – which I refer to as my “Spooky Quintet” – have had a single bad review. Check out Amazon or Goodreads, and you will see they are all raves. Also, if you’re worried about how scary these might be, some are more at the thriller end of the gothic mystery spectrum, and some more at the horror end. However, they are all page-turningly gripping, and full of suspense. For more information about the scariness factor in each, click here.

Here’s is the blurb from the back of each novel:

The Birds Began to Sing_1600x2400_Front CoverThe Birds Began to Sing

When aspiring novelist Alice Darnell enters a competition to write the ending for an unfinished manuscript by late, world famous author Sasha Hawkins, it appears she might have her big break at last.

However, upon arrival at Sasha’s former home – the sinister Blackwood House – Alice is unsettled by peculiar competition rules, mysterious dreams and inexplicable ghostly visions. She begins to question her sanity as she is drawn into a terrifying web of deceit, revenge and murder.

Click here to order The Birds Began to Sing.

THE THISTLEWOOD CURSE Cover (JPG Print version)The Thistlewood Curse

Can a ghost murder the living?

Lawrence Crane’s powers of astral projection are put to the ultimate test when he and his lifelong friend Detective Laura Buchan investigate a mysterious death on Lundy Island.

Sensing a dark power at work, they attempt to identify a human assassin under the control of supernatural evil.

But can they escape a terrifying, centuries-old curse?

Click here to order The Thistlewood Curse.

SSF coverSpectre of Springwell Forest

Lily Henderson has a horrifying secret buried far in her past. She hoped it would never be revealed. Now she has no choice.

To save her family, Lily must keep them from returning to the village of Springwell, where she lived with her first husband and young daughter decades previously.

In the past, after moving to Springwell, Lily encounters secretive locals, government scientists, and rumours of a ghost haunting the forest.

Are they linked to the mysterious deaths of local children? Do paintings by a local artist predict when tragic events are getting closer? Will Lily’s daughter be next?

“Two were taken. More will follow.”

Click here to order Spectre of Springwell Forest.

Simon Dillon - Irresistible Summons full resThe Irresistible Summons

How far would you go to bring your loved one back from the dead?

Television producer Naomi Levinson makes documentaries debunking the supernatural.

When asked to film a promotional video for computer game company Persephone, she considers the task beneath her talents. But as production gets underway at the Persephone office block on London’s Canary Wharf, a mysterious disappearance, ghostly sightings, and lingering tragedy from Naomi’s past lead her to believe she might have stumbled into a genuine haunting.

As Naomi continues to investigate, past and present collide in a horrifying conspiracy. Cutting edge technology and ancient evil meet, leading to the discovery of a shocking and terrifying secret that could change the nature of life and death as we know it.

Click here to order The Irresistible Summons.

PHANTOM AUDITIONPhantom Audition

He buried himself in a part, but never returned. Now she wants to know why.

Small-time actress Mia Yardley, recently widowed wife of renowned actor Steven Yardley, discovers her late husband’s secret acting diary.

The diary details appointments made with a psychic medium, who advised Steven on which roles to take. It also raises questions about his mysterious and inexplicable suicide.

Seeking answers, Mia speaks to the medium, but in doing so is drawn into an ever- deepening mystery about what happened to her husband during the final days of his life. Eventually, she is forced to ask the terrible question: was Steven Yardley murdered by a vengeful evil from beyond the grave?

Click here to order Phantom Audition

Phantom Audition interview on The Tangent Tree

Posted on by

Recently Samantha Stephen interviewed me on a short, spin-off episode of The Tangent Tree, regarding my latest gothic mystery novel Phantom Audition. Listen on Spotify, Podcast Addict, or iTunes, or just click here to listen on The Tangent Tree website.

Phantom Audition is published by Dragon Soul Press, and is out now. Click here to get your copy.

Phantom Audition blog tour begins today!

Posted on by

PHANTOM AUDITIONOver the next month, my latest gothic mystery novel Phantom Audition is going on tour! There will be a bus, an entourage, roadie, and… No, hang on. Not that kind of tour. A blog tour. Phantom Audition will be promoted on several blogs and websites, some of which will contain interviews, guest posts by yours truly, and possibly even syndication to national newspapers in the US (fingers are well and truly crossed on that front). At any rate, please keep an eye on my Facebook page and the blog over the next month for full details. The first stop – at Pump up Your Books – can be found here (along with an extract of the novel, a rather nice animated version of the cover to the left, and one or two other things).

Phantom Audition is published by Dragon Soul Press. Click here to get it on Kindle or in paperback.

Phantom Audition – Initial Reviews

Posted on by

PHANTOM AUDITIONMy new novel Phantom Audition is a nail-biting gothic mystery. It encompasses a wide variety of themes, including being in love with something that doesn’t exist, abuse of power, how artists can become narcissists who think that moral codes do not apply to them, the dangers of tampering in the occult, obsession, madness and much more.

Here are a few snippets from initial reviews on Amazon and Goodreads:

“Phantom Audition is one of the absolute best books I have recently read… A brilliant mystery… with plenty of suspicious characters, you will be enticed to turn each page as you travel through this mystery to its surprising conclusion.” – Sue Marie.

“Stole my sleep for two nights… I know I’ll be thinking about so many of the characters, twists and turns, and emotions I came across on this reading adventure… I can’t say that I’ve ever read anything remotely similar to this plot.” – Kelli Pizarro.

“I love this story with all of its puzzles and strong emotion. Mia is a complex main character who is lost in grief after her husband’s death. She is searching not only for answers, but also to be able to own her own skin again. She feels lost in her husband’s shadow and is determined to come into her own. The way Simon weaves the side characters into the plot, revealing more and more secrets to the puzzle is genius. The setting also felt like an additional character, which I loved so much. I will be rereading this book many times, as I do only a few books that I also love.” – Rowan Thalia.

“Left me wanting to re-read it right away — like the feeling you get after watching an M Night Shyamalan film — where you suddenly realise maybe you were asking the wrong questions all along! A thoroughly enjoyable, page-turner read.” – Sara Meg Seese.

“PAGE-TURNER! I thoroughly enjoyed Phantom Audition… Dillon is a skilled storyteller; his characters all convey their backstories and humanity through their natural/believable dialogue and actions, that their motives are always clear. Every single piece fits into the puzzle perfectly.” – Ximena Escobar.

“A fantastic, page-turning, supernatural mystery! Thrilling from start to finish, with plenty of intrigue, Phantom Audition will have you on the edge of your seat… Had me guessing again and again how it was going to end, all the way until it actually ended… Reminded me of how much I love the mystery genre and how badly I need to read more like this.” – Antonio Gonzales-Rodriguez.

Phantom Audition is published by Dragon Soul Press. Click here to get it on Kindle or in paperback.

Phantom Audition – Settings, Research, and Revisions

Posted on by

PHANTOM AUDITIONMy new gothic mystery novel Phantom Audition is out now, and messing with the heads of readers to agreeable effect, judging by the plethora of five star rave reviews currently gracing sites like Goodreads and Amazon. I’m very pleased, as I put a lot of work into this book.

Preparation for writing any story of this kind involves research into a number of fields, but in this case I was able to draw on a lot of my own knowledge regarding film. Having worked in television, and had some limited involvement in film productions (including making my own short films on various occasions), I drew on what I already knew in many cases, but also investigated a number of fascinating facts from film history.

For example, the idea of a famous actor consulting a medium about whether or not they should take a role is directly inspired by the late, great Peter Sellers, who did exactly that. Rather more unhappily, cases of actors burying themselves in parts with alarming effects on their mental health are not uncommon. Perhaps the most notorious and tragic relatively recent example is found in Heath Ledger, who died of a drug overdose after finishing work on The Dark Knight, where he played the Joker. Heath Ledger posthumously won an Oscar, again something that directly inspired the story in Phantom Audition.

Boars-Hill

Settings also play a key role in the novel, which briefly takes in Wardour Street in London – home to many film and television production houses – as well as Boars Hill in Oxford, where I used to live. However, the most notable location is the Jacobean mansion at the heart of the story. In Jacobean buildings, there really are sometimes priest holes from the times when Catholics were persecuted by the ruling Protestant monarchs in England. Said Catholics would often hide in these places to avoid arrest. Baddesley Clinton House in Warwickshire is one example, and another is Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk. Both are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public.

1086035

Here is one final point of interest not about research or locations, and more about the writing process itself. Unlike my previous novel The Irresistible Summons, which had huge swathes of plot, subplot, and characters excised (almost 20,000 words) from first to final draft, Phantom Audition survived largely intact, aside from the usual editorial nips and tucks, with one key exception. Originally Mia’s best friend Bronwyn and hired help Verity were one and the same character. I did this to try and condense characters, but in this case it proved a condensation too far, and made the finale too implausible. It felt a lot more believable to separate the characters, so I undertook a significant rewrite to change that element of the plot.

Phantom Audition is published by Dragon Soul Press, and is available now in paperback or on Kindle. Click here to get your copy.