Author Archives: simondillon

Download Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge – for five days only!

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My novel Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge is available to download FREE from Amazon Kindle for five days only.

Of all the novels I have published, Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge remains the one that seems to have singularly failed to find a readership or generate reviews. Besides the obvious possibility that people simply don’t want to read it, I suspect there are a number of factors as to why:

It’s primarily a children’s book. 

I am amazed how many readers are put off for that reason alone, especially as my children’s novels are designed for all readers, not just children. Like all the best children’s books I try to appeal to all ages, and take the CS Lewis view that a great story for children isn’t a great story for children unless it can also be appreciated by adults.

Children’s books (at least mine) don’t seem to find an audience on Kindle in the same way as grown-up books.

This is speculation on my part, but I suspect it is a factor.

I haven’t marketed the novel properly.

This is a given, as I am no businessman or marketing expert. However, I think it is perhaps true that, given how protective I am of the twists and turns in this story, I have perhaps been more reticent to discuss the plot than was wise. I shall therefore attempt to remedy this situation a little in this article.

The plot of Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge begins with a haunted house, a monster, and a mad scientist – and that’s just chapter one! Our hero, the intelligent Tim Rawlings, is then drawn into a thrilling, scary adventure involving spies towards the end of the Cold War.

Tim’s path crosses with the eccentric but mysterious Dr Gribbles. Together they are forced to undertake a dangerous hunt on Dartmoor. Along the way spies British, Russian and American help and hinder, or sometimes both. One such spy is Dr Gribbles’s feisty daughter Emily, who plays an absolutely pivotal role in the story.

Thrills galore ensue, including helicopter chases, monstrous encounters and all manner of narrow escapes, including a nightmarish encounter with a room filled with wasps and a nuclear detonation. Secrets are revealed, characters are double crossed, and ultimately spies of all nationalities prove untrustworthy.

The nail-biting final act includes a homage to one of my favourite fairy tales. I cannot say which, although it might be guessable. At any rate, the overall tone is one of fun and adventure, with some scares (particularly in the first act), and plenty of humour.

In short, I think it is a shame Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge hasn’t had more readers as I think it is a rattling good adventure yarn. The book also features my favourite cover of any of my novels and is even dedicated to my youngest son Thomas, since it was primarily inspired by a very imaginative nightmare he had when he was three.

In short, why not give it a go? Download your FREE copy of Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge here.

Too much realism

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I am not a fan of realism for the sake of realism. Nor was legendary film director David Lean, who once said films should feel like dreams. I would argue the same should be true for novels, and I am not a fan of stories that strive for realism at the expense of dramatic satisfaction, regardless of the genre.

As a reader I find it deeply frustrating when interesting dramatic situations and conflicts are swept aside in an unsatisfactory way in the name of realism, often in critically acclaimed novels. Atonement is a good example of this. Just because in real life the lead characters could easily have died in a sudden bombing that intrudes on the narrative mid-plot – before certain injustices could be properly explored and resolved – doesn’t make it a good dramatic choice. That may have been the point, but if so it’s a deeply frustrating one.

Charles Dickens had the right idea. He loaded his books with relevant, challenging social themes, making them “realistic” in the sense that you could feel the grime under the fingernails of Victorian Britain. But at the same time his works are deeply satisfying, superbly crafted tales that do not place “realism” above all else.

Some argue that whether or not a novel or film should submit to realism depends on subject matter, but I don’t think that is true. Lawrence of Arabia is about historic fact, but nonetheless feels like a dream, in accordance with the ideals of its director David Lean. The appalling Victorian social injustices exposed by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist are wrapped within the framework of a narrative that feels almost like a fairy tale.

As an aside, I find that large doses of realism actually work very well in fantasy writing. The shocking sudden deaths in Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy are a good example of this. The film Pan’s Labyrinth is another example, with the gritty realism of the Franco’s war against communist guerillas providing a backdrop to the fantasy elements. They may seem like oil and water but in fact they compliment one another perfectly.

In my own writing, I am currently penning an animal fiction novel about wolves in Alaska that combines elements of realism with more metaphysical elements. Time will tell whether or not I succeed in this, but at no point in any of my writing do I strive for realism at the expense of all else. Like David Lean, I want my stories to have a magic to them, regardless of the subject matter. I want them to feel like dreams.

Download Love vs Honour FREE – for five days only!

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Continuing my summer giveaways, Love vs Honour is available for the next five days as a free download from Amazon Kindle.

LvsHonour 1600 x 2400

After falling in love, teenagers Johnny and Sabina pretend to convert to Islam and Christianity respectively, to placate the disapproval of both sets of parents. Then it gets complicated as their elaborate deceptions unravel in unexpected ways…

Yes, I know teenage romantic fiction isn’t really a thing I normally write, but rest assured this novel has the dark edges and challenging/controversial themes found in my other works so it really isn’t exclusively for the young adult readership. If you haven’t read it, why not give it a go?

Here are a few review snippets:

“You may find, as I did, it becomes a hard book to put down. The premise of a Christian and a Muslim pretending to convert to each other’s religion to be with each other for the sake of pure, unadulterated love creates a strangely addictive narrative.” – Graeme Stevenson, Amazon.

“This book is one of the few that made me cry. I love it. If you are a fan of emotional books then I urge you to read it. I give it 5 stars.” – Splufic, Goodreads.

“The ending of the book really made the whole thing.” – A Critical Reader, Amazon.

And just for balance, not everyone loved the ending. Check out this “bad” review from I_love_books on Goodreads:

“No… Just No…
I hate such endings…
Wtf….
When the story got interesting then the author has to shock us?
No…
That’s bad…”

Why not decide for yourself if you like the ending? Download Love vs Honour FREE here.

The Birds Began to Sing FREE from Amazon Kindle – for five days only!

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Since it’s summer, here is the first in a series of giveaways on most of my presently published novels.

Beginning today, for just five days, you can download The Birds Began to Sing absolutely FREE from Amazon Kindle.

The Birds Began to Sing is a mystery novel with shades of Agatha Christie, Daphne Du Maurier and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a dash of Susan Hill, a pinch of the Bronte Sisters and sprinkling of Michael Crichton. Actually, it isn’t really any of those things, but it is a damn good and highly original thriller in its own right, even though I say so myself.

Here is the blurb from the back of the novel:

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.

Some review snippets:

“Mystery, drama, conspiracy theory, and some supernatural intrigue. A real page turner!” – Anonymous, Barnes and Noble.

“Well written, poetic in places, funny at times and with a plot that will keep you turning the pages…” – Al Gibson, Amazon.

“This was really a great read and I loved the twist. Did not expect it at all.” – Jennifer, Amazon.

The Birds Began to Sing can be downloaded from Amazon Kindle FREE here (you can also buy a print copy here).

The Thistlewood Curse – a quick summary

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As regular readers of this blog will know, I have been promoting my latest novel The Thistlewood Curse for some weeks. Here then is a summary of the essential information about the book, as well as links to articles exploring its different aspects:

Blurb from the back of the novel

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?

Excerpts

Short extracts to whet the appetite can be read here and here.

Cover

More about the cover design here.

Inspiration

What novels or films inspired The Thistlewood Curse? Click here for more.

Facts behind the novel

Lundy Island, cabbages, castles and more… The historical and geographical facts that stirred my imagination can be found here.

Themes

Human trafficking, witchcraft, religious oppression, grief… What’s The Thistlewood Curse really about? Or is it just a scary story? Click here for more.

Early Reviews

Find out what readers have been saying here.

The Thistlewood Curse is available as a download from Amazon Kindle, or in print, here.

The Thistlewood Curse – early reviews

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The first reviews for The Thistlewood Curse continue to trickle in, and so far they have all been very positive.

THE THISTLEWOOD CURSE Cover (JPG Print version)

For example, one reviewer on Goodreads spoke of “chilling moments”, “an unusual premise” and that although it was “not what I’d usually choose… I was kept guessing to the end”.

There have been also been five star reviews on the US and UK Amazon sites respectively. One stated “Simon Dillon’s streak continues with another cracking book! The author’s storytelling is top notch with the twists, turns and suspense covering the book with glue, that is to say, you can’t put it down.”

Another said “This one will certainly leave you with “novel hangover,” still reeling from the emotional storm that just picked you up and spit you out. It was engaging, captivating, and immersive from the very beginning, and the plot twists were a pleasant surprise.”

I’m also very pleased people are seeing past the murder mystery/horror elements into the deeper stuff. For example, one reviewer commented “The characters are built up and written so well, you feel you know them and connect with them. For that reason, when they go through an ordeal, you go through it with them.” The reviewer went on to state that this was “a book with real depth, personal struggle and a test of faith—in more ways than one.”

To all those that have left reviews for this or any of my other novels, thank you so much. I really appreciate your support.

If you have read and enjoyed The Thistlewood Curse, please, please do leave a review on Amazon. It need not be long. Even just a one-liner saying “I enjoyed it” is fine. All such reviews are a great help to independent self-published authors such as yours truly – not because we require endless affirmation, but because the more reviews are published on Amazon, the more Amazon shows the fruits of our hard work to other customers.

Thank you.

Are my novels one big existential crisis?

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The other day, my wife made an observation about my body of work; namely that virtually all my novels, either peripherally or directly, concern an existential crisis. I thought about this, and have come to the conclusion that she is correct.

Notions of identity, delusion and not being able to trust reality are definitely a running theme in my work, along with other mainstays such as abuse of power, religious oppression and so forth. Here are some examples from the novels I have published thus far (avoiding major spoilers): 

George goes to Neptune – Admittedly the first two novels don’t deal with an existential crisis, but the third in the George Hughes trilogy definitely does. George’s highly unusual battle with his dark side is what inspired me to write this third novel and complete the trilogy.

Uncle Flynn – The question of who is Uncle Flynn runs throughout the entire novel, particularly during the hunt for the hidden treasure. Throughout much of the story, police pursue him and his nephew Max across Dartmoor, for mysterious unknown reasons.

Dr Gribbles and the Beast of Blackthorn Lodge – An identity crisis of sorts lies at the heart of this story, involving Dr Gribbles’s daughter Emily and the Beast itself.

Children of the Folded Valley – Quantum physics and the nature of reality are a theme behind this story, still my most successful novel to date.

The Birds Began to Sing – From the very first chapter, it is clear that Alice’s perceptions of reality should be questioned. The suspense in many of the events that follow hinges on the question of whether or not what Alice is seeing is real or a delusion.

Love vs Honour – Spiritual identity crises form the heart of my attempt at teenage romantic drama.

Most recently, my supernatural thriller cum horror story The Thistlewood Curse pulls the rug out from the reader in a variety of existential crises involving ghosts, astral projection and more. You can download or buy a print copy of The Thistlewood Curse here.

Existential crisis remains a theme in virtually all my (as yet) unpublished novels, and this will no doubt continue to be the case.

Genre blending

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Blending genres can be a fiendishly tricky exercise yet sometimes it can work brilliantly, against the odds, even if conventional wisdom says these genres would mix like oil and water.

The film Colossal is a good recent example of this. It blends indie drama elements with that of the monster movie tin a surprisingly effective way. TV series Twin Peaks is another genre blender, and one that is very difficult to define in conventional terms. The programme contains elements of soap opera, offbeat dark comedy, whodunit detective drama and supernatural horror with an avant-garde surrealism that is continually pulls the rug out from under the viewer in ways that both delight and infuriate.

I have a personal passion for films that start out in one genre, but then evolve into full blown horror. Kill List begins as social realist hitman thriller but becomes Grand Guignol occult horror. Bone Tomahawk is essentially a western that gets gatecrashed by cannibal horror. Most effectively of all, the massively underrated Angel Heart begins as private detective noir but ends in Faustian horror.

My recent novel, The Thistlewood Curse, attempts to emulate this genre evolution, from detective whodunit, to supernatural thriller and then full-on horror, hopefully in a fairly gradual build-up. There are risks of course. It can be difficult to categorise and promote. But ultimately the story is what it is. I hope readers take a risk and give it a go regardless. So far the feedback I have heard has been very positive.

THE THISTLEWOOD CURSE Cover (JPG Print version)

You can download or buy print copies of The Thistlewood Curse from Amazon here.

The Thistlewood Curse: What’s it really about?

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve talked at length about my latest novel The Thistlewood Curse; what inspired it, the history behind it, short excerpts, discussion on the cover, and so forth.

THE THISTLEWOOD CURSE Cover (JPG Print version)

This article will focus on the themes of the story. What was I trying to explore, or to say, in The Thistlewood Curse?

The most honest answer would be nothing at all. I don’t believe any story should be written with an intentional message. Such endeavours tend to come off as tedious, condescending sermons. Instead, the primary motive for writing the novel was to create a suspenseful, gripping tale of supernatural mystery and horror.

That said, what is important to any writer will be inherent in the stories they tell. I had initially thought The Thistlewood Curse to be a tale of terror, but as the writing progressed it became less deliberately frightening and bloody (although there is still plenty of that), and more reflective, more melancholic, more sombre and ultimately more a tale of faith and coming to terms with grief in the face of the inexplicable.

The novel also flirts with contemporary concerns such as human trafficking, although more as a springboard exploring how the sins of past generations can be revisited upon the present in classic Greek tragedy style, rather than a deep expose of a very serious current problem. Themes of witchcraft also crop up, though again more as a plot device rather than a serious look at what goes on in covens. I doubt very much that astral projection could be used in real life the way it is used in The Thistlewood Curse, but who knows?

In subsequent drafts, the story evolved further, adding an element of religious oppression into the mix in a backstory I had originally intended to keep a mystery. However, my amazing and brilliantly honest wife persuaded me that these elements were needed to provide stronger emotional context for what was otherwise a clever but somewhat cold supernatural whodunit. I was happy to add these chapters into a now extended act one, because religious oppression is a key recurrent theme in my work in any case, and I can now see that keeping that part out for the sake of getting to the main plot quicker would have been a mistake. In fact, the reverse is true. I believe with this element now in the novel it makes the mystery all the more compelling, because the reader now cares far more about the two main characters.

Here is the blurb from the back of 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?

You can download or buy print copies of The Thistlewood Curse from Amazon here.

Some facts behind The Thistlewood Curse

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Following on from my recent post about what inspired my latest novel The Thistlewood Curse, here are some points of interest on the history, geography and other facts that are either directly or peripherally relevant to the novel. Obviously to avoid spoilers I won’t explain exactly how these tie into the supernatural narrative, but as with Uncle Flynn and various other (as yet unpublished) novels, local history and geography provided a fertile ground for my imagination.

THE THISTLEWOOD CURSE Cover (JPG Print version)

Lundy Island is a real place in the Bristol Channel, about twelve miles off the north coast of Devon. The island is small – about 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles at its widest point. It has a population of about thirty, and many visitors who go to see the wildlife, especially puffins and other birds. The Oldenburg is a real vessel that ferries passengers to and from the island on a regular basis.

Lundy-island

As per the novel, the island is bereft of trees, and most of the settlements lie in the south, including the Marisco Tavern and Lundy (or Marisco) Castle, both of which are real places. However, in the novel Lundy Castle is substantially larger and privately owned, whereas in real life the castle has been broken down into self-catering accommodation. The history of the castle as described in the novel (involving Henry III and so forth) is also mostly true. Surrounding the island are spectacular cliffs, which can be better appreciated on boat trips. The only place to land a boat safely is in the south.

devon - Marisco Castle

Both lighthouses mentioned in the novel are real, along with Quarter wall, Halfway wall and Three-Quarter wall. It is true that supplies of electricity are only in use during certain hours, and that mobile phone signal is all but non-existent. Also, there really is a Tibbet’s Hill on the island, possibly a location where people were indeed hanged, which brings me neatly onto my next point.

As per the novel, the history of Lundy includes tales of pirates and slave traders, and it proved a very difficult place to govern. For example, Barbary Pirates from the Republic of Sale occupied Lundy from 1627 to 1632. These North African invaders, under the command of renegade Dutchman Jan Janszoon, flew an Ottoman Empire flag over the island. They captured Europeans and held them on Lundy before sending them to Algiers as slaves.

Finally, on a more arcane note, the Lundy cabbage is a genuine vegetable (see yellow flowered plant below), though I am fairly certain it has not been used as an ingredient for deadly poison. That however is sailing very close to spoiler territory, so I’ll just leave it there for now…

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Here is the blurb from the back of 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?

You can download or buy print copies of The Thistlewood Curse from Amazon here.