A lot of you wonderful regular readers follow my new release film reviews on Substack. If you’d also like to hear me prattle about them in addition to reading my scribblings, you can now check out my new weekly podcast, Dillon on Film. It’s presented by the excellent Michael Kenny, who ensures I don’t waffle too much and keeps me on a leash. A bit like Governor Tarkin to my Darth Vader.
The first episode is available on Spotify now (click here) and features my spoiler-free thoughts on Weapons, Freakier Friday, the odd tangential rant (spoilerific trailers are in my crosshairs this week), and a classic film slot for Pulp Fiction (1994). The intention is to release new episodes every Friday, discussing films released in UK cinemas the previous week (my reviews will have appeared on Medium and Substack before each podcast). I say “release” rather than “drop” because “drop” just sounds careless, as though it might break. Who decided to start “dropping” things, all of a sudden?
Anyway, I hope you’ll check out Dillon on Film. Yes, I know everyone has a bloody podcast these days. Yes, I know some of you find the prospect of adding yet another to your regular listening as welcome as news of another Disney live action remake of an animated classic. And yes, if you really can’t bear to give us a listen, with counselling, I’m sure I’ll come to forgive you. But why not give it a whirl all the same? I’m also supposed to ask you to (checks notes) subscribe and give a five-star rating. If you feel so inclined, I would be most grateful.
We intend to syndicate this podcast to other platforms too (including Apple and Amazon), so watch this space.
As you are no doubt aware, all my film reviews have now moved to Substack or Medium. I syndicate them to both sites, with Medium available only to those with a Medium account. However, those with a Substack account can access my film reviews for FREE – for four weeks, before they disappear behind a paywall.
This FREE option isn’t the only thing I’m up to on Substack. I’m also creating a mirror of my Medium account, which means for just $5 per month, you also have access to short stories, including horror stories like Crockern’s Curse or Once in a Lifetime, poignant dramas including Aftermath, satirical fantasy such as In-Between, satirical thrillers like Call the Number on Your Screen, and many others as I release them. For example, my dark fairy tale Window of the Soul will be serialised there over the next eight weeks, and new subscription-only material is added constantly (for one thing, I’m gradually transferring my entire Medium back catalogue, as well as releasing new stuff).
Your monthly subscription also gets you access to all the film essays, top tens, and other cinema analysis I write on Medium, along with access to the full film review archive, which doesn’t disappear after four weeks behind a paywall (unlike the FREE option). There’s also a try-before-you-buy option, so why not take a free trial of Dillon Empire on Substack? Click here and sign up today, as they say in commercial speak.
Thank you to everyone who has supported my writing by signing up so far.
Whilst I carry on writing the first draft of the new novel in earnest (currently about 75,000 words in, closing in on the end of chapter 18), I’ve continued to be as prolific as ever on Medium and Patreon. Here are a few highlights.
On Patreon, I’m serialising the current unpolished draft of my psychological mystery thriller The Balliol Conspiracy. I’ve also kept up with my awkward video updates, and one or two other bits and pieces. Here’s a sample of what’s available to supporters.
Watch me awkwardly bumble my way through a writing update in a woodland, decidedly in need of a haircut, and sounding out of breath. Plus added snark from subtitles added by my eldest son.
I thought it might be fun to run a series of short interviews conducted with characters from my novels. First up, the protagonist of my most successful novel to date, Children of the Folded Valley. Here, I imagine him being harassed by a curious journalist in-between the events of acts two and three (which are alluded to in mysterious, hopefully intriguing terms, but not spoiled for those who haven’t read the novel).
This is a snippet of a satirical sci-fi comedy project I started fifteen years ago, abandoned, and am considering picking up again. It might wind up as a short story or novella, but this is a sample what I’ve written so far. It concerns an extremely reluctant alien invader, mired in middle management apathy.
The Dillon Empire lists the great director’s films in order of personal preference. (NOTE: There’s a link to the second part at the end, which in turn has a link to the third part at the end.)
You too can breed smug specimens of cinematic literacy. (NOTE: This is the final part in this series. There are links to all five previous parts at the beginning).
That’s a wrap for this month. Thank you again for all your support, and as always, a massive extra huge thank you to all my supporters on Patreon – Claus, Robin, Eric, David P, Steve, Emma, Sterling, Galina, Ian, Gillian, Yasmine and Ville, plus those who have contributed one-off donations on Ko-fi. Also, thank you to Ruth and Iain, and David S, and to everyone who has bought books, reviewed books, and promoted or supported me in other ways. You are hugely, hugely appreciated, and I couldn’t do this without you.
If you aren’t already a supporter on Patreon, please take a look at this link, which outlines my writing goals for the next year, clearly stating how much I wish to raise and why, and offering support levels of £2, £4, £8, and £25 per month, with different benefits at each level. Please consider supporting me, even if only at the lower level, as every contribution helps.
Those of you who aren’t Medium subscribers get three free reads per month. However, if you decide to subscribe to Medium to read all my work (and the work of many others), please do so via this link, as it means I financially benefit from your subscription.
I’ve had a busy start to 2023. Whilst writing the first draft of my latest novel, I’ve also been posting on Patreon and Medium, as usual.
On Patreon, I’ve added a number of new insights into my writing, updates, and other exclusive bits and pieces for my supporters. For instance, they now have chapters three and four of my novel The Balliol Conspiracy, which I’m serialising the draft, pre-edited version of, as a special bonus for those supporting at “Knight of the Dillon Empire” level (£8 per month), or higher. The Balliol Conspiracy, which will almost certainly be retitled when I eventually decide what to do with it, is a romantic psychological mystery-cum spy thriller a genre apart from my usual gothic oeuvre.
For Knights of the Dillon Empire, here are the two latest instalments.
Bridge engineer Stanley Orchard goes to Heathrow airport to collect the mysterious left luggage suitcase he bid for in an online auction, only to become suspicious he is being watched.
Stanley Orchard goes to visit his mother, having picked up the mysterious left luggage suitcase he’d bid for in an online auction. His mother has some surprising personal news, and an intriguing visitor.
My awkward video update shenanigans continue, and once again, as per my December update, my eldest son tries to muscle in on the act, leaving various sarcastic captions as I spout about what I’ve been up to. I’ve had some supporters tell me they are patrons for these video updates alone, as they enjoy watching me squirm on camera. I shall continue to indulge their sadistic whims. These updates are available from the lowest support tier and up, so if you wish to become an “Ally of the Dillon” Empire, it’s a mere £2 per month.
Supporters on Patreon at “Free Citizen of the Dillon Empire” level or higher (£4 per month) get these exclusive updates and insights into progress on my latest novel, and my writing process in general. If you want news about what I’m up to, you’ll hear it here first.
Elsewhere, I’ve been busy on Medium. Herewith some highlights, beginning with the first part of this series I’ve just started.
That’s a wrap for this month. Thank you again for all your support, and as always, an extra huge thank you to all my supporters on Patreon – Claus, Robin, Eric, David P, Steve, Emma, Sterling, Galina, Ian, Gillian, Yasmine and Ville, plus those who have contributed one-off donations on Ko-fi. Also, thank you to Ruth and Iain, and David S, and to every one of you who has bought books, reviewed books, and promoted or supported me in other ways. You know who you are, and I wouldn’t be here without you.
If you aren’t already a supporter on Patreon, please take a look at this link, which outlines my writing goals for the next year, clearly stating how much I wish to raise and why, and offering support levels of £2, £4, £8, and £25 per month, with different benefits at each level. Please consider supporting me, even if only at the lower level, as every pound makes a huge difference.
Those of you who aren’t Medium subscribers get three free reads per month. However, if you decide to subscribe to Medium to read all my work (and the work of many others), please do so via this link, as it means I financially benefit from your subscription.
This year has been an exciting one, as I continue to make sense of my new profession: Full-time writer. Some of what that has meant I won’t bore you with. The duller freelance assignments are hardly worth mentioning, though they help pay the bills. However, in this piece, I will review the goals from my New Year post and see how they compare with what I actually achieved.
This gothic mystery novel was top of my year’s writing goals, and I’m pleased to say I now have a first draft. Next year, I will look at the manuscript with a more critical eye, having had a bit of distance from it, and start to polish it up.
A dark and sinister tale to sit alongside the likes of Spectre of Springwell Forest, The Irresistible Summons, The Thistlewood Curse, Phantom Audition, and The Birds Began to Sing, The Hobbford Giant is set in 1997, and concerns a young woman, Mira, who gets a job as a journalist at a local newspaper in the (fictional) town of Hobbford in southwest England. Years earlier, a huge abuse scandal caused the closure of the local orphanage where her parents grew up, revolving around the man in charge, Gregory Barry. Although he was due to be put on trial, Gregory Barry vanished without a trace before he could be prosecuted.
Mira stays with her reclusive uncle Artemis (her mother’s older brother), until she can find a place of her own. Art is a therapist to rich clients. He lives in a large house and seems to have done very well for himself, but for reasons I won’t get into here, he is estranged from Mira’s parents, who are less than keen on her staying with him. Once in Hobbford, Mira reports on an archaeological dig investigating a local legend about a giant buried in a nearby hillside. What took place in the Hobbford orphanage rears its ugly head as the plot thickens, and Mira soon discovers she has a highly personal connection to the mystery.
For this story, I was somewhat inspired by the real-life Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, and the legends surrounding it. In my story, local legend states this giant was sent by a witch to take revenge, after the witch in question was persecuted. The giant was slain, and the body supposedly buried inside the hill. What bearing this has on the main narrative has to remain under wraps for the time being.
Another writing goal this year was simply to continue with my Medium output. This I have also achieved, having published well over a hundred exclusive-to-Medium articles. Here’s a sample of some of my favourites.
Once again, I set myself the goal of restarting this film podcast series. And once again, this didn’t happen. My producer and co-presenter Samantha Stephen also wants to restart this, but our paths in life have rather diverged of late. Samantha is busy pursuing her academic goals with great aplomb (currently working on her Masters) and no longer lives nearby, so that’s part of the reason we’ve not yet pulled our fingers out on this one.
Has The Tangent Tree had its day? I don’t know. I hope not. I’ll talk to Samantha again and if there is any news, I shall announce it here. But I don’t think it’s fair to include this on my annual goals list next year when a new series failed to materialise two years in a row.
My writing goals for 2022 also included releasing another short stories anthology. This didn’t happen either, but I still plan to do this, ideally early next year. On a more positive note, I wrote a handful of new short stories this year, some of which I’m holding on to for the time being, as they might wind up as exclusives for the aforementioned anthology. Three others were published in Medium publication Fictions.
In-Between
Originally conceived as a supernatural satire, this evolved into something far more personal. It concerns a recently deceased man whose attempts to haunt his family are constantly interrupted by ghost politicians attempting to secure his vote in an afterlife by-election. Check it out in full here.
Sweet Dreams
A science fiction thriller set in the near future, about a journalist investigating a tech company that manufactures nightmare-suppressing nanotech for children. Check out part one here. (NOTE: Links to subsequent parts are included at the end of each instalment.)
Vindicta
A spine-tingling ghost story set shortly after the end of World War II, concerning a jewel thief and murderer whose past catches up with him whilst fleeing for South America. Check out part one here. (NOTE: Links to subsequent parts are included at the end of each instalment.)
The final goal in this year’s list was to keep pursuing mainstream publication. This I did for my grown-up fantasy novel Ravenseed; an epic set mostly in the Dark Ages. Alas, this full-blooded tale of love, lust, betrayal, and vengeance didn’t get any bites. I’m hanging on to the manuscript for now, as I’m hopeful I may be able to generate interest in the future.
However, more hopefully, I have had a certain amount of interest shown by literary agents in my gothic mystery The White Nest (not the real title – I’m keeping that a secret for now). Here’s a snippet of my agent pitch, to give you a taste of the plot.
A widower fears his young son is cursed when he shows disturbing behaviour akin to that of his younger brother, before he vanished without a trace twenty years previously. Gnawing dread that history will repeat itself is inherent in (title redacted), my 99,000-word modern gothic mystery novel. It’s also a coming-of-age romance with hints of the supernatural, exploring traumatic sibling relationships, parental worries, false guilt, and the misleading nature of memory.
After his young son Ben writes a disturbing story about murdering a boy in a forest, widower Nick Unwin is alarmed by eerie parallels between his son’s behaviour and that of his younger brother Jason, prior to his inexplicable disappearance twenty years previously. This tragic past returns to haunt Nick when he sees an image of his long-lost brother in a newly released film. Fearing a repeat of history, Nick decides to investigate, along with Tanith, an old flame from his early teenage years, with dark secrets of her own connected to Jason’s disappearance. But as they delve deeper into the labyrinthine mysteries of their past, long-buried memories resurface. Nick is forced to face the terrible fear that has plagued him for decades: Was he responsible for the death of his brother?
As I said, I’m hearing positive noises, and have good feedback post-full manuscript requests, but certain details need to be ironed out. I’ll keep you updated once I have definitive news, so watch this space.
Other Achievements This Year
One of the reasons I didn’t publish a short story anthology this year is because I chose instead to focus on the rewrite, retitling, and rerelease of The George Hughes Trilogy. As I’ve explained elsewhere on my blog, this trilogy of sci-fi adventure novels were originally titled George Goes to Mars, George Goes to Titan, and George Goes to Neptune, but I decided to withdraw them because I felt the titles didn’t do them justice (they sounded too much like picture books for very young children). I also wanted to polish the manuscripts up to my current standards, as the first novel, in particular, needed a shakedown, having been written well over fifteen years ago (I’ve improved a lot as a writer since then).
I rolled my sleeves up and did a big push on rewrites. The new titles are The Martian Inheritance, The Titan War, and The Neptune Conspiracy, each of which I much prefer. I’m enormously proud of these three stories, and always have been (the stories themselves haven’t changed). I designed new covers too. As a result, I’m doing a big push on these stories at the moment, as you’ve probably noticed. I have also released all three novels in a special omnibus volume that’s three for the price of two.
Finally, I decided to launch a Patreon page this year, to help with funding my writing endeavours. I offer people the chance to support me at four different levels (Ally of the Dillon Empire, Free Citizen of the Dillon Empire, Knight of the Dillon Empire, and General of the Dillon Empire), and so far, I’ve had over ten supporters. I post exclusive material for supporters, including exclusive sneak peeks at covers, images, title announcements, and so on, plus early access to short stories and novel samples, writing updates, video updates, film of the month recommendations, interesting deleted segments, and more. At present, for Knight of the Dillon Empire support level and higher, I’m serialising the draft version of my thriller novel The Balliol Conspiracy (the title may change if it is ever released).
Please have a look at my Patreon page here and consider supporting me. If nothing else, check out the hilariously awkward video of me at the edge of Wistman’s wood on Dartmoor last September, in desperate need of a haircut.
As you can see, I’ve certainly been busy during the last twelve months. I’m taking it a bit easier throughout the rest of December, as I’ve been rather flat out this year and could do with the break. What are my goals for 2023? I shall expound on that further on New Year’s Day. Watch this space.
It only remains for me to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
As I’ve recently launched on Patreon, I’ve decided to combine my monthly Medium highlights with Patreon highlights. If you aren’t already a supporter on Patreon, please take a look at this link, which outlines my writing goals for the next year, clearly stating how much I wish to raise and why, and offering support levels of £2, £4, £8, and £25 per month, with different benefits at each level. Please consider supporting me, even if only at the lower level, as every pound makes a huge difference.
The big Patreon news this month is, as of this week, I’ve started serialising the current draft of my novel The Balliol Conspiracy. This somewhat unusual story begins as a psychological mystery, evolving into a romantic spy thriller of sorts akin to novels such as John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps and Hitchcock films like North by Northwest.
The Balliol Conspiracy proved a real change of pace for me when I wrote it, as frankly, I wanted to write a novel that (for once) wouldn’t give my mother nightmares. As such, I strove to keep events at a PG level, even though it is a grown-up thriller with a strong, suspenseful narrative. At its heart, this is a history-based treasure hunt tale, leading to a new lease of life for its bereaved protagonist, who has a mysterious compulsion for purchasing and cataloguing suitcases left in airports. I don’t want to say too much more, except that it also involves Balliol College in Oxford, the infamous “Galloping Gertie” Tacoma Narrows bridge disaster, and the head of Oliver Cromwell!
If you become a “Knight of the Dillon Empire” at £8 per month, you get at least one draft chapter of The Balliol Conspiracy per month, as well as all the benefits of the lower “Ally of the Dillon Empire” and “Free Citizen of the Dillon Empire” tiers. These include updates on all I’m doing, which sometimes take the form of videos of me prattling in various locations such as Dartmoor. You also get draft previews of short stories, deleted snippets of published books, exclusive peeks at rejected cover artworks, further insights into my creative process, and more.
I hope many of you consider supporting me, and that you enjoy the exclusive material. In the meantime, here’s a selection of my highlights from Medium over the past month. Those of you who aren’t Medium subscribers get three free reads per month. However, if you decide to subscribe to Medium to read all my work (and the work of many others), please do so via this link, as it means I financially benefit from your subscription. Thank you for supporting my writing endeavours, and I hope you enjoy the following.
That’s it from me this month. Thank you again for all your support, and a special big thank you to my ten first monthly supporters on Patreon – Claus, Robin, David S, David P, Steve, Yasmine and Ville, Sterling, Galina, Ian, and Gillian, plus those who have contributed one-off donations on Ko-fi. And also to Ruth and Iain. I’ll leave it there, before this degenerates into an Oscar acceptance speech, suffice to say, it is greatly appreciated.
Apologies for the recent dearth of information on my writing. I’ve not posted anything other than film reviews on this blog for a couple of months, as I’ve been extremely busy – both working on novels (expect an update on those soon) and working on Medium articles. Regarding the latter, here are just ten highlights from the past two or three months.
Those of you who aren’t Medium subscribers get three free reads per month. However, if you decide to subscribe to Medium to read all my work (and the work of many others), please do so via this link, as it means I financially benefit from your subscription. Thank you for supporting my writing endeavours, and I hope you enjoy the following.
First, my apologies for the lack of Medium update in April. I have been exceptionally busy elsewhere, mostly writing short stories. However, here’s a selection of my more notable Medium pieces over the past couple of months.
Those of you who aren’t Medium subscribers get three free reads per month. However, if you decide to subscribe to Medium to read all my work (and the work of many others), please do so via this link, as it means I financially benefit from your subscription. Thank you for supporting my writing endeavours, and I hope you enjoy the following.
I’ve had a highly unusual year in 2021. For one thing, I’ve made the awkward transition to full-time writer. Much remains uncertain. However, I don’t intend to bore you with the cycle of fear and self-doubt that are the inevitable concomitant of any writer who takes such steps. Instead, I’ll dive right in with what I’ve been up to over the past twelve months.
Perhaps most excitingly, this collection of scary shorts was released. Infestation: A Horror Anthology included a six-chapter science fiction horror novella – the eponymous Infestation – along with five other short stories: Once in a Lifetime, Spinner, Regression, Influencer, and White Horse. The latter two are exclusive to this volume, and White Horse is a standalone prequel to my gothic mystery novel The Irresistible Summons.
Infestation is set in the near future, at a time when mysterious giant spider nests have appeared. No one knows where these nests came from, but nations are adjusting to the challenge of living alongside dangerous oversized arachnids. A mercenary desperate for money to purchase medical treatments that can save his wife is hired by an influential businessman. His objective: Infiltrate a spider nest on a mission of vengeance.
For information about the plots in the other stories, simply click on their respective links, and it will take you to articles about each of them. I’ve had some very positive response to this story, and to the collection in general, which is encouraging. At 77,000 words, I feel this anthology represents a good value selection of my shorter horror pieces.
Gothic Mystery New Covers
Some of my gothic mystery horror thriller novels were reissued with new covers. Check them out below.
Work in Progress: Sequel to The Faerie Gate
The Northern Lights feature in The Faerie Gate. Photo by Vincent Guth on Unsplash
Yes, I know I’ve not yet released my very dark and scary children’s 2015 novel The Faerie Gate, despite talking about it a great deal on this blog. However, in early 2021 I started writing not one but three sequels. It is a hugely ambitious project that in some ways is The Lord of the Rings to The Faerie Gate’s The Hobbit. I’m very pleased with it so far, though I halted once I completed the first of the three sequels. I have a very clear plan for the remaining novels, but there are other projects I wish to complete first. Since I am acutely aware of the dangers of “doing a George RR Martin”, I’m going to hang on to the three sequels until all have been fully written. However, The Faerie Gate I may well release before that, since it stands entirely alone.
Medium
Yours truly, in a rare smiling photo (as seen in the interview mentioned below).
As part of my expansion into full-time writing, I am building an audience on Medium (currently 1.6 thousand followers and climbing). I’ve proud of the many articles I have on that site, often placed in prestigious publications. If you have a Medium subscription, please consider following me. In addition to articles on film, music, literature, television, and the odd rant, I have published a number of novellas and short stories there, and will continue to do so.
Here are a few Medium pieces from the past year of which I am particularly proud.
Leave – One of several short stories written and published this year. Life takes an unexpected turn for a young wife desperately missing her royal marine husband during the recent Afghanistan War.
The principles for penning a passionate, sinister, satisfying page-turner. (Apologies for the use of American English; The Writing Cooperative publication insists on it.)
I shudder to think of anyone discovering these for the first time on the small screen.
And just because I can’t resist including it, here’s my interview with The Writing Cooperative: Write Now with Simon Dillon
The Guardian
I also managed to get an article published in The Guardian this year, which makes a nice addition to my writing CV. It’s a short, slightly tongue-in-cheek piece exploring why so many of my childhood films are having their BBFC ratings upgraded from PG to 12A in the UK. You can read it here.
The Tangent Tree
Finally, for those of you wondering what has happened to film podcast The Tangent Tree (which I co-host with Samantha Stephen), I hope this will be resurrected in 2022. Various spanners in the works this year prevented the creation of new episodes.
To finish, I want say a big thank you to all of you, for your ongoing readership and support. Thank you so much for reading my novels and short stories. I hope you enjoyed them. Also, thank you for leaving reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and elsewhere. For those of you who follow me on Medium, thank you for reading and supporting me there too. It has been a tumultuous year, but there are exciting things ahead. I will revealing my plans for 2022 on New Year’s Day, so watch this space.
I’ve been very active on Medium over the last month. I’ve even started my own publication entitled Simon Dillon Cinema for the film reviews you see on this blog, to get them to a wider readership. Obviously they will continue to be available for free here.
To the matter at hand, here are some articles that you might have missed, in various Medium publications. Check them out by following the links below. Please “clap” generously by clicking your mouse on the “clap” icon, as that is a huge help to me, trying to get the Algorithmic Overlords to distribute my work further. Thank you.
Difficult to craft but brilliant when well-written.
DISCLAIMER: The Writing Cooperative submission guidelines require I use “US English”. I know this will upset my fellow Queens-English Brits, hence the “trigger warning” (if you’ll forgive my use of an obscenity).
Simon Dillon Books 
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