Once in a Lifetime to be published by Dragon Soul Press

Posted on September 7, 2018 by simondillon

Here is a short post about a short story.

I am thrilled to announce that Once in a Lifetime has been accepted by Dragon Soul Press for inclusion in their upcoming horror anthology entitled All Dark Places, to be released this October.

Once in a Lifetime is an existential dread short, inspired by an existential dread nightmare. I’ve always been of the opinion that bad dreams are better than good dreams, because they provide great inspiration for writing. Besides, there’s always that disappointment when you wake up from a good dream and find out that it wasn’t real.

Needless to say, I am very pleased. I will announce further details on the blog soon, including precise release dates, the cover reveal, interviews with some of my fellow authors, details on release launch events and so forth.

My brain needs a break

Posted on August 10, 2018 by simondillon

My brain needs a break. Here’s a scary picture of me in brain meltdown mode.

IMG_0660(1) Given the rather excessively productive year I have had so far (first drafts on two longer than usual novels, lots of editing on earlier, currently unreleased novels, and a couple of short stories), I have decided to take a short break from writing and from posting on this blog. However, I will be back in the first week of September, and I will still post film reviews of any films I see at the cinema.

In the meantime, if you’re a regular visitor to this blog, or are stumbling on it for the first time, why not buy or download one of my novels?

I write in a variety of genres, so here are five that might interest you:

Children of the Folded Valley – By far my most popular novel to date, this tale of a man looking back on his life growing up in a strange cult has over eighty mostly rave reviews on Amazon, and seems to have struck a chord with a lot of readers. It even seems to have got under the skin of people who didn’t like it (eg “Disturbing, distasteful and fascinating all at the same time” was one “negative” reader comment). I’ve also been told it’s my most “personal” novel to date, whatever the hell that means, although to be fair it is partly inspired by some of my own experiences in a cult during the early part of my life. Check it out here.

Uncle Flynn – A story about overcoming fear and the dangers of mollycoddling disguised as a treasure hunt adventure, this is my second most popular novel, and again, Amazon reviews are mostly raves. It is aimed at all ages, so don’t be put off by the “children’s book” label. For example, one reader said “In this day and age I sometimes find myself reading books like this unaware. I loved it and I’m nearly 69 years old. Uncle Flynn is a real treat.”

Update on current projects

Posted on August 3, 2018 by simondillon

2018 is more than half over, so here’s a sort-of mid-term report on how the year is shaping up for me so far.

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Ravenseed – The first few months of the year were spent writing this Dark Ages set fantasy novel. Even though I have yet to test it on any Beta readers, I’m really very pleased with the results. A brooding, melancholy tale of knights, sorcerers and enchantment, Ravenseed simmers with love, lust, betrayal and revenge. However, alongside the Dark Ages narrative is a parallel framing story set in the present, featuring a journey that echoes the quest in the ancient past. It was a very tricky novel to write, but I honestly think my hard work paid off.

Peaceful Quiet Lives (title to be confirmed) – This week, I have just finished making a few final adjustments to the first draft of this dystopian novel set in a future America. I have set out to satirise both sides in the so-called culture wars, and at this point I honestly can’t tell if I succeeded brilliantly, or if the novel is a crash and burn failure. Perhaps looking at it in a few months with a fresh eye and the feedback of Beta Readers will shed a more accurate light on what I actually have here.

The Spectre of Springwell Forest – This ghostly, gothic nail-biter (which I wrote in the early part of last year) will be my next release. The story is set in the 1970s, and involves a sinister painting and an equally sinister abandoned railway tunnel. Full details to follow soon. Watch this space.

In addition, this year I have written a short story which I have just submitted to a publisher in the hopes that it will selected for a horror anthology entitled All Dark Places which his due for release this October. If my story is chosen, more details will follow.

Speaking of short stories, I’m currently writing another, a romantic fairy tale, to submit to a different anthology due for release in December. In fact, I’d better get back to it…

Why I am an egomaniac

Posted on July 20, 2018 by simondillon

I am a writer, which makes me a bit of an egomaniac.

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I don’t think that is a bad thing, and here is why. To honestly, truthfully believe that someone would want to read whatever it is you have written, you need to be possessed of a certain egomania. You have to believe you are a great writer. In fact, I personally believe every novel I write is the most imaginative, exciting, gripping, funny, relevant, thought-provoking and moving novel ever written, whilst I am writing it.

Of course, amid these dizzying heights come the dizzying lows (in my case, George McFly Syndrome), and invariably it is unlikely at best that I have written the greatest novel of all time. But I still have to believe that someone, somewhere will want to read it. Otherwise, it becomes very, very hard to persevere.

So, accepting that writers are egomaniacs to a greater or lesser degree, how can that ego be managed so it doesn’t become insufferable? My personal recommendation is twofold.

Have a very, very thick skin – This is vital for when Beta readers come back with critiques of your work. If they are worth their salt, they will not sugar-coat things and they will be severe when they need to be. I once had a Beta writer tell me to put a particular novel through the shredder (I have since agreed that it should never see the light of day). If you fail to listen to Beta readers (they may be wrong, after all), be aware that if they are correct, you are adding vanity to folly by exhibiting your flawed or failed work. In that case, be fully prepared for scathing reviews. Incidentally, I try to wear bad reviews on my sleeve wherever possible. Not everything I have published has been a roaring success, and in some cases, I have ignored Beta readers when I really shouldn’t have done. However, it is a learning process, so I take all that on the chin.

Have a very dark, self-deprecating sense of humour – This is more for the benefit of those you live with – wives, husbands, children, families, flatmates and so on. The ability to laugh at yourself will be a saving grace and a fine counterbalance to the egomania necessary to actually finish a book in the first place. Great books have been written by people who didn’t possess the ability to laugh at themselves, but I bet they were really, really horrible people to live with. If you are going to be a melodramatic flounce, at least try and be self-aware enough to realise that even if you are the greatest writer of all time, a bit of humility goes a long way, and the ability to laugh at yourself goes even further.

Now go and read my books. They are all absolutely bloody brilliant.

In the shadow of Nineteen Eighty-Four: Writing my current novel

Posted on June 15, 2018 by simondillon

71Y5qibEolL I have recently re-read George Orwell’s dystopian milestone, Nineteen Eighty-Four. As ever, I came away from it stunned by the satirical and chilling narrative, and deeply alarmed at its prophetic insights. However, I also experienced something I hadn’t expected: Intimidation. This book has been called one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, and sometimes the greatest. The bar for this kind of fiction has been set very highly indeed, not just with Nineteen Eighty-Four but also other classic dystopias like The Handmaid’s Tale, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, A Clockwork Orange and so on. Therefore, what business does an upstart like me have trying to write a dystopian future shock novel? Can I really add anything of value in this genre?

Whatever moments of George McFly Syndrome I may experience along the way, I honestly believe I can. I am about two-thirds of the way through what has become one of the most challenging and exciting novels I have ever undertaken. I have no idea if the finished product will be brilliant, terrible, or something in between, but nonetheless I am writing it with a passion unprecedented even by my standards.

The title remains a secret for now, but the story is set a little way into the future, in America. It is, broadly speaking, a dystopian drama about the so-called culture wars, satirising both sides and their various subcultures. The “religious right” and “liberal left” are equal targets of my ire, and common sense is utterly disregarded by both during the events of the story.

This makes it sound like I have an axe to grind, and perhaps, for once, I do. But I don’t intend to lash out at the reader in despair. Nor is this intended as a political statement of any kind (heaven forbid). What I hope for this book is that it will be gripping and dramatic; at times darkly comic, absurd, thoughtful, moving, tragic, and perhaps yes, a little bit angry. But I hope the overall feeling the reader is left with is sympathy for the plight of the protagonist, rather than a sense that they are being preached at. After all, in the past I have been very vocal about what can happen when writing a story with a conscious agenda. The last thing I ever want to sound like is condescending, finger-wagging or preachy.

More on this novel once it is finished, polished, and finally published. Watch this space.

Love vs Honour – Did I fail?

Posted on June 8, 2018 by simondillon

In 2006, I wrote Love vs Honour, which I then self-published nearly ten years later, in 2015. The novel is a sideways step outside of my usual world of thrillers, horror, science fiction, fantasy and children’s adventures. Teenage romance isn’t something I dabble in, but when the premise of Love vs Honour occurred to me whilst stuck in traffic during an interminable bus journey, I felt the story was too good to ignore.

A tale of star-crossed teenage lovers with a religious twist, Love vs Honour begins as a conventional romance, with a holiday attraction leading to something more serious. Then it takes an unusual turn, as protagonists Johnny and Sabina try to appease their religious parents by pretending to convert to Islam and Christianity respectively. A tangled web of deception ensues, building to a much darker final act.

Reviews have been mostly positive. However, at least a couple of people have told me there is a big, gaping flaw in the centre of the story: Johnny is not likeable enough.

Romantic fiction is not my area of expertise, and it seems this factor was a colossal oversight. The typical male lead in romantic fiction is handsome, dashing, charming, intelligent, perhaps roguish and flawed in some way, but above all he should be desirable. By contrast, I wrote Johnny as a realistically conflicted, angst-ridden teenager. He has a dark past that colours his view of the present, sometimes in negative ways. Like many teenagers he can be selfish, sulky and not entirely sympathetic. His statements are sometimes exaggerated, and are very much his side of the story (for example, he is quite scathing of his parents who, despite their more extreme religious viewpoints, are kind and generous people). Obviously he isn’t without redeeming features either, and as the novel gradually reveals dark elements from his past, he perhaps becomes a person with whom it is a bit easier to sympathise.

However, I think my critics might have a point. Even if Johnny is a realistic and believable character, he simply isn’t likeable enough as a conventional male romantic lead. By contrast, I think Sabina is far, far more appealing, and whilst it is plausible that intelligent girls like her would fall for someone like Johnny, in a romantic novel it can lead to a feeling of the story being unbalanced. I think in retrospect I was wrong to strive for realism, and should have erred more on the side of genre convention.

I’m still very proud of Love vs Honour as I think it does contain interesting characters and thought provoking scenarios. In that sense, it is best viewed as a drama rather than a romance. I also stand by my ending, which provoked a little controversy as well. However, if I were writing the book now, I would make Johnny a much more appealing character. Experience is a great teacher, and in the unlikely event I try my hand at teenage romance again, I will bear in mind what I have learned.

Check out Love vs Honour here, if you are curious.

My Five Favourite Gothic Mysteries

Posted on June 1, 2018 by simondillon

As regular readers of this blog (and indeed my novels) will know, I absolutely love a good gothic brew of mystery, melodrama, thrills and horror. To date I have written five novels of this kind, including The Birds Began to Sing and The Thistlewood Curse, as well as The Spectre of Springwell Forest, which is the next book I intend to publish.

Here are five classic gothic mysteries that I return to endlessly, that have proved a huge inspiration and influence. NOTE: Although undoubted gothic classics, for this list I have deliberately ignored Dracula and Frankenstein, since those are less mysteries and more full-throttle horror.

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Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier) – I adore Daphne Du Maurier, and this one remains top of my gothic influences list. For instance, how many other novels have their own variations on the manipulative, vindictive, psychopathic housekeeper Danvers? The central narrative is great too, with the famously unnamed, tormented protagonist living in the shadow of her husband’s dead wife. It also has one of the greatest gothic mystery plot twists of all time, and an appropriately fiery climax.

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Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) – This moody, brooding romance features one of the most iconic gothic subplots in the history of English literature (ie the classic, oft-imitated mad-woman-in-the-attic). A rich, melancholy, menacing work, brimming with vivid description, dangerous passions, and many other gothic touchstones (like Rebecca, this one ends in purging flames).

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle) – I tend to think of this Sherlock Holmes story as a spinoff into gothic horror, rather than belonging in the main Holmes crime fiction canon. The quality of the suspenseful prose remains unsurpassed, not just in obviously scary sections, but in little moments, such as Watson’s unsettling first night in Baskerville Hall. The oozing dread and menace drips from every page.

The Woman in Black (Susan Hill) – Despite the popularity of the long-running stage show and a successful film adaptation, the source novel is still one of the finest, most bone-chilling ghost stories ever written. The superbly abrupt, genuinely shattering ending (significantly different from the film) has lost none of its ability to shock.

Coma (Film) – I’m referring here to Michael Crichton’s superb film version of Robin Cook’s novel, rather than the novel itself. The premise – a possible conspiracy in a Boston hospital whereby patients are being deliberately placed in irreplaceable comas – is a masterclass in escalating unease and paranoia, building to full blown suspense set pieces that are pure modern gothic. Genevieve Bujold makes a fantastic imperiled heroine, and Michael Douglas is also good as her is-he-or-isn’t-he-in-on-it boyfriend. A real nail-biter.

Shadows of the Sea launch

Posted on May 13, 2018 by simondillon

My author friend Marcus Bines has had a fantasy story accepted to be part of an anthology entitled Shadows of the Sea. Today there is a launch party on Facebook between 13:30 and 00:30 UK time, with Marcus’s section at 21:00.

Marcus is also working on his own epic fantasy novel. I have read an early draft of part one, and lets just say fans of fantasy are certainly in for a treat once this is released. But for now, check out this celebration of his first professionally published work.

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Download Children of the Folded Valley FREE – for five days only!

Posted on May 7, 2018 by simondillon

Anyone who grew up in a cult, or amid a stifling religious atmosphere, may find my most successful novel, Children of the Folded Valley, resonates with their own experience. Certainly I’d be lying if I claimed my own rather peculiar past didn’t inform this story. Before I wrote it, I knew I would eventually have to confront certain demons when doing so, and for that reason put off the task for as long as possible. But eventually the voices in my head became too loud, so they had to go on paper.

Even if you don’t come from an oppressive religious background, multiple readers claim Children of the Folded Valley is a gripping, page-turning tale. Just check out the many five star reviews.

Download your copy of Children of the Folded Valley FREE from Amazon Kindle here, for the next five days only.

Book reviews: the good, the bad, and the ugly

Posted on May 4, 2018 by simondillon

Obviously it is gratifying to see my books being appreciated by reviewers on Amazon and in other places where they are sold. However, I get a similar, arguably masochistic pleasure from bad reviews. In that spirit, here are excerpts from my favourite good, bad, and ugly reader reviews on my most popular novel, Children of the Folded Valley.

Good (I’m pleased to report the overwhelming majority of reviews are positive)

“I don’t usually leave reviews but I felt so strongly about encouraging people to read this fantastic book. It had me captured from start to finish. At one stage in the book I actually thought it was a true story.” – Paul, Amazon.

“The use of re-written religious doctrine to control, govern and frighten is particularly chilling… Full marks to Simon Dillon for this creative and highly readable novel.” – Around Robin, Amazon.

“Really well written, well thought through, compassionate… Full of empathy.” – Over, Amazon.

“So well written, you could believe it was a memoir.” – Shelley, Amazon.

“A perturbing and very original story… The ending is magnificent.” – Joan, Goodreads.

Bad (Ouch…)

“I nearly gave up several times but skimmed the last few chapters so I could find out how it ended, which in retrospect was not worth it. Although there were a few plot holes, it could have been a good story if someone more talented had written it. Disappointing.” – Amazon Customer.

“The basic idea is great, with huge potential that is not fulfilled. The writing is anodyne, the characterisation and narrative unconvincing. Shame – it could have been really intriguing.” – Hard-marker, Amazon.

“An idea that could have been extremely interesting deep-sixed by incredibly dull writing… Sorry, but just being able to put sentences together grammatically isn’t enough for a novel.” – Catana, Amazon.

Ugly (I actually rather like these)

“Saying I enjoyed this book would be wrong. I found it disturbing, distasteful and fascinating all at the same time. This is the first book I have read about cults such as this and although it is a work of fiction the content is all too real. Read it if you will but to me there is enough sickness in the world without reading fictional tales of it.” – Valueformoney, Amazon.

“I generally review only the books that I really love or hate passionately. I neither hate nor love the book, it has its flaws, but the story has stuck with me. This is a good, original story. The concept and characters are engaging and appealing. There are places where the writing gets a little thin, but I hope to see many more books by this author. It has a happy ending, of sorts, and yet left me profoundly depressed. I think it was that the author hit it right on the head; even in a perfect paradise, people are going to be perfect s***s to each other, given half a chance. Even so I recommend it.” – David MacGuire, Amazon.

Check out Children of the Folded Valley for yourself here. And don’t forget to leave me a review – good, bad or ugly.

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