Tag Archives: Romance

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Summary of Recent Articles

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Here’s a one-stop-shop with links to all you need to know about my latest novel, dystopian romantic satire Peaceful Quiet Lives.

What’s it about? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Intrigued? Want to know more? Check out these articles:

The First 400 Words

“The morality inspectors are late.”

Read the opening paragraphs to whet your appetite.

Themes

“The central idea – regarding opposite extreme authoritarian states being two sides of the same militant coin – I thought would make an intriguing backdrop for a doomed romance. But I also wanted the novel to be a satire of the worst fears of both sides in the US culture wars.”

I outline my intentions for the novel, whilst making clear it isn’t a political statement.

Influences and Inspirations

“Orwell’s masterpiece casts a long shadow over all modern dystopian fiction, and to not acknowledge it would be disingenuous.”

The literature that informed Peaceful Quiet Lives.

The Cover

“Given that the subject matter is outside my usual gothic horror or children’s adventure oeuvre, it really needed to stand out.”

Designing the cover, through various alternative images, before settling on the final version.

A Second Excerpt

“You will be expected here, at the Department of Tolerance, to begin your Enlightenment Conditioning classes tomorrow morning at nine o’clock sharp.”

An extract from the second half of the novel.

Setting, Research, and Revisions

“At first, I feared the ideas for my novel would be too ridiculous even for a satire, but real life was always three steps ahead of me.”

An insight into the development of the novel, including deleted chapters, and research into extreme political movements.

Love and Other Punishments

A short story companion piece to Peaceful Quiet Lives, published in Illumination (a publication on Medium).

How Will You React?

“I’ve had people tell me it’s gripping, romantic, satirical, darkly funny, deadly serious, disturbing, offensive, timely, too-soon, desperately sad, and an important warning.”

An overview of reviews and reactions so far.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK), or here (in the US). You can also order from Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: How Will You React?

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My most recent novel, dystopian romantic satire Peaceful Quiet Lives, has attracted a wider and more varied response than any of my previous works. It has provoked a lot of wildly different reactions and jabbed a few raw nerves. I’ve had people tell me it’s gripping, romantic, satirical, darkly funny, deadly serious, disturbing, offensive, timely, too-soon, desperately sad, and an important warning.

One thing all the responses have in common: They are all hugely positive. So far, reviews have been exclusively five-star raves. I must confess, I sensed I was on to something whilst writing the novel, and speculated to that effect at the time. I’m always reluctant to trust such instincts, as there is always the danger of being deluded. However, it seems on this occasion, my instinct might have been correct.

Here are a sample of recent reviews, on Amazon and Goodreads:

“It’s been a long time since any novel has touched me on such an emotional level: shock initially, then horror, and ultimately sadness; the last few pages were read through tears. A futuristic, thought-provoking book in the first instance that hits you with the realisation at a certain point that most of what Dillon describes is here already. Absolutely gripping.” (Amazon reader.)

“A must-read. I am a slow reader, but I read this book in a few days because I could not put it down. If you only read one book in 2021, I’d recommend it be this one. An exciting yet frustrating love story set in America (but not as we know it) a few decades from now. Buy it – buy it now!” (EmmaGee, Amazon.)

“Interesting (and scary) look at the extreme ends of two societies we see vying for power and attention in our world today. I am not sure why the second half of this book surprised me but throughout the whole story I found my confirmation bias challenged – exactly, I am sure, what the author intended.” (JA Nice, Amazon.)

“Future Fact or Fiction? Gripping, thought-provoking stuff in the light of current events. It may punch you in the stomach.” (Amazon Reader.)

“Relentlessly bleak… This is not for the faint hearted but certainly kept me gripped.” (Amazon Reader.)

“Who doesn’t love a great love story? This is a great book… an easy read with a captivating plot. It also caused me to think a lot about the political landscape in the US right now and brought up a lot of emotions. When I reached the end of the book, I didn’t want it to end. I highly recommend it!” (Amazon reader.)

“Thought provoking, disturbing, and at times hilarious. Several laugh out loud moments… I dare you to read it!” (Steve Beegoo, Goodreads.)

“So engrossing that I literally missed my stop on the train, because I was busy reading. I highly recommend it.” (Claus Holm, author Tempus Investigations.)

Intrigued? Why not pick up a copy yourself, and see how you react? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book to further whet your appetite:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK), or here (in the US). You can also order from Smashwords here.

New Short Story: Love and Other Punishments

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Photo by Tomas Jasovsky on Unsplash

A new short story by yours truly, entitled Love and Other Punishments, has been published by Illumination on Medium.

Conceived as a kind-of companion piece to Peaceful Quiet Lives, this dystopian romantic mystery concerns a bereaved insurance salesman living in a not-too-distant future fascist London. He begins to believe he has repressed memories when he encounters a mysterious woman.

Click here for Part One.

Click here for Part Two.

Click here for Part Three.

Click here for Part Four.

I hope you enjoy it.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Setting, Research, and Revisions

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, involved just as much research as usual, though this time into many unexpected areas.

Given the authoritarian political states in the novel, a certain amount of investigation into those with extreme views was inevitable. I looked at a lot of the more cult-like leaders on the US evangelical right-wing, as well as extremists on the left, and their groups and organisations. I also read up on so-called “incel” groups and those who believe they can have loving relationships with an android. At first, I feared the ideas for my novel would be too ridiculous even for a satire, but real life was always three steps ahead of me.

After researching several US cities and states, I took the decision to not name any real city or geographic location in the novel, other than to talk in vague terms about east and west (with California and the west coast having fallen into the sea, following the “big one” earthquake). Apart from anything else, I didn’t like to assign particular social, political, or religious ideologies to any one city, so it seemed best, on balance, to have the cities in the novel remain nameless. It’s also worth mentioning that several parts of the novel deal with news media organisations, for which I drew on my own television experience. This was more for the personalities and their attitudes than the technical side, though I should stress no characters are directly based on real people.

The plot came to me fully formed in early 2018, in a strange “download”. At first, I expected my protagonist Sam to be American, but then I realised I needed an “outsider” perspective for this story, so made him an English refugee (in the novel, an unspecified “Catastrophe” has rendered the UK and Europe uninhabitable). As I wrote the story, little changed from the original outline in terms of characters and events, but I did ruthlessly prune everything I considered “preachy”, I hope successfully. Peaceful Quiet Lives is not intended to be a political statement of any kind, and I wanted the events to speak for themselves, without editorialising.

I also cut a number of lengthy sequences, especially in part two. A chapter where Sam and Eve attend an illegal gathering was removed, largely because it felt superfluous in light of the Halloween party they attend earlier. This gathering involved people indulging in all manner of “rebellious” activity; not just unregistered (and therefore legally “unconsenting”) sexual activity, but also free and frank political and spiritual discussion, without fear of state punishment for expressing undesirable views. In that draft, the priest from the final chapter made an earlier appearance, discussing his resistance work in both nations with Sam. I liked this section of the novel, but took it out because it felt a little on the nose, as well as being unnecessary. I revised the novel so Sam only meets the priest in the final chapter.

If you’ve not yet read Peaceful Quiet Lives, why not give it a go? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK), or here (in the US). You can also order from Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: The Cover

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, has a superb cover, courtesy of my graphic designer friend, the excellent Denisa Trenkle.

Denisa and I discussed a variety of concepts. One early rough mock-up (complete with amusing typo) emphasised the surveillance angle of the novel.

Another explored the brainwashing angle, and another featured the provocative image of lovers trapped behind prison bars in the shape of a map of the USA. A revised version of the latter, without the figures, was fully completed. We considered using this one as an alternative.

At one point, this cover (created by me – nothing whatsoever to do with Denisa) was used as a temporary measure, but never intended to make it to publication. For complicated reasons, a couple of these were printed, so if this novel is ever hugely successful, these two copies featuring my inept attempts at graphic design will end up being worth a fortune.

However, in the end, we settled on this cover:

The final cover subtly hints at different elements of the narrative around the central title text, through use of colour and symbolism. It also looks nothing like any of my other novel covers, which was a key part of the brief I gave Denisa. Given that the subject matter is outside my usual gothic horror or children’s adventure oeuvre, it really needed to stand out.

What is the subject matter? Check out the blurb from the back of the book:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Pick up your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US). It is also available from Smashwords here.

To see more of Denisa’s splendid work, click here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Second Excerpt

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, is out now. Last year, this post revealed the opening of the novel. Here’s a taster from early in the second half.

‘You will be expected here, at the Department of Tolerance, to begin your Enlightenment Conditioning classes tomorrow morning at nine o’clock sharp.’

‘Thank you. What about Eve?’

‘As I said, we are not quite finished with her.’

‘But how will I reach her?’

‘She will be told where you are staying in due course, and obviously we will rehouse her as well. For the time being, you cannot have any contact with her.’

I stare at Adams and Lucas. Something isn’t right.

‘What aren’t you telling me about Eve?’

‘We have told you everything. She simply needs further time for processing. Remember, she has been the victim of patriarchal oppression in a society that hates women. She has suffered a lot more than you, and we need further time to ensure she is not a political threat.’

‘A political threat? You just said she was a victim!’

‘It is precisely because she was a victim that she could be a political threat. Women who are oppressed the way Eve has been oppressed will often fall back on expected behaviour patterns, even unconsciously. We need to be sure that she will not display or even encourage such behaviour in the DEAR.’

I can scarcely believe my ears. ‘You’re telling me you’re worried Eve will go around telling women in the DEAR that they need to be subservient to men?’

‘I don’t think she would do so intentionally,’ Lucas says. ‘But we have to be sure, nonetheless.’

I slump back in my chair, unable to believe my ears. ‘This is farcical. Just spend some time with Eve. Have a conversation with her. She is one of the strongest, boldest, most independent people you will ever meet. She has such a great sense of humour, and she is…’

‘Ah yes, humour… Another area where you and Eve will doubtless require Enlightenment Conditioning.’

‘Humour?’

‘Given the situations you were in, I expect you and Eve used dark, offensive, and insensitive humour as a means of coming to terms with your predicament. Here we cannot allow such things. There is no need for it, and such jokes will only cause distress.’

‘You want to make sure we don’t make the wrong jokes?’

‘The Department of Tolerance has many sub-divisions, including an Office of Humour, which regularly advises citizens on what is and isn’t funny.’

I burst out laughing. ‘You can’t legislate humour!’

‘Humour isn’t a laughing matter, Sam. It can be perverted into a terrible weapon of oppressive propaganda.’

‘Eve and I are hardly Goebbels! We’re just two people who love each other and want to live together in peace. I can assure you we will not make offensive jokes to anyone else.’

‘That is good Sam. But we must also make sure you don’t make them to each other. As I said, you will both require Enlightenment Conditioning, if you wish to live as successful citizens in the DEAR.’

Intrigued? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book.

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US). It is also available at Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Themes

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There can be no doubt that my latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, has been informed by the ongoing so-called culture wars in America. These culture wars, whether social, political, or religious have been a simmering division in America as far back as I can remember, and in one sense, are nothing remarkable in a western democracy.

However, in recent years, these divisions have become a lot more exacerbated. I’ve also noticed a militant tendency in the language and behaviour of extremists on both sides that is remarkably similar. This militancy, fuelled by social media, television news, and opportunistic politicians, has stirred up some serious unpleasantness. One need only look at the aftermath of the recent US election for evidence.

Let me be absolutely clear: Peaceful Quiet Lives is not a political statement of any kind. It came to me in a strange download in early 2018, whilst writing my (as yet unreleased) Dark Ages set romantic fantasy tale Ravenseed. After getting this download, I wrote Peaceful Quiet Lives purely because I thought it was a good story. I had no political agenda at all.

The central idea – regarding opposite extreme authoritarian states being two sides of the same militant coin – I thought would make an intriguing backdrop for a doomed romance. But I also wanted the novel to be a satire of the worst fears of both sides in the US culture wars. The first half of the novel plays on fears that the US could turn into a religious theocracy. The second half sends up fears that the US is headed for a “woke” dystopia. The novel isn’t so much intended as a warning against both scenarios, neither is it an attempt to lash out in despair at the current problems in America, but rather it is an exercise in absurdity. I hope the tragic lunacy of such a future is inherent within the text, and that as a result, perhaps the fears of both sides will be eased, just a little.

Despite such grandiose ambitions, I hope people enjoy the novel as simply a damn good read.

By the way, the title derives from a couple of New Testament verses; one urging people to live a quiet life and mind our own business (in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4), and another passage urging prayer for those in authority, that we might live peaceful and quiet lives (in 1 Timothy chapter 2). The title is ironic on a number of levels, since events in lives of Sam and Eve are neither peaceful nor quiet.

Here is the blurb from the back of Peaceful Quiet Lives:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US). It is also available from Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Initial Reviews

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Reviews have started to come in for my latest novel Peaceful Quiet Lives. So far, all are positive five-star raves, but what most surprised me is how different facets of the novel are standing out to different people, depending on the personality, temperament, and background of the reader.

For example, one reviewer on Amazon called it “political science fiction on a very high level”, citing “parallels between the societies in the book, and the current political climate, where you are labelled as a traitor for having a deferring opinion”. He goes on to call the book “deadly serious”, saying it sends shivers down his spine.

By contrast, one reviewer on Goodreads said the novel had “several laugh out loud moments”, calling it “thought-provoking, disturbing, and at times hilarious”. He goes on to label the novel “an awesome thought experiment concerning what extremes of left and right ideology could lead to, should freedom of speech disintegrate in our post-modern era”.

Another five-star review on Amazon commented: “Who doesn’t love a great love story?”, focussing on the romantic plight of protagonists Sam and Eve, who are chewed up by the political machinery of the narrative.

Why not give Peaceful Quiet Lives a read yourself, and discover how you respond to it? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book to whet your appetite:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US). It can also be ordered from Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: The First 400 Words

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, is out now.

Here’s the first 400ish words, as a taster.

The morality inspectors are late.

  I glance at my watch. 7:37am. They were supposed to be here seven minutes ago. Typically a morality inspection of a premises the size of my apartment takes a good twenty minutes, not allowing for nervous small talk, or, if you know the inspectors well, salacious tales of impounded illegal political materials, banned books, films, drugs, alcohol, pornography, and so forth.

  Morality inspectors are usually punctual to a fault, but if they don’t turn up soon, I’ll have to re-book my bi-annual inspection, or I’ll end up missing the train and be late for work.

  I peer at the cloudy skies above the city. My apartment lies within a tall grey high-rise building, on the ninth floor, and I have a good view to the south. The streets are already busy, filled with rushing commuters getting on buses, entering metro stations, or driving their vehicles. The crowds are bad enough as it is in the morning, but they’ll be even worse if I end up leaving later due to tardy morality inspectors.

  Tardy. That’s a word I never used back in England before the Catastrophe. I’ve picked up many words living the last twenty years in the New Puritan American Republic. Other words I’ve had to stop using. Not unless I want an on-the-spot fine for contravening the Profanity Act.

  A knock at the door indicates the morality inspectors have finally arrived. 7:39am. A full nine minutes late. Shaking my head and tutting, I open the door to find Inspector Chuck Willis red faced and quite flustered, alongside two younger men in their early twenties.

  ‘I’m so sorry Sam,’ Chuck says. ‘I know we’re running late. Contraband incident in the apartment we inspected before yours. Do you still want to do this now? Or do you want to reschedule?’

  ‘No, best to get it over with,’ I say, indicating for Chuck to come in.

  Chuck and the two younger men enter my apartment. They are dressed in the austere manner of all morality inspectors, as though attending a funeral: black trousers, ties, shoes, and jackets, embossed with a lapel depicting a black crucifix on a white background surrounded by the black outline of a five pointed star; the NPAR flag. The only difference is like all government officials, they are required to carry handguns.

Intrigued? Here’s the blurb from the back of the book.

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US). Alternatively, it can be ordered from Smashwords here.

NEW NOVEL OUT NOW: Peaceful Quiet Lives

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, has been released. Not “dropped”, as one often hears these days, but “released”. “Dropped” just sounds careless and irresponsible, and presumably could lead to breakages.

Anyway, I have released this novel as a surprise, with no real build up, even though I have been dropping hints in posts like this one, and announcing it indirectly by interviewing one of the supporting characters, who ends up threatening me (see my post earlier this week).

Here is the blurb from the back of the book:

Two Nations Under God. Can their love survive in either nation?

Life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are a distant dream for Sam and Eve. Their forbidden love falls foul of laws in both nations born from the ashes of the Second American Civil War.

A satire of political and religious fears, Peaceful Quiet Lives is a thought-provoking and powerful dystopian future shock.

Because Peaceful Quiet Lives sits outside my usual genre writing of mainly gothic mysteries and children’s adventure novels, I decided to self-publish the novel rather than approach publishers. I’ve not released anything in 2020, so I wanted to surprise my readers with something new. On top of that, it seemed timely, given current events in the US.

I’ll be talking more about the novel on the blog in the coming weeks.

Peaceful Quiet Lives is available as a download or paperback from Amazon. Order your copy here (in the UK) or here (in the US).