Tag Archives: Science fiction

Infestation Unpacked

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Recently, I’ve been making a lot of noise about my newly released book Infestation: A Horror Anthology. It features my Infestation novella – a six-chapter sci-fi horror tale – along with five other short stories. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to expound a little on each story, starting in this article with Infestation itself, which I consider the collection’s main attraction.

In the near future, no one knows where the giant spider 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.

There is a lot more to this story than just giant spiders. The protagonist, Jonah Seymour, is deeply troubled by the nature of his mission, and throughout the story experiences doubts and dithering about whether he should go through with it. Thematically it deals in issues of denial, guilt, revenge, and punishment. The story is also open to a number of different interpretations. I have deliberately designed it with a certain degree of ambiguity, so the reader can bring their own piece of the puzzle that completes the picture.

Photo by Anthony from Pexels

For instance, I have had it suggested to me that the story is an allegory about Covid. I didn’t intend it as such. For one thing, I wrote the story back in 2017. However, I am pleased that for some readers, the narrative also has contemporary resonance, as a reflection on human attitudes and actions concerning the recent pandemic.

My influences for this story mostly came from cinema rather than literature, with films such as Them! (1954), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), The Fly (the 1958 original, rather than the more famous 1986 David Cronenberg remake), and Aliens (1986) informing the story. There is possibly a touch of Stephen King’s The Mist in there too. I should add that much of the inspiration came from a nightmare I had a few years ago.

For all its loftier aims, in the end, Infestation is a story I wanted to grip, thrill, and disturb, with plenty of action and scares along the way. If you enjoy a blend of science fiction, action, and horror, this story is definitely for you.

Infestation: A Horror Anthology is available on Kindle and paperback from Amazon here (in the UK) and here (in the US). It can also be ordered via Smashwords here.

Infestation: All Six Parts of My Sci-Fi Horror Novella

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Photo by Hamish Weir on Unsplash

Medium publication Fictions recently published my sci-fi horror novella Infestation.

Set in the near-future, Infestation concerns the mysterious appearance of giant spider nests across the globe. Exactly where they came from is unknown, but despite the initial terror, life has settled down somewhat, especially in the UK, where humans have learned to keep away from cities lost to the spiders.

Against this backdrop, covert ops mercenary Jonah Seymour leads a dangerous and unpleasant mission of revenge into a large spider nest, at the behest of a wealthy, influential businessman. Jonah agrees to this potentially lethal assignment because his pay will ensure his wife gets the urgent medical treatment that will save her life. But the deadly ordeal that awaits is beyond anything Jonah could possibly have imagined.

All six parts are available for your reading pleasure on Medium:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

For those who don’t have a Medium subscription, look out for an announcement soon, as Infestation is going to be made available elsewhere.

New Novella: Infestation

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Medium publication Fictions is publishing my sci-fi horror novella Infestation. You can read the first part of six here.

Photo by Anthony from Pexels

Set in the near-future, Infestation concerns the mysterious appearance of giant spider nests across the globe. Exactly where they came from is unknown, but despite the initial terror, life has settled down somewhat, especially in the UK, where humans have learned to keep away from cities lost to the spiders.

Against this backdrop, covert ops mercenary Jonah Seymour agrees to lead a dangerous and unpleasant mission of revenge into a large spider nest, at the behest of a wealthy, influential businessman. Jonah agrees to this potentially lethal assignment because his pay will ensure his wife gets the urgent medical treatment that will save her life. But the deadly ordeal that awaits is beyond anything Jonah could possibly have imagined.

The remaining five parts will appear on Medium soon, and I’ll add another post here once the serial is concluded.

Children of the Folded Valley: 7 Years On

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Seven years ago, this month, my most successful novel to date, Children of the Folded Valley, was self-published by yours truly. The novel is a first-person memoir, about a man recalling his childhood growing up amid a strange, seemingly utopian cult, cut off from the rest of the world. The cult leader has gathered his followers in a mysterious valley because he believes they will be safe there, from a coming nuclear Holocaust.

The precise nature of the hidden valley is revealed later, but this science fiction ingredient is the least important part of the narrative. What is important are the coming-of-age elements, involving the protagonist’s relationship with his parents, friends, and the traumatic events that ensue as terrible secrets at the heart of the cult are gradually revealed. I should add at this point that although entirely fictional (obviously, given the sci-fi aspect), the novel did draw from some of my own personal experiences growing up. However, I must also add that the death of my father did not inform the novel, as some mistakenly claimed. The first draft was written a year before that, in the summer of 2011. The death of the father in the novel was an essential element of the plot, foreseen from the outset.

Once I had the finished draft, I shopped Children of the Folded Valley around major publishers. I came frustratingly close to success, but in the end, the door closed. Somewhat disappointed, I decided to self-publish. To say I was surprised by the result is an understatement. I had self-published a few novels already – mainly children’s adventure stories like Uncle Flynn – but this was my first grown-up book. I did not expect it to be a big success, yet in the end over 11,000 copies (most of them free downloads) flew off the digital shelves, landing me at the number one spot on Amazon’s free novels on the science fiction chart.

The decision to make the novel free for a couple of months was a strategic one, and at the time I didn’t think getting to number one on the free science fiction chart was a big deal. But apparently, it was. Later when I tried to replicate the success with other novels, I didn’t come anywhere close. This is despite the fact that my marketing and promotion was much better organised with subsequent novels (including those traditionally published rather than self-published).

What am I to conclude from all this? Was the success of Children of the Folded Valley down to good timing? Subject matter? An act of God? I honestly couldn’t say. For some reason, it struck a chord. If I were writing it today, there are a couple of things I would do differently (at least one chapter is a bit of an info-dump), but it is a good reflection of my skills at that time, and as an author, it is important to always strive for improvement (my second foray into dystopian fiction, Peaceful Quiet Lives, I think is a significant improvement). On the other hand, with over a hundred mostly five-star reviews on Amazon, and about a hundred and seventy on Goodreads, I clearly did something right seven years ago.

Children of the Folded Valley is available on Amazon Kindle or paperback here (in the UK) and here (in the US). It can also be purchased from Smashwords here.

Peaceful Quiet Lives: Influences and Inspirations

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My latest novel, Peaceful Quiet Lives, is informed by a number of classic novels, whilst also being very much its own unique story. Here are five texts that were influential in some way.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell) – Orwell’s masterpiece casts a long shadow over all modern dystopian fiction, and to not acknowledge it would be disingenuous. The Winston and Julia romance informs some of what Sam and Eve experience, as does their suffering at the hands of the authorities. However, the central relationship has a very different purpose and outcome in my novel. There are also parallels between the censorship of Nineteen Eight-Four (including “newspeak”) and the censorship rules in both nations in my novel, which operate at opposite political extremes. However, once again, the kind of censorship is very different.

The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) – The religious oppression of the Gilead regime to a degree did inform the oppression of women in the NPAR (New Puritan American Republic), in my novel. However, there are vitally important differences. For one thing, there is no population crisis, and women are not forced into marriages for breeding purposes in the NPAR. However, women are strictly controlled in terms of the lives they can lead, the careers they can pursue, and so forth. Furthermore, marriages have to authorised by religious authorities.

A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess) – The brainwashing of young Alex to “cure” him of his wicked ways did in some way influence the torment Eve suffers at the hands of interrogators in the DEAR (Democratically Enlightened American Republic), in my novel. However, unlike Alex, Eve is a far less contentious subject, nor is the reader invited to feel torn or backed into a corner over her treatment. I expect and indeed hope that unambiguous sympathy is the reader’s response in her case.

Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury) – A state where all books are banned is the horrifying premise of Bradbury’s most notorious novel (the title refers to the temperature at which paper burns). Not all books are banned in the two nations of my novel, but many are. Sometimes the same novel is banned in both states, but for entirely different reasons. For example, a novel banned for sexual content in the NPAR could also be banned for perceived sexism in the DEAR.

The Trial (Franz Kafka) – Like the protagonist of Kafka’s novel, Sam finds himself chewed up by the inexplicable and unfair machinery of legal processes in both the NPAR and the DEAR. The prosecutions he faces are nonsensical, but are intended as a satire of the fears often expressed by extremists on both ends of the left/right political spectrum. In particular, the trial in the latter part of the second section of the novel reaches an absurdity of hair-clutching proportions, but I shan’t explain how, for fear of spoilers.

Peaceful Quiet Lives was also informed, to a lesser degree, by Gulliver’s Travels, Brave New World, The Hunger Games, and even satirical BBC classic comedy series Yes Minister. 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 is also available at 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.