This month on Medium, I’m showcasing some of the opening chapters from my novels. These will be primarily from my gothic mysteries, though there may be one or two others. This week I feature the first part of horror-thriller The Irresistible Summons.
This opening comes directly after a short prologue touching on a tragic and mysterious incident in protagonist Naomi Levinson’s teenage past. Naomi has gone on to become a TV producer making documentaries that debunk the supernatural, but she and her TV crew are in for a nasty surprise when they interview a supposedly demon-possessed murderer in a prison. Here’s are the first three paragraphs.
Naomi Levinson sat in the driver’s seat of the company Citroen Berlingo, watching light drizzle splatter on the windscreen. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, staring at the walls of Holloway prison. Judging by the silence among her colleagues, she wasn’t the only one feeling on edge.
They had interviewed prisoners before, including the worst kinds of rapists, child molesters, and murderers, but on this occasion, there was something particularly chilling about the individual they had come to film.
Naomi recalled Tanya Sutton’s mug shots from the television news, along with footage of her walking calmly to and from the court during her trial. Elegant and attractive, Tanya Sutton came from a wealthy background. She had founded what promised to be a very successful cosmetics business. During the trial she had been softly spoken, never once raising her voice. Somehow that had made her appalling crime, and the reasons behind it, all the more frightening.
From The Irresistible Summons by Simon Dillon
You can read the whole of the chapter here, and read my companion piece article on this series here. Alternatively, to purchase a copy of The Irresisitible Summons (ebook or paperback) click here (for the UK), here (for the US), or here, if you wish to purchase via Smashwords.
Herewith an update on where you can read my currently available short stories and novellas. Most are online in Medium publications such as Fictions and Illumination.
Dystopian Sci-Fi/Thriller. A journalist investigates a tech company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. “Sweet Dreams” refers to the technology involved, which the journalist comes to believe may be linked to an increase in suicidal tendencies among young people. Her investigations uncover conspiracies, cover-ups, and eventually murder.
Fantasy. A Dark Ages knight undertaking a quest to rescue the young woman to whom he is betrothed. She has been captured by a mysterious Beast and taken into a mysterious and dangerous uncharted forest. On his quest, the knight encounters bandits, witches, and strange supernatural beings, journeying ever deeper into the forest, and ever deeper into himself.
Horror/Sci-Fi. 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.
The former also features two short stories, Influencer and White Horse, exclusive to that volume. Copies can be ordered here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords here, as well as the various outlets to which they distribute (Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo, for instance).
The latter features exclusive stories The Thought Improvement Programme, Driverless, Bleed with Me, The Traffic Warden, Apocalypse 1983, and Love and Other Punishments (as well as Sweet Dreams, which can be read on Medium). Copies can be ordered here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords here, as well as the various outlets to which they distribute (Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo, for instance).
Papercut and Once in a Lifetime were originally traditionally published by Dragon Soul Press for their First Love and All Dark Places anthologies respectively. These collections are now out of print, though copies can be obtained via sellers. Papercut is also available to read in both short story and adapted screenplay form on this blog, here.
This month on Medium, I’m showcasing some of the opening chapters from my novels. These will be primarily from my gothic mysteries, though there may be one or two others. This week I feature the first part of gothic psychological thriller The Birds Began to Sing.
I wrote this novel back in 2012, and in all honesty, I think if I were writing it today, I’d open the book differently. Yes, I have a bit of satirical fun with the publishing industry, but I fear it comes off as a little petulant. Still, I love the book overall, and am proud of it. Here are the opening paragraphs.
Rejection is normal. Everyone experiences rejection at some time in their life, so there is no point getting upset about it. Don’t give up. Just move on. Tomorrow might be better.
That’s what Alice Darnell kept telling herself. Yet having her writing rejected again and again by agents and publishers was beginning to feel worse than getting dumped by a boyfriend. She had just received another rejection letter from a literary agency through the post, and every time she read one it felt like something inside her died. Her bedroom now had an entire wall plastered with rejection letters of one kind or another, all of them saying more or less the same thing:
Dear Alice,
Thank you for your sample chapters and synopsis which we read with interest. Unfortunately we don’t feel this is one for us, but we wish you the best of luck elsewhere.
Kind regards
The Publisher/Agent
Alice thought a more honest summary might read as follows:
Dear Alice,
I’m not sure why you bothered to send us your sample chapters and synopsis, as you are not an established author. Obviously, we didn’t bother reading it. You might want to try elsewhere and see if anyone is foolhardy enough to take on an unknown author, but don’t count on success.
Indifferent regards
The Publisher/Agent
Alice pinned the most recent rejection letter alongside the others, and glanced at the alarm clock at the side of her bed. Almost half past nine. She had a cold, and had already called in sick so wouldn’t be going to work. That meant a day alone trying to rest, recuperate and watch daytime television whilst trying not to feel too depressed.
From The Birds Began to Sing by Simon Dillon.
You can read the whole of the chapter here, and read my companion piece article on this series here. Alternatively, to purchase a copy of The Birds Began to Sing (ebook or paperback) click here (for the UK), here (for the US), or here, if you wish to purchase via Smashwords.
This month on Medium, I’m showcasing some of the opening chapters from my novels. These will be primarily from my gothic mysteries, though there may be one or two others. This week I feature the first part of gothic psychological thriller Phantom Audition, which begins like this:
What Mia noticed most was the silence.
She kept expecting to hear Steven’s voice, or the insistent thud of his feet, as he rehearsed his lines, pacing up and down. She expected to hear him on the phone to his agent, publicist, or to a director.
In the mornings, she no longer heard his absurd singing in the shower. His seat at the breakfast table stood empty. Mia would avert her eyes, unable to bear staring at the space he should occupy. He should be sipping his tea, scrolling through his phone, crunching his cereal… Silence chewed the room instead, like wind and rain gnawing an eroding landscape.
At nights, Mia would awaken and roll over, hoping to warm herself on his body. But Steven wasn’t there, and he wasn’t coming back. He had been replaced with the same terrible silence that screamed, clawed, and tore at her mind whenever she entered the rooms that still had his smell. The memory of her husband had stained the entire house.
Mia had always thought the mansion ludicrously big for the pair of them, but now more than ever she felt the size of the place. A curious unease lingered, as though the carpets, furniture, paintings, and ornaments had turned against her. She felt like a stranger in her own home, imagining everything around her glared in frowning disapproval. Perhaps her presence was a desecration.
One Monday morning a month after the funeral, the unpleasant sensation of feeling watched by the house became too much, and Mia yelled out into the silence.
‘It’s my bloody home too!’
The house responded without mercy, making every tiny tick of the clock an intolerable cacophony. Mia put her hands over her ears. She knew her behaviour was absurd, but the curious mixture of anger and fear that stirred within her had taken her by surprise. Sadness at Steven’s passing was to be expected, but she had not expected to feel so defensive or fearful. Perhaps bewilderment at the events leading up to his suicide by drug overdose still had her on edge.
From Phantom Audition by Simon Dillon.
You can read the whole of the chapter here, and read my companion piece article on this series here. Alternatively, to purchase a copy of Phantom Audition (ebook or paperback) click here (for the UK), here (for the US), or here, if you wish to purchase via Smashwords.
In a brief series on Medium, I’m showcasing some of the opening chapters from my novels. These will be primarily from my gothic mysteries, though there may be one or two others. Kicking off the series is my supernaturally tinged whodunnit The Thistlewood Curse, which opens with these words:
In spite of the peculiar circumstances surrounding the death of Jacob Price, Detective Sergeant Laura Buchan had all but convinced herself there was no foul play. That he died as the result of a bizarre accident had become the accepted version of events for her and most of her colleagues. Only the senior investigating officer, Detective Inspector Ethan Roland, had any further inkling that Price’s demise was in any way suspicious.
Laura kept pinching the bridge of her nose in a nervous reflex. The questioning of her lifelong friend and occasional colleague Lawrence Crane should have been mere formality; an interview that would establish beyond all doubt that he had no involvement in Price’s death. But Roland kept treating him like a criminal. No doubt he considered his actions thoroughness, but Laura thought he was just being rude. Through the two-way mirror, Laura watched as Roland continued to question Crane in the interview room.
‘Are you glad he’s dead?’
Lawrence Crane leaned forward and stared for a moment at the mirror. His eyes met Laura’s and although he could not see her, she experienced the familiar sensation of discomfort, as though she were standing before him naked. His gaze seemed darker and colder than usual, no doubt because he didn’t suffer fools gladly, and Ethan continued to behave like one.
Crane returned his piercing, steel blue stare to the Detective Inspector sitting before him. Although his back was turned, Laura could imagine the dogged, determined expression on Ethan Roland’s face. He had a stocky, bulldog build that intimidated most people he questioned. But Lawrence Crane was not most people. He replied with an icy calm.
‘Obviously, I’m glad he’s dead.’
From The Thistlewood Curse by Simon Dillon.
You can read the whole of the chapter here, and read my companion piece article on this series here. Alternatively, to purchase a copy of The Thistlewood Curse (ebook or paperback) click here (for the UK), here (for the US), or here, if you wish to purchase via Smashwords.
Medium publication Fictions have recently serialised my new short story Sweet Dreams. A science fiction thriller set in the near future, it concerns a journalist investigating a tech company that manufactures nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. “Sweet Dreams” refers to the technology involved, which Ali, the journalist, comes to believe may be linked to an increase in suicidal tendencies among young people. Her investigations uncover conspiracies, cover-ups, and eventually murder.
Themes of playing God and the dangers of mollycoddling are inherent in the subject matter, but quite honestly it isn’t meant to be terribly deep. My main motivation in writing was to create a gripping tech-murder mystery. I’ve had lots of great feedback on Medium so far, and I hope you enjoy it. All five parts are now available for your reading pleasure.
I’ve a new short story entitled Sweet Dreams currently being serialised in Fictions on Medium. It concerns a journalist investigating a tech company that manufactures nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. I’ll talk more about this story once all five parts are published, but for now, you can check out part one here. Enjoy!
I don’t want to say too much about the plot at this stage, but here are a few titbits. As previously stated, it concerns a young journalist, who investigates a local mystery with links to her past in the fictional town of Hobbford. There are variations on a few typically gothic locations, including a large spooky house and a sinister forest. In the background of the narrative is an archaeological dig taking place on the site of a now-closed children’s home, following a major abuse scandal. The protagonist’s mysterious estranged uncle is also a key character. He runs an expensive mental health clinic for rich clients.
As for the title, it refers to Hobbford folklore. On a nearby hill, is the chalk outline of a giant figure, somewhat akin to the real-life Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset (see below). 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. How does this have a bearing on the plot? I wouldn’t dream of spoiling the surprise.
Credit: Wikipedia Commons. Nigel Mykura / Cerne Abbas Giant / CC BY-SA 2.0
What else can I tell you about the book? It took about three months to complete the first draft (working from a thoroughly researched and plotted outline I prepared last year), and in the process, the story became rather darker than I originally intended. Although the essentials of the plot didn’t change, I realised whilst writing that the subject matter and tone veered more towards the horror end of my oeuvre than I originally thought. I’d expected this to read as more a thriller, like The Birds Began to Sing. But it ended up closer in tone to Spectre of Springwell Forest, though to my mind not quite as frightening. Perhaps The Thistlewood Curse is my closest point of comparison, as that one also sits at the mid-point between horror and thriller.
Thematically, this story deals with hidden secrets, as with all good gothic mysteries. More specifically, it concerns what happens when lies are told and perpetuated, and how these lies act as a kind of black hole, sucking in others when they chose to keep silent out of fear and intimidation, rather than bringing the truth into the light. I didn’t set out to write anything particularly profound, but looking back over the first draft, I can see more, in retrospect, what must have been lurking in my subconscious whilst writing this: Lies and cover-ups, however well-intended, are never a good thing.
I will now be following my standard procedure of sitting on the novel for a while, before redrafting with fresh eyes anywhere between six months to a year from now. At that point, I will start the process of showing the manuscript to beta readers, and then think about publication possibilities. I’m excited about this novel and look forward to sharing it with you in due course.
This post is a bit of a cheat, because it is little more than me updating you by saying I’ll soon be updating you. Updating you on what, you may ask? The novel I’ve almost finished writing. I mentioned this novel in my New Year’s Day post. It’s another gripping gothic mystery thriller with spooky, possibly supernatural undertones. I suspect it will be right up your street if you enjoyed my earlier novels such as The Birds Began to Sing,Phantom Audition, and so forth.
I typically spend the winter months writing novels. It distracts me from feeling depressed about the dismal, dark, dank weather, and gives me something to do in hibernation. Getting to a first draft by March (or thereabouts) also makes me feel as though I’ve achieved something significant early in the year. Of course, sometimes I go on to write additional novels. My most productive year to date was 2017, where I managed to pen Spectre of Springwell Forest, Echo and the White Howl, and a third, as-yet unpublished novel entitled A Statement of Disbelief.
Three points about the new novel: 1) No, I’m not going to tell you anything about the plot. At least, not yet. I will simply repeat what I said in my New Year post: “It is set in a fictional south-west England town and features a young journalist who gets drawn into a local mystery with links to her past.” 2) Progress wise, I’m on chapter 19, having written around 75,000 words. 3) I reckon I’ll have a first draft finished by the end of this month, with an estimated word count of around 85,000 – 90,000 words.
I had the idea for this novel in the middle of writing another early last year. The research, outlining, character profiles, and so forth were prepared during the summer and autumn, and I started writing the novel in earnest in January. Do I have a title yet? No, but I will by the time the first draft is finished. The experience of writing this novel has been smooth on the whole, though not without the occasional interruption from other voices in my head, demanding I start on the next story idea. And the next, and the next… Those voices are terribly unreasonable, though they can occasionally be cowed into temporary submission by telling them to form an orderly queue and shut up.
Herewith an update on where you can read my currently available short stories and novellas. Most are online in Medium publications such as Fictions and Illumination, but I am also gradually releasing many of my short stories on new fiction specialising platform Simily. Here’s a link to my profile on that site.
Fantasy. A Dark Ages knight undertaking a quest to rescue the young woman to whom he is betrothed. She has been captured by a mysterious Beast and taken into a mysterious and dangerous uncharted forest. On his quest, the knight encounters bandits, witches, and strange supernatural beings, journeying ever deeper into the forest, and ever deeper into himself.
Science Fiction/Horror. 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.
Dystopian Science Fiction/Romance. In a fascistic future London, a widowed salesman begins to suspect he has repressed memories when he encounters a mysterious woman.
A curious IT technician discovers the truth about traffic wardens in this surreal, sinister, rather silly conspiracy thriller.
The only short stories of mine currently available in paperback/e-book are those selected for Infestation: A Horror Anthology, which also features two short stories exclusive to that volume. Copies can be ordered here (in the UK) and here (in the US). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords here, as well as the various outlets to which they distribute (Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo, for instance).
Papercut and Once in a Lifetime were originally traditionally published by Dragon Soul Press for their First Love and All Dark Places anthologies respectively. These collections are now out of print, though copies can be obtained via sellers. Papercut is also available to read in both short story and adapted screenplay form on this blog, here.
Medium allow three free reads per month for non-subscribers, so for unrestricted access to my work and the work of every other writer on that site (including the many other articles I write, in addition to my fiction pieces), I’d recommend becoming a Medium subscriber for $4.99 per month. This will also give you the ability to write and publish your own articles, and make money doing so, should you wish to go that route. I benefit financially if you use this link to become a Medium subscriber, so if you wish to support my work, subscribing that way is a huge help.
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