Past, Present and Future

I haven’t posted for a while so I thought I’d start 2017 with an update on what’s been going on so far, and some stuff I’m really excited about coming up this year.
 
So in November the website launched and I just wanted to start by thanking everyone for their overwhelming support. I notice a spike in the number of pages viewed and visitors to the site whenever one of you wonderful people likes/shares one of my posts, so your actions are really making a difference! Extra special thanks to those of you who do that. You are epic!
 
People often approach me in the street and ask “What are you working on at the moment?” Actually, they don’t *bottom lip wobbles*, but if they did I’d say something like: At the moment I’m working on the latest draft of my time-slip action novel Ghosts of September, where a New Yorker goes to bed in 2016 and wakes up in early September 2001, in the week of the September 11th terror attacks. That’s a massive over-simplification of what goes on, there’s a lot of subplots going on in that one (click the above link to find out more. Go on... I dares ya!), and tying all the strings together was a tough job. Then again, that might just be my favourite part of the process! The biggest challenge working on Ghosts has been checking the facts and differences between the before and after of that time. A LOT of research, and obviously, with the sensitive nature of the subject, it’s been an emotional job. It’s coming together nicely now though, and I’ll be putting a sample up on the site soon.
 
Once that’s done I’ll be cracking on with the second draft of alien abduction mystery The Event, a story I started after completing detective/werewolf/mystery The Death of Laszlo Breyer. I was forced to step away from it because I wasn’t really sure where it was going. (It was an attempt at ‘pantsing’ and as I started out screenwriting, I’ve always been a plotter.) I used the momentum I got writing Ghosts of September to write an ending, and I have to say there are parts of that story I really like, so I can’t wait to get stuck back into that one. As with Ghosts, I’ll be able to put a sample up soon!
 
“What about the blog?” you cry! Ghost stories, that’s what. Real ones! Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting short stories about real stuff that happened either to me or colleagues and family members during many years spent in the pub and hotel industry. An industry rife with paranormal tales. Out of all of the different places me and my family worked in over the years, there were only a handful that didn’t have some kind of hauntings. Not every spooky event is a blockbuster, the odd knock here, the occasional bump there; basically nothing to write home (or a blog) about, so I shan’t bore you with those. But others… Some of the others have baffled us for years, and of course the best defy any logical explanation. Those are the kind of stories I’ll be sharing with you. And all being well the first one of those will be here within the week, so keep an eye out on social media for that!
 
There are some other ideas I’ve got (about the blog, screenplays and new books), but I’ll be keeping those to myself for now, and hopefully I’ll have some exciting updates for you on those in the near future!
 
Remember to like and share ;-) and if you have a friend who you think would like the kind of spooky stuff I write about, why not share it with them? Here’s to a great 2017 for all of us and I hope to see you back here very soon!