NEWS
16 July 2016 - I'm shite at keeping this site up to date... Three months since my last update. It's not because there's nothing going on. It's because there's been plenty going on. Since my last update I've met two of my writer friends in America, I've had three poems published, I've appeared in a new anthology and I've been working on my short story collection. As there's so much to say, I figured it was better to write it as a blog post... So, head over to the blog page for more...
16 April 2016 - This week saw me make my third appearance at the always entertaining Spelk Fiction. My story Dirty Hands is a fun piece of flash about a couple of low level criminals burgling houses on a mystery man's information. I love Spelk, it's one of my favourite fiction sites, Gary Duncan has done a great job of pulling together three stories a week that you'll always have time to read. The beauty of Spelk is the 500 word limit, that means you can read a story in a couple of a minutes break from your day. The standard is always high too, recent highlights being stories from the likes of Tom Leins, Paul Brazill and fellow Paladins author Kate Laity (AKA Graham Wynd).
2 April 2016 - I've started a Blog... You can read it over on the top of the page under 'Aidan's Blog'
27 February 2016 - If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you'll already know this by now, but fuck it I'm putting it here too. The charity anthology, Paladins, that I've been putting together in support of Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is available to buy. You can pre-order the Kindle version and if you prefer your books made from trees you can get your hands on the paperback right now. This book is a collection of substantial short stories from some of my favourite writers, including, Darren Sant, Keith Nixon, Jason Beech, Dave Jaggers, Christopher Davis, Gabriel Valjan, Graham Wynd, Ryan Bracha, Linda Angel, Craig Furchtenicht, Cal Marcius, Matt Mattila, Robert Cowan, Gareth Spark, Bill Baber and myself. My favourite thing about this collection is that it's a really diverse body of work... So, go get something cool to read and help a great charity out at the same time http://ow.ly/YOQal
10 February 2016 - A couple of short bits of news in one little update. Firstly, I've just realised I haven't shared the excellent trailer for the Paladins anthology that the talented bugger that is Mark Wilson put together - here it is. Also, today Jason Beech has given my third book, When the Music's Over a very nice review over on his site
6 February 2016 - I know, I barely ever update this site, and then two updates in a couple of days. Just thought I'd pop by and let you know that my short story collection, Urban Decay (published by those nice lads at Near to the Knuckle) is FREE for a few days. You can grab it here. Talking of Near to the Knuckle, I never did tell you about the story I had published there to celebrate the site's 4th birthday, you can read it here
5 February 2016 - It's nearly time for the release of the Paladins charity anthology, read all about it here
3 November 2015 - Bit late with this update, but it's been a busy few days, including lots of writing on my new novel, Killing in the Name of... Over the Halloween weekend the Near to the Knuckle boys had a mini festive of writing with 13 top scribes having spooky stories published on both Friday and Saturday evening. It was a great couple of nights of stories and I was proud to be part of it, in the headline slot on the Friday night with my story Condemned. The weekend got off to a great start with a debut story from Samantha Turner, I See You. Over the rest of the weekend there were also stories from Tom Leins, Gareth Spark, Linda Angle, Graham Wynd, Dave Jaggers, Frank Sonderborg, Donald Glass, Mark Cooper, Jack Bates and Paul Heatley. You can check out all of the stories here
14 October 2015 - Today I bring you news of a new project for me. Writing has always taken me out of my comfort zone. When I submitted my first story to Byker Books for Radgepacket Six I felt uncomfortable that my work was out there being judged. When my first short story appeared on Near to the Knuckle I was out of my comfort zone at the thought of friends and family being able to see and judge what I'd written. And last month my first novella was published, shit that was uncomfortable, a whole new audience checking out my work... But I've loved every minute of it, I've met great people and had loads of really positive feedback on my work. Writing has afforded me so many cool opportunities, and the next project is the best one yet. I've decided to step in to the editors chair for the first time, and my comfort zone is so far away I'm not sure it exists anymore.
When my story was selected for the second Near to the Knuckle Anthology, Rogue, I was introduced to a cracking writer call Craig Furchtenicht. It is my absolute pleasure to be sharing shelf space with him in a fantastic book. What I didn't count on was getting to know his wonderful wife, Henri. Henri is a hugely inspirational woman, she's currently battling Myeloma and her Facebook updates have encouraged every possible emotion in me. I've wanted to put together a collection of top writers that I love to read for a while and I figured if I was going to do it what better reason than to show my support for Henri Furchtenicht. And so I wrote to Craig and asked what he thought of the idea - he loved it and so I got started writing to top writers asking them if they'd be up for contributing a story to a charity anthology in support of Henri. The response has been completely overwhelming, I figured I'd get 8 to 10 contributors, but as soon as I told people that the book would be for Henri the floodgates flew open - everyone wanted in.
So who are these loveable rogues that make up the line up for this new collection (Title TBC)? This book will be a who's who of great writers from across the indie writing scene. It's my honour to be editing a collection that includes, Darren Sant, Bill Baber, Cal Marcius, Christopher Davis, Craig Douglas, Dave Jaggers, Gareth Spark, Jason Beech, K. A. Laity, Keith Nixon, Mark Wilson, Matt Mattila, Robert Cowan, Ryan Bracha, T. Maxim Simmler and of course Craig Furchtenicht and myself. The response has been phenomenal and I still expect to be adding more names to the book. It never ceases to amaze me that this group of people that write some of the most fucked up and nasty stories you'll ever have to pleasure of reading are also some of the kindest and best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I'm hoping that the book will be out in early 2016, in the meantime there's loads to do!
10 October 2015 - When the Music's Over has been out for nearly a month and so far the response has been great. It's picked up a bunch of reviews across Amazon UK and US and so far the book is yet to drop a star, that's right five star all the way. I know the day will come when I'm no longer able to say that, so I figured I'd get this little update in today. You can see all of the reviews and buy the book here (US) and here (UK). While I'm talking reviews I also got this great review from top writer Craig Furchtenicht for my short story collection, Urban Decay it was great to see such high praise from a writer I really admire.
I'm planning on making an announcement soon about a new project I'm looking to get off of the ground. I've had an idea floating around in my head for a while to get a bunch of great writers together in one book. I've been talking to one in particular about my plan and hopefully there will be something to say about that in the very near future.
Now, it's nearly 13 October, which means, it's nearly time for the latest release from Number 13 Press, this time it's from Graham Wynd, make sure you check out Satan's Sorority in the next few days.
12 September 2015 - Tomorrow is the big day, a day five years in the making, the day When the Music's Over gets released by Number 13 Press. The book is available for pre-order now and has been sent out to a select group of writers and reviewers in advance. So far feedback has been very complimentary. Brit Grit heavyweight, Paul D. Brazill has made it one of his recommended reads and today I discovered this fantastic review on a blog called Regular Guy Reading Noir. The book has also made appearances on the Just a guy that likes to read blog site and Crime Fiction Lover. Thanks to all that have spent their time reading, sharing and reviewing this book, I couldn't be prouder about tomorrow, I hope those of you that have pre-ordered and those that order tomorrow and into the future enjoy what I've put together, along with the great support of Chris Black at Number 13 Press. You can get When the Music's Over here along with all my other books so far.
In other writing news this week I made my debut at The Horror Within on Friday with my story, Visitor. It's a departure from my usual crime stuff. I occasionally dip my toe in the horror genre and Visitor is my latest attempt, I'd like to thank Wednesday Lee Friday for hosting it and T Maxim Simmler for his help when I was writing the story. I've also appeared on Vic Watson's blog this week, as my writing mentor and publisher at Grit Fiction Ltd, Darren Sant said some very nice things about me. Darren has always given wise counsel when it comes to my writing, I often send stuff to him when I finish a first draft to get his thoughts and he's always provided great advice - the three books I've put together so far would not have been without the man that is Darren Sant, check him out
2 September 2015 - Last night the biggest thing to happen to me so far in writing was announced. The book that I've been working on in some form or another for around five years is going to be published by Number 13 Press. When the Music's Over is a novella that started life as a novel, until I started reading the stuff Number 13 Press was putting out and thought, I've got to try to get in on this.
I'm a huge fan of Number 13 Press, they're model is simple, put out 13 novellas over 13 months - and make them good. I was hooked from the beginning and have read most of the nine books they've put out so far, and there's not a dud among them so I've got a lot to live up to. As I was reading I looked them up on line and saw that they were open to submissions, I had nothing - or so I thought. I had this novel that I hadn't touched in a couple of years, I'd always liked the story but it needed a lot of editing and I thought, you know what, maybe I could tighten it right up and submit it to Number 13. So, that's what I did, I chopped around 35,000 words, got it tight and it got picked up. It's been a pleasure working with Chris Black at Number 13, he's really helped me make this the best story it can possibly be. I hope you'll pick it up (it's just 99p on Kindle - like all of the press' releases) and enjoy what you're reading.
When the Music's Over is released on 13 September, it will be available in paperback and ebook and it can be pre-ordered now. To read more about my novella visit the Number 13 Press website were you'll find all the links you need to pick up a copy and copies of the other great releases from them.
13 August 2015 - Today I thought I'd bring to your attention a club of cracking reviews that have appeared on blogs for my short story collection, Urban Decay. The collection got a nice early review back in June from Robert Cowan over at his site, Robertcowanbooks.com. If you scroll down the page it's there with reviews for fellow Rogue contributors, Ryan Bracha (who kindly produced UD's cover) and Keith Nixon.
This morning I woke up to a review from across the pond in the USA, as British born writer, Jason Beech, gave the collection the once over. He did a great review of my collection, Criminal Thoughts last year and he's done it again for Urban Decay here. I'm really grateful to both Robert and Jason for the time and effort they've put in to reviewing my work... They're both great writers so it means a lot that the reviews have come from them and been positive.
12 August 2015 - This week saw me make my third appearance on a long term favourite flash fiction site of mine, Shotgun Honey. Just to have one story published here was an honour, to have now achieved the hat-trick is great! You can read my latest Shotgun Honey tale, Unsafe Load by clicking here... And, as always, make sure you check out the other great talent over there, I've followed Paul D. Brazill (as seems to be my honour fairly regularly!) who had a cracker called Dead Pimp in a Trunk published there last week!
2 August 2015 - Yesterday I was delighted to be contacted by longer time supporter of my writing, David Barber. David runs the excellent Thrills, Kills and Chaos webzine and he was writing to tell me that he'd like to publish my piece of flash fiction, Barbershop Vagrant. The story is a little different than my usual crime fiction, I was a little reluctant to send it anywhere, but I always know I'm in safe hands when David's the editor - that's why I asked him to edit my first collection, Criminal Thoughts.
Thrills, Kills and Chaos took a break for a while and so it's great to see it back and publishing 1000 word stories again. At its peak it was one of the best mags on the internet for short fiction and I discovered many a talented writer when reading it, long may that continue!
If you want to read Barbershop Vagrant, click here. And, don't forget to check out some great writers whilst you're over there, including David himself.
16 June 2015 - To celebrate this week's release of Urban Decay I've decided to run a Kindle Countdown Deal on my first short story collection, Criminal Thoughts. For the next few days you'll be able to pick up Criminal Thoughts for just £0.99 in the UK or $0.99 in the US
15 June 2015 - The day has finally arrived! My second short story collection has been published by Grit Fiction Ltd. I'm immensely proud to be the first author published with his own name on the cover by the fantastic folk that have bought you the two Near to the Knuckle anthologies. I've got to thank Darren Sant and Craig Douglas for their belief in my writing and Ryan Bracha for the fantastic cover art. The best way to promote the book here is probably to sure the Amazon book description with you so here it is:
Urban Decay is an apt description for this collection of crime tales. Brought to you by Gritfiction – the guys behind the Near to the Knuckle fiction site.
Following on from his 2013 release Criminal Thoughts Urban Decay will satisfy those who wanted more. Aidan Thorn is very much at the top of his game and we are proud to bring you this outstanding collection of crime fiction.
You can buy Urban Decay here - UK and US
9 June 2015 - This week I made my debut at the excellent Flash Fiction Offensive with a grimy little tale called, Belonging. I've been a long time admirer of this site and so was delighted when I received an email from Joe Clifford to tell me that my story had been accepted. You can read Belonging by clicking on this link, and as always don't forget to take a look at the other excellent stories while you're there.
I also thought I'd have a go at a challenge I'd seen a few of my writer friends do recently. 81words.net is a site that challenges writers to write a story in exactly 81 words, you can read my first attempt, A Walk, here
25 May 2015 - The second Near to the Knuckle Anthology, Rogue, has been available digitally for around six weeks now. It's a great collection, packed with talent. I've been reading bits and pieces on train journey's - it's been the highlight of any work trips. Anyway, I know a lot of people still favour a physical book over an ebook and the good news is, Rogue is now available in paperback. It's a great looking book and you can get yours here if you're in the UK and here if you're in the US.
You may have noticed that it's the end of May this week and my collection, Urban Decay isn't out yet. There has been a slight delay. The boys at Grit Fiction have been busy getting Rogue together and getting the paperback out and so we decided that we'll push Urban Decay back into June. Keep your eye on this site for the official release date.
23 May 2015 - It's nearly time for Urban Decay, today I thought I'd give you the full list of stories that will be appearing in this collection. There's a huge variety of stories, they're all set in an urban environment and there's plenty of grit, but hopefully you'll find some heart too. The stories vary in length, some are extremely short vignettes and there's even a 10.5K novelette at the end. A few characters recur throughout the book and some just turn up for their particular story.
So the list of stories is:
Loathe thy Neighbour, Sign of the Times, The Replacement, Lucky, Pick Up, Serving Sonny Side Up, Trick or Treat or..., Taking out the Trash, Waste Disposal, Work Related Stress, Real Men, Taking the Fall and A Sporting Chance
11 May 2015 - As the publication of Urban Decay draws ever nearer I'll be updating this site a little more regularly. Today I thought I'd share with you the foreword for the collection. When the gents at Grit Fiction said that the book should include a foreword from someone of my choosing, really only one name came to mind, but he wasn't available so... No, no, I joke. For me, one of the true innovators of modern short story telling is a man called Gareth Spark, and I had to ask him to do me the honour of writing something to go at the front of the collection. I was thrilled when he said yes. Gareth writes tales as old as time, told in a fresh authoritative voice that makes every sentence read like a work of art. His own short story collection, Snake Farm, was released last month and I insist you buy a copy to understand exactly what I'm talking about - as a writer, it's terrifying how high he sets the bar. Anyway, here's what Gareth Spark had to say about my collection:
"Aidan Thorn writes about the terror and awe of modern life with a clear eye and a courage that is so refreshing, it's nothing less than miraculous. I remember reading his first collection, those savage tales of disconsolate, broken men fighting below blood stained stars, trying and failing for any kind of truth in a dark universe where nothing exists but the act and the consequence, and being instantly gripped. Now, as you are soon to discover, he has repeated the miracle, in this heartbreakingly honest and thrilling book. These harrowing stories come blazing to you from a world in flames; from abandoned city spaces and dark lanes where anything might happen, where the gods are long gone and all that remains is the knife blade. Thorn writes with rare honesty and a tenacious vision that holds the ruin of modern life as well as the more ancient concerns; vengeance, hate, survival, mercy. In a literary landscape too often given over to the ephemeral, the commercial and the unashamedly vapid, Aidan writes tales so authentic, so imbued with a true power they could be chiselled on the damn mountains. At his best, his work has a timeless quality, channeling those ancient themes into the context of this beaten and bruised world. Aidan's a remarkable writer, as this knockout punch of a book proves, and I'm honoured to introduce it. Gareth Spark"
It's bloody good, isn't it? There's one problem with having Mr Spark write a foreword in your book, I'm following one hell of a writer - I hope I'm up to it!
7 May 2015 - Hello again. You remember how in my last update I mentioned that I had a story accepted for publication at Spelk Fiction? No...? it was only two days ago... Well anyway, that story was published yesterday. The story is called, A Conversation with a Stranger, and you can read it here. It's a bit of a departure from my usual writing, so I hope you enjoy it. As always, whilst you're visiting Spelk be sure to check out the other great work on this site. You'll find loads of Rogue contributors, plus the likes of Matt Hilton and Christopher Davis.
Something I neglected to mention in my last update is that I was recently interviewed by Seven Daze author, Charlie Wade. You can read that interview over on his site Batteries aren't included.
5 May 2015 - It's May, which means this month my second short story collection, Urban Decay, will be released this month. It's been an interesting few days talking with the fellas at Grit Fiction to get the book ready for publication. Yesterday we approved the cover design (left), and it's something I'm very happy with. The design was created by Ryan Bracha, who did the recent Rogue cover, and it's got a nice cinematic feel to it - I'm going to get a blown up version printed for the wall at home.
I'm also delighted that a writer I have so much respect for, Gareth Spark, has agreed to write the foreword for Urban Decay. I'll be sticking a preview of what Gareth had to say up on the site in the coming days, but let's just say I'm blown away by his words. Whilst we're on the subject of Gareth Spark, he's got his on short story collection, Snake Farm, that's just been released. I was honoured with an advanced copy and asked to provide a quote about the collection. It's something very special, and I don't suggest, but demand you get a copy.
In other news, I've recently had stories accepted for publication at Spelk Fiction and the Flash Fiction Offensive, I'll be providing updates here when the stories are live.
4 April 2015 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new Near to the Knuckle anthology, Rogue. I told you how excited I was to be involved in this great collection of talent. Well, this week the book dropped on Amazon and you can get it here (UK) and here (US). When I wrote my blog about being included I mentioned that I was delighted to be in a pack of 21 great writers. No sooner had I finished and published that article had Darren and Craig from Near to the Knuckle, dropped a surprise author on us, Caffeine Nights author of The Fix, Keith Nixon. So, now you get 22 authors for your £2.49 - it's a steal! So go get it and don't forget to leave a review, we authors love to be told if you've enjoyed what we've done - there's even an authors contacts page at the back of the book so if you feel inclined drop us a line - despite what we write, we don't bite! (Fuck, that last bit sort of rhymes - I didn't mean it, honest and I'm too lazy to change it.)
You can read my thoughts on being in Rogue here
\21 February 2015 - It's been a good few weeks on the writing front. It took me a little longer than I expected (these things always do) but I've finished my collection, Urban Decay. The collection will end with my longest (published) story to date, it's a 10.5K word tale that introduces a new character and brings in a few other characters from the shorter stories in the collection. It's as yet untitled, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The whole collection is now with the publisher, Grit Fiction Ltd - hopefully there wont be too much work to do to it before it can be released. Talking of short story collections, my first collection, Criminal Thoughts, continues to pick up some very positive reviews. The US Amazon site has seen a couple added recently, it's always great to see that someone's enjoyed my work, so if you do have a copy on your Kindle, or you pick one up don't forget to let me know what you think. Criminal Thoughts is available now from Amazon at just £0.99 in the UK and $0.99 in the US
31 January 2015 - It's been a while since I wrote anything here (happy new year by the way!), the main reason for that is I've been busy finishing off my short story collection ready for publication by Grit Fiction. I'm writing a novelette for the end of the collection, and I'm hoping to have that finished in the next couple of weeks. Once that's done I hope to have some news of a release date for my next collection, Urban Decay. I've also written a novelette for a project T. Maxim Simmler is kicking off and I was delighted to be invited to get involved with, it's a 10,000 word story set in Las Vegas and will hopefully see the light of day in the first half of 2015. As well as writing some longer stuff (by my standards) I've also written something short that'll be published soon. The second Near to the Knuckle anthology, Rogue, will be released in the next few months and my story, Fish out of Water, will feature alongside a stellar line-up of talent. The full line-up isn't yet confirmed but it already includes some favourites of mine, Gary Duncan, Cal Marcuis, Gareth Spark, Tess Makovesky, Richard Godwin and Paul D Brazil, plus some names that are new to me and I'm looking forward to reading, Craig Furchtenicht, Gabriel Valjan and David Jaggers. Talking of Paul D Brazil he was kind enough to add my 2013 short story collection, Criminal Thoughts, to his website this week as one of his Recommended Reads, a great honour from a man who's writing talents I have a lot of respect for. Read what Paul has to say here
10 December 2014 - Yesterday was a very proud day for me as I signed my first publishing contract and I did it with a company taking its first leap into the game. I was absolutely delighted to sign a deal with GritFiction Ltd (the people behind the excellent Near to the Knuckle webzine) to publish my second short story collection, Urban Decay. I've known the guys behind Near to the Knuckle, Darren and Craig, for a number of years now and really respect what they've achieved with the site, including the excellent anthology Gloves Off, attracting some of the best underground writing talent to contribute to what is a must read site for fans of gritty short fiction. I also, most importantly respect them both as writers, Darren Sant deserves far more exposure than he gets for his work and Craig Douglas' short fiction was something I looked up to when I was starting to get into writing. That they've approached me to be the first author they publish under this new venture is a great honour for me and as soon as it was mentioned I was desperate to shout it from the rooftops - with the contract now signed I'm free to talk about it until my heart's content!
Near to the Knuckle has been a very generous supporter of my work for a long time going way back to the second short story I ever wrote, The Clean Up. I'd had a story published in the Byker Books Radgepacket series and then wrote this other story and started trying to find a home for it - no one was biting. I got all these rejection emails, 'not for us', 'too violent', 'this seems to just be a collection of violent occurrences with no point' (actually, that last one was pretty spot on - that was exactly the point of the story, everyone's expendable and there's no point to any of it!). Anyway, just as I was ready to give up on writing I discovered Near to the Knuckle, I gave it one last shot and the acceptance came back, 'this is right up our street, just the sort of gritty fiction we're looking for.' Since that day I haven't looked back, the story was well received by those that commented below and it gave me the confidence to write more. I've been published across various different collections and webzines, read fantastic work by massive talents and met great people that I now consider friends. There's a thriving community of talented writers out there and that GritFiction is stepping out from the shadows to try and provide a platform for exposure for these people can only be a good thing. You can read more about GritFiction and me signing with them here
In all the excitement of the past couple of weeks I also forgot to mention that I have had a story published by the wonderful Spelk Fiction webzine. If you want a very short sneak peak at one of the stories that will feature in my new collection you can read Real Men now
19 November 2014 - As today is my birthday I've decided to make my short story collection free for five days. You can grab a copy on amazon and just to help you find it I've even provided some links below! In other writing news keep your eyes peeled for something new and very short from me next week up at Spelk and I've also just been approached about a very exciting writing project for next year
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416388030&sr=1-1&keywords=criminal+thoughts
US - http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386250589&sr=1-1&keywords=Criminal+Thoughts
23 October 2014 - I never get bored of saying this (and I've been lucky enough to say it many times!)... I'm delighted to have had another story published by the excellent Near to the Knuckle webzine. My short story, Taking the Fall, was published this morning on the site and I'd like to thank Craig and Darren for having me once again! Near to the Knuckle was the first online 'zine to publish a story of mine and so will always be special to me, it's a great site that's going from strength to strength. Recent highlights on Near to the Knuckle include Ghosts by the one of the best undiscovered talents in the UK, Gareth Spark, Breathe by T Maxim Simmler and It's Just a Gun by Christopher Davis.
It's recently been announced that the Near to the Knuckle team will be producing a follow-up to 2013's Gloves Off anthology. I was part of that anthology, but looking at the quality of the work they're attracting to the webzine lately I'm going to have to work bloody hard to get into the next one! Better get my writing cap on! You can read, Taking the Fall here and whilst you're there don't forget to check out the other great work
In other news, there's a new flash fiction site out there, Spelk. Writer's get 500 words to tell a story there's some great work up there already from the likes of RJ Ellory, Ryan Sayles and Gareth Spark. Keep an eye on the site on 27 November for something new from me
http://spelkfiction.com
24 September 2014 - It doesn't feel like I've done a lot of writing lately, my two novellas have stalled and I can't even look at the novel at the moment. And yet, in the space of nine days I've had three short stories published, in The Big Adios Western Digest (Available here), Shotgun Honey, and, yesterday up at Pulp Metal Magazine. My Latest short, Pick Up, is a story of the wrong guy at the right time. It took me a while to really get this one right, I knew I had something but it never really felt completely as I wanted it too - I'd like to thank Jason Michael (Head Honcho at PMM), Darren Sant and Jason Beech for helping to steer it in the right direction as I now have a story I'm really happy with. If you want to read Pick Up head over to Pulp Metal Magazine now and whilst you're there don't forget to check out the other great writing that the site hosts.
20 September 2014 - One Eye Press has provided me with some of my favourite online reading moments over the past few years. I've long admired their short story site Shotgun Honey and when I got my first story published there early this year it was a proud moment for me. Their The Big Adios western site has also proven a great read over it's relatively short life. So, getting published by not one but two One Eye Press projects within a week has to count as one of my highlights as a writer, so far. 15 September saw my short story, The Replacement, published on Shotgun Honey and this coming Monday sees the release of the first quarterly The Big Adios Digest, including my first ever Western short, 15 Years.
Around this time last year I started putting together my first short story collection, Criminal Thoughts, and now it's time for my second collection to start to take form. The collection, titled Urban Decay: Short Tales from the Underbelly of the City, will include between 10-12 short stories and I hope to have it released by the end of the year. A preview of the cover design can be seen below, with photography courtesy of the hugely talented Kenny Bowers
16 July 2016 - I'm shite at keeping this site up to date... Three months since my last update. It's not because there's nothing going on. It's because there's been plenty going on. Since my last update I've met two of my writer friends in America, I've had three poems published, I've appeared in a new anthology and I've been working on my short story collection. As there's so much to say, I figured it was better to write it as a blog post... So, head over to the blog page for more...
16 April 2016 - This week saw me make my third appearance at the always entertaining Spelk Fiction. My story Dirty Hands is a fun piece of flash about a couple of low level criminals burgling houses on a mystery man's information. I love Spelk, it's one of my favourite fiction sites, Gary Duncan has done a great job of pulling together three stories a week that you'll always have time to read. The beauty of Spelk is the 500 word limit, that means you can read a story in a couple of a minutes break from your day. The standard is always high too, recent highlights being stories from the likes of Tom Leins, Paul Brazill and fellow Paladins author Kate Laity (AKA Graham Wynd).
2 April 2016 - I've started a Blog... You can read it over on the top of the page under 'Aidan's Blog'
27 February 2016 - If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you'll already know this by now, but fuck it I'm putting it here too. The charity anthology, Paladins, that I've been putting together in support of Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is available to buy. You can pre-order the Kindle version and if you prefer your books made from trees you can get your hands on the paperback right now. This book is a collection of substantial short stories from some of my favourite writers, including, Darren Sant, Keith Nixon, Jason Beech, Dave Jaggers, Christopher Davis, Gabriel Valjan, Graham Wynd, Ryan Bracha, Linda Angel, Craig Furchtenicht, Cal Marcius, Matt Mattila, Robert Cowan, Gareth Spark, Bill Baber and myself. My favourite thing about this collection is that it's a really diverse body of work... So, go get something cool to read and help a great charity out at the same time http://ow.ly/YOQal
10 February 2016 - A couple of short bits of news in one little update. Firstly, I've just realised I haven't shared the excellent trailer for the Paladins anthology that the talented bugger that is Mark Wilson put together - here it is. Also, today Jason Beech has given my third book, When the Music's Over a very nice review over on his site
6 February 2016 - I know, I barely ever update this site, and then two updates in a couple of days. Just thought I'd pop by and let you know that my short story collection, Urban Decay (published by those nice lads at Near to the Knuckle) is FREE for a few days. You can grab it here. Talking of Near to the Knuckle, I never did tell you about the story I had published there to celebrate the site's 4th birthday, you can read it here
5 February 2016 - It's nearly time for the release of the Paladins charity anthology, read all about it here
3 November 2015 - Bit late with this update, but it's been a busy few days, including lots of writing on my new novel, Killing in the Name of... Over the Halloween weekend the Near to the Knuckle boys had a mini festive of writing with 13 top scribes having spooky stories published on both Friday and Saturday evening. It was a great couple of nights of stories and I was proud to be part of it, in the headline slot on the Friday night with my story Condemned. The weekend got off to a great start with a debut story from Samantha Turner, I See You. Over the rest of the weekend there were also stories from Tom Leins, Gareth Spark, Linda Angle, Graham Wynd, Dave Jaggers, Frank Sonderborg, Donald Glass, Mark Cooper, Jack Bates and Paul Heatley. You can check out all of the stories here
14 October 2015 - Today I bring you news of a new project for me. Writing has always taken me out of my comfort zone. When I submitted my first story to Byker Books for Radgepacket Six I felt uncomfortable that my work was out there being judged. When my first short story appeared on Near to the Knuckle I was out of my comfort zone at the thought of friends and family being able to see and judge what I'd written. And last month my first novella was published, shit that was uncomfortable, a whole new audience checking out my work... But I've loved every minute of it, I've met great people and had loads of really positive feedback on my work. Writing has afforded me so many cool opportunities, and the next project is the best one yet. I've decided to step in to the editors chair for the first time, and my comfort zone is so far away I'm not sure it exists anymore.
When my story was selected for the second Near to the Knuckle Anthology, Rogue, I was introduced to a cracking writer call Craig Furchtenicht. It is my absolute pleasure to be sharing shelf space with him in a fantastic book. What I didn't count on was getting to know his wonderful wife, Henri. Henri is a hugely inspirational woman, she's currently battling Myeloma and her Facebook updates have encouraged every possible emotion in me. I've wanted to put together a collection of top writers that I love to read for a while and I figured if I was going to do it what better reason than to show my support for Henri Furchtenicht. And so I wrote to Craig and asked what he thought of the idea - he loved it and so I got started writing to top writers asking them if they'd be up for contributing a story to a charity anthology in support of Henri. The response has been completely overwhelming, I figured I'd get 8 to 10 contributors, but as soon as I told people that the book would be for Henri the floodgates flew open - everyone wanted in.
So who are these loveable rogues that make up the line up for this new collection (Title TBC)? This book will be a who's who of great writers from across the indie writing scene. It's my honour to be editing a collection that includes, Darren Sant, Bill Baber, Cal Marcius, Christopher Davis, Craig Douglas, Dave Jaggers, Gareth Spark, Jason Beech, K. A. Laity, Keith Nixon, Mark Wilson, Matt Mattila, Robert Cowan, Ryan Bracha, T. Maxim Simmler and of course Craig Furchtenicht and myself. The response has been phenomenal and I still expect to be adding more names to the book. It never ceases to amaze me that this group of people that write some of the most fucked up and nasty stories you'll ever have to pleasure of reading are also some of the kindest and best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I'm hoping that the book will be out in early 2016, in the meantime there's loads to do!
10 October 2015 - When the Music's Over has been out for nearly a month and so far the response has been great. It's picked up a bunch of reviews across Amazon UK and US and so far the book is yet to drop a star, that's right five star all the way. I know the day will come when I'm no longer able to say that, so I figured I'd get this little update in today. You can see all of the reviews and buy the book here (US) and here (UK). While I'm talking reviews I also got this great review from top writer Craig Furchtenicht for my short story collection, Urban Decay it was great to see such high praise from a writer I really admire.
I'm planning on making an announcement soon about a new project I'm looking to get off of the ground. I've had an idea floating around in my head for a while to get a bunch of great writers together in one book. I've been talking to one in particular about my plan and hopefully there will be something to say about that in the very near future.
Now, it's nearly 13 October, which means, it's nearly time for the latest release from Number 13 Press, this time it's from Graham Wynd, make sure you check out Satan's Sorority in the next few days.
12 September 2015 - Tomorrow is the big day, a day five years in the making, the day When the Music's Over gets released by Number 13 Press. The book is available for pre-order now and has been sent out to a select group of writers and reviewers in advance. So far feedback has been very complimentary. Brit Grit heavyweight, Paul D. Brazill has made it one of his recommended reads and today I discovered this fantastic review on a blog called Regular Guy Reading Noir. The book has also made appearances on the Just a guy that likes to read blog site and Crime Fiction Lover. Thanks to all that have spent their time reading, sharing and reviewing this book, I couldn't be prouder about tomorrow, I hope those of you that have pre-ordered and those that order tomorrow and into the future enjoy what I've put together, along with the great support of Chris Black at Number 13 Press. You can get When the Music's Over here along with all my other books so far.
In other writing news this week I made my debut at The Horror Within on Friday with my story, Visitor. It's a departure from my usual crime stuff. I occasionally dip my toe in the horror genre and Visitor is my latest attempt, I'd like to thank Wednesday Lee Friday for hosting it and T Maxim Simmler for his help when I was writing the story. I've also appeared on Vic Watson's blog this week, as my writing mentor and publisher at Grit Fiction Ltd, Darren Sant said some very nice things about me. Darren has always given wise counsel when it comes to my writing, I often send stuff to him when I finish a first draft to get his thoughts and he's always provided great advice - the three books I've put together so far would not have been without the man that is Darren Sant, check him out
2 September 2015 - Last night the biggest thing to happen to me so far in writing was announced. The book that I've been working on in some form or another for around five years is going to be published by Number 13 Press. When the Music's Over is a novella that started life as a novel, until I started reading the stuff Number 13 Press was putting out and thought, I've got to try to get in on this.
I'm a huge fan of Number 13 Press, they're model is simple, put out 13 novellas over 13 months - and make them good. I was hooked from the beginning and have read most of the nine books they've put out so far, and there's not a dud among them so I've got a lot to live up to. As I was reading I looked them up on line and saw that they were open to submissions, I had nothing - or so I thought. I had this novel that I hadn't touched in a couple of years, I'd always liked the story but it needed a lot of editing and I thought, you know what, maybe I could tighten it right up and submit it to Number 13. So, that's what I did, I chopped around 35,000 words, got it tight and it got picked up. It's been a pleasure working with Chris Black at Number 13, he's really helped me make this the best story it can possibly be. I hope you'll pick it up (it's just 99p on Kindle - like all of the press' releases) and enjoy what you're reading.
When the Music's Over is released on 13 September, it will be available in paperback and ebook and it can be pre-ordered now. To read more about my novella visit the Number 13 Press website were you'll find all the links you need to pick up a copy and copies of the other great releases from them.
13 August 2015 - Today I thought I'd bring to your attention a club of cracking reviews that have appeared on blogs for my short story collection, Urban Decay. The collection got a nice early review back in June from Robert Cowan over at his site, Robertcowanbooks.com. If you scroll down the page it's there with reviews for fellow Rogue contributors, Ryan Bracha (who kindly produced UD's cover) and Keith Nixon.
This morning I woke up to a review from across the pond in the USA, as British born writer, Jason Beech, gave the collection the once over. He did a great review of my collection, Criminal Thoughts last year and he's done it again for Urban Decay here. I'm really grateful to both Robert and Jason for the time and effort they've put in to reviewing my work... They're both great writers so it means a lot that the reviews have come from them and been positive.
12 August 2015 - This week saw me make my third appearance on a long term favourite flash fiction site of mine, Shotgun Honey. Just to have one story published here was an honour, to have now achieved the hat-trick is great! You can read my latest Shotgun Honey tale, Unsafe Load by clicking here... And, as always, make sure you check out the other great talent over there, I've followed Paul D. Brazill (as seems to be my honour fairly regularly!) who had a cracker called Dead Pimp in a Trunk published there last week!
2 August 2015 - Yesterday I was delighted to be contacted by longer time supporter of my writing, David Barber. David runs the excellent Thrills, Kills and Chaos webzine and he was writing to tell me that he'd like to publish my piece of flash fiction, Barbershop Vagrant. The story is a little different than my usual crime fiction, I was a little reluctant to send it anywhere, but I always know I'm in safe hands when David's the editor - that's why I asked him to edit my first collection, Criminal Thoughts.
Thrills, Kills and Chaos took a break for a while and so it's great to see it back and publishing 1000 word stories again. At its peak it was one of the best mags on the internet for short fiction and I discovered many a talented writer when reading it, long may that continue!
If you want to read Barbershop Vagrant, click here. And, don't forget to check out some great writers whilst you're over there, including David himself.
16 June 2015 - To celebrate this week's release of Urban Decay I've decided to run a Kindle Countdown Deal on my first short story collection, Criminal Thoughts. For the next few days you'll be able to pick up Criminal Thoughts for just £0.99 in the UK or $0.99 in the US
15 June 2015 - The day has finally arrived! My second short story collection has been published by Grit Fiction Ltd. I'm immensely proud to be the first author published with his own name on the cover by the fantastic folk that have bought you the two Near to the Knuckle anthologies. I've got to thank Darren Sant and Craig Douglas for their belief in my writing and Ryan Bracha for the fantastic cover art. The best way to promote the book here is probably to sure the Amazon book description with you so here it is:
Urban Decay is an apt description for this collection of crime tales. Brought to you by Gritfiction – the guys behind the Near to the Knuckle fiction site.
Following on from his 2013 release Criminal Thoughts Urban Decay will satisfy those who wanted more. Aidan Thorn is very much at the top of his game and we are proud to bring you this outstanding collection of crime fiction.
You can buy Urban Decay here - UK and US
9 June 2015 - This week I made my debut at the excellent Flash Fiction Offensive with a grimy little tale called, Belonging. I've been a long time admirer of this site and so was delighted when I received an email from Joe Clifford to tell me that my story had been accepted. You can read Belonging by clicking on this link, and as always don't forget to take a look at the other excellent stories while you're there.
I also thought I'd have a go at a challenge I'd seen a few of my writer friends do recently. 81words.net is a site that challenges writers to write a story in exactly 81 words, you can read my first attempt, A Walk, here
25 May 2015 - The second Near to the Knuckle Anthology, Rogue, has been available digitally for around six weeks now. It's a great collection, packed with talent. I've been reading bits and pieces on train journey's - it's been the highlight of any work trips. Anyway, I know a lot of people still favour a physical book over an ebook and the good news is, Rogue is now available in paperback. It's a great looking book and you can get yours here if you're in the UK and here if you're in the US.
You may have noticed that it's the end of May this week and my collection, Urban Decay isn't out yet. There has been a slight delay. The boys at Grit Fiction have been busy getting Rogue together and getting the paperback out and so we decided that we'll push Urban Decay back into June. Keep your eye on this site for the official release date.
23 May 2015 - It's nearly time for Urban Decay, today I thought I'd give you the full list of stories that will be appearing in this collection. There's a huge variety of stories, they're all set in an urban environment and there's plenty of grit, but hopefully you'll find some heart too. The stories vary in length, some are extremely short vignettes and there's even a 10.5K novelette at the end. A few characters recur throughout the book and some just turn up for their particular story.
So the list of stories is:
Loathe thy Neighbour, Sign of the Times, The Replacement, Lucky, Pick Up, Serving Sonny Side Up, Trick or Treat or..., Taking out the Trash, Waste Disposal, Work Related Stress, Real Men, Taking the Fall and A Sporting Chance
11 May 2015 - As the publication of Urban Decay draws ever nearer I'll be updating this site a little more regularly. Today I thought I'd share with you the foreword for the collection. When the gents at Grit Fiction said that the book should include a foreword from someone of my choosing, really only one name came to mind, but he wasn't available so... No, no, I joke. For me, one of the true innovators of modern short story telling is a man called Gareth Spark, and I had to ask him to do me the honour of writing something to go at the front of the collection. I was thrilled when he said yes. Gareth writes tales as old as time, told in a fresh authoritative voice that makes every sentence read like a work of art. His own short story collection, Snake Farm, was released last month and I insist you buy a copy to understand exactly what I'm talking about - as a writer, it's terrifying how high he sets the bar. Anyway, here's what Gareth Spark had to say about my collection:
"Aidan Thorn writes about the terror and awe of modern life with a clear eye and a courage that is so refreshing, it's nothing less than miraculous. I remember reading his first collection, those savage tales of disconsolate, broken men fighting below blood stained stars, trying and failing for any kind of truth in a dark universe where nothing exists but the act and the consequence, and being instantly gripped. Now, as you are soon to discover, he has repeated the miracle, in this heartbreakingly honest and thrilling book. These harrowing stories come blazing to you from a world in flames; from abandoned city spaces and dark lanes where anything might happen, where the gods are long gone and all that remains is the knife blade. Thorn writes with rare honesty and a tenacious vision that holds the ruin of modern life as well as the more ancient concerns; vengeance, hate, survival, mercy. In a literary landscape too often given over to the ephemeral, the commercial and the unashamedly vapid, Aidan writes tales so authentic, so imbued with a true power they could be chiselled on the damn mountains. At his best, his work has a timeless quality, channeling those ancient themes into the context of this beaten and bruised world. Aidan's a remarkable writer, as this knockout punch of a book proves, and I'm honoured to introduce it. Gareth Spark"
It's bloody good, isn't it? There's one problem with having Mr Spark write a foreword in your book, I'm following one hell of a writer - I hope I'm up to it!
7 May 2015 - Hello again. You remember how in my last update I mentioned that I had a story accepted for publication at Spelk Fiction? No...? it was only two days ago... Well anyway, that story was published yesterday. The story is called, A Conversation with a Stranger, and you can read it here. It's a bit of a departure from my usual writing, so I hope you enjoy it. As always, whilst you're visiting Spelk be sure to check out the other great work on this site. You'll find loads of Rogue contributors, plus the likes of Matt Hilton and Christopher Davis.
Something I neglected to mention in my last update is that I was recently interviewed by Seven Daze author, Charlie Wade. You can read that interview over on his site Batteries aren't included.
5 May 2015 - It's May, which means this month my second short story collection, Urban Decay, will be released this month. It's been an interesting few days talking with the fellas at Grit Fiction to get the book ready for publication. Yesterday we approved the cover design (left), and it's something I'm very happy with. The design was created by Ryan Bracha, who did the recent Rogue cover, and it's got a nice cinematic feel to it - I'm going to get a blown up version printed for the wall at home.
I'm also delighted that a writer I have so much respect for, Gareth Spark, has agreed to write the foreword for Urban Decay. I'll be sticking a preview of what Gareth had to say up on the site in the coming days, but let's just say I'm blown away by his words. Whilst we're on the subject of Gareth Spark, he's got his on short story collection, Snake Farm, that's just been released. I was honoured with an advanced copy and asked to provide a quote about the collection. It's something very special, and I don't suggest, but demand you get a copy.
In other news, I've recently had stories accepted for publication at Spelk Fiction and the Flash Fiction Offensive, I'll be providing updates here when the stories are live.
4 April 2015 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new Near to the Knuckle anthology, Rogue. I told you how excited I was to be involved in this great collection of talent. Well, this week the book dropped on Amazon and you can get it here (UK) and here (US). When I wrote my blog about being included I mentioned that I was delighted to be in a pack of 21 great writers. No sooner had I finished and published that article had Darren and Craig from Near to the Knuckle, dropped a surprise author on us, Caffeine Nights author of The Fix, Keith Nixon. So, now you get 22 authors for your £2.49 - it's a steal! So go get it and don't forget to leave a review, we authors love to be told if you've enjoyed what we've done - there's even an authors contacts page at the back of the book so if you feel inclined drop us a line - despite what we write, we don't bite! (Fuck, that last bit sort of rhymes - I didn't mean it, honest and I'm too lazy to change it.)
You can read my thoughts on being in Rogue here
\21 February 2015 - It's been a good few weeks on the writing front. It took me a little longer than I expected (these things always do) but I've finished my collection, Urban Decay. The collection will end with my longest (published) story to date, it's a 10.5K word tale that introduces a new character and brings in a few other characters from the shorter stories in the collection. It's as yet untitled, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The whole collection is now with the publisher, Grit Fiction Ltd - hopefully there wont be too much work to do to it before it can be released. Talking of short story collections, my first collection, Criminal Thoughts, continues to pick up some very positive reviews. The US Amazon site has seen a couple added recently, it's always great to see that someone's enjoyed my work, so if you do have a copy on your Kindle, or you pick one up don't forget to let me know what you think. Criminal Thoughts is available now from Amazon at just £0.99 in the UK and $0.99 in the US
31 January 2015 - It's been a while since I wrote anything here (happy new year by the way!), the main reason for that is I've been busy finishing off my short story collection ready for publication by Grit Fiction. I'm writing a novelette for the end of the collection, and I'm hoping to have that finished in the next couple of weeks. Once that's done I hope to have some news of a release date for my next collection, Urban Decay. I've also written a novelette for a project T. Maxim Simmler is kicking off and I was delighted to be invited to get involved with, it's a 10,000 word story set in Las Vegas and will hopefully see the light of day in the first half of 2015. As well as writing some longer stuff (by my standards) I've also written something short that'll be published soon. The second Near to the Knuckle anthology, Rogue, will be released in the next few months and my story, Fish out of Water, will feature alongside a stellar line-up of talent. The full line-up isn't yet confirmed but it already includes some favourites of mine, Gary Duncan, Cal Marcuis, Gareth Spark, Tess Makovesky, Richard Godwin and Paul D Brazil, plus some names that are new to me and I'm looking forward to reading, Craig Furchtenicht, Gabriel Valjan and David Jaggers. Talking of Paul D Brazil he was kind enough to add my 2013 short story collection, Criminal Thoughts, to his website this week as one of his Recommended Reads, a great honour from a man who's writing talents I have a lot of respect for. Read what Paul has to say here
10 December 2014 - Yesterday was a very proud day for me as I signed my first publishing contract and I did it with a company taking its first leap into the game. I was absolutely delighted to sign a deal with GritFiction Ltd (the people behind the excellent Near to the Knuckle webzine) to publish my second short story collection, Urban Decay. I've known the guys behind Near to the Knuckle, Darren and Craig, for a number of years now and really respect what they've achieved with the site, including the excellent anthology Gloves Off, attracting some of the best underground writing talent to contribute to what is a must read site for fans of gritty short fiction. I also, most importantly respect them both as writers, Darren Sant deserves far more exposure than he gets for his work and Craig Douglas' short fiction was something I looked up to when I was starting to get into writing. That they've approached me to be the first author they publish under this new venture is a great honour for me and as soon as it was mentioned I was desperate to shout it from the rooftops - with the contract now signed I'm free to talk about it until my heart's content!
Near to the Knuckle has been a very generous supporter of my work for a long time going way back to the second short story I ever wrote, The Clean Up. I'd had a story published in the Byker Books Radgepacket series and then wrote this other story and started trying to find a home for it - no one was biting. I got all these rejection emails, 'not for us', 'too violent', 'this seems to just be a collection of violent occurrences with no point' (actually, that last one was pretty spot on - that was exactly the point of the story, everyone's expendable and there's no point to any of it!). Anyway, just as I was ready to give up on writing I discovered Near to the Knuckle, I gave it one last shot and the acceptance came back, 'this is right up our street, just the sort of gritty fiction we're looking for.' Since that day I haven't looked back, the story was well received by those that commented below and it gave me the confidence to write more. I've been published across various different collections and webzines, read fantastic work by massive talents and met great people that I now consider friends. There's a thriving community of talented writers out there and that GritFiction is stepping out from the shadows to try and provide a platform for exposure for these people can only be a good thing. You can read more about GritFiction and me signing with them here
In all the excitement of the past couple of weeks I also forgot to mention that I have had a story published by the wonderful Spelk Fiction webzine. If you want a very short sneak peak at one of the stories that will feature in my new collection you can read Real Men now
19 November 2014 - As today is my birthday I've decided to make my short story collection free for five days. You can grab a copy on amazon and just to help you find it I've even provided some links below! In other writing news keep your eyes peeled for something new and very short from me next week up at Spelk and I've also just been approached about a very exciting writing project for next year
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1416388030&sr=1-1&keywords=criminal+thoughts
US - http://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386250589&sr=1-1&keywords=Criminal+Thoughts
23 October 2014 - I never get bored of saying this (and I've been lucky enough to say it many times!)... I'm delighted to have had another story published by the excellent Near to the Knuckle webzine. My short story, Taking the Fall, was published this morning on the site and I'd like to thank Craig and Darren for having me once again! Near to the Knuckle was the first online 'zine to publish a story of mine and so will always be special to me, it's a great site that's going from strength to strength. Recent highlights on Near to the Knuckle include Ghosts by the one of the best undiscovered talents in the UK, Gareth Spark, Breathe by T Maxim Simmler and It's Just a Gun by Christopher Davis.
It's recently been announced that the Near to the Knuckle team will be producing a follow-up to 2013's Gloves Off anthology. I was part of that anthology, but looking at the quality of the work they're attracting to the webzine lately I'm going to have to work bloody hard to get into the next one! Better get my writing cap on! You can read, Taking the Fall here and whilst you're there don't forget to check out the other great work
In other news, there's a new flash fiction site out there, Spelk. Writer's get 500 words to tell a story there's some great work up there already from the likes of RJ Ellory, Ryan Sayles and Gareth Spark. Keep an eye on the site on 27 November for something new from me
http://spelkfiction.com
24 September 2014 - It doesn't feel like I've done a lot of writing lately, my two novellas have stalled and I can't even look at the novel at the moment. And yet, in the space of nine days I've had three short stories published, in The Big Adios Western Digest (Available here), Shotgun Honey, and, yesterday up at Pulp Metal Magazine. My Latest short, Pick Up, is a story of the wrong guy at the right time. It took me a while to really get this one right, I knew I had something but it never really felt completely as I wanted it too - I'd like to thank Jason Michael (Head Honcho at PMM), Darren Sant and Jason Beech for helping to steer it in the right direction as I now have a story I'm really happy with. If you want to read Pick Up head over to Pulp Metal Magazine now and whilst you're there don't forget to check out the other great writing that the site hosts.
20 September 2014 - One Eye Press has provided me with some of my favourite online reading moments over the past few years. I've long admired their short story site Shotgun Honey and when I got my first story published there early this year it was a proud moment for me. Their The Big Adios western site has also proven a great read over it's relatively short life. So, getting published by not one but two One Eye Press projects within a week has to count as one of my highlights as a writer, so far. 15 September saw my short story, The Replacement, published on Shotgun Honey and this coming Monday sees the release of the first quarterly The Big Adios Digest, including my first ever Western short, 15 Years.
Around this time last year I started putting together my first short story collection, Criminal Thoughts, and now it's time for my second collection to start to take form. The collection, titled Urban Decay: Short Tales from the Underbelly of the City, will include between 10-12 short stories and I hope to have it released by the end of the year. A preview of the cover design can be seen below, with photography courtesy of the hugely talented Kenny Bowers
6 August 2014 - I am delighted to have had another short story published by the excellent Near to the Knuckle webzine. My short story, Work Related Stress, is a very different story to what I've written before. There are no proper criminals in this one, only different types of victims. Head over to Near to the Knuckle if you feel like checking it out and whilst you're the don't forget to take a look at the other stories, recent highlights include When the Dealin's done, by T. Maxim Simmler and Shadows & Light - A Ballard Tale by Andrew Scorah.
25 July 2014 - The release date for Andrew Scorah's charity anthology Shadows & Light has been announced, you can get your hands on this collection of 37 stories from 2 August 2014. Proceeds from the anthology will go to Woman's Aid, a key UK charity working to end domestic violence against women and children. My story 'Killing in the name of...' will sit proudly alongside some of the best indie writers working today. Andrew Scorah has done sterling work encouraging fellow authors to donate stories to this very worthy cause, this is not just the biggest collection of stories I've been involved with so far, the talent on show suggests it'll be a great collection too.
I've been a big admirer of the work of Andrew Peters for the past couple of years, it's great to finally have a story alongside him in a book. I've been alongside Paul D. Brazill a number of times in collections, and every time it happens I can never quite believe it - the man's a writing rock star! And of course, being alongside Andrew Scorah himself is a great honour, his action-packed writing is hugely entertaining. What's always great about becoming involved in a new collection is discovering new writers, there are a number of names in this one that I've heard good things about so I'll look forward to delving into the book and seeing what it has to offer.
The full line up for Shadows & Light - Andrew Scorah, Absolutely*Kate Pilarcik, Paul D. Brazill,Thomas Pluck, Cath Bore, Andrew Vachss, Aidan Thorn, Frank Sonderborg,Graham Masterton, Seumas Gallacher, David Edgerley Gates, Keith Dixon,David Monk, George Beck, Gerry McCullough, Marie Bishop, Linda Bonney Olin,Roderick Low, Kerry Elizabeth Blickenderfer Black, Kevin Holton, Samuel Dickens, Andrew Peters, Juliet B Madison, K.A. Hambly, Caitlin O' Connor, Melissa Dougherty, William Rose, Tina Bausinger, Gay Ingram, Jane Morris, Dana Wright, Rayna L Stiner, Cass McCain, Hector Duarte Jr.
Shadows & Light is available on Amazon
27 May 2014 - Recently I've been doing my bit for charity. My short story 'Taking out the Trash' is in Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsider Anthology which was released this week. Proceeds for this great collection go to the Marfan Foundation. I've read a few of the tales already and if the standard of what I've read so far is anything to go on this collection is a great read. So go on, grab a copy, it's only 77p, it's entertaining and you'll be helping out a charity... You can buy it here
I've also just contributed a story to Andrew Scorah's planned anthology for Woman's Aid. My story, 'Killing in the Name of...' will be one of over 20 tales in this collection for a very worthy cause. Submissions are still open, so if you fancy helping out send Andrew your work...
Finally I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't tell you that my collection is currently 99p in the UK on a Kindle Countdown Deal, but not for long so grab it while it's cheap here
21 April 2014 - It's been a quiet couple of months for me on the writing front, sometimes life just gets in the way. That said there are still a few cool things to tell you about. Since my last update I have featured pretty heavily on Jason Beech's website. Jason is the author of Over the Shoulder and Bullets, Teeth & Fists, and he also runs an excellent site featuring reviews and interviews. At the end of February Jason reviewed Criminal Thoughts, I was delighted to see that he enjoyed it (well most of it). In March, Jason got in touch with me for an inteview, you can read how that went over on his site too. Finally, from Mr Beech, there was a review of Radgepacket 6, the book that is home to my first published story, Fingered. Check out Jason Beech's work over on Amazon.
Also since my last update, I have been confirmed as a contributor to Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsider Anthology. I'm not sure I can put into words quite how excited I am to be included in this collection - But I'll try. Firstly, Paul Brazill is a writer that I have huge respect for, he writes great fiction and spends a lot of time working to promote all that's going on in the indie gritty writing scene. In Gloves Off: The Near to the Knuckle Anthology I was honoured to follow Paul in the running order, being part of something Paul is putting together is pretty special to me. I'm a bit of a gatecrasher to the Exiles party, when I saw that Paul was putting the collection together I got in touch with Paul to ask if he was open to submissions, he wasn't, but told me to send him something anyway - I did and Paul included it, so I feel very lucky to be in. The other reason I feel lucky to be included is that the list of talent in this book is hugely impressive, I wont list them all here (you can find them on the link above) but there are so many excellent writers included in this collection - it's a huge honour (and more than a little intimidating!) to be in with such esteemed company. The book looks very slick with it's atmospheric cover, designed by Marcin Drzewiecki, there will also be an introduction from Heath Lowrance... this is a truly impressive set up, I just hope my story, Taking out the Trash doesn't let the side down!
28 February 2014 - I've had quite a week! I decided to make my short story collection Criminal Thoughts available free of charge for five days, the results were great, the book has now been downloaded hundreds of times across all of the Amazon territories. I was really grateful for the social media support I got from too many people to list during this promotion, there really is a great community of supportive indie writers out there. I've also been lucky enough to appear a few times across the web in the past week. The ever supportive Paul D Brazill, gave my collection a shout out in his must read Brit Grit Alley column over at Out of the Gutter. The collection has also been included in the Mysteries, Thrillers and Suspense section of Pittsburgh Writer's Best Fiction Books listing. This is a free listing for promoting excellence in indie writing. They wont just list anyone, the book has to be well reviewed and, read and approved by the list creators before inclusion. My inclusion on this list can't have been hurt by an excellent review of Criminal Thoughts by Gareth Spark over at his Crow Bait website. It always means more when someone who's work you respect likes what you're doing and Gareth is a short story writer I've admired for a couple of years now. He has a novel coming out later this year, so be sure to keep an eye out for that, it'll be great - I promise!
Finally, for now... I had another short story published by the excellent online collection Thrills, Kills 'N' Chaos. The Guest is my first ever horror story and I was delighted when David Barber said he wanted to publish it in his eZine. Head over and check it out, along with the other excellent story David is hosting over there!
11 February 2014 - It's been a while since I've updated this site but there's been plenty going on. Since releasing my short story collection Criminal Thoughts, I've jumped straight in to starting the next collection and now have eight stories ready. One of those, Loathe thy Neighbour, was published by Near to the Knuckle in October and last week saw another Waste Disposal published on Shotgun Honey. Shotgun Honey is a site I've long admired, full of excellent short stories (700 words or less), and I suggest if you pop over there to take a look at my story you spend a little time reading through the other stories there too, a recent highlight is Chris Leek's Westbound and Down.
I have also been lucky enough to have been interviewed by the wonderful Ruth Jacobs for her In the Booth with Ruth series. Ruth is a top writer and campaigner against human trafficking, if you're not already familiar with her work make sure you check out her site. Finally, for now, yesterday it was confirmed that another of my short stories Taking out the Trash will be part of Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsiders Anthology. I'm delighted to be part of this book, that has attracted some top writing talent, including the likes of Chris Leek, Gareth Spark and Paul himself. The book should be out sometime in March from Blackwitch Press.
4 December 2013 - Today I've released my first collection of short stories on Amazon. Criminal Thoughts: A Short Story Collection is available to download now, just in time for Christmas! So if you're getting a Kindle for Christmas or you've already got one why not follow the link and add this to your collection. I have to say a huge thanks to both Darren Sant, for looking over the stories for quality and David Barber who edited the collection for me http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386148251&sr=1-1&keywords=Criminal+Thoughts
19 October 2013 - Whilst waiting for the editing to be done on my short story collection 'Criminal Thoughts' I've been keeping myself busy. The line-up of stories for Criminal Thoughts is now complete, there are 11 stories inside this collection: Fingered, Brotherly Love, The Clean Up, Personal, Weighty Problem, After Hours, The War that took More, Killing in the Name of..., Simmon's Choice, Last Orders and A Present. Some of these stories have appeared in various anthologies and eZines, but they've all been edited and so there's something new on every page. Since completing the collection I've started on the next one, with four stories now complete, one of which is currently available on the excellent short fiction site Near to the Knuckle, why not head over there and check out Loathe thy Neighbour and don't forget to let me know what you think.
21 August 2013 - I was interviewed by Fiona Mcvie and you can read what I had to say here. In other news, I'm now putting together my short story collection 'Criminal Thoughts' with the aim of releasing it later in the 2013. So far this collection includes 11 stories but there could still be more to add.
30 July 2013 - My short story Last Orders is now available at Thrills, Kills 'N' CHAOS http://tknc.wordpress.com/
19 June 2013 - Very please to announce that I'll have a new short story, Last Orders, published by the new short fiction site Thrills, Kills 'N' CHAOS soon. It's an excellent new site, run by the talented David Barber, that has already showcased some excellent talent, why not head over there and take a look at what they have to offer... you wont be disappointed http://tknc.wordpress.com/
27 March 2013 - Gloves Off the Near to the Knuckle anthology is out now
21 March 2013 - The Near to the Knuckle Anthology is nearly here, read my thoughts on being included in this exciting new collection of hard hitting fiction here
17 Feb 2013 - It's been quite a week, two stories published, first 'Simmons' Choice' was up at Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers and then 'After Hours' went up on Near to the Knuckle. Near to the Knuckle will have an Anthology out soon, there's a really impressive line up of writers (and me) in this book including: Gareth Spark, Micheal Monson, Chris Leek, B.R. Stateham, Jim Spry, Walter Conley, David Barber, Tom Pitts, Allen Miles, Richard Godwin, Alan Griffiths, Brian Panowich, Ryan Sayles, Paul D. Brazill, Graham Smith, Veronica Marie Lewis Shaw, Vic Errington, Pete Sortwell - it's just a shame Near to the Knuckle editors Darren Sant and Craig Douglas haven't included a story of their own. Anyway to prepare yourselves for the anthology why don't you check out the great fiction over on the site. It's probably wrong to pick out favourites from what is a great collection of stories but recent highs include 'The Black' by Gareth Sparks and 'Not in the Cards' by Edward Vaughan. Go on check us all out over at Near to the Knuckle now
14 Feb 2013 - My latest short story 'Simmons' Choice' was published last night at Thrillers, Killers N' Chillers. I'm very proud to have been included on this great fiction site, thanks to David Barber and the guys at TKnC. To read the story click here and whilst you're over there don't forget to check out the other great writing
3 Dec 2012 - New interview with Allen Miles available
26 Nov 2012 - New interviews with Tom Arnold and Ed Byker Books available
27 Oct 2012 - New Author interview with Darren Sant available now
20 Sept 2012 - So that NEWS I couldn't tell you about (Below!) I can now revel that my story Brotherly Love has been selected for the Kindle Anthology of Near to the Knuckle. Submissions close at the end of the year so the story wont be available to read until sometime in 2013 I'd have thought. It's a great honour to be included in this anthology as Near to the Knuckle really do get some excellent writers submitting work. More information about Brotherly Love can be found on my Short Stories page.
17 Sept 2012 - I've just received some exciting news about my latest short-story Brotherly Love, I can't tell you about it just yet, but check back for an update soon.
25 July 2014 - The release date for Andrew Scorah's charity anthology Shadows & Light has been announced, you can get your hands on this collection of 37 stories from 2 August 2014. Proceeds from the anthology will go to Woman's Aid, a key UK charity working to end domestic violence against women and children. My story 'Killing in the name of...' will sit proudly alongside some of the best indie writers working today. Andrew Scorah has done sterling work encouraging fellow authors to donate stories to this very worthy cause, this is not just the biggest collection of stories I've been involved with so far, the talent on show suggests it'll be a great collection too.
I've been a big admirer of the work of Andrew Peters for the past couple of years, it's great to finally have a story alongside him in a book. I've been alongside Paul D. Brazill a number of times in collections, and every time it happens I can never quite believe it - the man's a writing rock star! And of course, being alongside Andrew Scorah himself is a great honour, his action-packed writing is hugely entertaining. What's always great about becoming involved in a new collection is discovering new writers, there are a number of names in this one that I've heard good things about so I'll look forward to delving into the book and seeing what it has to offer.
The full line up for Shadows & Light - Andrew Scorah, Absolutely*Kate Pilarcik, Paul D. Brazill,Thomas Pluck, Cath Bore, Andrew Vachss, Aidan Thorn, Frank Sonderborg,Graham Masterton, Seumas Gallacher, David Edgerley Gates, Keith Dixon,David Monk, George Beck, Gerry McCullough, Marie Bishop, Linda Bonney Olin,Roderick Low, Kerry Elizabeth Blickenderfer Black, Kevin Holton, Samuel Dickens, Andrew Peters, Juliet B Madison, K.A. Hambly, Caitlin O' Connor, Melissa Dougherty, William Rose, Tina Bausinger, Gay Ingram, Jane Morris, Dana Wright, Rayna L Stiner, Cass McCain, Hector Duarte Jr.
Shadows & Light is available on Amazon
27 May 2014 - Recently I've been doing my bit for charity. My short story 'Taking out the Trash' is in Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsider Anthology which was released this week. Proceeds for this great collection go to the Marfan Foundation. I've read a few of the tales already and if the standard of what I've read so far is anything to go on this collection is a great read. So go on, grab a copy, it's only 77p, it's entertaining and you'll be helping out a charity... You can buy it here
I've also just contributed a story to Andrew Scorah's planned anthology for Woman's Aid. My story, 'Killing in the Name of...' will be one of over 20 tales in this collection for a very worthy cause. Submissions are still open, so if you fancy helping out send Andrew your work...
Finally I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't tell you that my collection is currently 99p in the UK on a Kindle Countdown Deal, but not for long so grab it while it's cheap here
21 April 2014 - It's been a quiet couple of months for me on the writing front, sometimes life just gets in the way. That said there are still a few cool things to tell you about. Since my last update I have featured pretty heavily on Jason Beech's website. Jason is the author of Over the Shoulder and Bullets, Teeth & Fists, and he also runs an excellent site featuring reviews and interviews. At the end of February Jason reviewed Criminal Thoughts, I was delighted to see that he enjoyed it (well most of it). In March, Jason got in touch with me for an inteview, you can read how that went over on his site too. Finally, from Mr Beech, there was a review of Radgepacket 6, the book that is home to my first published story, Fingered. Check out Jason Beech's work over on Amazon.
Also since my last update, I have been confirmed as a contributor to Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsider Anthology. I'm not sure I can put into words quite how excited I am to be included in this collection - But I'll try. Firstly, Paul Brazill is a writer that I have huge respect for, he writes great fiction and spends a lot of time working to promote all that's going on in the indie gritty writing scene. In Gloves Off: The Near to the Knuckle Anthology I was honoured to follow Paul in the running order, being part of something Paul is putting together is pretty special to me. I'm a bit of a gatecrasher to the Exiles party, when I saw that Paul was putting the collection together I got in touch with Paul to ask if he was open to submissions, he wasn't, but told me to send him something anyway - I did and Paul included it, so I feel very lucky to be in. The other reason I feel lucky to be included is that the list of talent in this book is hugely impressive, I wont list them all here (you can find them on the link above) but there are so many excellent writers included in this collection - it's a huge honour (and more than a little intimidating!) to be in with such esteemed company. The book looks very slick with it's atmospheric cover, designed by Marcin Drzewiecki, there will also be an introduction from Heath Lowrance... this is a truly impressive set up, I just hope my story, Taking out the Trash doesn't let the side down!
28 February 2014 - I've had quite a week! I decided to make my short story collection Criminal Thoughts available free of charge for five days, the results were great, the book has now been downloaded hundreds of times across all of the Amazon territories. I was really grateful for the social media support I got from too many people to list during this promotion, there really is a great community of supportive indie writers out there. I've also been lucky enough to appear a few times across the web in the past week. The ever supportive Paul D Brazill, gave my collection a shout out in his must read Brit Grit Alley column over at Out of the Gutter. The collection has also been included in the Mysteries, Thrillers and Suspense section of Pittsburgh Writer's Best Fiction Books listing. This is a free listing for promoting excellence in indie writing. They wont just list anyone, the book has to be well reviewed and, read and approved by the list creators before inclusion. My inclusion on this list can't have been hurt by an excellent review of Criminal Thoughts by Gareth Spark over at his Crow Bait website. It always means more when someone who's work you respect likes what you're doing and Gareth is a short story writer I've admired for a couple of years now. He has a novel coming out later this year, so be sure to keep an eye out for that, it'll be great - I promise!
Finally, for now... I had another short story published by the excellent online collection Thrills, Kills 'N' Chaos. The Guest is my first ever horror story and I was delighted when David Barber said he wanted to publish it in his eZine. Head over and check it out, along with the other excellent story David is hosting over there!
11 February 2014 - It's been a while since I've updated this site but there's been plenty going on. Since releasing my short story collection Criminal Thoughts, I've jumped straight in to starting the next collection and now have eight stories ready. One of those, Loathe thy Neighbour, was published by Near to the Knuckle in October and last week saw another Waste Disposal published on Shotgun Honey. Shotgun Honey is a site I've long admired, full of excellent short stories (700 words or less), and I suggest if you pop over there to take a look at my story you spend a little time reading through the other stories there too, a recent highlight is Chris Leek's Westbound and Down.
I have also been lucky enough to have been interviewed by the wonderful Ruth Jacobs for her In the Booth with Ruth series. Ruth is a top writer and campaigner against human trafficking, if you're not already familiar with her work make sure you check out her site. Finally, for now, yesterday it was confirmed that another of my short stories Taking out the Trash will be part of Paul D Brazill's Exiles: An Outsiders Anthology. I'm delighted to be part of this book, that has attracted some top writing talent, including the likes of Chris Leek, Gareth Spark and Paul himself. The book should be out sometime in March from Blackwitch Press.
4 December 2013 - Today I've released my first collection of short stories on Amazon. Criminal Thoughts: A Short Story Collection is available to download now, just in time for Christmas! So if you're getting a Kindle for Christmas or you've already got one why not follow the link and add this to your collection. I have to say a huge thanks to both Darren Sant, for looking over the stories for quality and David Barber who edited the collection for me http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criminal-Thoughts-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00H2XQ174/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386148251&sr=1-1&keywords=Criminal+Thoughts
19 October 2013 - Whilst waiting for the editing to be done on my short story collection 'Criminal Thoughts' I've been keeping myself busy. The line-up of stories for Criminal Thoughts is now complete, there are 11 stories inside this collection: Fingered, Brotherly Love, The Clean Up, Personal, Weighty Problem, After Hours, The War that took More, Killing in the Name of..., Simmon's Choice, Last Orders and A Present. Some of these stories have appeared in various anthologies and eZines, but they've all been edited and so there's something new on every page. Since completing the collection I've started on the next one, with four stories now complete, one of which is currently available on the excellent short fiction site Near to the Knuckle, why not head over there and check out Loathe thy Neighbour and don't forget to let me know what you think.
21 August 2013 - I was interviewed by Fiona Mcvie and you can read what I had to say here. In other news, I'm now putting together my short story collection 'Criminal Thoughts' with the aim of releasing it later in the 2013. So far this collection includes 11 stories but there could still be more to add.
30 July 2013 - My short story Last Orders is now available at Thrills, Kills 'N' CHAOS http://tknc.wordpress.com/
19 June 2013 - Very please to announce that I'll have a new short story, Last Orders, published by the new short fiction site Thrills, Kills 'N' CHAOS soon. It's an excellent new site, run by the talented David Barber, that has already showcased some excellent talent, why not head over there and take a look at what they have to offer... you wont be disappointed http://tknc.wordpress.com/
27 March 2013 - Gloves Off the Near to the Knuckle anthology is out now
21 March 2013 - The Near to the Knuckle Anthology is nearly here, read my thoughts on being included in this exciting new collection of hard hitting fiction here
17 Feb 2013 - It's been quite a week, two stories published, first 'Simmons' Choice' was up at Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers and then 'After Hours' went up on Near to the Knuckle. Near to the Knuckle will have an Anthology out soon, there's a really impressive line up of writers (and me) in this book including: Gareth Spark, Micheal Monson, Chris Leek, B.R. Stateham, Jim Spry, Walter Conley, David Barber, Tom Pitts, Allen Miles, Richard Godwin, Alan Griffiths, Brian Panowich, Ryan Sayles, Paul D. Brazill, Graham Smith, Veronica Marie Lewis Shaw, Vic Errington, Pete Sortwell - it's just a shame Near to the Knuckle editors Darren Sant and Craig Douglas haven't included a story of their own. Anyway to prepare yourselves for the anthology why don't you check out the great fiction over on the site. It's probably wrong to pick out favourites from what is a great collection of stories but recent highs include 'The Black' by Gareth Sparks and 'Not in the Cards' by Edward Vaughan. Go on check us all out over at Near to the Knuckle now
14 Feb 2013 - My latest short story 'Simmons' Choice' was published last night at Thrillers, Killers N' Chillers. I'm very proud to have been included on this great fiction site, thanks to David Barber and the guys at TKnC. To read the story click here and whilst you're over there don't forget to check out the other great writing
3 Dec 2012 - New interview with Allen Miles available
26 Nov 2012 - New interviews with Tom Arnold and Ed Byker Books available
27 Oct 2012 - New Author interview with Darren Sant available now
20 Sept 2012 - So that NEWS I couldn't tell you about (Below!) I can now revel that my story Brotherly Love has been selected for the Kindle Anthology of Near to the Knuckle. Submissions close at the end of the year so the story wont be available to read until sometime in 2013 I'd have thought. It's a great honour to be included in this anthology as Near to the Knuckle really do get some excellent writers submitting work. More information about Brotherly Love can be found on my Short Stories page.
17 Sept 2012 - I've just received some exciting news about my latest short-story Brotherly Love, I can't tell you about it just yet, but check back for an update soon.
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