"THE" Email.

Found this in my inbox today:

"Reggie,

We have just submitted 'The House in Wales' to Kindle so that it will be up in time for your launch party on Friday.

It is fully edited to CH21 and has been quickly edited to the end (leaving some punctuation changes to do mostly). We will submit an update tomorrow, but it might be best to advise friends to wait until Monday for a fully-edited version."

So, that's it, it's up tomorrow peeps :-)

I will of course be sharing the link and I hope you in turn, as my friends and family, will do so as well :-)

It'd be a good idea to wait for the cleaned up version, and I think Tim only put it up because I blabbed and told everyone it'll be up this week, (I so wish I could be a tad more discreet), but there you go, that's how I roll.

This release went a lot faster than "Division" did and I can't lie, I'm really happy with it, Tim's edits as well.

Anyway, it's up tomorrow if you want it. 

As you were.

Reggie :-D

Book trailer for The House in Wales

Just thought I'd put the trailer up for, "House".
I hope you like it.
The House in Wales

As you were.
Reggie.

The hour draweth nigh...

I had a great email last night.

The House in Wales is looking to be released next week!!

I knew it was coming, I'd already been told it was on its final edit and they'd approved of the cover, but to read those words incited the same range of emotions I'd experience if I were locked in an off license.

So, what's it about?

Well, the main protagonist, Daniel Kelly, is a young man from Liverpool who has recently lost his mother during the Blitz. He's evacuated to Colwyn Bay to escape the destruction and ends up in the home of a vicar and his very prim house keeper.

However, all is not what it seems...

I won't go too much into the story but the prudish facade soon falls away to reveal the true nature of their relationship, one of sexual obsession, devil worship and human sacrifice.

It is, without a doubt, something I would not have naturally moved on to. My plan was to write part two to The Division of the Damned and then finish off my Jurassic Park meets War and Peace epic. However, Kathleen stopped those plans in their tracks when she wrote to me and asked if I would have a go at writing a story about a haunted house, (a part of the story I haven't yet mentioned but is germane to the plot).

The thing was, American Horror Story had just finished its first season and had done really well, putting haunted houses firmly back on the horror map. Would I be interested in having a go at writing something in that vein?

I hadn't even seen American Horror Story, but I tentatively said yes and watched some episodes, (kindly lent to me by my good friend Andi Renson) to have a feel for how it should be.

I loved it and started the project off more or less straight away. The whole twisted nature of the series, with the personal issues and histories of the characters adding to its maniacal ambience, inspired me immediately. Nevertheless, how was I going to approach it? There was no way I could simply copy the programme so I looked for an idea that could carry the plot.

I didn't have to wait long, (if there's one thing I'm never short of, it's ideas for stories) and I set the plot down.

We'd just returned from a holiday in Wales and my home town was ever present in my thoughts, so I decided to set it in Colwyn Bay, (well, Old Colwyn to be specific). I knew that The Bay had received evacuees from Liverpool and that period felt about right. Hardly anyone had a telephone at that time so isolating Daniel in a foreign environment would be easy. I could also make the prim and proper bearing of the villains believable. People like Miss Trimble and Reverend Davies just don't exist any more, not in these unashamedly self-indulgent times anyway.

The book is off my beaten track but I'm immensely proud of it and I hope that you'll like it too.

That said, I'm also praying fervently that my Mam doesn't read it. There are a couple of rather racy/pervy/sick parts in there that might mar the immaculate mental image she has of her eldest son... ;-)

All the best.

Reg.

The House in Wales. A wee taster, which has nothing to do with drinking waste fluids I can assure you.

OK peeps, it's on!
The manuscript is now being looked at, edited, scribbled on, scrumpled up and flushed down the loo, (all part of the publication process, I can assure you), and the cover has been given the nod from the Boss.
Green light, green light !!

Here's the finished cover:

          ... and I'm VERY happy with it.
No, seriously, VERY happy with it :-)
And here's a wee taster, (which, as promised, has nothing to do with urine or dicky bladders).

Chapter 1

     The door slammed shut and instantly Danny was awake, reason screeching in alarm. He saw his breath like steam in the moon's watery light and a slight tremor passed through his bladder. Pulling up the bed clothes, he covered his mouth as his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dark corners of the room. It was back and at that moment in time he didn't feel as brave as he had earlier. He'd been ambushed by sleep and now, after being bluntly woken by the slamming door, he felt vulnerable and scared.

     It was freezing again and the small voice at the back of his mind needlessly reminded him the window was closed. Not daring to move, he waited for something to happen, his mind racing in unspoken prayer that nothing would.

     Slowly the temperature changed and he sensed the cold retreating towards the closet. He could feel it ebbing away like a retreating tide, almost pulsing as it withdrew. It was leaving he told himself, willing it to be true.

    Unexpectedly a small puff of cold air hit his face and he jerked back as something whispered hatefully into his ear, "Make no mistake, your mother's with me Danny and she's burning in hell for all the bad stuff she did for you."

     Instinct's swift hand took over clear thought as Danny dashed under the covers, knuckling his mouth in silent, absolute terror; wishing he was dead so this horror could end.

                               ................................................

OK, I lied, it did have a little to do with pee pee but not mine or yours.

Right, that's it for now.

Still haven't heard anything about the anthology, but all good things to those who wait; unless you're in an establishment that runs on a first come, first served basis that is.

Reggie :-)

Has it really been that long...?

How many times have I used that as a header?

Well, lots probably.

Whatever, there's been so much going on recently, I don't know where to start.

I finished the translation for my mate Andi Renson. Actually it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I managed it in the end. I then sent it to Paul Rudd to have a look and make sure the English was OK, and not a sort of half English, half German mish-mash. So he decided to do a complete rewrite!

Anyway, I then went through his edit and hopefully it's all Kosher, as they say in Tottenham. Andi's happy with it, that's the main thing.

So, Mr. Renson then made a cover for, "The House in Wales" for me and I love it! It's only the front right now but here it is.

The blurb on the back goes like this:

Recently orphaned by the bombing of Liverpool at the start of World War Two, Daniel Kelly is evacuated to the relative safety of Colwyn Bay in North Wales, unaware of the evil that awaits him.

On his arrival he is cast into the terrifying realm of Satan and his acolytes, a world of escalating human sacrifice and voracious desires, in the form of a village priest and his seemingly prim housekeeper.

Will Danny, isolated, inexperienced and vulnerable, survive where so many others have recently succumbed?

Or will there be another victim claimed by The House in Wales?

So what do you think? Sound good? Would you want to buy it or are you saving your pennies for that Mills and Boon Bumper Christmas edition?

I was also awarded my first One Star review the other day.

Well, it's been a long time coming and the world is full of haters, so I wasn't surprised. The timing of its discovery left a lot to be desired, (five in the morning, drinking a coffee before early shift) and it did ruin my mood until at least 10 o'clock. However, the response of my friends was marvellous and it cheered me up no end at the support I received for "Division".

It's only a review from a hater who I'll never meet, so sod him. 

Don't get me wrong, I know my book isn't the best thing since sliced... err...Chapatti? It's a fallible and naive as any first book.  However, his points were laughable and the only thing that really grates is the "One Star Scar" on a very respectable run of Amazon reviews.

So, enough of that, move on Jones, move on.

Right, that's it for now. Any news, I'll let you know about it around six weeks after it's happened. That seems to be as prompt as I get nowadays.

Tara.

Reggie