REVIEW: Mercedes M. Yardley - Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

Publication Date: 4^th March 2016

Pages: 280

REVIEWED BY ALEX

A copy of Pretty Little Dead Things was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Crystal Lake Publishing, in return for an honest review. This is said review.

In writing book reviews, I have made a solemn vow to never give any spoilers. No plot reveals or important, hidden character traits that drive the story. I rarely check out book reviews myself for the simple reason that I want to read the story myself and be surprised. I will, however, tell you my thoughts on the book and how it made me feel. I will discuss the writing style and do my best to persuade you to read it if I feel it’s worthy of such praise. If not, I won’t harp on the negative aspects to try and belittle the author as is done in social media too often these days...

The particular book I am discussing here, this singular experience of comforting horror unfolded with each word in an agonizing beauty of anticipation. From the first sentence of Pretty Little Dead Girls, Mercedes M Yardley announced the story would be painful. In a handful of perfectly chosen words, she announced plainly how scorchingly sad the pages ahead were going to be. In order to prepare myself, I read and re-read the first line over and again for two days before continuing on into the rest of the book. What I wasn’t, what I couldn’t be prepared for, was how densely gorgeous her writing was.

Yardley tells you what to expect. She paints with a vibrant brush coating the words with lush colorful language. Her consistency throughout the entire book is breath-taking. It is remarkable to create such a unique stylistic tactic in and of itself, but that Yardley never once veers away from her technique brought me to tears on many occasions. I sat on the couch, my cheeks red and puffy, wiping the wetness on my forearms sleeved or not.

“Dad,” my son said. “Why are you crying?”

“It’s this book.” I held up the tablet and showed him the screen.

“Don’t read it anymore.” He snatched it from my hand. “I don’t want you to be sad.”

“It’s okay.” I laughed. “I’m not sad. The story is so beautiful.”

Too young to understand, he begrudgingly handed me back the Kindle Fire. This time he sat next to me while I read to make sure I was okay. What can I say? He’s a good egg, this kid.

From the first sentence of Pretty Little Dead Girls, you know something bad is going to happen. This is not a spoiler. It’s in the book itself. You know it will. It is mentioned quite often in fact. And yes, bad things do indeed happen. Some intensely terrible events that you’ll need to brace yourself for.

Make no mistake, this is a dark and deadly world between the covers. Inside, the darkness blossoms a romance that I wager is more beautiful than any Harlequin Trade Paperback you’ll find. With incredible skill, Yardley keeps the nuance in her turns of phrase without becoming heavy handed. A lesser writer could easily fall into such traps losing the dreamlike hypnotism.

Each time I stepped away from the book and returned to normal life, I’d find myself eagerly wishing to drop what I was doing and escape back into the story and its magnificent wordplay. If you can’t tell, I love to read. I always have several books going at once. But there are times, however rare, when my eyes refuse to focus on any book save one. Pretty Little Dead Girls was most definitely one of those times.

I had heard the name Mercedes M Yardley before. I regret not having picked up one of her books before. I am thrilled by the possibilities of what wonders are in store for me in her previous work. And I am more than envious of you with the opportunity to read Pretty Little Dead Things for the first time. Be warned, bad things will happen. Beautiful bad things.

Alex's rating:

★★★★★

Reviewed by Alex Kimmell.

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Pretty Little Dead Girls or any other books from Mercedes. This not only supports us but also lets us know how many people actually like to buy books after reading our reviews.

Thanks.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Synopsis:

BRYONY ADAMS IS DESTINED TO BE MURDERED, but fortunately Fate has terrible marksmanship. In order to survive, she must run as far and as fast as she can. After arriving in Seattle, Bryony befriends a tortured musician, a market fish-thrower, and a starry-eyed hero who is secretly a serial killer bent on fulfilling Bryony’s dark destiny.

Mercedes M. Yardley’s Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy is a dark, lovely fairy tale with lyrical language and a high body count. It features a cover by Hugo Award Winner GALEN DARA.

Hi. I’m Mercedes. I have two broken laptops, three kids, a husband and no time to write, although I try my very best. I like to write stories. I like to write poems. I like to write essays and sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they aren’t.

I know how to throw a tomahawk and I wear red corduroys because they make me happy. That’s also why I write: I like being happy.

And for about Mercedes, visit her site or find her on social media:

Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page

Closing the Loop, Heading Home

Scott and I took a relatively long drive, yesterday: from Cottonwood Hot Springs to Pagosa Springs. We split up and took two different routes. I wanted some of the US 50 experience and he wanted to try out a barely-marked road from Cottonwood part way to Gunnison. Apparently, the two routes are pretty similar, since we arrived at the designated restaurant close to the same time. From there, we rode to Pagosa and arrived around 4PM.

On the way, I saw some seriously decimated pin forests. I took this shot because I felt that it did a fairly good job of showing how badly damaged the southern Colorado pine forests are. We drove through almost 50 miles of this kind of scenery. Nearly, the only green on the mountains were deciduous. At least 90% of the pines are dead or dying. The Forest Service is solidly between a rock and hard place. The forests need to burn to kill off the bugs that are killing the trees. If the take burn, they will take out a lot of property and people will be whining that they’re not being protected properly.

I snagged a shot of Scott reloading his gear at a quick roadside stop; just toi prove that I have at least one real friend on this planet. There have been doubters out there.

After a day hiking around Pagosa Springs and hitting the hot water hard, we crashed fairly late for us and I got up early to do a full pass maintenance on my bike. About 7AM, I hit the road toward home. Two hundred miles later, I stopped for a few hours to catch up with an aunjt and uncle who live near Castle Rock. From there, I hit the road about 5PM, so instead of taking the familiar route up I76, I went straight west and followed CO 86 to I70 where I’ll turn north at Colby and head into Nebraska.

North of my route, the weather looked fierce. Storm clouds were black and ominous to my left for 100 miles. Eventually, I wore out and the rain started to slide my direction. I found a cheap motel and unpacked quickly. Before I could get back, it was pouring. I got soaked bagging up the bike buit it was worth it. The streets were overflowing and myt rear case is not particularly water-tight.

Tomorrow, I head north in about 60 miles.

ANNOUNCEMENT: WELCOME OUR NEW REVIEWERS!!

So, whenever I set Confessions up, in February 2015, I did it for something to do. I was told I was quite good at this reviewing lark and I should do it, so I did. It started off as somewhere to put my reviews and keep them tidy. It led from one thing to another, and here we are today.

Sixteen months on and I have several features running alongside the reviews. 330 posts published. 63,500 hits. 22 interviews. I could go on and on with the stats.

Again I can’t thank you all enough for keeping coming back and keeping me going. To all the authors and publishers and presses that give up their time and energy and books, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without your generosity I would have no content.

I have been a big bit behind lately hence why the website isn’t up and running yet. This will be rectified soon. I have two weeks off work in July and everything else is being put on the back burner until the site is up and running.

So this brings me to a point I never thought Confessions would reach. Even though I have been closed for submissions for about a year, you pesky authors keep bothering me and I just can’t say no to you. The backlog has reached a point I just cannot manage on my own, so, it gives me great pleasure to say the next bit:

Please welcome the two newest members of the Confessions of a Reviewer team!

Chad Clark and Alex Kimmell!

Now I asked these two fellas for a picture of themselves and a bio. I knew I would get a picture of sorts and I also knew what sort of bio I would get. You author types love to write novella’s and novels and reviews and guest posts but when it comes to writing something about yourselves, you are pathetic! They are the shortest bio’s I have ever seen.

Anyway, please greet them with open arms and give them mighty support as they help out with the reviews and bring their own unique styles to the site. I have been impressed with what I have seen from these two guys to date and I know they are going to give you well constructed, honest and spoiler free reviews so you will have even MORE to look forward from with Confessions. Links to their websites are on here as well so go have a look around!

Alex Kimmell

similar to most humans, alex kimmell is made from a high percentage of dihydrogen monoxide. he inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. to provide energy for survival, he consumes necessary resources. with his wife and two male offspring, he resides in the smallest american state. their two short legged canines keep the squirrels at bay.

he has nightmares...

visit him at alexkimmell.com

Chad Clark

Chad is a lifelong sufferer of a serious reading habit. His creative sensibilities grew forth from the likes of Tolkien, King, Anne Rice and John Bellairs, just to name a few. He is a published author of both horror and science fiction.

You can find out more at www.cclarkfiction.net

I will highlight who has reviewed each book as it goes live now just so you know who says what about what. If you are an author or press or publisher, please feel free to ask for one of us specifically if you wish. We will probably all have our own favourite sub-genres to read, and review as well.

Again thank you all so much for your continued support. Watch out for the announcement on the full website opening towards the end of July.

Thanks for coming to Confessions. Tell your friends about us!

Nev.

REVIEW: Nuzo Onoh - The Sleepless

Genre: Horror / African

Publisher: Canaan-Star Publishing

Publication Date: 28^th June 2016

Pages: 314

REVIEWED BY NEV:

A copy of The Sleepless, by Nuzo Onoh, was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the publishers, Canaan-Star Publishing, in exchange for an honest review. This is said review.

This one intrigued me when it landed in my inbox. Firstly, I had never heard of Nuzo Onoh and secondly, it was blurbed as African horror and this interested me. After asking around a few people, some came forward and said they had read previous books by Ms Onoh and loved them so I decided to give it a go.

This was certainly a horror book with a bit of a difference. One that would affect me in some very deep ways.

Kene has gone missing. His sister Obele misses him terribly and cannot wait for the day he returns. When she sees him in her dreams she misses him even more, until she realises that she isn’t dreaming when she sees him. She sees his ghost.

Once she realises he is dead, she sets out to try and find out who is responsible. With guidance from a mysterious voice that talks to her inside her head she tries to uncover the truth. Little does she know that others are plotting her own death, and the war is coming.

This is certainly different from any horror story I have read previously. Set in Nigeria during the Biafran war in the late 60’s, this story is horrific in so many different ways that it will scare you and make you feel totally helpless. I will explain that later.

We have a few characters of note in this one. Obele is the main one the story focuses on. When it starts, she is only six years old but with a mind and attitude that belies her young age. She is confident in many things but quite obviously a young child in others. Her sister Ada is her closest ally. She is older and definitely the kindest person in this story. I wonder though sometimes if she was like this to protect herself.

Papa is Obele’s father. This man is despicable. He is vile. He is horrible. He is a person I would like to meet in a dark alley for five minutes. On the other hand, everything he does is in keeping with the beliefs and ways of the people, in that place, at that time so can you really blame him? Hmmm yes I can. Despicable.

There are a host of others involved in the story. Some good. Some evil. Others in between. To go through them all would take a while and give a lot of the story away. All you really need to know is that they all fit together perfectly and even though you may not understand how some of them can act and react in the things they do, Ms Onoh does an extremely good job of making you realise it was just how things were.

The plot is as I said earlier. Kene has been killed and Obele wants to find out by who, and try and help Kene’s soul to get some peace. Others want to stop her in her tracks to protect their own selfish deeds and she doesn’t realise just how much danger she is in. Then, there is the war coming. A war that is so brutal in its execution that anyone who survives will be scarred in a way that would stay with them for the rest of their life.

So what’s it written like? No frills. That’s the immediate thought I have. This is dealing with a subject that a lot of you probably know nothing about. I did because I studied a little bit of it in school but that was a long time ago. The unfortunate thing is that the subject matter is what I would best describe as harrowing. There are things that happen in this book that are very unpleasant to read. The treatment of children in those days was unbelievably horrific. Especially in the respect of the many varying religious beliefs in the region and the old fashioned witch doctor types that seemed to brain wash their people and practice more in the dark arts than actually trying to help people.

That’s what this book deals with in abundance. It is very supernatural. It’s almost like a tale of old voodoo as we westerners would probably think of it. A lot of it you would imagine would be made up in this story but to be honest I’m not so sure. This is written by a lady who lived through this time and has reportedly lived through some of the situations described in the story as well. That is always at the back of your mind when you read this and it almost feels autobiographical at some points. This definitely lends another macabre element to it and it will make your skin crawl.

All in all, I did enjoy this. Being a father, it is a bit hard to read at times due to the cruelty involved, but again you need to accept that this was the way of life for the people during these times. Doesn’t make it any easier to read though.

Nuzo Onoh paints a wonderful picture of the area and the sights and smells of the times. To get the true feeling of the story across, these sights and smells aren’t very pleasant a lot of the time but again that is necessary. It certainly brings plenty of horror to the story and, if you believe that some of the methods and demons and horrors are true, it certainly makes it even more scary.

To summarise: a dark, dark tale of the supernatural and witch craft set in the harrowing times of the Biafran war in Nigeria during the late 60’s. Harrowing most of the way, you can expect plenty of creepiness and plenty of horror and mind bending scenes. Be prepared though. Some of it is not pleasant to read due the horrific cultural attitudes of the time.

General rating:

★★★★ enjoyable but difficult to read at times for me.

Horror rating:

★★★★ certainly creepy.

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy The Sleepless or any other books from Nuzo. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.

Thanks.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Synopsis:

An innocent boy is lured to his death by the one person that should have protected him. Someone knows the truth about his disappearance; his little sister, Obele, a child that hears a secret voice which tells her terrible things no child should know about. Obele knows too much and must be killed. Her salvation lies in the hands of her new friends, a group of giggling little girls she meets at an abandoned "cursed house." Except their friendship comes with a terrible price. And suddenly, Obele starts to ask herself who exactly...or rather, what exactly are her new friends. Worse, how can she free the tormented ghost of her dead brother, trapped by a witchdoctor's curse? Set amidst the Biafran War, "The Sleepless" follows one child's struggles against both the natural and supernatural forces that threaten to end her life before the deadly enemy bombs can do so. And perhaps, death from the skies is a better option than the terrifying alternative. "The Sleepless" - Another chilling tale about the restless and vengeful dead by the Queen of African Horror, Nuzo Onoh."

Nuzo Cambridge Onoh is a British writer of African heritage. Born in Enugu, in the Eastern part of Nigeria (formerly known as The Republic of Biafra), Nuzo has been championing the horror subgenre, African Horror. Nuzo holds a Law Degree and a Master’s Degree in Writing from Warwick University, (England). A keen musician, she plays both the piano and guitar and enjoys writing songs in her spare time. Her book, The Reluctant Dead (2014), introduced modern African Horror into mainstream Horror genre. Her other books include Unhallowed Graves (2015) and The Sleepless (2016). Nuzo lives in Coventry, England, from where she runs Canaan-Star Publishing.

And for more about Nuzo, visit her site or find her on social media:

Website – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon Page

Old Colorado, New Colorado

Yesterday, I passed through Vail, never one of my favorite places in Colorado. The last 20 years have been tough on that part of Colorado. 1%’ers have cluttered up the mountains with their litterbox condos and incredibly ugly shopping centers. It’s hard to tell there are mountains around the place. My old haunt, Steamboat Springs, is similarly ratted-out with overpriced housing and trendiness. I don’t see me ever going back there again.

Scott recommended meeiting in Leadville and that turned out to be a great suggestion. Leadville hasn’t been mangled by the weirdness of our deficit economy and it is still a very traditional Colorado town. Colorado’s generally insane drive to contaminate as much of that state’s beautiful and rare assets has bothered me since I was a kid visiting the state with my family. It’s nice to see that not everyone wants to turn the mountains into New York.

From there, we headed off on a huge 54 mile adventure to Buena Vista and Cottonwood Hot Springs. This is one of the nicest private hot springs I’ve experienced.  The surroundings are beautiful. The springs are hot enough to satisfy a boiled egg. It’s been a good day. In a couple of days, I’ll be pounding my way back home, so getting to hang with a friend and relax in a place that I like a lot is a gift. Tomorrow, we’re heading for Gunnison and, possibly, Pagosa Springs. After that, I’m aiming my bike toward Denver to North Platt and up into central Nebraska and home. I might take as long as three days to get back home, but I might also decided to pound some super slab and make time across the flyover territory. I think I saw the best Nebraska has to offer on the way out and it might be hard to find a return path that has anything near last week’s ride out.

Scott is on a 2014 V-Strom, with ABS and all the Suzuki trimmings. My old rat bike is a decade older and a generation older technology. Hopefully, sometime this trip we’ll swap bikes and I’ll get a feel for what the new model is like.

REVIEW: Duncan Ralston - Every Part of the Animal

Genre: Crime / Thriller

Publisher: Shadow Work Publishing

Publication Date: 6^th June 2016

Pages: 126

REVIEWED BY NEV:

A copy of Every Part of The Animal was sent to Confessions of a Reviewer by the author, Duncan Ralston in exchange for an honest review. This is said review. This book is published by Shadow Work Publishing.

So everyone’s favourite Canadian person has a new book out! This one fell under my radar for some reason. I think it was because it is a crime thriller type story rather than the out and out horror we are used to from Mr Ralston. If you read any of my reviews of Mr Ralston’s previous work (included at the bottom of this review) you will see that in terms of his horror writing, I never fail to be impressed. Diverging into writing crime stories? I’m sure he could cope with the writing side of it. Would it be any good though?

This is what I thought.

Bo Lowery and her son, Caleb live a simple life. This is through circumstance rather than choice. They have a little house with next to no amenities and have to hunt for their food.

After one of these hunts, they come face to face with a celebrity vegan who happens to have a huge personality and an even bigger mouth. She takes offence at Bo hunting to survive and aims to make her life hell for it.

Bo thinks she can deal with this on her own. Little did she realise just how quickly things would spiral out of control.

So in terms of characters in this one we have four main ones. We have Bo. A dedicated mother that would move heaven and earth to protect her son, Caleb. She would use any method at her disposal no matter the outcome. Caleb is a quiet nine-year-old. He is being taught the methods of hunting by his momma and is eager to learn. He is also eager to know where his father is and is very conscious of doing nothing to invoke his momma’s temper.

On the other side of the fence we have Rainey. Spoilt young pop sensation with a very troubled past that no one knows about nor cares about. She has a big mouth and an ego to match and always gets what she wants, with no care as to how it will affect others. Darius is her personal protection agent. A glorified bodyguard that is more like a servant than anything else, he seems to have a good heart due to what he tries to do with Rainey.

In terms of a plot, I can’t really give you much without giving away some of the story which I am not prepared to do. The easy way of putting it is that Rainey and Bo clash and things escalate from there. You just need to follow the escalation by reading the book.

So how does Mr Ralston do in the crime writing stakes? Rather bloody well to be honest. I wasn’t surprised that the writing was good. I was surprised by the level of intensity involved in this story. It is a crime story but to be honest some people would think this is verging on horror because of the palpable fear on every page.

You may not agree with the lifestyle of Bo if your opinions, and beliefs side with the mouthy Rainey, but you will not be able to stop yourself from siding with her in this story. The viciousness of the young pop star gives you no choice but to hate her. She is vile. Bo just tries to do her best for Caleb. But then she takes things a step too far and you think why the hell did you do that! I found myself trying to think of ways she could get out of situations to help her. I know, it’s a story and I can’t change it but the writing in this is so good that and you get so embroiled in the story, you just cannot help but get involved.

Bo isn’t a master criminal. That is very clear and you can see glaring mistakes in what she is doing and you know there is no way she can get away with things but then, has she got away with things in the past? I loved the fact that this was written in such a way that you know you are dealing with an amateur if you like. You don’t have a master criminal at work. You have someone going with the flow and making mistakes and in some ways that makes the story flow much better. It makes it more believable that someone would make the wrong decisions and get themselves deeper and deeper in trouble.

Every single decision that is made in this story affects it in a major way. Nearly every single page has something that makes you want to read on and on to find out what is going to happen next. It’s about one hundred and thirty pages long but feels much longer. I don’t mean that it drags, quite the opposite. I mean that there is so much packed into this story you think you have read a full novel.

If Duncan Ralston decides, rather stupidly, to get out of the horror game, then he has a huge career ahead of him in the crime / thriller genre. He writes both equally well. Again, I’m not surprised that he did this. I am surprised that for someone writing outside their preferred genre, that he has totally nailed it and written something that many crime writers that have stuck at that genre for years, would be very jealous of. Bravo sir.

To summarise: an enthralling, fast paced crime story showing exactly how far someone is prepared to go if they are pushed into a corner. Perfectly written and put together, I defy anyone to not love this one.

General rating:

★★★★★ brilliant as always.

Crime / Thriller rating:

★★★★★ crackin crime debut.

If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer, then please consider using the links below to buy Every Part of The Animal or any other books from Duncan. This not only supports me but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews.

Thanks.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Book Synopsis:

A hunter's world is turned inside out when brash young pop megastar Rainey Layne visits her small Alaskan town threatening Bo's way of life and her fragile ten-year-old son, Caleb. Pushed to the brink, Bo will show Rainey just how far a mother will go to protect her son.

EVERY PART OF THE ANIMAL is the first of several standalone crime novellas exploring the darker side of love, from horror author Duncan Ralston.

CONFESSIONS REVIEWS DUNCAN RALSTON

Gristle and Bone: 7 Tales of Delectable Terror

Salvage

Duncan Ralston was born in Toronto, and spent his teens in a small town. As a "grown-up," Duncan lives with his girlfriend and their dog in Toronto, where he writes about the things that frighten and disturb him. In addition to his twisted short stories found in GRISTLE & BONE, THE ANIMAL, and the charity anthology THE BLACK ROOM MANUSCRIPTS, his debut novel SALVAGE is available now.

"Mr. Ralston writes horror fiction that is unflinching and pulls no punches." - Kit Power.

"Duncan Ralston is writing honest stories about real people, pitched headlong into extraordinary situations. And that is what makes them so horrifying." - Ken Preston, Dirge Magazine

And for more about Duncan, visit his site or find him on social media:

Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon Page

Our Own Worst Enemies

Yesterday, on the way up to Steamboat Springs via CO 14, I got a taste of why the MMSC keeps publishing those silly “Start Seeing Motorcycles” stickers. The road was pretty packed with bicyclists for the first 40 miles. RVs and cages were intermittent and moving easily at the speed limits. Half way to Walden, a half-dozen squids on sportbikes wearing everything from full leathers to jeans and a jacket came blasting through the traffic, passing on both sides of the uphill lane, squeeking into spaces between cages where they barely fit, passing so that traffic in both directions had to make evasive maneuvers to keep these Darwin Award applicants from fulfilling their deathwish, and making as much noise as a poorly setup sportbike in 1st gear at 50mph can make. A dozen miles later, the clueless pack was scattered at a rest stop planning their random motions back down the hill, I imagine.

There is no shortage of reasons motorcyclists are among the world’s least popular people. Do a Google search for “I hate motorcyclists” to get a taste of opinions, reasons, and the level of anomosity. We’re loud, arrogant, incompetent, dangerous and self-destructive, expensive, selfish, and we whine a lot. We make such a small contribution to actual transportation that we probably shouldn’t be allowed on major highways or, even, public streets. We kill and maim ourselves in big numbers, barely make a noticable dent in miles-driven on public roads, and we expect more special rights than any other minority group on the road and, maybe, in society (especially considering our meager “contribution”).

This pair of clueless squids started off my morning by making a super noisy pass through the motel parking lot, stopping at the lot’s exit to play with their cellphones (I was too late to get both of the dweebs “tweeting” or whatever it is that dorks do with their phones in such situations), exited to the right, made a u-turn in traffic, and passed back the opposite direction as noisly as possible. Clearly, motorcycle licenses are WAY too easy to get.

GUEST POST: Confessions of my Past, Present and Future #38 - Paul Flewitt

Confessions of my Past, Present and Future

by

Paul Flewitt

The Past

Who here (if you’re from the UK, that is) remembers the Brittania Music and Video Club?

This was a scheme that would send out catalogues of records (remember those?) and videos that were recently released. One of my earliest and most vivid memories was leafing through that catalogue with my cousins. I couldn’t have been very old. The catalogue was split into sections; western, romance, horror… This was the 80’s and the horror section was one that I would return to, just to look at the pictures. One image that was branded onto my memory was that of a mean looking dude with nails driven into his head. That one image gave my little-boy nightmares, but it was an image that has stuck with me for a long time. Is it strange that I now view the Hellpriest as one of my best friends?

But … I’m getting ahead of myself here (as writers are often wont to do). The story really begins here…

Books and reading have always played a big part in my life from such a young age that I can barely remember a time in my life when I haven’t had a stack of books, waiting to be read.

My father, throughout my childhood was a hobby-writer, penning short stories and poems whenever the mood took him. He was an avid reader and had a large collection of books which I would routinely raid myself. It’s my dad that can probably take responsibility for my writing, because he would encourage me to imagine.

English was always my subject at school. I could read books beyond my years from a very young age and grasped the many vagaries of the English language with relative ease. Hardly surprising, given that there were times in my childhood when we didn’t own a TV and a games console was but a dream and fantasy for me. There were times when books were literally my only form of entertainment.

The first books I remember as receiving for my own were a box set of Beatrix Potter classics, bought by my parents for me. I have to say, they all provided literally minutes of entertainment before I’d read them all, but I return to them even now with my own children. I love the innocence of them and the quite obvious life-lessons they provide. My personal favourite; Squirrel Nutkin, I could read over and over… and have.

Another set of books that entered my life and never really left were Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series. I was enthralled from book one and lived the adventures as if I were with them on Kirrin Island. My favourite was always Five Go to Smuggler’s Top, which is perhaps the darkest book in the series and possibly informs my future tastes as both a reader and writer.

As I went into secondary school, I began to find my own books and one was a certain book of children’s horror, the name of which I can’t remember. However, it contained a story called Video Nasty; by Phillip Pullman which I read over and over. If memory serves, it was about two boys who find a snuff film and decide to find out the where’s and why-fore’s of what had gone on in the video. A rather dark tale for a kid of eleven, but it gave me a real appetite for the dark matter that I would devour with such appetite later.

Back to my dad again. He noticed that I was beginning to read “older” books and stories, so he dug out his collection of fantasy. And so, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Ringsentered my life. I remember I was eleven and it took me several attempts to get through the whole trilogy (because the bastard never told me I didn’t really need to read all the appendices…) but when I did, it was with a sense of achievement. I lived in Middle-Earth throughout my reading of the trilogy, enraptured by the totality of creation which existed within those pages. Next I read the Shannara Chronicles (Terry Brooks) and the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Stephen Donaldson) but it was always Lord of The Rings that took up a place within my young psyche. It’s a book I often return to, along with The Hobbit and the various Lays and poems. I’m looking forward to experiencing them once again soon, this time through the eyes of my own children.

Later on in school and I discovered Stephen King. Skeleton Crew was the first King book that I remember reading, given to me by a neighbour. I read it in one or two days and felt instantly at home. I ate up all of his early works; Carrie, It, The Stand, The Shining… you know the ones. I was hooked. But there was a catch. After several books, I noticed a formula creeping into his work. Soon, I was falling out with King and looking for new writers; darker writers. Herbert, Laymon, Koontz, Campbell, Masterton… all of them were devoured in my search for something. I didn’t know what, but I felt I was looking for something.

I found it when I was fourteen and a close family friend thrust a very small book into my hands and just winked. I dived in as soon as he’d left and didn’t come up for air for the rest of the day. The book was the first volume of Books of Blood, by Clive Barker, and I was lost. Here I’d found what I was groping in the dark for. Here was a writer who unlocked doors in my mind that I’d had no idea were closed until I read that book. Of course, I needed to read more so I tracked down his works and read everything that I could. Imajica is probably my favourite of all of his works (although Great and Secret Show and Everville are certainly strong competitors), melding fantasy and horror with such style that I was left gasping. I’d found, finally, my touchstone author.

The Present

The present; that’s today, right?

I guess I should start by what was in my hands most recently. I’m currently reading Matt Hickman’s Jeremy, a great little horror about an eleven-year-old kid which I’m thoroughly enjoying.

Over the last few years I’ve been writing for a living, which is something of a minefield, but it has huge benefits for a reader. One thing is that it affords me the time and the opportunity to read more “new writers.” I’ve had the pleasure of being among the first to read bits and pieces from Michael Bray, Matt Shaw, Alex Laybourne and others … sometimes before they go to print. It’s a hell of a privilege and one that I do not take lightly. I’ve discovered some truly awesome writers, far too many to list here, but I would certainly urge anyone reading this to delve into the indie market and find those gems before they’re discovered.

There are a lot of us out here.

This aside, I’ve been reading a lot of stuff I missed when I was growing up, or just never bothered to read because I was so immersed in the darker writers. Most recently I delved into Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, followed by Dante’s Inferno. Soon, I’ll be reading George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series since I missed it when it was first released and only recently succumbed to the Game of Thronesfandom. I’ve also read the complete works of George Orwell, H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, H.G.Welles … all the stuff I probably should’ve read years ago. It’s been quite a journey and one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.

I’m also on a mission of broadening my tastes; so writers like Mark Billingham, Ian Rankin and Bernard Cornwell have now found places on my shelves. Some writers, like Agatha Christie, I dismissed out of hand when I was a kid. Not so now. There is almost nothing that I won’t read. I learn something from every book I delve into, whether it be good, bad or indifferent. It’s not just about the learning curve for me, but it is a great bi-product of reading.

The Future

Ah, the future; that great unknowable sea that we all fear to swim and yet all are doomed to drown in.

To guess what might happen to me in the future, I should really address my most recent past. I have published several short stories which appear in anthologies and also have my debut full-length work; Poor Jeffrey available on Amazon. The last three years have been a huge learning curve, mistakes have been made and amidst those mistakes, some small triumphs too. I’ve learned a hell of a lot about the business of being a writer and only now do I feel armed to take this thing forward.

Currently, I’m writing a piece for Steve Dillon’s Refuge Collection. At the same time, I’m also penning a novella for Matt Shaw’s Black Cover strand (something he challenged me to write last year and that I’ve toyed with ever since, but never quite got right). Speaking of Matt Shaw; he is currently working with me to negotiate the self-publishing market, which is something I never felt qualified to attempt before. Matt is probably the most helpful and supportive author in the indie market and I will not forget his support for me as time marches inexorably on.

In the far-flung future? Who knows? I don’t rule anything out. I foresee that I’ll be doing much the same as I currently do; which is write stories that I would like to read, in the hope that people “out there” agree with me. That’s what I do really, not trying to reinvent any wheels or on a search for something “new,” just write the kinds of stories I want to read … what greater ambition can there possibly be?

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CONFESSIONS REVIEWS PAUL FLEWITT

Poor Jeffrey

Paul Flewitt was born and raised in Sheffield, Yorkshire where he still lives with his family. He is the father of two children and keeper of several beta reading demons.

Paul is a writer of horror and dark fantasy, and a former steel worker. He has contributed to several anthologies including OzHorrorCon's Book of the Tribes, his short story "Paradise Park" appears in the Thirteen vol 3 anthology.

Paul's debut novel Poor Jeffrey will be relaunched in April 2016.

Paul spends his time caring for his children and devotes much of his free time to writing his next works. He writes only for the thrill of scaring his readers in new and inventive ways.

And for more about Paul, visit his site or find him on social media:

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