My first reading

I did my first public reading of Seven Days in Hell for the Fight to Write Conference held in Dublin. I got a good reaction from the audience, and it was fun. It was hard picking out a piece from the book though. I wanted to read something that was exciting, but that was also short and didn't give too much away. It was much harder than I thought. I ended up reading a bit about Vicky being held captive. I hope it fit the bill.

7 Days in Hell and Black Rabbit Island

These are pictures of my nano 06 novel and Valpot's nano 06 novel, Black Rabbit Island (it is really excellent) both published by The Disresponsible Nodpots

A scary step

I've been doing research into horror publishers the last few days. I started by trawling through the Writers Handbook, but didn't find many horror publishes there (although there were some very obscure specialist publishes like publishing houses that only take books about Scottish tea cakes written by midgets). Then I tried another track. I looked up Amazon to see who published the horror books I've read, and then I looked up their websites and listings in the Writers Yearbook to see if they took unsolicited submissions, and what their guidelines were.

With that in mind, I set about doing up a submission package. The synopsis, as always, was harder than disemboweling yourself. I think I got it into good shape, proof read the first thirty pages yet again and wrote up a letter. When I printed it all out, I thought it looked pretty good. I posted it off this morning.

Don't get me wrong, I love the D.N publications. I just thought I would try and get a wider distribution.

I've about three months to wait for a reply.

Pictures of me

This picture was taken of me at the Nodpot of the Year ceremony. I am pictured here with my fellow nominees, Marvin, Parsley (you can see the top of thier heads) Valerie and Mungo (not seen)

Calling all readers

To those people who have read, purchased or received a copy of 7 Days in Hell, I would really appreciate it if you would send me comments (preferably positive, but constructive criticism is always welcome) that I can put on the blog. Reviews would also be great.

Thanks.

Hoped you enjoyed it!

Order your copy today!

‘His shout was clear, but his words were ugly and strange. They sent a shiver down Irene’s spine. Hairs rose at the back of her neck. She had the sinking feeling that she was watching something that shouldn't be watched, hearing words that shouldn't be said. She could feel that same grimy taint of evil on her skin that she got when she read about atrocities committed against children by serial killers and rapists’.

Irene and Vicky Murtagh planned on getting away from the stress and the strain of the big city for the Halloween bank holiday weekend. Somewhere quiet in the country - a cottage booked on the Internet - and a week full of blissful sleeping in and sight seeing.

They couldn't have got it more wrong!

Irene and Vicky's holiday week turns into a nightmare as the twin sisters are woken up every night by a mysterious bright light and strange calls from across the fields. Things get worse as they are chased by the neighbor’s demon dogs and subjected to horrors beyond imaging as their holiday spirals from seven days in paradise to SEVEN DAYS IN HELL!

The perfect Christmas gift! Limited copies available for this Christmas. Once the copies are gone, there won't be any more until the New Year!

VIM Day

That is Victory for Iseult Murphy Day (sounds a bit scary I know). Ok, so this is another belated post, but better late than never. Watch this space for another out of date post tomorrow!

Yes, 7 Days in Hell is finally finished. It broke 70K, with an end total of about 73/74 thousand words. I re-read it and did a little editing, but it is still quite a rough first draft. I don't know what to think of it. I like some of it quite a lot, but I can't tell if it is scary or funny or if people will be as interested in the characters as I am. I think the main characters are well drawn, but I don't know if they would come alive for other people reading them. It will be interesting to get some reader reaction and see what they think.

This is the first year I have actually finished my NANOWRIMO novel before Christmas! Another first. :)