Andrew’s Publishers

I’ve been very fortunate to have been taken on by a variety of publishers.  I’m occasionally asked why I don’t stick to one house: the answer is easy; I write various genres and lengths.  A publisher happily accepting one of my books won’t necessarily be interested in the next.

The upside to multiple publishers is getting to see how different houses works.  It’s also given me an excuse to read some great books and and meet a lot of gifted authors.  A full list of my publishers is below.

Wild Child Publishing.  Publishers of my forthcoming ‘Dana’s Children’.  Wild Child publish books in a variety of genres.

Damnation Books.  Published ‘The Torridon Witches’ a few months ago.  Damnation is the dark fiction arm of Eternal Press, which published ‘The Wood’ and ‘The Shoot’.  As well as horror, Damnation publishes dark fantasy, paranormal, thrillers and dark-themed erotica. 

Keith Publications.  Publish every sort of genre fiction I can think of including ‘Art Class’, my erotic novelette.  I’ve got to know some fellow writers, editors and the like.  They’re a friendly bunch and a publisher I enjoy being with.  And the books are good too!

eTreasures Publishing.  Published ‘The Well’ a couple of years ago.  Another publisher of multiple genres.  The publisher was a pleasure to work with; the editing, cover art and publication all went very smoothly.

 

Rogue Phoenix Press.  Published my historical fantasy, ‘The Doe and the Dragon’.  I was impressed by the thorough editing, particularly checking almost every detail for historical accuracy.  That made for a better story, and gave me more confidence in the novel.

 

Eternal Press.  Published ‘The Wood’, and then its prequel, ‘The Shoot’.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with the publisher.  There is a particularly supportive community or authors, readers and staff.  And good books!

Dark Realm Press.  Sadly the publisher is no longer with us, but closed down respectfully and formally reverted all rights to their authors.  I remain grateful to Anne for giving me a break by publishing a first novel – and for telling me I’m a good author to work with!  Published ‘Andraste’s Blade’.

So, if you’re looking for something to read, why not give these a look?

Top Five Films

Like most horror buffs, I’ve been watching genre films since I was old enough.  My favourites have always had a simple plot, and been a blend of supernatural horror and fantasy.

So, which are my favourites, and why?  Here they are, in reverse order:

5.  The Amityville Horror.  I think this was the first horror film I saw at a cinema.  It’s about a family who move into a house where murders took place a year earlier.  It was released in 1979; by modern standards the plot is cliché and the effects out dated, but at the time I loved it.  I haven’t watched it since, but it’s a film I have a soft spot for.

4.  Highlander.  Okay, it’s not horror, but the film does have some dark elements and themes.  One of these is the need to chop heads off your enemies, which is defiantly a horror plot.  And any film set in the stunning Scottish highlands, and has Queen providing the soundtrack, can’t go far wrong - even if the story is, quite frankly, daft.

3.  Saw.  A lot of extreme horror is sparsely plotted and little more than an attempt to be more brutal and shocking than the previous slasher.  The Saw films are different in that they have theme, subtly and plot.  They manage to be cleverer than most and had me wondering what’ll happen next, rather than simply going onto another horrific death.  The series lost its way a little part way through, but overall I think it’s by far the best of its type.

2.  Predator.  This is a story about a group of soldiers fighting something invisible yet nasty in the central American jungle.  They are picked off one by one until only one survives to fight the ‘predator’.  We don’t see the monster until late in the film which I think ups the suspense in a brilliant example of the technique of not letting the audience see the ‘thing of evil’ until as late as possible.

1. Alien.  Perhaps the best known sci-fi horror.  A brilliant film about something nasty aboard a spaceship many years in the future.  The image of Ripley and the alien is one of those that stays with you long after the end credits.  Later films in the franchise lost a little because by then we knew what Ripley was up against, despite writers upping the ante – but that shouldn’t take anything away from the first in the series.

There are some classics missing from my list; nothing my Stephen King, for example.  I’ve seen several films based on his books (‘The Dead Zone’; ‘Carrie’; ‘The Shining’; Christine’, etc) and enjoyed them, but I think my choice says something about the sort of plot I like rather than anything about a film or writer’s quality.  I like watching (and writing) simple, ‘in yer face’ linear shockers rather than subtle or psychological horror, and those sort of films give me most pleasure.