WWII with Tentacles: Dark Tales From the Secret War

Back in December Modiphius Entertainment launched the rather brilliant Dark Tales From the Secret War, a short story collection edited by John Houlihan and set in their Achtung! Cthulhu game universe. Basically, it’s World War II meets Lovecraft …

You can find more info on the book on the links below but there are two important points that aren’t listed in the description.

First, one of the stories in the collection is mine. Concerning Rudolf Hess, Mr Buckle and the Book is a rip-roaring World War II conspiracy with Lovecraftian undertones.

Second, Dark Tales also includes Shadow of the Black Sun, from dark-fantasy author David J Rodger. Sadly, David passed away toward the end of last year. He is much missed by his many friends, but it’s great that we have his work—novels such as Oakfield, The Black Lake, The Social Club, and many more—to remember him by. And now we have Dark Tales too.

I knew David pretty well and I think he’d have been stoked at how it turned out.

Dark Tales is a collection of 13 stories set in Modiphius’ Achtung! Cthulhu universe, a world which mixes the terrors of HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos with mankind’s darkest yet finest hour, the second world war.

13 unhallowed stories await within it’s covers, which range from the wilds of the South Pacific, to the dark depths of the Black Forest, to the icy wastes of Norway, and they come from a stellar cast of writers including David J Rodger, Destiny and Fable writer Martin Korda, Splinter Cell’s Richard Dansky and the strange mind of horror master Patrick Garratt!

• Get Dark Tales From the Secret War as an ebook from Amazon
• Get Dark Tales From the Secret War in print & PDF bundle from Modiphius

The Art of Misdirection – now available to buy at Amazon

I’ve been a little quite of late due to a number of projects I’ve been focusing on, the main one being the final edit and launch of The Art of Misdirection.

Happy to announce the day is finally here and the novel is now available to buy on Kindle from Amazon, both in the UK and the US.

• Get The Art of Misdirection (UK)
• Get the Art of Misdirection (US)

I’m just beginning to promote the book on twitter and soon on Facebook.

Don’t forget, you can still get a free sample of the book here, or you can download a free sample to read on the free Kindle App.

I’d love you hear what you think.

 

 

 

Short Story: The Collector

In this never-before-published short story a young man returns to his family home following the death of his father to claim his inheritance—and finds nothing is quite as expected.

Five things I’ve learned crowdfunding my first novel on Inkshares

One month into promoting my first novel The Art of Misdirection on Inkshares and I’ve learned that crowdfunding isn’t as easy as you might think.

Rather than providing a means for collecting the cash to fund whatever project milestones you decide on, Inkshares crowdfunding platform collects preorders to fund the publication of your book.

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They then take care of the design, editing, distribution and marketing for the final product, providing you hit your funding target—all the stuff that, even with a chunk of cash raised, you might not have time, resources or know-how to do yourself.

It’s an interesting proposition and one that appealed to me because of its author-focus, and the possibility that they can take on some of the heavy lifting once the funding target is hit.

One month in and my own campaign with Inkshares hasn’t exactly taken off like I’d hoped. This is primarily because the onus on promoting the campaign lives with me, and not with Inkshares. New to crowdfunding, and to online promotion of my work in general, I went into it woefully unprepared and am now playing catchup.

So, what should you know before you start using Inkshares—or similar services—to crowdfund your novel?

1. Build it and (then) they will come:

By ‘it’, in this case, I mean your fan base. Launching into your crowdfunding campaign without an existing fan base is just about as stupid as it sounds. No twitter or Facebook followers? No blog for readers to see your work on? You’re making life that much harder for yourself. Even if you are hugely talented, you’re going to find it hard to shout about your campaign with no-one listening to you—and it takes time to build up your audience …

2. Give yourself time:

Since I had a finished work in its final stages of editing, I jumped right ahead and announced my novel for funding via Inkshares on day one. A bad move. I didn’t have to do this—I could have listed the work, generated interest, and then switched the funding campaign on at a later stage.

In the last month I’ve worked hard to increase twitter followers, to produce interesting and relevant blog content and to build up some sort of audience, but the campaign-clock is ticking. Generating interest in your project before launching your crowd funding campaign will help buy you extra time to hit your target.

3. Hone your pitch:

Using a platform like Inkshares means you don’t have to pitch to an agent or publisher—but you do have to pitch to hundreds of thousands of potential readers. The Inkshares platform is designed to be friendly and encouraging, but when you start to promote your campaign on other channels it becomes much harder to tell potential readers what your book is about without a concise pitch and tagline. Can’t explain your plot in a paragraph? How about 140 characters?

4. Think visually:

A decent cover will go a long way towards making your project stand out from the crowd, but visual assets are also important for promoting across other channels, too. Appropriately sized assets for social media channels will help your campaign look professional and will encourage people to share. If you can afford to hire a designer, that’s your best bet. If you’re going to do it yourself, Canva is the best online tool I’ve found for creating e-book covers, with lots of templates and professional photography you can use for a minimal fee.

Book trailers and video interviews are also great at attracting attention. There are quite a few on the Inkshare platform and they certainly seem to help give their book a boost.

Have a look at this example from Alison Carlson’s Winston Churchill study, The Man Within:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/110510270?

5. Be social:

Twitter remains the biggest source of traffic for my campaign and social media has really helped drive traffic to my Inkshares page, and to my blog. Facebook was great for announcing the campaign, and drove the first batch of sales.

I’m still working on build up more interesting content to tweet about (see points 1 & 2) but the most successful social interactions to date have come from a raft of related content I’ve been working on: given that 1930s London gangster Darby Sabini appears in my book, and the recent Netflix series Peaky Blinders, this gave me a great excuse to talk about my research, and tap into Peaky Blinders fan base. Thinking outside the box is a great way of expanding your reach. Inspired by a particular places, person or piece of work? There’s a whole bunch of new people to talk to about your campaign through social media.

So, that’s my experience of crowdfunding with Inkshares to date. Not as successful as I would have liked (though there’s still time) but if nothing else launching the campaign has forced me to focus on developing my online presence as a writer. I’ve doubled my twitter followers, have a blog up and running, and new short fiction and articles circulating online.

If the Inkshares campaign doesn’t hit its target, then I’ll have at least gone some way to building up a fan base for other activity in the future.

Launching your book through Inkshares or another crowdfunding platform? Let me know our experiences below, and check out the Art of Misdirection funding page while you’re at it.

Art of Misdirection – free sample

Below you’ll find the first three chapters from my forthcoming novel, The Art of Misdirection. In this extract we meet the apprentice thief, Hudson, and his legendary mentor, Howell, as they embark on a dangerous art heist.

If you’d like to read more, please support the novel, currently crowdfunding at Inkshares.

ENGLAND’S FINEST CRIMINAL MINDS ARE ABOUT TO GO TO WAR …

I’m happy to report my first novel, The Art of Misdirection, is now available for preorder from Inkshares.

The Art of Misdirection tells the true story of how the nation’s art treasures were hidden in tube stations, country homes and caves during the second world war, along with the fictional story of an apprentice art thief who is betrayed by his mentor and sets out across war-torn London determined to get his revenge.

The Art of Misdirection: new cover art

My first novel, The Art of Misdirection, is now available to preorder from crowd-funding site Inkshares. Exciting times. I’ll share some more info on my experiences with Inkshares to date, and why I chose to go this route soon.

For now I wanted to share some new artwork that helps give a sense of the book. 

A big day… for me at least

Today is a big day – the start of something new, interesting and challenging. Tomorrow I’ll be starting work for a new company who are based in Berlin, and I’m here for a week to get to know the team and soak up some of the atmosphere.

So far I’ve successfully negotiated my way from airport to hotel without issue. No biggie, but I’m impressed I managed to get here without getting lost. I’ve also wandered around Alexanderplatz and grabbed some food. Oddly, I saw three dead pigeons in the space of a hundred yards. An omen of doom? A pigeon virus yet to make the jump from mainland Europe? An overzealous tram driver? Who knows.

I’m now reclining in the hotel while a German dubbed version of Pirates of the Caribbean – The One With Bill Nighy In It – airs on the TV. Hopefully it will help me with my German, perhaps a pirate brogue will go down well in the new office?

All of this is ultimately a step towards a new kind of lifestyle, with more adventure and some more time to write. Speaking of which – following my writing update in February I’ve successfully completed none of the goals I set. instead I have been swept up in a new project which I’ll reveal a little more of over the coming weeks.

For now, sleep, food, Pirates of the Caribbean, Am Ende der Welt – and maybe some writing. Throughout this week I should get the chance to explore. Know something cool I should see? Let me know.

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Currently Reading: Step Right Up, by William Castle. Not entirely unconnected to my new writing project, this autobiography of horror-director William Castle is a great read. Taking us from his early days when he convinced Orson Welles to loan him a theatre through sheer gumption, through to his renowned publicity stunts to pack in the crowds for horrors such as The Tingler, House on Haunted Hill and Homicidal.

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, when the clock reaches sixty seconds, you will be insured by Lloyds of London for one thousand dollars against death by fright.’

My Top 5 Books for Writers

For a few years it seemed that every other book I bought was about writing. I felt certain that there were shortcuts and secrets that successful writers knew, and I wanted to know what they were.

Eventually I realised that the vast majority of books about writing repackage the same techniques and advice in different ways and once I realised this my book buying habit came to an end. I had to admit that there were no shortcuts, no easy wins, and the best book I’d ever own to help with my writing would have Moleskine embossed on it’s back.

Still, some of the books were useful and contained advice that stuck with me. Some books mattered more than others, and these are they:

1. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Renni Browne and Dave King

Buy Now for £9.30 new / £4.27 used 

Covering the basics in an easy to digest fashion, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is my favourite book about writing. I’ve gone back to it many times as it covers the basics so well. Starting with the obligatory show don’t tell chapter, it moves on at a pace to cover point of view, dialogue, interior monologue, beats, and a range of other areas. The content is well organised and there are plenty of practical tips.

 

2. Solutions for Writers, Sol Stein

Buy Now for £12.99 new / £4.09 used

Stein has edited some of the biggest names in the business and really knows his onions. Solutions for Writers, (along with Solutions for Novelists), covers the expected range of topics with authority. Dialogue, plotting and first-lines, are discussed most effectively. Again, it’s a resource you’ll find yourself coming back to again and again.

 

3. Save the Cat, Blake Snyder

Buy Now from £6.09

Some of the most useful books about plotting fiction are about writing screenplays and Snyder’s snappy guide to plotting Hollywood money-spinners is a great way to get to grips with, or reaffirm the basics of, driving your story forward. The same criticisms levelled at this book apply whether you’re writing a novel or a screenplay – it’s about writing stories that sell, not necessarily about being a great writer – but if you’re having issues with your plotting, this book can help you work out what to do next, or at least what not to do next.

 

4. On Writing, Stephen King

Buy Now from £5.49

There aren’t many contemporary ‘best books for writers’ lists that don’t have On Writing in them, and that’s because it’s one of the most interesting and unique books on the craft out there. Roger Ebert said of On Writing, that it ‘had more useful and observant things to say about the craft than any book since Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style‘.Part childhood memoir, part writer’s tool-kit, On Writing is eminently readable and contains plenty of no-nonsense, tough-love advice in a tone of voice King’s readers will appreciate.

 

How Fiction Works, James Wood

Buy Now from £3.77

This slim volume is something of a must read, an enthusiastic examination of the writer’s art, beginning with Flaubert and narrative and moving on to cover character, language dialogue and realism. It’s much less a how-to than the other books on this list and is more about deconstructing why a good piece of writing is good, what makes it work and why. The blurb calls it playful and profound, and I’d tend to agree.

 

Honourable mentions for: Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee; The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White, Elements of Fiction Writing – Beginnings, Middles & Ends, by Nancy Kress and Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go, by Les Edgerton.

These are the books that have stood out for me – that are different enough or effective enough to be worth a place on my book shelf. Which books about writing have stood out for you?

 

Cover Inspiraton for The Art of Misdirection

I’m preparing to brief the illustrator who will be creating the cover illustration for The Art of Misdirection in the next few weeks. Seeing as it’s a pretty lengthy novel it’s unlikely he’ll get the chance to read that much of it before he starts work. So, how best to give a flavour of the stories contents and tone?

I’m trying a Pinterest board to begin with, pulling together images and photographs that reflect the story and setting and it feels like it will at least help to prompt some ideas.

Sidney Paget keeps coming to mind, but how this would work for the cover, or how it could look contemporary and capture that kind of feel, I’m not sure.

Still, the Pinterest board is a nice easy way to pull together a mood board to brief in the illustrator – and seeing as he won’t have to wade through 120,000 words, I’m sure he’ll agree.