David Moody's Blog, page 78
February 27, 2013
Everything and Nothing – free Dog Blood prequel story
I have a feeling many of you might have missed this first time around…
Just prior to the release of DOG BLOOD back in June 2010, I released EVERYTHING AND NOTHING, a free HATER short story which takes place just prior to the events of the second book in the series. It goes without saying, if you haven’t yet read HATER, read that first. It also goes without saying, it’s a HATER story, so expect copious amounts of violence.
“The world has fallen apart with incredible speed and brutality. Your only choice now is how hard you fight – hate or be hated, kill or be killed.
With the war between the Haters and Unchanged increasing in intensity, Danny McCoyne drifts from fight to fight, from battle to battle. His old life is over. This is all he has now. But a chance incident on the battlefield changes everything, bringing him back into contact with everything he thought he’d lost forever.”
I’m pleased to make EVERYTHING AND NOTHING available as a free download in all the usual eBook formats. You can download it from Smashwords here. You can also read the story online via Wattpad. I’ve just got involved with the folks at Wattpad and I’m interested to see what the site has to offer. If you’re a user, please follow me. I’ll have a Wattpad exclusive coming up in the next couple of weeks…
Everything and Nothing – free Dog Blood prequel story is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 25, 2013
Sci-Fi Weekender – schedule announced
Really looking forward to the Sci-Fi Weekender in Wales this coming weekend. The schedule for the event has been announced, so I thought I’d let you know what I’ll be up to. I’ll be around from early Friday ’til late Saturday, and apart from disappearing to catch a few choice guests/films, you’ll be able to find me in the traders area alongside Wayne Simmons. I’ll also be on display here:
Friday – 14:00: Panel – Here Come the Boys: A male view of writing and editing
Friday – 15:00: Forbidden Planet signing
Saturday – 12:00: Panel – It’s the End! Why the end of the world is so popular
Saturday – 13:00: Panel – Writing Horror: Why we love to be scared
Saturday – 14:00: Panel – It’s Alive! Horror fiction through the years
It’s going to be excellent. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Sci-Fi Weekender – schedule announced is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 21, 2013
Sheer, Unadulterated Terror
There’s a big black hole on this site – nothing posted for the last ten days. Emails have gone unanswered, updates on Twitter and Facebook have been sparse. There’s no secret as to why – I’ve been writing. More precisely, I’ve been finishing a book. I thought it would be interesting to celebrate by posting a few thoughts.
My overriding feeling when I finish a novel is sheer, unadulterated terror. The new book – 17 DAYS – isn’t even a horror story, so how can that be? Let me try and put it into context.
I first had the germ of the idea which became 17 DAYS in 1995. I actually wrote a novel with the same central premise (which has subsequently been consigned to the vaults because it was bloody awful – I have two such ‘hidden’ novels: only one paper copy of each remains, and I’m not telling anyone where they are…). I tried again in the early 2000’s. The story was called MARK THANE back then, and I began to serialise it online before aborting it a). because AUTUMN exploded and, most importantly, b). because what I was writing wasn’t good enough.
Fast forward to 2010. I sat down for a meeting with my agent to discuss future plans and outlined several novels I wanted to write. He got excited about MARK THANE (as I was still calling it). Another year and a half of planning and a change of title and I was just about ready to start writing. I began writing this version of the story in February 2012, and finally finished it almost exactly a year later. Twelve months. Many, many versions. Almost half a million words written in total throughout all drafts etc.
So why the terror?
I’ve invested a huge amount of time, effort and energy into 17 DAYS. It’s different in many respects from the novels I’ve written previously – slightly dystopian, but less horrific and a little more mainstream, perhaps. Until I emailed the manuscript earlier this week, no one had read a word but me. So, like most other writers in a similar position, I guess, all the doubts are now starting to creep in. Is the damn thing any good? Will anybody want to read it? Have I got things totally wrong and am I in danger of disappearing up my own backside? Should I have stuck to horror? Should I go back to the manuscript and write in a zombie sub-plot (joke). The answers to these questions will start presenting themselves shortly, but the wait is agonizing. Sheer, unadulterated terror.
But I remain positive, contrary to what you might think reading this post! I console myself with a few facts. First, if the story wasn’t worth telling , would I really have kept coming back to it time and again over the last eighteen years? Second, it’s definitely the right time to tell the story – the Internet, Occupy, Anonymous, social unrest, austerity riots… all these things have helped fill the blanks which were there before. And third, everyone I’ve talked to about the story has had pretty much the exact same reaction. I’ll not tell you what that reaction was. Instead, I’ll leave you with the briefest of blurbs:
“Mark Thane is thirty-one. He’s doing very well for himself, all things considered. He has a nice house, a decent job, and is getting married next summer. On the face of it, everything looks perfect.
Mark’s involved in a tragic accident, and though he walks away largely unscathed, it’s discovered that he’s suffering from Hemsayles Syndrome, a rare condition which is fatal in ninety-five per cent of detected cases. There’s no possibility of any cure. His only option is to allow nature to take its course. But in a cruel twist, his doctors are able to calculate how long he has left.
Mark Thane will die in seventeen days time. Probably.
How do you come to terms with knowing exactly when you’ll die? In Mark’s case, he doesn’t. He cracks under the pressure, and his world falls apart. When he looks for support, he doesn’t get it. When he asks for help, no one’s listening.
On the verge of doing something stupid, he’s pulled back from the brink by a foul-mouthed, antagonistic girl he meets in a bar he shouldn’t have been drinking in. When he returns home – drunk, alone and desperate – he vents his frustrations into his webcam and uploads the results to YouTube. When Mark wakes up next morning, he’s gone viral. Within days it seems the world is hanging on his every word.
And in what’s left of the seventeen days he’s been given, Mark Thane will learn more than he managed in the previous thirty-one years.
This nobody from nowhere is on the verge of changing everything.”
Sheer, Unadulterated Terror is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 11, 2013
Edinburgh event – 30th March
Here are the full details of the Edinburgh event I mentioned recently. Organised by This is Horror, it takes place at Blackwell’s bookstore on 30th March from 3pm – 5pm. It’s a free but ticketed event. To reserve tickets, e-mail events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk with the subject line ‘This Is Horror Event’ or call 0131 622 8218.
I’ll be there alongside Joseph D’Lacey and Gary McMahon, and the event will be hosted by Jasper Bark. It promises to be an excellent afternoon and I hope to see you there.
Check out this wonderful promotional poster created by the very talented Daniele Serra.
Edinburgh event – 30th March is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 8, 2013
AUTUMN – limited editions update
I wanted to let you know what was happening with a couple of forthcoming releases. Firstly, I’m working with Gollancz on the AUTUMN: AFTERMATH limited edition hardcover which will be published by Infected Books. Gollancz have been kind enough to allow me access to their designs in order that the new edition of the book can match the previous UK AUTUMN hardcover releases. There are a couple of legal and technical issues to get resolved before we go into production but I’m hoping (and don’t hold me to this) that the book will be released in late April/early May this year. You can register interest and keep up to date with developments by joining this mailing list. In the meantime, if you don’t want to wait, you can pick up the UK trade paperback edition here.
I thought this would be a good time to tell you about my plans for the new release of AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION, which I hope will also happen around the same time as AFTERMATH.
THE HUMAN CONDITION will be available as an eBook, trade paperback and limited edition hardcover, and it’ll differ significantly from the original Infected Books release from 2005. As well as new artwork from Craig Paton (you can see one of his initial draft cover designs here), it’ll also be a much longer book (of course, most of the content remains available free over at www.lastoftheliving.net). BREAKING POINT and KIERAN COPE will make their first appearances in print alongside BEGINNING TO DISINTEGRATE – a brand new short telling the backstory of the survivors based at the flats in AUTUMN: DISINTEGRATION. There will be one other major addition to the collection – a short which plays a hugely important part in the overall series – which I hope to tell you about shortly.
Again, if you want to keep up with news of these releases and register your interest in one/both of the limited editions with no obligations, please join this mailing list.
More news very soon. Have a great weekend!
AUTUMN – limited editions update is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 7, 2013
New issue of SCREAM Magazine
Here’s my regular plug… a new issue of SCREAM Magazine came through the door this week, and as usual it’s full of good stuff. Click here or on the cover to learn more.
And on the subject of SCREAM, the folks behind it have asked me to give their new ‘Haunted Library‘ a mention. Click this link or the banner in the sidebar to visit. If you’re an independent horror author, this looks like it could become a great way of increasing your exposure.
New issue of SCREAM Magazine is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 2, 2013
TRUST giveaway winner
Congratulations to Dakota David Dingman from Florida who is the winner of the most recent TRUST giveaway. He gets a copy of the limited edition for his troubles, along with copies of the AUTUMN: AFTERMATH and AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION limited editions when they’re released later this year. More news about those releases soon.
And for those who haven’t yet read it, I’ve decided to leave the free version of TRUST online for a while longer. Head over to www.trustdavidmoody.com to read it
TRUST giveaway winner is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
February 1, 2013
First appearances of 2013
Really pleased to be able to announce my first two appearances for 2013. First up, I’ll be at the SCI-FI WEEKENDER at Hafan Y Mor, North Wales from 1st to 3rd March. There’s a huge guest list, so this one should be great. Don’t know what I’ll be doing there yet, but you can be sure that much of the time will be spent in the dealers’ room, hanging out with Wayne Simmons. Yes, the apparently never-ending ‘Never Trust a Man With Hair’ tour rumbles on into 2013…
And at the other end of March, I’m really excited to confirm that I’ll be in Edinburgh for my first Scottish event. I don’t think this one’s been properly announced yet, so I’ll say no more just now. It popped up on the bookstore’s website this morning here (scan down the page for Davod Moody – weird typo), but I’ll wait until This is Horror reveal more details…
Hope to see you there!
First appearances of 2013 is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
January 30, 2013
17 DAYS – casting call (kind of)
I’ve mentioned a few times recently that the novel I’m currently working on is called 17 DAYS. All things being equal, I’m hoping to have the writing finished by this time tomorrow. Another week or so of final edits and tidying up etc., and the book should be with my agent by the second week in February.
When it’s all done and dusted, I’ll tell you more about it. In the meantime, I’m after a little help.
When you learn more about the book, you’ll see that the story lends itself to a very specific type of promotion. Whether it’s to sell the book to publishers or to support the eventual release of the novel itself, I want to get a head-start on that promotional aspect now. I’m looking for someone to front a very lo-fi video – possibly a series of videos – recreating scenes from the novel. I need someone who can act, but at the same time act natural. As is usual for my books, our hero is a very ordinary chap!
So, if you’re male, British, aged between 27 and 35, and you’re interested in getting involved, please drop me a line at davidmoody@djmoody.co.uk and I’ll let you have more details. Thanks in advance.
Right. Back to it!
17 DAYS – casting call (kind of) is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
January 28, 2013
Who wants a HATER T-shirt?
I did say it would be quiet around here… I’ll have more for you later this week (some interesting stuff too, I hope). In the meantime, because I really don’t like not updating the site, here’s a gratuitous post designed to make you part with some of your hard-earned cash!
And that leads me onto a slightly more serious question. I’ve been giving these T-shirts away for years – would you buy one if they were available? My phone has a snazzy HATER cover – would you want one of those? (Apologies for the photo, by the way – I was scared any other pose with a phone would make it look like I was taking a flirtatious picture of myself in the mirror). If there’s any interest (in the phone cover, not flirtatious pictures of me) I’ll get something put together. T-shirts, phone covers, mousemats, mugs… everything looks better with a little bloody scrawl added.
Let me know in the comments if there’s any HATER/AUTUMN merchandise you’ve always wanted and I’ll see if I can make it happen. Until then I’ll just keep giving this stuff away!
Some proper news to follow soon. Have a good week.
Update: Four hours later…
Wow, what a response. I thought this was just a throwaway post, but you’ve really gone for it! Thanks! As of now there’s one free T-shirt left to claim – the next order gets it!
You’ve sent me some great ideas for merchandise. HATER bags, beanie hats etc. etc. I’ll go away and see what I can do now. If you have any other ideas, just let me know. Either email or use Facebook or Twitter.
One thing – several folks have requested AUTUMN merchandise. That might be a little more problematic, as I don’t own the artwork (I designed the original HATER logo shown on the phone case above). But leave it with me. More news soon.
Who wants a HATER T-shirt? is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
