Alex Boast's Blog

Your 2020 Ghost Story Collection Now In Paperback

For the first time, my Ghost Stories are available in print.

Whilst I set out with the noble aim of bringing the humble, classic ghost story up to date, a digital-only format is no longer financially responsible for me I have a book to sell, and no job to draw a salary from.

If youre interested in modern ghost stories in the traditional medium of paper books, The City Of This is for you.

This collection includes everything set in my pre-novel universe:

I would love to gather some more...

Ghost Story Writer Interview and Reading on Classic Ghost Story Podcast

Excitingly, I have recently conducted an interview with Tony Walker of The Classic Ghost Story Podcast, who did a beautiful reading of The Men in the Snow, due to be released April 25.

We talked about why I write, what Im working on and more; Ill update this post with the link once it is available.

In the mean time, all of my ghost stories are now available on Amazon.

The post Ghost Story Writer Interview and Reading on Classic Ghost Story Podcast appeared first on Ghost Story Writer.

Ghost story collection now available

The City of This: The Collected Ghost Stories of Alex Boast

At long last, the entire collection of Ghost Stories by Alex Boast is now available in one place on Amazon, for the first time, including a story based upon true events. A paperback version is to follow.

Dear Reader,

It brings me great joy to inform you that the long road to work on the novel is now fully-travelled.

The collection is now available and contains everything that came before, along with new material:

New Story – The...

Common Nightmares and what they mean

I don’t believe anyone who says they sleep soundly through the night; we all have nightmares.

It would appear that myself and a few others are plagued with them.

Sigmund Freud and a few other psychologists believed that they were the subconscious coming to life in our sleep, and whilst “The Interpretation of Dreams” Isn’t lauded for its clinical acumen, it’s an interesting read nonetheless.

It’s 2019 now and the ‘Always-on’ digital culture we live in has resulted in busy minds, anxious though...

Writing and Mental Health – What I learned at #UnbrokenFest

Mental health and writing, like alcoholism, have always gone hand in hand. One need only consult the life of Hunter S Thompson or Charles Bukowksi to understand it is the same thing. I wanted to discover though – outside of these glamorous, fictional representations of transgressions of the mind, how creativity and mental health fit; and sometimes work together, in 2017.

 

We could all do more to help society. Help the communities in which we reside.

If you disagree, you are a liar.

I won’t o...

The Attention Deficit: A Writer’s Nightmare

Inside and outside the workplace, a writer – ever the introverted, quiet type – must deal with the difficult matter of attention and its two methods of delivery: giving and receiving.

“Attention: the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important.” https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/attention

Attention then, clearly, is ever sought after, not just by writers but by all members of the animal kingdom.

However, there is a fatal third factor to take into account alongsi...

Instagram for Writers and the difficult ask for reviews

It can be done.

I know it can be done because I have seen it done.

If it can be done, I can do it.

I will do it.

Will I succeed?

Probably not, but I’ll have a bloody good go.

 

Writers like Robert M Drake have used the power of Instagram to become bestsellers, win publishing contracts, and achieved fame world-wide.

I bought his book.

I am one of his 1.6 million followers.

He’s bloody brilliant and I recommend you check him out.

 

How he uses Instagram is beautiful because it is original.

He...

3 vital conversation hacks for the writer journalist

I used to HATE describing myself as a journalist – ever since one of my first freelance clients, an independent music producer, described me as one – but I’ve since learned the hard way nobody knows what a copywriter is, and everyone is a little bit of a journalist; they just aren’t very good at it.

When my new(ish) employers sat me down and said they wanted me to step away from the laptop and get out there talking to people, I nearly had a panic attack.

Thanks to my writer background I coul...

2017: The novel, the album, more failure

I am one of those idiots.

Hurtling into a future of my own making that I like to pretend was down to someone else.

The fact is, if I don’t do it, nobody else is going to do it for me.

So why blame others when things go wrong, instead of myself when they don’t go right?

My writer friends always ask me about the novel.

The ask about the album too – the ones that know about it.

They ask about things like how many proofreads there’s been. How many hours I’ve spent.

Not about what I’m going to...

Anti-Social Social Selling: How I’m Failing

If there’s one thing I’m not good at, it’s selling books. I don’t carry a business card, I don’t tell anyone about it, I don’t even have Instagram.

But I do believe in “social selling”, because it is a real thing.

Social, online or off, sells.

I probably shouldn’t publish my records to show it, but when I’ve been out and about talking to people at parties, and somebody – almost never me – mentions the Ebooks, I sell a few the next day.

A few I wouldn’t have done otherwise.

So I’d like to...