Sam Stone's Blog, page 9

The Definitive List of My Books ...

Every now and then I like to gather a definitive list of my books together to remind people what is out there and how to get them. If you have been toying with the idea of buying some or all of my titles then I hope that this list will help you to chose your first one. You can buy my work in various medias. They are available in Paperback, Ebook and in some cases, audio.

So beginning where it all started let me introduce you to ...

The Vampire Gene Series

If you want to try Vampires with a difference then currently you can buy the first 3 books in a compendium from Amazon or direct from me at events. It's currently being advertised at £15.92 with free postage!

The Vampire Gene Trilogy

Queen of The Damned meets Quantum Leap with a dash of Hellraiser.
 
Killing Kiss - Four hundred year old vampire Gabriele Caccini searches for a mate in twenty-first century Manchester while reflecting on the events that led to his immortality.

Futile Flame - Gabriele seeks out his maker Lucrezia Borgia when a mysterious entity threatens to ruin the happiness he has found with Lilly. But can he believe anything she says?

Demon Dance - Waking in the Garden of Eden, Lilly discovers that mysterious forces have contrived to separate her from Gabriele. Thrown through time against her will, she has to fight to regain control of her own destiny. 


BUY HERE:
Paperback - Trilogy
Kindle: Killing Kiss - Book 1 

Kindle: Futile Flame - Book 2

Kindle: Demon Dance - Book 3

The next two books in the series are Hateful Heart and Silent Sand. Paperbacks of Hateful Heart & Silent Sand can be purchased from www.murkydepths.com or direct from me at events

Hateful Heart

Lilly, Gabriele and Caesare's vampiric life at Rhuddlan Castle is disrupted by the arrival of Amalia: a new vampire created by Lilly's one-time companion, Harry. They learn that Harry is dead, killed by some powerful weapon weilded by the mysterious time-traveller known only as Carduth. Realising that their lives are now in peril, the quartet begin an incredible adventure through time and space. They must track down Carduth, and somehow disable the weapon, before they too succumb to its fatal effect.

Also seeking Carduth are the remnants of the historic order of the Knights Templar who have been tracking a mysterious box for many centuries as they covet the power which rests within.

And all this time, the box is travelling; wending its way through time to seek a deadly revenge on the carriers of the vampire gene.

Kindle: Hateful Heart - Book 4



Silent Sand

Secrets can be found in the most unlikely places ...

Lilly thought that her vampire lair under Rhuddlan Castle in North Wales was safe ... until the dangerous fixer Darren Preacher tracked it down.

Gabriele Caccini thought that he knew all about being a vampire, but his life with newly turned lover Anya is sent out of control by the discovery of a new strain of vampirism, one which leaves its victims as ghoulish revenants, shells of the beings they used to be.

And deep in the Nevada desert, Lucy Collins, Gabriele's maker, is undercover, working with the CIA investigating the vampire revenants and what they might mean for humanity.

When preacher brings Gabriele into the CIA base, Lucy fears her cover may be blown, but there is something far more dangerous than vampires hiding beneath the sands of Nevada ... something ancient and vengeful, with an eternal patience and lust for revenge.

Soon, the ancient vampire family will find themselves facing their greatest foe yet, something primal and insidious, and from which they have no protection.

"Fast-paced and sexy, SILENT SAND is a stunning fusion of hi-tech thriller and gory folklore. As the action sweeps our vampire anti-heroes from an ancient castle in Wales to Las Vegas, from the court of Louis XV to the sinister military base in the Nevada desert, they stir up horrible secrets that really should remain buried ... What a delight to discover a grown up tale in which vampires are not afraid to be vampires! I devoured it." Freda Warrington. 

Kindle: Silent Sand - Book 5


The Kat Lightfoot Mysteries


If you like Steampunk, Zombies, Horror and Black Comedy, then the Kat Lightfoot Mysteries could be for you. Firstly, try Zombies At Tiffany's, then the sequel Kat on a Hot Tin Airship 


Zombies At Tiffany's

Kat Lightfoot thought that getting a job at the famed Tiffany’s store in New York would be the end to her problems ... she has money, new friends, and there’s even an inventor working there who develops new weapons from clockwork, and who cuts diamonds with a strange powered light. This is 1862, after all, and such things are the wonder of the age.

But then events take a turn for the worse: men and women wander the streets talking of ‘the darkness’; bodies vanish from morgues across town; and random, bloody attacks on innocent people take place in broad daylight.

Soon Kat and her friends are fighting for their lives against a horde of infected people, with only their wits and ingenuity to help them.

A steampunked story of diamonds, chutzpah, death and horror from the blood-drenched pen of Sam Stone.

Kat On A Hot Tin Airship

It is 1865 and the American Civil War has come to an end. Now Kat Lightfoot finds herself in the middle of another kind of war: a family feud involving her brother Henry and his new wife. But what is behind the strange behaviour of this affluent Southern family?

Caught in the crossfire of an implacable spirit's attempt to wreak vengeance on the Pollitt family, Kat must once again enlist the help of journalist George Pepper and the inventor Martin Crewe to find out what really haunts the family's past.

In order to learn what devastating secrets the Pollitts are hiding she must first explore her own feelings for Maggie's brother Orlando, who is one of the seductive Nephilim.

A GHOSTLY STEAMPUNKED TALE OF FAMILY SECRETS, VOODOO AND VENGEANCE FROM THE AUTHOR OF ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY'S. 


Paperback: Zombies At Tiffany's and Kat on A Hot Tin Airship
Kindle: Tiffany's 
Audio: Tiffany's Kindle: Kat on a Hot Tin Airship

If you like your horror a little darker then maybe delve into my sci-fi/horror: The Darkness Within - Final Cut. 

The Darkness Within

ZOMBIES ON A SPACESHIP!

Chief Engineer Madison Whitehawk suspects foul play when a series of small anomalies occur aboard the ark ship Freedom. But Madison’s fears are nothing compared to the impending disaster heading their way.

As the team of scientists, engineers and crew take their precious colonist cargo towards New Earth a deadly parasite has found its way onboard.

Soon Madison, Second Officer Crichton and colonist Syra Connor are fighting for their life’s against trusted friends and former lovers.

What is the parasite that changes the minds and behaviour of those it infects? And how can the crew of the Freedom destroy the darkness within?


BUY HERE
Kindle
Audio

Or look for variety in my collection Zombies in New York which contains, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, black comedy, Crime and Erotica.

Zombies In New York and Other Bloody Jottings

‘Sam Stone without doubt is a mistress of the grisly and the glutinous. She is one of the few horror writers who makes you feel when you have finished her stories that you need to wash your hands. Twice. I believe that we can look forward to seeing Sam Stone develop into a major influence in the realm of blood and shadows and things that wake you up, wide-eyed, in the middle of the night.’ Graham Masterton

Something is sapping the energy of the usually robust dancers of the Moulin Rouge … Zombies roam the streets of New York City … Clowns die in mysteriously humorous ways … Jack the Ripper's crimes are investigated by a vampire …

Welcome to the horrific and poetic world of Sam Stone, where Angels are stalking the undead and a vampire becomes obsessed with a centuries-old werewolf. Terror and lust go hand in hand in the disturbing world of the Toymaker, and the haunting Siren's call draws the hapless further into a waking nightmare.

Thirteen stories of horror and passion, and six mythological and erotic poems from the pen of the new Queen of Vampire fiction.

I hope you have found something that appeals to you.

Sam xxx

The Last Few Months

As you know my blog page has been quiet of late. This is because, as well as appearing at many events already this year, I have been a little swamped on the work front.

At the moment my day usually consists of 8-1pm = my own writing. After lunch = Telos Moonrise editing and sometimes early evening I go back to my own work. Normally this would be a 7 day week, but due to the amount of events I'm attending it is more like 4 or 5 and so I do feel as though there really aren't enough days in the week, let alone hours in a day. 

Earlier this year I sold my alien versus humans trilogy The Jinx Chronicles to Telos Publishing. The first book Jinx Town is due to be released around September this year and will have cover art from top artist Jim Burns. I am therefore working on the second book in the trilogy Jinx Magic with the hope of delivering to Telos early next year. The third in the series Jinx Bound, should be completed and delivered by early 2016.

As well as this Telos released my darkest novel yet The Darkness Within: Final Cut in February 2014. Originally written for audio, this is an extended version and contains some gruesome and sexual content that was omitted from the original text. For all formats click HERE

Last year I accepted the role of Commissioning Editor for Telos Moonrise and their new imprints, Criminal Pursuits, Steampunk Visions, Dark Endeavours and Sinful Pleasures. We have spent many months acquiring new and exciting titles for all of these imprints which has involved a lot of reading, editing and design in order to bring you these beautiful new books. What I couldn't have anticipated though was the unbelievable response we are having to the Telos Moonrise imprints. Our first titles have now hit the shelves and Telos Moonrise under the Telos Publishing banner is massively expanding this year. We have even expanded into Romance which also includes a very big name historical romance writer! But more on that later when we are ready to announce ... But I am pleased to say we now have Romantic Encounters as our newest imprint. This means that I am also going to be EXTRA busy on the editing side as well!

For more news on Moonrise titles please visit Telos Moonrise to see what we've been up to!

As well as all of this I have been asked to write screenplays for Zombies At Tiffany's and Killing Kiss with a view to options. I took some time out of writing the new novel (Jinx Magic) to begin work in earnest on Zombies At Tiffany's and I am now halfway through. It's slow going, due to the small amount of time I have for my own work at the moment, but hoping to finish this first draft very soon.

Other news ... KAT ON A HOT TIN AIRSHIP, the second in my Kat Lightfoot Steampunk Mysteries, is now available on Kindle.

Well that is all from me for now ... have to go and pack for Sci-Fi weekender 5 this weekend. Maybe I will see some of you there!

THE DARKNESS WITHIN - Final Cut

I'm delighted to share with you today the cover for The Darkness Within - Final Cut. Artwork by Martin Baines.

This book is a reworking of the original audio I wrote for AudioGo last year - an audio that has been taken over by Audible and is still available from them.

However, I digress ...

For those of you who already bought the previous version on kindle or audio, there are some additions you might be interested in. The content has been extended by approx 5000 words. This contains some salacious and gruesome content that was too strong for the audio version. There is an author's introduction outlining the origins of The Darkness Within, how it was sold to AudioGo and the unfortunate circumstances that led to AudioGo's closure.

This Telos edition is available now on Kindle and will also be released in  paperback next week.  It will be launched for the first time at Gallifrey One Convention in Los Angeles.



So, what is The Darkness Within - Final Cut about?

ZOMBIES ON A SPACESHIP!

Chief Engineer Madison Whitehawk suspects foul play when a series of small anomalies occur aboard the ark ship Freedom. But Madison’s fears are nothing compared to the impending disaster heading their way.

As the team of scientists, engineers and crew take their precious colonist cargo towards New Earth a deadly parasite has found its way onboard.

Soon Madison, Second Officer Crichton and colonist Syra Connor are fighting for their life’s against trusted friends and former lovers.

What is the parasite that changes the minds and behaviour of those it infects? And how can the crew of the Freedom destroy the darkness within? 

To buy on Kindle click the appropriate link below:

Kindle UK 

Kindle USA

Paperback out soon with TELOS PUBLISHING LTD - More to follow ...

Goodbye 2013 ... Hello 2014

What a year!

The beginning of 2013 started with an interesting and rapidly filling schedule for event attendances.

January was reasonably quiet: it gave me time to think, plan, write. And work wise I had lots on. I had story commissions, a six-parter novel to shape, and an original audio for AudioGo to write. My career was moving in the right direction again after what had felt like something of a false start the previous year.
February and David J Howe, Frazer Hines and I were booked to guest at Galaxyfest in Colorado Springs, followed by Gallifrey convention in Los Angeles. A whirlwind two week trip to the US that mean we got time to spend with our lovely friend Kevin J Anderson and Rebecca Moesta in Colorado, and Chase Masterson, Joshua Lou Friedman and Dean Haglund in LA. In LA we got to sing 'scary-oake' with some interesting friends of Josh's. Colorado we had a fab sight-seeing trip with Kevin and meals out with him and Rebecca: they are such great company. Gallifrey Convention was, a particular highlight for us. We got to catch up with people we really care about but only manage to see once a year. Our friends Tony and Jane Kenealy, Ben and Kim Adams, Ed and Jen Comstock among many!

In March we attended Sci-Fi Weekender at Hafan Y Mor. A great event! Packed to the doors with approx 6 thousand people. David and I had a great presence at the event and were involved in many panels, onstage interviews and we judged the masquerade with the lovely Chase Masterson. We met some new people, and caught up with the unique Brian Blessed. We also took part in BIG FINISH DAY in Barking. Here we met some of the cast of 'Allo, 'Allo and I had a brief chat with the lovely Tom Baker for the first time. I signed the contract with AudioGo for my novella The Darkness Within and my short story Urban Wolf was published in an interesting anthology called The Demonologia Biblica. I also took on the role of Commissioning Editor for Telos Publishing's new digital imprint Telos Moonrise.



April brought us back to Wales Comic Con. This event has been rapidly gathering momentum over the last few years, and this year the event topped it's previous attendance with around five thousand people I think. I also met Nicholas Brendan (Xander - Buffy The Vampire Slayer).

This month I was approached by German publishers Verlag Bucheinband Ines Neumann and the rights for my first Vampire Gene novel, Killing Kiss, were sold for translation.


Life change events also happened: David became a grandfather for the first time! And his grandson, Benjamin, is a constant source of delight.

I also commissioned my first piece for Telos Moonrise - Absinthe And Arsenic a Victorian Horror Collection by Raven Dane.


May was a quiet month for events but I was working really hard reading submissions for Moonrise. We commissioned the intriguing YA steam/diesel punk novella DOCTOR TRIPPS: KAIJU COCKTAIL by Kit Cox, two crime novels by Andrew Hook, The Immortalists and Church of Wire, and the erotic novel, BYTE ME! by new writer Roberta Steele. All of which made varied reading.

As well as working on these I was continuing to write a Victorian Supernatural Thriller called The Soul Thief.

In June we went to David's grandson's baptism in Cambridge. A lovely day and Benjamin is absolutely gorgeous!

My short story Imogen, originally published in Hersham Horror's PentAnth Siblings had been chosen for Salt Publishing's Best British Fantasy 2013 Anthology. It came out this month. Telos Publishing commissioned me to write the second steampunk short novel, Kat On A Hot Tin Airship, which was the sequel to Zombies At Tiffany's.

July saw me frantically writing Kat On A Hot Tin Airship as well as prepping Kit's and Raven's books for publication. We also went along as guests to Who@Hoylake, and I met Terrance Dicks for the first time. A totally adorable man.


In August we attended our first Lammas Party hosted by the lovely writers and editors, Jan and Peter Coleborn. And we went for a barbeque at crime writer Debbie Bennett's home. In fact it was a truly wonderful summer.

Events-wise we revisted the historical library at Leeds for Steampunk At Central Library. Here I read extracts from Kat On A Hot Tin Airship, and Doctor Tripps: Kaiju Cocktail and Absinthe and Arsenic got their first outing.
 
We also had a lovely visit from David's family and we were able to take them sightseeing. The weather held out and was glorious for most of the time. It was a relaxed visit that ended with a large party on 24th August at our local Chinese to celebrate David's birthday.

On the 31st we launched Kat On A Hot Tin Airship  at Browsers Bookshop in Porthmadog. Copies literally just arrived the day before - so it was a tense week!

At the beginning of September we had a visit from my German translator, Gunter Olchowsky and his lovely wife, Ines and son, Max. it was really great to get to know them and to start building a relationship that I hoped would grow with future books. We had a signing at Waterstones, Bolton and a visit from David's son James and his wife Rachel, with their lovely son, Ben. On the 13th we drove up to Lincoln and put on our best Steampunk clothing as we joined in the fun at Asylum Steampunk Weekend. Here David announced the forthcoming publication of Robert Rankin's new book, The Abominable Showman, we launched Absinthe and Arsenic, Doctor Tripps, and Kat On A Hot Tin Airship and they were all received extremely well. As always David and I were on the naughty table at the ball! Brilliant event as always. Can't wait until the next one!

On the 22nd we had a Telos Publishing signing at Forbidden Planet attended by myself, Raven Dane, David Howe and Stephen James Walker. And at the end of the month we went to Harlech Festival and I hopped on a train to London to attend the recording of Zombies At Tiffany's, which had been bought by Spokenworld Audio and to take part in a reading/signing to launch Best British Fantasy 2013, with Salt publishing, in which I read some shocking content from my story Imogen.


At the start of October, David and I hosted the screening of Hellraiser 2 and did a Q and A with Barbie Wilde and Nick Vince at Grimm Up North Film Festival. We also appeared as guests at Tenth Planet's brilliant Doctor Who convention, DIMENSIONS.

Then on 28th we flew to Florida to begin another fantastic two weeks in the USA. We arrived in Florida to be met at the airport by Stephen Sigal who took us to Jen and Ed Comstock's lovely home to stay for a few days.

After hitting the malls, getting over jetlag, and drinking copious amounts of wine, we moved over to the Double-Tree Hilton, at Orlando and joined the other guests to take part in HURRICANE WHO. Guests included Colin Baker, Frazer Hines, Colin Spaull, Daphne Ashbrook, Chase Masterson, Tony Lee, Paul Bradley, Ian McNeice, terrence Dick, Bob Baker and many more ... It was a fantastic weekend full of fun, laughter and we forged some new friendships there that I hope will continue into the future. The weekend ended with a terrific meal provided by the convention organisers for the guests and helpers, and David, Frazer, Chase and I all stayed on for a few days to rest a little. So we actually did a little bit of sunbathing (I had ultimate sunblock on - as I don't do sun!!)


This month also saw the publication of two more of my stories. The Jealous Sea that appeared in Terror Tales of the Seaside, Edited by Paul Finch and published by Gray Friar Press, and The Last Resort, Published by Crystal Lake Publishing in their Fear The Reaper anthology.

Also AudioGo launched The Darkness Within on audio, in ebook and in large print hardback.


We flew onto to Long Island on 6th November to take part in LONG ISLAND WHO. The organisers took all of the guests on a winery trip. We had a truly wonderful time, and hooked up once more with Daphne Ashbrook and Ian McNeice, and we were joined by Sylvester McCoy. This event was also great fun. Extremely well attended, and was slick in it's organisation. One of the highlights of the event was the Match Game that David, Frazer, Ian, Sylvester, Daphne and I took part in. It was rude, it was funny, and people kept talking to us about it all weekend so I think they must have enjoyed it. David, Frazer and I also got to be Daphne Ashbrook's pips when she sang We Don't Need No Doctor to Sylvester. We also had an early thanksgiving dinner on the last night, which was put on by the organisers for the guests. A great weekend!



But our events calendar was far from complete. We flew home and attended Who@Avoncroft, and I was invited to guest at Memorabilia in Birmingham, while David took part in the Doctor Who Anniversary weekend over in London.

In Birmingham my sister, Adele and I met Barry Bostwick - who was definitely someone we both wanted to meet. And this man did not disappoint. He was totally adorable. A real gentleman.

But not everything was going well. We also had some very bad news mid November: AudioGo were going into liquidation ... and so The Darkness Within's future seemed bleak. No writer wants to see their works fail or fall into the ether. So I was fairly stressed about this. Not least because I didn't know where I stood with the whole thing in terms of the continued sales of Ebooks on line and the Audio which was also still being sold.



December came and David and I flew to Canada for 5 nights to appear as guests at Pop Expo, Ottawa. I also took this opportunity to meet up with an old friend I hadn't seen for 24 years! My childhood friend, Wendy Allen, spent the day with us on the Friday 6th Dec and we tried the local dish Poutine, which is chips, gravy and cheese curd/Sounds weird but it was delicious. We saw the Canada parliament buildings and had the most fun day which also included a convention commitment to go to a press release. At the event we met some wonderfully interesting people, some really nice chaps who worked for Paramount, and one of my facebook friends, Writer/Editor Neil Baker. It was an event to cosplay at - and there were some super costumes.

We flew home and three days later were back on a plane, this time flying a little nearer to home as we set off to Berlin and the launch of Todeskuss, the German edition of my novel Killing Kiss.


In Berlin we were met by Gunter Olchowsky who took us to the hotel to check in, then came back to drive us to the bookshop. There we met up with Angelika Timme, who worked with Gunter on the translations, and a queue of lovely people who had been waiting for the book to hit the shelves. It was really great!

After the launch Angie and Gunter took us to a typical German restaurant and we had some interesting and tasty dishes. Mine was a veal dish with noodles, and David had some sort of frankfurter dish.


We went to a German Christmas Market: it was superb. We ate this wonderful salmon sandwich, and drank copious amounts of Gluhwein. On our last day we visited Checkpoint Charlie and the city center of Berlin, standing on the border between east and west - a sobering experience. We also hit the local supermarkets and bought Christmas presents to bring home.

Another of my short stories was published in Chaosium Anthology, Eldritch Chrome. The story, Sonar City, was chosen by editors Brian Sammons and Glynn Owen Barass.

We also received some very good news regarding The Darkness Within: Audible had bought the masters for the audio and I had my rights for ebook returned, which meant that I could now sell them on elsewhere. Look out for the new version paperback in Febuary 2014 - This version is called The Darkness Within Final Cut and is extended with scenes that had previously been too extreme for the audio and had been cut. No they are reinstated the book is no longer a novella but a short novel.

As you can imagine with all of this travel I didn't have much writing time in the latter part of the year - something I've been making the most of since the beginning of 2014.

So 2013 overall you have been an excellent year for me! Let's do it again in 2014 ... but perhaps bigger ... what do you think?


Publications for this year:

Novels
Kat On A Hot Tin Airship, Telos Publishing, August 2013
Todeskuss, Verlag Bucheinband Ines Neumann, December 2013


Novellas 
The Darkness Within, AudioGo, September 2013 (Hardback)

Audio
Zombies At Tiffany's, Spokenworld Audio, October 2013
The Darkness Within, AudioGo, October 2013

Short Fiction
Sonar City, (Eldritch Chrome), Chaosium, December 2013
The Last Resort, (Fear the Reaper), Crystal Lake Publishing, October 2013
The Jealous Sea, (Terror Tales of The Seaside) Gray Friar Press, Sept 2013
Imogen, (Best British Fantasy 2013), Salt Publishing, June 2013
Urban Wolf, (Demonologia Biblica), Western Legends, Mar 2013

HAPPY HOLIDAYS - 15% Off ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY'S

Spokenworld Audio would like to give you all a Christmas gift of 15% discount off the audio download of my Steampunk/Horror novella ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY'S.

All you need to do is use the following code at checkout. F9136102

Log onto Spokenworld Audio here http://www.spokenworldaudio.com/zombiesattiffanys.html 

Place your order and paste in the code above to receive your 15% discount.

The code is valid until 31st January 2014.

Wishing you all a happy holidays.

Sam :)

TODESKUSS LAUNCHES IN BERLIN

This has been an incredibly exciting year for me career-wise coupled with a hugely successful, somewhat international, tour that began in the UK, went swiftly onto the USA and Canada, and will end with the launch of the German edition of Killing Kiss in Berlin on 14th December 2013. 

The book has been named Todeskuss and I can now reveal the cover for the first time. 
 

The launch takes place here:

THE OTHERLAND BOOKSHOP, BERLIN, 14th DEC 2013
 
Date: 14th December 2013
 
Time: 2.30pm
 
Address: Otherland Buchandlung, Bergmannstraße 25, 10961 Berlin, Germany



As you can imagine I am very much looking forward to seeing the physical copies first hand and this will definitely go down as a landmark moment. Not only is this my first translation, but I have also never been to Germany before. 

This could be, I hope, the first of many trips there and I am very much looking forward to meeting what I hope will become new friends and readers.

Huge thanks go to Gunter Olschowsky, Commissioning Editor for Verlag Bucheinband Ines Neuman, and the co-translator Angie Timme for all the work they have done on carefully translating my words.

See you soon in Berlin! 



 

This Week I'll be At ...

MEMORABILIA, BIRMINGHAM. 23-24th NOV 2013
Sam Stone joins the line-up of Media guests at this huge event at Birmingham NEC.

Date: 23-24 November 2013.
Time: ALL Day Sat & Sun
Address: Birmingham NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT.

More Information Memorabilia

This Week I'll be At ...

DIMENSIONS 2013, Newcastle, 25-27th October 2013.  

Sam
Stone and David J Howe join the line-up of guests for this special
celebration convention - which will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of
Doctor Who.



For more information : Dimensions http://www.tenthplanetevents.co.uk/index.asp



Time: All Weerkend!

Address: The New Holiday Inn, Great North Road, Seaton Burn, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE13 6BP

Date: 25-27 October 2013.

RIP DOROTHY LUMLEY

I was very sad to hear the news of Dot Lumley's death this week after a brave battle with cancer.





Dot Lumley. Picture courtesy of and (c) Ellen Datlow.

Dot and I have a history going back to 1993 when I wrote a novel in my spare time and began to send it out to various agents and publishers. The novel was called The Brunette Murders and was my first, not very good, attempt at writing a vampire story.



I knew nothing then of the world I would later become very a part of, but Dot looked at that manuscript and was the only person out of many letters and submissions that I sent out to actually have the decency to reply. I knew then she was a very special person.



The letter that came told me I had 'a lively writing style which was very readable and very saleable ... it was just the content that didn't appeal'. Dot wasn't interested in vampire fiction you see, and she never really changed her mind about that over the various times we conversed.



I never forgot her and periodically sent things her way. She always replied and was kind and encouraging.



In 2010 I met Dot in person for the first time. I knew instantly that I liked her. As others have said she always had a smile and a kind word for everyone. A rare quality indeed. And I shared with her that experience I'd had and how her brief reply had encouraged me so much. By then of course I had three novels published through The House of Murky Depths, and I was launching the third one Demon Dance at the event we were all attending. Dot took interest in me. She spent some time talking about how my career was going and what she might be interested in. I gave her copies of all of the books and some time later received a long and detailed letter from her in the post, telling me what she felt about them and giving really wonderful feedback.



I was so impressed that she had taken the trouble to write to me that I contacted her and thanked her. Then, I got up the courage to try and send her something new. I sent her the opening of a new novel idea and a full synopsis which also outlined two other books. This book was called Jinx Town and it was a planned first book in an epic Portal Fantasy trilogy that I really believed in.



Dot was enthusiastic about the idea from the start. She sent me detailed emails giving feedback and advice, and because I responded to that advice positively, taking her comments and running with them, the first novel sprang into life and was completed. Dot received the finished manuscript and loved it. She chose then to represent me, and very quickly we had five publishers who were interested in the book.



Unfortunately, for reasons beyond both of our control, the book was not picked up. Even so, Dot stayed with me. She gave me advice and ploughed on trying her best to find a home for the book. She believed in it as much as I did you see.



About 18 months ago we parted ways professionally. I now wonder if this was because she knew she was ill. I will probably never know for sure, but we parted amicably and Dot told me then she believed I deserved success and someone to represent me that could 'devote the time and energy' needed. We always planned to get together again and Dot had said she really wanted to come and visit David and I in Wales. She would have always been welcome.



I will always remember her as a kind, caring devoted person. Who would give generously of her time and really enjoyed shaping new and aspiring talent.



RIP Dot. I'm proud that we worked together but I miss you and wish I'd had an opportunity to talk to you again before the end.

CURRENT KINDLE BARGAINS ...

Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings





ZINY At Amazon UK £2.01



ZINY Amazon USA $3.12











Zombies At Tiffany's

 

Tiffany's At Amazon UK £2.59



Tiffany's At Amazon USA $4.11

















Hateful Heart (Vampire Gene Series Book 4)



HH At Amazon UK £2.01



HH At Amazon USA $3.24

















Silent Sand (Vampire Gene Series Book 5)



SS At Amazon UK £2.02



SS At Amazon USA $3.14













Talespinning By David J Howe



TS At Amazon UK £2.59



TS At Amazon USA $4.11
















New to the VAMPIRE GENE SERIES?









Catch up here VAMPIRE GENE TRILOGY - The First 3 Books in one compendium.



VG Tril Amazon UK £18.94



VG Tril Amazon USA $26.99