Devon De'Ath's Blog, page 3
September 20, 2019
September 11, 2019
A Breakfast Visitor
I had a buzzard stop by with its freshly caught breakfast this morning.
A quick still shot with the DSLR and some video camera footage later…
September 10, 2019
The Power of Where
One joy of writing a book that crosses multiple historical timeframes whose events spatially intersect, is the ability to double-down on locations in a way that adds poignancy to the story.
While ‘The Shackled’ features a central narrative of primary events occurring in 2019, there are side-stories with additional characters in various places from 1815, 1914-1918, 1941-2018, 1985-2005, 2008-2019 and 2016-2019. In the interests of my readers’ sanity, I’ve labelled these to avoid confusion.
Loc...
September 6, 2019
Bridechurch Revisited
There’s a wonderful 18th century, neo-classical stately home near my house called ‘Belmont.’ Containing the finest clock collection in England, it is an exquisite property on a commanding and beautiful spot in over three thousand acres of prime Kent countryside. The name derives from its elevated position and extensive views. Belmont has attracted a new generation of fans in recent years, thanks to the CBBC production series of ‘Hetty Feather.’
[image error]I’ve been a regular visitor throughout my life...
Setting the Tone
When it came time to look at suitable cover art for my latest novel, ‘The Shackled,’ I made the unusual choice to go with a predominantly black and white theme. Anyone who knows me, is aware I avoid purchasing books with black and white covers, unless I have a strong urge to delve into their contents. There may be many artistic reasons to employ such a medium, but to my mind it suggests boring, arty-farty lit-fic with unreadable purple prose and very little story. An unfair generalisation, bu...
June 28, 2019
June 16, 2019
Way beyond Country Dancing
Well, it’s about that time again, Folks: the release of another novel.
It’s been a busy year since I sat down to write my first foray into the horror genre, ‘Maria’s Walk.’ On 27th June my fourth title, ‘Maypole,’ will take its place among the growing collection.
As a child at a small Kent primary school in the 1970s, country dancing classes were a regular part of our curriculum. Weaving together a new tale that folds in a lot of different folklore about Maypoles and their origin has been a g...
June 14, 2019
The Durham Chase
My new, upcoming indie horror title, ‘Maypole,’ opens with the central character, Lisa Marston, fleeing her abusive boyfriend. The chase begins at their flat in the old town part of Durham and follows a specific route (about 0.6 of a mile) to the traffic lights on Church Street. Here the pursuer gets in a scrap with a passing motorist and is arrested by police.
For those unfamiliar with this beautiful northern city, I include a series of images below to illustrate the route of the chase and a...
June 3, 2019
Embracing my inner Tom Sawyer
Over the last week I’ve been forcing myself away from the computer. One of those counter-intuitive but necessary moments of space writers sometimes need.
Another first draft in the bag, I decided to replace a few garden fence panels and give the entire span a few coats of paint. Whenever I conduct an activity like this, I can’t help but make a mental connection with Mark Twain’s classic work, ‘Tom Sawyer.’ I imagine most people who grew up with the book will never forget that iconic scene whe...
May 27, 2019
Discounts, Freebies & Competitions
If you haven’t already done so and would like to be notified about discounts and freebies in relation to my work (plus the odd awesome competition to receive free, signed paperbacks), please consider joining my ‘VIP Readers’ list.
You can learn more about it and sign up here.
