Tim Hawken's Blog, page 7
November 2, 2015
Knock, Knock. – A 100 word story
From time to time I like to put up a creepy little Drabble (100 word story) on my blog. Enjoy…
I shiver upstairs, hearing my trick-or-treater friends retreat for the night. They dared me to sleep in this house, alone with its midnight groans.
Black silence outside, then a slow knock… knock… knock…
The front door opens with a creak. More knocking echoes up the stairs. Or is it footsteps? I creep into the hall and peer down. The wind blows through the open door. Only shadows dance on the floorboards below.
Making my way down, I tentatively place my hand on the door and swing it closed.
“I have you now,” a voice rasps behind me.
November 11, 2014
Weekly Inspiration:: Eyeball Monsters
It’s no secret I’ve got a thing for eyes. The Perceptionist in the Hellbound trilogy is a creature covered in eyes. Part of this comes from an obsession with sight and all of the intricacies that entails, like the ability to see the past, present and future. Part of it is that they’re just plain creepy when not placed where they should be – ie safely housed in a socket.
Here are just a few hits from my library of ‘Eyeball Monsters’.
This is by Ken Nikai as part of his Portraits of Grimm. The feminine detail actually enhances the whole weird aspect in my view.
Obviously you can’t mention eyeball monsters without throwing out one of the all time favourites: the creature from Pan’s Labyrinth. It’s so good, it seems like there was quite a bit of inspiration was taken for how the Stygian Witches were portrayed in the 2010 Clash of the Titans remake (pic also below).
The Guardian from Big Trouble in Little China is another movie classic. It’s even been listed as one of the greatest spherical sci-fi monsters of all time.
I’m a huge fan of Alex Grey’s art, which was a very strong influence on the look of The Perceptionist, particularly the album covers he Grey did for Tool. Lots of his art plays on themes of site. Here is a great one.
Alex Grey is the master of eyes
Cyclops is one of the oldest eyeball monsters out there. A lot of variations have been done in the past. Here are two really interesting contemporary versions. The old man version is by Andrei Riabovitchev and the girl is by Kayness
*Please note I have tried to give correct credit for all images. I do not own the rights to any of these, they have been sourced via the internet. If you’re the artist and I have credited wrongly, or you want the images removed please email me 
November 4, 2014
Weekly Inspiration – Top 5 Halloween Costumes of 2014
Sometimes it’s not all about gore and guts for Halloween. You want a little fun, perhaps keeping it sexy if you’re single… or just something that will stop and make people go “wow”.
These people have inspired me to make sure I do something worthwhile next year…. even though I’ll likely go something pretty dark and bloody.
#1 Jillian Shannon as Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks. This is awesome on so many levels. With Twin Peaks making a comeback to screens in 2016, the original David Lynch classic is seeing a renaissance. (via Jill’s Instagram)
#2 Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. So amazing! Created by monster makeup wizard Frank Ippolito
#3 Both Em Rata and Sahara Ray looked back to Pulp Fiction for inspiration as Mrs Mia Wallace.
#4 Lactose Intolerance. Gold!
#5 Heidi Klum – The reason I dig this is because one of the most beautiful women in the world is showing no skin. It’s all about the costume. A for effort (although I’m sure didn’t make it herself).
May 23, 2014
Hellbound on Kindle
Hellbound is just $2.99 on Kindle. Get it while it’s hot.
Each title in Tim Hawken’s Hellbound trilogy is now available for just $2.99USD on Kindle. Check it all out on Amazon here.
Don’t forget to post your reviews either. The Dark Lord is watching.
May 13, 2014
Writer’s Festival – Margaret River
Tim will be speaking this coming weekend, May 17th and 18th at the Margaret River Writer’s festival.
Other guests include Graeme Simsion of Rosie Project fame, and graphic novelist Justin Randall.
April 16, 2014
The Easter Eggs of Hellbound
The Easter Eggs of Hellbound
What are Easter Eggs? I’m not talking chocolate wrapped in multi-coloured aluminium foil. I’m talking about treats hidden away within a story that you have to search out and find. The term has become fairly popular of late, with many companies hiding surprises in their products. However, artists have been doing it for hundreds of years to help provide a deeper interaction with their work.
I recently read a great article about the easter eggs in the Star Wars films. So, in the spirit of revelation, I thought I would share just a few of the sneaky references I have hidden within The Hellbound Trilogy…
1. Buried quotes from classic literature.
On the very first page of Hellbound there is a description which begins: “The fire shed no light itself but rather made the darkness more visible, creating doleful shades of grey throughout the room.” This is a direct reference to John Milton’s Paradise Lost, which had a great deal of influence on my conception of Hell. The real line from his epic poem reads:
Other examples are the desriptions of Phineus’ eyes as “vile jelly”, or Smithy saying “as flies to Wanton boys”. These come from Shakespeare’s King Lear. They are fairly subtle indications that just as in King Lear the story is likely to be a tragic one, with the innocent Lotte not necessarily being rescued at the end (I also originally called Lotte ‘Cordelia’ for this same reason).
2. The significance of names.
Names don’t just get picked out of a pile and assigned to a character. At least not for me. Nearly everyone’s name in The Hellbound Trilogy has significance. Here are just a few…
Michael: Michael is the name of the angel generally credited for casting Satan out of Heaven and down into Hell.
Smithy: This is reference to the great Australian pilot Charles Kingsford-Smith, who fought in World War I and eventually went missing on a flight between Australia and England. Hellbound’s Smithy also called his company ‘Kingsford Aviation’.
Dante and Virgil: The bum and his teddy bear. Probably the least subtle of name references. In Dante’s masterwork The Divine Comedy he is led through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven by the poet Virgil.
Clytemnestra: Is the name of a character in an ancient Greek play called The Oresteia. She is a symbol of revenge. You might also notice the nighclub in I Am Satan is called ‘Oresteia’.
3. Biblical References
Some of these are obviously spelled out in the books. However, some are not and the story behind them relates to what is happening at a deeper level within the scene. Here are just two in Hellbound.
1. Michael exclaims to Asmodeus after being told about the origins of the universe: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!” – This comes from Ecclesiastes 1:2
2. Gideon tells Michael: “He has made me a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.” – This comes from The Book of Job 30:29
There are many, many more little eggs just waiting to be discovered in the series. If you ever think you’ve found one, send me an email or a tweet and I’ll tell you the story behind why I chose it. Or, maybe you can tell me?
March 21, 2014
Win Your Copy of Hellbound
To celebrate Auggie Talk having Tim as their featured author this month, there is a giveaway happening on the site.
There are multiple easy ways to enter, just vist Auggie Talk here for more details. Entries close April 11th.
March 15, 2014
Auggie Talk
Tim will be the featured author this month and April on AuggieTalk.com
As part of the feature there will be giveaways of Hellbound, reviews and even a character interview with the great Asmodeus. To keep track of the fun click here and visit the site.
February 10, 2014
My Writing Process
Today is Monday, also known in the universe of writing as: Blog Tour Day. This particular blog tour is where writers and authors answer questions about their writing process. My friend Paul Beaumont posted his last week and now it’s my turn to unveil how I write, and what I’m up to at the moment…
1) What am I working on?
Right now I have multiple projects in the works. One is an ‘adult children’s’ book called “A is for Axe Murder.” It is a collaboration with artist Jodee Knowles, who is creating some lightly creepy visuals for it, such as this:
The other is a new fantasy/horror novel centering around dreams and linked worlds. Working title: Noxx. You can see some inspiration for it here.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The Hellbound Trilogy in particular is rooted in the mythos of Hell, which is unusual. I tie in religious themes with contemporay ideas of sin and desire. One of the key reasons I started to write the series is that, despite being intensly interested in ideas of the afterlife, I couldn’t find a good novel set in the Underworld. So, I created one myself.
3) Why do I write what I do?
Some would say I’m possessed by the devil, but that’s not true. Having grown up with ‘Christian’ values I drifted towards atheism, yet still really loved the stories of the Bible and the literature surrounding demons and hell. In particular Dante’s Inferno, the art of William Blake and Gustave Dore, and Paradise Lost by John Milton, all tickled my fancy when studying at university. It all burgeoned from there.
4) How does your writing process work?
I generally begin with a location. It all stems from there. Then I set out the key characters and work their interactions into a plot. I love to do research and get inpiration from sources ranging from books, comics, movies and art. There is a blog article I wrote recently about ‘How to Start a Novel.’ My process is summed up very well there. Have a read.
Next week, head to the following writer’s blogs for their process on writing…
J. D. Brucker was born near Chicago, IL in 1989. He is an atheist author, a secular humanist, and an outspoken anti-theist. With passion and determination, he aims to make a positive impact in the world through his atheism, skepticism, and humanism. His first book “Improbable: Is There Any Reason To Believe In God?” was published by Dangerous Little Books in December of 2013. Aside from writing and operating his website, he blogs for the website Atheist Republic.
He currently resides in Northern Illinois.
Joshua Kelly is the author of the book “Oh, Your god!: The Evil Idea That Is Religion”. He is also a columnist for MicroShiner Magazine and a commentator on religion, politics, and art.
February 7, 2014
Weekly Inspiration :: Tentacles
Yes tentacles. The sliming squirmy things with suckers on the end. At the moment I’ve been on a bit of a bent for all things squiddy because of my renewed interest in HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu and Ben Templesmith’s pending graphic novel The Squidder. And no, I haven’t been looking at Japanese tentacle porn.
Here are some great images I have found this week. You’ll probably see variations of these monsters turn up in my next novel, Noxx…
The Great Cthulhu
Squidder by Ben Templesmith
The Octopus Tree by Oodrey Smart
Death, guns, tentacles, robots..
