Guy Portman's Blog, page 8

My Book To Be Published In German

I am excited to announce that my third book, Symbiosis, is to be published in Germany. Festa Verlag, a Leipzig-based publisher believe that my psychological offering will appeal to their readers. They have acquired the German-language rights and Symbiosis will be released in German next spring.

Symbiosis is a psychological thriller of sorts. The book does not contain as much dark humour as my other offerings. It is about identical twins. If you haven’t come across it before here is the b...

Darkly Humorous Fiction, Carb-Free Feasts & Arachnids

This week people have been helping me polish the blurb for my forthcoming book – The Gazebo (Release date: Tues, Sep.1). It’s a little way off but I want to try and get it to some reviewers a month or so before it comes out, and the front cover is still being designed. I shared the blurb in progress last week. Here is the completed version:

Two men’s lives are about to implode. Can they save themselves before it’s too late?

The Gazebo: A husband’s lustful behaviour is out of control. If hi...

A Gazebo, A Summerhouse & Black Comedy

This week I’ve been working on my new book – The Gazebo. Here are some details:

Two men’s lives are about to implode. Can they save themselves before it’s too late?

The Gazebo: A husband’s peculiar lust is out of control. If his wife finds out, there’ll be hell to pay – and she is on to him. Calamity looms in this warped tale featuring an unusual fetish and a gazebo.  

The Curse: They warned him to steer clear of the Transylvanian temptress, but entrepreneur Theo couldn’t resist her cha...

Humorous Fiction and A New Toy

You know when you have no luck with something. It could be anything – but in my case it’s brush cutters amongst other things. I started off with the cheapest I could find. It weighed the same as an Atlas stone from World’s Strongest Man, and the engine overheated and switched itself off every two minutes. I then bought a Kawasaki which was pretty good until it wasn’t. As repairing it was proving to be a big undertaking, I upgraded this week to the Ferrari of brush cutters – a Stihl FS70. It cost...

6 Dark Fiction Reading Recommendations

There is nothing to report this week, so it is back to my bread and butter – reading recommendations. Here are six dark fiction books worth reading, if you haven’t done so already. Click on the links to read my reviews:

Novel with Cocaine

Novel with Cocaine is a nihilistic account of adolescence and addiction.

My Review: Set in the years immediately before and after the Russian Revolution, Novel with Cocaine follows the life of Vadim, a Moscow adolescent and …(more)

Rashōmon and ...

Gardening, Beer, Reading & Lockdown Easing.

Lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease and it seems things are returning to normal. This was made clear to me when I went to the supermarket this week and came across these Kleenex Originals. They are the first I’d seen in months. Was beginning to think Kleenex Originals had gone the same way as the dodo and woolly mammoth.

And that wasn’t the end of the supermarket’s pleasant surprises. This box of twenty-four Moretti was a mere twenty-three quid. What a deal.

I decided to ma...

A Gazebo, A Reading Recommendation, and Lockdown Haircuts.

I finally had enough of waiting for hairdressers to reopen and shaved my head. You’ll have to take my word for it; it looks bad.

Of late, it has been unusually dry in the South of England. The heavens have just opened however. My new, threadbare lawn could certainly do with some water.

Having a dog is useful, in that he/she can help out when one has too much food in stock. There was no way I was going to be able to eat a whole melon on my own.

Here is my dog Trigga taking his s...

5 Dark Humour Books You Might Like

There is absolutely nothing to report this week, hence more darkly humorous reading recommendations. Without further ado, here they are. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Choke is in essence a social commentary about our innate craving for attention and the fundamental nature of addiction.

My Review: The protagonist, Victor Mancini, is a sex addict employed at an eighteenth-century historical re-enactment park. Victor attends various sexual addiction ...

Lockdown Reading & Revelations

Lockdown is starting to wind down here in the UK, it seems. As for me, I will be remaining in self-isolation. If there’s another way to live, I am not familiar with it. Besides, it has its perks, including reduced car fuel costs.

Not much of note has happened this week. On Monday, I found this nine quid box of Corona in the supermarket. It remains unopened, but that is poised to change.

You know when you have your schedule laid out for the day, only for a spanner to be thrown in the w...

Dark Fiction, Empty Fridges & Culinary Titbits

It’s Friday again. This week I read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I was only introduced to dark fiction author McCarthy last year, and I’ve already read four of his books. Blood Meridian is quite possibly the most brutal novel ever written.

Another trip to the supermarket was in order.

I was in luck however. Hidden away at the back of the freezer, there were gyoza. This time I succeeded in not getting them stuck to the frying pan.

Panic buying and long queues no longer...