Steven A. McKay's Blog, page 16
March 27, 2020
Stay sane during lockdown – ghost stories!
So I’ve deleted the Twitter app from my phone (I still have an account but am not using it just now) and am not reading anyone’s posts on Facebook because so many are sharing things that, frankly, frighten me. So, to combat this, I’m reading ghost (and other unexplained mystery) stories.
Yes, to escape the real world during lockdown I’ve been using my Kindle Unlimited subscription to discover “real” spooky tales. I recommend these as a great way to bury your head in the sand for a few hours!
First up, and my favourite so far, is Credible Witness by Andy Gilbert. The author is not a “professional” writer, he’s a retired UK police officer who gathered together some accounts from his colleagues around England and put them into this book, and the sequel, Credible Witness II, which is also well worth a punt. You can expect to read about haunted police stations (noises mostly, but also shadowy figures), disembodied voices, mysterious sensations and, my personal favourite, a ghostly joy-rider. The style is very dry and matter-of-fact which actually lends credence to the officers’ accounts and makes both books much more, well, credible in my opinion. There’s no sensationalism or flowery prose in an attempt to tart it all up and it works extremely well. Both volumes are short and I don’t think the author had all that much material to work with so you are left wanting more but that’s not his fault. I just hope he gets more accounts and does a part 3. If you’re an ex-UK copper and have a story, please send it to him, you can find him on Facebook as “Andy Gilbert writer & comedy performer”.
Here’s the link to the first, 5-star book, give it a go! LINK
The second is by Steph Young. I came to her book because I’m quite interested in the “Missing 411” phenomenon which, if you don’t know, is about the incredibly high number of people who go missing from mostly US national parks under very strange circumstances. They’re often found miles away from where they should be, maybe high up on inaccessible cliffs or something. The guy who brought this to the world’s attention is David Paulides but his books are only available through him and cost a small fortune, while Steph Young has written similar ones that you can get cheaply on Kindle. However, when I looked her up on Amazon, this title caught my eye: Tales of Mystery Unexplained.
Hmm. Well, I just went to get the link for this and apparently it’s unavailable as there were so many quality issues in it. That’s a shame – I thought it was really in need of a proof reader but still enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully the author sorts it out and makes it available again because it’s worth a look and was actually number 1 in its chart the other day.
Cases covered are UFO’s, ghosts and others like creepy and mysterious disappearances such as the sad story of Elisa Lam (if you don’t know about this, check out the video of her in her hotel lift the night she disappeared HERE).
Check out Tales of Mystery Unexplained on Amazon here: LINK
The last book I’ve been reading is not spooky, it’s a fantasy book I first read when I was about 12. I guess it’s aimed at teenagers or young adults but that just means it’s an easy read and perfect escapism for these scary days. Dragons of Autumn Twilight kicked off the Dragonlance series which became something of a phenomenon in the 80’s. I really loved the characters and, although it is rather twee and simplistic (don’t expect Game of Thrones style violence or sex) the Dragonlance books are a lot of fun. Not all of them, of course, as there’s bloody hundreds of them now, but the original set of four, plus the LEGENDS trilogy, are still good. Unfortunately they’re not on Kindle Unlimited so you’ll have to pay for them! Also worth a look are the original Shannara books, starting with The Sword of Shannara which I reviewed HERE a couple of years ago.
LINK to Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Don’t forget, my own books are ALL available FREE on Kindle Unlimited worldwide, and The Druid is free on Prime Reading in the UK and Canada just now. You can also get most of my books for FREE with a month’s trial on Audible. Worth a look!
March 23, 2020
Ritual. In life, and particularly within my novels – does it make sense to you?
I’ve been thinking about doing a blog post on this subject for a while now, ever since one of the beta readers for my novel The Druid told me she couldn’t understand what was going on in a scene, specifically the one where Bellicus performs a ritual and “meets” a mythical hero.
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There was another, similar scene in Song of the Centurion and, again, she told me I should take it out as it didn’t make sense to her. She didn’t know if Bellicus was dreaming, or imagining it all, or if it was really happening as it might in a fantasy novel like Lord of the Rings. I was surprised at these comments because I assumed everyone would know what was going on – you may not have any personal experience of performing rituals and conversing with astral beings, but you’ll have seen it in movies surely?
Many people report meeting entities during religious or spiritual moments, indeed, it seems to me that ANYONE praying to a god or saint or whatever is actively looking for such a union. Although perhaps for most people, if it did actually happen that “something” spoke to them either out loud or mentally, they’d assume they’d gone mad and write it off, like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol!
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One of Christianity’s most famous events is Paul’s revelation on the road to Damascus where a light blinded him and he heard a voice speaking to him:
As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. – Acts 9
This wasn’t part of a ritual, but it’s clearly some unseen entity guiding Paul.
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Similarly, the magician Aleister Crowley’s most sacred text, the Book of the Law, was supposedly dictated to him by a being calling itself Aiwass. Crowley claimed many experiences with similar discarnate entities during his lifetime as did some of his contemporaries such as SL McGregor Mathers of the Golden Dawn, pictured below in Egyptian costume for a ritual.
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And, in more modern times you have someone like million-selling author Graham Hancock who claims to have met an entity he calls Mother Ayahuasca while under the influence of certain drugs. He’s been guided by this entity and says it’s made his life much better. This kind of shamanic altered state experience is well known from movies and fiction, where someone drinks a potion or eats magic mushrooms and finds themselves in a new reality.
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Another over-used movie/book plot device is the pagan or satanic blood ritual that goes wrong and sees the unfortunate magician possessed by a demon. Of course there are real cases where people have been badly affected by “black” magic and gone crazy as a result, and even the modern day case where Slenderman, an internet invention, “told” two teenage girls to murder their friend.
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I am not exactly a religious or even very spiritual person, but I have some slight experience communing with a “higher power” – in fact, if you’ve read my book Rise of the Wolf you’ll be familiar with the whole part where Robin and John travel to London and meet the king. Believe it or not, that was not “my” idea – it was given to me one day when I was sitting quietly in my bedroom, meditating.
Even more impressively, the outline of the plot for Lucia came to me in a flash of insight one day when I was walking outside. These were not moments where I felt like I was plotting things out in my head as I always do – these two occasions were different. It genuinely seemed like the ideas were imparted to me from somewhere outside my Self.
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So, to me, communing with otherworldly beings seems quite straightforward, whether you regard such experiences as “real” or imagined. And, since Bellicus is a druid and his society’s channel to the gods, I did NOT take out the scenes where he goes into a trance and meets his astral companions for guidance. I have always been curious however, if more of my readers were confused by those sections. Were you? Share your opinion in the comments below or by using the CONTACT button, I would really love to know your thoughts on this!
As I wrote this the UK announced a lockdown. In these uncertain times I expect many of us will be seeking spiritual guidance and strength – I hope my books and my characters can bring you, and me, some solace, or at least a chance to simply escape the real world for a while.
Stay safe.
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February 27, 2020
Song of the Centurion coming soon on Audible!
If you are a fan of audiobooks, you’ll be pleased to hear Song of the Centurion, sequel to The Druid, is coming to Audible. Nick Denton is narrating again, as he did with The Druid, so save a credit for it. I don’t have a firm release date yet, but I’d imagine a month or two and it’ll be ready to go!
If you prefer Kindle or paperback versions, get the book HERE
Don’t forget, The Druid is only 99p on Kindle UK at the moment, but only until Saturday the 29th of February, so if you haven’t read it yet, now is the best time to get a copy.
February 12, 2020
Stunning Dunnottar Castle during the Scottish winter! My latest research trip, just look at those views!
Last year I visited Dunadd Hill Fort to research my novel Song of the Centurion and it was not only a worthwhile trip, but a fantastic way to spend time with my daughter (my son wasn’t well so the wife had to stay home with him). Click HERE to see those pics. This year we went to Dunnottar Castle on the opposite side of the country to find out what the place is like as it will feature in book 3 of the Warrior Druid of Britain Chronicles (available summer 2020 hopefully). And the whole family came this time!
(BTW book 1 in the series, The Druid, is on special offer in the UK for just 99p all February LINK, and 99c in the USA ONLY on the 11th and 12th Feb LINK. Get your copy quick!)
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I’d Google’d Dunnottar and thought I had a good idea of what the place was like but my visit showed me the real value of research, as it was not at all as I expected. Of course, the ruined castle that stands there nowadays dates from medieval times – it wouldn’t have been there during the time of Bellicus and Duro. That means, hooray! I can pretty much invent whatever structures I want, within reason, but it’s great that I now have some idea of what the land is like and what people would have seen approaching Dunnottar from land or sea back in the 5th century. At that time it would have been a Pictish stronghold, with King Drest enjoying its stunning location.
So, on with the photos! The day we visited it was during Storm Ciara and very windy but well worth the trip as you’ll see from the pics. It was blowing so hard my flat cap actually blew off INSIDE the keep!
[image error]The walk from the car park shows the castle in all its glory, with the North Sea at the back
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Some of the pictures were taken by my wife, or my daughter. Very strangely, I had about 70% battery on my phone, wife had 60% – both our phones died within 5 minutes of arrival, and both in the same place (the Keep). Thankfully my daughter’s phone was fine or we’d have missed out on many of these amazing pics! It was pretty spooky how two phones with nearly full batteries, and no previous battery faults, both died suddenly and in the same building….
[image error]Now the phones dying makes sense….
[image error]I would have LOVED to go through that gate and come out the other side, but it was locked
Click to view slideshow.
[image error]A handsome photo-bomber
Click to view slideshow.
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[image error]Yes, one glove is fingerless – so I could use the camera without taking it off all the time! Wee tip for you there, next time you visit Scotland.
We stayed at the Carnoustie Hotel and I’d recommend it. I’m not a golfer but it’s a nice hotel with a pool and a great restaurant.
On the way home (in a minor blizzard) we passed the famous Bannockburn, Stirling Castle/ Wallace Monument as well as the equally famous Oor Wullie, Dennis the Menace, and Desperate Dan!
I hope you like the photos, and I hope you are looking forward to the next book. Fingers crossed for a summer release, but before that will be the Kindle and paperback editions of LUCIA. Look out for the cover reveal for that one VERY SOON!
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February 11, 2020
The Druid just 99c in the USA now too! Be quick though.
Yep, for a VERY short time, The Druid is only 99c in the USA (usual price $3.99) so if you haven’t read it yet, check it out. It’s currently doing really well in the UK so it would be nice to draw in some more readers in America too. Get your copy HERE:
Don’t forget, it’s also FREE on Kindle Unlimited worldwide, and FREE on Prime Reading UK, as well as just 99p UK during February so don’t miss out, and let your historical fiction reading friends know!
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February 8, 2020
Book Corner: Faces of Darkness by Steven A. McKay
“There were several points where I thought I had solved the mystery, only to be disabused of my theory a few pages later, which, of course, makes the book even more riveting!” Check out the latest review for Faces of Darkness from historian Sharon Bennett Connolly!
History... the interesting bits!
CROFTUN, ENGLAND AD 1328
Lady Isabella de Courcy is found alone in a room bolted from the inside, unconscious, and with a dagger brutally forced through her hand into the floorboards beneath, but this is just the latest in a line of similar, terrifying incidents. For months now she’s been stalked by some shadowy tormentor who leaves no trace of his movements and has never been clearly seen by anyone, even Lady Isabella.
Can the bailiff, John Little, along with his friend – the legendary friar, Robert Stafford – uncover the truth and, more importantly, will they be able to save the troubled victim before she ends up dead?
This new standalone tale from the author ofThe Druidsees the return of two much-loved characters from the Forest Lord series and is based on a shocking real-life case which remains, to this day, unsolved.
I have been a fan…
View original post 801 more words
February 1, 2020
Wow! THE DRUID is only 99p Kindle UK, FREE on Prime Reading & Kindle Unlimited!
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The Druid is in Amazon UK’s February deals – just 99p! Bargain! 
Grab it here – https://amzn.to/2ud1TCu
As Speesh Reads said – “The Druid is richly imagined, confident and gripping, full of memorable characters that fair leap from the page, and with a protagonist who, despite his calling, is written with just the right mix of the earthly and the unearthly, the spiritual and the realistic… instantly engaging storytelling on a par with anything you’ve read before by him there Cornwell, or Kane, or Kristian…a triumph, an honest to goodness, self-assured triumph.”
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January 14, 2020
Faces of Darkness by Steven A. McKay
“McKay knows what his readers want.. everything he offers us is pure brilliance and while we may not see the gang around that much it was so good to be back!”
Check out this interesting review of Faces of Darkness!
Next up on David’s Book Blurg I’m reviewing Faces of Darkness by Steven A. McKay.
Here’s the blurb
When a young noblewoman is brutally assaulted in her own manor house, two former outlaws decide they must solve the mystery, before things go too far…
CROFTUN, NORTHERN ENGLAND
WINTER, AD 1328Lady Isabella de Courcy is found alone in a room bolted from the inside, unconscious, and with a dagger forced through her hand, but this is just the latest in a line of similar, terrifying incidents. For months now, she’s been stalked by some shadowy tormentor yet, bafflingly, the attacker has never been clearly seen by anyone, even Lady Isabella, and he seems to leave no trace of his movements.
Can the bailiff, John Little, along with the legendary friar, Robert Stafford, uncover the truth and, more importantly, will they be able to save the troubled victim before she ends…
View original post 425 more words
January 8, 2020
Author Questions Answered – Should I write a novella?
If you like.
Tune in next time for more stunning insights from me!
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No, I’m kidding. Let’s look at this in a little more depth, as I have (genuinely) been asked about this more than once recently.
I’ve written a few shorter tales now, including novellas, a novelette and some short stories so I’d like to think I have some idea of how they work – not so much from an artistic standpoint perhaps, since that’s subjective, but from the business side. In other words, whether they sell or not.
And I’ll get straight to the point and tell you that, in comparison to full-length novels, NO, shorter stories don’t sell as well. Even if you lower the price, it doesn’t seem to matter. When browsing your book’s Amazon page readers are very clearly checking the page count and spending more of their cash/time on books with 300+ pages.
[image error]Boom! 1, 2 and 3 today! Looks impressive eh? But all 3 of those combined are selling less than The Druid.
My first novella was Knight of the Cross which was more fantasy influenced than my other books so, when it didn’t sell as much as Wolf’s Head or The Wolf and the Raven I thought people weren’t so keen on the HP Lovecraft cosmic horror thing. It had a superb cover after all, so something else had to be at play.
Then Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil was next and, even at Christmas time when it sells best, it still doesn’t come even close to any of my novels in the charts despite being included in Amazon’s prestigious Kindle Singles Program.
The Prisoner and The Escape were shorter again and despite having really nice covers (particularly The Prisoner) and being good enough again to win places in the Kindle Singles Program they haven’t sold all that much.
The Abbey of Death was the next novella and this was my first book to be bought by a publisher (Amazon Publishing). I earned a nice advance and for once didn’t have to pay for my own editor. I hoped for big things.
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Yet that book is my worst selling so far, despite being hailed by reviewers as one of my best! What’s the deal? It’s full of action and based on a cool premise with a much-loved main character!
I began to wonder if my readers simply enjoyed the cover art and settings of the main Forest Lord novels and didn’t care for anything other than those.
But then The Druid came out, book 1 in a totally different series, and that has flown high in the charts for the past year and a half or whatever. It is, of course, a full-length novel. The sequel, Song of the Centurion, has sold consistently well too since it was published last autumn.
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The success of that new Warrior Druid of Britain series made me wonder if I’d now built up a readership more open to different things so I had high hopes when I started work on another Forest Lord novella. Faces of Darkness came out in December and…well, once again, it’s shown me that readers simply don’t care so much for shorter books. It’s doing great in the reviews, but in terms of chart placings or sales, it isn’t even close to my novels, even older ones. We’re talking about UK Amazon chart placings of circa 1000-2000 overall for The Druid and Song of the Centurion, compared to the novellas which rarely every reach higher than top 20,000 and are usually way, way lower. That’s a big gap.
And let me be clear – the novellas and other shorts all have just as good reviews as the novels. Not as MANY, obviously, but those who do read the likes of Faces of Darkness or The Prisoner seem to really enjoy them so it can’t be said bad reviews are putting off potential buyers.
So – if you are planning on writing a series of novellas to make money, I would advise you to rethink it. I read the Smashwords end of year report in 2018 and their findings totally confirm this – their figures proved that readers prefer buying books of 100,000+ words. So, if you are writing to make a living, rather than writing a few novellas why not restructure them to make one novel?
HOWEVER!
All of this assumes you are writing to make money. I must admit, I enjoy being an author but I only work my dayjob part-time now so my books are my main source of income these days – it’s no longer just a hobby. It may seem “vulgar” to some, but if I want to put fuel in my Lamborghini*, I need to sell as many books as possible and many authors are in the same place, or would like to be.
But writing IS art. If you have a great idea for a story and know it simply wouldn’t work padded out to 100,000 words, feel free to make it a novella. I thoroughly enjoy writing those shorter tales as they are action-packed and straight to the point with no messing around. It’s refreshing and a lot of fun, and some readers love them, so I will probably do more in future.
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So you must weigh up your options but, ultimately, do what feels right for you and your characters.
If you have anything to add to this, or would like to contradict my findings, please let me know in the comments!
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One final thing – I have another full-length novel which came out recently: Lucia. It’s available on Audible ONLY for the first six months, so impossible for me to compare to the other books in terms of charts and sales figures but I’ll be VERY interested to see how it does when it comes out on Kindle. Will a standalone novel, one that has no connection to any other book of mine, with all new characters, sell well? Might it, as I really hope, draw in new readers who might not want to take a chance on starting a series by an unknown author? I guess I’ll find out in the spring when Lucia is unleashed on Kindle!
*Citroen C3.
Author Question’s Answered – Should I write a novella?
If you like.
Tune in next time for more stunning insights from me!
[image error]
No, I’m kidding. Let’s look at this in a little more depth, as I have (genuinely) been asked about this more than once recently.
I’ve written a few shorter tales now, including novellas, a novelette and some short stories so I’d like to think I have some idea of how they work – not so much from an artistic standpoint perhaps, since that’s subjective, but from the business side. In other words, whether they sell or not.
And I’ll get straight to the point and tell you that, in comparison to full-length novels, NO, shorter stories don’t sell as well. Even if you lower the price, it doesn’t seem to matter. When browsing your book’s Amazon page readers are very clearly checking the page count and spending more of their cash/time on books with 300+ pages.
[image error]Boom! 1, 2 and 3 today! Looks impressive eh? But all 3 of those combined are selling less than The Druid.
My first novella was Knight of the Cross which was more fantasy influenced than my other books so, when it didn’t sell as much as Wolf’s Head or The Wolf and the Raven I thought people weren’t so keen on the HP Lovecraft cosmic horror thing. It had a superb cover after all, so something else had to be at play.
Then Friar Tuck and the Christmas Devil was next and, even at Christmas time when it sells best, it still doesn’t come even close to any of my novels in the charts despite being included in Amazon’s prestigious Kindle Singles Program.
The Prisoner and The Escape were shorter again and despite having really nice covers (particularly The Prisoner) and being good enough again to win places in the Kindle Singles Program they haven’t sold all that much.
The Abbey of Death was the next novella and this was my first book to be bought by a publisher (Amazon Publishing). I earned a nice advance and for once didn’t have to pay for my own editor. I hoped for big things.
[image error]
Yet that book is my worst selling so far, despite being hailed by reviewers as one of my best! What’s the deal? It’s full of action and based on a cool premise with a much-loved main character!
I began to wonder if my readers simply enjoyed the cover art and settings of the main Forest Lord novels and didn’t care for anything other than those.
But then The Druid came out, book 1 in a totally different series, and that has flown high in the charts for the past year and a half or whatever. It is, of course, a full-length novel. The sequel, Song of the Centurion, has sold consistently well too since it was published last autumn.
[image error]
The success of that new Warrior Druid of Britain series made me wonder if I’d now built up a readership more open to different things so I had high hopes when I started work on another Forest Lord novella. Faces of Darkness came out in December and…well, once again, it’s shown me that readers simply don’t care so much for shorter books. It’s doing great in the reviews, but in terms of chart placings or sales, it isn’t even close to my novels, even older ones. We’re talking about UK Amazon chart placings of circa 1000-2000 overall for The Druid and Song of the Centurion, compared to the novellas which rarely every reach higher than top 20,000 and are usually way, way lower. That’s a big gap.
And let me be clear – the novellas and other shorts all have just as good reviews as the novels. Not as MANY, obviously, but those who do read the likes of Faces of Darkness or The Prisoner seem to really enjoy them so it can’t be said bad reviews are putting off potential buyers.
So – if you are planning on writing a series of novellas to make money, I would advise you to rethink it. I read the Smashwords end of year report in 2018 and their findings totally confirm this – their figures proved that readers prefer buying books of 100,000+ words. So, if you are writing to make a living, rather than writing a few novellas why not restructure them to make one novel?
HOWEVER!
All of this assumes you are writing to make money. I must admit, I enjoy being an author but I only work my dayjob part-time now so my books are my main source of income these days – it’s no longer just a hobby. It may seem “vulgar” to some, but if I want to put fuel in my Lamborghini*, I need to sell as many books as possible and many authors are in the same place, or would like to be.
But writing IS art. If you have a great idea for a story and know it simply wouldn’t work padded out to 100,000 words, feel free to make it a novella. I thoroughly enjoy writing those shorter tales as they are action-packed and straight to the point with no messing around. It’s refreshing and a lot of fun, and some readers love them, so I will probably do more in future.
[image error]
So you must weigh up your options but, ultimately, do what feels right for you and your characters.
If you have anything to add to this, or would like to contradict my findings, please let me know in the comments!
[image error]
One final thing – I have another full-length novel which came out recently: Lucia. It’s available on Audible ONLY for the first six months, so impossible for me to compare to the other books in terms of charts and sales figures but I’ll be VERY interested to see how it does when it comes out on Kindle. Will a standalone novel, one that has no connection to any other book of mine, with all new characters, sell well? Might it, as I really hope, draw in new readers who might not want to take a chance on starting a series by an unknown author? I guess I’ll find out in the spring when Lucia is unleashed on Kindle!
*Citroen C3.
