Andrew Hook's Blog, page 12

The Day My Heart Stood Still

My short story, "The Day My Heart Stood Still", has recently been published in Postscripts #36/37, and as usual I'm blogging a few comments as to how the story was written. There will be spoilers for those who have yet to read it.

As with much of my work, this story started with the title which just popped into my head. It's an amalgamation of "The Day The World Stood Still" and "The Beat That My Heart Skipped". I like titles which come like this, because they create an existing evocation...

A Galaxy Of Starfish

The publication, "A Galaxy Of Starfish: An Anthology Of Modern Surrealism", is now available through my partner's publishing company, Salò Press. I had a role in assisting with submissions and typesetting the book, so I thought I'd blog a few words on how the publication came into existence.









For a few years my partner, Sophie, has run an experimental poetry/prose magazine, Fur-Lined Ghettos. It's been a relatively successful publication, usually around 60pp in length, and through this pro...

Sömntuta

My short story, "Sömntuta", has recently been published in issue eleven of Lighthouse Magazine, and as usual I'm blogging a few comments as to how the story was written. There will be spoilers for those who have yet to read it.

My inspiration for this story came from the title and a quote. Sömntuta is a Swedish word meaning sleepyhead and also the poppy flower. I discovered the word in a roundabout way via a friend's Swedish girlfriend and it seemed intriguing enough for a story. The quote was...

Books I Haven't Written, But Goodreads Thinks I Have

Some of you - at least once every couple of years - might read my books and then happen to search for me online. If you land on my Goodreads author page you might be surprised to find that I'm a much more diverse author than you thought from the title you read. I've never stuck to one genre, and have been published in crime, SF, fantasy, horror, and slipstream publications, but here are few books attributed to me which have been written by other Andrew Hook's. Don't be confused. My names...

The Best and Worst of 2015

Well, it's that time of the year when everyone is doing their 'best and worst of' lists, so here is mine. I'm going to list the books and movies I read/watched in 2015 and then pick my favourites. This isn't restricted to what was new in 2015, but what I actually watched and read - some of these items might be very old indeed.

Books:

I read the following in 2015:

Georges Simenon – Mr Hire’s Engagement
Adrian Tomine – Shortcomings
Anna Kavan – Who Are You?
Alison Littlewood – A Cold Season
Yoshihiro...

My Writing Year 2015

I thought I'd do a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2015.

In March this year my second neo-noir crime novel, "Church of Wire", was published by Telos. I have two more novels lined up for that series (hopefully with the same publisher), but as yet I don't have publication dates for those. I've been unable to write another novel this year due to work commitments, but I have written half a novella, "The Uneasy", for which my partner, Sophie, is writing the second half.

I...

Why I Will Never See 'Star Wars'

Apparently there was a big event last night in the UK with cinemas showing the new Star Wars movie at midnight. I was asleep.

Despite the fact that I have been known to write (and have had published) SF fiction, I have never - ever - seen any of the Star Wars films.

It's quite simple. I've never been a populist. I've never been one to such an extent that I'm not even sure that's the right word. I remember being on the top deck of a bus heading towards Norwich city centre back in 1977 and one of...

The Nomenclature of Fear

My short story, "The Nomenclature of Fear", has recently been published as a chapbook through In Short Publishing. It's a gorgeous little book of which I'm very proud, and as usual I'm blogging a few comments as to how the story was written. There will be spoilers for those who have yet to read it.

All of my stories start with a title, but I can't quite remember where this one came from. What I do know is that I had read an article regarding words in foreign languages which had no ea...

Promotion Promotion Promotion

It's not easy being a writer. It's less easy being an editor. And it's even less easy being a publisher.

It all comes down to promotion.

buy my book. Buy My Book. BUY MY BOOK.

Some days it feels like all I'm telling people to do: on social media, at events, at the day job, is to buy my fucking book. I'm not desperate, but as a writer I want to be read. And as editor/publisher I want those people I've put my time (and money) into, to be read. Because those writers I've been involved in publi...

The First You & I

My short story, "The First You & I", has recently been published by Little Lantern Press in the debut issue of Skylark Review, and as usual I'm blogging about how the story was written for those who might be interested. There will be spoilers.

The story is quite short and the idea quite simple. One afternoon - childfree - myself and my partner were wandering along the beach at Walcott on the Norfolk coast (a short drive from Norwich where we live). It was an awesome day. The light was perf...