Stephen Leather's Blog, page 8
July 12, 2013
A Genuine Haunted House
I've written several stories featuring Jack Nightingale, supernatural detective. And I'm working on a story where he visits a haunted house.
Haunted houses are a staple of supernatural fiction.
But I have visited a genuine haunted house. It's not an old creepy mansion, the type you'll see at the Jack Nightingale website - www.jacknightingale.com
It was built in 1995. It's lovely, with superb sea views, with pristine wood floors and an Aga cooker in the kitchen. But no one has ever lived there. And only one man ever spent a night there - he left the next day swearing that he would never return.
The house was built on the site of an old cottage and some of the original stone was used. It really is a fabulous house. But very few tradesman would work on the house for more than a few days. They would quit and swear never to come back. Once it was built, every one who visits describes the same thing. Rooms will suddenly go very very cold and it will feel as if there is someone there. And there is often a strong smell of a woman's perfume. But worse than that is the intense feeling of dread, that something bad will happen.
The garden is overgrown and the front door is covered with cobwebs. But inside there is surprisingly little dust, and the windows are clean. It was completed in 1995. And has remained empty since that day. The owner carried out some research on the original house and discovered that three skeletons were once discovered in a well on the site. That well was covered up but is now thought to be under where the kitchen is now. The skeletons were of a man, his wife and their daughter, and were thought to have been murdered.
There is some furniture inside. But no one has ever lived there. And by all accounts no one ever will. The owner is often approached and asked if he will sell the house. He won't. He knows any sale will end in grief.
I took the above picture through a window. I do wonder about trying to spend the night there myself but I have a nagging fear that if I did, whatever spirits there are might follow me home.
Sounds like a job for Jack Nightingale!
If you prefer fictional supernatural stories, my publisher Hodder and Stoughton have cut the UK eBook price of Nightfall, the first Jack Nightingale novel, to just 99p! You can buy it here - http://amzn.to/12HKc3T
Haunted houses are a staple of supernatural fiction.
But I have visited a genuine haunted house. It's not an old creepy mansion, the type you'll see at the Jack Nightingale website - www.jacknightingale.com
It was built in 1995. It's lovely, with superb sea views, with pristine wood floors and an Aga cooker in the kitchen. But no one has ever lived there. And only one man ever spent a night there - he left the next day swearing that he would never return.
The house was built on the site of an old cottage and some of the original stone was used. It really is a fabulous house. But very few tradesman would work on the house for more than a few days. They would quit and swear never to come back. Once it was built, every one who visits describes the same thing. Rooms will suddenly go very very cold and it will feel as if there is someone there. And there is often a strong smell of a woman's perfume. But worse than that is the intense feeling of dread, that something bad will happen.
The garden is overgrown and the front door is covered with cobwebs. But inside there is surprisingly little dust, and the windows are clean. It was completed in 1995. And has remained empty since that day. The owner carried out some research on the original house and discovered that three skeletons were once discovered in a well on the site. That well was covered up but is now thought to be under where the kitchen is now. The skeletons were of a man, his wife and their daughter, and were thought to have been murdered.
There is some furniture inside. But no one has ever lived there. And by all accounts no one ever will. The owner is often approached and asked if he will sell the house. He won't. He knows any sale will end in grief.
I took the above picture through a window. I do wonder about trying to spend the night there myself but I have a nagging fear that if I did, whatever spirits there are might follow me home.
Sounds like a job for Jack Nightingale!
If you prefer fictional supernatural stories, my publisher Hodder and Stoughton have cut the UK eBook price of Nightfall, the first Jack Nightingale novel, to just 99p! You can buy it here - http://amzn.to/12HKc3T
June 21, 2013
Lastnight - the fifth Jack Nightingale book
This week I started writing the new Jack Nightingale supernatural thriller - the fifth in the series. I have a plot that involves a lot of Goths being murdered. And I already have a killer ending for it. A clue? How about this? At one point Proserpine says to Nightingale - "You'll need meat, Nightingale. Don't forget the meat".
As always my publisher Hodder and Stoughton is ahead of the game and has already done the cover.
If all goes to plan it'll be on the shelves next February. It's a tremendous show of faith on the part of my publisher - I know some writers who turn in books not knowing whether their editor will accept them or not. Hodder have enough faith in me to design a cover and organise a print run without even seeing the first chapter. That's a lot of pressure, too, but I find that having a cover designed and a publication date set does tend to make me work harder, though it does mean I have less time to devote to Twitter and literary festivals! Okay, enough banter, I have a novel to write! :-)
As always my publisher Hodder and Stoughton is ahead of the game and has already done the cover.
If all goes to plan it'll be on the shelves next February. It's a tremendous show of faith on the part of my publisher - I know some writers who turn in books not knowing whether their editor will accept them or not. Hodder have enough faith in me to design a cover and organise a print run without even seeing the first chapter. That's a lot of pressure, too, but I find that having a cover designed and a publication date set does tend to make me work harder, though it does mean I have less time to devote to Twitter and literary festivals! Okay, enough banter, I have a novel to write! :-)
June 16, 2013
My New Short Story
My latest short story, The Ladyboy Lover, is set in Thailand, a country I am very familiar with. I have written several short stories set in the Land of Smiles. At one point I called the series 'erotic' but in fact there is very little in the way of sex in the tales. Now I tend to call them 'Stephen Leather short stories'.
The Ladyboy Lover is about a guy who falls in love with a ladyboy - or katoey as they're called in Thailand. All goes well until he decides that what he needs to make the perfect family is a baby.
You can buy The Ladyboy Lover for the Kindle in the UK BY CLICKING HERE
And you can buy it in the US BY CLICKING HERE
You can read more about my books at www.stephenleatherbooks.com
June 6, 2013
Three Terrific FREE Short Stories By Stephen Leather
Today my publisher Hodder and Stoughton are releasing three FREE short stories of mine. How cool is that?
The anthology is called Spider's Web and two of the stories feature undercover cop Dan "Spider" Shepherd. The third is a stand-alone short story about a retired serial killer. I had terrific fun writing them and I'm more than happy to share them with my readers for free.
Also included is the first chapter of the new Spider novel - True Colours - which will be published next month. True Colours is the 10th Spider Shepherd book and I'll shortly be starting the 11th. I don't have a title yet, but I think it'll start with FULL. FULL THROTTLE, maybe. We shall see! :-)
Anyway, you can download a free copy of Spider's Web for the Kindle in the UK BY CLICKING HERE
And in the US of A BY CLICKING HERE
May 30, 2013
The Nightingale Experiment
My new Jack Nightingale book, Nightshade, is out in paperback in June. It was published as a hardback and as an eBook on April 25.
By way of an experiment, my publisher Hodder and Stoughton has agreed to cut the price of the eBook of the first in the series, Nightfall, to just 99p. Yes, less than a quid!
I think that's an amazing deal. It only applies to the UK as Nightfall is published in the US by Amazon's imprint 47 North.
Hodder have also agreed to cut the price of books two and three, so for the next three weeks at least the Midnight eBook will be priced at £2.99 and the Nightmare eBook at £3.99.
It's very much an experiment and if it works I hope to persuade them to continue to sell them at the special low price.
You can buy Nightfall on the Kindle in the UK for 99p BY CLICKING HERE
Here's the synopsis of Nightfall, the first book in the Jack Nightingale supernatural thriller series. 'You're going to hell, Jack Nightingale': They are words that ended his career as a police negotiator. Now Jack's a struggling private detective - and the chilling words come back to haunt him.
Nightingale's life is turned upside down the day that he inherits a mansion with a priceless library; it comes from a man who claims to be his father, and it comes with a warning. That Nightingale's soul was sold at birth and a devil will come to claim it on his thirty-third birthday - just three weeks away.
Jack doesn't believe in Hell, probably doesn't believe in Heaven either. But when people close to him start to die horribly, he is led to the inescapable conclusion that real evil may be at work. And that if he doesn't find a way out he'll be damned in hell for eternity.
By way of an experiment, my publisher Hodder and Stoughton has agreed to cut the price of the eBook of the first in the series, Nightfall, to just 99p. Yes, less than a quid!
I think that's an amazing deal. It only applies to the UK as Nightfall is published in the US by Amazon's imprint 47 North.
Hodder have also agreed to cut the price of books two and three, so for the next three weeks at least the Midnight eBook will be priced at £2.99 and the Nightmare eBook at £3.99.
It's very much an experiment and if it works I hope to persuade them to continue to sell them at the special low price.
You can buy Nightfall on the Kindle in the UK for 99p BY CLICKING HERE
Here's the synopsis of Nightfall, the first book in the Jack Nightingale supernatural thriller series. 'You're going to hell, Jack Nightingale': They are words that ended his career as a police negotiator. Now Jack's a struggling private detective - and the chilling words come back to haunt him.
Nightingale's life is turned upside down the day that he inherits a mansion with a priceless library; it comes from a man who claims to be his father, and it comes with a warning. That Nightingale's soul was sold at birth and a devil will come to claim it on his thirty-third birthday - just three weeks away.
Jack doesn't believe in Hell, probably doesn't believe in Heaven either. But when people close to him start to die horribly, he is led to the inescapable conclusion that real evil may be at work. And that if he doesn't find a way out he'll be damned in hell for eternity.
April 24, 2013
Nightshade Is Published Today!
Nightshade - the fourth book in the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective series - is published today!
I think it's the best yet! It starts with Nightingale investigating a spree killing at a school in Northumberland, which looks like it might have a Satanic motive.
You can buy it in the UK by clicking HERE
I am self-publishing Nightshade in the US as an eBook on Kindle, using a different cover.
You can buy it in the US by clicking HERE
I'm shortly going to be starting on the fifth book, which I think will be called Lastnight. But first I want to try my hand at a few Jack Nightingale short stories. Watch this space!
I think it's the best yet! It starts with Nightingale investigating a spree killing at a school in Northumberland, which looks like it might have a Satanic motive.
You can buy it in the UK by clicking HERE
I am self-publishing Nightshade in the US as an eBook on Kindle, using a different cover.
You can buy it in the US by clicking HERE
I'm shortly going to be starting on the fifth book, which I think will be called Lastnight. But first I want to try my hand at a few Jack Nightingale short stories. Watch this space!
April 18, 2013
NIghtshade Is Out Next Week
The new Jack Nightingale book - Nightshade - is out next week.
Photo courtesy of the amazing Ellen Grogan!
Photo courtesy of the amazing Ellen Grogan!
February 27, 2013
The Jack Nightingale eBook Boxed Set
I'm a big fan of boxed sets, especially where eBooks are concerned, so I'm over the moon that Hodder and Stoughton are releasing the three Jack Nightingale novels in a single eBook download.
Nightfall, Midnight and Nightmare were always intended as a trilogy, though I have already written book number four - Nightshade - which will be published in April.
It's great to see them in a boxed set at just £9.49, well below the price of buying the three books separately. YOU CAN BUY THE BOXED SET FOR THE KINDLE HERE
Nightfall, Midnight and Nightmare were always intended as a trilogy, though I have already written book number four - Nightshade - which will be published in April.
It's great to see them in a boxed set at just £9.49, well below the price of buying the three books separately. YOU CAN BUY THE BOXED SET FOR THE KINDLE HERE
February 21, 2013
New eBook Boxed Sets From Hodder
Hodder and Stoughton are releasing boxed sets of my Spider Shepherd eBooks at the bargain price of £9.99 for three books. That's one heck of a deal.Hard Landing is already on sale at the bargain price of 49p. Now Hodder is selling a boxed set of the Soft Target, Cold Kill and Hot Blood eBooks for just £9.99. CLICK HERE TO BUY IT
Three more Spider Shepherd eBooks - Dead Men, Live Fire and Fair Game - are available in another boxed set, also for £9.99. That's a great price for three full-length novels.
You can buy it HEREAnd next month Hodder will be releasing a boxed set of the three Mike Cramer novels - The Chinaman, The Long Shot and The Double Tap.
You can buy it here, for just £9.99 - CLICK HERE TO BUYFebruary 20, 2013
Spider Short Stories Riding High
My two Spider Shepherd short stories are riding high in the Amazon charts - both of them are now in the top 5 in the War category.
I'm planning a third short story as we speak - set in the days when he was an SAS trooper in Afghanistan, several years before he became an undercover cop.
Kill Zone tells the story of how Spider got shot in Afghanistan - you can buy it HERE
I'm planning a third short story as we speak - set in the days when he was an SAS trooper in Afghanistan, several years before he became an undercover cop.
Kill Zone tells the story of how Spider got shot in Afghanistan - you can buy it HERE
