You can do anything you want but you can’t do everything you want. This was something I must have said almost every week, circa 2016–2020, when talking about writing and ensuring you’re prioritising your time effectively. It’s something I stand by to this day and it governs a lot of my decisions when it comes to writing and life in general. Each day we have a finite amount of time and must use it wisely. That’s why I also advocate deciding on the most important task for the day and doing it...
25 days ago • 5 min read
Hello, friends. I hope you are having a great day. Thank you to those of you who have bought, read, reviewed, rated, or engaged with my brand-new dark comedy, Daddy's Boy. If you have yet to do so and you have a Kindle Unlimted subscription, you can actually read Daddy's Boy for free as part of that subscription. Here are the links for Daddy's Boy below for your ease. Buy Daddy’s Boy on Amazon UK Buy Daddy’s Boy on Amazon US Buy Daddy’s Boy from This Is Horror Speaking of Daddy's Boy, I have...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
The great Jack Ketchum spoke about ‘writing from the wound’. Something similar but distinct that may be helpful is ‘writing to heal the wound’. Writing as therapy and as catharsis. It’s something I certainly did with my last two books, House of Bad Memories and Daddy’s Boy, and it’s something I’ve done to some degree for a long time now, but only recently have I become aware of just how much I do it and of its potential benefits. There are various ways you can ‘write to heal the wound’ and I...
about 2 months ago • 10 min read
Hello, friends. My new novel, Daddy's Boy, is out right now and the first week is such a crucial one in publishing. Daddy’s Boy is Shameless meets Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen with the incompetence of The Hangover. I would absolutely love it if you could buy Daddy's Boy and help with those first-week sales. Buy Daddy's Boy at Amazon US. Buy Daddy's Boy at Amazon UK. Buy Daddy's Boy from the This Is Horror shop. (And also check out blurbs from amazing writers such as Jason Pargin, Eric LaRocca,...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hello, friends. It's been almost a month since I last spoke and my goodness have I been busy. My brand new book, Daddy's Boy, will be out in a few weeks and I have been doing all sorts of things to get ready for it including publicity and finalising the audio files for the audiobook, narrating by voice acting wizard, Josh Curran. Speaking of publicity, you can watch me chat with Robb Olson on The ARC Party YouTube here. If audio is more your thing, then you can check out the audio here or...
2 months ago • 7 min read
As writers, we often battle with how much time we spend writing and how much time we spend doing writing tangential things that aren’t necessarily writing. Much of those writing tangential tasks are to help you sell your book or raise your profile as a writer in some way. A lot of us don’t like the non-writing and marketing side of writing and would much rather spend our time writing fiction and doing little else. And that makes sense. After all, we decided to become writers and not...
3 months ago • 5 min read
One of the most important things you can do as a writer is to finish your stories. So, where possible, protect and make finishing your stories a priority. Do not let anyone or anything stop you. You will have obstacles along the way—self-doubt, other newer, sexier stories presenting themselves to you (note them down for later), imposter syndrome, story obstacles during the writing and/or planning process, other work and life distractions. You must complete your stories despite the noise....
4 months ago • 7 min read
When I’m not running This Is Horror, writing, or podcasting, I work in the increasingly volatile English language teaching industry in Japan. That volatility was highlighted last week when the company I work for lost the teaching contract in the city I work in. Up until that point, many people thought of it as the safest contract the company had and would joke that if the company lost that contract, they’d be in real trouble. Well, looks like they’re in real trouble and, as a consequence, I...
4 months ago • 5 min read
Today is all about the forthcoming release of Daddy’s Boy which lands in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats on 6 May 2025. Daddy’s Boy is my fourth book and it’s by far the most comedic yet. If you enjoyed the humour and fast dialogue in House of Bad Memories then it’s safe to say you’re going to love Daddy’s Boy. House of Bad Memories was a dark comedic thriller but with Daddy’s Boy the balance has shifted and this is a dark comedy with thriller, crime, and (of course) horror elements....
5 months ago • 6 min read