When Hurricane Isaias came to call

A hurricane blew through here today. Hurricane Isaias was an unwelcome visitor to The Bahamas, but in he came anyway. He passed right on through and out the other side. A nuisance it seems, more than anything else, knocking over a couple of trees here and there, and causing flooding in some areas. Family and friends are safe.

If you’ve never been in a hurricane, it’s a strange experience. The shutters go up ahead of its arrival, leaving you closed in a claustrophobic world of premature darkness. The shutters close out the light as well as fending off debris, so at best you have a half-light, and when night comes, and the power inevitably goes out, you’re left in pitch darkness except for the little pools of light from your lamps.

The major winds from Isaias came in the night, and we slept through them rather than peering out at the swaying trees and the lashing rain. Isaias was mild compared to some, but there’s always some nerves when a hurricane comes. Even the family dog felt the nerves, howling for some company at 2am.

In the aftermath, there were a couple of trees down in the yard. On the streets, the areas that tend to flood did so. Out to sea, the waves swelled like wild animals asserting their dominance.

Further afield, there were some strange effects. Fish practically leaping out of the sea at Inagua, giving fishermen an unexpected bounty.

I write this as the all clear has been given. The power is out, so we sit in darkness. The kids are playing on their electronic devices, watching YouTube and blissfully unconcerned by the storm that has passed. There’s an unusual feeling in seeing everyone happy after the storm – a mix of contentedness, pride that you saw everyone through with no harm, and something else. You realise your hands were clenched a little tighter. You realise you can let go of that mental list of what to do if you need to evacuate. You realise that your job is done, and you can relax at last.

Time to pour a rum. Be safe, everyone.

PRESS KIT: Tales From The Pirate's Cove, by Inklings Press

It's that time again - a new book from Inklings Press! Tales from the Pirate's Cove is an anthology of short stories all about pirates. All kinds of pirates - charting courses across sea, space and even time.

This press kit is available for anyone to use - reviewers, bloggers, friends and soon-to-be friends. We love seeing reviews, whether you love the book or whether you don't. We value your opinion regardless of whether it's a five-star or a one-star. The graphics in here are free for you to use wherever you please - blog, social media, and so on.

So without further ado, here's the information about the book, and the graphics. The graphics will be added to as we get closer to launch, and include animations, so by all means check back to see what has been added.

Want to request an ARC of Tales from the Pirate's Cove? Email theinklingspress@gmail.com or chipchat@outlook.com

The book is available on Amazon at mybook.to/piratecove

Book cover

Book blurb

Set sail for adventure!

Join us in the company of pirates in this treasure trove of stories from a crew of talented authors.

Expect the unexpected - with tales stretching from the high seas to high orbit, from swashbucklers to space corsairs. Navigate these pages to find monsters, time travelers, buccaneers, ghosts and more.

Twelve stories. Twelve authors. Twelve worlds to explore.

Come, me hearties, there are new horizons to discover.

Launch graphic (sized for Twitter)

Chapter frontispieces

Each story in the book has its own graphic created to represent the story, hopefully giving you a flavour of what you are about to read! Here they are, in order as they appear in the book.  

Full-wrap book cover

Animated gifs of book covers

Each of the frontispieces has also been given a little animation magic in gif form - again, these are presented in the order the story appears in the book.

 

Author biographies

Each of these is included in the book so you can find out more about the authors who appear - but reprinted here for ease of use.

Meet Jennifer Lee Rossman

Jennifer Lee Rossman is a queer, autistic and disabled science fiction writer from Binghamton, New York. 

She says she is a writer of science fiction and fantasy stories and books that make her grandma say “well, that’s interesting”. She calls her stories weird, usually sweet, usually acceptable for children, and with most of her characters either queer, autistic or disabled in some way. 

This is Jennifer’s first story with Inklings Press, but she has plenty more for you to discover. Pop by her website, jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com to find out about Jack Jetstark’s Intergalactic FreakShow, Love and Bubbles, tales of romance and space opera, short stories, anthologies, novellas, novel and more. There’s a bunch of free stories too if this has you wanting more. 

You can also find her on Twitter as @JenLRossman. 

Meet Kelly Lynn Colby

Kelly Lynn Colby is a writer of all things fantasy. Whenever she tries to create a mundane story, a dragon pops in to take over. She eventually stopped fighting and caved to the magic. The dragons must have known something she didn’t, because her debut novel, Tarbin’s True Heir, won a bronze medal in the IPPYs for fantasy. You can find her work in the Recharging series as well as numerous short stories in anthology collections. 

For her day job, she is the Publisher and Editorial Director of Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, LLC. You can find out about this company on CursedDragonShip.com.

Her BS in biology hangs above her desk looking important while she writes about other worlds. To learn more about Kelly, check out her website kellylynncolby.com, or follow her on Facebook facebook.com/kcolbywrites or Twitter @kcolbywrites.

Meet Ricardo Victoria

Ricardo Victoria is a Mexican writer with a Ph.D. in Design from Loughborough University and a love of fiction, board games, comic books, and action figures. He lives in Mexico with his wife and pet dogs and works as a full-time lecturer and researcher at the local university. He writes mainly science fantasy. 

His first novel, Tempest Blades: The Withered King, was released in August 2019 by Shadow Dragon Press, an imprint of Artemesia Publishing. The sequel is due for publication in August 2021. He has a number of stories published by Inklings Press and Rivenstone Press. 

His short story Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon, jointly written with Brent A. Harris, was nominated for a Sidewise Award for short form alternative history. His short story Silver Horn won first place in the Literary Creation Contest short fantasy story division in the State of Mexico. 

You can find out more at his website, ricardovictoriau.com, or follow him on Twitter, @Winged_Leo. 

Meet Allison Tebo

Allison Tebo is a Christian writer committed to creating magical stories full of larger-than-life characters, a dash of grit, and plenty of laughs. 

She is the author of the Tales of Ambia, a series of romantic comedy retellings of popular fairy tales and her flash fiction and short stories have been published in Splickety, Spark, Inklings Press, and Rogue Blades Entertainment. 

Allison graduated with merit from  London Art College after studying cartooning and children’s illustration and, when not creating new worlds with words or paint, she enjoys reading, baking, and defending her championship title of Gif Master.  

You can find out more about her work at www.allisonteboauthor.com or follow her on Facebook at Allison Tebo Author.

Meet Bob Finegold

Bob Finegold is a recently retired radiologist living in Maine. As a young man, he was a self-confessed grade school science nerd, devouring science books and then the works of Asimov, Clarke, Silverberg, Bradbury, Tolkien... and the road goes ever on from there. 

After hanging up his stethoscope, he picked up the pen once more that he had used for submissions to magazines such as Asimov’s and Fantasy & Science Fiction. He has been published professionally since 2016, and has been a multiple Writers of the Future contest finalist, and a guest panelist at a range of conventions. 

He is the consultant editor of Myths, Legends and Fairy Tales for the online magazine Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and reads for the new Future Science Fiction Digest as well. He also edited the anthology 3rd and Starlight, from Future Finalists Publishing, in 2017. 

You can find more about his work at www.robertbfinegold.com, and you’ll find him on Twitter as @DocHistory. 

Meet Rob Edwards

Rob Edwards was first published at the age of 11 in a Royal National Institute for the Blind anthology called Stories For A Prince in honour of the birth of Prince William with his tale Dragon Valley. He admits it went a little slower for the next two decades. Then he had several RPG scenarios published by Wizards of the Coast as part of their convention-based Star Wars campaign Living Force - leading to Rob having his own (very short) entry on Wookieepedia. 

Rob has been regularly published by Inklings Press. He has also appeared on RB Wood’s Word Count podcast, and has a podcast of his own called Storycast Rob on iTunes and at http://storycastrob.co.uk - where you can hear some of his previous stories and samples from his novel writing. 

He has published his own collection of stories titled Mic Drop - and his first novel, The Ascension Machine, is due out in September, 2020, published by Shadow Dragon Press. 

You can find Rob on Twitter @storycastrob. 

Meet Pat Woods

Pat Woods is a writer from Nottingham, UK, who moved to Taiwan in 2008 for an adventure that turned into a lifetime commitment. His short stories have been published by Zombie Pirate Publishing, Spring Song Press, and elsewhere. He writes fantasy and speculative fiction, and was nominated for the 2016 Pushcart Prize for his Sherlock Holmes pastiche “The Adventure of the Etheric Projection.” 

Meet Tom Jolly

Tom Jolly is a retired astronautical/electrical engineer who now spends his time writing SF and fantasy, designing board games, and creating obnoxious puzzles. His stories have appeared in Analog SF, Daily Science Fiction, Compelling Science Fiction, New Myths, and a number of anthologies, including “As Told By Things” and “Shards” - and Tales of Magic & Destiny, the previous anthology from Inklings Press. 

He lives in Santa Maria, California, with his wife Penny in a place where mountain lions and black bears still visit. You can discover more of his stories at www.silcom.com/~tomjolly/tomjolly2.htm. 

You can also find him on Twitter @TomJolly19. 

Meet Brent A. Harris

Brent A. Harris is a regular in Inklings Press anthologies, and was nominated for a Sidewise Award for his short story in Tales From Alternate Earths, co-authored with Ricardo Victoria. He was also nominated for a Sidewise Award for his novel, A Time of Need, an alternate history in which George Washington fights on the side of the British. 

Brent has also recently published A Twist In Time, a steampunk take on Dickens’ characters. 

He has also featured in a number of other publications, including Anthology Askew, Altered Instinct, and elsewhere. You can find him on Facebook at Facebook.com/authorbrentaharris and Twitter @BrentAHarris1. 

Meet Leo McBride

Leo McBride is a journalist, editor and fiction writer. He has been published previously in each of the Inklings Press anthologies, along with collections from the Sci-Fi Roundtable, Rhetoric Askew, Starklight Press and elsewhere. He has also self-published his own short story collection Quartet, available on Amazon, and ghost written a number of biographies. 

You can find more of his work on his blog, www.alteredinstinct.com, on Twitter as @AlteredInstinct and on www.facebook.com/leomcbrideauthor. 

Meet Lawrence Harding

Lawrence Harding is the literary alter-ego of a (recovering?) medievalist from Cambridge, England. After filling his life with medieval literature, folklore and fantasy fiction on the other, it was inevitable that he would end up combining them. This is one of the results of that (un)holy union. He has previously appeared in Tales from the Underground at Inklings Press, having discovered our previous anthologies as a reader.

Lawrence publishes free-to-read fiction at otherwheresotherrealms.home.blog and can be found lurking on Twitter at @lhardingwrites.

Meet Claire Buss

Claire is a multi-genre author and poet. She wanted to be Lois Lane when she grew up but work experience at her local paper was eye-opening. Instead, Claire went on to work in a variety of admin roles for over a decade but never felt quite at home. An avid reader, baker and Pinterest addict Claire won second place in the Barking and Dagenham Pen to Print writing competition in 2015 setting her writing career in motion.

Claire is also Deputy Editor for Write On! magazine.

She has published The Gaia Collection, a trilogy of hopeful dystopian cli-fi, and The Roshaven books, a series of humorous fantasy novels. 

Claire has also featured in a number of anthologies - including by Inklings Press - as well as publishing her own short story collections and poetry. 

You can find out more about Claire on her website, clairebuss.co.uk, or catch up with her on Twitter @Grasshopper2407.

Incidental graphics

Other graphics included in the book

Take one part Dickens, one part Steampunk, and give it a Twist - discover Brent A. Harris' new book

Brent A. Harris is a regular visitor to the blog - but seldom at a time that's quite as exciting as this. It's launch weekend for his new book, A Twist In Time - a blend of Dickens and steampunk that seems like such a good match. He joins us to chat about the book, which is already on my Kindle (and my Audible list). Anyway, take it away, Brent! 

 

Why A Twist in Time?

This book has sort of a strange origin to it. Originally, it was a short story. I wanted to take a known character from Dickens’ Victorian setting and fling him far into the future. He landed in a fairly dystopic setting which wasn’t all that different from where he started. I liked the story, but I wasn’t quite happy with Oliver’s role in it. So I wanted to give him a wider story to star in.

Then, while pursuing an MFA, one of our projects was to write a film script. It seemed easier to build a script from a story I’d already written than to create something new. After all, writing a script was something I’d never done before and it’s akin to learning a new language. Why complicate the process? So I dusted the short story off… and then wrote something completely different.

After film classes were completed, I needed a Master’s Thesis, which had to be a book. I thought it easier to write something that I had already outlined as a script instead of starting over from scratch.

So, it came about because I was dissatisfied with my original story, mixed with a strong bout of laziness. It’s a perfect recipe for writers everywhere. We all simply reinvent the same wheel. Shh, don’t tell anyone. 

Okay, but where’d the original idea spring from?

I’m a speculative fiction author. I love the idea of speculating about what’s to come, but much of what will happen in the future has its roots in the past. The idea that rapidly progressing technology causes massive social upheaval isn’t new. We’re all alarmed about how quickly machines, robots, and AI are replacing humans as the dominate workforce.

Yet, Charles Dickens wrote about the same things over a century ago. Only, it wasn’t about malevolent robotic AIs. He wrote about the Industrial Revolution and how its rapid onset sent workers and children to the slums and covered London in coal dust and smog.

Dickens was ahead of his time. He wrote in serialized format, which was fairly new at the time, but to us it’s normal – television writers do it all the time. Netflix thanks him. Dickens was also a great champion of social causes and his writing cast light into the darker side of what we’d like to think of as a fancy, regal Victorian age. It wasn’t.

Of course, there are darker themes addressed in A Twist in Time, but just as Star Trek dressed social issues in green paint and Styrofoam planets, my story uses a steampunk aesthetic and time-travel elements to entertain first. If anyone walks away from my book with a deeper message or even better -- wants to read or re-read Dickens, then I consider that a success. But it’s a secondary to just vegging out and reading a fun story; escapism in a time of quarantine and shelter-in-place.

What’s a Twist in Time about?

The very same Oliver that grew up in a workhouse and begged for a second bowl of gruel has grown up. But he came of age in a world that faces rapidly moving technology; not just from the Industrial Revolution but from steam power and the possibilities that power creates. It’s driven workers from factories, driven down wages, and driven a further social divide as the rich profit and the poor lose everything. In many ways, the steampunk aesthetic of Victorian London has made everything worse for the city than it did when Oliver was younger.

Oliver, for his part, has sided with the foundlings and taken them under his care. But when they begin to go missing, he sets out to save them. Along the way he’ll need help from tinkerer Nell Trent and a slew of fantastical contraptions - including a mysterious pocket watch that allows its bearer to bend the rules of time.

Yet, Oliver faces many challenges, including the return of his childhood nemesis, the Artful Dodger, and her lethal bag of tricks. He’ll soon discover that there is more at stake than his own life and the missing orphans. Can he save London from the flames?

Dodger’s a girl?

Jack Dawkins is reimagined as Jill. The Artful Dodger is fictional, a construct of Dickens’ mind. And while Dickens is a great writer, he didn’t write a lot of female characters. When he did, he typically killed them off. That created a problem for me because I’m writing to a modern audience. So a change had to be made. If I lose any readers because of my choice, it’ll be a shame because she was a fun character to write.

Tell us about yourself, what have you written?

I’m perhaps best known for writing alternate history, and I don’t think that steampunk diverges too far from that genre. In many ways, A Twist in Time is an alternative split from Oliver Twist, as Oliver’s actions from Dickens’ book (with one slight change) essentially creates the world of A Twist in Time.

My previous book is straight alternate history. A Time of Need creates a world where American forces fight against George Washington and the British during the American Revolution. I’ve also written many short stories. The most well-known is Twilight of the Mesozoic Moon where a group of dinosaurs time-travel to the past to save their dying world. That short story and A Time of Need have each earned me a Sidewise Award nomination in alternate history.

When I’m not writing, I like to play board games and binge shows like The Witcher and all the heroes in the Arrowverse. I’m also homeschooling two kids due to the quarantine, so I’m no longer getting much writing done. Ironically, we’re currently stationed in Italy, because we like to travel, but we’re not doing any of that either now. I guess it’s just time to settle down and read, right?

Where can we find A Twist in Time?

A Twist in Time releases May 15^th as an ebook and is free to read on Kindle Unlimited. A paperback will also be available but due to current world events I can’t promise that it will be out exactly on the 15^th. There’s also an audiobook in production, narrated by Kyle Bullock. What I’ve heard of the audio is simply amazing. That will release on Audible around the middle of May.

You can pre-order your ebook copy of A Twist in Time now.

What’s next?

I’m currently querying my next novel Alyx: An AI’s Guide to Love and Murder. It’s a horror novel with a technothriller twist that sees its hero locked in her home (sound familiar?) and the home’s integrated AI attempts to murder her and her friends. I admit my timing isn’t the best. Not sure who wants to read a book about a murderous home when we’re all sheltered inside. It’d be like watching Jaws while swimming in the ocean.

I’ll also be releasing a collection of my most popular short stories. I’m also writing the sequel to A Twist in Time, which gives Oliver the impossible task of redeeming Scrooge. And if you think you know how the story ends, then you’re in for A Christmas Twist. Lastly, Dark Eagle, the follow-up to A Time of Need is still in the works.

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to pre-order your copy now and follow Brent on social media:

Order your ebook here! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08683MHM2

Or international readers: Mybook.to/ATwistinTime 

Follow Brent on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrentAHarris1

Follow Brent on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBrentAHarris/

Or visit Brent's website at: www.BrentAHarris.com

BOOK REVIEW: Mr Doyle's Class Presents A Study In Scarlet

Last night, I read a clever little comic from Matt Hardy of @MadRobotComics - a reimagining of A Study In Scarlet that really does some smart things with a familiar story. So.... let's talk!

First of all, let's start with that word Scarlet, which ends up being a gender flip. Meet Scarlet, our genius detective. For this is our Sherlock in this story. Sort of. Sort of? Yes, well, you don't know Sherlock Holmes yet. Read on.

You see, it's all framed as a school play of the Sherlock story. And Scarlet is our lead actor.

But the more the actors get into their roles the more they become like their characters. The lines between reality and story become blurred.

In essence the young actors become the detectives, trying to solve the mystery even as they perform it on stage.

Written for a child friendly audience it even has an intermission with a chance to explain some parts of Victorian life.

It even includes the American venture often dropped in other adaptations.

In the end, it is both a great companion read for children discovering Sherlock for the first time and a story in its own right about what its cast learns along the way.

Nicely done all round and with a hint of a sequel. Well done to @MattPHardy, artist Russell Mark Olson, letterer @RobJonesWrites, and editor Elinor Winter. And praise too to Portsmouth City Council for their involvement in the project, a nice way to bring an old favourite to a new, young audience.

BOOK LAUNCH: Anki Legacies, by S Shane Thomas

Shane Thomas is a member of the SciFi Roundtable, a group of authors on Facebook who blow off steam, chat about their work, sharpen their skills and are really encouraging to one another. He has a new book out, and I said to him hey, want to mention it over on my blog? And here we are. Anki Legacies. Take it away, Shane, tell folks all about it. 

What if human civilization was not initiated by the ingenuity of our hunter gatherer ancestors in prehistory? What if a race of magical beings descended to Earth from the stars? Would the science and technology of modern man be enough to remain the dominant species if such a race reemerged?

Four novels and three short stories will unveil Earth’s ancient civilizers for better or worse. Three generations of the Rogers family and their extraordinary friends chase the Anki from the present day, to mankind’s Stone Age, into the stars, and across other worlds to learn if humanity can ever be truly free of the Anki Empire.Each story brings us face to face with danger and adventure. Years of martial arts training deliver immersive action scenes that will leave your heart pounding.

I know you’ll enjoy reading these Sci-fi Adventures as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Check out the book here and you should follow Shane on Twitter. You'll find him right here. 

Meet the author: CH Clepitt chats about writing, audiobooks - and Murder She Wrote!

CH Clepitt is a writer whose work I've regularly enjoyed if you've followed my reviews. I particularly enjoy the Crew Chronicles, a sci-fi series of short tales about a crew making its way through a universe filled with fairies. Making a return visit to chat about writing progress, well... things get out of hand. I take no blame but all the credit. Yes. Ok. Murder She Wrote kind of got involved. You'll see. Read on.

Welcome back to the blog! Last time you visited was shortly after Everything Is Better With A Cape came out – what are you working on at present? 

I’m working on two things at the moment: a contemporary romance called “Checked Out: A Lesbian Librarian Romance” - don’t even start - and my version of Beauty and the Beast called “Eye of the Beholder”. Rather like my “fixed” version of Twelfth Night, I am making it queer, but also ‘fixing’ all the problematic bits. It’s gunna be very different from any other interpretation you’ve read (I hope).

You’ve done a few audiobook versions of books – tell us a little about the process. How did you find narrators and what were the unexpected things you encountered along the way?

I think the most unexpected thing was actually being able to get my work onto audio! Being visually impaired it was very important to me to make my books accessible. I was initially concerned about the audiobook process, because all the articles I read said that no narrators would work with indie authors on a royalty share basis, and if you wanted a good one you would need to pay them up front. That’s quite a big initial outlay. Turns out, this isn’t true. Lots of narrators will work with you if they like the writing and think it’s something they’d enjoy reading. I put my books up for auditions and then listen to them and choose the best ones. Sometimes I approach a narrator I like the sound of and ask if they’d like to work with me. So far I’ve been lucky enough to have them say yes. I have plans to work with a friend on future recordings. They want to get into narrating, and I have lots of stories that need to be made into audiobooks! Hopefully we can both make a little money too.

Obviously, life is proving to have more than a few challenges this year… how are you faring with the lockdowns going on and what are you doing to fill your time?

I switch between very calm and super high fight or flight anxiety. Obviously there’s nowhere to fly, but the recent fly invasion has given me something to fight… follow me on Twitter for ninja fly warrior updates. I can assure you, they are thrilling… Honestly, I am struggling to focus on anything for too long, so lots of easy games on my phone. I am aiming to write a chapter a week and even that’s hard at the moment. Hopefully it’ll get easier.

I see you’ve been having a Murder She Wrote marathon! Imagine, if you will, you get to script an episode. What happens and whodunnit?

OMG! Have you just asked me to write Murder She Wrote fanfic?! (Editor: Wait!) You have, haven’t you?! (Editor: Um...) OK… picture it:

Cabot Cove, 1989. Jessica Fletcher sits at her kitchen table typing, when her phone rings.

Jessica: [getting up and walking to the phone] Oh my goodness, who can that be at this hour? [answering] Hello? Jessica Fletcher.

Phone voice: [crackling] Jessica? It’s Marti. Marti Singer?

Jessica: [surprised face - massive eyes] Marti? Oh gracious, how long has it been?

Marti: Oh goodness, I don’t know! Twenty years at least! I’m so sorry to bother you! I came in on the 9pm flight from New York, I’m supposed to be staying with Dave for Mom’s 80th birthday, but when I got to the house it was dark, all the lights were out. I had to walk half an hour to get to a payphone and I’ve been ringing and ringing and I can’t get an answer. The only other name I recognised in the phonebook was yours! I’m sorry to bother you!

Jessica: Don’t be silly Marti! It’s no bother. Are you at the phone box by the bay? I’ll come and meet you. You can spend the night here and we’ll pop in on Dave in the morning.

Marti: Thank you Jessica.

Cut to next morning, around Jessica’s breakfast table

Marti: Thank you for taking me in Jessica. I would have had to sleep on a bench otherwise! 

Jessica: No problem at all, Marti. I wonder why Dave wasn’t answering the door though.

Marti: The last time we spoke he said that Doctor Haslet had prescribed him sleeping pills. Maybe they knocked him out.

Jessica: Maybe. Well, come on, let’s take a walk over and see if he’s up!

Cut to outside Dave’s House. An ambulance outside and paramedics are wheeling out a body bag. Pan to Marti - hysterical - running up to Amos.

Marti: Sheriff! What happened?

Amos: Step aside, Miss. This is official police business!

Marti: But this is my brother’s house!

Amos: Brother, you say! And who might you be?

Marti: [Producing a driver’s license] I’m Marti Singer.

Amos: Well, that’s odd.

Marti: Why?

Amos: Because that [indicates body bag] is Marti Singer.

Marti: What?

Amos: I think you’d better come down the station with me.

Jessica: [butting in] Amos! You can’t possibly….

Amos: Not now, Mrs. Fletcher, this is police business. Floyd, please take this lady for questioning.

Floyd: [leading Marti to a police car] This way, ma’am.

Jessica: But Amos!

Amos: Not now, Mrs. Fletcher.

Pan to Jessica looking a mixture of shocked, surprised and constipated, big eyes. Fade to black.

That’s the ad break, folks. If you want to find out what happens after the break. Pop a comment and Leo might let me come back next week...

Um. Yes. I may need a nice cup of tea now. What’s been the best response you’ve had to one of your books? The kind of thing that has been a real encouragement?

When I first released I Wore Heels to the Apocalypse I was met with a lot of homophobic responses. But the best response was a friend buying a copy for her housemate, and when I asked why she thought her housemate would like it she said something like “she has dated men and women and I think she would like to see that in a book”. It made it worth it to me. Representation matters and that’s why I won’t stop, no matter how hard it is.

What are your release plans for the year ahead?

I’m finding it really hard to focus on writing at the moment, but I hope to finish both my current projects, and maybe get some audiobooks released too. Watch this space.

Tell me, if we could wave a magic wand, what would be the goal you most want to achieve with your writing in the next couple of years?

The hardest part, getting people to notice it! When people read my books they really enjoy them, and usually read the whole series, but trying to get people to notice them feels a lot like screaming into the void at times!

The usual question we have here for visitors – what are you reading at present, and what is the best book you’ve read in the past year? 

I am reading the original Beauty and the Beast (research for my project) and I am listening to the Sherlock Holmes stories on audio. I reckon my best read this year was the Batwoman graphic novels, I love them and am super excited about the series.

Thanks for having me!

Very welcome! Ooh, and perhaps I should point the Sherlock Holmes graphic novel A Study in Scarlet your way! Still have to catch up with the Batwoman TV series here because of being so far behind on all the CW shows, but looking forward to it. Thanks for visiting the blog, and welcome back anytime!

Keep up with CH Clepitt over on Twitter at @BadgersTweetToo or on Facebook here.