The Trains Don't Stop Here

It's been a long, long time since my last blog post. One of the main reasons for this – apart from life being way too busy in general – is that, in my dwindling amounts of spare time, I've been concentrating on writing. My first collection, Dying Embers, was published back in 2014 and I have been at serious risk of Second Album Syndrome. I wondered if my follow-up collection would ever happen. However, about a year back, I realised that the bones of something was coming together, so with some dedication I have at last completed the first draft of The Trains Don't Stop Here and other strange adventures.

Here are the 10 stories therein, not necessarily in order:

The Other Side of the HIll
The Bells Line of Road
The Trains Don't Stop Here
Not So Much Pride, More Perseverance
Strike Three
Paradise Point
Brokehaven Lighthouse
Turning the Cup
Dark Matter
I'm Not a Timid Man

These are loosely related tales of urban strangeness. They are in the same vein as Dying Embers, but less overtly autobiographical. Several have been published elsewhere; The Other Side of the Hill was in CM Muller's Nightscript III, Strike Three was in the Dark Lane Anthology by Tim Jeffreys and Turning the Cup was in Haunted, edited by Alex Davis. Oh, and Paradise Point will be part of CM Muller's upcoming Nightscript V.

I'm pleased with the way these stories sit together and I feel that they move on in a satisfying way from those which comprise Dying Embers. I'm hopeful that the collection will become available at some stage, but I realise that it may take a while to find a suitable home. In the meantime, my intention is to resurrect this blog with some reviews and chat about strange and darksome tales in general. Watch this space!