Tuesday 29 August 2006

It's all worth it.....



Yes that's right all the doubts and worry coupled with fear of faliure it's all worth going through when you manage to produce something that is someway towards worthy.
To have my story included in the this book makes me feel on top of the world because I am amoungst writers of great talent who know what ideas are and what makes for a chilling yarn.

Not only does this make me feel like I have made a personal break through but it begs me to write more as I feel that there is a solid reason to carry on with writing.
Not only this but I have had some great things said about my tale too which I never even thought could be said about it.
Aside from my input which I have spoken about a lot already there are some superb writers in this short story collection and I will write a review of each tale as I read them and put the review up on this blog so you can get a taste for what treats are in store for you if you wish to pick up a copy of it(and you will be satisfied if you do so).

However because I am feeling self-indulgent this once and also due to the fact this my blog I just wanted to add a couple of things some important British Horror freinds of mine have said to me about what I wrote:

Chris(Tsar of the British Horror Forum and talented writer)

And James' story... well. I'm so happy that people are enjoying it. When I read it I thought it had a strange kind of power all of its own - there's an anger there which really leaps off the page, and ideas which get under your skin. I think I'm right in saying it was his first attempt at a short story too - perhaps it'll be James who beats us all to the punch and gets a publishing deal?

Darrel Buxton(The true source of British hororr fil information EVER and talented writier)

Just read 'Beggar's Banquet' this evening, having saved it til last, and found it to be a really creepy, squalid little piece of modern horror. I'd go so far as to say that it's also the most 'British' story in the whole collection - despite echoes of Jeffrey Dahmer, you set the city scene so well, and encapsulate the world of the homeless with such accuracy, that it's somehow difficult to imagine this tale taking place in a foreign setting. The lives of the shabby unfortunates at the centre of the tale work as a microcosm of a much greater social problem (the expansion of the story for the final paragraphs therefore working perfectly). I could virtually feel my feet sticking to the carpet in Calvin's flat, and the insect population of the place almost take on a weird character all of their own. Very daring of you to incorporate a flashback in the middle too! (Mart's frantic, half-remembered recollection of his abusive father).

I know you'll take it as a compliment if I say this would have made a really great episode of the 'Urban Gothic' t.v. show.

Okay you all must be board with my self-promoting by now so I will make up for it in the next couple of days by showing you how good the other tales are :)