The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men

Gang aft agley,

An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,

For promis’d joy!
To a Mouse by Robert Burns

Or, for those who don’t speak “Burns” – sometimes good plans go tits up.

And so it is with my debut book series.

A few days ago, I posted on social media that the 4th Arthur Crazy book has been cancelled and I jokingly blamed Trump. The truth is that’s not entirely a lie, so I figured I’d take some time to explain.

In July 2020, I signed a deal with Parliament House Press for the Arthur Crazy series. The Book and the Blade was the debut, picked up by the wonderful Mike Feeney and it all sort of went from there. Before I knew it, I had a trilogy, and then a fourth, and the deal was for all of them. I was working with wonderful people, living the dream, and all was right with the world. The best laid schemes and all that…

About a week ago, I sent an email to the publisher asking for details about the upcoming fourth book… and was told there would not be an upcoming fourth book.

Gutted.

Now, to be clear, the email was lovely and polite and very honest… essentially, there are simply not enough resources to be putting out another book. It’s a general ‘state of the world’ scenario for a small, independent press based in the USA. So, I blame Trump, because he’s a dick.

Fun fact though, I went looking for the Publishers Marketplace statement for when the deal was struck and found that it only listed a three-book deal. I’d entirely forgotten about that mistake. The image below was sent to me years ago by the publisher with an explanation that it would be fixed up (because I did indeed sign a four-book deal) but I guess maybe it was written in the stars from the start?

So, what happens next?

The truth is, I have no idea. I am genuinely gutted and honestly struggling to find the motivation. The fourth Arthur book is ready – it has been for some time – and is very different from the first three in that it is written from Arthur’s point of view. I think it’s the best one yet (I would, though, wouldn’t I) Hell, it’s even got a little bit of nookie! But I just don’t know what to do with it. I could try and see if another publisher would be interested but that would cause all sorts of problems with the rights – because PHP have already published the others. I could have the rights of those three reverted back to me, but then I would have to republish them independently. Or I could self-publish the fourth, which I’ve done before, but it’s a shit-ton of work, and I’m bound to balls it up. Plus, I’m already working on something big (and orc-like) for later in the year. Oh, and I’m also supposed to be releasing my novella Egg in a few weeks, but I’ve hit a wall. Hell, even this website is due for renewal.

As you may have guessed, I’ve spiralled into a little bit of ‘doing sod-all’ self-pity.

So, as I often do when I find myself floundering like this – after drinking way too much and generally being a big old cranky-pants – I turn to Sir Terry Pratchett for inspiration.

“If you trust in yourself. . . and believe in your dreams. . . and follow your star. . . you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy.”
The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett

Sigh. He’s always right, isn’t he. Always. The git.

I guess I’ve got some work to do (although I still don’t know what).

The Grey Lady of York

There are that many “grey ladies” in York it is sometimes hard knowing where to begin. The Holy Trinity Church on Micklegate has one, so does The Theatre Royal, The Treasurer’s House, King’s Manor, Lady Peckett’s Yard… and I used to make up stories for American tourists when I worked at The Judge’s Lodgings regarding apparitions in The Tower Room – the more lovelorn and tragic, the better the tips!

It seems there is something as enticing about the spectre of monochromatic women as there is about the lost boys from my previous post. They really capture our imagination. Perhaps it is the tragic events in their lives that brings these ladies back, or perhaps it is the tragedy thrust upon them that makes right-minded (and somewhat romantic) folks like myself hope for their story to continue?

I find ghost stories are usually all stories of hope – a soul lingers due to unfinished business, to make amends, as punishment that will one day end.

Nearly all Grey Ladies share tragedy in common. Murdered by a jealous spouse, condemned for love, broken-hearted, betrayed, beaten. Very few of the stories of the Grey Ladies are cheerful (what ghost stories are?) but I particularly liked the one associated with the church on Micklegate. It was one of the first ghost stories I read about in York and I knew when it came to writing The Book and the Blade that I had to include it.

The white lady appeared. Tall, beautiful, and stern. She walked across the front of the church with a purposeful gait and only paused when she reached the end of the building. There she turned and beckoned for her daughter and the nurse that accompanied her; this was their nightly routine—the pattern they were forced to replay every evening.
The Book and the Blade.

Ah look, I know I changed her colour a little but there were so many Grey Ladies I had to mix it up a bit. In fact, by the time I was about 50k words in and drowning in research notes on the many many York ghosts, I had the inkling of an idea that would come to be one of my favourite parts of the novel…

The Council of the Grey Ladies

The Council of the Grey Ladies emerged out of a perceived necessity to “bring the dead together” and gave rise to lots of half-hearted jokes along the lines of “community spirits.” But, as ghostly councils go, it is a relatively new organisation. In fact, in living terms, the group has only been gathering for the better part of ten years. It took one Irene Napier to gather the disparate ghosts and bring them together as a collective.
The Book and the Blade

Because if you have a city with that many Grey Ladies wandering around, it makes sense they might bump into each other! It just took the right sort of ghost to get them organised. Enter… Irene Napier.

Busy was a word entirely insufficient when used to describe Irene Napier, and now that she didn’t have the need for sleep, she was a force of nature in her own right. The fact her husband had died two days after she, and then entirely failed to join her on this plane of existence, is a testament to that. He couldn’t live without her, but the thought of spending eternity standing in a corner figuratively holding the coats was enough to make him jump through the door at the earliest opportunity.
The Book and the Blade

A friend of mine – the talented Mark Boardman – who read the very early drafts of The Book and the Blade said he wanted to know more about Irene Napier. So do I when I look back on it now. Who knows, in the future, there might be some “Arthur Crazy” spin-offs.

Actually, I have written a Queen Katheryn Howard graphic novel tie-in but that’s getting way ahead of myself!

Anyway, the Grey Ladies. Bloody wonderful they are! Just don’t try and cheat at bingo. You’ll never hear the end of it.

Thanks for reading.

If The Book and the Blade seems like something you might like to read, please check this link for your best buying options (or ask your friendly neighbourhoos librarian). And if you have read it, please consider leaving a rating or review where ratings and reviews are left… they make such a huge difference.

Cheers folks!

Alex

The One Where I was a Guest Author at my Local Library… 10,000 Miles Away!

A few weeks ago, I had the honour of being a guest author at an event hosted by Redcar and Cleveland Libraries. I grew up in Redcar and set my comedy/horror novella, Rock Zombie, there. It is my hometown, it is where I went to school, and where most of my family still live. I love the place. I was contacted by the lovely Debbie, who found my book and asked if I would be interested in giving a little talk at an event for local authors. I was thrilled. But then the reality of logistics kind of got in the way… ten thousand miles’ worth of ‘logistics’ that is.

I live in Australia now but the idea of giving a talk in my local library was too good to pass up. Thankfully, Debbie is a legend and quickly got to work organising a Zoom/Skype/Teams/Whatever-it’s-called alternative to an in-person show… we even had a little practice the night before… and then it was time for the big day.

I can’t tell you how much this meant to me.

Actually, that’s bollocks. I should at least try, I am a writer after all!

It meant a lot.

I was one of those kids who just didn’t really know where I fit in. The 90s was a bizarre time to be a teenager and I was, in my own words, a bit of a gobshite. I danced that precarious teenage dance of trying to fit in everywhere, and with everyone, and never quite getting any of it right. I flitted about all over town, between all the different groups and substrata of society, but always at the centre of this maelstrom of angst, hormones, Nirvana, and Spice Girls, there was Redcar Library.

The funny thing is, Redcar Library as I remember it sadly no longer exists, and the ‘local author’ event actually took place in Loftus, a few miles away… which also happens to be where my dad lives. I’ll be honest, I was a bit gutted about this, as I think some small part of me had always dreamed about returning to that original library as an author, but that’s a bit hard to do after it’s been knocked down!

I was also getting cold feet before the event because I wondered how many people would actually turn up. Due to the time difference, my slot was midday (9pm for me) and, let’s be honest, I am absolutely NOT suitable for kids! Plus, most of my friends and family were on holiday so I genuinely thought there was a good chance it would just be me, Debbie, and Dad.

When the camera turned on… it was indeed me, Debbie, and Dad, but also my Uncle Mike (who I dedicated the third Arthur Crazy novel to (The Saint and the Shadowman), and another lady whose name I (disgracefully) forget. A few minutes later we were joined by a few more and we got going.

And then a giant red-headed Viking walked in.

My best friend from school… Phil… turned up and sat at the back… my phone buzzed…

I relaxed then (the wine helped!) and had a bloody great hour chatting away with lovely people while trying to keep some of those embarrassing teenage secrets still secret from my dad and uncle. Phil, of course, asked how much of the book was based on personal experiences because only the absolute best of mates have zero hesitation dropping you right in it!

At one point, I confessed to ‘killing real people’ in Rock Zombie by taking surnames and forenames of people who pissed me off and putting them together. There was a titter of laughter from the crowd, a few seconds of pause, and then Phil burst out laughing when he worked two of them out!

I read a short passage in which the main character, Rob, runs through Redcar (after a horde of zombies, of course) and retraces his childhood memories. Most of those childhood memories were my own, and it was bloody wonderful seeing my dad and uncle in the front row nodding along (and laughing in all the right places!)

Debbie MC’d wonderfully and there were lots of insightful questions from her and the people in the room. It’s funny, but if I was asked them again I would probably give different answers. Phil, who knows me well, asked, “Apart from Terry Pratchett and Stephen King which other authors have inspired you?” I talked about Roald Dahl and loving his genius ability to craft a story… usually by putting the main character in danger and getting rid of the safety-nets. It’s an answer I stand by but I could have talked about anyone from a lifetime of reading… Cornwell, Gemmell, Blyton, Morrison, Tolkien, Herriot, Bryson, Le Guin, Stoker, Shelley, Lee, Hinton. The list goes on.

My uncle asked me if I plan my stories out and I had to confess that I barely know what is going to happen before the words appear on the screen. There are some occasions when I know the end, or the beginning, or a scene, but it is rarely – if ever – something I can control. And that’s my absolute favourite thing about the whole writing experience. The simple fact is, I do not see twists coming… even when I write them. That’s magic!

One of the highlights of the chat though was the lovely lady (a photographer) who told a story of being on South Gare (near the sea) and suddenly finding herself in the midst of a horde of zombies! Apparently, there is a decent sized cosplay/roleplay group in the local area. I’ll have to get in touch!

This was a really wonderful and unique experience and I’m incredibly grateful to Debbie for organising it and for everyone who came to listen and have a chat.

Thanks for reading!

Support your local library!

The ghost of Sarah Brocklebank

The tale of Sarah Brocklebank is a relatively well-known “ghost story” in York. There are many people who will be familiar with her but perhaps even more who know aspects of the story… but not the name. She’s…

The ghost on Micklegate Bar

The girl who lost the keys

Just a kid… it was her birthday

An old woman… she died of a heart attack

Stuck on the walls

Roams the city

That’s the problem with these sorts of tales… they get told and retold so many times (and often in pubs after a few drinks) that they become so embellished and overstuffed as to be almost unrecognisable from the “truth”. That’s not a complaint by the way, I mean, it’s literally what I do as a writer (and a husband, if you ask my wife!) and Mark Twain did famously say,

“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

Sarah Brocklebank is the first ghost Arthur speaks to in The Book and the Blade and when I started writing her character I only had a few “facts”

Sarah was the daughter of Thomas Brocklebank.
Thomas was the “keeper of the keys” of Micklegate Bar
The keys went missing (supposedly, Sarah’s fault)
Thomas lost his job
The family were kicked out of their home and impoverished
Thomas never forgave Sarah and disowned her

There were other bits and bobs and snippets of information floating around in various dusty books, old newspapers, and shiny (albeit darkly aesthetic) blogs; mainly regarding Sarah’s age and the places she haunts.

For my part, I placed Sarah in her mid-20s, I kept the loss of the keys, the family ruin, and Thomas blaming her, but I had Sarah’s ghost suspended in a moment of time before the family were made destitute. In The Book and the Blade, Sarah is frantically searching for the keys all over the city, starting at Micklegate Bar, heading into Holy Trinity church, then the heart of the city and St Helen’s Square. Each night, Sarah is fated to hunt for the keys and return them to her father “before it is too late.” The instant she finds them, however, the night restarts and Sarah appears back on the walls at Micklegate. This has been her existence for over 200 years and has driven her quite mad, which is understandable… especially when you learn that it was her little sister who lost the keys and Sarah took the blame (this little addition appeared in the first draft of the novel and was cut out at some point, but there are still hints. It is also entirely made up).

Like many ghost stories, Sarah’s is one of unfulfilled longing and unrealised destiny. She is the quintessential “hungry ghost” — never quite able to achieve satisfaction, and doomed to spend eternity trapped in a cycle of misery… until the night she meets Arthur Crazy.

Sarah shivered. She was tired. Deep down tired within the very core of her being. But she couldn’t give up. Those keys meant everything, and she had to find them. Tonight was her last chance. Without the keys, her father—her family—lost everything.

It is also worth mentioning that Micklegate Bar used to be a museum of sorts and apparently contained a statue of a young girl dressed in old clothing. In one hand she held a basket but the other was empty. So the staff there gave her a set of keys to complete the look. Perhaps Sarah’s whole story is a bit “chicken and egg” but I think it’s more fun to follow the advice of Mr Twain.

Cheers,

Alex

The Arthur Crazy Trilogy:

The Book and the Blade

The Sword and the Hounds

The Saint and the Shadowman

The Black Cats of York

The Book and the Blade started out as a stray thought in the back of a drunk kid’s head. Me. I was that drunk kid. I was 18 years old and trying to make my way back through the city of York to my student accommodation. I’d only been at uni for a few weeks but I was already in love with the city. Cobbled streets, historic buildings, a rumoured 365 pubs within the walls, and more ghost stories and folklore than you could shake a bunch of sage at. Imagine if you got so drunk you could talk to ghosts, I thought. But you wouldn’t know it, because you were so drunk. Well, that’s how it started… and about twenty years later I wrote it down.

One of my favourite things about The Book and the Blade – and the subsequent Arthur Crazy novels – has been researching the myths and legends of the city and figuring out ways to weave them into the narrative. In the third book, The Saint and the Shadowman (released last month), it is revealed that Arthur himself has a list.

The list was actually two A4 pieces of lined paper folded together with neat writing on both sides. Arthur had wanted a Moleskine diary, but they were so bloody expensive, so he just nicked some paper from the office and got to work. It was a list of names and places and other notes. Some had been crossed out. Some had been added to. Some were detailed and some were vague.
The Saint and the Shadowman

Well, the list exists and I thought it might be fun to share it with everyone. And because I’m a much bigger nerd than Arthur (and I also don’t have a Moleskine diary… anymore) I decided to create some ‘playing card’ style graphics to go along with it.

Those with an eagle-eye for certain aspects of nerdery might recognise a nod or two to the classic Hero Quest tabletop game.

The first card off the deck is, The Black Cats.

Black cats are often regarded as being harbingers of ill fortune and bad luck and are treated with suspicion and distrust. I am guilty of this throughout the three Arthur Crazy books (well, Arthur is) but I shouldn’t be. As Arthur’s mum rightly says in The Sword and the Hounds,

“You’re in Yorkshire now, Father. Nothing unlucky about a black cat crossing your path here. Quite the opposite in fact.”
The Sword and the Hounds

Black cats are a sign of good luck in York and the surrounding country, so much so that the city has pretty much adopted them as an unofficial mascot. Statues of cats have appeared on the walls and rooftops for over two hundred years. In fact, ‘The Cat Trail’ makes for a pretty good walking tour if you fancy something different from a packed Coney Street.

The story goes that the original statues were intended to act as ‘scarecrows’ to scare off the disease-infected rats and mice, but of course this is Yorkshire we’re talking about, so there’s also the added bonus of warding off evil spirits. Arthur’s first realisation that something might be amiss comes when he sees a black cat do a fairly passable David Bowie impression (a la Labyrinth) and defy physics to run up a vertical wall. Mind you, now that I think about it, we used to have a cat that could pretty much do the same thing (she used to perch on the top of the door) so maybe it was all in Arthur’s head?

The cats in The Book and the Blade aren’t just comedy asides and unsubtle foreshadowing, however, in fact two specific felines take centre-stage about midway through. These are the cats of one Lord Acaster… the ghost of a Royalist officer cursed to spend eternity tending to his wounded soldiers in what is now Ye Olde Starre Inne pub on Stonegate (but we’ll get to that) and Arthur wouldn’t have got very far without them.

SEMI-SPOILERS AHEAD:

There perhaps should have been a trigger warning in The Book and the Blade because not all of our furry little friends make it through the night. Although I can reliably inform you that one particular unfortunate feline does in fact have 6 lives left. I know this because a) I wrote it, and b) I have a little black cat with a number 6 tattooed on my upper arm thanks to my tattoo-gun-wielding friend Amy… because I’m from Yorkshire, remember. Where black cats are lucky.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers!

Future ‘Arthur Crazy’s List’ entries will include Sarah Brocklebank, The Grey Lady, Headless Percy, Mansion House, and the Fetch.

Arthur Crazy #3 – The Saint and the Shadowman – and some other stuff.

On July 22nd, 2025 – if Cyclone Alfred doesn’t wipe us out in the meantime – the third Arthur Crazy book will be hitting the shelves!

The Saint and the Shadowman picks up a few months after the events of book 2 and takes place back in the beautiful, haunted city of York. But it’s the height of summer… there can’t be that many ghosts kicking around when the sun sets at 1030pm, right? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I’ve been spectacularly slack with my blog updates since Rock Zombie and Sleigh: Reindeer Games 3 came out but I think it’s about time I remedied that. You might notice – if you fancy a rummage in the undercarriage – that this little website has had a bit of a spring clean. I got rid of some faffery and streamlined the whole deal to try and make it seem a bit more… professional? I’m not sure if that is the right word for me. And I will endeavour to post more frequent updates and perhaps take this whole thing a bit more seriously. Well, it can’t be any worse than arguing with strangers on Threads can it!

The truth is, I sat down today – a bizarre and random day off work because we live in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred – and I decided to roll the dice one last time for a few of my books.

It was… exhausting.

I LOVE having a publisher, and the work Parliament House Press have done on the Arthur Crazy books is bloody brilliant, but it’s a hard slog trying to find another publisher to take on my other books. And with Rock Zombie – and the Reindeer novellas – I had a lot of fun doing it by myself. Oh sure, I sold feck all but it was fun!

Maybe I’m just tired? Or maybe I should just suck it up and crack on.

To self-publish or not to self-publish… that is the question.

Actually, what was this post about? Oh yeah… The Saint and the Shadowman… which IS being published!

Yep… “professional”

Arthur Crazy is hungover, but the dead don’t care about headaches.

The city of York is teetering on the edge of disaster. During a rare eclipse, the Shadowman casts a spell atop the Minster, trapping the city between the realm of the living and the dead. Ghosts flood the streets, and Arthur, with his best friend Steve, is the only one who can stop the chaos.

But Arthur’s not exactly in hero shape. Haunted by his past and drowning his sorrows in the nearest pint, he’s barely keeping it together. That is, until he meets Nae—a beautiful stranger who might just hold the key to helping him feel normal again.

Now, with the Shadowman’s spell tearing the veil between worlds, the city’s only hope rests on a washed-up hero, a saint from the Shambles, and a dog who won’t stop talking.
York needs a miracle. Arthur needs another drink.

Or maybe a Panadol and a panini.

PRE-ORDER HERE!

Book release, book shops, book launch, and talking bollocks – my week after publication

Well, what a week it has been! My second novel, The Sword and the Hounds, was published on the 23rd of July and got shared around a bit on social media by some amazing and lovely people, though from my end, it wasn’t quite the all-singing, all-dancing affair I had in mind… largely due to my youngest kid being a bit unwell. I had every intention of doing… something, but the day itself sort of went by in a bit of a blur. I walked the dog as I normally do, talked some bollocks on TikTok as I normally do, replied to some lovely messages, got ready for work… and didn’t go.

So, it’s book publication day, you find yourself off work because your boy is poorly, what would you do? That’s right… I spent the entire day sitting in front of a fire, editing a novel, and making plans to self-publish at Halloween, but that’s a different story for a different time (literally). Back to the week that was…

MY BOOK IS PUBLISHED!

I am absolutely over the moon, although I’m still yet to receive my six-figure contract and movie deal, which is a bit strange. I think the postman might have lost it.

I am, however, eternally grateful for the amazing support I have from family and friends… and some lovely people I’ve only ever ‘met’ online. The Sword and the Hounds has been really well received… by those able to get access to it. Because that has been a nightmare!

You may have heard that Booktopia (the biggest online book shop in Australia) collapsed and Amazon pounced on that news in the only way Amazon knows how… by cranking the price of small press and indie books in the Australian marketplace. That was gutting… to see my little novel priced so high and knowing what that means. And there’s nothing I can do about it. My lovely publisher was just as shocked as me. So, I spent the first few days after publication trying to find anywhere that might sell my novel and not rip people off. Thankfully, there are a great number of really cool independent bookshops who have the book listed online so all was not lost.

And then… drum roll… W.H. Smith listed it on their website! I was gobsmacked! Smiths is an institution of the British high street! I boasted all over the place about that one… and then it got taken down! I have no idea why. It came, it went, it came back again, my sister ordered it, it went again. Whether or not my sis ever gets her hands on the book remains to be seen! (sorry).

But speaking of Smiths… I got talking to the manager of the branch in Richmond (where the book is set) and he is going to try and get it on the shelves there. THAT is amazing! I told my mam (I was ‘fizzing up and busting’ as she likes to say) and she told her friends… the wonderful ‘Stray ladies’ (best not to ask). One lovely lady, Janice, even went to look, bless her, but it was only a few days after publication and not in stock. I don’t know if that one will eventuate… but if it does, I’ll be begging people to take photos of my book on the shelf! That will be a dream come true.

After that, I spent a good few hours (and god-knows how much on the phone bill) calling other UK bookshops… with zero success. One guy told me he receives between 3-4 thousand requests a month! That’s insane… and a bit of a kick in the tits… but I guess I can’t feel too bad about it.

On day three, the Kindle version of The Sword and the Hounds climbed the charts in ‘Ghost Horror’ on the Australian market and hung around number 3 for a very short while… that was utter magic, and so I made a load more phone calls trying to ride on the coattails of that momentary success… again, no luck 😀

On day four or five, my Goodreads account got hacked… or a gremlin was let loose, I don’t know. It was a bit of struggle getting that sorted, but when I did (thanks to the wonderful ‘librarians’ at Goodreads) I found some reviews sitting there for the new book! 2 x 5 star and 1 x 4 star! Magic!

My lovely (and patient) wife organised a book launch and I sent the wrong date out to everyone at work. I then sent them all another email with the correct date. And then a few days later I cancelled the whole thing. To tell the truth, I don’t really know why. I think the first one was such a huge moment for me that I got into my own head a bit. Maybe something more low key might be in order this time round. We’ll see.

So, what else have I been up to? Well, I’ve spent countless hours trying to create ads for the book but all I’ve really ended up doing is scrolling through photos and videos of our time in Richmond and Yorkshire and giving myself crippling homesickness. That then leads to thoughts of moving back, which leads to thoughts of finances, which leads to thoughts of ‘well, if I sell a million books I won’t have to worry about it, I can just wander around Yorkshire like the next James Herriot’, which leads to thoughts of ‘you’re a dickhead’, so I distract myself with the Olympics, which leads to thoughts of ‘am I really this old?’. It’s quite the roller coaster.

BUT THEN I got in touch with an absolute legend on Instagram… one of my favourite accounts… and my publisher sent him my books! That’s exciting, and more than a little scary. Details to follow soon.

A few days ago, I had an interview with a lovely reporter for a local paper, which was fantastic. I haven’t really mentioned that to anyone (until now). I’m just going to see what happens when the paper gets put on the table in the staff room. I’ll keep you posted.

And over the last few days, those friends and family who ordered the book have started to receive it in the post and my inbox now has some cracking photos of The Sword and the Hounds out in the world… and like a crack-whore looking for a fix, I want more! So, I’ve been writing. And then I realise I’m ignoring advertising, so I go back to that, and I end up ignoring the writing and I get nothing done at all, and… , blimey, it’s noisy in here! Thank God for the Olympics and All Creatures Great and Small.

So, here we are… a week or so later trying not to metaphorically peer over everyone’s shoulder to see if they love or hate my book (and therefore, tacitly, me)…like some right needy dickhead! But there is a part in this story I just can’t wait for folk to read… especially those who read the first book and told me they liked a particularly character… something happens!

BLANK comes BLANK as a BLANK and BLANK BLANK BLANK.

If you crack my code, hit me up, I want to talk about it!

Thanks for reading folks! And thank you all for an awesome week.

The Sword and the Hounds… OUT NOW!

The Sword and the Hounds – the who, what, when, where and why?

Tomorrow is the 23rd of July 2024 and the day my second novel will be released into the wild. To say I’m a little nervous would be an understatement, but I am also very excited. Quite a few people read The Book and the Blade (the first in the Arthur Crazy series) and the reviews are (mostly) positive… except for one bloke who took exception to the fact the main character smokes too much and drinks too much. I mean, that’s kind of the point, but reader spaces are for readers, not for writers. He is absolutely entitled to his opinion. But I digress. I wonder if he’ll read what happens next? Probably not.

The Sword and the Hounds follows directly on from the events of The Book and the Blade and tells the story after the story, so to speak. If The Book and the Blade was about Arthur getting to grips with an ability to communicate with the deceased, The Sword and the Hounds is about him coming to terms with the wider implications that the dead (and assorted bit n bobs n beasts) exist in the first place. It is the hangover after the big night out. There are… injuries. There are… gaps.

I wrote The Sword and the Hounds when we lived in York in 2019… just before COVID hit. If nothing else, it is a love-letter to the town of Richmond and the folklore of Yorkshire. As one of the characters expresses…

It’s Yorkshire. We’re all a little pagan around here.

But really it exists because I fell in love with Arthur and I fell in love with writing. Something clicked in me when I wrote The Book and the Blade and I knew I’d never look back. Even if they never see the light of day and no one reads them, I’ll never stop writing these stories. I’m not sure I can. Full disclosure… there are four complete Arthur novels, two complete tie-in novels, one obscure novel ‘set in the same world’, a script for a graphic novel, a half-written plan for the fifth, and a series of random notes for the sixth and seventh. If you’re along for the ride… it’s a long one… and it’s going to get bumpy! I hope you enjoy it!

But therein lies the rub… Amazon are not making it easy for people (mainly in Australia) to access my books. The price is astronomical and there is nothing my publisher and I can do about it… other than direct you elsewhere.

That’s the who (me), the what (The Sword and the Hounds), and the when (tomorrow) taken care of so now for the ‘where‘.

In a perfect world… your local independent bookshop. The more mysterious and confusing (and possibly a little creepy) the better. One of those old type of bookshops that vanishes like the emporium in the movie, Gremlins. You know what I mean… with corridors and stairs and hidden rooms that will eat you given half a chance. You go in aged 21 and come out with white hair and a sack full of books. Perfect. But if you don’t have one of them… please try my publisher… Parliament House Press. They distribute worldwide.

If you’re in Brisbane, I know Books@Stones have copies of The Book and the Blade in stock… and if they’re still there this time next week they’ll be signed (if they let me scribble in them) and they also have an online listing for The Sword and the Hounds. You’ll be able to order it in and support a local business at the same time. And THAT is the why! Galactic Overlord Bezos can’t have everything, surely!

Any local bookshop should be able to order The Sword and the Hounds… and in a perfect world, if enough people do, they might consider a permanent stock.

One last note for those in the U.K. – – – and this made me do a little happy dance. W.H. Smiths have an online listing for The Sword and the Hounds! That is an absolute dream come true for me! I loved shopping in Smiths when I was a kid (and an adult!) and the thought that you can order my book and pop in to pick it up is the stuff of “pinch-me-I’m-dreaming” fantasy. And I think it all has to do with one dude… the manager of Smiths in Richmond. He was really keen to get the book on the shelf and so we chatted a bit and he took my details. I called him yesterday to say thanks when I noticed the online listing (horrifyingly getting his surname wrong because I’m a forgetful nobhead) and, bizarrely, he said he wasn’t sure it was him. He has begun discussion with head office but couldn’t remember if he’d passed on my name or the name of the book. So… I reckon it is him… it must be… but if it isn’t, that means my little book got on the list at Smith organically. Which is also exceptionally cool. But I include this little anecdote because it illustrates something really important that hits every part of who, what, when, where, and why… every aspect of what I might call success has been achieved thanks to other people. People who read, who support, who encourage, who advise, who critique, and even people who tell me my characters smoke too much.

So, I’ll end this by saying a very heartfelt thank you to you all. If you’re reading this, I have no doubt that I owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you!

Here’s looking forward to tomorrow and all the days after!

Cheers!

(I promise not to be too needy and metaphorically read over your shoulder over the coming weeks. Well, I’ll try really hard!)

The best bad review

Let me preface this by saying reviews are for readers, not for writers. As much as we needy pen-pushers are desperate for them and exceedingly grateful anytime a person takes the time to write a few words about our books, it’s not really our space to be in. Once a book is out in the wild, it no longer belongs to the author. Reviews are designed to inform other readers about a person’s thoughts and opinions on a book, and whether or not they believe it is worth picking up. The author has no control over that and nor should they.

A little caveat here, there is a trend in some circles of the indie book world to tag authors in negative reviews, and I’ve even seen some reviewers demand authors change aspects of the novel in certain ways because “it’ll be better”. Please don’t do that. That’s a dick move. Once the book is out there, it’s out there. For better or worse.

And that brings me to the point of this little blog post. As much as I firmly believe in what I wrote above, I am also one of those needy pen-pushers desperate for validation and you better believe I’ve read every single review of everything I’ve ever written.

It’s a sort of Catch-22 narcissism. Who’d be a writer, right?

First of all, thank you! Thank you so much to every single person who has read my stuff, and an extra special thanks with a cherry on the top if you left a review… it means the world to me, but I want to talk about the worst review I got. No, not the one that simply said “do not read this.” That one was magic! This was a review that went into a bit more detail.

Essentially, the reviewer didn’t think the book was funny, and that’s his prerogative. It kind of reminds me of Jimmy Carr when someone heckled, “when does the comedy start?” It’s all subjective, if you don’t think something is funny then it isn’t. And that’s unfortunate. As Jimmy said, “you’ve paid the price, bought the ticket, you didn’t like it, you’ve had a disaster. Life is unfair.” Or something like that. I can’t fault that. But then the reviewer went on to say that the main character, Arthur, is a heavy drinker and smoker and therefore not really deserving of sympathy, and again, that’s totally fair. But to me, that’s the whole point of Arthur, and indeed, the whole point of much of what I write.

I love putting ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and seeing how they handle it.

Arthur isn’t supposed to be sympathetic. He’s a bit of a nob, really. He’s selfish in many ways and he has a lot of vices. He’s definitely narcissistic and yes, he drinks too much, and smokes too much, but he is just a man, and like all men, he is actually still the same confused little boy he always was, just trapped now in a man’s body in a supposedly adult world. Arthur is a man who finds himself suddenly surrounded by ghosts, and demons, and utterly bizarre circumstances when all he really wants to do is have a Cajun Chicken Panini and go home.

SPOILERS

At the end of The Book and the Blade, after Arthur’s world has gone completely tits up, he goes running home to his mum and dad… and that’s where The Sword and the Hounds comes in. The sequel, due for publication on the 23rd July by the lovely people at Parliament House Press, finds Arthur still living at home six months later and trying to make sense of the world. Does he still drink too much? Does he still smoke too much? Is he still a bit of a dick? Well, you’ll have to wait and see. But the dead aren’t done with him yet so hopefully he’s learned a thing or two.

There are a total of four Arthur books (and I’m working on more) and if he was the same in all of them I think it would be a bit boring because that’s not how life works. He should grow, he should develop and mature, but also, he’s bound to relapse and fall into old habits occasionally, right? After all, he is just an ordinary bloke trying his best.

Like all of us, really.

So, thank you to the reviewer for reading The Book and the Blade and taking the time to leave a review. I’m sorry it wasn’t really for you, but you can’t win them all.

And here’s to everyone who read it and enjoyed it… thank you… with cherries on top!

Strap in… there’s a lot more to come!

Cheers,

_{Oh, and if you’re interested, I also waffle on about this sort of stuff over on TikTok. I know, it’s a young person’s game over there, but it’s really just me talking shit while walking my dog.}

@alexfinlaysonauthor
dog walks, book reviews, and thoughts on the main character #TheBookandtheBlade #booktok #TheSwordandtheHounds #books #bookreviews #writerlife #newbook
♬ original sound – ABFinlayson

It’s Yorkshire… we’re all a little pagan around here

I have just finished going through the first round of edits for The Sword and the Hounds and pressed send on the old email to my publisher. It is, officially, squeaky-bum time, ladies and gents!

The Sword and the Hounds is the sequel to The Book and the Blade and is due out later this year. I wrote it in a bit of a frenzy during the after-glow of signing with Parliament House Press way back in 2019 (I think… I get some of the dates muddled up). To be honest, that period of a few years (four!) between signing my first book and seeing it in print was probably the most productive of my life. It was like I was in limbo. I had signed a book deal, so that made me an author, right? But no one had read it yet, so there was no chance of anyone saying it was shit and taking it away from me. So, in that glorious liminal period, I churned out as much as I could. I mean, seriously, I wrote non-stop. There was one day where I finished one novel and immediately started the next, because I knew I still had a few hours in me before my brain shut down. That’s not normal is it? But it was fun. I was burning the candle at both ends, while holding a blow-torch in the middle.

And I loved it!

But back to The Sword and the Hounds. To make things easier for myself, I wrote The Book and the Blade (set in York) while living in Richmond, and then wrote The Sword and the Hounds (set in Richmond) while living in York.

Look, I’ve never been accused of being overly smart 😀

Reading through the book this last week was the first time I’ve read it in three years. It was a really cool experience… and also a bit shit in places. My editor is awesome and made some excellent points about changes that needed to be made or parts that needed clarification. There are some things that you just don’t pick up on when you’re writing. I guess it’s a case of not being able to see the wood for the trees. One of my main points was an event that happened in the story, which absolutely would have changed the lives of a great number of people, and then was never mentioned again!

It made me laugh when I read her notes and then read the scene. It reminded me of when the great Conn Iggulden wrote about his editor who once pointed out that he had described his protagonist mounting his horse three times… without ever getting off it!

So, there are parts that made me cringe, but they were easy enough to fix, and the guidance was great. I’ve definitely grown as a writer, but I do absolutely love this story. It’s a very personal story in some respects. If The Book and the Blade is about a man who is lost in the big, bad grown-up world and can’t find his way, The Sword and the Hounds is about the ‘defeat’ of ‘retreating to the safety of the familiar’ but then the… eventual… realisation, that there is no such thing as a backward step. We try our best, and we push on.

That’s vague enough not to be spoilery, right? Which brings me to the quote.

The really fun thing about writing, and the great thing about going back to your own work after so long away from it, is when you come across a line you love. I giggled when I read this…

This is Yorkshire. We’re all a little pagan around here.
The Sword and the Hounds

I won’t give any further context other than to say, The Sword and the Hounds, like its predecessor, weaves a LOT of local myths and legends through the narrative. And it may also play fast and loose with a tale you might all be familiar with, one that took root in Britain a very long time ago.

I can’t wait to introduce you to some of stories from Richmond and the surrounding area, and to let you know how Arthur is getting on. And who knows, maybe some other characters from The Book and the Blade will make an appearance?

Not long now, folks!

Thanks for reading.