“It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled”

Or rather, it’s been a long time since I wrote a blog post. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. Oh no. Writing is an itch I have to scratch. I’m always writing. Unfortunately, it’s the publishing side of things I struggle with! And the less said about marketing the better.

For example, since my last post I actually released a novella. Now, you’d think I’d make use of this website in order to advertise such a thing, but I only realised this morning I didn’t even have a post. That has since been fixed up and you can now find Egg right there at the top of the homepage. I’m pretty proud of that silly little story. It’s a bit of a love letter to the Alien franchise, to rock music, and to Yorkshire… three of my favourite things.

Now that’s done, I figured a little update might be in order. A stocktake if you will, to let you know where I am and what I’m working on. Or, more realistically, to keep tabs on myself.

The following is a list of books I’ve written and haven’t found a home for…

Never Have I Ever – a YA/NA urban fantasy about a group of friends meeting in their first year of university… a decade after mysterious dark-robed ‘watchers’ appeared throughout the world.

The Last Witch in Brisbane – an urban fantasy set in Brisbane about a young man who discovers he is a witch descended from a long line of European witches originally sent to Australia in a secret ship that followed behind the first fleet.

The Children of the Ninth – MG/YA about the famed Ninth Roman Legion who disappeared from the records sometime after the turn of the millennium. In this story, all the adults of the legion vanish in the north of Britain, leaving their children behind to fight and survive whatever curse hunts them.

William John Park and the NotHereHere – a MG story about a young boy whose family is cursed by a witch. She steals his father and freezes his mother. William has to venture into the magic and fantastical world of his own overgrown back garden to make everything right.

Cleopatra Elizabeth Jones and the NotHereHere – a sequel to the above. This one follows a book-obsessed young girl in Melbourne whose parents barely even know she exists. Her life takes a turn when a witch moves into the neighbourhood.

The Dragoman – historical fantasy set in Egypt during the 1800s. It follows a young man cursed by the jinn as he enters the employ of upper-class English explorers. Together, they search for treasure in the tombs of the ancients but unlock demons instead. This is based on my own ancestor.

Shadows in the Sand – A unit of the famed LRDG find themselves up against an unnatural enemy in the North African desert during WW2. This one is loosely based on my grandfather’s experiences in the war and is perhaps the most important thing I have written (personally speaking).

I Draw the Line at Vampires – Arthur Crazy #4. This one had a publication deal that fell apart. It is the fourth in the Arthur Crazy series of books and sees Arthur (and Steve) taking a business trip to the famously vampiric Whitby. Unlike the other Arthur books, this one is written in the first person (from Arthur’s point of view) as an homage to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It is by far the longest in the Arthur Crazy series and actually ties the Arthur story into The Dragoman and Shadows in the Sand.

Katheryn Howard: The Motorbike Riding Ghost Queen of Yorkshire – a graphic novel script for the story of the ghost of Katheryn Howard. This ties her appearances in the Arthur Crazy series together and explains how she went from a ghost trapped in King’s Manor in York to a motorbike riding badass patrolling the North Yorkshire Moors.

Girt By Sea and a Zombie-Proof Fence – comedy horror. The whole world has been overrun by a zombie apocalypse… except for Australia. It follows a school teacher who is bitten by a priest and quarantined on Christmas Island. There, they learn the virus has mutated into animals and they must make their way back to the mainland in order to help prevent an outbreak.

and finally…

Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Orcs! – a satirical fantasy following the adventures of two orc friends as the world around them descends into chaos following the defeat of the latest Dark Lord.

But I won’t say too much about this one… because I am going to publish it myself later this year. Watch this space!

That’s a lot, isn’t it! I mean, that’s really a lot of books. I just did some quick calculations – that’s nearly 800,000 words! And it doesn’t even include all the stories I started and didn’t finish. These are all complete novels. I reckon if you add the drafts, and the ideas, and the scrapped beginnings, you’re looking at well over a million unread words.

I don’t know whether I’m proud, mortified, or just plain exhausted!

Rock Zombie is published!

Finally, after months of me annoying people with semi-cryptic posts, snippets of random nonsense, and bizarre TikTok videos, my silly, gross, over-the-top, comedy horror – Rock Zombie – has shuffled off the mortal coil and invaded your shelves/Kindles.

But as with all things Finlayson, it hasn’t been a smooth journey. You may notice – to start with – that it is not yet Halloween. In fact, we are still a few days out from the publication date. The reason for this is a combination of impostor syndrome and impatience (and an idea from Dan). I got worried that if I published a horror novel ON Halloween it would be too late for anyone to give a stuff about. Silly, I know, but I likened it to releasing a Christmas novel on Christmas Day… who is going to read it?!

So, I brought the release date forward and instantly made a mess of things… the book vanished from all servers for a few days and I had a mini melt-down thinking I’d lost everything. But it really just boiled down to me being an idiot.

And then it was here!

Sort of!

For some reason known only to the Amazon overlords, my silly little, supposed-to-be-cheap, stuff-it-in-your-back-pocket-and-dog-ear-it, pulp-fiction of a novel was listed for $42 here in Australia! That’s insane! I set the price at $18.99! I wanted it to be less than $20 and Amazon bloody doubled it! I have reached out, I have tried to change it, but there is nothing I can do. From what I can gather from other frustrated indie authors on social media, it boils down to Amazon just not playing nice with other people. Simply put, they do it because they can.

The listing is fine in other countries and territories, but here in Australia, where I live and am likely to sell most books, it costs a fortune!

I’m gutted.

I have reached out to book shops – particularly Books@Stones in Brisbane – and hope they will stock it.

In the process of writing this I have just seen that The Nile have it on for the expected price! Happy days!

Update: For some reason, I cannot add The Nile link to my Books2Read profile. Ah, well. It’s never simple is it.

So, it’s out there. My silly little book that I’m super proud of… and I’m having a book launch on Saturday 9th November at the very cool Nosferatu Distillery, Bar and Cafe in Bowen Hills, Brisbane (and I won’t chicken out of this one).

I really hope you enjoy Rock Zombie for what it is… a silly, fun, gory little romp through ’90s nostalgia. If you do, please consider leaving a review on Goodreads or (shudder) Amazon. It really does make a difference to little plebs like me.

I am beyond grateful to everyone who reads my books. I love ya!

Cheers,

Parklife – setting a story in your home town

Many of Stephen King’s books are based in Maine, the state in which he was born, and the small town setting works really well to give the reader a visualisation of the story. If you can picture yourself in the midst of the action, then it’s all the more effective. I’ve gone for that with Rock Zombie. But, probably, a little less subtle.

The events of my upcoming comedy/horror ghost/zombie book take place in the town I grew up in… Redcar, on the north east coast of England. The streets are real, the places are real, but the people aren’t. I have to be very clear about this at the outset. In fact, at the very front of the novel you’ll come across this Author’s Note:

This novel is set in a real town… my hometown of Redcar on the northeast
coast of England. All of the pubs, clubs, parks, squares, streets, shops and
side-alleys described are very real places and many still exist today (or they
did in the ‘90s when this story is set). In fact, you could quite easily walk the
route the characters take and stop in for a drink, a dance, a play, or something
to eat along the way (if you do, please take photos and tag me in them, that
would be excellent!)
Despite the real locations, the characters are all entirely fictitious. Every
teenager, barman, waitress, copper, soldier, drinker, dancer, raver, bell-ringer,
priest, butcher, baker, candlestick maker, zombie, and ghost is a product of
my overactive imagination. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.
This silly story is a bit of a love letter to the ‘90s and, as such, it contains
references to many TV shows, movies, characters, bands, and songs from the
era. Every chapter is the title of a song, but no lyrics or quotes are reproduced
anywhere in this novel, except for those that are in the public domain.

The inherent problem of setting stories in real places (which most of mine are) is the risk that a character might appear to be based on someone real. If I have a scene in a pub, for example, and the pub is real, but I make the landlord a bit of wanker, I have to be really clear that, ‘this is not based on the actual landlord of that pub.‘ I even have a similar statement on the copyright page… not that the landlord might be a wanker, but that, if he is, it’s purely a coincidence.

It’s a fine line to walk but one that I think is worth it, as it adds an essence of realism to the stories, and, let’s be honest, a story about a ghost and zombie probably could do with a little added realism.

There will be parts of this story that Redcar locals might read and go, Oh, yeah, that’s familiar, but if I’ve done my job properly, that should be the case for everyone.

This Friday – yes, Friday the 13th! – I’ll reveal the cover and the blurb! If you’d like to be involved in the cover reveal there’s a sign-up form on my social media stuff.

Cheers folks,

Easter eggs and clues and things…

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!

Or, more accurately, I’m up to something. If you see a little red-headed blue fella anywhere on my website, he’s worth a poke. If you do happen to give him a nudge, you’ll find yourself magically transported back in time (or to another page, but what is life without a little whimsy?)

Here you’ll find something that looks a bit like this…

It should be familiar to people of a certain generation and a quick look around this faux-MySpace page will drop one or two more clues for upcoming shenanigans.

For the next [insert length of time] I will be making daily TikTok, Reels, and videos on Stories, plus Instagram posts, Facebook posts and the occasional blog post here.

Some of you already know what I’m up to (because you’re involved in one way or another) and I hope you enjoy the ride.

For everyone else,

Come as you are!

Cheers folks,

Amanda Palmer and the Art of Asking

I really like Amanda Palmer. She appears both genuine and nuts in equal measure, which is a superb combination. I first came across her on Twitter (before it became a cesspit of hate and ignorance) and I was really drawn by her TED Talk called ‘The Art of Asking’. Being British, I’m not exactly tip-top at asking for help, and there’s a point in the video where she mentioned a member of a support band feeling uncomfortable because it ‘feels like begging.’ I get that. That resonated with me.

But then I’m also reminded of my mate Grant who talks about the community of writers, and artists, and creatives. Grant kick-started the Brisbane Writers Crew meetings a few years ago and a group of us catch up every month to drink coffee/beer and talk all things creative. I’m still very much a newbie because my attendance it pretty piss poor but It’s amazing. I’ve met some lovely people there and many rocked up to my debut book launch (which also happened to be my 40th birthday!) and it was a great time.

Things like that wouldn’t happen without other people.

And I think that’s the point of Amanda Palmer’s video/philosophy (to my shame, I am yet to read the book – The Art of Asking – though it is sitting on my shelf). Isaac Newton said he saw so far by ‘standing on the shoulders of giants‘ and Tom Hanks attributed all his success to ‘his wife, family, friends, and colleagues.‘ All of my books are dedicated to people who have helped me, and my wife, Kel, is at the absolute epicentre of all of this. None of it would have happened without her. Stephen King wrote, ‘whenever I see a first novel dedicated to a wife (or a husband), I smile and think, There’s someone who knows. Writing is a lonely job. Having someone who believes in you makes a lot of difference,‘ and I am beyond lucky (and grateful) to have people who support and believe in me.

So, I’m about to do something that really puts me a little out of my comfort zone. I’m going to ask for help.

On the 31st of October this year (yep, Halloween!) I am going to self-publish one of my novels. This one is ridiculous, and silly, and gross, and perhaps bad-taste, and probably a little funny, and maybe even with a smidge of heart in certain places, and I can’t wait for people to read it. I’m not doing crowdfunding or anything like that (I’m still steeped in Britishness when it comes to that sort of thing), but I am going to ask people if they would kindly share things…

Starting in September, there will be book announcements, cover reveals, blurb reveals, calls for ARC readers and reviews, and a few other bits n bobs that I’m playing close to the chest for now… but I’m hoping the next two months will be really fun, and that you might come along for the ride.

The book in question has had an interesting history… it has been signed by two publishers in the past but never quite made it over the finish line (one went bust and one wanted me to take out all the swearing) so I’ve decided to roll the dice and give it my best shot.

So, I guess ‘ask #1’ is – ‘do you have any advice?’ 😀

Thanks for reading, watch this space!

(As I sat here and wrote this, my lovely wife is on the seat opposite me reading through the final edition of the book. She’s amazing!)

Cheers!

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.

I mean, if you live here, of course you’re going to write stories! Absolutely magical!

Aaaaand done… maybe

Well, it only took me the better part of 30 years, but I finished writing a novel today. To be clear, I haven’t been writing for 30 years, but when I tell the story of The Book and the Blade, I always mention how I initially got the idea when I was 18.

For this story, I’ve had the idea since I was 8! Today, I finished it.

To give this a little context, I couldn’t even read when I was 8, but my grandad had died two years prior and like many young boys in similar circumstances, I idolised him in ways I didn’t fully understand.

My grandad; the dog walking, pipe smoking, ever present war hero… was gone.

But his stories live on.

No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world fade away.
Sir Terry Pratchett – Reaper Man

I’m 42 years old now, I live in Australia, and I tell my grandad’s stories constantly. It was about time I wrote them down. I carry his name, you see, passed down to me through my dad, his son. My own daughter and son carry his name also, and the shared names go back even further than those four generations.

But back to the point of this post, I finally finished writing a novel about him. Sgt. Alexander Bedair Finlayson.

Maybe.

I first announced I’d done this on 22nd October 2023… that was the day I completed the first draft. On the 6th April 2024 (two days before writing this) I finished… again.

I think.

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The tricky thing about writing a novel about your grandad, when you’re named after him, is you can’t very well use your own name as that of the main protagonist. This isn’t primary school. And to make it even more complicated, I have used grandad’s name in another of my novels. He was a twin. And in the upcoming The Sword and the Hounds, Alexander and Archibald play a key role. So, I sort of shot myself in the foot there.

But the reality is, for some strange reason I don’t quite know, Uncle Arch used to refer to himself as Mickie Finn. When he wrote letters to grandad during the war, he often signed them in this way. So my main character, the one based on grandad, became Michael ‘Micky’ Finn. His brother in the story is called John (another name that runs through the family)… and strangely enough, Alexander and Archibald make an appearance as well.

You might be thinking now… if you’re of a deductive mind… that these few details would indicate I am playing fast and loose with ‘historical fiction’, and you’d be absolutely spot on. This story isn’t historical fiction, not really, it’s historical fantasy, and there’s a very simple explanation…

I’m a coward.

The truth is, I don’t feel good enough to write a straight war story about my grandad. I don’t think I could ever do it justice. I know I can string a few word together and occasionally pop out some entertaining bits and bobs, but this is my grandad we’re talking about! A man who left home just after his 21st birthday in 1939 to enter basic training, and was then shipped out a year later from Liverpool to North Africa. He wouldn’t return home for four and a half years! He fought in North Africa, Italy, Greece, and ended up in the LRDG! How the hell am I supposed to write about that?!

So I didn’t. I spoke to my dad, and I spoke to my uncle, and I basically asked for their blessing to write grandad’s story in a way I know how… with fantasy and horror. And it was this that ultimately made me throw out the first draft… and then it saved the fifth.

I started by moulding the story around Grandad’s Letters (these documents are fully deserving of the capitalisation). They are two long accounts of grandad’s experiences in war that he typed up for Major Forty, who wrote a series of books on the exploits of the 8th Army and the 7th Armoured Division. We have those letters, along with a treasure trove of photographs taken through the North Africa Campaign and beyond. I organised everything as best as I could in chronological order and then I started playing with it.

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But there were too many influences. When I first started, I didn’t know what I wanted it to be. I devoured A.R. Channel’s The Fighting Four war novels when I was a kid, then moved up to Robert Westall. After that were Stephen E Ambrose and Ben McIntyre. I’ve watched just about every war movie and TV show you can imagine, from the romanticised movies of the 60s and 70s to the more gritty and realistic showings of Spielberg, Hanks and co. and I’m one of those blokes who is more than happy to watch a documentary on a Friday night (yes, I am that cliched). And, my God, I researched! I researched more for this novel than I did for my Masters.

@alexfinlaysonauthor
I posted this video two years ago on an old account I’ve lost access to. just found it again. #booktok #writing #amwriting #ww2 #northafricacampaign #tobruk #desertrats #8tharmy
♬ original sound – ABFinlayson

But still, that first draft didn’t know whether it was coming or going! Was it aimed at kids, teens, war historians, or horror fans? It was a total mess… and the ‘horror’ was shoe-horned in to try and make the narrative flow. It didn’t work.

In the second draft, I found the voice and tone I wanted.

In the third, I discovered the plot (three drafts to find a plot!)

In the fourth, I ‘killed my darlings’, as the saying goes (and I’m left with a whole file called ‘dumping ground’)

And in the fifth, I found my story. Grandad’s story.

The tentative working title is Shadows in the Sand, but that might change. Right now, I’m exhausted. I’ve spoken to dad. I’ve spoken to my best mate. I’ve spoken to my wife. I’ve come out from under the rock and I’m going to let it rest. What the story needs now is fresh eyes… someone who can see if it works like a story at all.

The beta reading of this one is going to be brutal! I’m not sure I’m ready to let it go.

Either way, I did it. And I’m really proud I did it. Who knows… it might work, it might not. But I’ll push on regardless.

Cheers,

The First One of 2024

Good morning lovely people, and welcome to a random and unexpected blog post… my first of 2024, and let’s be honest, my first in a long time. This poor neglected little website does not get a whole lot of attention and I really ought to remedy that.

So, let’s recap 2023:

Reindeer Games did quite well in the Christmas of 2022 and so the start of 2023 saw a number of lovely reviews finding their way onto Amazon and Goodreads. That was awesome, and I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who read and supported my silly little Reindeer murdery self-published novella.
The Book and the Blade was released by Parliament House Press! My debut novel! A dream come true.
The book launch took place at Netherworld in Brisbane on my 41st birthday and we had an absolute ball! I met some amazing people there, including some lovely members of the Brisbane Writers Crew.
I actually managed to get to a couple of Brisbane Writers Crew catch-ups, which were great, but my attendance was pretty poor at best (not a fan of driving in the city!) I’ll attempt to fix that in 2024.
Albert the Great Australian Dragon – illustrated by the wonderfully talented Amy Carter was published at Easter.
The publisher who had signed Rock Zombie sadly pulled the plug (well… stopped being a publisher altogether!)
Book shop appearance at the excellent Highlands Books in Emerald!
Wrote two stories (and narrated them!) for Pleased! A Beatles inspired anthology edited by the awesome Gayle Ramage.
Had two stories published in the amazing Australian horror anthology, Nightmare Fuel, courtesy of the wonderful Emma Nayfie.
The opening chapter of my comedy/fantasy novel, Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Orcs?! was read out by the exceptional lads of The Failing Writers Podcast.
My Christmas ghost story, In The House of Trembling Madness, was also read out in the Christmas special of the same pod, thanks lads!
Impromptu book signing at Book Face Orion, Springfield!
Reindeer Games 2: Rein Harder with a Vengeance was released for Christmas and did quite well… though not as well as Reindeer Games 1 (for the second year running!)
The Sword and the Hounds cover reveal!
And I wrote three novels, two novellas, seven short stories, submitted to publishers twenty-one times, got four acceptances (short stories), twelve rejections, and radio silence from the rest…oh, and you know, went to work and earned a living and whatnot (plus moved house…and got bitten by a snake…and went through a tornado…but I did get a full size pool table for next to nothing so happy days!)

Damn. That’s a big year. So, what’s next?

Well, The Sword and the Hounds will be published in April, so I’m very much looking forward to that. If Rock Zombie doesn’t find a home by the middle of the year I’ve decided to self-publish it for Halloween. I wrote myself into a corner with Reindeer Games, so I’m going to have to write Reindeer Games 3: Sleigh by December. I’m also working on a series of Easter stories in the same vein, but that’ll be for 2025. This year I want to finish writing the ‘unnamed WW2’ novel I’ve had on the go for a year, create an Arthur Crazy graphic novel tie-in (to further explain an event that happens in The Sword and the Hounds), and get started on Arthur Crazy #5. I’d also like to find homes for The Dragoman and Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Orcs?! So, you know, nothing crazy 😀

Thanks for reading, folks!