Saturday 15 August 2020

A Quick Catching of Breath...

 Welcome to my monthly roundup for August!

July was an incredibly busy month for me. First, and most

definitely foremost, after many trials and tribulations, Sam Spallucci: Troubled Souls finally saw the light of day. Originally due out in the summer of 2019, it was originally set back by my ill health and other issues. It was then due an Easter publication, but fell afoul of Covid-19 and ended up being pushed back to July. However, all good things come to those who wait and, after an immensely successful Kickstarter campaign (again, thank you, thank you, thank you to all my lovely backers) it came out three weeks ago and is flying off the virtual shelves over on Amazon. 


The Kickstarter for Troubled Souls saw something that I hadn’t done before. I offered up the chance for readers to be killed off as characters in my latest book. In this case, a modern copycat of the Victorian Bare Lane Butcher dispatches victims using a good old-fashioned cutthroat razor in the back streets of Morecambe. I had four corpses up for grabs and all went within the first couple of hours. Indeed, apparently there was a virtual “fight” for the one victim which was a speaking role. Who would have known there would have been so much excitement? Due to the popularity of this whole thing, I’ve decided to offer up another speaking victim as a Kickstarter reward for Sam Spallucci: Bloodline when that comes out (hopefully next summer). But more on that another time…


Also on the book news front, this summer saw me complete my next short story anthology which will be out this November, in perfect time for Christmas! Hide Not Thou Thy Face will follow my usual anthology format and will contain a selection of short horror stories. Most notably will be the two interlinked tales: Orion’s Hunter and Disquiet Mind. These, along with Orion’s Child from Mourning Has Broken, will form the prologue for Sam Spallucci: Bloodline, looking at the events preceding the lycanthropic attempt to take over Sam’s beloved city of Lancaster. As I mentioned just before, Face will appear in November after a short Kickstarter in October. All my Seraph level Patreon subscribers will receive a signed copy in the post as soon as I have my physical copies which will be adorned by the amazing artwork of the incredibly talented Liam Shaw.


One piece of sad news this last month was the cancellation of York Comic Con. This is an event that I look forward to each year as I get to meet lots of readers. If you were planning to buy your latest Sam Spallucci fix from me at York, then please drop me a line via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or www.aschambers.co.uk and I will be able to post one out to you.


So, what is currently in the pipeline?


Well, after Hide Not Thou Thy Face comes out in November, I will be taking a much-needed Christmas break before finalising the format of my first Bobby Normal novella: Bobby Normal and the Eternal Talisman. I’ll give more specifics about this nearer the date, but it will be a story set around a couple of orphans in the time post-Divergence. We will finally get to explore the world after the rise of Kanor and the devastation caused by his constructs. This should be out in spring 2021. Close on its heels, next summer will be the aforementioned Sam Spallucci: Bloodline, with my sixth anthology If Ye Loathe Me coming out for Christmas 2021. Also, at some point during this publishing frenzy, I’m hoping to squeeze out a Sam Spallucci Omnibus which will contain the first three Sam books: Casebook, Ghosts and Shadows.This will be a nice glossy hardback to add to the collection. I just need to finalise the cover art and get my head around the new print format. Anyone know how to create clones? I really could do with one…


Anyway, I seem to have rambled on for far too long, so had better let you get back to your life.

 

Keep checking for what lurks in the shadows…

Austin.