Saturday 18 March 2023

One Minute Writing Workshop: If In Doubt, Read It Out

 Hello and welcome to this little one-minute writing workshop.


This month, I want to have a little chat about something that I do a lot when I’m editing my work: reading it out aloud.





Sometimes, we can write a passage down and there’s this little voice niggling away at the back of our head saying, “You know what, that’s not quite right.” Then, we read it over and over and darned if we can’t work out what’s actually wrong.


Well, in this situation, I find it very helpful to just take a moment and read the infernal passage aloud. Quite often, sentences can sound different when spoken aloud compared to that quiet voice we use in our heads. We can pick up tones, inflections, stray punctuation… all sorts of things.


So, the next time you type up something and think to yourself, “That doesn’t look right,” just take a moment to read it out loud. You might find it helps.


Don’t forget to visit my website www.aschambers.co.uk for more details about my books. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter here for up-to-date details regarding all my writing and appearances.

You can check out my Patreon Book Club for advanced screenings of my videos and free books.


Take care and keep looking out for what lurks in the shadows…

A.S.Chambers.


Sunday 12 March 2023

Short Story: First Hunt - Then

 Hello and welcome to this month’s short story video.

This time around, it is the turn of First Hunt: Then, one of two short vampire stories from 2015’s anthology All Things Dark and Dangerous (links for which you can find at www.aschambers.co.uk).





I’ve always been a fan of vampires; more so than werewolves. This is why they feature as heroic figures in the Spallucciverse. However, I’ve always despaired somewhat at stories where they’re put up on untouchable pedestals. When I read vampire fiction that basically regurgitates the same language and tropes as Dracula (which I hasten to add is one of my favourite books), I sigh in despair. That iconic novel was written over one hundred and twenty years ago. Surely, vampires, like humans need to move with the times?


So, when we see my vampires, the Children of Cain, they are very much characters of their own time periods. They neither ravish virgins nor laze around in an armchair in a “sanguine haze”. They are still rather human, with all our human problems.


The two First Hunt short stories really illustrate this, showing how vampires who take waifs and strays under their wings are just as must at sea as a human counterpart would be.


I hope you enjoy this one. First Hunt: Now will follow next month.


Don’t forget to visit my website www.aschambers.co.uk for more details about my books. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter here for up-to-date details regarding all my writing and appearances.

You can check out my Patreon Book Club for advanced screenings of my videos and free books.


Take care and keep looking out for what lurks in the shadows…

A.S.Chambers.


Sunday 5 March 2023

Spalluccipedia: Dante the Cat

 Greetings and welcome to this monthly dive into characters, places and themes in the ever-expanding world of my paranormal investigator, Sam Spallucci.

This time around, I want to have a little chat about one of my favourite little characters in Sam’s world: Spliff’s cat, Dante.





When I first started out writing the Sam Spallucci books, Dante was firmly based on a cat I knew about thirty years ago. His name was Mephistopheles and he was the cat of the chaplain at Saint Martin’s College in Lancaster. Mephs, was a big, black beast, more panther than a domestic cat and was known for his hunting prowess. As with Dante, he lived at the top of a tower block and was regularly seen on the windowsill, swiping careless sparrows that flew too close. Dante’s loathing of humans was firmly based on that of Mephs. Both felines had a hatred of anyone who wasn’t the human that fed them and lavished unconditional love on them. I recall many times when a student got too close to Mephs and paid the price with a severe, bloody scratch.





However, Dante began to be redeveloped somewhat in my books seven years ago when a black bundle of fur and bossiness strolled into my life. Those who follow me on social media will know very well that my constant companion is Schroedinger, a small black cat who is incredibly like Dante in appearance and personality. Schrodie regards most humans with disdain, only lavishing his affection on a select few. So it is that, as the books have progressed, Dante has taken on more and more of my own cat’s characteristics. It is now up to my readers to decide which of the tales I tell about him are fiction and which are, indeed, reality.


Don’t forget to visit my website www.aschambers.co.uk for more details about my books. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter here for up-to-date details regarding all my writing and appearances.

You can check out my Patreon Book Club for advanced screenings of my videos and free books.


Take care and keep looking out for what lurks in the shadows…

A.S.Chambers.


Thursday 2 March 2023

A.S.Chambers - March Roundup

 Good morning one and all! 

Well, after January seemed to drag on for six months, February passed in the blink of an eye and I’m hitting March with a definite bang and a huge grin on my face.


So, where to begin? First, the Kickstarter for Out of the Depths has been a resounding success. It reached the target in just 22 minutes! I was totally gobsmacked. Not only that but it is now sitting at having reached over 500%!!! It’s been great to see not only regular readers snapping up fab rewards but also a number of new readers too, having found the project through Kickstarter and social media. It is looking like it will be my most successful anthology to date. Don’t forget that, when it is published in April, all Seraph members of my Patreon Book Club will receive a signed copy.





Then, just a few seconds after OOTD reached its target I received a wonderful piece of news. The author Douglas Lindsay, who writes the amazing Barney Thomson books, has agreed to let me use his characters in a standalone Sam Spallucci short entitled The Case of the Pillaging Pirates. This will be out later this summer and will see Sam and Spliff holidaying on the island of Cumbrae shortly before the events of Casebook. More details about this one later in the year.


Plus, to top it all off, I’ve just been looking over my sales figures for February and can’t believe my eyes. Macabre Collection: Volume Two has been flying off the shelves, not only in the UK, but globally! I now seem to have regular readers in Australia, Canada and Poland. Not only this, but multiple copies have been bought over the channel in France! When you consider that I haven’t promoted this book yet, this is incredible. It means that some lovely people have accounts set up somewhere to receive notifications when my books are published. It certainly makes me feel the love.


 So, what’s coming up in March?


The Kickstarter for OOTD finishes on the twelfth. Once, Kickstarter have sent me the monies, I’ll finish the formatting of the book and publish early April. This will then be followed by the Easter Egg videos which will include shoutouts for all my lovely patrons and those who chose that reward on Kickstarter. As mentioned above, all Seraph members of my Book Club will receive a signed copy as part of their membership.


I also have two conventions this month: Sheffield on the 12th and Carlisle on the 25th. If you’re in the area, do come along and say hello.


Right, I need to shoot off now and have a calming brew. I haven’t even had time to tell you about the Spalluccipedia book that I’ve started working on with talented artist Jack Knight! Ah well, perhaps next time ;-)


Don’t forget to visit my website www.aschambers.co.uk for more details about my books. 

You can subscribe to my newsletter here for up-to-date details regarding all my writing and appearances.

You can check out my Patreon Book Club for advance screenings of my videos and free books.


Take care and keep looking out for what lurks in the shadows…

A.S.Chambers.