One Minute Workshop: Story Length

     This month, I want to have a little chat about something that I see a lot being discussed in writers’ forums: story length.

A lot of new writers and authors seem to be obsessed with writing that great Magnum Opus. They want to produce a novel of 80,000, 100,000 words plus. There seems to be this misconception out there that this is what you should be writing because that is what people want. 

But what about what your story wants?

All too often writers get stuck in a rut because they feel that they have to fill a certain box for the sake of selling their work. This is a terrible way to approach writing! Writing is an art form and, as such, the writer should let the story develop at its own speed and into its own length. So, you might produce a huge epic novel, but you might instead produce a neat, sharply edited short story or even a piece of fifty words flash fiction. 

Don’t feel pressured into producing what others say “sells” or what people say is “popular”. Write from the heart, let the plot and characters speak for themselves and the story will flow easily, finding its own shape and form. 

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.

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ASC.

Short Story: Extraction

       Greetings all and welcome to this little article about one of my shortest pieces, Extraction.

This tiny piece of flash fiction is taken from my first horror anthology Oh Taste And See. I’ve always been a fan of short-form fiction and poetry. When I was a teenager, I was a classic reluctant reader. I never read poetry over half a page long and novels were way beyond my interest. Instead, I would plough through Stephen King’s short story collections such as Night Shift and Skeleton Crew. It was only later, as my reading increased in confidence, that I started to venture into the world of novels. As I did so, my own writing style began to grow and evolve. 

But, I never left the world of small-form behind. Even now, as an adult, I still love to pick up a novella or a short story and read it in one sitting between household chores or my own writing projects. I love how it takes skill and ruthlessness to pare a large piece down to bare bones and be left with an understandable piece of fiction. Extraction was my first attempt at this. From what I recall, I had been watching The Andromeda Strain. There is a scene in that film, near the end, when one of the scientists has to run to shut down the destruct sequence for the base and I think that was sort of an influence for the little scene that Extraction sets for the reader.

I hope you enjoy my reading of it. You can find this story in its original place in Oh Taste and See, and also in my Macabre Collection. There are purchase links over on my website.

Don’t forget that I have Patreon Book Club where you can access all these videos long before they reach this blog. Also, Seraph tier members get free books for joining as well as free signed copies of every new material book that I publish. You can find out more details here.

You can also 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.

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

A.S.Chambers.

Spalluccipedia: Spud

      Greetings one and all and welcome to this monthly dive into the shadowy world of my fictional paranormal investigator, the one and only Sam Spallucci.

This month I want to have a quick chat about a fan favourite, Spud the grotesque. We first meet the animated piece of stonework from the roof of Lancaster Priory in The Case of the Grotesque Graffiti, the first case in Sam's third book, Shadows of Lancaster. Sam encounters him tagging the door to the Ashton Hall around the back of Lancaster’s Town Hall. Not wanting to lose track of the street artist, Sam rather recklessly jumps onto Spud’s back before he flies off to his impromptu gallery down on the Quay. This then leads to a confrontation with a far more conservative chief grotesque on top of the Priory which ends up with a pile of rubble on the floor and a severely shaken investigator of the paranormal.

We then come across Spud in Dark Justice when Sam goes for his advice concerning the rogue king of the vampires. By this point, the friendly grotesque has been appointed as the replacement for the former leader of the grotesques, a position which he takes with great pride and has developed even more when Sam and he cross paths again in Fury of the Fallen.

Spud is one of those characters that I have always enjoyed writing. He has a very distinct personality and it is fun to watch it evolve. He is a wonderful comic relief character with his straight talking and dry wit. I can see him appearing again from time to time and I’ve always fancied writing a standalone short story from him, should I have the time. I hope people continue to enjoy him as much as I do.

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.