A.S.Chambers - April Roundup

Good morning all on a rather chilly first of April.

First, all pre-orders, Kickstarter rewards and Book Club editions of my latest book If Ye Loathe Me have been mailed out. These should be dropping through mail flaps over the next few days, so watch out for them. Selfies with books would be greatly appreciated over on my Facebook Page.

Second, it's been busy few days this weekend as I was over at Doncaster for Doncaster Unleashed Comic Con on Sunday. I had an absolutely cracking time and had a hoot being interviewed live on stage with my good chum Kelvin V A Allison. Who knew that pigeons could be so traumatic???

Third, I have entered the world of Reddit. For now, I'm using it as a convenient place to list all my monthly blog and YouTube posts, but, who knows, it might expand as I explore it. You can find me there at https://www.reddit.com/user/ASChambersAuthor/posts/

Fourth, my next Kickstarter launches on April 23rd. This one is for the third in the series of the Bobby Normal books. There will be, as usual, some cracking rewards with chances to bag some amazing artwork, journals and copies of older books that you need to fill your collection. Make sure you’re following me over on Kickstarter to receive a notification when it launches. 

Annnnnnd finally… did you know that I have a monthly newsletter that goes out via email. It is the easiest way to stay up-to-date with everything I do and write. You can sign up in less than a minute here.

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.

Right, that's all for now.

Stay safe and I'll see you again very soon.

ASC

Bobby Normal is on his way!

Greetings one and all!

I hope this newsletter finds you safe and well as we continue to dip a tentative toe into 2021, hoping that we find the water pleasantly warm and not infested with starving piranhas.

So, over the last month or so, I’ve been hinting at my next project, Bobby Normal and the Eternal Talisman. I thought now would be a good time to fill you in on some details regarding this new venture for me. 

BNET is going to be the first of five novellas set in the future, after the Divergence has come about. Kanor has risen, unleashed his constructs (and a few more horrors besides) and humanity has been reduced to a pitiful remnant. Into this post-apocalyptic scenario are born our main character, Bobby, and his sister Katy. Bobby is early teens and his sister is a feisty eight-year-old. When the series start, they are eking out a meagre existence in the village of Irlingbury, a few years after their father was executed by Shadow Wraiths, a type of uber-construct. 

Not only is life hard for Bobby and Katy, constantly having to hide from the bully Teller whose father is a quisling for the tyrannical rule of Kanor, but one day they find themselves tasked with having to deliver the Eternal Talisman into the hands of the Man of Virtue who is currently residing in the neighbouring village of Orchester. It has been said that the talisman will be a tool that will help him to destroy the “black dragon”, Kanor.

BNET tells the story of Bobby and Katy as they journey out of their home village for the first time in their lives and the adventures that they have on the way to Orchester. They are chased through derelict sewers by a horde of rats, meet an elderly enigmatic traveller known only as Cutter and are constantly tormented and tested by the vile Teller, leading to a horrific and unexpected climax.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this novella, which is currently in its formatting stage and I adore the amazing artwork that the talented Liam Shaw devised for its cover. It will be published this Easter and I hope to have a Kickstarter up and running in March to cover the publication costs. More on that next month but, in the meantime, all my Seraph level patrons are currently enjoying teaser extracts from the book in the run up to its publication and they will receive a signed copy through their letter boxes as soon as it sees the light of day. If you want more details about becoming a patron, then please visit my Patron page.

 

Anyway, that’s all for now. I hope February treats you and yours well and I look forward to chatting to you next month.

 

All the best, 

Austin.

A Little Taster

Hello one and all!

Something a little bit different this month. As well as my usual round up, I'm going to post a

small sample of my work here just in case anyone is unfamiliar with it. It will be from The Casebook of Sam Spallucci, the very first book that I published, way back in the mists of 2012.

But first, a little note about what I've been up to since last month's rambling. 

As well as cracking on with Sam's latest outing, Troubled Souls, I've also been out and about meeting friends old and new. April saw me darting over first to the Pagan Federation in Wakefield where I sat in on a fascinating talk about Gerald Gardner, the founder of the modern Wicca movement. Then I headed over to sunny Doncaster where I had a jolly pleasant day at Unleashed Event's con.

The first weekend of May saw my biggest event of the year so far, EM-Con. Situated at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham I had an absolute blast and my books were positively flying out. In fact i sold out of The Casebook of Sam Spallucci altogether.

Talking of Casebook...

Like I mentioned earlier, just in case anyone reading this hasn't sampled my works or is unsure as to whether they ought to nip over to Amazon (link below), here is a small extract from the beginning of the first of the cases in Sam Spallucci's first week on the job:

The Case of The Satanic Suburban Sitcom.

So, may I ask you what is the weirdest question you’ve ever been asked? You know the sort of thing. You’re normally sat in a quiet corner of your favourite bar or pub (the Borough, in my case, as it’s just over the road from my office) supping away at your favourite brew, enjoying the peace and solitude of your own inner ramblings when you notice that someone is stood next to you.

Even before you look up from your alcoholic musings, you just know that it’s going to be trouble. There’s that air of “Oh, dear God,” hanging in the air, but you do the polite thing and look up at the person looming into your personal space whilst smiling expectantly.

Now, if it was a normal person stood there, perhaps wanting to share a table due to the lack of space or wanting to ask you what the time might be as their watch had stopped, then they would smile back and make polite conversation.

No, the sort of person stood there now does not smile, they gawp. They have that faraway look in their

eye that tasted far too many magic mushrooms in their youth or tells of a childhood climbing electric pylons on long, hot summer days. Also, they tend to dribble somewhat, don’t they? Not much. Just a drip from the corner of their slack-jawed mouth.

Then they pop the question.

There’s no reason or rationale to their request. It’s just totally random. It might be something like, “I hit badgers with teaspoons. Wanna join in?” or “You wanna see my collection of belly button fluff? The yellow ones are really interesting.”

Yeah. Weird. Really weird.

Well the other week I got asked a question that topped all of those: “Will you investigate the cast of a high-profile sitcom? I think they’re all Satanists.”

I hope you enjoyed that. If you did then either drop me a line at my website for a signed copy, or feel free to nip over to Amazon where you can buy both paperback and kindle versions.

Chat soon,

A.S.Chambers.

www.aschambers.co.uk

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A Shadowy Spring

As I sit typing this, the sun is streaming through my window and spring has finally sprung. Duckings are quacking their way down the canal and lambs are starting to learn about the bogeyman spoken of in hushed tones as “mint sauce”. Spring always brings a feeling of rebirth and renewal, a shot in the arm of patent vim and vigour. It makes you feel that perhaps everything can be all right with the world.

Oh, that things could be that simple for my dearly beloved investigator of the paranormal, Sam Spallucci! I am now two cases into his next outing, Sam Spallucci: Troubled Souls, and things are, as usual, spiralling rather out of control for him. Following the same format as Casebook and Shadows of Lancaster, the latest book will be compiled of five interlinked cases: The Case of The Cherokee Checkout, The Case of The Distressed Demoniac, The Case of The Time-Travelling Tea Rooms, The Case of The Dabbling Dominion and The Case of The Bare Lane Butcher. We will see Sam encounter love-stricken spectres, lost creatures from another realm, an interfering angel and not one, but two, serial killers stalking the back streets of Lancaster and Morecambe. 

I am enjoying this outing for numerous reasons. As well as exploring the ever increasing interference in Sam’s life by the mysterious Kanor, bringer of the apocalyptic Divergence, I will also be using Sam’s lodger Alec a lot more and delving into his family. 

Plus, on top of all this, I am delighted to be working with the marvellous Peter Cakebread. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of reading his novel The Morecambe Medium which is set in Victorian Morecambe and I asked him at the time whether or not he fancied penning a joint effort. The Case of The Time-Travelling Tea Rooms will be my half of this venture. Sam, accompanied by his bohemian best friend Spliff, will find themselves teamed up with Peter’s detectorators Mulberry and Touchstone, tracking down the original Bare Lane Butcher. As usual in Sam’s world, not everything is as it seems and there will be repercussions later on in Troubled Souls.

Upcoming Events:

As well as scribbling away, I shall be making a few appearances over the next few weeks. Saturday 13th April sees me in Wakefield at the Pagan Federation North East Conference. Then, on the very next day, I shall be just down the road in Doncaster for the Doncaster Unleashed Comic Con. The 4th and 5th May see my return to the ever popular EM-Con (where I hope to successfully stalk cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation) and on the 11th May I shall be at the annual Oldham Comic Con. Feel free to come along and say, “Hello!”

All the best,

A.S.Chambers (April 2019).

www.aschambers.co.uk

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