March Story - 53, Bell Court

Welcome to this month’s short story. This month I have a video attached of Yours Truly reading  the horror story 53, Bell Court. 

This particular story is one of my early ones and is a story for which I still feel a lot of affection, mainly because it’s based on true events. When I was a teenager, I, like many others, had a paper round. In fact, I had numerous rounds for my local corner shop that was opposite my old primary school in Wellingborough. Now, if you ask me to describe most of the residences to which I delivered the Evening Telegraph, our local rag, I would not be able to tell you a thing. Not a jot. 

That is, except for one: 53, Bell Court.

The small block of flats was exactly as it is described in the story. There was that stale fusty smell, dead plants and even a flickering fluorescent light on a timer that never gave me long enough to get to the door and back before it clicked off, plunging me into the dark, awaiting a boney hand to come clamping down on my shoulder as I ran away. 

I think it’s safe to say that this daily dose of fright was one of the things that prompted me to start writing down ideas for horror stories. I originally penned this one when I was about fifteen. It’s evolved somewhat over the years, but still holds the same feeling of dread as it did back then.

I hope you enjoy it.

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.

 

March Spalluccipedia: Dave Nichols the Vampire

      Welcome to this month’s little Spalluccipedia article. This month I want to have a chat about a character in my books who is very dear to my heart, the vampire Dave Nichols. 

Like all the Children of Cain, Dave is a very human vampire. He is only recently created after being hit by a car outside a comic convention in Lancaster and is still very much trying to find his way into this whole new supernatural existence.

At the time of writing this he has appeared in three short stories, The Casebook of Sam Spallucci and Sam Spallucci: Dark Justice. However, 2022 will be a big year for him as we see him come back for at least two more appearances. He will feature briefly in the short story Through The Eyes of a Child in my latest anthology If Ye Loathe Me and he, along with his vampiric colleagues, will return in Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen. Not only that, but keep your eyes peeled in this summer’s release Bobby Normal and the Children of Cain. I don’t want to say too much about that one as spoilers that way lie…

Like I say in the video, he is very much a normal person based upon all the good things I see in normal people that I know. All too often in life we find ourselves thrown into situations where we are expected to sink or swim. I try to bring this feeling across with Dave as he navigates his way through his new life. It is noticeable that this parallels what I do with Sam, who has also had his life turned upside down by the supernatural but, whereas Sam is left adrift on his own, Dave has his family of vampires around him to guide and support him. It will be interesting to see how both men develop on their journey towards the Divergent Lands.

Just a quick apology for the quality of the video with this article. It was filmed in March 2020 a few days before I realised I had Covid and retired to bed for three weeks. Hence the quality is a touch grainy and I really do look like death, lol. 

Who's your favourite character in the Spallucciverse? Please leave a comment down below.

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.

March Update from A.S.Chambers

 Good morning one and all and welcome!

Here's a quick update of what I've been up to over the last month and what is coming up.

So, last month saw the successful Kickstarter campaign for If Ye Loathe Me.  This will be out late March/early April and all Seraph members of my Book Club will receive a signed copy as part of their membership as well as a shout out on the dedication page. If you're interested in this why not have a look here?

Out now is the omnibus Macabre Collection: Volume One. I'm currently posting out all my pre-orders. If you fancy a read of my seventeen short horror stories, you can either grab a copy at Amazon or a signed copy through my website.

WIPs include Out Of The Depths, my next anthology which is due out early next year. Taking the usual format, there will be a selection of shorts, some of them timing into the Spallucciverse. More on that another time.

Next week, I will begin work on Bobby Normal and the Fallen, the penultimate book in the BN series. 

But, the biggest news is that I have finished all the major edits to Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen. This one sees Sam tussling with Asherah and Asmodeus along with a genie, a ghostly guide and some possessed books. Publication for this will be late 2022.

Something I'm really excited about for March is that Im going to back on the convention circuit. I've got two this month. Durham is Sunday 6th and Sheffield is Sunday 13th. You find out more details here. 

Don't forget, that I do have a newsletter that comes out about the 15th of each month. It's an excellent way to keep up to date with all my forthcoming book launches and appearances. It literally takes one minute to sign up right here.

Have a great day and keep in touch!

A.S.Chambers.

Writing Workshop: Reviewing

     I want to have a little chat this month about reviewing. Reviewing is a crucial part of the writing process. It’s when we routinely sit down and reread what we have already written and should become a part of your daily writing routine. 

Why is it so important? There are two main reasons.

The first is that it helps refresh our memory as to where a story is going. If, before we start our writing for the day, we read through the scene that we wrote the day previous, it gives us a clarity as to what were thinking and helps us remember where the plot was headed and how we were developing the characters. This stops us from throwing in weird random plot changes or character quirks that readers often find off-putting. There is nothing more frustrating when reading a story where a character’s personality does a sudden u-turn or the plot leaps about all over the place. Reviewing can help nip this in the bud right at the beginning of the creative process.

The second is that reviewing plays a role in a constant editing process and therefore makes any large edit later on so much less of a burden. If we review something we wrote 24 hours previous with fresh eyes, we will pick up weird little typos, phrases that we might be overusing, inconsistencies in spellings of names — all that sort of thing. These are the sorts of mistakes which really slow down that large edit when we’ve finished the story at the end of the first draft. If we clear a lot of these annoyances out of the way as we go along, then that large edit becomes far more enjoyable as we are concerned more with polishing the story than locating masses of hidden errors.

I have a lot more of these videos over on my YouTube channel. I also have an active Facebook Page and a Group as well as the obligatory Twitter and Instagram. Should you want to receive monthly updates about my writings and escapades, then you can sign up to my monthly newsletter here. 

You can find more details and links to just about everything I do over at my website: www.aschambers.co.uk. 

February Update - New Kickstarter and new collection.

Good morning from a chilly but sunny Lancaster!

I have two very exciting pieces of news to share with you this month. The first is that the Kickstarter campaign for If Ye Loathe Me is not only live, but also reached its target in just over two hours. Also, it has already surpassed my previous anthology Hide Not Thou Thy Face in the amount of money raised. At a time when folks are having to tighten their purse strings following the effects of lockdowns and pandemics, I am absolutely blown away by this generosity. I send my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has backed it so far and, if you want to dive in and grab yourself a copy, along with one of the numerous rewards that accompany them, then please click on the link here.

But, If Ye Loathe Me will not be my first bookbaby to be birthed in 2022. That honour goes to the Macabre Collection: Volume One. A few years ago, I published The Children of Cain Vampire Omnibus, collecting together all the vampire stories from my first three anthologies. I thought it would be only right to do the same for all the other weird and wonderful tales from those books. So for the first time, all seventeen horror shorts are bound together in one volume. I absolutely adore the creepy clown artwork and will be premiering it at Durham Comic Con on 6th March. 

If you want to order a signed copy direct from me, please drop me a line through the contacts form over at my website here. Alternatively, you can pick them up from Amazon by following the links on my site here.

Right, I’m off for a quick hike out up to the Crook O’Lune while this nice weather holds. Take care and chat soon.

A.S.Chambers.

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Writing Workshop: Be Flexible

So, hands up if you’ve set out on a path to write a particular story in a particular way. You’ve sat down and planned it all out, right to the smallest detail. You’ve micromanaged the interactions of your characters. You’ve set in stone themes that you know need to be explored. Hell, you’ve even got a title and a cover sorted for your grand project.

Then, horror of horrors, your main character goes and does something expected. They fly off piste and find themselves in a situation for which you hadn’t bargained, experiencing emotions that you didn’t realise that they have, hurtling to a conclusion that you didn’t foresee.

What do you do? It is very tempting to try and drag them back to this Magnum Opus that you had planned, to bring them back to the Light and convert them to the one true religion of the way you see their universe running. You can insert twists and turns that will force them to comply with your intentions, making their life hell until they finally bend to your will as their creator.

The problem is, in the long term, it just won’t work. You end up sitting staring at your screen, gawping at the words you have spent the last month frantically typing, trying to bring your story back on track and you come to the devastating realisation that it is utter garbage. In trying to divert the story back to where you want it to go, you have made up unrealistic scenarios, created over-convoluted plot twists and changed your protagonist into a warped and hideous two-dimensional simulacra of what you actually intended them to be. 

And, this is where the dreaded writer’s block sets in. You have dug yourself into a hole and thrown away the shovel. There is no way out. You just sit there and weep.

However, it is all easily avoided. If your story takes a turn that you did not expect, then explore that twist. Never forget that writing is a creative art form. It is not a precise science where an equation states that if you apply one element, another must automatically follow. Let your characters evolve like letting a child grow into their new experiences. Don’t be afraid to play around with new ideas. Write them up, examine them, see if they work. If they’re absolute pants, then save them somewhere and try again to see what else might happen. 

It is crucial to be flexible. In doing so, you will let your story, and indeed your own writing style, evolve in a much more natural way, producing deeper content and far more believable stories.

www.aschambers.co.uk

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Spalluccipedia: Spliff and His Origins

In this month’s Spalluccipedia entry, I want to have a chat about a much loved member of the Sam Spallucci books, the Reverend James Francis MacIntyre, or “Spliff” to his friends.

One of the longest running members of the Spallucciverse, Spliff first met Sam when they were students at Luneside University about nineteen years ago. Living on the same corridor, they quickly bonded and formed a friendship that would last way beyond graduation. 

Spliff acquired his nickname as he was known as the guy on the corridor who was always able to lay his hands on varying recreational drugs, something which he put behind him when, after university, he went to selection conference and was accepted into training for the Church of England. Ordination subsequently followed, along with a number of disastrous  postings in numerous parish churches. It was finally decided that he should be placed somewhere where he could do little harm and, at the start of the Spallucci series, we find him settled in for a few years as the chaplain of his old university.

Somewhat of a known maverick, he still managed to get himself into trouble with the authorities of  both the church and academia, however he was greatly loved by the students and was never fired, even though his libido often found him in embarrassing situations. Having said that, in the Spallucci series it is apparent that his ecclesiastical superiors are trying to persuade him that perhaps it is time for him to move to a country parish. 

Sam continually refers to his best friend as his rock and sees him as someone who keeps him continually grounded in the world of weirdness that is constantly unfolding around him. However, by Troubled Souls it is apparent that Spliff is, in fact, ill and is hiding the details of his condition from Sam, something which proves to create tension between the two friends.

A number of characters in the Spallucciverse have a certain amount of grounding in real life. Spliff is most definitely one of these. He is actually based around three characters (as I mention in the video), bringing to life a colourful character with real depth of personality who is always there for Sam through thick and thin.

www.aschambers.co.uk