A.S.Chambers - February Roundup

 Good morning one and all after what seems to have been an incredibly long January.

Well, the mornings and evenings are starting to get lighter so it’s time for me to start thinking about waking up from hibernation and cracking on with more writing. I always find December and January hard to write in as I’m an early riser, normally up with the sun. So, when the sun decides that it doesn’t want to put in an appearance until gone nine in the morning, that makes my creativity plummet. 

Having said that, I have ventured out of my bear cave from time to time to scribble certain things down and, as a result, Sam Spallucci: Lux Æterna is now about three-fifths complete. So far, I have first drafts of the following cases: The Weird Wonderland; The Zealous Zombies and The Argumentative Archaeologist. Last week I started on number four, The Ridiculous Retreat (although the title may change on that one), with The Crying Crucifix standing in the wings, waiting to see the light (see what I did there…?) as number five. 

The biggest challenge with Lux is that it is now in the same time period as Fallen Angel which is already written, albeit not yet published. As a result, I am frantically noting things down on a wall planner and in a diary to make sure that the correct events happen at the correct time. I’ll probably do a special Spalluccipedia video about this micro-management either later this month or in March. I think you’ll find it fascinating to see how all the stories weave together. Archaeologist alone links into about five other stories. 

More imminently, though, for publication is Out Of The Depths. The Kickstarter for this launches at the end of the month and all Seraph members of my Book Club will receive a signed copy of this new material anthology as part of their membership when it publishes in April. If you’re not a Book Club member, make sure that you sign up for notifications regarding the Kickstarter project. You can do that here.

Before that, I’m looking at publishing the second Macabre Collection in late Feb, early March. Look out for its cover reveal later this 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 advance screenings of my videos and free books.

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

A.S.Chambers. 

One Minute Workshop: Posture

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

It’s quite a short one this time as, quite frankly, the video says it all, but it could be the most important thing that you’re ever told about writing.

When we write, we can become so totally absorbed in our work that we lose track of ourselves. As our hero romps off to battle trolls or our antagonist sits plotting their Machiavellian schemes, we can gradually lose track of how we are sitting here in the real world.  And, quite frankly, this can be disastrous. If we’re not aware of our posture, our writing can take a huge toll on our body: our shoulders will ache, our spine will stiffen and even our leg muscles can seize up. As a result, writing can become physically laborious, tiring and downright painful. When this happens, we end up grumpy and out of sorts. We become over-critical of our work due to our bad temper and we see it as something that requires battling with, rather than enjoying. 

So, as your hero or heroine wanders off into the wide, blue yonder, make time to stop, stretch, get up and move around and give your body some love. Straighten yourself up, unkink those muscles and relax into this hobby or job that you love. With good posture comes great writing!

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.

Short Story: Needs Must

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

This time around, it is the turn of Needs Must, a quirky little tale from 2015’s anthology All Things Dark and Dangerous.

Needs Must tells the story of Odd Bod, a solitary troll who lives down the bottom of a well and has a supply problem. He’s run out of food. Human food. Over the years, humans would come to the well to draw water and he would prey on those unsuspecting souls who did not know of his existence. However, the well has now dried up and Odd Bod needs to go and see what has become of his food source. Unfortunately for him, he encounters a small, red-headed girl.

This has been a firm fan favourite and always raises numerous chuckles when I read it at events and book signings. It remains to this day one of my own favourites, too. I feel I capture Odd Bod perfectly on his climb up the well and eventual… well, I’d better not give any more away right now.

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 advanced screenings of my videos and free books.

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

A.S.Chambers.

Spalluccipedia: Asherah's Origins

 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 side characters, the fallen angel Asherah. Ash has cropped up, at the time of writing, three times in Sam’s books. We first hear the click of her killer heels in The Case of the Fastidious Phantom, she is the mysterious benefactor of sociopathic Malcolm Wallace in Ghosts From The Past and she is Sam’s love interest in Fury of the Fallen. Not only this but she and her partner in crime, Asmodeus, have appeared in numerous short stories as well as in the Bobby Normal stories, showing that they are still wreaking their own version of chaos long after Kanor has reduced humanity to a remnant.

I first used Ash in my as-yet-unpublished magnum opus, Fallen Angel. We see how she fell from grace and follow her route towards the events of the Divergence as her path entwines with the story's protagonist Abaddon. The keen-eyed readers out there will probably have noted how there are certain things referenced in the Sam books (especially Fury of the Fallen) which will be scenes from Fallen Angel. Indeed the two books are taking place at the same time, hence the cross-overs.

So, I hope you enjoy the video as I explain Asherah’s origins in my stories and how I pulled on the mythological version, expanding and fleshing out the fallen angel to produce the femme fatale of the Spallucciverse.

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.

A.S.Chambers - January Roundup

Greetings all and welcome to this monthly update!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a very pleasant New Year. I spent most of December hibernating, wrapped up in numerous jumpers and blankets, somewhat resembling a human version of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, having consumed too many mince pies, a bucket-load of Christmas pud and a rather delicious Christmas cake.

Anyway, my bulbs are surprisingly already up in the garden so I guess that means I’d better get back at it, which means up at five a.m. sharp, armed with a strong pot of coffee and a lovely view of the birds feeding outside my study window. 

First up this year will be Out Of The Depths. This is my latest short story anthology and should see the light of day in late February, early March. It contains a number of stand-alones as well as a few tie-ins to the Spallucciverse which will support Sam’s eighth adventure, Lux Æterna (more on that in a bit). Look out for the Kickstarter announcements later this month. There will be some cracking rewards to entice readers old and new and all Seraph members of my Book Club will receive a signed copy as part of their membership as this is a new material book.

Second in line for publication is the second Macabre Collection. This will be a reprint omnibus of about twelve shorts from my fourth, fifth and sixth anthologies. 

Third will be the penultimate Bobby Normal book. Bobby Normal and the Fallen sees Bobby and Katy drawn even further into the world of intrigue and danger as they encounter not only the fallen angel Asherah but also a certain archangel now living as a hermit in the Divergent Lands. More on this later in the year…

Number four will be the second Sam Spallucci Omnibus. Like the first volume last year, it will be a large shiny hardback and will contain Dark Justice, Belligerent Bard, Troubled Souls and Bloodline. It will also be graced with a cover made from my own photography of Lancaster.

Number five will see something definitely for the fans! Child of Light is a novella centred around the mysterious lodger who lives with Sam Spallucci — the Twin called Alec. We will travel back a few months before the start of Casebook and journey through events in history as we unravel his relationship with the fallen seraph Lucifer. This novella will be published as a companion book to Sam Spallucci: Lux Æterna.

Talking of which…

Well, the big one of this year has to be Lux Æterna. Sam’s eighth adventure is currently on track for publication this Halloween. I am currently halfway through and absolutely loving it. There will be weird Wonderlands, zealous zombies, an argumentative archaeologist and a crying crucifix. I’m also contemplating developing a long-standing relationship with a certain little redhead, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one…

Phew! Well, it looks like I’ve got a lot to crack on with, so I’d better get to 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.

Spalluccipedia - Luneside University (part one)

 

Greetings one and all to this little dive into the characters and topics that make up the Spallucciverse.

This time around I want to have a little chat about Luneside University. This is the fictional university where both Sam and Spliff studied back in the almost halcyon days of their youth and where Spliff ends up as the chaplain. I took a similar academic path to Sam, leaving the flat East Midlands and travelling up the M6 to the hilly landscape of Lancaster and, like him, I studied Religious Studies up here back in the early nineties. Also, while I was studying at Lancaster University, which is situated in Bailrigg just south of the city, I started to write some of the original drafts of his stories. This meant it was quite natural that I would draw upon my place of study for inspiration. So, like Lancaster University, Luneside has a large square surrounded by residences and departments and the campus is dominated by a tall structure. 

However, there are certain differences. 

For starters, the tall structure at Lancaster University is Bowland Tower, a tall block of flats that surrounds a chimney to the boiler house. In Luneside University, the tall structure is a massive chimney which is a relic of the old Williamson works upon which the campus has been built, down on the Quayside.

Next, the chapel is completely different, taking its inspiration from Saint Martin’s College, as was (now the University of Cumbria), situated in the Bowerham district of town.

And, most radically, the location of the university is completely different. As mentioned above, Lancaster University has a huge sprawling campus to the south of the city. Luneside, as its name implies, is located on the bank of the River Lune on the site of the old Williamson linoleum works. 

The reason that I created a fictional university rather than use the actual one was to give me control of the location. Also, I found that it was going to be easier to pace the stories if I located the campus in the city, rather than a fifteen-minute drive away.

 

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.

A.S.Chambers - December Roundup

 December Book Club Update

Greetings all on an exceptionally chilly December morning.

The last couple of weeks have been fantastic with two book signing events taking place locally. On the 29th of November, I was made incredibly welcome at the Neuro Drop-In Centre in Torrisholme where I gave a chat about my books and my writing whilst having a long-term illness. Neuro Drop-In is an amazing local charity and I always enjoy going along to support them. You can find out more about the wonderful work they do here. 

Then, just yesterday, I was made incredibly welcome at my favourite bookshop, The Old Pier Bookshop in Morecambe. It was wonderful to see some familiar faces and to welcome new people to the shadowy world of Sam Spallucci. If you haven’t ever visited Tony and his outstanding temple to literature, then you can get a taste in The Case of the Bothersome Books which is the second case in Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen where both book and proprietor make a cameo. Alternatively, you can visit his Facebook Page.

Now, a rather exciting bit of publication news. My next anthology, Out Of The Depths will be out in late February and, next week, I will be revealing the amazing cover art that has been developed by Liam Shaw. My Patreon Book Club members will get the first peek, then the general public. I am really pleased with this collection as there are even more stories tying into Sam’s ever-expanding universe.

On to works in development… 

I’ve finished the first draft of the first two cases in Sam Spallucci: Lux Æterna. So far, Sam has been pitted against zealous zombies and has been thrown into an Alice In Wonderland phantasmagoria. I am currently working on The Case of the Argumentative Archaeologist where he will meet his TV hero, the renowned Professor Robert Richmond. 

I am also cracking on with Child Of Fire. If you’ve been following my Sleepy Author updates on TikTok and Instagram, you will know that I have decided to write this one in the first person present, a style I’ve only used before in short stories. This way we get to see Amanda’s story unfold at the same time as she does. I am really enjoying running with this different type of style. It gives the story a great feeling of realism.  

And, just yesterday, I started work on a standalone Sam Spallucci and Spliff short which I hope to release around the same time as Out Of The Depths. At the moment it is tentatively titled The Case of the Pillaging Pirates and will be a crossover into the literary world of a favourite author of mine, but more on that as it develops…

Now, don’t forget that I have a growing YouTube channel. I’ve always loved making videos, ever since I was a kid and this is a great way for me to share facts about my characters and plots as well as post Easter Egg videos and reading of extracts. Why not hop over and give it a quick subscribe?

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.