Elixir, Ronda, more podcasts, and the long drive back to the UK

Welcome to my June newsletter. If you’re new here and are wondering what this is, you probably downloaded my supernatural horror novelette, Warding. Welcome aboard. Summer has well and truly kicked off at this end of Europe. Scorching hot, sunny days and sticky, uncomfortable nights abound, which means it’s a stroke of luck that on Friday, I’ll be heading back to the UK for my summer of university work. This time I’m stopping in Tordesilhas, where an important world-dividing treaty was signed between the Spanish and my adopted Portuguese, and then Santander, before an overnight ferry to Portsmouth in England. I’ll then be spending a night in The New Forest, to see if there are any atmospheric notes I can add to my almost finished work in progress.

As you read this, my story ‘Elixir’ should have just dropped onto The Other Stories podcast feed from Hawk and Cleaver. If you’re a patron of theirs, you could have already listened to the story for a week or so, here. If you’re not a patron, fear not, for the story is available for all at the link below:

Once again, huge thanks to the Hawk & Cleaver team who I feel are putting out some of the best produced audio fiction anywhere. Josh Curran knocked the narration out of the park, as usual, and Duncan Muggleton’s production and music adds brilliant atmosphere. As ever, links will soon posted to the media page on my website in the coming days.

A couple weeks ago, I took a short summer break before my UK work placement. We stopped in Ronda and Seville, in southern Spain. Ronda, especially, was insanely beautiful. The city sits astride a colossal rock formation amid arid mountains and valleys. I wanted to share these photos with you of the view from the city’s ‘New Bridge,’ which is about 250 years old. Breathtaking.

Over the last couple of weeks, I also made my return to the This is Horror Podcast. I had a great time talking to Michael and Bob (in the second part of the interview) about Shadow of the Hidden, writing short fiction, the editing process, and even some influential metal bands from our youth. You can check out the first part of the interview here:

I was also honoured to discover this week that Shadow of the Hidden has been included in a list of the top dark fiction releases of 2024 so far on Goodreads. Big thanks to my friend and fellow author Ross Jeffery for letting me know about this. You can check out the complete list here and vote for any of the books on the list which you’ve enjoyed.

I’ve also just discovered that my novella The Balance is now available on Spotify for anyone with an audiobook subscription. To celebrate, I have ten free audiobook codes. I’ll give these codes to the first ten mailing list subscribers to reply to this message and ask for one.

Before signing off for recommendations and book bargains, there is currently a paperback giveaway over on my Instagram, in which you can win a signed paperback copy of my novel, Shadow of the Hidden. This is a worldwide giveaway, so feel free to take part wherever you are and good luck if you choose to try your luck. Click the image below for all the details:

Recommendations

Reading - Blood Covenant by Alan Baxter

When I think about horror and crime in the same package, there is a short list of authors who do it really well. Gabino Iglesias, T.C. Parker and Alan Baxter being right at the top of that list. My first Baxter read was in fact Manifest Recall, a gun-toting, explosive action thriller about a gangland assassin with memory loss and a variety of ghosts who haunt him throughout his vengeful rampage. Fast forward six years and his newest release, Blood Covenant, brings back some of those elements, but delivers something more ambitious. A bank job in rural New South Wales goes badly wrong, and the criminal gang head to a rural hotel out of season to lay low. But when they arrive the family who own it are there early to get the place ready. And something else is, too, lurking in the shadows. The book features seven or eight points of view, but carries them all off well. And that evil which lurks in the bush there … well, no spoilers. But you’re going to want to check this one out.

Watching - Shogun - Disney+

When I heard this show was coming out, I crossed all my fingers and toes that they would do a good job of it. I’m not going to claim my digit crossing made any difference, but my word, the job FX did with this was extraordinary. Great cast, a true slow burn story where in some episodes the only action was in the political machinations of one side or another, but this was showing what the bigger budgets and greater gravitas that TV has today can do when used effectively. A beautiful, at times horrible, and unmissable experience. Check out the trailer here.

Listening - The Haunter of the Dark on BBC Sounds

Starting way back in 2018, the BBC have been adapting various Lovecraft stories in a modern setting. Starting with The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, they’ve worked through The Shadow Over Innsmouth, The Whisperer in Darkness, and now, most recently The Haunter of the Dark. What’s so incredibly smart about this is the way they’ve got the same team of podcasters investigating the cases, and the writers have cleverly woven together these different lovecraftian tales and tied them all in to real world events like the Rendlesham Forest incident, creating a new interpretation of the Lovecraft mythos. It’s happily also absent of the bigotry present in much of Lovecraft’s originals. It’s also a full cast audio, with great actors and sound effects, etc. Subscribe for free on BBC Sounds, here.

Bargains and Freebies

While I realise this might not be much use to people in the UK who have been reporting summer missing throughout May and June, for those of you in scorching hot surroundings and who are missing the chill of winter, you can find my cold war Poland-set novella, The Balance, alongside a variety of other winter horror, sci-fi and fantasy reads. Check out the full list and grab a bargain here.  

And on the other side, for those who like to indulge in apocalyptic scenarios, there’s a promo full of such things, including anthology, A Silent Dystopia, featuring my story ‘The Courier,’ among a bunch of others set in Dave Jeffery’s A Quiet Apocalypse universe, by some fabulous authors. Check out the full list and bag some brand new eBooks here.

Well, that’s it for this another month. I know that last month, I promised you a bit more on the characters from my forthcoming novella, The Siren of Armorique, but I didn’t have time to pull that together before the long drive to Britain. I will most definitely have that ready for you next month!

And, as always, if you enjoyed my recommendations this month, have something say about one of my books or stories, or simply want to reach out and tell me what you’ve been reading, do leave a comment, or message me [email protected] - I do get a huge buzz from hearing from my readers.

So, until July, take care, be kind, and keep reading the dark stuff.

Kev