Let's Talk About Pyres

Welcome to my April 2025 newsletter. This month, I want to talk about Pyres, my second novel, which will be landing in October of this year. It’s the story of Angela, a spirit painter living in the New Forest area of England, and her sister Becky, who has just returned to the UK after several years working with refugees in camps in Greece and, more recently, Lampedusa, Italy. On the night Becky arrives, Angela has painted something horribly disturbing. The remains of a person, consumed by fire. What happens next shakes both Angela and Becky to the core.

It’s no exaggeration to say I loved writing this book. I had a good feeling about it, too, as when reading sections I’d written to my writing group, here in Lisbon, people seemed intently tuned in to the characters, the plot, and the mystery behind what’s really going on at the heart of the story.

There’s a lot of political feeling in Pyres and, while that might put some readers off, I’m prepared to wear it.

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been working through comments from my beta readers, Miranda Kate, Dan Howarth, and T C Parker. Happily, they also really enjoyed reading the book, even if they were able to point out a few things which needed tweaking, for which I’m most grateful.

T C Parker, in fact, said this about it in an early blurb:

I’m incredibly excited to share this story with you all in October and, rumour has it, early copies will be available at an event in September. More on that when I have authorisation to talk about it. You will, of course, be first to know when copies are available and, as with all my books, signed copies will be available at my Ko-Fi shop, often cheaper than on the Zon and other stockists, and usually with bundle offers for people buying more than one book at a time.

Last month, I did an Ask Me Anything over on my YouTube channel. I had a number of questions come in, via direct replies here, my instagram, bluesky, and others. I managed to answer all of the questions in the recording, and if you’d like to see the Ask me Anything, check it out here:

Apologies for the type-o in the banner at the beginning and the short delay in getting started. It was my first time doing one of these, and I will be sure to get better in future installments!

As part of the Ask Me Anything, there was a giveaway of a signed copy of Shadow of the Hidden. I’m pleased to say that after a draw was made from the names of all participants, Lalita Creighton’s name came out first, so I’ll be getting in touch with you for your mailing address in the next day or so, and a shiny signed copy will be landing in your mailbox soon. Thanks so much to everyone who took part!

Staying with Shadow of the Hidden for a moment, the audiobook was approved by the fine people at Findaway Voices, about three weeks ago. This means that the audiobook should be going live on Spotify, Kobo and various other places, including public libraries, in the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled for it! I’ll be sure to drop a link to it in this newsletter in May.

Something which really blew me away this week was the realisation that my debut novella, The Balance, was released five years ago this coming Monday (April 28th). It feels like ancient history in some ways, but also like five seconds ago. The book found more readers than I ever imagined it would - especially as it was released just a month or so into global Covid lockdowns.

If you haven’t read it, and the idea of a re-imagining of the Slavic Baba Yaga myth set in Cold War Poland, with eco-horror vibes appeals to you, you can pick it up wherever books are sold, here.

And finally, what am I working on right now? Well, it’s my corporate fiction murder comedy. It’s a real departure for me, and I believe, when I release it, it will likely be under a pen name, so as to create a clear divide between it and my usual dark fiction work. I’m about twenty thousand words in and, as it’s a novella, that means there’s not much left to go in the draft. It’s a lot of fun to write and I hope to have it done before I head back to the UK for my summer job, at the end of June.

Recommendations

Reading - The House at the End of Lacelean Street by Catherine McCarthy

I’ve been a huge fan of Catherine McCarthy’s work since I read the collection, Mists and Megaliths several years ago. She generally writes quiet horror in beautiful, poetic prose, and everything of hers I’ve read has been fantastic. The House at the End of Lacelean Street actually turned a year old shortly after I read it, which tells you how out of control my TBR pile is, when you consider I bought it on pre-order. It’s a tale of three characters, told from each of their perspectives in turn. They each get on a bus, without knowoing why, to a mysterious house. Once there, they are given rooms and asked to attend ‘lessons’ in a library. I won’t say more on the plot, so as not to spoil it, but it’s a book full of grief, sorrow, and even moments of visceral horror. But, more than anything, it’s a book with enormous emotional weight. It punched me in the gut over and over, and I absolutely loved it. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you can check it out here. 

Listening - Otra by In The Woods

In the Woods… were one of the pioneering bands in the pagan metal sub-genre, when they released their still-brilliant Heart of the Ages album, way back in 1995. The quiet, melodic, nature-focussed elements, fused with other sections of the rawest black metal made it such a memorable album. In the intervening thirty years, they’ve had peaks and troughs both in terms of productivity and the standard of their releases. This new record, Otra, is for me their highest achievement since that debut. With moments of almost crooner-style vocals, they unmistakably embrace their pagan metal roots, and dive into sections of brutal riffing, with raspy screaming vocals which create a haunting atmosphere. I really can’t recommend this one enough. Give it a listen on your chosen streaming service, here.

Watching - Daredevil: Born Again - Disney+

Growing up, like many kids, I was big into my comic books. I can’t even tell you what the appeal was now, but my earliest comic book fascination was Daredevil. I didn’t especially care for the films starring Ben Affleck, but the Netflix series was a faithful and hugely enjoyable adaptation of the character. Imagine my excitement, then, when I heard that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, some of my favourite directors working today, were going to resurrect (no pun intended) the series, retaining Charlie Cox in the titular role. I’ve seen some stick being given to the series because of some low grade CGI in places, but even my missus, who was not especially familiar with the character and who hadn’t seen the Netflix series, found herself totally absorbed by the story and performances. Have a look at the trailer, here and see if it might be for you.

Bargains and Freebies

Horror writer Newton Webb has compiled a whopping list of sixty free books of horror to ensure you have enough nightmares to last through to the summer. You can check out the full list and grab a free spooky read here.

Not content with providing sixty freebies, Webb has also set up this sales promo, where you can grab more than fifty bargain books, including four of mine. You can view the full list here.

That’s it for April! As mentioned above, do keep your eyes peeled for the Shadow of the Hidden audiobook, which should be landing very soon.

On a personal note, we started the month celebrating my better half’s fortieth birthday on the Bernina Express train from Switzerland through to Italy. It was absolutely wild being up on top of a snow-covered mountain one day, then eating ice cream next to an Italian lake in a t-shirt the next. Highly recommended, especially if you have an occasion to celebrate!

But anyways, in these strange, unpredictable times, take care of yourselves and those close to you, keep reading the dark stuff, and I’ll see you back here towards the end of May.

Kev