MY BOOKS, If Anyone's Interested . . . .
 

First of all, thanks so much to Demdike for giving me the OK to do this. I really appreciate it.

Thought I'd take a minute to tell you all a little about my published work. Hopefully I can pique your curiosity enough to pick up a book or two . . . if so, I can't wait to hear hear what you think (good, bad, or indifferent)! :)


http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511Qg%2BTPUnL.jpg
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hair-Raisin...mes+Newman+666

Self explanatory. FANGORIA called it "a chump-stumping shock-cinema party book of the highest horror order!" Betcha I can stump a few of you.


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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Ra...+Midnight+Rain

A dark coming-of-age suspense tale in the vein of STAND BY ME and BOY'S LIFE. In the year 1977, a boy witnesses a terrible crime in the woods bordering his hometown. He knows the killer. The killer knows him. Doing the right thing has never been so difficult.


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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wicked-Jame...+Wicked+newman

My tribute to those "evil in a small town" novels that were all the rage in the '80s. High art? No way. But it's oh-so-fun. Demons and sacrilege and dismembered genitalia . . . what's not to like?


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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ugly-As-Sin...+as+sin+newman

White-trash noir with a streak of twisted humor. Think COLD IN JULY, or BUBBA HO-TEP without the mummy. This one's about a professional wrestler who's horribly disfigured by 2 psychotic fans who think his "heel" character is the real thing . . . and that's just the first 10 pages!


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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Animosity-J...imosity+newman

What if your love of horror put your life in danger? A midlist genre author discovers the body of a murdered child one morning while he's out walking his dog. Gradually, his life becomes a living hell as his neighbors turn against him one by one . . . because if he writes "that kind of stuff" he must be some kind of weirdo, right?


https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0...a0&oe=58063F7C

Coming next month (limited edition, with a trade paperback and e-book due in December): A tale of bullying and bloodshed at a summer camp for boys. A little autobiographical, mostly not, but the hardest thing I've ever had to write all the same. I'm so very proud of this one, can't wait for folks to read it.

I nearly bought Ugly as Sin on my kindle the other night but opted for Brian Lumley's Necroscope saga..... sorry! :read:
BUT, I will get it soon, the synopsis kinda reminds me of the Sandman Slim books which I love. The Wicked looks like my sort of thing too.
I am always in awe of authors, I tried myself once, two years it took me and what a pile of shite I wrote! I know I read it!
Hope you get a bit more recognition and sales from this thread, more power to you. :nod:

Hey, you can't win 'em all! Maybe next time. Damn that Brian Lumley. :D

I actually produced an audiobook by Mr. Lumley a few years ago for a small publishing company. I composed/mixed original music and sound-effects. Lots of fun.

Some people make it look so easy, man. It's not!

Much appreciated. Gotta mention, BTW, that it's a cool coincidence that "Boo Radley" was the first person to comment . . . TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD was a huge influence on my first novel, MIDNIGHT RAIN.

The Wicked certainly interests me. I'll probably pick it up the next time i place a book order with Amazon, middle of next month.

Not sure if you prefer digital or old-fashioned print, but I highly recommend the paperback. It's such a great-looking book -- intentionally distressed and faded, even has ads in the back and a fake price-sticker on the cover, as if you're holding a well-worn paperback from the '80s. Really cool stuff.

Oh that sounds perfect. I have a Kindle, loaded with books, (I discovered this computer programme that...) but i much prefer the printed word. There's nothing that compares to the smell of a new book.

Who are your influences James? What is your approach to writing? Do you think of scenes for example then work them into a story or a story first?

I found Stephen King's On Writing and Danse Macabre fascinating reading. I don't really have a fave horror scribe, but buy all King's horror fiction and also love James Herbert, Ramsay Campbell and Richard Laymon as well as older work like Matheson and M R James.

Stephen King, Joe R. Lansdale, Ed Gorman, Robert R. McCammon, Richard Matheson, Bentley Little, F. Paul Wilson, Thomas F. Monteleone, Quentin Tarantino, John Carpenter, and the short stories of Nancy Collins.

It can work both ways. There have been many cases in which I've had a cool scene or a series of scenes come to mind, and then I built a story around them. The best example would be my novel ANIMOSITY -- I can't really tell you the exact scene I'm referring to because it's a huge spoiler, but the whole book started with one powerful moment. I actually wrote it first, even though it doesn't happen until about 3/4 into the story. I just had to figure out what happened to bring the characters to that awful point, and it didn't take long. It all came together pretty smoothly after I had that one scene. I've been told by quite a few readers, BTW, that the scene in question made them cry.

Yes, great stuff! I love when my favorite writers try their hand at nonfiction. As far as my all-time favorite "how to" book goes, though, that would be TELLING LIES FOR FUN & PROFIT by crime writer Lawrence Block.

Oh, yes . . . if you're a Richard Laymon fan then you're gonna dig THE WICKED, I'm quire sure.

Old fashioned print every time James!

I'm an avid reader when I have the time-I'll look out for some of your books.

Yes! Me too. Like DemDike said, I even love the smell of a book. Only a bibliophile would understand . . . .

Thanks for the interest, Reaper! Looking forward to hearing what you think.

I go to Wigtown (Scotland's book town) every year whilst on holiday in Wickerville and come away with bags of books!

There must be 8 or 9 second hand bookstores within minutes walking distance!

Wigtown Book Town, Scotland's National Book Town in Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.