The Long Not Summer

Yeah, you read that right. It’s been raining relentlessly here in the UK since the beginning of July. And I mean relentlessly.

Today though, as it happens, the sun is shining.

I’m reaching the end of my summer job in the UK where I come and teach international students the language and skills they need for their upcoming post-graduate programs. I love what I do, but it’s all consuming and, each year, I take an enforced hiatus from writing as I do it, because there’s just no mental space for writing after the day ends (if the day ends, sometimes).

This year, the combination of this being the longest course I’ve done (11 weeks instead of the usual 7) and this freezing and damp weather, has made it especially tough, especially mentally. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been idle on the writing front.

My subconscious has been working away at the ending to my current work-in-progress, The Solstice, which I’m planning to finish in my first weeks back in Portugal in September. I’ve also mapped out a short story for an anthology call I’m dying to submit to, done more mental work on a collaborative long form piece I’m excited about writing with a fellow author, and begun looking into some folkloric elements I can use as the focus for the third of my four novellas with Lycan Valley Press. The Black Beacon Book of Horror Stories, featuring my story, ‘The Choir,’ is up for pre-order now, too.

Away from fiction writing, I also wrote an article recently for Shepherd Books, picking out some subterranean horrors which I felt would provide a good accompaniment to my novella, Below. Before that I appeared on the Moths to the Flame podcast with the wonderful Dr. Marie LeStrange, and more recently I’ve appeared on some Brigids Gate Press book panel events, such as the launch party for Stephanie Ellis’ The Woodcutter.

So why this update and why now? Well, first of all, I wanted people to know I was still alive. My social media access always dips during these intensive courses, due to a lack of time and energy. Secondly, I looked at my timetable this morning and realised that it’s three weeks on Saturday that I’ll begin the drive home.

This year, the first time I’ve brought my car up from Europe, I’ll be driving through the south of England to the channel tunnel, boarding a train to France, and then driving the length of France and the breadth of Spain over the course of three days. It should be quite an experience and I’ll be documenting some of the sights on my way, on my social media.

More importantly than this though is that in just four weeks’ time I’ll be back in that writing chair, back to my routine, back to my other half and cats and back to creating worlds and stories. See you then!