One week after launch

~ Kev Harrison ~ Leave a comment

So, my debut novel, Shadow of the Hidden, came out one week ago yesterday.

How time flies, right?

It felt like forever, that long period between finishing the post-beta edits on the book in mid-2022. Then it went on submission to a series of publishers, before finding its happy, eventual home with Brigids Gate Press.

#1 New Release in British & Irish Horror!

The early reviews have been better than I could ever have hoped, with all 4 and 5-star ratings and some lovely comments from pre-release readers and early buyers, alike. It also managed to creep into the best sellers list on Amazon for a couple days.

In many of the early reviews, I’ve been happy to see readers have really understood what the novel is and what it isn’t. It’s not a gory slaughterfest – that’s really not the kind of horror I write, in general. But it is an adventure, spanning continents, as Seb, Oz and Deniz search for the answers they need to break the djinn curse.

Readers have really latched on to this element of the journey, the painting of different locations and the way they’re brought to life through sights, smells, and flavours. And they’ve also longed for a map to see the places where the three friends go, so, with a mild spoiler warning as this will tell you the places they visit before you know why, here’s a map of the main locations of Shadow of the Hidden.

As you can see, it’s a lot of miles Seb and his friends cover. So, if you find yourself reading along and wondering where they are, you can use this as your guide.

Over on my YouTube channel, I’ve done a short reading from the first chapter of Shadow of the Hidden to give you a flavour of the story, and so you can see where things start to take a mysterious turn. Please be aware that there is strong language and some description of the after effects of animal harm, so if this type of content is difficult for you, think twice before watching. If you’re still keen to watch, check it out here:

And finally, if you have read the book (or any of my books) and enjoyed it (or not enjoyed it, for that matter), please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub or wherever you found the book. It can be the difference between algorithms suggesting my book to a reader who may enjoy it and burying it forever with the long forgotten curses.

Emerging from the Shadows

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Happy new year! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but there are a few updates worthy of mention. The biggest of these is that, after 2 years without a new standalone book release, my debut novel, Shadow of the Hidden is confirmed for release on March 19th from Brigids Gate Press.

Jim and the team at The Ginger Nuts of Horror were kind enough to do a cover reveal for the book earlier this week and the artwork, created by Mustapha Design, has been getting exactly the kind of reaction I was hoping for. In the article over on Ginger Nuts, I talk a little bit about the background to the book and why the art is what it is. I do hope you’ll check it out.

And today, I can announce that the book is up for pre-order on Amazon. At this moment, it’s only up for pre-order in eBook format, but paperbacks will be up soon, if you prefer a physical copy. I’m not sure at this stage if there are going to be any pre-order promotions, but if there are, I’ll update this post, accordingly.

If you are thinking of buying Shadow, do consider pre-ordering, as this can do all sorts of good things for the Amazon algorithms, which can be make or break for indie authors like me.

Best Reads of 2023

The fine people at Shepherd Books ran a new feature this year, whereby authors could share their three favourite reads of 2023. Last year was a slower reading year for me than the previous few, but of the 27 books I read during 2023, I don’t think there was a single one I didn’t hugely enjoy. That said, these three stood out among the pack as my absolute favourites. If you want to find out why I enjoyed them so much, you can read about it here.

Newsletter News

As some of you may know, there have been some problems with Substack and, specifically, their attitude towards Nazi groups using and being promoted by their platform. As a result of this, I’ll be moving away from their platform and going back to my Mailchimp newsletter for the time being, until I can find something that works better and is still cost effective. If you haven’t yet subscribed, you can do so here, where you’ll also get a free 55-page eBook.

That’s it for now. I’ll be back with more promotional material for the novel soon.

The Long Not Summer

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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!

New Audio Story – Crawlspace

~ Kev Harrison ~ 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I last posted here, but here I am with some news: my story ‘Crawlspace’ has been produced by the audio wizards at Hawk and Cleaver’s The Other Stories.

‘Crawlspace’ finds a man called Dennis with a noisy neighbour problem. When he goes to complain however, things are far weirder than they first seemed.

This was a great, fun story to write and the job narrator Jimmy Horrors has done with it, along with the music and effects from the TOS team, means it sounds far better – and more sinister – than I could have imagined.

Check out ‘Crawlspace,’ in all its weirdness, here, or over on my media page.

Announcement – Folklore Times Four

~ Kev Harrison ~ 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago on my Twitter feed, I alluded to some exciting news:

I couldn’t say any more at the time, because things were still awaiting signatures and so on, but today – I can!

A little over two years ago, my debut novella, The Balance, was let loose upon the world. As any author will likely tell you, this was a moment of pride, terror, enthusiasm and trepidation on a rinse/repeat cycle. I had absolutely no idea whatsoever how it would be received.

Thanks to the amazing reaction of readers over the past couple of years, along with the promotion and word of mouth recommendations of a number of readers and fellow writers, the publisher of the book, Lycan Valley Press Publications, have approached me about putting together four new folkloric horror novellas between now and the end of 2024. I’ve now signed on to do just that.

As readers of my newsletter will know, this summer I’ll be transitioning to a 9 months’ writing/3 months’ intensive working plan for the next few years. I have been lining up projects to make that writing time productive, plotting out the details of the first two books. Both folkloric horror novellas. I’m incredibly excited to be working with Lycan Valley again – who did such an excellent job on the eBook, physical and audio editions of The Balance – and for the serendipitous timing which now means I can get on with the work and focus fully on making these books the absolute best they can be.

I don’t want to give away too much about the new books yet, but the first is going to be loosely connected to this image:

The queen of the 'fées de la mer' rides a nautilus shell
I can also hint that, when I finish my university teaching job in September this year, there will be a short jaunt to France to do some research, take photos, etc, for the book, before I go on my actual holiday to Italy. No hints for book two just yet!

I’m still plugging away at selling my novel, Shadow of the Hidden, to one of the publishers it remains under consideration with this year, as well as finishing up the Haunts project I am working on with Dan Howarth, Grant Longstaff and Paul M. Feeney for a late 2022/early 2023 release.

But 2023 – 2025, it seems, will be time for some horror folklore.

So come, sit around the fire. I’ve got some stories to tell you.