publishing

Black Hare Valley Book One: 1996 has a release date!

~ ChanAtkins ~ Leave a comment

It’s released on my birthday, 25th June!

image is mine

Yes, finally, I can share the good news that Black Hare Valley Book One: 1996, a book I wrote the first draft of back in 2023, is finally ready for release! Originally I had wanted to release it in May, as May Day folklore is a big part of the series, but it took longer than I anticipated to get the front cover sorted, so the publication date is now 25th June, which just happens to be my birthday!

As for the cover, I love it, and it was well worth the wait! I think it looks suitably eerie and ticks all the boxes for what you’d expect in the unsettling folk horror genre. There will be five books in the series and the cover will change just slightly each time. If you know your folklore well, you might be able to pick up clues as to who, or what, is really in control of this quaint little town…

You can preorder the ebook for just 99p via this link: https://books2read.com/u/4EO5DE

I am just waiting for the paperback proof copy to arrive and once that’s been checked, I will also have a paperback preorder link to share with you.

In the next few weeks I will be sharing various aspects of the series with you here on this blog, diving into topics such as what inspired the books, how and why it became a series, why it jumps back and forth in time, what research I did into folklore, and an introduction to each of the characters.

I am really excited about this series. I do tend to jump around genres, but most of my books would come under YA, or gritty crime/thrillers that are very character led. The Day The Earth Turned series was a horror/post-apocalyptic series, and the Fortune’s Well trilogy I wrote with Sim Sansford, was superhero/superpowers based. This is first foray into folk horror, a genre I am very fond of reading and watching. As a writer, I think it is excitingf and refreshing to write in multiple genres and Black Hare Valley really got my imagination going.

It was supposed to be just one book but soon evolved into an entire universe…

I’ve also made a conscious effort to bring back things I love and miss in books these days. Such as:

  • chapter titles
  • illustrations
  • a map of the town

That meant that writing this series has been an incredibly creative process for me, not just writing but drawing too. I also got to indulge my obsessive love of hares!

That’s all for now, but do look out for the next few posts which will arrive on Fridays (apologies this one is late – I meant to post it last Friday and forgot!) where I will drag you, if you let me, deeper into this horrifying world…

The Children I Work With Have Published Another Book!

~ ChanAtkins ~ 2 Comments

Something Happened In Lakeside View was written collaboratively by over 80 children!


https://books2read.com/u/mVEyw2

Something Happened In Lakeside View is the result of over 80 children working together collaboratively to vote on a project, create a town, vote on a common theme and then all write their own stories or poems set there…

We started the project last summer term and all the pieces had been submitted by January. It is now available in ebook and paperback across multiple platforms.

Here is the blurb:

Welcome to Lakeside View, a pretty little town much like any other. Or is it?

Scratch under the surface and you will find a place full of secrets and shadows.

A place full of darkness, magic, ancient curses and hidden horrors. Who would live in a town like this? Many people have come and gone and some have left behind their testimonies.

What happened in Lakeside View? Read on to find out.

This is an anthology of stories and poems written by the young people who attend creative writing clubs with Chasing Driftwood Writing Group.

Don’t forget to leave a review on your platform of choice if you do read it. And please be aware this is a creepy horror-based book that might not be suitable for those under 10 or sensitive readers.

Many thanks!

A Week of Obsessive Editing

~ ChanAtkins ~ 3 Comments

I just want it done!

cover for the anthology my students have written! Links coming soon! Image is mine

I blogged last week about the endless editing facing me after writing so many books and having them at various stages of drafts. This always seems to happen to me! I write and write and write, start new books when I have not yet published other books, and then at some point I inevitably end up with a lot of editing jobs… A seemingly endless list of books and projects to edit.

The thing is, I might just be as obsessive about editing as I am about writing. It has utterly consumed me this week and I’ve managed to tick off two of the biggest jobs I had.

Something Happened In Lakeside View is an anthology of connected short stories penned by the children I work with and this week I finished the final edits. I am now in the process of setting it up for publication and hopefully this time next week I will have buy links ready for anyone interested!

Here is the blurb by the way:

Welcome to Lakeside View, a pretty little town much like any other. Or is it?

Scratch under the surface and you will find a place full of secrets and shadows.

A place full of darkness, magic, ancient curses and hidden horrors. Who would live in a town like this? Many people have come and gone and some have left behind their testimonies.

What happened in Lakeside View? Read on to find out.

This is an anthology of stories and poems written by the young people who attend creative writing clubs with me at Chasing Driftwood Writing Group.

It felt like a huge weight had lifted when I declared that editing job done! In fact, the whole project has been very time consuming to put together so I should, in theory, have some more time on my hands for a bit.

The second big editing job was going through my editor’s edits on Black Hare Valley Book 1: 1996. I also got this done this week! I am now doing a final proofread/check through on my Kindle to mop up any lingering typos. Again, it feels like a weight has been lifted with that big job done.

These two books are priority for getting ready to publish or setting up to publish, so that will now take precedence over any other editing jobs I have. However, I am still slowly going through the second draft, or read-through draft, of The Dark Finds You Part 3. I still have a lot of misgivings about this one… But reading through and making little changes is helping me figure out the problems it might have!

So, on it goes… But at least the big ones are done for now!

When it comes to endless editing that just cannot be put off, I tend to just get my head down and crack on with it. I’ve had my Kindle with me at all times this week, so I have been editing in the car while I wait to go into work, and I have been editing in the evening, and then editing again before bed when normally I would be reading or watching TV. There’s simply no other way to get it done other than just get on with it!

An Endless Loop of Editing Begins!

~ ChanAtkins ~ 4 Comments

Best just get on with it!

image is mine

Ahh yes, the direct consequence of writing too many books in a row without breathing! I now have an endless list of editing jobs to get through! This is both good and bad. It’s good because it means more books moving closer to being publication ready. It’s also good news because I do kind of like editing…

It’s bad news because all this editing has to take priority and I am absolutely, unequivocally, not allowed to start writing any new books! It’s bad news because fresh new writing is without a doubt my favourite aspect of writing and I won’t be able to feel that again for a while. I do have some ideas for short stories based in the Black Hare Valley universe, however, so I will probably be able to satisfy the itch of writing with those and perhaps more essays and poems on Medium.

Below is the list of editing jobs I now need to focus on. As I write this, however, I have ticked the first one off. This morning I finished going through the edits for Black Hare Valley Book 1 from my editor. I will now send it to my Kindle for a final read through. I have also sent Black Hare Valley Book 2 to my Kindle and will tackle the fifth draft of that immediately after…

Yesterday, I also finished the Kindle edits of the book my writing clubs have written. I now need to amend those edits on the Word document before starting the process of setting the book up for publication.

Editing jobs:

  • Black Hare Valley Book 1 : 1996 – edits from my editor = DONE!
  • Something Happened in Lakeside View – a book my students have written, I am currently editing via a Kindle check through, then I’ll do final edits on the document
  • The Dark Finds You Part 3: second draft/read through edit to see what I actually wrote and determine if it is any good.
  • Black Hare Valley Book 2 : 1966 – this one now needs to be sent to my Kindle for draft 5/ read through/check edit
  • Black Hare Valley Books 3/4/5 : all also need to get sent to Kindle for draft 5/read through/check edit
  • The Dark Finds You Part 2: needs its sixth edit plus some changes I’ve recently decided to make, then it might be ready to go to the editor
  • The 7th Child – second draft/rewrite – I’ll get to this in a while but it will be more of a rewrite than a second draft so I am putting it off while the above takes priority!

Ugh, I feel tired just thinking about it all. But there is no point moaning! I did this to myself! And the sooner I get on with it, the sooner the books can all be published, the sooner I can start writing new ones!