2021: A Man, a Plan & a Lift

I had a plan. Or the start of a plan. Or the start of a number of plans, to start with. I guess all the planning really started last year. Last year was definitely a year for starting things and then changing course. For so many reasons. One of which, I’m going to do my best not to name here, because there are far more informed places to discuss that subject.

Over January and February 2020, I was working on a new novel for my publisher, only then I ended up leaving my publisher in April. Which meant having all my published stories with them removed from availability, whilst the rights returned to me for their future use.

At first I figured I’d simply re-release every word of it myself. Then I thought I’d better check over them all first, because I’ve changed a lot as a writer since I wrote some of those stories. Then I thought maybe this was a good time to find an agent or another publisher. Someone to help me release them with a little fanfare.

(See, this is where the planning started.)

In the end, I decided on a completely different course of action. I’d been writing horror for around seven years by that point and I fancied a change. My heart wasn’t in it and, whilst I could see other people progressing, I knew they were 100% committed to the genre. I just didn’t feel that way myself. Also, to be frank, I was not progressing. At all.

That’s why I started playing with science fiction. I came up with a pretty interesting idea. I got a draft finished and sent it to a couple of friends for feedback. They were pretty kind about what they’d read, so I stuck with it. I began re-working it, trying to puzzle out the important threads and themes I’d need to shore up.

I would’ve been okay on that path, only things got a little pressured towards the end of the last year. Workwise, I mean. And life wise. All the non-fiction stuff which can really get in the way of a decent writing session. Also, you know, everyone I kept seeing on my phone and the news seemed to believe that germs went away for Christmas. Which drove me a little insane. As did the word ‘tier’.

To be honest, I was feeling pretty unwanted as a writer and I was tired of trying to tell myself that was the best place for me to flourish. Thankfully, during that particularly low ebb, a couple of people got in touch.

Mark Nixon, the horror connoisseur and mastermind behind Shadows at the Door, asked me if I’d like to pitch for his upcoming season 3. Having heard the amazing standard of season 2, I wasn’t really sure I stood a chance. Still, I figured it was worth a try and, luckily for me, he liked what I sent. Which meant I had a full script to work on through to the end of the year, letting me vent a little stress and alienation in the process.

At which point another podcasting legend got in touch. Dan Foytik, the man crafting and producing the many shelves of The Wicked Library, Victoria’s Lift and The Private Collector sent me a really intriguing offer regarding Victoria’s Lift.

Dan was looking to create a 10 part mini-series which would run for the Victoria’s Lift Patreon supporters. He had a starting point and an end point and asked me if I fancied trying to take a swing at plotting the journey between them.

Since then, I’ve been researching and working on the mini-series across two forms for the majority of this year. It’s one of the reasons there’s not really been a lot in the way of blogs recently. Firstly, I wrote them as ten separate podcast episodes, before then converting them into a longer prose novel.

The whole experience has been really rewarding so far. I’ve never had the chance to play in someone else’s toybox like this before. It has been a total thrill and Dan has been incredibly open and generous when it comes to letting me take some pretty big, wild swings in the world he spent years building alongside some of the truly finest minds in horror and speculative fiction.

I don’t want to say too much but the mini-series, To Those Who Thrive in the Dark, looks into the mythology that surrounds Victoria’s life whilst also looking a lot closer to her home as well. In short, it has been an epic few months!

Recently, Dan has shared a few really tasty snippets with me. I’ve heard some edits of the first episode, a couple of new musical themes composed by the incomparable Nico Vetesse and I’ve had a glimpse at the artwork by the amazing Jeanette Andromeda. Let me tell you, it is all looking pretty spectacular.

I guess what I’m saying is something really big is coming. If you’re already a Patreon supporter for Victoria’s Lift, I hope you like where we take you over these ten episodes. If you’re a fan of the show but aren’t able to join the Patreon, you’re getting the first episode as a taster and then there’ll be the prose version, which might just feature some extra material which won’t be in the podcast..

If you’ve never listened to an episode of Victoria’s Lift, then what are you waiting for? You need to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and check out the wealth of episodes written by a stunning array of talented horror people. (Also I wrote one.)

After this is over, I have no idea what I’m going to write next. Let alone what’s going to live up to this experience. Then again, I felt pretty lost 6 months ago and look where I ended up: writing about cannibalism and impossible flowers. Researching both the Dust Bowl and ancient Pagan gods at roughly the same time. Oh, and Wassailing lyrics. Don’t worry, those aren’t spoilers.

So, keep your eyes peeled, people. As we get closer to the release date, I’ll try to share everything either on here or on my Twitter feed. There’s no way I’m going to stop shouting about this project. Or that’s the plan, anyway.