David Haynes's Blog

My collection of old-school ghost stories is free for the next few days. Happy Christmas!

A Gathering of Ghosts

My novel The Bookshop From Hell has been turned into an audio book and is out to buy at Audible today!

American Actor Jeff Harding provides the outstanding narration.
Listening to Jeff Read my book is incredibly exciting and an almost surreal experience.

UK - http://tiny.cc/fihqmz
US - http://tiny.cc/3ihqmz

My new book Survive is out!

99c/99p from Amazon.

In the frozen wilderness of Alaska, a cabin is readied for the winter. Jonesy and Lisa, with their loyal dog Lad, have been preparing their home to avoid a repeat of their horrific first year living apart from civilisation.

They survived that. They’ll survive this.

But then the strangers arrive. Two people who are even more desperate to survive, who have clawed their way through hell to reach Jonesy and Lisa, and who will drag them back down there with them.

And out in the forest, that other cabin waits for someone to return…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077KZKYJL
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077KZKYJL

I've made my little slice of ghostly Victoriana free for the next five days!

The Journal of Reginald Perigar


The shop: Jacques’s Emporium, hidden amongst the icy alleyways of Victorian London, hoarding its shadowy secrets against the winter snow.

The man: Basil Jenkins, collector of intriguing objects, who becomes fascinated by his newest purchase – an exquisite chessboard.

The journal: written by the mysterious Reginald Perigar, recording the ferocious chess matches he played throughout history.

The contest: black versus white, living versus dead, as Jenkins fights to save himself from becoming a pawn in Perigar’s endgame…

The Journal of Reginald Perigar is a chilling short story for the dark months.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0184267NY

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0184267NY

I hope you enjoy it.

I've made my little Victorian gothic book free forever!

Mask of the Macabre

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BDZYZP2

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BDZYZP2

It was suggested I add a mailing list to my website. Well I haven't done that exactly, but I have added a box so you can sign up and be notified when I release a new book.

It's here :

http://davidhaynesfiction.weebly.com

Some of you may know by now that I am at the start of a new life.
That is to say, a new working life.

On Thursday 28th April my previous career came to an end, Not through choice exactly but through necessity. Medical necessity.

Again, some of you who know me well will know what my former occupation was. I was a Police Officer. Specifically, a Detective in what is termed Public Protection. The department of Public Protection has several departments, some of which I worked in at one time or another. Two of the departments are Child Abuse Investigation and High Risk Domestic Abuse Investigation. I spent the latter part of my career in the Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit.

I'm not going to dwell on what work I did, but suffice to say, it is a draining, consuming occupation which, although it's a cliché, becomes a state of mind.
It was a job I'd had for the last thirteen years and I'd assumed it would continue for quite some time yet.

But it wasn't to be and although I gnashed my teeth, swore a lot, and cried about the injustice of it all, I'm moving on.

Who knows what the future holds? This wasn't something I'd planned for, although it was on the cards for last three years, but that's exciting, isn't it?

I feel fortunate to have had a career of which I'm immensely proud of but now it's time for something new!

Onwards and upwards, as they say!

Hi,

Sorry but its only a very brief blog!

Just to let you know the paperback version of Beneath the Boards is now finished and available through Amazon.
Cheers

Time for a brief update I think.
I received my 50th review for Beneath the Boards this week. I'm really pleased and for the most part the reviews have been positive.

Last week I got an email and then a phone call from Amazon regarding the book and asking whether I was aware I could produce a paperback version. They thought it would sell well. I told them I was, but the last time I'd tried it I felt like boiling my head. Anyway that was about as far as that conversation went.

It did prompt me to try the process again but for various reasons I've got zero patience at the moment and for the sake of my sanity and marriage I stopped messing with it. I did have some very kind offers of help (thanks Jonathan) but in the end I opted to pay someone to do the text and the cover. It's not for finished yet and I'm not sure it will be worth the (very modest) outlay but I'm happy with the decision, as is Mrs H.

Lastly, work on The Cage, my next book is progressing well and I'm hoping it will be ready for publication in early September.

That's it, I think!

As you all know I changed the cover for Beneath the Boards back in April so I'm approaching two months with the new one. So did it improve sales?

Well sales have improved and improved dramatically but can I solely attribute the cover change to that? I'm not sure, I'm really not.
There are all manner of things happening in the Amazon world which may have contributed to the improvement in sales; things which I will never understand. But the price has never changed since publication.

However I do feel the 'generic' cover has played a major role.

I'm not going to quote numbers but for the first time ever I ducked under the top 1000 overall paid books on Amazon. I made it into the 800's (UK), which has always been a target, if not a dream!

I don't know if this of interest but I wanted to post it as it's possibly an experience of value to someone else considering a change.
I hope it continues!

Beneath the Boards