SIA Showcase for Readers and Writers discussion

Hellooo everyone, I'm Allan, a relatively new author. I love to read fantasy, but find my writing tends to stray to the dark side. I have published a couple of short horror stories and and fantasy novella from a fantasy series I have been working on. I also have a string of unfinished short horror stories to keep me occupied. Hmmm, maybe I should try my hand at dark fantasy!
I love art, so its definitely allowed in my showcase thread in case you want to share. And brownie points if you have read one of my stories and provide some fan art (Shout out to CB on that note.)

Hi Allan welcome to the party!! ;-)

Welcome Allan. Nothing wrong with the dark side, as you've joined us all here. Mwa ha ha ha!

What are your horror stories, and what are they about? And is anything of the fantasy series published?

Allan wrote: "Hellooo everyone, I'm Allan, a relatively new author. I love to read fantasy, but find my writing tends to stray to the dark side. I have published a couple of short horror stories and I've been wo..."

A fellow horror author! Gotta love trolling the dark depths of humanities soul, eh?

You horror writers are sooooo macho

Jane wrote: "You horror writers are sooooo macho"

*eye roll*
*leads horror writers to dungeon*
*shows em the real meaning of love*

No idea what the heck I'm saying haha! Helloooo, Mr Allan and welcome to da party!!!

Hugs,
Ann

Hello Allan, welcome aboard.

Horror...hmm LOVE horror, even those that make me stay awake at night...I think a little bit of 'dark' is good in about anything...but that could be because I love it. :P

Thomas wrote: "Welcome Allan. Nothing wrong with the dark side, as you've joined us all here. Mwa ha ha ha!

What are your horror stories, and what are they about? And is anything of the fantasy series published?"

Hi Thomas, my books are 'Low Life' and 'Darkness In Shadows'. To be brief and not provide any spoilers, Low life is about a journey through hell and D.I.S. is about a machine that creates a window between 2 worlds. The fantasy series is written, but has just been edited, now I need to trudge through the editors notes and rewrite to make them shine before I publish.

Riley wrote: "Allan wrote: "Hellooo everyone, I'm Allan, a relatively new author. I love to read fantasy, but find my writing tends to stray to the dark side. I have published a couple of short horror stories an..."

Hey Riley, yep! There's just something about the dark side...

Annie wrote: "Jane wrote: "You horror writers are sooooo macho"

*eye roll*
*leads horror writers to dungeon*
*shows em the real meaning of love*

No idea what the heck I'm saying haha! Helloooo, Mr Allan and we..."

Annie, very welcoming, lol, dungeons and love, maybe the dark side is seducing you too...

G.G. wrote: "Hello Allan, welcome aboard.

Horror...hmm LOVE horror, even those that make me stay awake at night...I think a little bit of 'dark' is good in about anything...but that could be because I love it..."

Thanks G.G. - is dark, is good. :)

Ember wrote: "Hi Allan welcome to the party!! ;-)"

Thanks Ember

I do enjoy horror and if you're writing fantasy already, it shouldn't be hard to step over into dark fantasy.

Also, this is your thread, so why not put some links up to your work so those of us who are lazy don't have to go searching for it.

Hi Allen! Welcome! And yes, listen to Dan! Your descriptions sound great, give us some links!

Thanks guys... I wasn't sure if links were allowed, but now the floodgates have been opened, I hope you don't regret it. Mwahahahaha.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Here are the goodreads links, both stories are available on multiple platforms.

Very nice covers. And the blurbs seem to be the perfect length with just the right amount of info to entice someone!

Welcome Allen!

I also write dark fantasy (which is the new horror... genre lines, what are they and how blurry can they be?)

This thread is for you, so I know covers and links and etc are all good.

And sometimes you have to write what you want to write... or you have to punch yourself in the nose to charge forth on the thing that's not your main interest but you still need to complete.

Thomas wrote: "Very nice covers. And the blurbs seem to be the perfect length with just the right amount of info to entice someone!"

Thanks for your feedback Thomas, much appreciated :)

Nat wrote: "Welcome Allen!

I also write dark fantasy (which is the new horror... genre lines, what are they and how blurry can they be?)

This thread is for you, so I know covers and links and etc are all goo..."

Thanks Nat, I punched myself in the nose plenty writing the fantasy series... but there were parts I really enjoyed writing too. And those genre lines sure do blur into a deep, smoggy haze at times.

Hi, Allan!

Allan wrote: "Thanks Nat, I punched myself in the nose plenty writing the fantasy series... but there were parts I really enjoyed writing too. And those genre lines sure do blur into a deep, smoggy haze at times.
.."

Yep, lately for me, it's all about the nose punching. I'm going to have a mushroom nose soon.

Hi Allan!! I'm too chicken for the horror genre, but still want to say well done on your published dark side stuff! Also, I love all things Jackie Chan :).

Amanda wrote: "Hi, Allan!"

Hi Amanda :)

Nat wrote: "Allan wrote: "Thanks Nat, I punched myself in the nose plenty writing the fantasy series... but there were parts I really enjoyed writing too. And those genre lines sure do blur into a deep, smoggy..."

Lol, me too... As long as I don't start pulling my ears when I'm frustrated I should be alright. Otherwise I'll have cauliflower ears to match.

Marie Silk wrote: "Hi Allan!! I'm too chicken for the horror genre, but still want to say well done on your published dark side stuff! Also, I love all things Jackie Chan :)."

Thanks Marie, I must say, I'm no historical fiction fan, but you have some great covers on your books.

Allan wrote: "Lol, me too... As long as I don't start pulling my ears when I'm frustrated I should be alright. Otherwise I'll have cauliflower ears to match.
."

We will be quite the muddle faced pair!

Christina wrote: "Hi Allen! Welcome! And yes, listen to Dan! Your descriptions sound great, give us some links!"

Thanks Christina, that's good to know. I hope the blurbs on the covers work as well because they are the first blurbs I've written and I'm not sure if I've hit the spot with them or not.

So, other than Thomas, Riley and Nat, are there any other horror writers here? And what about Fantasy writers?

For anyone that is interested, I'm running a free promo on Amazon over Xmas for a copy of the anthology 'Darkest Depths'.
Details can be found here:
https://allanwalsh.wordpress.com/2016...
Merry Christmas :)

Allan wrote: "So, other than Thomas, Riley and Nat, are there any other horror writers here? And what about Fantasy writers?"

Not really horror, but my stuff's dark fantasy, which is kinda close.

Just wanted to say I grabbed a copy of Low Life after you mentioned it in here; thought it was pretty good. It's always fun to read other authors' depictions of Hell.

Thanks T.R. that's awesome and I'm glad you liked it. I do wonder if people will like my work or not, especially as I am just really starting out (so I really appreciate the feedback).
I love reading fantasy, I can't say I have ever delved into dark fantasy, but I am keen to give it a go as it seems to border the 2 Genres that really interest me. Have you posted your links on the discussion thread? (I'll go check after this) Oh, and you can check out the anthology 'Darkest Depths' on amazon if you are interested. It's free for a couple of days over Xmas and I have another story in there. Thanks again, and have a great Xmas :)

Allan wrote: "I hope the blurbs on the covers work as well because they are the first blurbs I've written and I'm not sure if I've hit the spot with them or not."

I think the thing no one tells us going in is what a pain in the butt blurbing is. Yours work for me and I'll definitely be reading soon.

I do write fantasy, but mostly hybrid sci-fantasy. My only straight fantasy is humorous. I'd love to try my hand at horror someday, but for now I'm content to read it.

I've written fantasy and dark fantasy so far with a sci-fi in need of a rewrite before it sees the light of day again. Your stuff sounds interesting. Make sure you announce your promo on the book promo thread too.

Allan wrote: "Thanks T.R. that's awesome and I'm glad you liked it. I do wonder if people will like my work or not, especially as I am just really starting out (so I really appreciate the feedback).
I love read..."

Not sure what you mean by discussion thread, unless there's a thread specifically about fantasy/horror on here I missed. I do have a member thread though.

And I will certainly try to grab a copy of Darkest Depths to check out.

Christina wrote: "Allan wrote: "I hope the blurbs on the covers work as well because they are the first blurbs I've written and I'm not sure if I've hit the spot with them or not."

I think the thing no one tells us..."

Thanks Christina, Blurbing certainly is an art in itself. There is a sci-fi element to Darkness In Shadows, but nothing too deep. If you do have a read I'd be interested to know if you enjoyed it or not. Now, I'm going to check out your fantasy books :)

J. Daniel wrote: "I've written fantasy and dark fantasy so far with a sci-fi in need of a rewrite before it sees the light of day again. Your stuff sounds interesting. Make sure you announce your promo on the book p..."

Oh yes... Thanks J.Daniel, I didn't think of that!

T.R. wrote: "Allan wrote: "Thanks T.R. that's awesome and I'm glad you liked it. I do wonder if people will like my work or not, especially as I am just really starting out (so I really appreciate the feedback)..."

Hi T.R, I meant your 'T.R. Briar ~ Obsessed With Any Universe but This One' thread. But I had another look and can see you have added your books already :)

Allan wrote: "Hi T.R, I meant your 'T.R. Briar ~ Obsessed With Any Universe but This One' thread. But I had another look and can see you have added your books already :) ..."

Oh, yeah, those were always in the first post; maybe the links didn't load right away or something the first time you checked.

Also, I agree that writing blurbs is one of the more intimidating parts of getting a book ready for publishing. You're trying to sell yourself and your work in about a paragraph, and it's much harder to figure out what to say.

Blurbs are intimidating, but I think my main struggle is with covers. I've tried making my own, but searching for stock images that suit what I'm after takes as long as searching through premade covers. So I go premade, but still struggle to find covers that suit my stories. It's certainly not easy being an author, but I do enjoy the challenge :)

Totally downloaded the book. LOVED the first two stories so far! Very good writing.

That's great news Rohvannyn, I'm so glad to hear that and really hope you enjoy the rest of the stories :)

Today is the last day to grab 'Darkest Depths' for free on amazon. If you plan to grab a copy and you haven't done so yet, be quick. Now, I must get back to my editing.

Hi everyone, this post is to let you know that I’m getting close to publishing my new fantasy books in the Blood Rage Series:

Blood and Fear,
The Crimson Guild,
Blood Rage,

If you would like to be notified by email as I release new books, follow this link:

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Congrats on the upcoming release Allan!

Thanks M.K. :)

Cover reveal for Blood and fear:

Cover reveal for The Crimson Guild:

Cover reveal for Blood Rage:

Ooo. Good. And a nice family resemblance...

Hi guys, I thought I would share the covers for my new fantasy series, soon to be released. I realise this could be mistaken for a vampire series, based on titles and covers, but trust me, it isn't. I couldn't afford custom covers, these were the most fitting after months of trawling through Pre-Mades, but I am happy with them :)