It’s been a hectic few weeks since the launch of Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet. My time’s been split between promoting the book, a busy period at my day job, renovations on our new apartment, a birthday (mine), and trying to get back to running after an extended period recovering from a niggling injury I’ve had for years. Time has been hurtling past at an alarming rate. I’m managing to write though – my streak is still going strong (839 days so far) and I’ve got several projects on the go at the moment. The bulk of my time has been spent on my zombie novel and it’s going extremely well. I’ve also been working with a very talented cover designer on a cover. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out and it’s inspiring me to push even harder to make the book the best it can be. I’m aiming to release it early 2016, editors permitting. The edits on my Apocalypse Weird novel, Siren’s Call, came in this week and I’ll be working on those today. Not sure on the release date for that yet. And finally, I have a new short story coming out in a very cool anthology called UnCommon Bodies. My story … Read More
Images from a Writing Retreat (2014)
All of these photos came from the Stanley Hotel Horror Writers retreat I attended a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe it’s already been two weeks. Creepy Stanley Hotel The Last Day Creepy Corridor Outside My Room A great little bookshop in Grand Lake Black Canyon Creek at Estes Park My Writing Space for the Trip I had a great time at the retreat and it’s a great location so I’ve already booked my spot for next year. [“Images from a Writing Retreat (2014)” by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 8th November 2014]
Thoughts on a Writing Retreat (2014)
The first Stanley Hotel Writers Retreat was fantastic. Lots of friendly people, good food, a great location and a nice selection of trips and events for anyone who wanted time away from the keyboard. Even the weather cooperated. A full write up would take several thousand words and I’m going to spend those words writing fiction instead but here’s a few random thoughts. Photos will follow later once I’ve finished reintegrating myself into the real world. The Stanley Hotel is a great place to stay. It even has its own resident psychic – Madame Vera. The Rocky Mountain National Park is beautiful. If it’s open, Trail Ridge Road is a great drive and it gets you to Grand Lake where you can find a great BBQ and a cool little book store. There’s a very cool cemetery hidden in the trees just up the road from Grand Lake. There were some amazing costumes at The Stanley Hotel Halloween Ball. As you might expect, running at 7,500ft is hard work. My 8km run around the lake felt more like 18km. The Stanley Hotel Paranormal investigation was surprisingly good – not the gimmicky tourist attraction I was expecting. And there was some weird stuff going on … Read More
The Stanley Hotel Writers Retreat
In a few hours , I’ll be flying to The Stanley Hotel in Colorado for a five day horror writing retreat. The Stanley is the hotel that inspired Stephen King to write a little book called The Shining, hence its choice as the location for the retreat. In case you’re wondering, no it’s not the hotel that features in the Stanley Kubrick film. For me, it looks like it’s going to be more of an editing retreat. I have Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet, Leah, a new short story and The Zombie Book, all ready to be revised. I find revision a lot harder than writing fresh words (which is probably why I have the backlog) so I’ll probably add another writing project or two in there as well. Maybe a short story, maybe a sequel to one of the novels or Leah. There are some events planned as well, readings and panels at the Estes Park Library, some trips out for the attendees, a haunted hotel tour etc. But my main goal is try to finish a couple of those projects, starting with Leah which I’m hoping to self-publish by the end of November. [“The Stanley Hotel Writers … Read More