June 2021
Greetings, fellow horror freak…
And so we come to the end of the first full month of For Rye being out in the world.
I’ve been amazed by the overwhelmingly positive response to my horrid little nightmare (although there’s still time for the scathing reviews to start trickling in…) and it’s been a pleasure hearing everyone’s thoughts on the grotesqueries within.
Besides the Amazon and Goodreads reviews (have you left yours let? Don’t make me grovel!) it’s been discussed in a number of YouTube videos, and there’s even been talk from a few literary fanatics of their desire to write analysis essays on the book. This is all, of course, more than I ever could have hoped for. My gratitude for the welcome you’ve all given my nightmarish little baby knows no bounds, and I thank each and every one of you for the time you’ve taken to embark on this traumatic tale. Not got your copy yet? Amazon are now offering next day delivery for many countries, so there’s never been a better time to live the nightmare. Go on, hit that horrid noose:
Oh, also do keep your eyes open for the book being featured soon by the YouTuber Jordaline Reads (pictured below with her furry angel creature)…
…and check out Kasha in Wonderland’s spoiler-free YouTube review below:
Besides all that, there’s been a few other highlights this past month I’d like to quickly fill you in on.
I was fortunate enough to be included in MyIndieMuse.com’s Recommended Dark Reads #8, alongside such stupendous names as Michael Goodwin, Brian Asman, and Dan Howarth, amongst others. Hit the image below to check out the other authors featured, and have a gander at Richard Martin’s review of For Rye HERE!
As well as this, the good folks at MyIndieMuse have continued their kindness by featuring a certain little mind-fuck of a story I wrote some time ago. I may not-so-humbly add that it’s award-winning, so that probably means you should give it a read.
Experience…A DYING MOMENT.
The last pieces of news with which to barrage you before I let you get on with your lives are to do with a couple of recent appearances of yours truly. Harvey at the Lifestyle.inc podcast was gracious enough to have me on for a short chat about wine, earplugs, chess, and houses burning down. I love this podcast, and I’m truly not worthy of its staggering production value, and Harvey’s expert interviewing skills. Hit the image below to listen now:
And finally, my other appearance was on the Boomers on Books YouTube series, where I was interviewed by the bestselling non-fiction author and motivational speaker Vince Stevenson about (you guessed it) that freaky thing they call For Rye, as well as literature at large, the craft of writing, our inability to make decent omelettes, the god-amongst-men that is Alan Partridge, and a very, very special talent of mine involving my toe…
I honestly had an absolute blast with Vince, so do have a peek. Most importantly, please do your best to give his YouTube channel a subscribe and our interview a ‘like’; this dude deserves all the support we can send his way. Give it a gander below:
Aaaaand that about wraps it up! I also concluded the weekly excerpts from For Rye that I’ve been posting across my social media channels since last December, and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the kind comments and re-sharing of those snippets, which I’m convinced went a long way in the promotion of the book leading up to its April release. You obviously all have as sick a mind as I do, and for that I am glad.
Oh, and before I leave you, I wanted to give a shout-out to a very special gentleman who not only played a pivotal role in fuelling my life-long passion/obsession with horror, but also whose work is in large part responsible for this strange path I’ve taken into the creating of my own horrors.
That gentleman is none other than writer and director Ben Rock, whose production work on my all-time favourite movie The Blair Witch Project – as well as his later work – has truly shaped me into the horror freak I am today.
Ben and I recently connected on Twitter by chance through a mutual friend, and he had the generosity with his time to grab a copy of For Rye, as well as checking out my mammoth 16 page, 10,000 word dissection on The Blair Witch Project, which you can read HERE. Ben’s insightful series on Dread Central recalling his memories of the production was positively an Aladdin’s cave for a BW obsessive such as myself, and much of it informed my analysis.
Anyway, major thanks once again to Ben for not only supporting my work, but also for helping to turn me into the twisted lover of the macabre that I am today. You rock, sir!
And on that note I shall leave you for another month, my fellow horror freak, but as always please consider hitting me up on the social media channel of your choice. I’m hugely passionate about connecting with other horror fans and writers, and regularly welcome emails from budding authors looking for advice or guidance on the whole crazy craft of writing. Know that I’m always here at your service.
So take care of each other, be good to yourselves, and be sure to indulge in the most horrible horror at your disposal…
…and happy nightmares.
-GG