Anyway, Having never done this before I was worried about what the hell I should write about. People blog about all sorts of stuff, so I wasn't sure how to fit mine in the millions that are already out there- probably writing about much better stuff than me as well as doing it better! What could my first post be about that hasn't been done? How about ME?! I should probably re-phrase that, how about the stuff that has inspired me?
If you already know me, you may also know that I've released a couple 'books', well short story/novella to be more exact. I'm secretly hoping you found your way here due to those books (not because you are on my Facebook friends list!) And I'm also secretly hoping you read those two books and thought, "Well, those two books I read were bloody amazing! I wonder where he got the inspiration to write them?" Well, it seems this is your lucky day, because that's exactly what I'm going to talk about!
I suppose the best place to start would be my debut, or.......
THE MANIFESTING
I started writing this one day because I was bored, little did I know the 'run away success' it was to become! Ok, thats a slight exaggeration, but it did have quite a few downloads and some favourable reviews; which more seriously proved to be a massive confidence booster. But that's for another day. Like I said, I was bored. (Incidently, I've written loads of bits and pieces in the past. The Manifesting was the first thing I ever finished AND was actually proud of - still am) Inspiration, let's get back on track! With this one there wasn't one particular thing that stands out as an inspiration, the works of H.P Lovecraft did inspire me to an extent. As did the film Event Horizon. I went into this story wanting something partially based on real'ish' sciencey stuff but holding back on the 'horror' of what was to come. In a Lovecraftian way, I tried to keep some things vague; ideally with the reader filling in some of the blanks. And of course keeping it first person, to me was important, I think because a lot of my favourite Lovecraft stories were written that way - mine had to be the same! As far as Event Horizon goes, if you've read The Manifesting you'll already know the comparison in certain regards. I really enjoyed the concept of 'Hell' in that film and it's a theme I wanted in my own stuff, I never went into the same detail that the film does; like I said, I was trying to keep things vague!
I should probably point out now how Lovecraft fans (including myself) are a funny lot and can become quite offended when the term 'Lovecraftian' is thrown around describing everything - I'm no different, so will probably leave a comment slagging myself off later!
Like Lovecraftian stories, which for the most part end on a low, The Manifesting was to be no different. From the start I didn't want a happy ending (I hope that isn't a spoiler if you were going to read it!) To be honest, I don't like happy endings in horror - so don't expect mine to end with rainbows, unicorns and fluffy kittens!
And that pretty much sums up what inspired The Manifesting, Lovecraft and a Sci-Fi horror film. Although there was one little thing that made it's way in and strangely enough inspired from a 'fever dream' my wife has suffered with since she was little, it was only a very small part, but got in anyway!
When I started writing this I was originally going to write about my other story as well, The Numinous. But I think that's best left for another day. The main reason? It's only a few days old, and I really don't want to reveal any spoilers!
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