A collection of my blog posts to date - not many for the time covered, but it gives you a clue where my head's been throughout the years.

Sunday 06/12/2020

NaNoWriMo

I gave NaNoWriMo a try last month - not sure my effort technically counts as I did have about 10,000 words already written, but still used the month to knuckle down and get the first draft finished of a new project. Forcing myself to sit down and get the words out proved really helpful, very happy with the first draft. Back to WWII again, the last months of the Occupation of Paris. Paranormal fiction still, of course. An end of the year release is not impossible, going to see how it goes.

Saturday 05 September 2020

2021, anyone?

While I've never been a prolific blogger, this year... sheesh. Have a few projects in the fire but playing catch up at work post-lockdown is proving to be challenging, shall we say. I know I'm lucky to be in a job and to have dodged the virus but I look forward to things settling down and getting back to normal.

Whine over, will try and get my head back into the writing game.

Saturday 09 May 2020

Book four of Accursed quadrilogy published

Yep, this has finally been published as of this Monday. Ebook is live on Amazon and Smashwords. The paperback is still in review on Amazon (got my timings wrong, didn't realise this takes longer than ebooks publication.

Incarnate is the title I decided on, and here is the cover.

Tuesday 17 March 2020

Small update

Close to the final, final draft of Book 4 in the series following James Grey's complicated life. A cover is currently being worked upon. Not at the point yet where I can give a date for the release, particularly in these difficult times, but hope it should be soon.

Sunday 28 July 2019

Skeleton Complete

Finished the first draft of Book 4 of the Accursed quadrilogy (that still takes some getting used to). Actually finished it last Sunday but was so late that I've only just got round to updating this site now. I like to think with the skeleton done it should get a lot easier. Now to add the skin.

Friday 07 June 2019

Quartet

Accursed, Underbelly and Eidolon have existed as a trilogy for a long time now. I've written other books set in the same universe, all prequels, but none have featured James Grey, whose story was concluded at the end of the very long Eidolon, which I published back on 13 March 2011 according to Amazon...

The story continues. A happy ending in Hollywood was never guaranteed, not with all that baggage. Other books I worked upon helped establish fresh threats, new creatures and organisations to be encountered. I'm roughly three quarters of the way through the first draft. I work a bit further away from home now so find the weekend is the best time to write. Hopeful this book will be released before the end of the year.

Sunday 17 March 2019

Paperback Writer

Long time coming but getting my works back into print again. The reason I took them out of print was that my works have undergone a lot of changes and while this is easy to alter digitally, a bit trickier in print. Accursed is the first to be reprinted - starting at the beginning though may go in different directions for the second one to go into print. Open to suggestions!

Sunday 27 January 2019

4...

Saturday 15 December 2018

Coming soon wasn't totally misleading... less than four months later and Enlivened is finally available on Amazon and through Smashwords on a number of other sites (including Smashwords itself). More information in Books and in Behind the Books

Sunday 19 August 2018

Enlivened

Coming soon...

Thursday 8 March 2018

Pagan Resistance: Marseille

Have surprised myself by publishing two pieces of work since the last update. Cold Summer Love and Family of Prey both feature Georges Steil and members of the Poirier family again, as does my next project, which will be released tomorrow. Georges features in a much smaller role in Pagan Resistance: Marseille, which is set during WWII... can't quite bring myself to say where, feel a bit too much like Captain Obvious. The Poirier clan, particularly Maxi, are at the helm here. One of my weirder works, in which I've embraced the oddness - hopefully some of you guys will too :)

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Smashwords/New Work on the Horizon

Back on Smashwords after a lengthy break. Went KDP exclusive for a while which, to be honest, didn't work out that well for me so back to putting my work out on all platforms. Reformatting my past works to fit with Smashwords guidelines so not all are available right now but in time will get the full range back out there.

Still busy at work limiting my time I spend on my writing so still behind schedule. That being said, am planning to release a book around April. First draft is done of the book showing a motley crew taking on the Nazis in Occupied France. Possibly the strangest book I've written up to now with connections to a lot of my other works, the ensemble cast of characters linking to Accursed (Georges Steil), Black Lodge (Hilaire Poirier), The Black Moth (Valentina Hardy) and A Temporary Death (it's complicated).

Sunday 16 April 2017

Minor Update

Another big gap between updates. So much overtime at work that I find the quiet time I need to get some writing done is limited. Not a complaint - grateful to be in a job and be earning and have certainly known times without work or much money.

Great Burden of a Hopeless Dream did change its name, to Gifts From The Gallows. A sequel came out as my most recent project. Coming up with the title for that was very trying! It's called The Second Circle and explores early British cinema. Not a witch or a zombie in sight, I promise!

That being said, I do prefer writing paranormal fiction, which is why the book I'm working on now is set back in that world. It's back to WW2 again and Occupied France, just like in Accursed. The gang fighting the Nazis in this one are seriously out there...

The first draft has been completed and it's time for the rewrites. Wouldn't like to set a date in stone just yet though do plan for the book to be out before the end of the year. At this point I'm quite happy with publishing a book a year rather than rushing to release. I do have the title - this one actually came easily.

Hope everyone has a great Easter :)

Sunday 28 August 2016

I'm Still Alive!

Hello again - it's been awhile. Work has kept me very busy and haven't been writing as much as I would have liked. There has been some releases not covered here though. Don't actually remember the order of them.

Death Transitions is a collection of three novellas featuring Georges Steil, dealing with linked themes of rebirth and identity. The three stories collected in this are The Black Moth (also available as a single book), The Cleansing of Cecily Carlisle (previously released) and A Temporary Death.

Managed to write a book without any paranormal elements too. The book is currently titled Great Burden of a Hopeless Dream, however the title is due to be changed. Titles have been a problem for some time and have a book almost ready to publish which is just missing a title - have plagued my good friend Martin for suggestions on this score for months now and we still haven't got there. Both of these books are historical fiction and feature Blair Leigh, a private investigator briefly introduced in The Cleansing of Cecily Carlisle now promoted to chief protagonist.

Saturday 21 November 2015

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Still working on multiple projects, including two further Georges Steil novellas. One of them I've already mentioned, the 1925 one, plus one set in 1909. Both of these stories, along with The Cleansing of Cecily Carlisle, explore very similar themes of death and identity and may be packaged together yet.

They're the forward steps. Unfortunately I've felt compelled to take The Dusk Mistress down again. I believe the story is decent, else I would never have put it on sale in the first place, but my opinion of it alters regularly. I tend to judge it as being average to good, which is probably not good enough. I have to believe everything I publish is good - I know other people may not judge my work so, and that's fine, but I have to believe in it, and at this point I'm not sure I do believe that The Dusk Mistress is at an acceptable standard for release. I'm very proud of Traveler's Respite and I feel the sequel has to be special to do those surviving characters justice.

It will return at some point I'm sure, with some modifications, and may go down again - who knows? Right now I'm focusing on other works, with an eye to a late December/January release.

Sunday 30 August 2015

Overdue Update

First of all I'm pleased to say that The Dusk Mistress (as mentioned last November...) will be going back on sale again shortly. The book was available for a limited time but small nagging doubts made me remove it. The majority of the book remains the same, but I was unhappy with aspects of Anna Winter's tale so I am in the process of fixing that story strand. I much prefer this new direction and hopefully you all will too.

I also have a release date for another project. On October 3rd, 2015, I will be releasing The Cleansing of Cecily Carlisle. This is the previously mentioned Georges Steil short story set in 1914. I have two prospective covers lined up and would appreciate any feedback for which is best.

Synopsis

Cecily Carlisle had a hunch that 1914 was going to be a bad year. It turns out that bad doesn’t come close, as she finds herself overwhelmed by memories of a past life while enduring a traumatic reunion with a possessive ex-lover and his undead pet. The eccentric man hired by her father to fix her only provides further mental anguish…

The Cleansing of Cecily Carlisle is a novella featuring the magician and hypnotist, Georges Steil, exploring death, rebirth and the mistakes made when undertaking such a path.

Please email any comments to gjohansonuk@aol.com

Monday 11 November 2014

Getting there

Finally finished the first draft of a project. There's still a lot of work to do but The Dusk Mistress should be released before the end of the year. This is the sequel to Traveler's Respite that I was working on back in January 2013. Where has the time gone?

A quick update on other projects I've mentioned:

Sequel to Revived - the first half is complete and I'm happy with it but have no ending plotted so this is highly unlikely to be finished this year.

Science Fiction serial - haven't touched this for a long time. Will return to it but definitely won't be out before 2015.

Epic Fantasy - two parts were briefly released, The Animal Coven and Fragile Alliances, but are no longer on sale because I feel I'd like to improve them. I might be able to put them out at the very end of the year and if not hopefully in 2015 these will be released with the third and final part.

Georges Steil short story...I don't actually know which one I was referring to in my earlier post as I have a few in various stages. There's one set in 1914 on the eve of the war and another set in 1925. They both deal with similar themes but are very different.

Anyway, just thought I'd post to let people know I'm still alive. When I'm off over Christmas I might freshen up this website as it's not had any changes for too long.

Sunday, 15 June 2014

The problem remains

I keep looking at websites offering help with writer's block and I have tried following one particular program but the well has still run dry. I think the hardest part is that I have stories that I still want to tell but can't get past certain points. I feel for anyone else suffering with this problem and welcome any cures that anyone may have.

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Down but not out...

I think anyone who writes will know all about the dreaded affliction known as writer's block, which has been the bane of my life this year. The four projects that I mentioned almost a year ago exist in half-finished forms, along with another George Steil short story, but no matter how many hours I spend sat at my computer, I can't seem to finish any of them. Hopefully a new year may provide divine inspiration. If anyone has any tips for tackling this problem please get in touch.

Monday, 21 January 2013

The year ahead

Currently enjoying a snow day (yay!) so thought I would update readers with what projects I am currently working on and what to expect. I'm working on ideas for sequels to Traveler's Respite and Revived, staying in the paranormal field, as well as trying out other genres for the first time. I've started a science fiction serial set on a space station in the near future and just beginning (I've literally only written a few pages) an epic fantasy tale. No titles for anything yet. Bar today I'm working more hours at my new job than I did at the old place so progress is slow. If I can manage to finish three projects like I did last year I'd be pleased with that.

Monday, 31 December 2012

The year that was...

I feel like this year I've hardly written at all so it was a surprise to find that I've finished three projects. Heretic Apocalypse was another Georges Steil prequel, a three part serial dealing with the end of the world (again) in 1926. I enjoyed writing this serial so much that I followed it up with a 21 part serial, Revived. Set in the same world as my other material it's very different because it's set much earlier, in 1652, with brand new protagonists. I would say that it was probably the easiest story I've ever written. No idea why, but I'm not complaining. Another serial followed, this one my homage to the classic Hammer Horror films, set in remote Bavaria. Traveler's Respite was my final finished project of the year with several others in progress. If I can produce anywhere close to the same number of projects next year I'll be happy with that.

Monday, 12 December 2011

Fallen Idols

Currently working on another Georges Steil prequel. This story is set in Paris in 1943 and features Georges Steil undertaking one final trip to the capital to try and rescue one of the Pagan Resistance, Cecile Guy, who has been captured and taken into custody. Accursed reveals that this is a doomed venture - see exactly how things fall apart soon.

Saturday, 05 November 2011

Beyond Salvage

There hasn't been a new book for a while so today I am pleased to announce that a new project is available. Beyond Salvage is set in 1934 in French Guiana and features Georges Steil facing off against two supernatural threats. Originally it was planned to be set on Devil's Island, though this quickly became untenable, largely because Georges Steil is not a prisoner at this time. Setting the novella in Cayenne and the jungle opened things up a little more and allowed female characters to have some significance, namely Veronique and Axelle. One spoiler for readers, regarding these two characters and their differing accounts concerning Axelle's body. Veronique believes that Axelle's hands were taken from two ladies, Axelle was informed that her hands belonged to the same person. Only Uguen knows the definitive truth in this matter.

Sunday, 28 August 2011

Further adventures of Georges Steil?

Okay, Black Lodge, The Hydra Effect and Waiting for War are all finished and available to buy on the Kindle. These two novellas and a short story show Georges in 1906, 1918 and 1940, respectively. Considering Georges is the lead character in Oblivion and Infamia and appears in Accursed and in a flashback in Underbelly, at this point I figured I would stop writing about him. But Georges remains my favourite character - I guess this was clear when I killed him off in my first book yet still kept writing about him. His adventures on Devil's Island and his rescue of Konah in Africa are only referenced and never shown, both of which could lend themselves to further tales. Basically, what I'm trying to say here, is that to anyone who has enjoyed reading about this eccentric magician, there may be more to come...

Posted by GJohanson

Sunday, 07 August 2011

Butlers, Red Herrings & Amateur Detectives

I'm putting the finishing touches to my first whodunnit. Black Lodge is set in 1906 and will probably be put up on the website for a limited time at some point. This is uncharted territory for me and it's been quite hard not being able to delve into the thoughts of my characters in my writing. Having never written this sort of thing before I don't know if the killer is glaringly obvious or not - I'm sure people will let me know.

Posted by GJohanson

Monday, 13 June 2011

New ideas...

After a layoff from writing spent trying to tidy up the website I've finally got a new story developing. It's set in the same universe with some of the same characters. It's still being formed so I won't say too much other than to say it's set in the year 1918 in France.

Posted by GJohanson

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Where's a good script doctor when you need one?

I have started turning my first book, Accursed into a script. I generally include a lot of dialogue in my books so I thought it would be a doddle to assemble a scipt from my existing work. I have since come to the conclusion that this may take a long time, but then again, doesn't everything? It could be worse - I could be trying to turn the mammoth monster that is Eidolon into a script. I'll do that when I've got a spare year to myself.

Posted by GJohanson

Sunday, 1 May 2011

What next?

Completing my trilogy has taken me a long time - nobody could accuse me of being prolific - and following that I've kept myself busy with two additional shorter stories, prequels to the main books focusing on a larger-than-life supporting character. They're complete now too and for the first time in years I don't have any projects on the go. I'm still working on marketing for my books, which may be the hardest part of the whole process, but, as most writers I feel will relate to, it feels very strange not to have a story to plot. I thought once I was 'done' I would just sit back and relax and steer clear of Word documents for a while, only to find the itch is still there...

Posted by GJohanson

Saturday, 2 April 2011

The publicity machine...

Wow - three months since my last post. Juggling work with writing and publishing makes blogging tricky which is partly why I've not entered the Twitter universe just yet. All three books are now available digitally which makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere. The next key stage is raising awareness. In the UK the press only seem to write about three people and I'm not one of them. Hopefully by my next update I'll have come up with a few ways of getting my work noticed. Watch this space.

Posted by GJohanson

Saturday, 15 January 2011

A prequel to a prequel…

Where will this end? To explain, the trilogy of Accursed, Underbelly and Eidolon was written in the 00s. Prior to that, back in the 90s, I penned my first novel, Epilogue. This was never published and I am very happy about that! I’m still happy with the core story; the problem is partially the length (around 2000 pages) plus I think many writers have a practice book. Maybe one day I’ll gut it and make something of it through extensive rewrites. Anyway, this book showed a few different time periods, including the Middle Ages and the present day. The main characters of this were Tyler and Autopsy (don’t ask) and featured James Grey and Laura Spencer in supporting roles, with Laura’s part covered in one short, pivotal scene. Their characters and motivations intrigued me and once I finished Epilogue this trilogy appeared. In writing Accursed the character of Georges Steil was created, but at the time of Accursed Georges is on his deathbed, his story done. This character is bigger and more eccentric than Grey and Laura and, to continue a long story, Georges now has a prequel of his own, exploring Pre Century Tension in 1899. I’m not currently planning on writing a prequel about any new characters introduced in Oblivion, but I make no promises.

Posted by GJohanson

Thursday, 6 January 2011

Free e-book coming soon

Coming up in late January/early February. I still consider Accursed, Underbelly and Eidolon a trilogy and this tale (provisionally titled 'Oblivion') was intended as a novella, which quickly got out of hand (84,000 words and counting). Consider this story as book zero. More details to follow.

Posted by GJohanson

Thursday, 25 November 2010

Dodgy hourglass

Where has this year gone? I had big plans that this was going to be my year and now it's nearly done. On the plus side, my book has been released and the two sequels are completed too so it's really all about promotional work now. There may still be time for one last push before 2011 beckons.

Posted by GJohanson

Wednesday, 24 November 2010

New cover