Darklife

Darklife is a cross-genre novel, for adults and older children. It deals with the in-vitro engineered result of an abandoned project to bridge the gap between our world, and the world of dark matter. A place which exists everywhere and nowhere, only a heartbeat away, yet further than the most distant star.

War Among the First

War Among the First is a dark fantasy thriller series, detailing human involvement in the final years of the millennia-old conflict between those who were First to walk the Earth. In the ages since their time, the survivors have taken radically different paths. Some have become virtually alien. Others are bemused to find themselves no longer worshipped by mankind. The very worst have exploited their situation, harvesting humanity as a genetic resource, and interbreeding with mankind.

War Among the First was the first digital novel ever published in the UK. Penguin Books pretend otherwise, but I have the press clippings to prove prior claim. The Times gave it a glowing review, yet to this day traditional hardback publishers have declined to publish the series. Two publishers have, over the years, shown significant interest. But in each case the editor I was working with left the company before a contract was signed, leaving me high and dry. The last of these incidents, coinciding as it did with my father's death, convinced me to stop wasting my time and faith on major league publishers.

THE TIMES

'One of the better written examples of the genre.'

PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

'Should have people knocking down his door.'

PC REVIEW

'Opens up a whole new experience.'

PC ANSWERS

'The Illustrations are excellent.'

MANGA MANIA

'A twilight thriller.'

PC TODAY

'Shows brilliant promise.'

COMPUTING TODAY

'The future looks even more exciting!'

THE BLOODSONG'S CALLING
(95,000 words)

Misty and water coloured, this is the story of a legendary people returning into a world very different from the one they remember. A world in which their age-old method for genetic replenishment is seen as a crime. In the past the Sidhe were worshipped as gods, their powers feared by mankind. But now the rulers of England and the Irish Republic have their own powers, in the form of high technology, and a burning desire to erase what they cannot control.

RETURN OF THE WATCHERS
(114,000 words)

Their arrival marked by crop circles, we see the almost alien Yldra throw down a challenge to their would-be successors. Genetically adjusted Manitou and assassin class Archai wage open warfare with the ancient foe, while others among the First engage in more subtle and devious forms of combat with human opposition across England and America. The prize is the right to rule, and with that authority comes dominion over mankind.

IN YAHWEH'S NAME
(91,000 words)

In the White Sands desert of New Mexico the best that man has to offer plan for deadly confrontation with the First, pitting the mixed blessings of advanced experimental science against the cursed power of those who are both more and less than human. One hierarchical rank among the First finally achieves dominance, but at a cost which none had envisaged. The only angel ever to look upon the true face of God has returned.

THE BURNING SERPENT
(Synopsis only)

Eleven years have passed since the First moved openly. Years which the fraction of humanity who know what is at stake have used to prepare well. Years in which the scarred and fragmented First have strengthened their own positions. Some seek only to hide from the terror of what is to come, others are working clandestinely according to the agenda of the insane Archangel who leads them. Neither side is aware of the third player, watching and waiting, ready to move in accordance with the most ancient of plans.

Publishing, as a man who knows once said, is run by 'farts and hooligans in pinstripe suits.' Nowadays, instead of new writers being discovered, commissioned and nurtured by editors, a writer has one shot at success. Even then, if sales aren't repeated with his next title, he's dumped. This is assuming the writer in question is that million to one lucky boy, whose work is actually read by someone with the power to purchase. An event which is increasingly unlikely for an unknown, no matter how talented. The case of JK Rowling is probably the best modern example. Several leading publishers turned down Harry Potter; either failing to read the book, or simply being too stupid to realise that children, (and more than a few adults), would love Rowling's boy wizard.

Even best-selling selling authors, whose names alone can generate enough sales to keep the suits happy, are stifled by the system. When a writer has a global following, the trick and the trap is to maintain the magic formula. Want proof? Just look at how many well known authors are effectively writing the same story, over and over again. Their publishers don't want anything too new, because that is a risk. The problem, of course, is that the paying readers do want fresh, innovative material. When, on those rare occasions, something genuinely good makes it to the shelves, what's the reaction of other publishers? They rush to copy the success, eager to tap the new market. It's not personal, it's just business. It's not even a decision taken by an experienced editor, it's a decision taken by an accountant; someone who has all the creative instinct of a dead badger!

Fortunately, the advent of Publish on Demand has allowed authors to sidestep the traditional, soul destroying route, and print literally to order. Roll the dice and take your chance. Books made via this method are now every bit as good in terms of production quality to any novel found at your local book store. If, as is sometimes the case, the material inside is also of a high standard, then an author can build on modest success, until he achieves sufficient sales to interest the major players, on favourable terms. If the deal on offer is not good enough, then he has nothing to loose by continuing solo. Such was the path taken, among many others, by G.P. Taylor, author of Shadowmancer, and former international best-seller, W.A. Harbinson, author of Genesis.