Two Things of Note: Hunter's Game released, and The Sound of the Dark gets reviewed at Strange Horizons...

Two things of note happened this week.

One is the release of my new novel, Hunter's Game; this is my first tie-in novel, set in the universe of the Sniper Elite video game. Set in the dying days of the American Civil War, it centres on Hunter, a young but battle-scarred Union Army sniper, on a mission to stop a trainload of weapons that could change the course of the conflict. A mission that also becomes deeply personal, as the train is under the command of Colonel Grauermann - her former CO and mentor before he defected to the Confederacy, leaving Hunter to die.

It's a short, sweet novel, about 50,000 words, packed with tension and action - and, I hope, as dark and twisty as you'd hope for from me. I'm proud of it, anyway! You can buy it here.

The second thing is a new review of The Sound of the Dark, my third novel under my Daniel Church byline, from Shannon Fay over at Strange Horizons:

"Some of the descriptions of what Cally experiences are so vivid and

awful they actually made me shudder. The turn the book takes is all the more thrilling for how out of left field it is, which is why I’m trying to be as vague as possible here to protect the premise.... It’s also a rare case where the story doesn’t deflate once all is revealed. Here the horror is so well done that it can make the reader wonder if they have been cursed—whether being exposed even secondhand to the tapes has inflicted on them the same contagion with which the characters are plagued."

"I'd highly recommend it," Shannon concludes - and who am I to argue with a reviewer who clear has such good taste? :) You can read her review here.

See you soon, and thanks, as always, for your awesome support.

Simon x

CANCELLATION OF LAUNCH AT WRITE BLEND

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the planned launch for HUNTER'S GAME at Write Blend bookshop next Friday (5th June) has been cancelled.

Just in case you'd been thinking of going - didn't want anyone to have a wasted journey!

Big thanks to Bob Stone for offering to make his premises available nonetheless - I know Richard Osman was begging for that slot... ;)

HUNTER'S GAME is still being released on 4th June and can be preordered here..

Hunter's Game

Last year, I had a lot of false starts and dead ends in the novel-writing game, but I did manage to finish one book.

It was a new departure for me: my first tie-in novel, written for Rebellion’s Sniper Elite Worlds series. And in some ways, it was just what the doctor ordered: never underestimate the power of a cash advance, with the balance payable on delivery, to motivate you into completing a story – or finding one you want to tell in a submission brief. It also got me out of my comfort zone, to tackle a type of story I wouldn’t normally write.

It’s called Hunter’s Game, and is set in the last days of the American Civil War. Originally Rebellion were talking about bringing it out in 2027. Normally there’s a very tight timescale on tie-in stuff, which is why they tend to look for authors who can turn stuff around quickly, but at a guess, with this being my first time, they wanted to leave plenty of room to fix things if I handed in a complete mess.

I guess I didn’t, anyway, because it comes out next month.

Hunter’s Game will be released on 4^th June, and for those of you based in North-West England, there will be a book launch at Write Blend in Waterloo, Liverpool, on Friday 5^th June.

Who will win Hunter's Game?

1865, Texas. The American Civil War is over but a final pocket of defiance remains. Despite the recent surrender of General Lee, a secret plan is hatched for the Texan insurgents to receive a last shipment of deadly munitions that could spell ruin for the Union forces facing them.

Major Sparanero, of the Union, uses one of his undercover agents to discover that the weapons are being sent by train. There will only be one chance to prevent the munitions being put into the field – as the train crosses the fragile bridge over Tophet Gorge. Before his capture the undercover agent sets a bomb beneath the train and marks it for a sharpshooter.

Hunter – a disillusioned deserter – is the only one skilled enough to make that shot. Bribed by Sparanero to return one final time, Hunter is charged with destroying the train. But an enemy colonel with whom Hunter has history discovers the mission, and so begins a deadly game of hide and seek…

 

 

 

A Belated Hornblowing

As regular readers of this blog (both of them) will know, each December I usually post a round-up of the work I've had published for the first time that year. Partly so I can pop my head up and take a look at what has been achieved - and, yes, to show what work of mine is eligible for any awards that are going.

Anyway, for various reasons I wasn't in a great place at the back end of last year, so I didn't get round to doing such a post. So here, belatedly, it is now.

Novels

The Sound of the Dark (as by 'Daniel Church) Angry Robot Books.

Short Stories:  

'The Witch of November' in Nightmare Abbey 8, ed. Tom English.

'The Last Train' in Nightmare Abbey 9, ed. Tom English.

'Polodski's Bride in The Joining, ed. Jacob Steven Mohr   

'Nightwatch' (as by 'Daniel Church') in King's River Life Magazine. (Read free HERE.)

'My Soul To Keep' on Patreon. (Read free HERE.)

I wrote one novel last year - my first tie-in book, in fact! - which I think is slated for 2027. Details will be made available in due course. I started and abandoned various novel-length projects; this year will be hopefully be the year of finishing some!