January 1st, 2015
I neglected this thing badly in 2014, which in many ways was a very disappointing year, but I'm planning to do monthly updates this year as things (hopefully!) start gaining steam. I may well be the only fool reading but it will serve me as a progress diary if nothing else. So, what's happening...
A finished collection - and a better collection than the one I originally envisaged a year ago - has been pushed gently out onto the choppy waters of the submission lake. It's called 'A Fire at the Mind Palace' and contains 25 stories that, honestly, don't all fall easily under one genre heading but share the common thread of being disturbing. Of course there's horror, some sci-fi, but also quirky, strange little pieces that are neither here nor there, but I like them a lot and I think they work in the book next to their more definable word siblings. These stories go back to 2010 and up to 2014 in terms of when they were written, and the title refers to me pulling them all safely from my head before it auto-purges so I can move on with the newer things I have planned.
'A Hanging Rock Fall' is my modern southern gothic horror collection of intertwining stories set within one small town in South Carolina. It is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Logistically this one has been a monster, making sure the timeline of one month (October) works as it should as characters from one story wander into the chapters of other Hanging Rock residents and back to their own again. A big, gargantuan spreadsheet helped make the air controlling of this much easier and I cannot wait to have it finally finished as I think it's a very good and exciting book - and I'll be less stressed not having to know exactly where the woman who owns the antique store was on the night of October 15th, etc.
I've also set sail into a 2nd novel titled 'The Secret Ministry of Frost' which is a surreal, uncomfortable story set in 1960's England involving a literature class from an all boys school on a week long field trip into the Lake District to do an intense study of the Lake poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and their mates.) It has very little to do with poetry and a lot to do with young men encountering very bad things.
I'm still writing short stories whenever a good idea smacks me in the face but the novels are priority and I see myself jumping between the two of them this year. That's it for now, back in February unless something happens before then. A healthy and glorious 2015 to all who may venture here.
A finished collection - and a better collection than the one I originally envisaged a year ago - has been pushed gently out onto the choppy waters of the submission lake. It's called 'A Fire at the Mind Palace' and contains 25 stories that, honestly, don't all fall easily under one genre heading but share the common thread of being disturbing. Of course there's horror, some sci-fi, but also quirky, strange little pieces that are neither here nor there, but I like them a lot and I think they work in the book next to their more definable word siblings. These stories go back to 2010 and up to 2014 in terms of when they were written, and the title refers to me pulling them all safely from my head before it auto-purges so I can move on with the newer things I have planned.
'A Hanging Rock Fall' is my modern southern gothic horror collection of intertwining stories set within one small town in South Carolina. It is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Logistically this one has been a monster, making sure the timeline of one month (October) works as it should as characters from one story wander into the chapters of other Hanging Rock residents and back to their own again. A big, gargantuan spreadsheet helped make the air controlling of this much easier and I cannot wait to have it finally finished as I think it's a very good and exciting book - and I'll be less stressed not having to know exactly where the woman who owns the antique store was on the night of October 15th, etc.
I've also set sail into a 2nd novel titled 'The Secret Ministry of Frost' which is a surreal, uncomfortable story set in 1960's England involving a literature class from an all boys school on a week long field trip into the Lake District to do an intense study of the Lake poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and their mates.) It has very little to do with poetry and a lot to do with young men encountering very bad things.
I'm still writing short stories whenever a good idea smacks me in the face but the novels are priority and I see myself jumping between the two of them this year. That's it for now, back in February unless something happens before then. A healthy and glorious 2015 to all who may venture here.
November 8th, 2013
NOTLP Contest Winner Is Live!
Night of the Living Podcast recently held a horror flash fiction contest, guest judged by the insanely brilliant (and Bram Stoker Award nominated) Jeremy C. Shipp. I entered a story of just under 1,000 words that I had been polishing up on and off for a while (I don't really write anything that short anymore and it was a lonely, homeless orphan story) and was delighted when it took first place. The story went up today so, if you'd be so kind, take a couple of minutes and give it a read. It's called 'Pockets'
August 5th, 2013
It's a Miracle!
I have completed a first collection of short stories (that I actually like enough to send out into the world) and reached a word count that makes the thing viable! So, now I'll be sequencing, polishing and trying to find a home for the thing. Any interested publishers out there please drop me a line at [email protected] although you'll probably hear from me anyway like it or not.
July 4th
"D.O.A. Volume II" Now Out!
A brand new story - 'Telescopic' - is now out in the collection 'D.O.A. II' from the fine people at Blood Bound Books. Other writers contributing stories include Jack Ketchum, Wrath James White and J.F. Gonzalez.
“Make sure your health insurance covers psychiatric counseling before reading this book, because you’re gonna need it. The experience of this collection may be likened to getting run over by a 666-car locomotive engineered by Lucifer. This is the cream of grotesquerie’s crop, a Whitman’s Sampler of the heinous, and an absolutely gut-wrenching celebration of the furthest extremities of the scatological, the taboo, the unconscionable, and the blasphemous.” -Edward Lee, author of THE HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD and THE DUNWICH ROMANCE
Available now in paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon
“Make sure your health insurance covers psychiatric counseling before reading this book, because you’re gonna need it. The experience of this collection may be likened to getting run over by a 666-car locomotive engineered by Lucifer. This is the cream of grotesquerie’s crop, a Whitman’s Sampler of the heinous, and an absolutely gut-wrenching celebration of the furthest extremities of the scatological, the taboo, the unconscionable, and the blasphemous.” -Edward Lee, author of THE HAUNTER OF THE THRESHOLD and THE DUNWICH ROMANCE
Available now in paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon
Latest News
Hello, 2013
Updates for the new year, which I hope finds you well and optimistic.
'Carnage: After the End Vol.2' is out and about, a collection of post-apocalyptic stories from 10 authors including my contribution 'Hoolies.'
A new horror story, 'Telescopic,' will be appearing in the collection 'D.O.A. II' from the brilliant people at Blood Bound Books who I have been lucky enough to work with before.
As always there are new, bigger, better stories out in the ether looking for a home and the word count on my hopeful first collection is around the 50K mark, it has the working title of 'Gulls and Ravens' and is predominantly unpublished pieces with a few previously seen favourites in the mix as well.
July 13th
A post-apocalyptic story about tribal conflict with a very English twist called 'Hoolies' will be appearing in the Siren's Call anthology 'Carnage: After the End' later this year. Clue is in the title! Cover, links and more info coming very soon.
A post-apocalyptic story about tribal conflict with a very English twist called 'Hoolies' will be appearing in the Siren's Call anthology 'Carnage: After the End' later this year. Clue is in the title! Cover, links and more info coming very soon.
May 25th
Fantastic news this week! My story 'An Unfortunate Incident at the Slaughterhouse' which was originally published by Comet Press in their 'Sick Things' collection has been picked to appear alongside some very big names in Paula Guran's 'Extreme Zombies' published by Prime Books. The full TOC ! George R.R. Martin, David Moody, Nancy A. Collins, Brian Keene and many more outrageously good writers are in this one, what an honour! Release date is August, I believe. Can't wait!
March 3rd
A short story called 'Five Words' will be appearing at the lovely Fiction365 pretty soon. Take a look around on your lunch-break, they consistently publish some very good fiction.
Lots of stories out in the ether, seems like response times from places are pretty slow right now. It's usually worth the wait though when the good news comes in. Working on several new things too; I should do a story called 'Why are all the fonts on my shitty web page different?'
November 30th
November 16th
A guest blog is up at the website of writer Nora Peevy where I share some of the more interesting writing markets and online magazines out there right now. Thanks to Nora for asking me to do this!
A guest blog is up at the website of writer Nora Peevy where I share some of the more interesting writing markets and online magazines out there right now. Thanks to Nora for asking me to do this!
November 14th
Now live at Tales of Old and just in time for Native American Heritage Month in the US is my short story 'The Little Brother of War.' Read by the wonderful Shawn Robertson, this tale tells of a monumental day in the history of the Choctaw Nation as they decide whether to fight alongside the British or the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
October 4th
Currently on deck, a right mixed bag o' stuff -
Coming soon to the online audio magazine of historical stories Tales of Old is the short story 'The Little Brother of War' which is set at the beginning of the American Revolution.
Later this year a snippet titled 'I Wish I had a Dwarven Shield' will be displayed to the innocent public via the genius medium of The Safety Pin Review
There's also a guest blog in the works talking about the more unusual and unique writing markets that are out there, some brand new stories out in submission land including a new personal favourite, and perhaps even more...
July 1st
Lots of ongoing projects right now, plus time to sub some 'reprintables' - real news soon!
December 25th
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Last update of the year....
Two shorts just went live on Amazon for Kindle - the fantasy-adventure Viking tale Red Ice and the paranormal-detective yarn The Watcher on the Walls
Less than a dollar each as well! Throw 'em on your gift cards!
December 20th
The first issue of online literary magazine Fix It Broken is now live - 10 wonderful pieces of fiction! I am honoured to have my own story 'The Comfort of Dead Whales' as the lead and it has also won the first Fashionable Fiction contest (something that will happen with each issue of Fix It Broken) and a t-shirt inspired by the story has been created!!! There is also an interview with me conducted by the fabulous Mr. Greg Dybec - check it!
Lots of ongoing projects right now, plus time to sub some 'reprintables' - real news soon!
December 25th
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Last update of the year....
Two shorts just went live on Amazon for Kindle - the fantasy-adventure Viking tale Red Ice and the paranormal-detective yarn The Watcher on the Walls
Less than a dollar each as well! Throw 'em on your gift cards!
December 20th
The first issue of online literary magazine Fix It Broken is now live - 10 wonderful pieces of fiction! I am honoured to have my own story 'The Comfort of Dead Whales' as the lead and it has also won the first Fashionable Fiction contest (something that will happen with each issue of Fix It Broken) and a t-shirt inspired by the story has been created!!! There is also an interview with me conducted by the fabulous Mr. Greg Dybec - check it!
BIO
Harper Hull was born and raised in northern England. He fell in love with literature at an early age through some progressive school teachers and a Sci-Fi loving Dad. The family home was filled with the books of Asimov, Moorcock, Bradbury, Farmer, etc as well as big, thick hardcover encyclopedias on ghosts, mythical creatures and the unexplained mysteries of the world. This wonderful imagination filled library set the foundations for the future.
Growing up in the gritty English north-west, a region famous at the time for bad weather and magnificent culture, grounded the teenage Harper in an understanding of realism and minimalism. It was a region of dour, angry young kids in long coats trying to create something out of nothing. Joy Division, L.S. Lowry, Shelagh Delaney, this was their country.
Bleak glory. A forlorn hope. A glint through the rain clouds.
After a half-decade of city-hopping across England in a southern direction, the last stop was London. The highs and the lows, the magnificent and the dreadful, the most beautiful and the interminably ugly. It was a new outlook for a completely Northern mind and stirred the pot some more. Emigration followed, for the love of the trail, with stops both short and long in Texas and Seattle.
Flash forward - Harper now lives in South Carolina, USA with his amazing Dixie-Rocknrolla wife of 10 years in a 19th century farmhouse. The American South is its own country and he has seen and learned things here he never would have anticipated. With a huge attic all to himself and a sturdy desk, Harper finally decided to write somewhat seriously and let loose all the stories in his head.
As well as submitting tales to a plethora of upstanding publishing houses for various anthologies and magazines, Harper is working on a SF collection entitled Risk Colony and a themed/linked collection of Southern Gothic Horror stories called A Hanging Rock Fall. If you ever read anything he has written, he hopes you enjoy it.
Ninja Contact: harperhull at gmail dot com
Harper Hull was born and raised in northern England. He fell in love with literature at an early age through some progressive school teachers and a Sci-Fi loving Dad. The family home was filled with the books of Asimov, Moorcock, Bradbury, Farmer, etc as well as big, thick hardcover encyclopedias on ghosts, mythical creatures and the unexplained mysteries of the world. This wonderful imagination filled library set the foundations for the future.
Growing up in the gritty English north-west, a region famous at the time for bad weather and magnificent culture, grounded the teenage Harper in an understanding of realism and minimalism. It was a region of dour, angry young kids in long coats trying to create something out of nothing. Joy Division, L.S. Lowry, Shelagh Delaney, this was their country.
Bleak glory. A forlorn hope. A glint through the rain clouds.
After a half-decade of city-hopping across England in a southern direction, the last stop was London. The highs and the lows, the magnificent and the dreadful, the most beautiful and the interminably ugly. It was a new outlook for a completely Northern mind and stirred the pot some more. Emigration followed, for the love of the trail, with stops both short and long in Texas and Seattle.
Flash forward - Harper now lives in South Carolina, USA with his amazing Dixie-Rocknrolla wife of 10 years in a 19th century farmhouse. The American South is its own country and he has seen and learned things here he never would have anticipated. With a huge attic all to himself and a sturdy desk, Harper finally decided to write somewhat seriously and let loose all the stories in his head.
As well as submitting tales to a plethora of upstanding publishing houses for various anthologies and magazines, Harper is working on a SF collection entitled Risk Colony and a themed/linked collection of Southern Gothic Horror stories called A Hanging Rock Fall. If you ever read anything he has written, he hopes you enjoy it.
Ninja Contact: harperhull at gmail dot com