Tag: book

Jenna’s Side: Devil’s Eye (Review)

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Hi, it’s Jenna again with the latest edition of Jenna’s Side from frozen up Saskatchewan, Canada. With the temperature hitting minus 40 here this month (Before you ask, is that Celsius or Fahrenheit? Yes.) it’s the perfect time for me to curl up with a great book. So I did.

I have read voraciously for as long as I can remember, and was never really interested in picture books, except Robert Munsch because I’m a good Canadian and Mr. Men/Little Miss because of course.  Oh and The Cat Who Wore A Pot On Her Head. If anyone feels so inclined to get me a copy of that, I won’t refuse.  Ha ha I digress. I tell you this to explain why the sight of a 5 year old reading a chapter book was commonplace in my home, and why I read Treasure Island for the first time at that age.  Right around the same time I discovered Grimm fairy tales, but a couple years after I developed my life-long crush on Batman.  Yes, I was a weird child.  Now I’m a weird adult. This is fine.

So I’ll be brutally honest. A book about pirates? My first thought was, what am I, five again? I have never been so happy to be proven wrong.

Cameron Walker has clearly written Devil’s Eye as a labour of love, as his deep appreciation and enthusiasm for the subject matter shine through in every scene. He spent a decade writing and editing Devil’s Eye and it was a decade well spent. If I had to sum it all up in one sentence I would say its like Pirates of the Caribbean, but without the romanticism and Disney magic, much more raw and visceral.

The world of Devil’s Eye is well-researched and carefully crafted to be close enough to reality to be believable, but far enough away to be an escape that lets you forget you are reading and immerse yourself in it.  In many scenes, especially the battle scenes, it plays out like an action movie, which you watch between your fingers because you can’t decide whether or not you want to see what happens next. (Content note: there is a lot of blood and gore.  It’s not gratuitous; it all feels necessary. But if you’re more squeamish, you will struggle to get through.)

Ultimately, you’ll decide that you want to see and that’s because Cameron has put in just enough suspense to keep you hanging on. Every time you want to look away, you’re pulled back in. More than a few times, I had to put the book down–no, that did NOT just happen.  I don’t even want to know.  Oh who am I kidding, yes I do.

The characters are the real strength of Devil’s Eye. They make its world come alive and keep it from being the 5-year-old story I feared. They are all relatable in unexpected ways–I found myself just a little bit in love with the Devil’s Eye’s motley crew of antiheroes, especially Crimson Jack, and hoping despite myself through each twist and turn that things would work out for them. 

Crimson Jack has the charisma of his namesake from Pirates of the Caribbean, alongside the blood-and-power lust and wits of the likes of Ching Shih. Seriously, if you haven’t heard of her, Google her now. I’ll wait.

Was I right, or was I right? And that’s just one. The entire crew have the kind of stories that don’t quite make me want to join them at sea, but maybe meet up at a pub or something. Of course that would most likely lead to them drinking me under the table and dragging me off, because pirates, but that’s another story.

I love the complex moral code of the pirates as well. They could easily be out for blood, money, power, and booze, not necessarily in that order. And they absolutely are, otherwise what a boring story this would be. But they are also trying to support their families in a system that leaves them few other viable options.

I highly recommend Devil’s Eye as the kind of book you may not be able to read in a single sitting, but you’ll want to.

Rating: 5/5 Stars.

Devil’s Eye

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Devil’s Eye is a thrilling, action packed tale of swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, featuring excessive amounts pillage, plunder and PIRATES!!!

After the crew of the Devil’s Eye stage a successful mutiny they find themselves in possession of a very valuable hostage who could could alter their fate forever. With the chance of becoming rich or dead men, the stakes have never been higher.

Captain Blood is the infamous captain of the pirate galleon Devil’s Eye, but his long and illustrious career is about to come to a swift and bloody end at the hands of Crimson Jack and his henchmen. Having disposed of the old captain and his officers and placing themselves in command of the ship the pirates must bring their crew a worthy prize that will cement their positions.

Upon capturing a French ship in the Caribbean, they take a valuable hostage who will bring them a fortune in gold, if they can return them to France. Standing in their way is a flotilla of Spanish warships, a huge English galleon, French forces and other pirates out to claim the hostage and the ransom for their own. With little chance of success, the pirates embark upon the voyage of a lifetime with all guns blazing.

But a gathering storm looms over their heads in the form of the threat of yet another mutiny being staged by loyalists to Captain Blood and new additions to the crew loyal to another captain. Multiple parties on the ship have their own motives for wanting control of the ship and possession of their hostage, but the tense political situation on the ship threatens not only the success of the voyage itself, but their very lives.

Can Crimson Jack and his men maintain control of the ship long enough to complete this most perilous of quests, collect the ransom and cement their positions as commanders of the Devil’s Eye? Or will the risk of mutiny, competition from other pirates and being hunted by the naval powers of several nations prove to be too much and send them all to their watery graves?

You can find Devil’s Eye available on Amazon, Smashwords, Apple Books, Scribd, Lulu and Kobo.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/986119

https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Eye-Cameron-Walker/dp/1708437932/

Forsaken Press Marketing and Distribution Network

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Forsaken Press seeks to embrace and take full advantage of Social Media as a means of marketing and promoting our company, releases and writers to a large, global audience. Our current marketing network of Social Media outlets includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, DeviantArt and our official blog on WordPress.

Forsaken Press has established a wide arching network of distributors, making our releases available through many different avenues in a diverse array of marketplaces. Believe it or not, but our distribution network is three times the size of Amazons. By focusing our efforts on large distributor networks we have established one of our own that is far reaching and includes multiple platforms, including: Amazon, Smashwords, IngramSpark, Lulu, Kobo, Apple Books, OverDrive, Baker and Taylor, Scribd, Tolino, Gardners and Bibliotheca CloudLibrary.

We also have a presence in the online and physical bookstores of major and independent retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Angus and Robertson, Walmart and Collins. As well as other local retailers in a number of countries, such as Ireland, Great Britain, France, Spain, Canada, Brazil, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, The Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, India, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Poland, The United States of America and Mexico with a combined total of 51 countries in our distribution network. This equates to a combined total of access to 25,000 libraries where our ebooks can be accessed and purchased, 14,000 stores where our paperbacks can be ordered by either customers or stocked by the stores themselves, and 70 online retailers.

Our marketing network plans for the future currently include podcast and Youtube channels, an official website and blogger blog. We are also aiming to increase our distribution network by having online stores on our official website, blogs and Facebook page, and further expanding both marketing and distribution networks by utilising mediums such as Shopify that feature combination blogs and online stores.

Jenna’s Side: The Roots of Marvis Jedd (Review)

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Hello, my name is Jenna, welcome to Jenna’s Side, the Official Forsaken Press reviews page.  I’m 33 and I’m the Social Media Manager for Forsaken Press.  I live in a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada, and I’m slowly but surely working on my first novel.  I like books more than most people, and I also like books more than most people.  Ba dum tish.  So when Cam asked me to write regular reviews for the Forsaken Press blog, I jumped at the chance.  Let’s start with our newest release, The Roots of Marvis Jedd by Ken Dixon.

The book’s blurb:

“Returning apprehensively to his home town of Thune, writer Clay Reston endeavors to document the early years of enigmatic musician and fellow Thune native, Marvis Jedd. At every turn, he is reminded of the many reasons they both left as soon as they could.

The Roots of Marvis Jedd is a satirical, somewhat absurdist portrayal of small town life in the United States. Baring similarities to the work of existential philosopher Albert Camus, Clay Reston struggles to find a sense of meaning and purpose to his own existence and the people and events taking place around him, while writing a biography on his home town’s most famous son, Marvis Jedd.”

Do you love music? Mysteries? Stories of dysfunctional families and what passes for drama in small towns? The Roots of Marvis Jedd by Ken Dixon has all of this, and since I love all of these things, I love it. It turns the traditional literary pilgrimage story on its head, when Clay Reston somehow gets more and less than he bargained for at the same time.

My friends and I used to affectionately refer to a fun escape as a “turn-off-your-brain” story, and that’s what this is. But don’t mistake that for stupid or poorly written. The characters are engaging, although most of them would consider that an insult rather than a compliment. I relate strongly to Clay’s position as an outsider, wondering when or if he had ever belonged in the town, and trying to decide if he even wants to belong.

If you grew up in a small town like I did, you’ll recognize Thune.  The only thing everyone can agree on is Things need to be Done. But what things, and how?  Shrug.

If, like me and like Clay, you left and then came back, you live in Thune.  “No one ever comes back,” seemingly ignoring the many who do. I can hear the coffee row gossip at the diner in Thune now:  there’s Something Wrong with that boy. It’s said in hushed tones not quite hushed enough, because it isn’t just gossip, it’s public shaming with plausible deniability.  Because no one ever comes back really means no one leaves and gets away with it.

In addition, Ken Dixon perfectly captures the small-town waiting for something but pretending you’re not, caring deeply but pretending you don’t vibe, in a way that is slightly reminiscent of a combination of Waiting For Godot and Corner Gas, or like a town from a David Lynch or Terry Gilliam movie, for those of you not familiar with the prior examples.  Nothing ever happens, of course it doesn’t. Except for when it does.

Although he writes that he doesn’t live in Thune, I bet Ken Dixon did at some point.  He handles all of this with the dark humour of someone who has been there. This makes what could be a really depressing story into one which allows you to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

So if you’re looking for a good fun quick escape read, look no further, you’ve found one. If you are looking for some social commentary, you’ve found that too.

Rating:  5/5.

The Roots of Marvis Jedd

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“Returning apprehensively to his home town of Thune, writer Clay Reston endeavors to document the early years of enigmatic musician, and fellow Thune native, Marvis Jedd. At every turn, he is reminded of the many reasons they both left as soon as they could.”

Forsaken Press is proud to present Ken Dixon’s satirical, absurdist comedy, The Roots of Marvis Jedd. Now available on Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Apple Books, Scribd, OverDrive, Tolino, Gardners, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca CloudLibrary.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082FY5R69
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/994304

The Roots of Marvis Jedd is a satirical, somewhat absurdist portrayal of small town life in the American mid-west. Baring similarities to the work of existential philosopher Albert Camus, journalist Clay Reston struggles to find a sense of meaning and purpose to his own existence and the people and events taking place around him.

When Clay Reston returns home to Thune, a place he despises, he finds the small town hasn’t changed at all in the fifteen years he’s been gone, the place and the people are exactly the same as he remembers it, much to his chagrin. But Clay hasn’t returned to Thune to reminiscence on the good old days, or reunite with old friends, he has returned, somewhat reluctantly, to write a biography chronicling the early years of the career of Thune’s most famous son, the mysterious musician, Marvis Jedd. Running into many colourful characters along the way, both familiar and unknown to him, Clay is reminded of what makes Thune such an enigmatic place.

“The town itself looked like a bunch of big tossed dice. Nothing was planned and if you didn’t grow up there you may as well give up trying to find what you were looking for. No one would help you because it was really none of their business. That attitude goes a long way toward explaining why Thune never really found its niche as a tourist mecca; “Who cares?” would never have made it as a slogan.”

“For a reason known only to him, old Arvil liked to plant himself right out in front of his property just to glare at whoever drove by. I think that’s pretty much all he did, except when LuAnne would get him to come inside and eat his lunch. With all that practice, he got that glare down to a science and it really was something to see. If you gave even the slightest thought to stopping in Thune, chances were good that you would keep right on going once Arvil got a bead on you. “


Solitary Confinement (Issue 7)

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The official weekly Forsaken Press Newsletter:

Issue 7: 14/12/2019

From the desk of the President and Editor in Chief, Mr. Cameron Walker.

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to another issue of Solitary Confinement, the official Forsaken Press newsletter. We have a massive issue for you this week with lots of exciting news and announcements to make. First off, as we have been advertising a little bit these past couple of weeks we are now closed for submissions from the 14th of December until the 30th of January for the holiday period and to sort through the submissions we have while dedicating some time and effort to other things that require our attention.

Tomorrow also marks the official release of the first Forsaken Press title released under the company’s banner, Ken Dixon’s, The Roots of Marvis Jedd. An absurdist, satirical take on small town life in the American Mid-West, it tells the story of journalist Clay Reston returning to his home town, a place he despises after a fifteen year absence. You can find it available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Scribd and Apple Books.

“Returning apprehensively to his home town of Thune, writer Clay Reston endeavors to document the early years of enigmatic musician and fellow Thune native, Marvis Jedd. At every turn, he is reminded of the many reasons they both left as soon as they could.

The Roots of Marvis Jedd is a satirical, somewhat absurdist portrayal of small town life in the American Mid-West. Baring similarities to the work of existential philosopher Albert Camus, Clay Reston struggles to find a sense of meaning and purpose to his own existence and the people and events taking place around him, while writing a biography on his home town’s most famous son, Marvis Jedd.”

Not only that, but we have another two novels scheduled for release before the year is out with Through the Gates of the Silver Key: The Best Collaborative and Ghost Written Works of H.P. Lovecraft set for release on December 23rd and the second and print editions of Cameron Walker’s tale of pillage, plunder and pirates, Devil’s Eye out December 30th.

We’re all hard at work behind the scenes, with our Social Media Manager Jenna, and our Marketing Manager Ashley, working with us to really make our marketing and social media network something impressive and innovative that offers our authors a lot of exposure, support and presenting a refined and professional image that’s eye catching and easily identifiable. Jenna is working hard on our twitter to bring you all the latest news and updates, while Ashley recently took over management of our Instagram and we are all very excited to see what she achieves with that.

Meanwhile I am hard at work helping to prepare Devil’s Eye by going over it with a fine comb, and perfecting the manuscript for its print and our new and improved second edition release. In conjunction with the myriad of other tasks I deal with while conducting the every day operations of Forsaken Press and preparing some promotional pieces for The Roots of Marvis Jedd and our future releases out later this month. Priest is working hard at designing cover art and formatting manuscripts for their Ebook and print releases. If he escapes with his sanity intact, it may very well be a miracle.

In closing we are also revamping a few things around the place as part of our campaign to enhance our image and ensure Forsaken Press meets its potential, for clients and customers alike. If you’ve visited the blog before you’ll notice a few changes with a sidebar menu and options at the bottom of the page now clearly visible as we seek to flesh the blog out a bit and make it easier to navigate. We also have some new additions coming to the Facebook page and don’t forget to look us up on DeviantArt and Tumblr.

That’s all from me for this week, stay tuned for next week’s edition, which will be the last for a while as we wind things down a bit for the holidays and focus more on behind the scenes developments we have in the works.

Warm regards,

Cameron Walker,
President and Editor in Chief,
Forsaken Press.

Solitary Confinement (Issue 6)

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The official weekly Forsaken Press Newsletter:

Issue 6: 07/12/2019

From the desk of the President and Editor in Chief, Mr. Cameron Walker.

Hello all,

It’s been a very chaotic week outside of Forsaken Press for many of our staff. What with people losing employment, having university finals, financial issues, sick pets and high anxiety provoking jobs. That’s without even getting to the issue of me trying to find more work to support myself and having both of my cats be sick and lose their appetites because of the haze of smoke that lingers over the city of Sydney. So as you can see its all on behind the scenes, but through it all we will persevere and do our very best to bring you some excellent new reading material from unknown writers.

First thing’s first. As per Murphy’s law of “If something can go wrong, it will,” we’ve had a few complications with the release of the paperback version of Devil’s Eye that was originally slated for release on December 14th. To cut a long story short, to ensure the novel is of the very highest quality we’re currently re-editing it in order to bring you a more streamlined, exciting and vibrant tale of high seas adventure. This process is taking longer than originally anticipated, hence we have had to cancel the December 14th release and reschedule it for December 30th instead. In addition to this the Ebook version of the novel will reflect the changes made in the paperback edition and will feature a brand new cover specially designed for the physical book.

We’ve had to reshuffle things with our release schedule around a bit as a result of that and other external factors, but the good news is all three of our promised releases for December will be still happening this month and we have another release slated to take Devil’s Eye’s place for a release date of December 14th.

On December 14th we will be releasing Ken Dixon’s, The Roots of Marvis Jedd. Which is a satircal look at small town life in American, seen through the eyes of journalist Clay Reston, as he seeks to write a biography on his home town’s most famous son, the mysterious Marvis Jedd. The novella will be launched for a pre-release on the 7th of December.

Other than that we are happy to announce the beginning of two new Forsaken Press programs to help promote the company on Facebook and Social Media. The first being our “Promotional Partnerships” program with other individuals, pages, companies and entities as a mutual promotion program. I am very happy to announce that our first promotional partnership is with our very own consultant and accomplished Indy writer Roxanne Bland, who’ has won numerous awards for her work.

The second being the Official Forsaken Press Web Team. Which is a group of dedicated supporters helping to promote Forsaken Press on Social Media by liking, commenting on and sharing our posts across Social Media to help expand our presence and let more people know who we are.

That’s it from me for now, but before I go I would just like to point out that we have now reached 500 followers on Facebook, which is a huge accomplishment. Thank you so much to everyone who liked our page and we hope to see you getting involved in the fun.

Warm regards and sincerest thanks,

Cameron Walker,
President and Editor in Chief,
Forsaken Press.

Interview with C. Priest Brumley: On Writing

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Hello ladies and gentlemen, Forsaken Press President and Editor in Chief Cameron Walker here. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Forsaken Press writer, our Head Graphic Artist and the maestro of madness, Mr. C. Priest Brumley for the next edition of our On Writing series of interviews. We discussed writing, horror and how writers can find inspiration for their imagination and ideas. I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as we enjoyed conducting it……..

How did you first become interested in writing?

-Always was, growing up. I recall wanting to be a writer as far back as primary school. Hell, I tried writing my first novel in 6th Grade. Fun times. I don’t know what drew me to it, it’s just always been, like sunlight or Ozzy.

Who are the major influences on your style?

-Lovecraft was a MASSIVE early inspiration. Others include Stephen King, Thomas Harris, Rosemary Edgehill, Piers Anthony, Jo Rowling, and Jim Butcher. I’m also greatly influenced by comics, in particular the works of Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Jeph Loeb.

You’re someone who is really into music, how does that impact upon your writing?

-Not as much as you’d think, to be honest. While I am a devoted metalhead, it’s rare for themes from the music I enjoy to find their way in to my works. My writing is much more inspired by film scores and recently synthwave albums. They both provide a proper ambiance conducive to me shutting my brain down long enough to write.

How do you find inspiration for stories?

-Nightmares and the human condition. I’ve had a number of medical issues over the years, primary of which is my eyesight. To combat that, I have to get injections IN my eyeball every four weeks or so. Ladies, Gentlemen, and that gorgeous technicolour rainbow in between, that is NIGHT TERROR fuel. So you save those terrors, write them down as best you can after waking, and expand on them later. Makes for effective subject matter, I’ll tell you that.

What is it about horror that makes you focus primarily on that genre?

-It’s fun and it’s versatile. Horror can be such a wide range of things, from campy and comedic to heart-stopping terror. It can be about something as generic as vampires to something as specific as spousal abuse. It’s literally anything you want it to be, and I love that.

Your first release is a collection of short stories, do you have plans to write any novels or are you primarily a short fiction writer?

-Short fiction. My span of attention is horrible, and every time I’ve tried writing longer narratives I lose track/interest/plot details/etc. super easily.So I circumvent that by not doing it. Seems like a reasonable solution to me, at least.

What part of the writing process do you find the most challenging?

-All of it. I see writing in much the same way Thomas Harris does: it’s torture. It’s a painful process that I have to be miserable to do in any meaningful capacity. Hence going 6 or so years between stories. There’s a reason I focus on my other big love, graphic design. Designing book covers gives me no end of pleasure, from the puzzle elements in finding just the right font or tweak, to the messages of elation when an author loves the cover I’ve made for them. Makes my entire day.

What is it about writing that you love the most?

-The feeling of completion after it’s done. That pure feeling never grows old.

Horror movies these days get a lot of criticism from old school fans of the genre, what’re your thoughts on the current horror movie scene?

-It’s a two-sided coin. On the one hand, there’s the studio-engineered stuff, the PG-13 bullshit that the big corporations want to shove down your throat purely to increase their profit margins. It produces the occasional gem (Occulus, etc.). On the other hand there are the artists, like always. The people who aren’t afraid to push boundaries. The Soska Sisters, Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, and more are beautifully changing the game one film at a time, and I love it. So long as there are always artists, there’s always hope.

Do you have a specific ritual in place for when you’re sitting down to write to get yourself in the mood?

-Not really. On the rare occasion that a story idea comes to me anymore, I just write it down as quickly as possible. When I go back to it for expanding/revision, I like to be in my living room where I’m comfortable, with a decent film score or synthwave album on in the background as white noise. That’s about it, really.

What’s your favourite story you’ve written and why? What’s it about?

-Nine times out of ten I’m going to say Conversations With Dead People. In the pseudo-Universe I’ve created in my stories, I’ve made zombies work slightly different than normal, being part of a hive system. This was the first true example of that, and also features my absolute favorite death across any of my stories (except maybe for The Red Recliner). As for what it’s about, well, you’ll have to read it for yourselves.

Is there any underlying social criticism or message to your stories that go beyond being entertainment?

-Yes. Take care of your eyesight, kids. It’s important. Joking aside, not really. They’re primarily morality plays, particularly the Masach stories.

Can you give us an example?

-Yes. Childish Negotiations is a warning about taking the time to be there for your children before they’re gone forever. Other stories follow along similar routes.

How much inspiration from your life experiences and surroundings can be found in your work?

– As much insofar as dreams are comprised of the collected events of the day combined with one’s rampant imagination. Sometimes they’re informed by exagerated versions of things I’ve witnessed in life, sometimes wild stories brought about from my younger days of wild drinking.

What do your friends and family think of your writing?

-They’ve been supportive from the off. The majority of my family has been really cool with the fact that I’m a creative type, even if they’re not too keen on the stories themselves. Now, I’m not too close with the majority of my family, mostly because I like to stay in my corner away from most people. But those that I do feel close to are supportive and I can only express gratitude at that fact.

Forsaken Press Quality Guidelines:

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Forsaken Press is dedicated to embracing creativity, imagination, originality and pushing the boundaries of storytelling by encouraging experimentation and thinking outside the box. As such there’s no idea that we consider too crazy, wild or out there for us to support.

However we believe in maintaining a high standard in the quality of work we publish in the quest of establishing a reputable and respected brand. This in accordance with our modus operandi means there are certain types of stories we are going to be less interested in. That’s not to say we don’t like conventional stories, not at all. Devil’s Eye, the first novel ever published by Forsaken Press, is a conventional story.

What we are not interested in is stories that are very stereotypical, cliché or have been overdone and can be found elsewhere in abundance. In addition to anything that we find morally objectionable which we have reason to believe is a testament to the author’s own views. Although it should be noted that if you put an interesting twist on these things, we will certainly hear you out. We believe in giving everyone a fair reading and if we feel it is well written enough or overcomes these barriers in some way we can certainly get behind it. This guide applies to both short stories and longer works.

Here is a list of the sort of stories/themes we are talking about:

1) It turns out nothing is real: Stories where everything turns out to be just a dream, virtual reality, a product of the protagonist’s imagination or it turns out they are insane. While there’s nothing wrong with this narrative device it is rather passé and overdone.
2) Technology is evil and natural things are good. While this can present an interesting theme within a work, it shouldn’t be the main focus of your story.
3) The protagonist is a bad guy. While we have no issues with evil characters (they’re very fun), again your story shouldn’t revolve around this fact.
4) A twist ending occurs which is predictable or falls flat. A twist ending is supposed to make the story more interesting, not the other way round. (IE: M. Night Shyamalan films).
5) It turns out the main character isn’t human after all, as the reader has been led to believe. While there’s nothing wrong with this concept in theory, it’s been done to death.
6) Story involving time travel where something happens that affects the past/future as a result. Again, this has been done many times in film, TV and literature. It’s not interesting anymore.
7) Characters speculate what it would be like if something bizarre and outside the realm of reality was true, then it turns out it is. Let’s try to be original shall we?
8) Scientist uses themselves as a test subject.
9) Stories revolving around how awesome space/time travel or some hypothetical technology is. Your story should have more depth to it than that.
10) Stories revolving around how women, people of other races/sexualities etc are inherently evil or inferior in some way. Forsaken Press isn’t here to lend psychological validation to your bigotry. Not only is it morally and factually wrong, but it’s a poor concept to revolve a story around. We suggest taking some time out for open and honest self-reflection as to the basis for your beliefs.
11) Characters spend the entire story, or an inordinate amount of time contemplating a moral dilemma of some sort. While moral dilemmas lend a story/character depth and add drama it shouldn’t be the primary focus. We do want a narrative of some sort so the story progresses somewhere.
12) A political manifesto in the guise of a fictional narrative. No one wants to read about your personal politics. While political themes are encouraged again this shouldn’t be the driving factor behind your story, especially if you’re portraying anyone who disagrees with you in an unrealistically negative light.
13) Superhero story focuses on the mundane aspects of superhero life. This has been done quite a lot already.
14) Weird, random and mysterious things happen for the sake of it. While we love weird and mysterious things there must be some sort of rhyme or reason for it, otherwise its pointless and points to poor writing.
15) The story revolves around the concept of rape, sexual assault or violence against women, usually depicted in loving detail, in a story about how it is wrong. Again Forsaken Press is not here to act as a vehicle to vent your psychological issues.
16) Real world concepts, dynamics and power structures etc are inverted. It’s overdone and is a sign of a lack of imagination.
17) Stories of someone becoming a superhero or developing superpowers. While we love these types of stories they’ve been done to death and so your story would have to involve a unique take on it to be approved.
18) Story revolves around the concept of minors being test subjects of some sort in a government facility. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it has been done a lot.
19) Stories that are a thinly veiled work of fan fiction. We’re not opposed to fan fiction or being influenced/inspired by a fictional universe, but if you write a story about a character that’s basically Batman under a different name we’re not interested. We want originality, not cheap rip offs.
20) Romance stories. While we’re not opposed to romantic relationships or subplots, romance isn’t a genre that fits with the image we seek to portray at Forsaken Press.
21) Stories about everyday life, trials and tribulations people encounter in the real world. Forsaken Press aims to focus primarily on speculative, or genre, fiction. While we are open to the idea of publishing stories set in the real-world drama stories aren’t something that fits our image. In general there has to be some “larger than life” aspect to your work that sets it aside from normal, every day life.
22) Finally Forsaken Press, like every other publisher, independent or otherwise is bound to the constraints of the law. Stories glorifying, promoting or normalising illegal activity, revolving around incest, paedophilia, rape, bestiality, terrorism, torture, murder etc are illegal in most markets and as such will be rejected instantly.
23) Supernatural romance. This genre has been done to death and is a crowded marketplace where its almost impossible to stand out. Hence Forsaken Press isn’t interested in stories of supernatural romance or your thinly veiled Twilight fan-fiction.

Now we move on to the subject of quantity. We do want to allow our writers as much freedom as possible with their own work, but by the same token we do need to establish some guidelines to ensure we are offering a professional, good quality product that is fairly priced and of sufficient length. While we firmly support the saying “quality over quantity” we also believe customers should get their money’s worth.

Forsaken Press like most publishers doesn’t sell individual short stories, nor are we interested in individual novellettes. The shortest type of single story product we want to produce is a novella which is between 20,000 – 40,000 words with novels being 40,000 and over. Single writer short story collections should be at least 40,000 words in length. Omnibus’s and anthologies released by FP should meet a minimum word count of 60,000 words. (NOTE: from 01/12/2019 until 30/01/2020 we are not taking submissions for single writer collections).

However, we are flexible with how you incorporate this into your works. Say for example you’ve written a novelette length story, if you so wish you can include it in a short story collection you are publishing. Anthologies have stricter guidelines because in order to appear professional they must be cohesive. Remember that professionalism, organisation and lay out plays an important role in a reader’s perceptions of your competence as a writer and what they deem high quality material.

Note: Forsaken Press reserves the right to alter these conditions at any time. Whether it be by editing, subtracting or making new additions to the terms discussed therein.

Copyright Forsaken Press 2019.

Solitary Confinement (Issue 5)

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The official weekly Forsaken Press Newsletter:

Issue 5: 29/11/2019

From the desk of the President and Editor in Chief, Mr. Cameron Walker.

Hello all,

As usual its been another busy and eventful week here at Forsaken Press, but I am happy to announce that things are finally settling down into some sense of normality as we get everything we need established set up and ready to roll. The editing and formatting process with a number of works for release is progressing very well and we’ll be getting those out right on schedule in the coming weeks. And you can be sure that in the coming months we’ve got a load of new releases in the works with five scheduled in the coming months and another four currently in development. We are constantly growing, picking up new authors and scheduling new material to be released under the Forsaken Press banner.

A brief look at our release schedule for the next month shows three exciting releases that you’re sure to love:

Devil’s Eye. PRINT EDITION, by Cameron Walker – Coming December 14th.

Through the Gates of the Silver Key: The Best collaborations and ghost writings of H.P. Lovecraft, edited by Cameron Walker – Coming December 23rd.

The Roots of Maris Jedd, by Ken Dixon – Coming December 30th.

Aside from the news on upcoming releases we’re happy to report that our social media network of Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, DeviantArt and Twitter are slowly, but surely growing. So if you’re on any of these platforms be sure to give us a follow and show your support. I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that next week’s issue of Solitary Confinement will include a very significant and special announcement concerning releases and submitted material, so stay tuned for that.

Plans for our Youtube channel and other forms of media and content outside the area of Social Media have been unfortunately delayed for the near future while we focus on other, more pressing matters, but we still have big plans for them in the longer term. I’m quite excited about what we have in mind, but unfortunately it will have to wait for a later date. Updates and announcements relating to that will be revealed as they become available.

Be sure to follow the official Forsaken Press blog and Facebook page as we have some great content coming for you in the near future in the form of interviews, samples, excerpts, reviews, focus pieces and related articles. Speaking of which I was recently interviewed by our wonderful Social Media Manager Jenna for the first entry in our “On Writing” interview series, right here on the blog, which I would really recommend checking out. Stayed tuned for next week’s addition to the series when I sit down with the maestro of the macabre C. Priest Brumley and discuss writing, horror and things that go bump in the night.

Lastly I would like to take the opportunity to welcome Allyson Cooper Russell to the Forsaken Press team. Allyson will be releasing her debut novel, True Companion, through us in the coming months and its sure to be a hit with fans of slow burning Sci-Fi.

That’s all from me for this week, as I said stayed tuned next week for what could possibly be our biggest announcement yet. 🙂

Thank you for all your continued support,

Cameron Walker,
President and Editor in Chief,
Forsaken Press.