Okay, they never really went away, but that’s not the point…
So this week saw the rerelease of Dead Branches and Normal, acquired by Crystal Lake Publishing from Bloodshot Books. I’ll always be thankful for Bloodshot Books for recognising something in these books and putting them out there, but they’ve not had the best time of it lately.
When someone wants to publish your book, that’s an amazing feeling. The first time in particular feels like the culmination of years of hard work; it feels like some kind of validation for throwing all those words at the screen for so damn long. But you can’t shake the feeling that you don’t quite deserve it. So when things don’t quite go as they should, you kind of accept that, because deep down, you know you were never worthy in the first place.
I’m talking about my situation here, but I think I’m touching on something true for a lot of authors. The imposter feeling is very real. I didn’t say anything. I figured things would sort themselves out. And yes, they have now, but that was through no action of my own.
I feel I’ve left these books in limbo for a couple of years, unable to really promote them or talk about them. When people have asked which of my books I’d suggest they start with, I’ve often wanted to tell them about Dead Branches, but didn’t really feel there was much point.
Now I feel like I can shout about them again.
Dead Branches is set in the present and in 1990. It’s an ambiguous novel. You can read it as one full of monsters, one full of imagination, or a little of both. It’s set during the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Tom’s best friend, John goes missing. But as long as England stay in the World Cup, Tom’s sure John will be okay… Inspired by a deck of Horror Top Trumps, Tom goes on a quest for the truth, but what he discovers along the way may change him forever.
It’s a novel very rooted in place. A typical Fenland village, like the one in which I grew up, is featured here, and I’m proud when people comment on how authentic the sense of place is here.
Normal is Dead Branches’ weird cousin. If Dead Branches is a novel about a kid who goes missing, Normal is about one who comes back. Ted Wallace wakes on the bank of a river, having been missing for seven months. Returning tears his family apart every bit as much as going missing did. Ted has no idea where he has been and is left with strange scars on his body. Ted’s mother is full of anger with no focus because of Ted’s lack of memory. Ted’s father starts to suspect the boy who returned is not his son at all. And Ted’s sister, Lola feels more abandoned and isolated than ever.
I had such fun writing this. Each family member has their own point-of-view chapters as the action switches between them. The ending is pretty out there. I left a lot of the page which has been a little divisive, but I hope more people will be able to discover it now.
I’m thankful to Crystal Lake Entertainment for picking these up. They’ve put out some great titles in the past, and it’s a real honour to be among those authors.