As an author, I have the privilege of writing horror stories that amuse and entertain. However, I’m also blessed to have the avid support of such readers, people who support me, follow me, and – frankly – enable me to pursue my dream career.

Without them, this awe-inspiring journey would not be possible.

All Tied Up With String (ATUWS) is my answer to this; a thank you to those readers.

In 2016, I proposed an anthology; fourteen stories from fourteen dedicated readers. I placed an open call on Facebook – the only rule being that they must have purchased a physical print copy from me in the past – and within hours I had a compendium of people message me. All Tied Up With String was generated from this interest. In fact, I had to turn several people away on a first-come first-serve basis.

That can only mean one thing; will there be a follow up? Watch this space…

To create personalised stories is nothing new, many writers do this with varying degrees of success, but it allows the readers to interact and chat with their favourite indie authors. This personal interaction makes the reading journey all the more worthwhile. With ATUWS, I wanted to do something different. In many personalised stories, people use a reader’s fears to generate a structured horror tale. A proven strategy, yes, but I went in a different direction.

Instead of using fears, I decided to manipulate a reader’s favourite thing. Be it chocolate cake, video games, rock music, turkey dinosaurs (yes, really), yo-yos, the sea, sleep, their beloved pet; nothing was off limits. This was a huge challenge in itself – a horror story about turkey dinosaurs, people! – but a hugely rewarding one. Not only was I crafting stories to a limited theme, but I was creating truly original pieces with the readers involved in their own stories. To see a reader react to their story and thank you personally for making it a special moment; this is what the career is all about.

Originally planned as a mammoth collection – which will be released in December 2017, see the cover above – each story of All Tied Up With String is currently available on Amazon, through the Kindle Unlimited scheme. Subscribers can read the stories for free! If you just fancy the odd tale, they can be purchased for 99p/99c respectively. As mentioned, the collection will be released in full during the Christmas period, with a foreword from Rob McEwan, co-director at Dark Chapter Press. 2017 is going to be an exciting year, and ATUWS is a huge part of this. The individual stories for ATUWS can be downloaded here.

Thank you to the readers. You’re the reason I do this, and creating this collection was a total honour.