Simon Bestwick

[simonbestwick]

Thanks to the BFS and Ally Bird for giving me a space all of my very own...

I've been writing since 1997, with a wide range of short stories published in the UK and the US.  Vaguely notable events include:

The title story of my first collection, A Hazy Shade Of Winter, was reprinted by Ellen Datlow in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror #18.

My story Hushabye appeared in Ellen Datlow's anthology Inferno.

My novella The Narrows, was shortlisted for the 2009 British Fantasy Award, alongside the likes of Stephen King, Joe Hill, Tim Lebbon, Gary McMahon and Simon Clark, and reprinted in Best Horror Of The Year #1.

A Hazy Shade Of Winter was published by Ash-Tree Press in 2004; my second collection, Pictures Of The Dark, came out from Gray Friar Press in 2009. 

My first novel, Tide Of Souls, was published by Abaddon Books last year; I’ve just finished a second and will be looking for a publisher shortly before starting work on the third.  Most recent publication is a short story, The Suicide Chairs, in the anthology Apparitions; further stories are forthcoming in various places including the Solaris Books anthology End Of The Line (ed. Jonathan Oliver), and a novella, Angels Of The Silences, will be out this year from Pendragon Press.

All this and a day job too.  Well, it keeps me out of mischief.

[simonbestwick]

Drat! I thought I'd put in italics and hyperlinks and everything.  Grr...

Oh, and by the way- there's also a blog where I occasionally pontificate, ramble or rant...

http://simon-bestwick.blogspot.com/

S.

[Matthew Fryer]

Evening sir.
Glad to hear you've finished another novel. Keep us posted!

[simonbestwick]

Cheers Matt!

Well- here's a nice development from Dark Delicacies' website...

http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=14214

Just scroll on down to Paperback Fiction and check the number 3 slot...

[Stephen Theaker]

I enjoyed your interview with Martin for Dark Horizons, Simon. Thanks for that! It went to press last week.

[ChrisT]

Angels Of The Silences, will be out this year from Pendragon Press.

Crikey, I forgot about that for a second... and it's a cracker people!

[Mark West]

A novella - and from PP - looking forward to it!

[Dave Price]

Simon, really enjoyed your classy little collection 'A Hazy Shade of Winter'. Good Jamesian chillers with a modern Bestwickian twist (loved the opening line of The Crows').

[simonbestwick]

Steve, Chris, Mark and Dave- many thanks!

[DFL]

In common with others on this BFS Board, I have carried out a real-time review of this author's work.

http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/pictures_of_the_dark__by_simon_bestwick.htm
des

[steveduffy]

Simon, really enjoyed your classy little collection 'A Hazy Shade of Winter'. Good Jamesian chillers with a modern Bestwickian twist (loved the opening line of The Crows').

Can't argue with any of that!  I really enjoyed A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER, and everything that I've read of Simon's since.

[allybird]

A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER - great book! And wonderful cover by Paul Lowe. Published by Ash-Tree Press.

[Simon Strantzas]

I found "Hazy Shade" eye-openingly good. It always amazed me it didn't make a bigger splash.

[allybird]

PICTURES OF THE DARK



'23 despatches from a world very like ours, but where those dark places take on a life of their own.
The damaged and forlorn men and women in these stories pit themselves against their own demons or worlds gone mad,
uncover the rot at society’s core or in their own souls - but they’re all caught by the dark.  And nobody gets away clean.'

[simonbestwick]

Des, Steve, Ally aid Simon- thank you one and all.

Simon- yes, I always hoped 'Hazy Shade' would have a bigger impact than it did.  Trouble is, Ash-Tree cater to a bit of a niche market- lovers of the classic ghost story- and horror as a genre is a very broad church.  So I think it registered within that sector, but not much outside, despite the fine efforts of Ms Datlow.  None of which is meant as a criticism of Ash-Tree, by the way, merely an observation.  Of course, it could just be that it wasn't enough like Dan Brown.   

One of the impulses behind 'Pictures Of The Dark' was to put a very different collection together, one basically showcasing all the other stuff I'd done.  Paul Finch was something of an inspiration there- you only have to look at his work to see how many changes can be rung, how many different stripes of horror there are to be written in.