Coming Soon: “He Knows When You Are Sleeping”

Started work on a special Christmas story this evening, and thought I would share a few opening paragraphs with you …

I had only planned one short story this Christmas, but I have notes for at least three. Hopefully I will have enough time to write them all before Christmas is well and truly upon us.

This first story features the long overdue return of “Liason to the Strange” Dr. Hershell Grey, last seen in the story “The God Trap” that I wrote for Insomnia’s “Choices” anthology.

So, without further ado … he’s the teaser …

The snow crunched satisfying underneath Dr. Hershell Grey’s feet as he trudged across the car park of the small country pub, lost somewhere in the heart of middle England. Around them, the village was silent save for the creaking of the trees as their boughs were bent by the gradual accumulation of snow and the distant sound of traffic. The pub had been closed for hours, and only the fairy lights that were slung across the windows and underneath the gabels were still on, defiantly burning in blues and reds and greens against the backgroup of endless white. The owners were no doubt asleep, blissfully unaware of the visitor in their car park.

The visitor the Dr. Grey had come to see.

Hershell could hear the steady trudge of the soldiers boots behind him. They kept their distance, respectful of his assumed rank if not the gravity of the situation that they found themselves in.

“Stay back,” he warned them. “I can see him.”

Slumped against a makeshift diorama of a nativity scene, a film of snow slowly enveloping him, was the unmistakable shape of Santa Claus.

“It’s just a guy in a suit,” grumbled a voice from behind Dr. Grey. It was the unmistakeable Northern English growl of Captain Jennings, Hershell’s liason to the British Army and a man of conveniently limited imagination.

“Keep thinking that,” replied Dr. Grey. “It’s important.”

Jennings did little more than grunt in reply, but acquiesed to Grey’s order to stay where he was, as did the men under his command. Grey meanwhile crept closer, his shoes squeeking against the snow underfoot. As he approached, the scarlet and black figure shifted, loosening some of the snow from its back and releasing its grip on a bottle of brown liquid. The bottled skidded towards Grey, carried on the slight incline of the car park.

“Rum,” muttered Grey, as the bottle passed him. “Hardly the most festive tipple. You might be right after all, Jennings.”

Without warning something shifted underfoot, a rumble that seemed to come from every point around them. Snow shifted on the room of the pub and dropped down in heavy sheets onto the ground below, scattering the beer garden furniture, as the silence of the village was pierced by the braying and screeching of car alarms. A window shattered as a crack appeared in one wall of the pub, snaking up from the ground in moments.

“Then again,” Grey thought to himself, cursing his earlier doubts. He had been the UN’s “Chief Liason” to the strange, unusual, mythic, and unexplained for over twelves years, and he had dealt with his fair share of “Christmas incidents” whilst overseeing dozens more at the same time each year. Mostly, that meant just sitting with a bemused and stupified Santa until the sun came up on Christmas morning. But sometimes, it meant the “Chief Liason” who was the one who signed off on the bullet that turned something strange and usual and mythic into something cold, and dead, and ready for an incinerator.

Tonight didn’t feel like either of those type of nights.

Tonight felt like one of those “save the whole world” nights.

Coloured page from Hypergraphia

Hyper001_colour_mailI received this fantastic page from Valia today. Although the final print of the story in Insomnia’s “Survival” anthology will be in black and white, the colours were simply too fantastic for me to keep them tucked away in my inbox.

A disturbing amount of people how now joined our “I want to be killed by Chris and Valia” Facebook group and we are having great fun coming up with horrible ways to dispose of you all.

As far as I know “Survival” will be out in time for the Bristol Comic Expo.

Valia Kapadai will kill you

hypergraphia_facebookgrouppicSo …

It started as a harmless bit of fun, a Twitter hashtag kick about between Valia, Rich McAuliffe, and me. Hypergraphia, you see, needs victims. Lots of victims. As Valia does a fine line in likenesses and cameos, we thought it would be funny to kill of Rich. So did other people. Then … those same people wanted us to kill them as well.

They don’t know how we’ll do it. They don’t know how the story ends. But they want in. Personally, I think that is just plain weird. Nice weird, in a “that would be cool, Chris” way, but still weird. Weird is the common demoninator in this fraction of oddness.

So …

Now there is a Facebook group for people who want Valia and I to kill them, and its growing.

I’m writing this blog post now not to promote it, the damned thing seems to have a life of its own, but just to go on record that whatever happens next … the story was already written. Honestly.

First pencilled pages for Hypergraphia

I received the first pencilled pages yesterday for my new Insomnia story “Hypergraphia” this week, drawn by the very talented Valia.

hypergraphia_pencils_002I can’t say much about the story without spoiling it, but suffice to say that this once is a heady mix of Greek mythology and Faerie lore, and should have hypergraphia_pencils_001enough little “Easter Eggs” in it to satisfy everyone. As always, I’ve had a great time going overboard with the research.

I’m hoping Valia will have time to include some cameos from my writing alumni, as there is room for plenty of extras. Of course, as this is one of my stories, and Insomnia seem to be foolishly giving me free reign again … they may not be so please to be included as will be to see them there.

I’ve put some simple letters over Valia’s pencils, so you can get a bit more of a feel for what the story is all about.

Hypergraphia to appear in Insomnia’s “Survival” anthology

What do bloggers, private detectives, and faerie princes all have in common?

They are all in Hypergraphia, a new story appearing in Insomnia’s “Survival” anthology.

This time around I have been teamed up with the extremely talented Valia, who has a line in moody artwork that will certainly suit the story very well indeed … unsuprisingly, this is a dark one folks!

The previous Insomnia anthology, Choices, sold extremely well at the Bristol Comic Con and is currently available via Amazon. The book is consistently picking up good reviews, a testament to the editorial direction of the team from Insomnia as well as the very talented creators who contribute their time and hard work.

So, keep your eyes peeled for “Survival” whilst I search for a cure for Hypergraphia