NOVELIST AND STORYTELLER
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“Good God, I’ve outdone Shakespeare with a biro and a hangover”
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Explore my novels and novellas:
Welcome to my publishing website. I’m a novelist and storyteller. Some of my novels and novellas are collaborations with inspirational friends who have come to me with their ideas, and I am working with them to bring their ideas to life.
Thank you, Dominika, Brandy, Graves, Tracy and Justin.
Others are true grit from the heart.
Author bio:
In my writing career, I’ve held the world to ransom (Red Light) written a national anthem (The Trouble on Pleasant Island) and stopped World War Three. I recently wrote a rousing anthem for a rebel army (Hive Mind) and even wrote a eulogy for a chicken (Noah’s Pit Stop.) I’ve also seen a woman sell her soul to the dark side (Reverence and Deliverance) and now I’m planning to rob a lot of bank robbers in London (Nothing personal, I’m just broke.) I’ve even had two magicians set adrift at sea in the Arctic Circle plotting revenge (The SS Bella Luna.) Most recently I’ve been hunting werewolves in Russia in the 17th century (Mortal Creatures of the Dead.) I’m diving into the 90s Heavy Metal scene with real life experience and a sacrificial fan (Load Point..) And to end it all why not become a Serial Killer that cannot be caught! (Shelf Life.)
I’ve created nasty characters that readers truly hated (which is a good thing) and created heroes and heroines that readers fell in love with. I’ve even had an Italian female stalker/super fan, phoning me up a 2 am to discuss chapters.
Genres: I’ve recently started writing horror and my wonderful friend Dominika and I have a publishing contract for the Lycan trilogy.
I enjoy writing comedy, action thrillers, dystopian, prison breaks, heists and historical stuff.
I live in the UK with my Dictaphone, note pads and a small family of bonsai trees.
Mortal Creatures of the Dead
A novella – Horror – The start of the “Katherine the Wer Hunter trilogy.” The first two chapters are free of charge below. The follow up parts of the trilogy are Lycalfall and Lycan Outlaw.
My first step into the horror genre (with my wonderful friend Dominika) and I loved it.
It’s 1642 in Russia and Katherine, a twenty-five-year-old woman, hunts werewolves for a living with her horse, Barley, and her dog, Tsar. Awesome fight scenes and locations and we have two more follow-up novellas to complete the trilogy. We even have a publishing contract with Austin Macauley Publishers.
The big press release:
We even had the first two chapters narrated by a famous horror narrator on YouTube which currently has over 11K hits and a ton of likes. Enjoy. Hopefully, the rest will be released soon when he finds the time.
YouTube: Open link to hear it narrated with pictures!
Amazon: Buy it here on Amazon
Ebook: E Book
Lulu.com: Buy it here on Lulu.com
Top reviews from the United Kingdom posted on Amazon
Best book of the year
5.0 out of 5 stars The best novella ever ❤ for a enchanting werewolf story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 November 2023
The book was so beautiful and brilliant I can’t wait for the next one to come out….because I will buy it instantly. Simon and Dominika have told me they have another two follow-up books in the works. This is brilliant.
P M Sayers
4.0 out of 5 stars A fresh take on this genre
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 October 2023
I would recommend this book as I really enjoyed the plot twists and clever way that the story is structured. The writing is perfectly descriptive and enables the reader to immerse themselves in each scene. Great work!
Louisa
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read 🙂
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2021
This book was gifted to my partner by Simon, I said I would happily read it to see what it entails. It caught me by surprise on several occasions how the story takes various twists, leaving you eager to find out what happens next, would highly recommend to anyone.
Lycanfall
The second book in the “Katherine the Wer Hunter Trilogy.” Katherine continues her quest to find the Lycan that made her and remove the curse.
Coming out any day now…
First two chapters available below.
Lycan Outlaw
The culmination of the “Katherine the Wer Hunter Trilogy.” After being betrayed Katherine joins forces with a team of professional hunters/mercenaries to finish her quest.
Coming out in about a year
The SS Bella Luna.
Coming out in about two years… A lost-at-sea novel.
It’s loosely based on the mysterious steam ship, the SS Baychimo. A voyage of epic proportions. Thrilling landscapes and people.. I started writing this back in 2019, but, huh, life gets in the way, right? Then you start writing comedies, horrors and bank heists… life is fun.
Set in 1958, the story follows Jimmy and Jean Fayden, The Fantastic Faydens, a husband and wife team who are hired by their agent to be a magic act on a steamship travelling the Northwest Passage from East Newfoundland, Canada, to Alaska. The ship encounters many troubles on her way and is eventually cast adrift into the icy sea. Walter P Douglas, the President of the Douglas Shipping Line, is hell bent on covering up the loss of his ship to get the insurance money, but our magician friends have other ideas.
The SS Baychimo is still adrift to this day… let that sink in.
And the first two chapters are FOC below. Enjoy.
Nothing personal, I’m just broke.
Coming out in about a year. A heist novella set in London.
They didn’t rob the bank.
They robbed the robbers.
Sam’s broke, bitter, and barely out of college. Cathy’s sharper than anyone he’s ever met and just reckless enough to make this work. Together, they plan to rob a crew of professional thieves, wait for them to pull off a perfect heist… then swoop in to take the prize.
Mask on, crowbars ready. Just grab the cash and vanish. But London’s a twisted city, and clean getaways do not exist. Now there’s blood in the lockup, drones overhead, and too many people asking the wrong questions.
The plan was always about money. But somewhere between the lies and the getaway car, it turned into something else. Something real. Maybe even something worth saving.
Two lovers on the run. One stolen fortune.
And no clue what happens next.
Citadel.
A gritty prison break novella – Coming out in about a year.
Blood, riots, mayhem and two guards who fight not only escaped inmates but also an over-protective AI that controls the fifty-five-storey black site on the outskirts of the city. The AI can’t distinguish between good and bad. It must protect humans according to its prime directives, but it causes more problems than it solves.
Thanks to a natural disaster, and the AI, two nefarious inmates have been released within the prison and meet up to unleash hell while trying to escape. The building is on fire. The inmates are either cooking or fleeing. It’s a hell of a rollercoaster that only goes up.
First three revised chapters are FOC below:
The Magic of Rosehip Cottage
A novella – Coming out in about a year.
Inspired by the wonderful conversations I’ve had over many years with my wonderful friend Graves (who is also an author.)
A dark farce about three strangers converging on a lock keeper’s cottage in the dead of winter in Basingstoke, Hampshire. The lock keeper welcomes them with open arms, unaware of the dark pasts they bring. As snow and ice trap them under one roof, their peculiarities escalate into chaos, outwitting even the army that descends upon their frozen refuge.
Reverence and Deliverance.
Also known as The Diary of Eleanor B.
Coming out any day now.
A copy of an occult diary I found in a loft in the city of Bath, England.
The first few months of her diary are below FOC. Be wary….
I was not supposed to find this diary. That much became clear the moment I cracked open the leather binding, the musty scent of old paper curling into the air like a whisper from the past. The ink, dark and deliberate, had not faded. The words burned with the kind of conviction that only comes from someone who has seen too much. Eleanor B… the name was unfamiliar, yet the weight of her story pressed against me like an unseen hand on my shoulder.
It was tucked away in an attic, wedged between forgotten volumes, its edges frayed and singed, as if someone had once considered destroying it, but failed. Perhaps they tried. Perhaps they burned it, tore the pages, and cast it into the sea, only to wake and find it resting on their bedside table once more. A book that would not be lost.
Only, it was not a single book.
Bound together with ancient twine, I found two identical volumes, one the continuation of the other. A single diary spanning two books, filled from cover to cover in Eleanor’s hand. She had run out of space, yet her story had refused to end.
Maybe I should have left them where they lay, buried beneath time and dust. But I didn’t. I turned the first page. And now, so have you.
I do not know if I believe everything written here. But what I do know is that Eleanor never meant for this to be published. This was meant to be read in whispers, in candlelit rooms, in the presence of those who already understood. And yet, here it is. In your hands. I, however, still hold the originals.
I have taken a few publishing liberties with the book’s format, but only to preserve it as closely as possible to how she wrote it.
Unlike the previous readers of this testament, I was able to set the books down. I walked away. Whatever they whispered to me in the dark, I chose not to listen. And yet, somehow, I still feel their weight.
What happens next is up to you.
This is the damning tale of Eleanor B. A book of the occult. A descent into madness, or perhaps, into the clearest understanding of all. She sought power, she sought greatness, and she found them in the ink and the blood of an ancient pact. But there is always a price.
Now, her words are here, bound within these pages. A diary. A confession. A warning. Read, if you must. But beware… there comes a point beyond which you will not merely be a reader. The book watches. The book listens. And should you turn one page too many… you may never be free again.
Noah’s Pit Stop
Pre-Dystopian fiction
My Magnum Opus.
A pre-dystopian novel. It starts at the end of WW2 and ends up in present-day Namibia. It took five years to write and it’s just over 250,000 words. An epic story from the days of WW2 to the present day. Neo Nazis vs Neo Hippies fighting it out in a Biodome in Namibia. Lots of serious stuff but a fair bit of comedy to keep you gripped.
Amazon Paperback: Buy it here at Amazon
Kindle: Buy it here on Amazon Kindle
The Fifth Nail
Coming out in about two to three years. This one is going to be epic.
Beneath the ruins of Reading Abbey, something has been chained for nearly 500 years. Not a myth. Not a metaphor. But a fallen angel, cursed with hunger, twisted by hatred, and bound in darkness by the Church itself. They could not kill it. So, they trapped it. And placed before it, just out of reach, the one thing that could end its existence: The Fifth Nail, a relic soaked in the blood of Christ, never used at Golgotha, now weaponised by Heaven and feared by Hell.
Every 33 years, a Vatican emissary returns to renew the seals. But this year, the seals are breaking.
And someone has moved the Nail.
Red Light
Action Thriller
My First Novel.
A freelance professional mercenary and thief is hired by a Colombian drug cartel but things go terribly wrong. He is given task after task to right his wrongs and eventually turns to fight the cartel and the global cocaine trade while holding the world to ransom.
Amazon: Buy it here on Amazon
Kindle: Kindle download
John George
5.0 out of 5 stars A “manual” to eradicate drugs from the planet
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2006
This is an important, significant book. It is not, as it may appear, due to the profusion of drug related adventures on the market, just another such novel with gratuitous violence thrown in. This book takes the whole global and personal issues of drugs and converts it very appropriately into the medium of a novel, however as the reader nears the end, the cover of “fiction” becomes less apparent. It is a book with a strong message and moral. The reader is frequently called to question the validity, or rather the truth of religion. It is very much written in today’s language very fast, never predictable. It is a must for anyone that is remotely concerned with ridding the world of drugs. It is an extraordinary, relevant, poignant and importantly, exceptionally well researched story. It is more than a novel, rather a manual about global drugs eradication. If this book is not an outright success, then there is no justice in the world.
Hive Mind
A dystopian novel about saving the bees and humanity.
Coming in any day now.
The year is 2065. A dystopian novel set in the Philippines. After a huge CME has wiped out 90% of the world’s electricity mankind is rebuilding but a mega conglomerate controls a huge portion of global trade and there is one very scarce resource the world needs. Join Frank and Honora as they battle the corrupt corporation. This book was conjured by the brilliant mind of my wonderful friend Brandy.
The Trouble on Pleasant Island
A comedy about stopping WW3 set on the fictional island of Naruji in the South Pacific (but based on the islands of Nauru and Fiji combined.) The President of the world’s third smallest country is up for re-election but the country is broke. Then $30M worth of cocaine washes up on his shores. Then throw into the mix four opposing naval powers, two drug smugglers and a ton of laughs.
I have even posted a copy of this to the President of Nauru for his feedback and opinion. I hope to post his reply on Amazon soon.
First two chapters FOC below the image.
Amazon: Buy it here on Amazon – latest edit – much slicker than the original.
Kindle – coming soon.
Overshadowed.
Coming out in about two years.
Tag line: My mum is overprotective. P.S. She’s dead.
Set in the early part of the 1900’s a young girl, Andréa lives on a barge travelling between Birmingham to London delivering coal, wool, meat and other sundries. Her Father is a crooked thief but her mother is unaware. Her mother is brutally murdered but continues to look after Andréa from beyond the grave.
A novel by me and my buddy Justin Haycock.
Beneath the Devil’s Canopy
Zaire Drift
A full-on mickey take on the jungle romance novel. Strap in, it might be a bumpy ride. Think Jungle Jim and Alan Quartermaine.
Coming out in about two years… if Chief Kalembe will let me out of my cell.
1952. Deep in the heart of the Congo, where enchanted jungles hum with ancient power and the rivers whisper secrets in the dark, three treasures, older than empires, await beneath the ruins of a shattered civilisation. Rupert Drake, disgraced academic and emphatic explorer, has uncovered a map. One that points to the lost city of Umvanu, split in two by betrayal and an ancient civil war, and now guarded by deadly curses. Ruby Fairfax, runaway heiress with impeccable aim and very little patience, is supposed to be getting married. Instead, she teams up with Rupert and flees into the jungle in search of freedom, fortune, and something worth believing in. They are hunted by the vengeful Lord Randolph Fortescue-Smitherington-Hall III, a man with a private army, an ego the size of Belgium, a nifty moustache, and absolutely no sense of humour. Between them and the treasures lie ancient spider cults, sacred snake temples, enchanted flowers with impossible powers, and Lulubelle, a goat with a taste for anarchy and her own militia. The jungle doesn’t care who you are. The Gods demand blood. And the ancient city of Umvanu is… not really paying attention.
💎 Like Tokyo Drift, but with less budget and more canoes.
💎 Winner of the Prestigious Wakanda Best Jungle Cinematic Excellence Award
💎 Recipient of the Zambesi River Outstanding Snake Scene Honour
💎 Voted “Best Use of Canoes in a Motion Picture” by the Zaire Film Critics Circle
💎 Winner of the Coveted “Most Dramatic Glance in a Jungle” Award at the Kinshasa Film Festival
“A tour-de-force of jungle intrigue and bad decisions. I laughed. I cried I nearly forgot to pay the witch doctor!” – Chief Baraka.
“Beneath the Devil’s Canopy is what cinema was meant to be!” – The Jungle Times
Here’s a taster of what you’re in for…
The church doors banged open, echoing like gunfire across the vaulted ceiling. The crowd gasped as Rupert stormed in, his hair wild, shirt half-untucked, a battered leather satchel slung across his shoulder.
‘Ruby! I’ve found it! I found the map to the lost city of Umvanu!’
A beat of stunned silence. Ruby’s heart clawed against her ribs, the weight of Lord Randolph Fortescue-Smitherington-Hall III pressing against her like a suffocating corset.
She always wanted Rupert. The rogue explorer with the dangerous grin and that noble chin that jutted forward in stubborn defiance, like he could stare down an empire and still come out on top.
Without a second thought, Ruby turned on her heel and dashed down the aisle, leaving Randolph spluttering and the congregation in stunned dismay.
Rupert caught her in his arms, pulling her close, his lips grazing her ear, ‘Let’s go, Ruby. Before he comes after us.’
They bolted from the church, clambering into Rupert’s battered convertible, its engine rumbling like a beast ready to devour the road.
As they sped toward Plymouth docks, Ruby glanced back once, only once, and saw Randolph’s crimson-faced fury at the church door. But it was too late. They were gone.
Africa awaited.
Load Point.
Coming out in about two years.
I started writing this in 2014 with my wonderful friend Tracy. I found the files with over 35K words of pure rock rivalry and tales from the recording studios. It is now being resurrected like a leather-clad ageing rocker that still sleeps in his favourite Pantera t-shirt.
The 27 Club meets the riff that never ends.
Birmingham, 1993. Load Point and the Strato Zombies were never meant to share a spotlight. From the first pub gig to sold-out stadiums, their rivalry only got louder, dumber and more dangerous. Stolen songs, trashed dressing rooms, drug-fuelled fights, and the infamous gig where Load Point’s drummer hurled his prosthetic leg into the mosh pit like it was part of the setlist.
But nothing topped the night a fan was sacrificed – voluntarily, sort of – just to prove one band was more hardcore than the other. At that moment it got them banned from three countries and canonised in two fanzines. This is not a love story. This is not a redemption arc. This is what happens when two unstoppable egos meet a decade that glamorised self-destruction and the only rule is: louder.
Load Point is a blood-and-beer-soaked anthem to the bands that tore up the ’90s by the roots and still hear ringing when they close their eyes.
Somewhere between the lawsuits and the leather trousers, both bands forget where the music ends and the madness begins.
Based on real venues, half-true stories, and fully believable lies, Load Point is a brutal love letter to every band that nearly made it, completely lost it, or just flat-out refused to die quietly.
Accolades:
“Five strings, four chords, zero survivors.” – Riff Witch Magazine
“We tuned to drop D. Got buried in drop dead.” – Xander Grey, Lead vocalist, Load Point
“Two Doom Bands That Will Hex Your Ex” – Riff Witch Magazine
“The louder they played, the faster the grave came.” – Mr Best, former manager of both bands.
“They sold their souls for the gig. The devil kept the receipt.” – Tinnitus Authority
“Fame. Fire. Feedback. Funeral.” – Stage Dive Ruins Magazine
‘We reviewed this book under a blood moon and haven’t slept since. 4/5 Skülls” – Sküllkrack Magazine
‘I finished it and immediately filed a noise complaint against myself.’’ – Kevin “Kevlar” Larson, Lead Singer, Strato Zombies
“Makes you want to punch God in the face.” – Andy Gale, Drummer, Load Point.
“Warning: Reading this may summon your ex’s band.” – Load Point street team graffiti
“I tuned my guitar to the first page. Now it screams on its own.” – Juno Graves, Bassist, Reaper Riff
Shelf Life
Dark, twisted and coming out any day now. I might even give it away for FREE.
We all have someone we wish had never existed. Someone who tainted our past, warped our future. We tell ourselves we’d never pick up an axe at 3 am and knock on a neighbour’s door, right?
But what if, like Tina, you stumbled across a diabolically foolproof way to make them disappear? You’d use it, right?
No mess. No fuss. No sweat.
And best of all… no bodies to hide.
She clocks in just before closing time at Willowstones, a quiet bookstore in Reading with a deadly secret. The ghosts here aren’t just stories they’re part of a system. A system Tina’s discovered and twisted to her own ends.
She’s no ordinary night guard.
Some lives are meant to expire. Tina just speeds up the process.
Connect with us
Newbury, Berkshire, UK
+44 7761975538
simon.c.young@gmail.com or simon.c.young@mcotd.uk and dominikabzdek@mcotd.uk
The image on the left is from the TV show La Révolution but perfectly depicts Katherine and her stallion Barley in Mortal Creatures of the Dead.