I didn’t plan to write this book.
At the start of the year, I thought I knew what I was doing. Haunted 5 was there, waiting — the natural next step in your favourite series. And mine. I’d planned to write that, and maybe something else alongside it. Something small. Just a whisper of a story. And I even made a start.
But then, something else stepped in.
And it hasn’t let go since.
“Every gift has its curse.”
I don’t remember how the new gothic tale came to be — and that’s not me being evasive. I genuinely don’t. These things creep in sideways. One minute you’re thinking about your next cup of coffee, the next you’re meandering through the moors… then staring at a northeast coastline that doesn’t exist, wondering what happened in that old gift shop carved into its cliffs.
There’s a woman.
There’s a town that feels… wrong.
And there’s something waiting…something steeped in myth…something terrifying.
I still don’t know what to call it.
But it’s taking shape.
“Some stories don’t like to be named too early. Especially the ones that never really died.”
The skeleton draft is almost complete. That first raw shape of the story — brittle in places, but already breathing. And yes, it’s gothic.
It’s eerie.
And there’s a gift shop at the heart of it all.
But you won’t find fridge magnets or tartan teddy bears inside.
Only gifts.
And the occasional curse.
What about Haunted 5?
It’s still there. Still whispering.
Work on the skeleton draft has started. I’ve even written the opening — and I love it. That one’s personal. And heavy. And it will come.
But this… whatever this is… came louder. And I’ve learned not to ignore stories when they arrive with this much intent.
So here we are.
A new book is coming — not tomorrow, not next week, but, as always, currently slated for the darker side of the year.
And I’m writing. Properly writing.
Which, for me, is everything.
“To speak too much of it now feels like tempting something to stir.”
Not that I’m superstitious at all. You believe me, right?
More soon.
Tony
