Author: Tom

A Scotsman who lives in England. An ex-Serviceman (23 years), ex-Retail (25 years). From 2007 - Creative Writer and Artist.

Beyond the Comfort Zone

On By TomIn Achievement, Apocalyptic, author ideas, collections, General, Insight, Novel, post-apocalyptic, Promotion, sci-fi, self-publishing, series, thriller, trilogy2 Comments

***** Sylvia: Beyond the Apocalypse is now available *****

As many writers do, I push myself in my craft. There’s little point in creating characters who are compelled to operate outside of their comfort zone if the author is taking the soft option.

I profess to be a multi-genre, multi-discipline author. In other words, I write stories across a wide variety of topics and I work on novels, novellas, short stories, and poetry.

For this reason, I dipped my toe in the waters of the post-apocalyptic genre, uncertain if it would result in the completion of a story. As things turned out, Light at The End: Surviving the Apocalypse became the first tale in a trilogy. I’m pleased to report that the three books are among my most popular titles. 

Sylvia: Beyond the Apocalypse, is a spin-off from Light at The End – The Trilogy. Like most spinoffs, Sylvia’s backstory relies heavily on the trilogy that spawned the idea, and will appeal to anyone who has read the original tales. Unsurprisingly, the main character of this book is Sylvia, however I’ve used the story as a vehicle to elaborate on the world inhabited by the characters who peopled the original trilogy. Time (and reviews), will tell if I’ve done the job well.

Codename: Nightshade was the first spinoff story from the Beyond the Law trilogy, and apart from featuring Nightshade, the tale introduced Foxglove, a new heroine.

Codename: Foxglove is now my priority Work in Progress, and yes, it’s another crime thriller. Foxglove provides continuity and will see the end of the BTL series. I enjoy the creation of a trilogy but if there is a downside it is that the author becomes a hostage to the story.

My other main project this year is Crusader, which will be developed as a standalone crime thriller. The main work with Jason, his friends, and foes, will be later in the year but it’s always good to create characters as they come to mind, placing them in scenarios to see what happens.

For those of you who like an insight, the first chapter of each of my WIP is available at:

https://tombensoncreative.com/work-in-progress/

 As always, comments are welcome.

Tom

Next Steps by Tom Benson

On By TomIn Uncategorized

Posted on my friend and fellow author, Penny Luker’s blog.

pennyluker's avatarpennyluker

I invited author, Tom Benson to give us an insight about his latest anthology, Next Steps: and other stories. Here it is. Welcome to this site, Tom.

I’m a multi-genre author who enjoys various writing disciplines, and I’ve found that ideas for short stories are never far away. Combined with this, of course, is the opportunity to create another collection. I understand how difficult it is for indie authors like me to capture and increase an audience. With this in mind, I created my first ‘invitation’ anthology, and ‘Next Steps’is the third of this type.

What came to mind when you saw the title of this article?

Perhaps like many people, you thought of progression in some form, or was that a fleeting idea cast aside as you considered the graphic and the book title?

‘Next Steps: and other stories’is the full title of…

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