In a boring and ordinary world, adopting the shadow of a dead girl seems quite exciting to Jake. But he soon learns that he’s not the only one with a second shadow, and he becomes involved in a violent and disturbing new world that existed all along on the fringe of society.
His boring and ordinary days become filled with strange characters, murder, torture, and deceit as he struggles to keep hold of his little girl, and ultimately stay alive.
Some people will do anything to adopt a second shadow. Others will do more to get them back.
Targeted Age Group:
Adult
I actually write across multiple genres, and have published varying length stories. Personally, I don’t write for a specific genre. I write what I enjoy, and worry about where it fits later. That said, once the thing you are writing takes off, you are always aware of what makes that genre tick. Horror readers expect a bit of blood. They expect to be emotionally drained, or frightened. They want twists and turns and unexpected outcomes, or characters that surprise them with their actions.
What Advice Would You Give Aspiring Writers?
Read. A lot. Read genres and styles that you might not necessarily think you’re interested in. You might be surprised to find that a genre you thought you hated, actually has something very valuable that you can learn from – a certain style, or narrative arc that you wouldn’t have noticed before. If you only really read novels, try a collection of short stories.
Write. A lot. Write for competitions in magazines, online, or in anthology offerings.
Watch videos online of authors doing readings or interviews, an author ‘off the page’ can be a wonderful insight into writing.
Be inspired by other media such as films, video games, music, graphic novels, live events, or workshops outside of writing.
Author Bio:
Andy lives in a village on the Derby/Nottingham border. He has written for several years and has an MA in Creative Writing. He has published over twenty short stories in magazines, online, in regional newspapers and even in America. His short stories It’s all for Free and Merry go Round were placed first and second in Writers’ Forum Magazine (June 2010 and May 2011). The Lost Dark is his first novel. When not writing Andy has a multitude of other hobbies. He likes to escape into the hills for long walks where no one can find him. He also comes up with curious and interesting ideas to keep his three teenage kids entertained, like crafting full size animal suits or playing ‘Murder’ around his four story house. His kids are quite possibly more mature than him.
The initial inspiration came from a writing exercise, set at the end of a University Creative writing work-group. The idea was to write a short story based on a character talking to an ‘inanimate’ object. Walking home, I had no idea what to write about, until I noticed that I had a second shadow. I wrote a short piece of dialogue between a man and his new shadow, and it became the opening chapter of The Lost Dark.
From there, the story and the characters grew and grew.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Buy Book On Amazon
Link to Book on Barnes and Noble
Link to Book for sale on Smashwords
Link to Book for sale via other sites
Social Media:
http://goodreads.com/andyrigley
https://twitter.com/andyrigley
