Darran Summerfield

What am I on about?

So, what am I on about? A good question, but, perhaps a better one might be: why?

Why am I bothering with this website and blog?

Well, I’m about to embark on a journey, I have a goal in mind, a distant peak on the horizon I wish to reach (hence the nice picture). This year, I’m going to take my hobby writing out of my man-cave and share it with the world. Yes, I’ve finally succumbed to that itch at the back of my head and the peer pressure of family and friends to publish.

I’ve been writing for years, mainly for my own sanity, to try and clear the log jam of imaginary stuff clogging up my head. In that time I’ve finished numerous short stories and completed five novel sized projects, one of which ended up being nearly two-hundred thousand words. In the beginning I wrote pure fantasy, recently I’ve written some contemporary fantasy thrillers and I have plans to write some nuts and bolts science fiction, but they all have one thing in common: They are all strange.

I don’t know why I need to write strange fiction, but I’ll try and examine that question in more detail with a later blog post. I’ve always been attracted to the fantastic and other-worldly from: Tolkien to King and Clark to Verne. It’s mostly strange stuff, but I’m also attracted to idea that reality is simply odder than we think. Take dark matter and dark energy for example – both wonderfully evocative ideas. Most of the universe is invisible and untouchable, well, until we find out otherwise they could be anything, couldn’t they?

I’ve dallied with trying to get published via the usual channels for years, but in that time there has been something of a tectonic shift throughout the publishing world: Self publishing has become respectable. It is no longer the ghoul in the basement, fed on fish heads and talked about in hushed tones. Being a self published author is no longer a one way ticket to a literary leper colony.

So, I think it’s time I put on my grafting trousers, roll up my sleeves, and get stuck in. This website and blog will be a record of my adventures. I’m hoping it will grow into a useful reference for anyone wanting to give self-publishing a try, and an interesting place to visit for those that enjoy my writing or just find the strangeness of the universe fascinating.

So, what do you think? Do you fancy joining me to see what happens?