This is the blog of Samie Sands, author of Lockdown. There will be many great books and projects reviewed here. For more, check out thelockdown.co.uk.

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Lady Killers

Lady Killers!

A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. Her ability to entrance and hypnotise her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon, having power over men.

Jaclyn and Samie are creating an anthology of stories about these powerful women, by powerful women and are looking for some amazing female authors to contribute. These short stories need to be between 4,000 and 6,000 words, using the femme fatale as the central theme.

If you’ve got what it takes, please email your proposal to jaclyn.samie@mail.com, and if your application is successful, we will be in touch. Please also use this email address if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Monday 28 April 2014

What is the name of Leah's boss in Lockdown? Click on the link and submit an answer to this simple question to win a signed copy!

http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/win-a-signed-copy-of-lockdown-paperback-by-samie-sands/


"Lockdown is a brand new zombie novel, the first in a trilogy. But don’t expect it to be your typical horror, gore filled tale because Lockdown is so much more than that!

“Leah’s practical joke has spiralled way out of control. Now everyone seems convinced that the apocalypse is coming – in the form of zombies. The government is calling the virus AM13 and is advising – or more like forcing – everyone to stay indoors while they ‘clean up the mess.’ Leah tries to persuade everyone that it was all just a horrible mistake, however she starts to see there might be more truth to it all than she first thought.

With her friends Michelle and Jake, Leah must decide if she’s going to obey the law (and her boss Jamie) and stay indoors until the whole thing blows over, or break out and do what she thinks is right.”
Lockdown takes you deeper into the characters lives before plunging them into the horror of this newly infested world. The sequel will be released soon – and you won’t want to miss out on where this journey all began. It’s received many positive reviews on Amazon so is on its way to become a hot seller of 2014.

To win a signed copy of this book, just answer the following question: “What is the name of Leah’s boss in Lockdown?” Please email your answers with Lockdown in the subject to competition@ukhorrorscene.com and an entrant will be picked at random.

The competition ends on May 3rd 2014 when the winner will be notified.

Good luck!
You can get Lockdown on Paperback and Kindle from Amazon HERE
And to find out more about Samie please visit her site - www.samiesands.com"
 

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Blog Tour

I'm about to embark on a blog tour for Lockdown http://thelockdown.co.uk - please message me if you'd like me to include your blog along the way!

Friday 18 April 2014

Lockdown Sale


Get Lockdown today while the ebook is cheaper! http://thelockdown.co.uk

"Leah's practical joke has spiraled way out of control. Now everyone seems convinced that the apocalypse is coming - in the form of zombies. The government is calling the virus AM13, and is advising - well actually forcing - everyone to stay indoors while they 'clean up the mess'.

Leah tried to persuade everyone that it was all just a horrible mistake, however she starts to see there may be more truth to it all than she first thought."

Wednesday 16 April 2014

Thirteen Review

Thirteen is an awesome collection of spooky stories. A must have for horror fans! Prepare to fall in love with all of the believable characters and fear for them as the are sent through a roller coaster of horrific situations. Your heart will race, your palms will sweat, you'll gasp with horror as you turn each page.

Each story is very different from the last, but all with an excellent style of writing which will have you gripped from the very first word. It's an extremely difficult book to put down! As I read Thirteen, I couldn't help but imagine it as a television series, each story a different episode. It's hard to find a collection of short stories which aren't full of very similar themes, but this isn't the case here. I love how Thirteen jumps from killer clowns to possessed parrots seamlessly...you'll be grateful that you aren't living within the pages of this novel. 

Truly worth 5 stars!

http://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Collection-Kevin-S-Hall/dp/1497351553/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397678426&sr=1-1

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Thirteen is here!

Thirteen is here!

1. Thirteen is finally out! For those who missed the first interview, can you tell me briefly about the book?

It’s a collection of short horror stories that I hope will appeal to fans of the genre. I tried to make each one unique and original, with plenty of laughs, jumps, gore and scares to please everyone. I hope I succeeded!

2. How does it feel to have your book out after ten years?

Pretty amazing! It’s been a long time coming. Since 2004 I’ve been doing it off and on, but it wasn’t until late last year that I came across it again and decided to finish it. I’m glad I did – I was spurred on to finish it and it’s a good feeling to finally have it out there. Now to wait for people’s reaction and, fingers crossed, some good reviews!

3. What is your favourite story in the collection?

I have a soft spot for all of them, but I do love Klown. It was one of the first ones I wrote and think it’s proper scary – a good, old fashioned horror tale. I do owe much to a certain Mr. King for that one though. Heartbreaker is also close to my, ahem, heart, as it’s a dark twist on the Red Riding Hood fairy tale.

4. Which do you think, would suit the big screen best?

They all have a movie or TV series quality about them, don’t they? I’d love to see Tiny Small Things on the big screen – I love a good infection horror story. Also, Hidden 14 would be really creepy, especially seeing Mr. Fleshy up there would give people nightmares. As would the Dummy’s Assistant from the Special Edition…

5. If you could select actors to play some of your characters, who would you pick?

Interesting question… I’d love Detective Munroe from Cat to be played by Clancy Brown and Reynolds to be played by Chris Evans. Oh, and the She Beast from Heartbreaker could be played by Scarlett Johansson.  There are just so many characters and great actors and actresses to choose from, but in the end I believe the reader can paint their own picture of what the character looks and sounds like. It makes the story more believable.

6. Which story in Thirteen would you be able to survive?

Blimey, not sure if I could survive in any of them! Maybe Klown, as I think it’s one of the first survivor stories, but I would still be scared. I wouldn’t like to be put through the 13 trials Jake has to go through in 13 though. He is much stronger than me! Maybe I could fight off the parasites in Tiny Small Things, but just…

7. Do you ever base your characters on yourself or someone you know?

Ha ha, well, not me. There have been a couple of characters based on people I hate but I would never tell which ones. Some are based on friends I know too. I would love to be the guy in Gnomes though. He puts up one hell of a fight!

8. Can you describe your writing style in three words?

Fast, gory, scary!

9. Why should people buy your book?

It’s like a haunted ride through the world of horror, with so many twists, shocks and surprises along the way. You’ll hopefully be scared, laugh and jump, and the stories I hope are unique enough to get everyone talking. Be prepared to be scared!

10. What are you working on next?

Ravens Edge is a Scottish ghost story with a twist, and I am thinking of four stories for
Thirteen 2, with other authors contributing their stories too! Watch this space – you haven’t seen the last of me!


Thursday 10 April 2014

Lockdown is now available!

"Leah's practical joke has spiraled way out of control. Now everyone seems convinced that the apocalypse is coming - in the form of zombies. The government is calling the virus AM13, and is advising – or more like forcing - everyone to stay indoors while they 'clean up the mess'. Leah tries to persuade everyone that it was all just a horrible mistake, however she starts to see there may be more truth to it all than she first thought."

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lockdown-Samie-Sands/dp/0988619695/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397158462&sr=8-2&keywords=samie+sands

http://www.amazon.com/Lockdown-Samie-Sands/dp/0988619695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397157868&sr=8-1&keywords=samie+sands

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Jonny of the Vale

1. Can you please tell me a little about yourself and your YouTube/Twitch channel.

Oh god I never know what to say when this question comes up! My name is Jonny, im 24 years old and live in Leeds, England. I guess I could say I have hobbies but the only ones I really stick by are reading/writing and of course gaming.
About my YouTube and Twitch channels, well on YouTube and pretty much everything else recently I use the name 'Jonny of the Vale', which is a reference to the Vale of Arryn in Game of Thrones, and also to the group of people I game with using the clan name 'Knights of the Vale'
The only exception so far is that of my Twitch name 'Ser Jonny of the Vale' which I only use because of technical issues with my original account.
On my YouTube you can find videos of myself playing mostly indie games, with perhaps one or two 'AAA' titles included. With my Twitch its pretty much the same deal, me gaming, often with other people who are friends or people I have met through previous Twitch shows. The only real differences being obviously Twitch is live and uncut, and most of the games I play on there are multiplayer.

2. Why did you decide to set this up?

It sounds silly but I always dreamt of becoming a YouTuber. Ever since I got strongly into my gaming I could imagine myself making fun videos for the entertainment of other people. So christmas I decided to buy myself a nice new gaming PC, and set it up in my office room with my headset and a webcam, and get to work. I have to say that I was as excited as a small boy when everything arrived, and spent the next week planning what I was going to include on my soon-to-be-world-famous YouTube channel.
With Twitch it was slightly different. The thought of Live Streaming had never even crossed my mind until the day I told Daz - (Twitter handle @ThatsWhatUGets) – a brilliant concept artist currently working on Mike Bithell's (@mikeBithell) game 'Volume' – that I was about to get into YouTubery, when he said to me “Ok Jonny we need to have a talk”. So that afternoon I called Daz on Skype and he told me about Twitch TV, and that it might be more my style. So with the help of Daz I set up an account and got going on there too.

3. What's been your favourite video to make?

Thats a tough one, as it stands I havent made all that many but I guess my faves are the Banished series on my YouTube, and with Twitch it has to be either the Yawhg with Daz and the Twitch chat, or Prop Hunt with Matt (Garrys Mod).

4. What do you hope to achieve with your work?

Mostly I really want to have fun, to be doing something I enjoy and hopefully making things other people enjoy too. I wouldnt say I want to be famous, but the feeling of having fans and follwers is a good one and to build up a dedicated fanbase would be a dream come true.

5. Where can people find out more about you?

Well at the minute I dont have a webpage, but you can find me on Twitter @JonnyoftheVale, and on Tumblr - http://jonnyofthevale.tumblr.com/

6. Can you tell me about about what you write?

Well to be honest I write about anything that comes to mind, but its mostly horror, or at least contains a Zombie or two!

7 . What inspires your writing?

I love the idea of a Zombie apocalypse, (sounds crazy I know) and I like to imagine myself in a scenario like that, depending on quick thinking and instinct for survival. Obviously most of us know 'The Walking Dead', and to those of you who only know it as a TV show I say read the comics, because they are so much of my inspiration. 'The Zombie Survival Guide' by Max Brooks and the 'Day by Day Armageddon' series by J.L Bourne provide some more. I can also say I take a lot of inspiration from the games I play, seeing how the characters develop story to story, and trying to relate to them as if they were real. I love trying to imagine myself in a situation, and if I were dealing with it, what would be the outcome? I try to write that into my stories.

8. Do you have a favourite genre to write in/read?

I'd say my favourite genre to read is Fantasy. Although I like the Horror genre I find reading a Fantasy book ignites my imagination more. One great example of this and one of my favourite series ever is 'The Night Angel Trilogy', by Brent Weeks. I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone, but I would say although it starts slowly the story that follows is as binding and emotionally involving as any you will read and I would certainly recommend it.

9. Who is your favourite author and whats your favourite book?

Oh damn! Thats tough! Well I cant really say I have a favourite author, but my favourite book is one called 'The Long Walk' which is ghost-written by Ronald Downing based on the story of Slawomir Rawicz, a Polish prisoner of war in Russia. It was released in 1956 and was originally my Grandfathers, who gave it to me a couple years before he died. It is the story of a group of prisoners escaping their camp in Siberia and walking for eleven months, passing through the Gobi Desert, Tibet and the Himalayas on their way to British India and safety. The accounts in the book are astonishing, to read about it and know it was a true thing is a sobering experience. I have read it many times and even as I think about it now I want to read it again.

10. What are you currently working on/do you have planned for the future?

I am currently working on a couple of projects, one is a survival diary based around 'Zack Tracks', a YouTube mini-series written by my friend Matt (@MJGHamblin) which I will be starring in. The other one is recent and you could say definitely for the future, but it is called 'Never Dead'. All I can say at the minute is it is the year 2042 and a massive chemical weapon has been deployed against the US, resulting in massive contamination and widespread infection. The story is of Task Force Zero, a team of soldiers deployed to seek out the source of the chemical weapon and prevent nuclear war. Well at least thats the idea, it really could go anywhere at the minute, iv spent the past month or so playing with ideas and hopefully I be able to put them into some kind of structure in the coming weeks!

Cincopa Gallery

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