GUEST BLOG: Writing is Who You Are - Steve McHugh

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was about 13 and I read David Gemmell, Terry Pratchett, and Stephen King for the first time, but I didn’t really know exactly how to go about becoming an author and life usually got in the way, so it was always just that dream that was just out of reach.

When I was 25, my first child was born. Her name is Keira and she’s now 13, a thought that is frankly terrifying for me for several reasons. At 38 I’m the parent of a teenager, and there’s very little that makes me feel older, but I digress.
It was a very exhausting time for her mum and me, but it was also the spur I needed to want to become an author. I didn’t want to be that person who said, “one day” and never actually did anything about it. So I started writing, taking it seriously, and practicing wherever I got the chance.

I joined an online writing group that was part of Kelley Armstrong’s website, and over the next few years I honed my craft and wrote a book. It wasn’t good. At all. Oh at the time, I’m sure it was probably the finest piece of writing the world had seen, but there’s a reason it remains on a USB drive somewhere. So, with that failed attempt at being any good, I started again.

It took me 7 years to write a book I was proud of, and get it published. 7 years of working, of seeing what I wanted to attain and not letting anything stop me. I self-published my first book, Crimes Against Magic, and I will always remember having sold 28 copies on opening day. 28. I was thrilled. That entire
first month of April 2012, I sold 72 copies. I will always remember those two figures.

I got a good professional cover, got it professionally edited, and it had paid off. Not monetarily, but in terms of just being able to know that people had bought my book and had left a good review, or had messaged me to tell me they loved it. It was exhilarating. And then the sales increased, and kept increasing, and to this day I think it was part work from me, and part incredible luck. By that December, I launched book 2, Born of Hatred, and had sold thousands of books.
The following year, my current publisher contacted me and asked if I’d like to work with them to republish the first 2 books, and the rest of the Hellequin Chronicles series. I said yes.

Things got blurry from that point on. I’ve now published 8 books and 1 novella in 6 years, and by the end of 2018 it will be 10 books. And every single time I get an email or a message from a fan, it’s still exhilarating. It’s a beautiful thing to have people love the frankly bizarre stuff that happens in my head, and there’s nothing else quite like it.

And all of this started because I wanted to be the person who said, “I did that,” and not, “I will do that.” I became a bestselling author because I worked like mad and put in the hours, and days, and months, to get better and better at something I’m passionate about. Becoming an author is the best thing I’ve ever achieved professionally.

So, if you have a notion to be an author don’t put it off. Doing it might well be the best thing you ever did.

(Steve's Hellequin series is already out and available on Amazon.co.uk  His brand new series "The Avalon Chronicles" is on the following release dates:
The Avalon Chronicles 1:  Glimmer of Hope: 1st April 2018
The Avalon Chronicles 2:  A Flicker of Steel: 3rd July 2018
The Avalon Chronicles 3:  A Thunder of War: 23rd October 2018)

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: The Hellequin Series 7: Scorched Shadows and The Avalon Chronicle 1: A Glimmer of Hope - Steve McHugh

RELEASE DATE:  01/04/18
PUBLISHER:  47 North

SYNOPSIS:
Layla Cassidy has always wanted a normal life, and the chance to put her father’s brutal legacy behind her. And in her final year of university she’s finally found it. Or so she thinks.
But when Layla accidentally activates an ancient scroll, she is bestowed with an incredible, inhuman power. She plunges into a dangerous new world, full of mythical creatures and menace—all while a group of fanatics will stop at nothing to turn her abilities to their cause.
To protect those she loves most, Layla must take control of her new powers…before they destroy her. All is not yet lost—there is a light shining, but Layla must survive long enough to see it.


REVIEW:
The first book in a new series by Steve set in the same Universe as his Hellequin tales.  As you'd expect its full of action, has a great cast (some of which will be familiar to fans) that you'd like to go out drinking with and brings a whole new fresh angle to what has gone  before.

Back this up with dialogue that flows smoothly, cracking pace as well as an arc that shows a lot of thought so that it flows smoothly and delivers with some great gut punches, all round demonstrates that this is an author with a hell of a lot to bring to fans.  Magic.

RELEASE DATE:  19/12/17

PUBLISHER:  47 North

SYNOPSIS:

In the final chapter of the Hellequin Chronicles, secrets will be revealed, friendships tested, and destinies fulfilled.
Avalon is under siege. A shadowy cabal, headed by a mysterious figure known only as “My Liege,” has launched a series of deadly attacks across the globe, catching innocent human bystanders in the crossfire.
Emerging from the debris of battle, Nate Garrett, the sixteen-hundred-year-old sorcerer also called Hellequin, and his friends must stop My Liege once and for all. But powerful forces stand in their way. To save Avalon, they will need to enlist the help of Mordred, once Nate’s greatest nemesis, now his most formidable ally. But Mordred is grappling with a dark prophecy that could spell Nate’s doom…
The fate of the world hangs in the balance. Even if Nate can halt the war, will there be anything left worth saving?

REVIEW:
Ah a delight on my reading calender, a new Steve McHugh's novel who I was pleased to say I discovered luckily through a writing forum hosted by another author.  His writing brings wonderful myth and mystery together as we have stories with Arthurian enchantments blended with otherworldly creatures in the modern world that just sings of originality and for me its a series that keeps giving with each new outing.

I love the characters, the way they all feel realistic and each have their own individual voice to bring to the fore as their efforts have consequences in their world that may be quite unforseen.

Add to the mix a great understanding of pace, some wonderful turns of phrase alongside cracking action sequences and all round I was a more than happy reader.  I can't wait to see what Steve's new series has in store for me.