William Cook

Hi everyone. As it is fast approaching Christmas and the end of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to have a book giveaway for my readers (new and old alike). 2015 is going to be a busy year for me and I hope to be able to produce many more quality books that my readers will enjoy. I will also be branching out into new genre territory with a collection of scary stories for Young Adult readers, a collection of spooky stories for children and my first literary fiction novel. For those of you who like my adult horror, don't worry, there will be plenty more in the new year ahead. I also have a thriller novel and short-fiction series on the boil which, all going well, should be ready to release in the second half of 2015. In order for me to tell you when new releases, giveaways and other cool stuff is happening, please subscribe now to stay in touch. In the meantime - here is how to grab your freebie! The deal is: 1. Be one of the first ten NEW subscribers to this website ...

Nominations are now being accepted for the SFFANZ 2015 Sir Julius Vogel Awards (see below for link/details) and I have two books that are eligible for the ballot this year: Dreams of Thanatos: Collected Macabre Tales and Corpus Delicti: Selected Poetry . The nomination period will close at 8.00pm on 31st January 2015. The awards recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents, and first published or released in the 2014 calendar year. Anyone can make a nomination and it is free! To make a nomination please email sjv_awards@sffanz.org.nz .  Just copy and paste the following info (for one or both) into the body of your email: WHAT to Put On the Nomination For Dreams of Thanatos: Collected Macabre Tales ESSENTIAL Information This is to enable SFFANZ to verify and process the nomination. Name / Titl...

I try to read and review as many books as possible, especially from those authors who I have read previously and enjoyed. Many of the authors I have read have come by way of recommendation and in my opinion, there is nothing better for a writer than receiving fair, honest and appreciative (of course) reviews. Anyway, I really want to share this one with you guys as Vix makes some delightfully insightful glimpses into each of the stories in my recent collection, ' Dreams of Thanatos. ' After reading the review, maybe check out the collection but also, please, leave a comment below and recommend some of your favorite books. Would love to hear what other authors you guys are reading . . . Amazon Review:  ***** a great collection!   By Vix Kirkpatrick on July 21, 2014 Format: Kindle Edition Firstly I noticed the beautiful cover art and then noted at the back in the blurb that WC...

UPDATE * Thanks everyone for downloading a free copy of 'Devil Inside.' The campaign is now over and many free books were downloaded. As an independent author it is nice to be able to give away something to encourage readers to take a chance on a newbie writer such as myself. I hope that those of you who did take a chance on my work and enjoyed it, will sample some of my other titles available on Amazon and/or leave a fair review. Reviews go a long way to help authors without the large bank accounts of the big publishing houses, so it is something small that you, the reader, can do to support and encourage writers like myself. Despite not making any money (so far) I love being able to share my stories with the world and feel very privileged to do so. Please leave a comment if you follow this site/blog - I would love to hear from any readers out there (if any) and any suggestions for this website and for the type of stories you'd like to read from me in the future. ...

Taking a stupid 'selfie' is harder than it looks. After three shots, I settled for the top one and posted it at HorrorSelfies.Com - the new initiative from the Horror Writers Association of which I've been a member now for nearly two years. Come and visit the website - lots of cool prizes to win. Playing the game . . . ‪ http://horrorselfies.com/william-cook/ #‎ horrorselfies‬ #HWA  

Literary lists are common on the internet; recently on Facebook there has been a rash of ‘list your favorite’ authors, bands, movies, TV shows etc. I was recently asked to play the game whereby you list 15 of the most influential authors and poets you can think of. I played the game and listed my 15 favorites but it got me to thinking about why those writers influenced me and how. Usually, what I considered to be the ‘influential’ aspects of their respective writings were the aesthetic qualities of the work in question and the way in which it challenged me (intellectually). That is, the work influenced me because of the style and the author’s ability to craft a good story that left a lasting impression on me; the uniqueness of the story and the emotion and imagery it conveyed were also important criteria, as were the use of cadence and language to effectively grab and hold the reader’s attention from start to finish. As a writer myself, the question of influence also...

Very pleased to have secured another great review from the fine folk at ' The Horror Fiction Review .' Thanks to Christine Morgan (< make sure you check out her website) who gave a fair and insightful review of my latest collection - Corpus Delicti: Selected Poetry . CORPUS DELICTI by William Cook (2014 James Ward Kirk Publishing / 210 pp / trade paperback) "Poetry can just be so cool … language in a more freeform, flowing arrangement … imagery and evocation … the sound and rhythm of the words, and even the look of them on the page, as much an element as their meaning.  It can also be challenging, maddening, baffling, incomprehensible, and weird. Does it have to rhyme? Is it like a song, or not? How does it work? What is it? What does it do? What does it MEAN? Or, for that matter, DOES it mean anything? And so on. Vincenzo Bilof’s introduction to this collection sums up all that better than I can.  And then you get to W...