As well as a change of name, I thought it was time that I had an identifiable company logo. One that will appear on all company stationary and merchandise
It is all change here, with a dynamic new name for the company, so it is goodbye to, "The Write Way To Go", and a big hello to "Writing Services UK". I'm sure you will agree that the new name gives the company a more professional appearance
Last week the literary world was stunned by the unexpected loss of one of its greatest horror authors. Writer James Herbert was only 69 when he sadly passed away, but he leaves behind him a list of works that will stand the test of time and which will garner new fans for many years to come. His breakthrough in publishing came with his book, Rats, which he wrote in little over 10 months, in 1974, and so popular was it that it sold out its initial print run of 100,000 books in just three weeks. On the back of this success, James Herbert would go on to write and release a new book every year between 1974 and 1988 (except for 1982). My first taste of a James Herbert novel, was, Lair, the rodent infested sequel to Rats, I was 14 when I borrowed it from the local library, it was all a bit too graphic for my liking and I never finished it, however, I enjoyed his writing style and I kept an eye out for more of his books, whilst hoping for something less graphic and more psychological. I did not have long to wait with the release of Haunted in 1988, a classic haunted house tale that tells the story of a paranormal investigator, David Ash, who spends three nights in a haunted house called, Edbrook, where he encounters all kinds of strange and malevolent paranormal behaviour. I loved this book and as it is quite short (250 pages) I read it in a couple of days. The character of David Ash would appear twice more, firstly in The Ghosts of Sleath, and then in what would in fact be James Herbert’s final book before his death, Ash. I read The Ghosts of Sleath and again it was an enjoyable ghost story and continues where Haunted left off, albeit three years down the line, and this time David Ash is investigating an entire haunted village rather than a haunted house. One of my other favourite James Herbert novels is the often overlooked, ’48, an alternative history story detailing the aftermath of a deadly biological warfare attack by the Nazi’s and its effects on the inhabitants of London. My next James Herbert novel is going to be, Nobody True, which tells the story of a man who is murdered whilst having an out of body experience, leaving his destitute soul to search for the killer and the reason behind his murder. It is a shame that there will be no more horror stories from the pen of James Herbert, however, his books are going to be around for a long time to come, but his death leaves a hole in the horror market, especially in the UK.
James Herbert OBE, 8th April 1943 to March 20th2013