'For lovers of psycho-sexual mysteries (think Klute meets Blue Velvet)

BenCheetham · 07-26-2011, 09:46 AM

Hi from the UK,

I'm a writer from Sheffield. For those of my American cousins who don't know, Sheffield's a city in Yorkshire, England known for its steel industry (now sadly in deep decline) and, let's face it, for being bloody cold and bloody rainy most of the time. When I'm not chasing around after my two-year old son, I spend much of my time holed up in my study wracking my brain for the next word, the next sentence, the next paragraph - a process which I'm sure is painfully familiar to many of you.

I started writing seriously about five or six years ago. Since then my short stories have been widely published in the UK, US and Australia. My first publication was in The London Magazine, England's oldest literary periodical, with a history stretching back to 1732. As you can imagine, I was incredibly proud to see my work in the pages of a magazine that's played host to writers from Wordsworth and Keats to T.S. Eliot. Other UK magazines that've featured my work include: Staple, Dream Catcher, The Willisden Herald New Short Stories 3, Various Authors A Fiction Desk Anthology, The Grist Anthology of New Writing, and The Momaya Annual Review. In the US my literary fiction has appeared in publications such as The Chaffey Review, Fast Forward: A Collection of Flash Fiction, Audience, Cause & Effect, Hoi Polloi and Voice From the Planet. I've had crime and sci-fi stories published in magazines such as Swill, and Escape Velocity, and I have a horror novella out with Comet Press.

Short stories are a wonderful learning ground. I once read that all aspiring authors should write fifty short stories before tackling a novel - a principle I followed for three years. For the last three years I've been writing crime novels. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to translate my success with publishing short stories to novels - lots of positive comments from editors but no takers (another scenario I'm sure many of you are painfully familiar with). So I decided to take a chance and self-publish to kindle. My debut novel 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' has been available for a couple of weeks now, and I'm thrilled at the prospect of being able to get my work in front of readers.

Here's my novel's blurb:

'In a small town where nothing much happens, teenage girls are going missing with alarming regularity. Some turn up dead. Others don't turn up at all. The police attribute the deaths to suicide and drug use. Julian Harris, a university student haunted by nightmares about the girls, believes there's something more sinister at work.

When Julian stumbles across the body of one of the girls, he determines to find out the truth - a decision that leads him into a murky world of drugs, prostitution, blackmail and murder.

The Society of Dirty Hearts is a mystery novel that explores twisted psychological depths full of dark secrets and darker desires. '

It's available for just 86p/99cents.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. You can find 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...1717525&sr=1-1

Or Amazon.co.uk:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Society-Dirt.../dp/B005E9EBQQ

And for anyone who wants to connect with me elsewhere, here's a link to my blog:

http://bencheetham.blogspot.com/

And my twitter page:http://twitter.com/#!/ben_cheethamUK

Cheers,

Ben

rhadin · 07-26-2011, 12:54 PM

Do you plan to publish your book at Smashwords? Many of us do not own Kindles and/or prefer not to buy anything from Amazon.

BenCheetham · 07-26-2011, 01:06 PM

Hi Richard,

I've been considering it. I wasn't sure how popular Smashwords is compared to Amazon. But given what you've just said, I'll head over to Smashwords and get to work on publishing it there.

Thanks,

Ben

BenCheetham · 07-26-2011, 01:24 PM

I'll let you know on this thread when my book's up at Smashwords

BenCheetham · 07-26-2011, 03:59 PM

Hi again,

Apologies for bumping this thread, but it's been brought to my attention that US customers have difficulty buying books from amazon.co.uk. Frustratingly Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk share certain info but are completely seperate animals as regards pricing. So I thought I'd better provide a link to my book on Amazon.com, where it's available for $1.35
http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...1710261&sr=1-1

BenCheetham · 08-01-2011, 09:40 AM

For those of you with an aversion to Amazon, I just wanted to let you know that I've finally managed to get my novel up at Smashwords. Here's the link:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76810

Cheers,

Ben

BenCheetham · 08-11-2011, 08:50 AM

New artwork for my novel. (see first post of thread)

BenCheetham · 08-23-2011, 03:12 PM

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' has joined the 99cents club.

All the best,

Ben

BenCheetham · 08-29-2011, 02:09 PM

First Amazon review of my novel. It's only taken nearly two months for someone to post one. Here it is:

'In this novel, Ben Cheetham has mapped out a large cast and some interesting locations for his profane little morality play. How do you know there's trouble brewing in this town? Well, the fact that the bar is called "The Cut" and you got people running around with the last name "Butcher" should be your first clue. Julian, our protagonist on the cusp of manhood, is surprisingly complex; less than sympathetic some days, occasionally petulant, the random act of heroism, but always utterly human. Some dead-on descriptions ("Face as intense as a knife cut" and my favorite, the simple, but effective "You smell like a fire") make this quick read more memorable, too.

There is an unabashed earnestness and melodrama that comes with stories of adolescence (even one as brutal as this), and this is no exception. But these tendencies are countered by sheer force of narrative, and a genuinely creepy and interesting tale. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of dreams in fiction, but here they're used as a bit of detective work, which justifies their inclusion.

So, yeah, don't trust the description "a small town where nothing much happens." This town is an abattoir, and Cheetham's David Lynchian descent into small-town secrets was satisfying. Definitely recommended for fans of psychological horror and throwbacks to the salad days of `80s paperbacks.'

I love the review. Really captures the essence of my novel. Didn't realise it was an 80s throwback, though.

orlok · 08-29-2011, 02:25 PM

Hi Ben

Just purchased from Amazon UK. Thanks for the promotion.

P

BenCheetham · 08-30-2011, 03:47 AM

And thanks for the purchase, orlok. Hope you enjoy.

BenCheetham · 09-28-2011, 10:54 AM

Another in depth four star review of 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' over at Amazon and a very brief five star one on Smashwords. As of yet, no one's had anything truly negative to say about the novel. And sales are slowly starting to pick up. I've heard a slow build is pretty standard with indie ebooks, so I'm pleased with how things are going. Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who's taken a chance on my novel so far. Anyway, here's the Amazon review:

'I read this in one session last night and have to say this would make a great "Twin Peaksesque" modern series a la What happened to Mia Bradshaw? The main character comes back from Uni to find that a young girl has gone missing, unfortunately he is the one that finds her. I don't want to rehash the story, because even the smallest detail would be a spoiler. Julian is plagued by dreams of a violent nature, which are so realistic he isn't sure where dream begins and reality stops. I thought the dream sequences were a great window into Julians subconscious feelings and perhaps even more violent nature. Then again perhaps that is exactly what the writer is saying, that we all have the capacity to commit heinous acts of violence, it just depends on how high each individuals threshold is when it comes to making a choice. I felt the story describes the nature of the beast our society is confronted with, in which people who have the ability to buy or do anything they want, choose to cross the threshold, because human life is just one more thing they can buy. It comes very close to the global and non global powerful men set ups we see across the planet, they are just never brought to justice because they are in powerful positions and pull the strings. That brings me to another element of the story, which I found interesting. How children, teenagers and even adults can dissapear without a trace and they have no one looking for them, because the system has made them inconsequential in the first place. In essence like catching and putting down stray dogs. Some of the sub plots didn't seem to connect to the main one as well as they could have, but I put that down to the Noir like style.'

I think its a great review, which really nails my novel. Hope it entices you to have a look for yourself.

All the best,

Ben

http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

BenCheetham · 10-18-2011, 08:37 AM

The Society of Dirty Hearts has recieved a great review over on the book blog I Meant To Read That. Here's a taste of the review 'Julian has very bad nightmares, well he calls them nightmares but they seem more real than that; more like premonitions. He sees himself rape then murder a teenage girl and can feel the sexual pleasure he gets from this. Julian, a college student, is pretty much screwed up and can't sleep for fear of the dreams returning and terrified that he may actually be the person he becomes in his dreams. Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide, eat your heart out...Great story from Mr. Cheetham, well told, fast paced and engaging.'

You can read the review in full at: http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com...-cheetham.html

I hope the review tempts you to take a chance on my novel. If it does, you can download it for 86p/99c from

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005E9EBQQ

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E9EBQQ

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76810

Thanks for taking the time to read this. And an especially big thanks to everyone who's purchased my novel so far. I really hope you enjoy it.

All the best,

Ben

07-26-2011, 09:46 AM	#1
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	'For lovers of psycho-sexual mysteries (think Klute meets Blue Velvet) Hi from the UK, I'm a writer from Sheffield. For those of my American cousins who don't know, Sheffield's a city in Yorkshire, England known for its steel industry (now sadly in deep decline) and, let's face it, for being bloody cold and bloody rainy most of the time. When I'm not chasing around after my two-year old son, I spend much of my time holed up in my study wracking my brain for the next word, the next sentence, the next paragraph - a process which I'm sure is painfully familiar to many of you. I started writing seriously about five or six years ago. Since then my short stories have been widely published in the UK, US and Australia. My first publication was in The London Magazine, England's oldest literary periodical, with a history stretching back to 1732. As you can imagine, I was incredibly proud to see my work in the pages of a magazine that's played host to writers from Wordsworth and Keats to T.S. Eliot. Other UK magazines that've featured my work include: Staple, Dream Catcher, The Willisden Herald New Short Stories 3, Various Authors A Fiction Desk Anthology, The Grist Anthology of New Writing, and The Momaya Annual Review. In the US my literary fiction has appeared in publications such as The Chaffey Review, Fast Forward: A Collection of Flash Fiction, Audience, Cause & Effect, Hoi Polloi and Voice From the Planet. I've had crime and sci-fi stories published in magazines such as Swill, and Escape Velocity, and I have a horror novella out with Comet Press. Short stories are a wonderful learning ground. I once read that all aspiring authors should write fifty short stories before tackling a novel - a principle I followed for three years. For the last three years I've been writing crime novels. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to translate my success with publishing short stories to novels - lots of positive comments from editors but no takers (another scenario I'm sure many of you are painfully familiar with). So I decided to take a chance and self-publish to kindle. My debut novel 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' has been available for a couple of weeks now, and I'm thrilled at the prospect of being able to get my work in front of readers. Here's my novel's blurb: 'In a small town where nothing much happens, teenage girls are going missing with alarming regularity. Some turn up dead. Others don't turn up at all. The police attribute the deaths to suicide and drug use. Julian Harris, a university student haunted by nightmares about the girls, believes there's something more sinister at work. When Julian stumbles across the body of one of the girls, he determines to find out the truth - a decision that leads him into a murky world of drugs, prostitution, blackmail and murder. The Society of Dirty Hearts is a mystery novel that explores twisted psychological depths full of dark secrets and darker desires. ' It's available for just 86p/99cents. Thanks for taking the time to read this. You can find 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...1717525&sr=1-1 Or Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Society-Dirt.../dp/B005E9EBQQ And for anyone who wants to connect with me elsewhere, here's a link to my blog: http://bencheetham.blogspot.com/ And my twitter page:http://twitter.com/#!/ben_cheethamUK Cheers, Ben Last edited by BenCheetham; 10-18-2011 at 08:26 AM. Reason: price change

08-11-2011, 08:50 AM	#7
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	New artwork for my novel. (see first post of thread) Last edited by BenCheetham; 10-03-2011 at 10:14 AM. Reason: changed artwork again

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07-26-2011, 12:54 PM	#2
rhadin Literacy = Understanding Posts: 4,833 Karma: 59674358 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The World of Books Device: Nook, Nook Tablet	Do you plan to publish your book at Smashwords? Many of us do not own Kindles and/or prefer not to buy anything from Amazon.

07-26-2011, 01:06 PM	#3
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	Hi Richard, I've been considering it. I wasn't sure how popular Smashwords is compared to Amazon. But given what you've just said, I'll head over to Smashwords and get to work on publishing it there. Thanks, Ben

07-26-2011, 01:24 PM	#4
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	I'll let you know on this thread when my book's up at Smashwords

07-26-2011, 03:59 PM	#5
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	Hi again, Apologies for bumping this thread, but it's been brought to my attention that US customers have difficulty buying books from amazon.co.uk. Frustratingly Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk share certain info but are completely seperate animals as regards pricing. So I thought I'd better provide a link to my book on Amazon.com, where it's available for $1.35 http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...1710261&sr=1-1

08-01-2011, 09:40 AM	#6
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	For those of you with an aversion to Amazon, I just wanted to let you know that I've finally managed to get my novel up at Smashwords. Here's the link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76810 Cheers, Ben

08-23-2011, 03:12 PM	#8
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	Hi all, Just wanted to let you know that 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' has joined the 99cents club. All the best, Ben

08-29-2011, 02:09 PM	#9
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	First Amazon review of my novel. It's only taken nearly two months for someone to post one. Here it is: 'In this novel, Ben Cheetham has mapped out a large cast and some interesting locations for his profane little morality play. How do you know there's trouble brewing in this town? Well, the fact that the bar is called "The Cut" and you got people running around with the last name "Butcher" should be your first clue. Julian, our protagonist on the cusp of manhood, is surprisingly complex; less than sympathetic some days, occasionally petulant, the random act of heroism, but always utterly human. Some dead-on descriptions ("Face as intense as a knife cut" and my favorite, the simple, but effective "You smell like a fire") make this quick read more memorable, too. There is an unabashed earnestness and melodrama that comes with stories of adolescence (even one as brutal as this), and this is no exception. But these tendencies are countered by sheer force of narrative, and a genuinely creepy and interesting tale. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of dreams in fiction, but here they're used as a bit of detective work, which justifies their inclusion. So, yeah, don't trust the description "a small town where nothing much happens." This town is an abattoir, and Cheetham's David Lynchian descent into small-town secrets was satisfying. Definitely recommended for fans of psychological horror and throwbacks to the salad days of `80s paperbacks.' I love the review. Really captures the essence of my novel. Didn't realise it was an 80s throwback, though.

08-29-2011, 02:25 PM	#10
orlok Close to the Edit! Posts: 9,797 Karma: 267994408 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Amazon Fire 8", Kindle 6"	Hi Ben Just purchased from Amazon UK. Thanks for the promotion. P

08-30-2011, 03:47 AM	#11
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	And thanks for the purchase, orlok. Hope you enjoy.

09-28-2011, 10:54 AM	#12
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	Another in depth four star review of 'The Society of Dirty Hearts' over at Amazon and a very brief five star one on Smashwords. As of yet, no one's had anything truly negative to say about the novel. And sales are slowly starting to pick up. I've heard a slow build is pretty standard with indie ebooks, so I'm pleased with how things are going. Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who's taken a chance on my novel so far. Anyway, here's the Amazon review: 'I read this in one session last night and have to say this would make a great "Twin Peaksesque" modern series a la What happened to Mia Bradshaw? The main character comes back from Uni to find that a young girl has gone missing, unfortunately he is the one that finds her. I don't want to rehash the story, because even the smallest detail would be a spoiler. Julian is plagued by dreams of a violent nature, which are so realistic he isn't sure where dream begins and reality stops. I thought the dream sequences were a great window into Julians subconscious feelings and perhaps even more violent nature. Then again perhaps that is exactly what the writer is saying, that we all have the capacity to commit heinous acts of violence, it just depends on how high each individuals threshold is when it comes to making a choice. I felt the story describes the nature of the beast our society is confronted with, in which people who have the ability to buy or do anything they want, choose to cross the threshold, because human life is just one more thing they can buy. It comes very close to the global and non global powerful men set ups we see across the planet, they are just never brought to justice because they are in powerful positions and pull the strings. That brings me to another element of the story, which I found interesting. How children, teenagers and even adults can dissapear without a trace and they have no one looking for them, because the system has made them inconsequential in the first place. In essence like catching and putting down stray dogs. Some of the sub plots didn't seem to connect to the main one as well as they could have, but I put that down to the Noir like style.' I think its a great review, which really nails my novel. Hope it entices you to have a look for yourself. All the best, Ben http://www.amazon.com/Society-Dirty-...tt_at_ep_dpi_1

10-18-2011, 08:37 AM	#13
BenCheetham Enthusiast Posts: 33 Karma: 103734 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sheffield Device: kindle	The Society of Dirty Hearts has recieved a great review over on the book blog I Meant To Read That. Here's a taste of the review 'Julian has very bad nightmares, well he calls them nightmares but they seem more real than that; more like premonitions. He sees himself rape then murder a teenage girl and can feel the sexual pleasure he gets from this. Julian, a college student, is pretty much screwed up and can't sleep for fear of the dreams returning and terrified that he may actually be the person he becomes in his dreams. Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hide, eat your heart out...Great story from Mr. Cheetham, well told, fast paced and engaging.' You can read the review in full at: http://imeanttoreadthat.blogspot.com...-cheetham.html I hope the review tempts you to take a chance on my novel. If it does, you can download it for 86p/99c from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005E9EBQQ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005E9EBQQ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76810 Thanks for taking the time to read this. And an especially big thanks to everyone who's purchased my novel so far. I really hope you enjoy it. All the best, Ben