Hi everyone,

The end of the year is approaching, which means my releases are all building up. Something that happens every year, not sure why. I suppose I spend all year working on multiple projects and they all just gather around winter. Works for me, though!

Anyway, I’m absolutely delighted and excited to share with you the cover of a brand new post-apocalyptic suspense book I have coming out this Halloween: Sunlight. I’ve also done a little Q&A below for anyone who wants to know a bit more about the story.

Without further ado, here’s the amazing cover designed by Yoly from Cormar Covers. Yoly is my long-term designer, and I seriously can’t get enough of her designing skills. This might just be my favourite of the lot.

Okay, enough talk about it…

HOW AMAZING IS THAT?! 

It seriously gets me excited for this new book, which is absolutely going to please fans of Dead Days and other post-apocalyptic fiction, for that matter.

Right. Q&A time.

Q: What the hell is Sunlight?

A: It’s a post-apocalyptic suspense thriller about an estranged father’s quest to keep his two children safe in a terrifying new world.

Q: Estranged father, blah blah. Tell us about the monsters!

A: There may be monsters. There may not be monsters. There’s definitely something grim and gory going on, that’s for sure. But they aren’t exactly zombies. And they aren’t exactly human. Or monsters. They’re something else.

Q: Worst. Description. Ever.

A: I know, I know. To be honest, I’m just trying to keep this story under wraps as much as I can. But I can absolutely promise that fans of Dead Days will be delighted, as will fans of post-apocalpytic movies, books and games.

Q: So how is Sunlight different to, say, Dead Days? Is it wise juggling two post-apocalyptic stories?

A: Sunlight is different from Dead Days in many ways. It’s more concerned with the event of the post-apocalyptic scenario itself rather than the working out how/why. It’s a story of survival, of fatherhood, of bonds in a world with little hope. It’s a tale of humanity on its knees, and the ways in which humans can pull together in the darkest of days. Or not, as the case may be.

Q: The human elements were a big part of Dead Days too though, right?

A: Oh yeah, of course. All my stories are primarily character driven. But I wanted to explore the bond of fatherhood in this book, something I haven’t really done in too much depth in Dead Days yet. I wanted to put three characters in an impossibly uncomfortable situation and see how they floated.

Q: Why not just make this a Dead Days spin-off? Surely that has more commercial potential.

A: You’re probably right, Ryan 2. But like I said, there are some differences to Dead Days–especially with the antagonists–that I wanted to explore. I felt like this needed a whole new apocalypse to tell this story. There is a lot of weirdness going on–a lot of mystery about this apocalypse. Whereas Dead Days is so far along now that it’s a little more transparent. I wanted the reader to be just as puzzled, just as confused by this strange new world as the characters are. I like to think I’ve achieved that.

Q: Will there be a sequel to Sunlight? And does this series affect Dead Days in any way?

A: There will probably be more books in the Sunlight universe, but it’s a self-contained story in its own right. It has a beginning and an end. But there are still a few mysteries remaining.

As for Dead Days, a resounding “no.” Season Four is coming this Christmas. More on that soon.

Q: That’s it for now.

A: Cheers, Ryan 2. Have a good day.

Hope you’re suitably intrigued by Sunlight. Of course, if you want to be the first to be notified when the new book is available, sign up at my New Release Newsletter. You’ll also receive a few treats along the way.

Have a great day!

Ryan.