Turning words into stories.

Publishing. Writing. Blurbs. Covers. Fiction.

Discover my novel EXO – a story of murder, multi-dimensions and the end of the world

'A must-read that recalls the work of
Kim Stanley Robinson' Library Journal,
SFF Debut of the Month

Latest posts from Colin’s blog

From Colin's blog . . .
Imagining the future
Imagining the future
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Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
Exogenous: 5 weird works that changed Exo
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Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
Ex libris: 5 books that shaped Exo
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Exo Extract 3: Year One
Exo Extract 3: Year One
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Exo Extract 2: Day One
Exo Extract 2: Day One
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Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
Exo Extract 1: Day Zero
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Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness
Exploring Exo – the headland of Dungeness

Discover Dungeness, the real-life inspiration for my novel Exo.

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Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world
Extra! Extra! Announcing Exo – a novel of murder and the end of the world

After writing the words on the outsides of several thousand books, I’ve decided to take a shot at the insides of one.

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Blurbs in the wild: How do we pitch horror stories to a literary crowd? One way is to hold back the horror until they're hooked in. The blurb for @lucyrosecreates & @wnbooks The Lamb begins by keeping the reader's options open – folk tale,
Blurbs in the wild: @panmacmillan know how to have fun with a funny book. First, we have two increasingly ridiculous lists – the first list asking a question (what do these things have in common?) and the second list (deliberately over-deploy
Blurbs in the wild: @faberbooks reissue of Kay Dick's deeply unsettling THEY features a blurb that is having great fun with its title. Making the perfectly ordinary word THEY sound increasingly sinister and ominous, the blurb, through a series of li
Wonderful Christmas present from my daughter @evefif_08 – recreating @michelvrana_design amazing cover for Exo in watercolours.
@theodoragoss and @tachyonpub brilliant Letters from an Imaginary Country does what is says on the tin. These remarkable short stories take you places you didn’t know existed. The book’s blurb is a three parter: paragraph one introduces
Plotless, dreamlike, meandering, Joanne McNeil’s and @fsgbooks Wrong Way is the mid-21st-century work novel par excellence. The blurb on the back, like the book it describes, is a longish no-nonsense straightforward explanation of what you&rs
Blurbs in the wild: A war story is a love story. And the quietly subversive blurb sneaks up on you. In @amalelmohtar and @max.gladstone @quercusbooks published This is How You Lose the Time War, the blurb ought to be bleak, filled with the language
Blurbs in the wild: @harpervoyager_uk and @kuangrf Katabasis's blurb is all problems and stakes. First paragraph gives us the set up: to be the best magician. Everything else is the obstacles in our hero's way: a dead facilitator, a visit to Hell,
Thanks to @library_journal for making Exo one of their Stellar Selections or Best Books of 2025. Lovely early Christmas present for the book. Thanks again to my agents John @zenoagency and Joshua @awfulagent as well as my editor @toni_m_plummer at
It's been a long journey, but thanks to @jberlyne @awfulagent @toni_m_plummer & Shannon Donnelly and all at @diversionbooks (not to mention @booksforwardpr @michelvrana_design ) for bringing Exo out into the world in style. May you find the read
Thanks to @booktrib for the opportunity to talk about five brilliant (award-winning or -shortlisted) books dealing with change in the world & how we live with that change, each of which ultimately how I wrote my own novel, Exo. https://booktrib.
Copywriter in the wild: The lovely people at @writersdigest asked me to talk about how I went from copywriter to novelist (note: I'm still a copywriter). https://www.writersdigest.com/shifting-from-publishing-copywriter-to-published-novelist As the