Have you ever started a horror novel and struggled to clearly define what category it slotted into? Yes, well you my friend, are in the right place. This discussion piece will be split into four parts and will aim to narrow down the sub-genres with an info sheet to make it easier. What is in a horror novel and just how can it be categorized? It’s certainly a difficult dilemma. I don’t shy away from the fact that I’m a massive geek and i love an amazing graphic to highlight my point! I’ve always thought that horror is an outstanding genre that shows the depths of both depravity and the…

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first Finally… reveal the book! First Lines: What could you do when you were too hot? Remove your own skin? It didn’t seem like a feasible option. You won’t recognise the…

We are always told that first impressions count, right?  But we are also told to never judge a book by its cover.  How can these two differing points of view impact the publishing industry?  I’m in the camp of judging a book by its cover…I know, I know, don’t lynch me yet, let me explain.  How do you react when you see an impactful book cover? You want to buy it, if that’s for simple reasons like it would look the part on your bookshelf or for the more powerful reason that you want to know it’s story, you want to have it divulge all its secrets.  Is it going…