Today, I'm super-excited to be sharing a short story from the fabulous Gothic Horror writer, Judith Crow. Here is her Poe-inspired story, The Clockmaker ... The Clockmaker I cannot sleep. I cannot allow myself to sleep. In sleep, Death may strike with as little awareness as warning, and I find myself refusing to accept unawareness at the moment of demise. Yet, I wish I were afforded others’ natural ignorance of the timing of death. In the names of heaven and hell: I both curse and envy them for their ignorance! I, like others, started my final day with little to suggest it may be my last. I was in rude health when I arrived in London twelve days earlier, and today I took the time to call upon Sir Benjamin Pelham, a man I had served alongside in India. Twenty years ago, his interest in science and invention had lured him back to the English universities, while I had stayed abroad to make my fortune overseeing the collapse and redistribution of the once-mighty East India Company. Si
Looking back always makes me feel a bit nostalgic and there are points in this year that I could relive time and time again. Highlights for me were being there at the launch of Virginia's historical fiction novel Day's Dying Glory in April and then the Perthshire holiday straight after. That was a super relaxing time that will remain in my most treasured memories for years. Here are some pictures of the holiday: Virginia at her book launch for "Day's Dying Glory" Just down the road from where we stayed in Perthshire You may have recognised the ruined house as the one we used in the Ghost Story Competition video . That was another highlight of 2017 - our first competition encouraged about 100 entries and all the stories I read from the longlist were absolutely superb. It was a tricky business creating the shortlist but we got there in the end. I have also reviewed some very good books, and read some super books that I will post throughout