Dragons of Dunmoray in the Indie Ink Awards

Dragons of Dunmoray has been nominated in the Indie Ink Awards 2025 in three categories. Here are some more details for each of these.

Why not head over to the Indie Ink Awards 2025 and give my dragons some love.

Permafrost in the Indie Ink Awards

Voting is now open for the Indie Ink Awards and Permafrost has been nominated in four categories. Here are some more details for each:

Please vote over at Indie Ink Awards 2025.

The Indie Ink Awards 2025

Two of my novels, Dragons of Dunmoray and Permafrost, have picked up nomination in the 2025 Indie Ink Awards. 

Dragons of Dunmoray has been nominated for:

• Best Mentor Character
• Best Morally Grey Character
• Writing the Future we need - Mental Health Representation

Whilst Permafrost has been nominated for:

• Best Setting
• Best Friendship
• Side Character MVP
• This Book Made me Hungry/Thirsty

Voting is now open over at Indie Ink 2025 so do please head over and give them both some love.

Thank you for all your support

Review: The Ocean Hugs Hard by Eric Avedissian

 The Book:

Surfside City, New Jersey. 1966. Cub reporter Harman Bass is cutting his teeth in the fast world of local journalism and getting out-scooped by the competition. Facetious, cocky, and always quoting Nietzsche, Harman isn't making any friends both in and out of the newsroom.

All that changes when the daughter of a prominent family is found dead on the beach, handing Harman the juiciest news story of the year. But she isn't any old beauty pageant queen; she's his high school girlfriend. Harman's dogged reporting into the young woman's death reveals pushback from the authorities and pulls the newshound into the resort's darkest corners.

After one of his sources is murdered, the routine story becomes dangerous and personal. Something watches Harman from the shadows, something ancient and hungry, worshipped by powerful men who kill to keep their secrets. Harman's job and life are soon threatened, and the once brash reporter must battle his boss, rival journalists, and his own sanity before filing what could be his last story.

My Thoughts:

The Ocean Hugs Hard is a wonderful genre mashup combining crime with horror in a 1960s American seaside resort setting. The claustrophobic small town atmosphere is really well described and the setting is immersive. The historic aspect added another great dimension although at times I felt Harman was viewing the world around him through a very 21st Century lens and as a result I wasn’t totally invested in the timeframe. 

Harman himself is a character with considerable depth and there was great poignancy to his recollections of his failed relationship with his teenage sweetheart who turns out to be the first murder victim. 

And then on to the horror aspects of the story. There was a distinct vibe very similar to British folk horror, which is a genre I love. I was pleasantly surprised to find this in an American setting. But I don’t want to say any more about this aspect of the story. You’ll just have to read it yourself to find out.

All in all a very enjoyable and compelling read.