I know it's been a while I've updated this but, pure honesty, I'd forgotten that I had this blog but I'm going to make more of an effort to update things here.
I've been doing a lot of art and craft shows recently as a way of getting my books and my art noticed a bit more.
My next appearances will be
The Makers Fayre
September 16th from 9-5
Leicester Haymarket Shopping Centre
I'll be there, alongside the wonderfully talented artist, Calista Stamos, and will have my art, stickers, and more with me.
Art Market
September 24th from 12-4
Leicester Market Stalls
I'll be there, alongside my co-author, Golda Evans, and will have as many of my creations as I can fit on to the table!
I loved the covers for Flesh Tones and for Mother, Dearest: Book 3 - Hell, as Seen from Heaven but just felt like they were missing something.
With a bit of jiggery pokery, I've remade the covers and have fallen completely in love with them. They're eye-catching, they fit the themes of the books much better, and hopefully all of you love them just as much.
With that in mind, here's the reveal video from YouTube AND I'll post the images below that too.
Flesh Tones: Anthology
Death is a universal truth that we all must come to terms with, but what happens when we come face-to-face with it?
In this anthology, you'll be taken on a journey through various perspectives on death.
From a young couple who inherit a grand mansion, to a man struggling with depression, to an elderly woman reflecting on her life, and even the ghosts of a serial killer's victims seeking vengeance, this collection will both haunt and captivate fans of the macabre.
All from the mind that brought you the award-nominated 'Mother, Dearest' trilogy, Patrick Scattergood.
Mother Dearest: Book 3 - Hell, as Seen from Heaven
Even in a world of deities and magic, life and death are things that will be forever entwined.
Michael knows that more than anyone. He, a fallen angel, has fought and killed his way to the leadership of The Family. When he commits the ultimate sin, the church becomes a place of horror and bloodshed in the name of calling forth the forbidden Tree of Knowledge.
Blood will spill, sacrifices will be made, but will Satara and the others be able to stop their world from being torn asunder?
I've been on a kick of reading a lot of LGBTQ+ books and graphic novels, some for enjoyment and others for my YouTube writing channel, and it's wonderful to reintroduce myself to some of the superb talent in the LGBTQ+ community.
Respectable by Kate Beaumont is another title in a long list and very crowded genre of books that take a look at life in the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. What Beaumont has managed to do here is create a story that really makes you care about the characters themselves and also offers a really interesting take on feeling trapped in the mundanity of life. We can all feel trapped sometimes with the routines that we get stuck in. It's no different for the character of Toby. On paper, he has it all, including the beautiful girlfriend, the job, and even an eye to the future. That's also part of the problem. The world, his life, feels like it's closing in around him, leaving Toby feeling claustrophobic.
To some, such a story might feel a little self-indulgent on the character's part, but that's not the case here. It's written with such honesty, sometimes to a rather blunt level, that you can't help but feel involved with it all. My only complaint, character-wise, is that I would have liked a little more of some of the side characters, but that's a personal taste, not a knock on the graphic novel itself.
Speaking of characters, one of the things I liked best about 'Respectable' was that not everything was neatly tied up in the end and that not everyone had the "happy ever after" that can sometimes be found in graphic novels. The only part of that that bugged me slightly was it was a little too abrupt with the ending. I think that, personally, that only bugged me because I wanted more of the story and to see more of the characters.
If you like books like 'Heartstopper," then I think that you will like this one. It almost felt like a look at their lives once they were older, and I really liked that. It came out three or so years before Osman's wonderful collection, but it really feels like it would be a good companion in that genre.
After picking up issue one of the series at a comic con, I was extremely eager to read the entire series again.
NPC Tea is a superb comic collection. One of the things I like the most about it is how uniquely it tells the story and makes you care about the characters. Unlike some other fantasy stories, each character has a reason to act the way that they do, and they each have a voice that is unique to them, even the side characters. It's a wonderfully fleshed-out world of captivating characters and places that makes you really feel, at times, that you're part of their world and watching everything unfold.
One of the ways Sarah Millman does this is by changing the background colours. I’d never seen it done that way before, and it works beautifully here with the art on display. The changes denote the different places, points of view, and even emotions of the characters.
There are also some wonderfully heartfelt moments in the story that really stay with you after you’ve finished the story, and some very well-written LGBTQ representation as well, something that has been sorely missing from the fantasy genre, especially in the comic book world.
With its description being that it's a love letter to the Final Fantasy games and Lord of the Rings, it wears its influences on its sleeves, but in a way that really piques the reader's interest. It's not one of those overly long or overly self-indulgent fantasy stories. Instead, it really does read as a love letter to the genre and to the joy of going to a local teashop.
NPC TEA is one of those types of books that you can read again and again, noticing something new each and every time.
Me again, your friendly, neighbourhood pansexual/nonbinary author.
Over on my YouTube page, you will find a new video of the wonderful Tony Carpenter reading what may be one of my favourite chapters in the whole of the first Mother, Dearest novel.
Chapter six is is where the character of Trent shows his true self and it was one of my favourite ones to write. I tried to give it the vibe of a 1980's horror movie without going too over the top with it. Hopefully that was successful.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention how amazed I am at the job that Tony Carpenter did at bringing my characters to life. He's perhaps best known for his turn as Stan Laurel in the stage shows by Lucky Dog Productions and other such stage shows. He's an actor, and voice artist, with a great calibre and level of talent so I honestly feel so lucky to have had him read the book itself.
I've always enjoyed stories starring the iconic Sherlock Holmes. I don't mind if they're set in the same time period or in the modern day; I just like reading as many different takes on the character as possible.
Now, obviously, none can come close to the classics by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; after all, they're timeless for a reason, but some superb authors, such as George Mann, have taken up the mantle and written their own.
After years of reading Sherlock Holmes novels and short story collections, there had always been that voice at the back of my mind wondering whether or not I could write one myself.
I'd written Time to Burn, alongside my partner, Golda Evans, which was a time travel and sci-fi adventure, and I'd written Mother, Dearest, the series that combined psychological thriller with the world of dark urban fantasy, but I'd never had the confidence to write something involving such a well-known and well-loved character.
The Case of the Morbid Detection was inspired by that little voice that told me to write one.
It is the story of a serial killer stalking the streets of London, leaving bodies cut with strange symbols next to a handmade Jack-in-the-Box toy.
While Inspector Lestrade and Doctor John Watson investigate the murders, Sherlock Holmes has retreated to London. His previous cases have worn him ragged, leaving him doubting his own abilities and even second-guessing whether or not he can keep those closest to him safe, but when Lestrade and Watson bring him back to London, the murders grow more vicious.
It's a simple story, in the grand scheme of things, but it's one that I found interesting. I didn't want to just copy what other authors had done while still keeping the things readers enjoyed about the character.
With that in mind, I wanted to present a version of the character who was struggling with the world around him, the toll the cases had taken on him, and even the heavy weight of expectation that his abilities had placed on him.
On the one hand, people seem to have enjoyed the fact that I took a new slant on the characters, giving them a bit more of a voice in my own style. On the other hand, the purists out there didn't like that I'd made changes like that, and that's okay. Each reader is different, and they all have different tastes. I, personally, am proud of the fact that I didn't go down the same route as the other Sherlock Holmes writers. But, as the hardest critic of my own work, I know it's not my strongest novel, but I am proud of the story that I put out into the world.
All in all, The Case of the Morbid Detection is a novel of which I am proud. I'd always wanted to write a Sherlock Holmes novel, and I did. Will I write another one? Perhaps not, but if I do, I hope I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing this one.
The Case of the Morbid Detection is available from
Over on my YouTube channel is a new video which, I hope, will be the first in a series. I'm going to be talking about some of my favourite LGBTQ recommendations. This one is rather short, as I'm both testing the idea out and also trying to get over my lack of confidence, but I'm hoping it's at least enjoyable.
I really feel that there is a serious lack of promotion for LGBTQ novels, novellas, short stories, anthologies, and things like that, and I want to do my part, as an LGBTQ author myself, to help others promote their work.
I might even have a go at having guests in to do videos of their own LGBTQ recommendations.
If you like the video, then please like and subscribe, or even share if you should wish to.
Now, before I go, I have one request and it's a simple one. It's to remember one thing.
I had a great time co-writing Time to Burn with Golda Evans. It's a time hopping, science fiction adventure that deals with grief, loss, revenge, and regret.
The thing I loved the most about writing it was the simple fact that, before Golda asked me to be a part of it, I'd only written the first Mother, Dearest novel. Obviously that was a completely different genre but, as we are both huge science fiction nerds, I jumped at the chance.
What most people don't know though is that it was originally going to be a comic book/graphic novel but we couldn't land on an art style that we both liked.
Since it was released, we were given a wonderful compliment about the book. It was compared to the 1997 movie Event Horizon, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Laurence Fishburne. It's actually one of my favourite science fiction movies because of how it deals with insanity, horror, and the vast, terrifyingly large expanse that is space. If you've never checked it out, then watch the trailer below for a taster then go find it on a streaming channel, on DVD, on Blu Ray, hell, go to the drive through, I don't know. Just watch it. It's superb.
With that in mind, despite not knowing what I'm doing, I decided to make a snazzy* book trailer for what is, one of my favourite books I've been a part of, and then post it over on my YouTube channel.
*snazzy = cheesy, 80's style trailer that I love.
It was fun to make and I hope you like it.
Time to Burn is available now from Amazon, Gumroad, and Etsy.
I was sitting around trying to think of ways of introducing people to my work, as my books are something that I am incredibly proud of having created.
That's why I have started creating little mini videos to introduce the themes, and the stories, that I have created.
Over the next few weeks, I will be adding the videos to my new YouTube channel, and then adding other things here and there.
Yes, I know, YouTube isn't my forte but, you know what, I'm going to give it a try.
If you want to take a look at what's gone up so far, introductions to the Mother, Dearest trilogy and Flesh Tones: An Anthology, then check out the channel here!
I love reading short stories, but writing them? That's a whole new set of skills.
If I'm honest with myself about my writing, I tend to be a bit flowery, a bit wordy, with some of my stories, and that's okay; that's my writing style. For a long time, I dreaded writing a short story, despite the fact that I'd always wanted to try it.
That's where Flesh Tones: An Anthology came in.
I'd been working on a series of comic books with the same title, and a voice at the back of my head told me that the comic book stories would make a good set of prose tales. I hadn't revisited those comics for a couple of years, so I thought it would be a good way of a) giving them a new life, b) adding some more details and backstory to some fun stories, and c) getting a new skill under my belt.
I'm not going to lie and say it was easy to adapt them; it wasn't. In fact, I found it much harder than when I wrote the first Mother, Dearest novel, but, at the same time, it was actually kind of fun to do. It was even fun to take a fresh look at the characters, at the worlds created within the stories, and all that wonderful writer stuff that makes me sound like a pretentious douchebag.
For Flesh Tones: An Anthology, I wanted to give it a theme of talking about death—cheerful, I know, but I wanted to do it from different points of view. There's a story about a man adrift in space who sees an animated version of David Bowie; there's a romantic tale told from the point of view of an elderly lady living out her last days in a nursing home; there's even a tale from the mindset of a serial killer's victims.
With that in mind, these are the stories I included in the collection, one of which I will include links to below.
Flesh Tones: An Anthology contains:
The Mansion: When a young couple inherits a mansion from a relative they haven't spoken to in decades, they can't help but wonder if it's too good to be true.
Always Follow Your Heart: After attending a fancy party, Lady Scardale decides that she wants to walk home instead of taking her personal carriage, but as she walks through the city, she finds she's not alone in the night.
The Black Dog in the Night: It's late at night, and his personal demons are swirling around his mind, waiting for him to make up his mind. It's a hard choice, made worse by the black dog nipping at him every chance it gets. Does he live, or does he give in to those voices telling him to end it all?
The Tunnel: Will was always a bit of a drifter, floating from job to job and city to city, never bothering to make friends or to set down roots. He's also a serial killer looking for his latest victim.
The Passage of Time: Sitting in a nursing home, as her memories and her faculties begin to fade, an elderly woman just wants to see the love of her life one last time.
Physician, Heal Thyself: What would you do if you, a doctor, found out that the man who brutalised and murdered your daughter had been injured in jail only to be brought to the church that you work at?
The Scared Crow: Keith had always been a quiet child. Bullied by the other children and living in a small town where everyone knew everyone else, he had no friends. No friends, that is, except for the crows, who would go to any length to keep him safe.
Hallo, Spaceboy: Space is a vast, exciting, and wonderous place, but what would you do if you suddenly found yourself adrift with no way to get back to your capsule, especially if that meant you were being followed by an animated David Bowie?
I Speak in My Own Name: Deities, spirits, and creatures not unlike ourselves have been dotted throughout our stories and our history. What if one of those very same deities was looking down at us in disdain at what we do to one another?
You Go Hide, I Go Seek: A local couple had wanted a baby for years, and when they finally give birth, it appears all their dreams and prayers have been answered, but when that baby goes missing, it sets off a chain of events that will forever change the small town they live in.
So, there we have it: ten stories, all taking different looks at death and the consequences that come with it. The collection is available from the following links, so please enjoy the stories and, if you can, leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anywhere else you can think of.
And if you would like a copy to review for your website or blog, then drop me a line at patricksscattergood@gmail.com and give me the details.
I've created an author YouTube page and have uploaded a reading of chapter one from the first Mother, Dearest book.
As you know, the trilogy is an LGBTQ+ led dark urban fantasy adventure that I am incredibly proud of. It has since been turned into an audiobook, with book two coming in the future, read by the supremely talented actor and performer by the name of Tony Carpenter.
If you like what you hear, and we hope you do, then the audiobook is available from my Gumroad shop here!
Finally, should you wish to read the whole adventure, in both Kindle and paperback format, then just visit my Amazon page here!
All in all, it's been a busy time since I last wrote in this blog but I hope to write a heck of a lot more often here.
Love you all and remember, trans rights are human rights.
