What is Silhouettes (apart from bad grammar)? Here’s all you need to know about my new collection.

I’ve mentioned Silhouettes in the past few editions of my Progress Report posts. But so little has happened since the last one, I thought it would be a better use of time to give you as much info on this brand-new book.

What exactly is Silhouettes?

At the risk of repeating previous blogs, Silhouettes is a collection of short stories and poems. My first release of this kind. It’s a small anthology made up of my favourite writings from the last few years. Some of them entered into competitions with no real results; others were mere ideas in the beginning and I’ve written them especially for this book. It even includes my fan favourite Sunday on the Boulevard (with my pet lobster). 

A few of the stories and poems are drawn from true experiences of mine, whether social or while working in hospitality. Others are inspired simply by how I look at life, how I look at people. Sometimes in anger, sometimes in irony.

All being well, Silhouettes will be released at the end of September. And we’re going to try to expand beyond Amazon this time! While I’m sticking with self-publishing for the moment, this time I’m looking at IngramSpark to extend my reach. Especially as this book is for more than one audience!

How long will Silhouettes be?

The collection consists of nine short stories of varying subject and style — the shortest is only a couple of pages, while the longest is 20 pages, comprising five chapters (or vignettes). The poems come on top of that — 14 in total and divided into two sections within the book. Again, they vary in length, style and genre. Totalling at around 130 pages.

You say varying genre… what do you mean?

One of the pieces of feedback I had from my novels, The Berylford Scandals, was that the length and genre (historical mystery) were intimidating to new readers. With Silhouettes, I wanted to redress this. To provide something unthreatening for those who don’t normally read, while also giving something new to my regular fans. It has been five years since Sin & Secrecy came out, after all. About time we changed the narrative.

Also to appeal to readers of all kinds, the stories and poems don’t all fall into one particular genre. There’s a mixture of comedy and drama. Domestic sagas (Learning to Live with Lukasz), streams of consciousness (Last Train to London), horror (The Vampire of Allouaine), even one or two attempts at absurdism. We visit hotels, trains, buses, mental health clinics, restaurants, and more, all for a range of reasons in a variety of scenarios. It’s not all flights of fancy, mind you. There are some parts that channel complex themes such as grief, drugs and suicide.

You never know — this may be the book in which you find your kind of story.

One good question I had earlier this week: are the stories connected in any way? The answer is no, though the thought had crossed my mind. To make the characters all related in some way. But with some stories venturing into more fantastical and period realms, it didn’t seem plausible.

Will more information come before the release date?

Of course! I have commissioned the cover and the foreword, so I’ll be able to reveal more about those bits when they’re completed. I also plan to dedicate a part of my podcast, The Dale Hurst Writing Show‘s 50th episode to Silhouettes. There, I’ll delve into the inspirations behind my favourite stories and the book as a whole. Keep an eye out for that around September (or Follow on Spotify now, and you won’t miss an episode!)

Also, for the first time, I intend to release an audiobook version (just working out the logistics). Watch out for more on this in the near future.

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Getting into the details of my latest poem, The Platform. Written in light of Mental Health Awareness Week…

As I stated in my last blog post, I’m going to make myself more of a presence on YouTube (and I would appreciate any subscriptions going). And for my first proper video, I thought it was appropriate to address Mental Health Awareness Week, which ends today. You can view the video separately, so I won’t reiterate the message contained therein. I will, however, take this opportunity to go into a bit of detail about the poem that follows it. Written especially, after years of sitting on the idea, I am happy to present The Platform.

The Poem in Detail

In a pre-COVID world, I used to travel by train a lot. And, while I can’t remember precisely when, I once had a thought, while waiting at Branksome railway station, that people have and do attempt and indeed commit suicide, simply by stepping off a platform. An awful thing to imagine, of course. But it sparked the idea for a drama, in which seven people, for their own respective reasons, have all come down to the same railway platform to commit suicide. In the drama, which was going to be titled The Platform, none of the seven people would get to kill themselves, because an eighth, unseen person manages it. However, the experience is sobering for the other seven, who actually come together as a unit. Fulfilling needs in one another that they had been lacking alone.

Obviously this idea remained dormant for years, until I was thinking about Mental Health Awareness Week. And how I’d like to write a poem whose stanzas could be read in any order. One that didn’t follow the traditional vertical format. Lo and behold, The Platform resurfaced. And while it could just as well serve as the basis for the drama it was meant to be in future, I think it works just as well as a poem. With each stanza representing a person standing on the titular train platform.

I prefer to let people interpret the inner meanings behind each stanza. Who each person is and what their vulnerabilities are. Are they tales of loneliness, social anxiety, and bog standard depression? Or do they touch more on the ideas of autism, blindness, and racism? I’d like to let you join the dots for yourselves — why not post in the Comments section what you think each person represents or suffers from.

However, the final stanza, deliberately placed in the traditional position, is hardly ambiguous. One step down (off the platform) leads them to freedom. And pain for those who know and love them.

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