Silhouettes – all you need to know

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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