Dim The Sun release announcement!
Steve Stred
Today marks a pretty neat day for me – the surprise announcement for the release of my first collection of poetry! Dim the Sun will feature 14 dark poems and 1 darker short story!
I wasn’t planning on doing a release like this but here it is. So why did I do it? A few reasons. The first was inspiration. When I was in high school and the first year of college, I wrote a lot. Most of it was poetry. In the first year of college I stopped. Thinking back, I think I stopped because I fell in love with lifting weights (and poetry isn’t macho!) and I fell out of love with poetry. I struggled to write anything I found worthwhile. Earlier this year, I began to focus on Twitter a bit more, wanting to grow that social media avenue for my releases. Through Twitter I made a connection with Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi. Initially I was under the impression that she was simply an editor/publisher/promotor etc of Indie work. Through Hook of a Book and Sinister Grin etc, I saw her pushing and promoting author’s works and was very impressed. Then one day I saw her tweet out about her own release Breathe. Breathe. This was her collection of dark poetry and fiction. We messaged a bit on Twitter and at one point we swapped copies of our works; I sent her Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and she sent me Breathe. Breathe. When I finally got around to reading it (and it took way too long to get there!) I was blown away. This was the poetry I had been missing. It wasn’t pretentious over-worded woe-is-me poems. This was cinematic landscapes. It was visceral, ugly, graphic and really, really dark. And the darkness of those poems turned the light back on in my head.
Look, I write bleak, dark, horrible stuff. That’s my jam. It’s what I love and what interests me as an author. So seeing my style of writing done so well as poetry kicked me hard and I started to jot stuff down. I still focused on writing my normal fiction, but each week I would write a poem and see where it went. And here we are.
Another reason for wanting this out, is a bit to keep my name out there. I really have nothing planned until the start of next year and with the holiday season coming along, I thought having a nice little release was fun.
Lastly, two personal reasons. The first is positive, the second a big negative.
When I was attempting to be a bobsledder, Rob Derman was there for me. He helped me in Whistler more than anyone else and frankly was there for me when I had an emotional breakdown. We stayed in close touch since, and he helped me with dryland push training in Richmond and sprint training in Coquitlam. He was always just there when I needed him. Rob ended up coaching at the recent Winter Olympics and after that experience, he has decided to come out of retirement and try to qualify for the next Games in 2022 as an athlete again. I am not in a financial position to help, so pushed this release a bit. I wanted to be able to help him in some way, just like when people helped me before. So because of that, all proceeds from this will be going towards Rob and his journey, which isn’t much, but as self-funded athletes know, every little bit helps.
If you would like to donate directly to Rob you can do so here;
https://www.gofundme.com/2022-olympic-dream-phase-1
The second personal reason is state of mind. I am typically a glass-half full optimistic person. Lately that has been tested and I have had some low moments. These dark thoughts are a purge if you will. Let out the dark to let in the light.
A few final notes here;
The first three poems here are actually adapted lyrics from a death metal band I was in, called Free the Frail. One of these days we should actually record that album Pat!
14 – Under Moon, the Huntress. This was originally published in my short story collection Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick. I included it here as it just fits and I really love that poem/tale
15 – Eaten (A Short Story). This was originally released on my website as a free read, and was going to appear on my next collection of short stories The Night Crept In. I decided to add it here as a nice closer. And for some folks, they wanted to get their bloody little hands on this tale and not wait until next year, so here it is.
I want to give huge props to my friend Mason McDonald. He did this fantastic cover for me and has really knocked my covers out of the park. He is also responsible for Left Hand Path, YURI and Wagon Buddy!
So there you have it! Now for the details!
Dim the Sun is going to start life out as purely an ebook, no physical release planned currently. It will be $0.99 Canadian, which means depending on your country and exchange rate, you may get this for as low as $0.50! The release date is December 1, 2018!
I hope everyone will snag this and help my friend out! And how knows, it may just be the kick in the pants you need to pursue something that you used to love again!
Big thanks as always to Gavin at Kendall Reviews for hosting this announcement! He works tirelessly to promote horror and a variety of authors and his friendship means the world to me!
Cheers,
Steve
Dim The Sun is a collection of 14 dark poems and one bleak horror short story. Focusing on pain, fear, anger, depression and anxiety Steve Stred brings you deep into his mind to share some truly unnerving moments. This is Steve Stred’s first collection of poetry he has released.
Table of Contents:
- (I’m Not) Ready to Die
- Ashes of Redemption
- Psychological
- Dim the Sun
- Darkness
- September
- The Light, The Dark
- Devil’s Dance
- Peeping Tom
- Fair Trade
- The Harpy
- Aeternum
- Exit Plan
- Under Moon, the Huntress
- Eaten (Short Story)
PRE-ORDER Dim The Sun now from…
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is an up-an-coming Dark Horror author. Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick.
Steve also has a number of works on the go and enjoys all this horror, occult, supernatural and paranormal.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog Oj.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official Website here
Thanks for the fascinating post. I don’t read much poetry and when I do it’s the darker stuff. These sound intriguing. Congratulations on your new release.