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You can’t beat a pub quiz - when you reach a certain age. I wouldn’t have dreamt of attending one in my 20s and 30s when I was too cool for school-like environments in which you had to answer questions! But now I’m older and wiser? All over them. And it’s good to see competitors aged 20-80 taking part in the one in my local boozer. Phones away. Engage the brain. Bit of healthy competition. It took the team I quiz with about ten thrashings and a few close calls before we w

I wrote Last Writer Sitting in 2023. My copywriting business was already on the wane, following the launch of Cheat GPT the previous November (it stands for Generic Pilfered Trash, right?). Even then, it felt like the writing was on the wall for us jobbing writers, not on the page or screen where we prefer it. I’d seen a demo of the tech, and although the output was pure slop, it was quick slop that would be good enough for many clients who were more concerned about their b

Thankfully, I got out of working in ad agencies (as a copywriter) before many of them slid into the abyss of AI slop, and before I wrote The Pub Gardeners. If ever there was an industry bound to embrace technology that enabled the cutting of corners, the lowering of quality and the non-payment of creative human beings, I suspected advertising would be it. The lead characters in my short novel The Pub Gardeners aren’t quite so lucky. The writer and art director duo of Darl

This remains one of the best book reviews I’ve ever received for one of my books: “Wow! (5-stars) OK, here is the thing that is amazing about this book. There were several instances of what? – that’s-not-possible situations, such as doing a space walk with no spacesuit, just an oxygen mask. But the book is so good you don’t care! It’s as if the author asks the reader to just be child-like occasionally and accept that dogs fly and cats talk, forgetting how physically impossibl

This is it. My Dead Headz dystopian novel is likely the best story I’ll ever write. The most important tale I’ll ever tell. And it's out now. If you like the sound of an alternate universe dystopia with a reluctant hero who tries to overthrow an extremist, tech-obsessed government without violence, please give it a try. Cosy crime fiction this isn’t. But I like to think there’s wit, insight, imagination and information in here that’ll make it a rewarding read. Plus plenty

Look at me, giving it all the Q1 malarkey. Sounds like a proper business report from a pin-stripe suit wearing finance guru. Rest assured, it isn’t and I’m not. I’m just a humble author keeping close tabs on book sales and freebie giveaways, hoping I can uncover some nuggets that can help boost sales and indie author visibility for me and anyone else who’s interested. And I’m actually waiting to put the winter wardrobe away and get into the short and t-shirt combo until Oct

I’m not saying that sales were going swimmingly. But they were happening regularly for one of my titles, with a rating north of 4.0 on Amazon. Then a 2-star review caused the average to dip under 4.0 for the first time. And that seemed to change everything. As all writers must do, you have to take the good with the bad, the rough with the smooth, the one and two stars with the fours and fives. And I did, not expecting the bad review to have much of an impact on a book tha

I write dystopia, therefore I read dystopia. And The Wall by John Lanchester was a recommended title in the genre. And I can see why. It manages to be both dark and entertaining, not something that’s easy to achieve. In this world, kids of a certain age are required to patrol the wall, defending their nation, keeping on watch for people – Others – trying to get into the country the wall is built to protect. National Service, if you please. I must have missed the bit whe

I’m writing dystopia , so feel the need to read dystopia. And this one cropped up as recommended. It’s been made into a TV series called Silo, I believe. Or the books were adapted from a film. Can’t work it out. Doesn't matter. It was the number one drama in the history of Apple TV, apparently. That’s always something that gives a book extra credibility. If someone liked it enough to invest however much it takes to make a TV series, and then loads of people decided to watch

Flying Ant Day. Such a big event, they named a book after it. Or at least I did. Although my Flying Ant Day contains not a single reference to oversized winged insects within its pages. But it’s not the purpose of this blog to wax lyrical about the most under-rated of my books. It’s to shed more light on the annual event that inspired its title. Sex. That’s at the heart of Flying Ant Day. The reason why male ants and new queens take to the skies is to mate. Fair play. T

Here’s a draft of a flyer that Kent Sanderson considers disseminating among the population of his dystopian south London town. In the end, he opts for something a little more palatable, thanks to the advice of his colleague, Pete. But this gives you an idea of the level of disgust and mockery aimed at the people who have decided to surrender their thinking and doing to machines in the First World. ---FIRST DRAFT COPY – by K e n t S a n d e r s o n Are you at risk of beco

The violence of Freedom For All Day (dubbed Flying Ant Day ) forced the youth-led government - the Powers - to loosen their grip on the populace of the First World, granting its citizens more freedom to leave their homes and move about the streets. But 5 years later, the bad old days are returning. Defying long-established laws, the Powers are refusing to call a general election, rattling the cages of older members of the community eager to vote out this immature government.

Goodreads lists 3,790 books under Best Dystopian Novels and Post Apocalyptic Fiction. If there are this many works rated as 'best' in this genre, you can bet your bottom dollar, or five pound note if you hail from the same side of the Atlantic Ocea as I, that there are a huge amount of other titles that don’t rank quite so highly. But sticking to the title of this post like a propaganda poster to a newsagent's window, I’m going to concentrate on the dystopian novels that ha

To pave the way for the release of my new dystopian fiction novel Dead Headz in May 2026, I’m duty bound to promote the book that establishes the main characters and the apocalyptic world that dominate the new book. Flying Ant Day is the book in question. One of my favourite novels if I do say so myself, although reviews so far have been lukewarm. But you know your own mind, you don't take another person's words at face value, so see if this floats your boat or sinks like a

Tricky things to write, blurbs. Trying to condense multi thousand word novels into a couple of hundred? That’s not easy. But I put mine up for your perusal and look forward to any criticism or complements you send my way: SELLER V by Jon Lymon As far as unreliable narrators go, John Peachcroft has got it licked. Although what isn’t in any doubt is his lack of success as an author. Sales of his 10 self-published books have ground to such a halt that his girlfriend has handed h

I don't know about you, but I'm always on the look out for a writing tip or two. Here's one from me. I don't want anything slowing me down when I'm in the zone and the words are flowing and the ideas and twists and plot points and great dialogue are going down onto the page at a rate of knots. That's why speech marks and other punctuation can wait until a later draft. All I'm concerned about early doors is getting the words down. And stopping to insert speech marks unnecessar

Vicious Circle A free short story by Jon Lymon Danny Gibb had a U-bend scar on his face that his girl used to like. Said it gave him character. Made him look hard. But trouble attracts trouble and soon their relationship was in it. The end came the night he hit his girlfriend for the first and last time. Hard on the right side of her face which was the wrong side because it was her good side. He hit her after finding out about Dr Hambell, who hadn’t always had letters and

Tricky things to write, blurbs. Trying to condense multi thousand word novels into a couple of hundred? That’s not easy. But I put mine up for your perusal and look forward to any criticism or complements you send my way: THE PUB GARDENERS by Jon Lymon When made redundant from their careers in advertising, two desperate creatives, Darlington and Waverley, steal a van full of gardening equipment from the scene of their final ad shoot, and search for new meaning to their lives

I’ve mentioned this before, and here goes again – sales are so precious for indie authors. That’s why knowing the worst day of the month for book sales might help other writers plan advertising campaigns and the like. A bit of background – in 2025 I kept a close eye on all sales activities for my books and am now in a position to reveal the findings. I’ve already done the best date in the month for book sales , so here are the top five worst for me, Jon Lymon, horror and da

Tricky things to write, blurbs. Trying to condense multi thousand word novels into a couple of hundred? That’s not easy. But I put mine up for your perusal and look forward to any criticism or complements you send my way: THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS THREEVE by Jon Lymon On the worst day of Christmas, a true ghost gives to Nick Crosby the chance to start over and over and over. Technology Consultant Nick Crosby is hiding a guilty secret. No, two guilty secrets. But he’s determined