Tag: sample chapters

More Signed Copies of Stranger Days to be Won!

If you didn’t get lucky in our previous competition, there’s now a new chance to win one of three signed copies of the paperback edition of Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill, this time courtesy of Lovereading4kids You can find out all about how to enter on the lovereading4kids website here, where you’ll also find the Lovereading4kids review of the book.

This is of course the second in the Vale of Strange series, the sequel to The Shop on Peculiar Hill. Lovereading4kids points out that it’s also a stand-alone novel which works very well even if you haven’t read the previous book. They say: ‘this is an exciting book which will certainly be a page turner for those who love all things weird and wonderful’.

The book is one of the Lovereading4kids ‘indie books that we love’ and also one of their featured books. There’s lots more about the book, including more reviews, on our own special page here and you can read some free sample chapters here. Good luck in the competition!

Stranger Days – Free Sample Chapters Available Now!

As promised, here is a link to the free sample chapters of ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’, the second book in the Vale of Strange series. This is your chance to try before you buy.  If you decide you want to read more – and I really hope you do! – the Kindle version of the book can be pre-ordered now from your local Amazon store.

UK link

US link

It will then be auto-downloaded to your device or app on 1st December, the publication date. The paperback version can’t be pre-ordered but it can be purchased from 1st December.

If these two chapters aren’t enough for you and you would like a sneak preview of the whole book, then that might be possible too if you are happy to give us some feedback when you have read it. If you would like to see the whole book in advance, please get in touch with us through the Contact Grimly page.

Happy reading!

Revealed At Last!

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Well it’s been tense and time got a little bit tight for a while, but I’m pleased to announce that we now have a definite publication date for ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’, the eagerly awaited second book in the ‘Vale of Strange’ series and sequel to ‘The Shop on Peculiar Hill’. It’s going to be released in good time for Christmas: on 1st December. Not only that, but copies of the eBook can be ordered right now. They will then be auto-downloaded to your Kindle device or app on 1st December.

You can order here if you are in the UK and here for the US. The paperback version can’t be pre-ordered but it can be purchased at Amazon from 1st December. The book will also be available in both formats from Amazon sites worldwide.

To add to the excitement, we can now announce that the book’s splendid cover by Pete Lyon, which we enthused about in a previous post, is being revealed right now at Mani’s Book Corner. You may remember that Mani was the first blogger to review The Shop on Peculiar Hill and she has always been very enthusiastic and supportive so we decided that she was the ideal person to do the Cover Reveal, especially as her blog has a lot more regular readers than ours does! So I strongly suggest you get over there right now and take a look at the cover. Prepare to have your breath taken away by this remarkably detailed imagining of a scene from ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’.

One more thing before you go: if you don’t already follow this blog, we suggest you sign up now. You’ll then be assured of getting all the latest news on the new book and all other Vale of Strange-related matters. Just pop your email in the box you will find in the sidebar. Or if you have a WordPress account, you can sign up to follow through WP. You will also find us on Facebook and Twitter of course.

A very important reason for signing up is that you’ll be informed as soon as the free sample chapters become available online. That will be very shortly, well before publication date. So don’t miss out on your chance to take an advance peek into this latest mind-boggling adventure…

Oh yes, in all the excitement. I almost forgot to remind you of the most important thing: One! – Two! – Three! – Don’t forget your hat!

A Welcome, an Update on Grimly, and a Great New App called The Reading Realm

Welcome to those of you who have only recently liked our Facebook page. Some of you may have liked us as part of the LoveReading4Kids competition to win a signed copy of ‘The Shop On Peculiar Hill’. Others may have liked us because you actually really like us. But whatever it is that brings you here, I hope you will stay and join in the fun.
The winners of that competition are due to be notified by July 12. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear anything! In the meantime, you may like to pump up the excitement by reading two free sample chapters of the book – which you can find on Grimly’s website here.
Speaking of Grimly, you may be wondering why there’s not been much sign of him recently here on the blog. That’s because he’s still revising the second book in the Vale of Strange series, which is going to be called ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’. We estimate he is now on draft number 238 and we’ve just had to open our 35th pack of jumbo waste paper baskets to accommodate all the pages he’s thrown away. But he says this latest version is finally totally perfect and… oh no, he’s just scrunched it up and thrown it away and is banging his head against the wall. We’ll be on Version number 239 then next, as soon as the steam has stopped coming out of his ears, and this version is going to be totally, totally perfect and it’ll be out on 1st November. Unless it isn’t of course.
Meanwhile, I wonder if you have heard the exciting news that an excerpt from The Shop on Peculiar Hill is going to be in a brilliant new app called The Reading Realm which incorporates all sorts of games to help children develop their reading. It’s going to be loads of fun and it’s already made the top ten downloads for education apps. We’re going to be in the new version of the app which is out in September.
Mr Ian Eagleton, who developed the app, described ‘The Shop on Peculiar Hill’ as “thrilling, dark, utterly barmy, funny and surprisingly moving”. He said “I love finding gems like this to share on The Reading Realm”. Obviously he is a man of taste as well as talent. (We call him “Mr” because he used to be a teacher.)
Right – that’s it then for now then. Good luck to those of you who entered the competition! We hope you hear soon… And please remember: even in July, it really is best to wear your hat! (Whatever Uncle Bob may tell you.)

Welcome to Grimly Darkwood’s Website and Blog !

The Shop on Peculiar Hill Cover

Welcome to our first blog post here at grimlydarkwood.com   This is where you will find all the latest news about Grimly’s ‘Vale of Strange’ series. We can start by announcing that the first book in the series, ‘The Shop on Peculiar Hill’, will be officially released tomorrow, 1st December, though we know that some of you received your print version copies today!

If you haven’t yet ordered a copy, here are the links to the relevant Amazon pages:

UK Link (Kindle and paperback versions)

US Link (Kindle and paper versions)

In case you hadn’t heard, ‘The Shop on Peculiar Hill’ tells the story of how Peter comes to live with his uncle and aunt at the shop on Peculiar Hill and finds himself in a weird place, whose inhabitants go in fear of attack from the fierce creatures which live in the nearby Vale of Strange. He meets a girl who lives on the hill called Amanda and they go on to have an exciting and extraordinary adventure amongst the bogeys; heeble-greebs; and talkative, amusing but ultimately rather annoying lifkins who dwell in the Vale.

If you would like to ‘try before you buy’, there are two sample chapters from the book right here on this website. You can find them here.

You can also find out a bit about the author, Grimly Darkwood, here. This is the brief biography of Grimly which also appears at the end of ‘The Shop on Peculiar Hill’.

The next instalment of the Vale of Strange will be entitled ‘Stranger Days on Peculiar Hill’ and is currently scheduled to appear early in 2019. To keep up with this and all other Vale of Strange developments, please sign up to be notified by email when a new blog post appears here. You will find the small form on the right hand side of the page. We do not share email addresses with anyone else. If you are on Facebook, the Vale of Strange Facebook page is due to appear very soon. Keep a look out!

We look forward to speaking to you again soon.

Grimly and the Team