The Shimmer is a sci-fi survival horror story set in present day England. Mysterious disappearances continue in a backdrop of increasing global instability due to a string of mass terror attacks in large populated areas of the developed world. What happens next leads a seemingly un-connected group of people on a journey to survive an unknown force bent on wiping out every living person in the country. With the Government and the armed forces powerless to fight this new threat, our survivors get help from an impossible source... the future.

Who you are.

Growing up, we had to use our imagination a lot to keep ourselves amused. There was no Xbox, Sky tv, Youth clubs, etc. so the kids in our neighbourhood had to make do with whatever we could find and went off on adventures together through the woods, by the river, on the beaches or even just in and around our own houses.

Where the idea came from.

The idea for this book came from my many late night walks home from work and the spooky feeling of something or someone hiding in the shadows just out of sight of the street lamp lit footpaths. I also grew up on sci-fi horror films like the thing as well as well as tv shows like the x-files so each time I was walking late at night on my own, I developed the idea of those somethings that could be there in the dark waiting and how I would react if confronted by them.

How readers can help you shape your draft.

This is my first time writing a piece like this so, any advice would be welcome. Anything that would help to add detail to the world inside the story would be great. Later on in the story is going to get intense and technical so I’m going to be relying on a lot of off the cuff scientific references so please be kind if something seems a bit implausible (it is a fantasy book after all!).