I know, I know, I disappeared for a little while. I’m sorry to say that the end of 2025 has been a rough one. I don’t like to discuss my personal life, so all I will say is that a break was needed for private reasons, and I’m sorry to those looking forward to updates towards the end of 2025. 2026 remains a year of new things, a refreshed perspective on upcoming releases and fresh stories for readers, new and constant. In busyness, there is creativity; in creativity, there is meaning.
“Life’s only meaning is the living of it. It’s in motion, in change. Staying still is simply a slow way to die.” Dr Rick Carter
I’ll be back next week with a fuller update on upcoming projects, but just so you have a glimpse, coming up over the next couple of months will be:
A new schedule of blog posts covering all sorts of topics relevant to the worlds of Heroes & Demons, The New Knights and the Rest of the Rainbow (check back next Friday 16th January, 2026 for more)
The unfortunately delayed, but much improved launch of brand new Young Adult supernatural short-story series, ‘Til the End of the World (due by the end of January)
Paperback releases for the remaining back catalogue of Rick Rawes novels, Avalon, Avalon: Faerie Tales, and Proud Marys within the first few months of the year
And coming towards the summer, the highly anticipated fourth novel in the Heroes & Demons series, Sinners & Saints
That’s it, I promised it would be quick this time. I’ll leave you with this cliché: life is short. Inexplicably, incredibly. And for us temporal beings, it is on the rails – time will move on with or without our consent. Don’t wait for anything, don’t say ‘I will tomorrow’ if today is just as good. You do not have to change the world with every action, but an action, however small, one that you can do, means the world.
Today I wrote a chapter. And this. That will do.
Rick Rawes January 10th, 2026 Leeds, West Yorkshire
Bastet released early – now available in eBook and Paperback
‘til the End of the World – pilot short story drops 12th December 2025, free to read on the site
Avalon & Avalon: Faerie Talespaperbacks – artwork underway, coming soon to join the shelf
Heroes & Demons Series – penultimate novel Sinners & Saints scheduled for 3rd July 2026
Echo – solo New Knight novel arriving October 2026
Blog Posts – fortnightly Fridays continue:
12th December – launch of ‘til the End of the World
26th December – cosmology of the Rawesian universe
The Longer Version…
Here we are! The last every-other-month update of 2025. What a year it’s been! Not one but two new novels, a website launched and paperbacks flooding the online market world like minion teddies at a kid’s birthday party. Then all the other stuff like life, family, friends, ups, downs, work (boo) and pup birthdays (yay). And that’s just me. You will likely also look back and think ‘what the hell was that?’
Well, let’s have a chat about what’s happened, happening and will be happening in the future to give us something to think about before the winter solstice comes upon us (other holiday festivities are also available).
Bastet!
So there’s a whole ‘nother post about this from last week (check it out if you haven’t already!) so I won’t say too much about it. But the big news is that the release of Bastet has managed to happen four months earlier than intended! Instead of hitting the anniversary of the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb (16th February, 1923) we’ve managed to release it on the anniversary of the discovery itself (4th November, 1922).
It’s a hell of a ride, and one of my personal favourites (yes, I say that to every book). Do check the post, the page or even venture to the soundtrack, and as always reviews and ratings are very much encouraged!
’til the End of the World
There’s another final treat to come this year in the form of a mini-drop, on Friday 12th December. Previously you might remember me mentioning ‘til the End of the World, my own little attempt at a young-adult style TV series told through a series of short stories. Well, the first story (cheekily I’ll call it a pilot episode) is ready to drop as a way to round out the year.
And even better? They’re free! Yes, eventually I might put together some eBook (or even paperback) collections of stories for those so inclined – but for now they will be made available online through the site. When launched, there’ll be a page you can navigate to, find the stories and follow along as they go. Subscribe to the site to receive upcoming blog posts and not miss anything!
I quite liberally use the term ‘love letter’, I know (and yet have never written so much as a dirty limerick in real life). Yet, ‘til the End of the World is indeed my answer to the supernatural stories that defined my youth. I’ll give you a lot more info at launch, but for now you should know if you enjoyed things like Buffy, Vampire Diaries, or other typical young adult fiction (not you, Twilight), then you’ll find something to enjoy in these tales of six friends in the small, sleepy Lancashire town of Calendar – as they navigate both life as a late teen in the mid-2000s and the (un)usual forces of darkness around them.
Upcoming Blog Posts
So the fortnightly blog posts will continue – on Fridays – throughout the remainder of the year. There’s this one (28th November) and two more to round out the year (Friday 12th December and Friday 26th December). The first will be the drop of ‘til the End of the World, with fuller details about the series, key dates and information and also how to find and read the first story. As well as some behind the scenes tidbits about its creation and the influences to give you more of a taste of what’s to come.
Meanwhile, tune in 26th December (or several days later when the sprout-haze begins to die down) to read about spirituality in the Rawesian universe. At this time of year it’s always good to do a bit of reflection and consider the wider ruminations in the universe, so if you want to know a little bit of bonkers philosophy from an absolute non-expert, while learning about the influences behind some of the cosmic imagery and themes within the books you’ve read…it may be preferable to another game of Monopoly with Uncle Keith.
“New” Paperbacks
Another thing to drop shortly will be the paperback versions of Avalon and Avalon: Faerie Tales. Well under way with the artwork, they’re slowly coming together and ready to reunite with their other New Knight companions. While you can still pick up the eBooks of both stories through the website at the moment anyway, I always do love a good paperback – and am very much enjoying the painstakingly slow creative process.
So while neither is a “new book”, if you’re looking to fill your shelf with good old fashioned paperbacks, then it’ll leave all but one of my books available in print. Which feels like a great achievement. For me, not for you. Unless buying thing is a great achievement for you, in which case look at you go! I’m getting distracted…anyway, watch this space! Or, y’know, bookmark the site for any paperback updates.
New Year and Beyond…
So with all that stuff going off before we reach 2026, it’s somewhat hard to imagine there’s a whole ‘nother year out there waiting to be explored. There’ll be plenty to come, lots of surprises and things to look forward to. And the same with the writing too!
Summer 2026 is going to be big for fans of the Heroes & Demons series as the penultimate novel is scheduled for release on Friday 3rd July, 2026 (Sinners & Saints), while in autumn of the same year we’re going to meet our final New Knight in his solo novel, Echo (circa October 2026).
Peppered throughout will be sprinklings of blog posts, short stories, and who knows how many surprises…so…yeah. A lot!
Parting Words
I wanted to say “final words” but that sounded too executorial – so let’s instead say, in parting for now, thank you once more. It’s only through the occasional click, read and review, that I’m able to keep sharing the worlds I’ve loved since I was young.
And, since this is the last update before the festive season gets going, I also want to wish everyone a safe and pleasant rest of the year. It’s the time for us to slow down a little, in between sprout-filled escapades of family drama. It’s a time to reflect, to look forward to the days ahead, and think about the days that have been. To reach out to one another as well as just spend a bit of time with ourselves.
And if that involves a Rick Rawes paperback in your lap, as you snuggle up with a little (potentially boozy) hot chocolate? Well, for me that’s a bonus.
Here’s to closing out 2025 with stories, surprises and a little festive magic!
Peace & love y’all.
Rick Rawes Leeds, West Yorkshire 28th November, 2025
3000 BCE, Ancient Egypt. The age of Titans is ending. Bastet, one of the last pure-bloods, walks a realm slipping from divine hands into human rule — a world of betrayal, exile, and shifting sands.
1923, Cairo. Linda Loache, forging her place in a man’s world scarred by war, stumbles upon a discovery in the desert — one that could ignite revolution and reshape history.
Across oceans of time, their fates entwine. As ancient grudges awaken and cosmic forces rise, Bastet and Linda are drawn together in a battle that will decide more than empires.
In a story of myth and memory, of sacrifice and survival, witness the return of a legend — and the tragic, timeless love of two souls bound for eternity.
The sands shift. Love endures.
The Release
On the 4th November, 1922, a flame flickered in the darkness. A man’s personal obsession hinged upon a single image – which would greet him as he peered through into an ancient tomb. Would it be riches? Would it be nothing but dust? Was it finally time to give up the search and head home in potential disgrace? As it turned out, it would be history made. It would be ‘wonderful things’.
That story – the finding of the Tomb of Tutankhamun – did indeed make it into the history books. However true the details may be (and honestly, when it comes to a good story do we really mind?), the story persevered and sparked a generation. Some, a love for the history of the ancient world and Egypt in particular, while some the stories of a curse became campfire chills that persisted even to the days of my youth.
So it had to be the 4th – 103 years later – that I released Bastet (more or less, thanks to KDP). It had to be that day, for my love letter to the sand and sandals epics I watched growing up. The culmination of a love of ancient Egyptian myth born from that wide-eyed youth watching Strange But True with a Friday night chippy on his lap, learning all about the Curse of King Tut. And now, it’s here!
What’s it About?
* mild spoiler alert *
I only mention in case the blurb above was too shockingly revealing for you. Otherwise, just a touch more flavour. The book is historical fantasy, taking place across two timelines. It is a tale told as though around a campfire, a reflection on the history of Bastet. In the time of Ancient Egypt, she is a God amongst a growing human population, finding the shifting sands of political court distasteful for a warrior such as she. Blood, betrayal and love amongst the oases combine.
Then the action moves to 1923, as the Tomb of Tutankhamun is about to be opened. We are brought into a world destabilised by World War I; a world in which technology is ramping forward and espionage is taking on new forms. Enter Linda Loache, a woman of a relatively newborn Strategic Intelligence Service, sent to bring stability to a recently independent Egypt. There, ancient power is awoken, old grudges resurfaces, and a love that lasted longer than the stars is reclaimed.
Darkly comic, wildly bonkers and deliberately anachronistic, the tale woven by these two women defies expectations and conventions. Saving the world, tackling the MacGuffins and ending ancient feuds takes more than just a hero.
It takes a God or two.
The Soundtrack
Once again, this new novel comes with it’s own playlist of songs that inspired the writing of it. However, the mood is not one of 1920s flappers and wartime ragtime – this is an out of time and out of the chaos kind of a playlist. Songs evoke mood as a simple act of defiance – a celebration of power and vulnerability, as well as the kind of mythic resonance only a God can bring to the party. Florence pairs with Sia, swinging through Self Esteem and Amy Winehouse. Robyn pops up with a wild bit of LaRoux and even some Halestorm. The sound is one of cosmic emotion, grand in scale and attitude – and I find myself coming back to it even after the writing is done.
If you have Spotify you can find it through this link, but if you want to compile it yourself through your own streaming service, the recommendations are below (the order is your own, however!)
Chandelier by Sia; Prioritise Pleasure by Self Esteem; Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up) by Florence + the Machine; In for the Kill by LaRoux; Dancing on My Own by Robyn; Fucking Wizardry by Self Esteem; Oh My God by Mark Ronson & Lily Allen; Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Amy Winehouse; You Forever by Self Esteem; Now I’m in It by HAIM; If I Could Change Your Mind by HAIM; With Every Heartbeat by Robyn & Kleerup; Unstoppable by Sia; Drumming Song by Florence + the Machine; Like a Woman Can by Halestorm.
Where to Find It!
Now for the important bit, right? eBook and Paperback now available across Amazon marketplaces! You can pick it up in:
If you are ever so inclined to pick up a copy, either eBook or Paperback and do partake in a read, I would really appreciate your support in one tiny other way. If you like it, please drop a review or even just a rating on Amazon or Goodreads. It does make a difference. I am a one man band with no backing from massive publishing firms or huge marketing budget, so every little bit of positivity helps – and is very much appreciated.
Peace and love y’all.
Rick Rawes Leeds, West Yorkshire 14th November, 2025
Sequels are hard, right? I mean, I’ve managed one so far (Avalon: Faerie Tales) and a trilogy (Hope & Fury, Fire & Water) – so I guess I’ve made it work. But it wasn’t easy. How do you do the same thing, while making its own distinct entity. Sometimes, I think it’s down to whether or not you knew you were getting a sequel when you wrote the first one. Not being subject to external publishing forces, I’m free to plan however many I like and write them as I do. So, sure, that’s made it easier.
Now with many horror films, sequels are decided on after the first one. Sometimes this makes for a continuation that feels like a fever dream (Halloween II springs to mind), while others are the same movie as the first one, done exactly the same but with a different set of bimbos and himbos (Friday the 13th: Part 2). And sometimes, my personal favourite, they’re so bonkers or awful because they act like they never watched the first movie (The Exorcist II…the less said, the better).
This falls somewhere in between. I’ll walk you through five other inspirations from film and print that have inspired my horror leanings, just like the first one. And maybe I’ll make a point by the end. Maybe I won’t. Maybe we’ll venture into the surreal, or maybe we’ll reach…The End? Well, anyway, let’s dive in.
Book Three: The Ritual by Adam Nevill
Now, often I like to watch movies before reading the books they’re based on. I know, this seems opposite to the way it should be, but for me a two hour experience gives me one understanding of the story. Those two hours are often ruined if I’m anticipating parts of the book and constantly critiquing and comparing. But when I’m reading the book after having watched the movie, I’m not getting less – I’m getting more. The experience is slower, more thorough. That was how I approached the Ritual, following a random moment of ‘go on, I’ll give it a go’ on Amazon Prime Video.
Do both. Treat both as separate because they are. This book, a lads’ holiday of hiking in the Swedish wilderness encountering something beyond their understanding, is an atmospheric, layered horror that creeps steadily on you. As they’re stalked in the woods by the thing in the trees, so are you. But underneath is the steadily creeping horror of a different kind: that of time. It’s a book that encapsulates perfectly what it is to be a man in your thirties – you enter this part of life, friendships, relationships with the hopefulness of youth – only to realise that all along adulthood has stalked you – waiting to expose the cracks in a life that never was.
Since picking up this one, I’ve gone through a lot of Adam Nevill’s back catalogue and have to say for me, some of the peaks of modern British horror are within those pages. This was my first, but it shan’t be my last.
Film Four: As Above, So Below
Okay, so found footage horror films are everywhere. Like, more frequent than Starbucks and yet a heck of a lot cheaper. Some can be very enjoyable, some can be so low budget you can’t even see what’s going on and others are downright bizarre. As Above, So Below does something I never thought I’d say about a found footage horror movie – it reaches the ranks of a comfort movie for me.
Yes, there’s some characters which are more one dimensional. There’s plenty of bonkers moments that never get fully explained – the creepy singing ladies in the catacombs are one. There’s characters who are acting relentlessly towards a goal, despite the fact that there’s swinging hallucinations of dead bodies in front of them. It has all the hallmarks of a movie which is playing beat-for-beat the tropes of modern horror. Stupid decisions, almost criminal ignorance of supernatural events, arguments for arguments sake and a convoluted plot that literally leads us to the gates of hell.
And yet, for me, it works beautifully: the descent into the catacombs, the building claustrophobia, the adventure, the reward and the sting in the tail. The ridiculous need to continue filming even as they literally cross over into hell itself. And the final, haunting shots that still make my eyes hurt. And yet…every time, I can’t tell you truly what brings me back, but something does. Maybe I’m the crazy sorority girl walking into the darkened room on the anniversary of the sorority girl massacre?
Book Four: The Stand by Stephen King
I know, it’s a cheat to have two of the same author on this list, right? Nah, not if it’s Stephen King. And forgive me, I only did two. I could have done a top ten list for Mr King all by itself. Anyway, onto The Stand. Two TV adaptations, a cut and an uncut edition (stop sniggering), and several decades of a legacy to hold onto.
In short, it’s a story of the end of the world. A global flu epidemic that kills 98% of the population (or there abouts). It follows the beginning days of sniffles, through the collapse of society and finally spends the last third in the ultimate battle between good and evil forming in a brave new world. It does it through love, through hope and through sacrifice. It does it with the help of an old woman in Colorado, and a slick demonic force in Las Vegas. It does it with a sprawling cast of characters whose fates are not always so easy to predict.
When I first read this book, I was maybe thirteen/fourteen. I’ve read it many times since, and each time found something deeper. Despite the ultimate battle between good and evil that frames the narrative, the horror at the centre is that every single one of us is formed of good and evil. Every single one of us can hurt other people, intentionally or unintentionally. That God, if such a being exists, is cruel in his demands. But the actions he demands combat a greater evil. Or do they?
Film Five: The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The last movie on the list I saw in the cinema when I was sixteen and honestly it both scared the shit out of me and made me feel. As I’ve said before, horror is always served by this, the humour and the heart within it. You can make a whole cast of characters and slaughter them intimately and uniquely, and yet no one gives a crap because you don’t care about them. This is not one of those movies.
It doesn’t rely on jump scares – though there are a few. Instead, it gives us a story of Emily Rose – a young girl who (not really *spoiler alert*) dies following a failed exorcism. The main narrative follows the priest on trial for negligent homicide, and the fantastic Laura Linney as his sceptical lawyer. The story itself is told through flashbacks, those which portray the demonic events that led to said exorcism, and those which suggest the alternative, medical explanation for her condition. As such this is not a horror film which explicitly states the truth behind everything that’s happened.
It is a story of a girl. A deeply religious young woman, who had her whole life in front of her. It challenges the notion of what exorcism is and does for us. Unlike the Exorcist itself (another fantastic movie and book), it does not show us the devil in all his forms. What it does do, is present a story that is horrific and tragic both as a supernatural battle of wills…and more so as a story of a girl trapped by her own faith into a death that was unnecessary. And by the end, the question of what happened, is down to a matter of faith.
Book Five: The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
This was another book where after reading I went and hunted down all the author’s other works. I was initially drawn to it by realising that it included a gay couple. Then I read the book jacket and realised the story sounded kinda cool so why not give it a go. Then, like a breath of fresh air, I found a story that was increasingly dramatic and disturbing, wrapped in believable gay characters in horror. Imagine that, not gay best friends there for sass. Not predatory homosexuals designed to bring about disgust. Not tragic victims of psychotic clowns and small town bigots. Just gay people. Finally.
The book has a simple premise. A couple are staying at a cabin in the woods with their adopted daughter. Three strangers walk out of the woods and tell them that the world will end if one of them does not kill one of the others. Off you go. Thus begins nearly 400 pages of increasing tension, as a series of calamitous events make us question are these guys crazy…or not?
We are forgotten and maligned in the horror genre. I can’t claim that this book is the first one to just authentically represent people of other sexual orientations to the same degree as their straight counterparts. But it was one of the first for me. Of course, the fact that they’re a gay couple brings very little to the story – but just in case I need to reiterate it for people…that’s the point. That’s why it mattered.
To Be Continued?
Not this time! Well, I mean, I might have a hand pop up from the grave as a cash grab sequel promise that might never be made. But nah, actually I think for the Halloween posts this is it for now. We’ll move back onto our regularly scheduled programming/posts next time. I hope you’ve taken something away from this, even if only a single recommendation you’d like to peruse. You’re welcome!
Last time I asked you who the true monsters were? Is it obvious yet? Horror which works, which saturates to our bones does not come from without. Even in the beginnings of the genre, when monsters rumbled towards us, they were only ever projections of our own shadows on the wall. They lurked within the depths of the almost places, the borderlands between light and dark – just like the human soul.
We fear monsters because we know we create them. It’s in the selfish actions of a post-apocalyptic story as society collapses around it, it’s the fear of our own obsessions pushing us towards the very gates of hell. It’s the choice to sacrifice the world to keep our hands clean of known blood. To put our faith in faith knowing the horror it could cause. To go for a walk in the woods and realise how blatantly unprepared we are.
Maybe things do lurk in the shadows, real external threats to our safety and security. But maybe as we sit around the campfire, telling our ghost stories in the flickering firelight, under cold disinterested skies, we may realise the true monsters may not be escapable. They are watching with our eyes, they are thinking with our thoughts.
So, what do we do?
What can we do?
Rick Rawes Leeds, West Yorkshire 31st October, 2025
Where are the monsters? It’s Halloween soon, are they already skulking around the graveyards? Or are they much, much closer to home?
So, I’m not a critic. I mean, sure, I can be critical of something as much as the next guy, but at the end of the day it’s a personal opinion. It gets on my tits when someone is so definitive in their recommendation of something. I once immediately took to disliking someone when during a routine conversation they started going on about how ‘shit’ The Vampire Diaries was, in a derogatory tone that told you as much about their opinion of the show itself and the people who watched it. Have some humility, please.
With that said, I figured I’d let you know my fave horror movies and horror books, to give you some ideas of the types of stories that inspire me in my writing. You may like some of them too, you might absolutely hate them, you might even want to give them a go. And you might want to let me know your thoughts below. That’s cool. But just remember to check any egos at the door.
Film 1: The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Haunting
I toyed with the idea of doing this in order, but honestly argued with myself that I couldn’t. But if I could, there’s a sneaking suspicion that this may be number one. It all goes back to watching Strange But True on a Friday night as a kid, stomach full of a chippy tea. They did a whole half-hour special on the Enfield haunting from the 1970s, where two young girls were tormented by a spectral houseguest who may or may not have been a previous owner. It chilled me to the core then, a normal house like any other – behind which terrifying events took place.
So after the quite enjoyable first Conjuring film, in which husband and wife team Ed and Lorraine Warren are like Demon-busters in conservative clothing, I was already looking forward to seeing them take on this piece of my childhood. I wasn’t prepared for it. The oppressive atmosphere, the creeping dread, the rain soaked streets. The bloody nun! It was the slow burn horror with the modern jump-scares thrown in for good measure. Then deep within the heart of it, a gentle kind of love story. I walked out feeling not just like I’d had a good scare, but filled with a warm glow. The remembrance that in the face of unspeakable evil, simple small acts of domestic love keep the lights on.
Sure, there were a few too many world-building plots for my liking – the Crooked Man seemed particularly pointless. But the flaws seemed minor compared to the story. And boy, even if it may have gone a few steps away from what likely really happened – the story kept me going. Definitely a recommend, even if you don’t watch any of the others.
Book 1: Carrie by Stephen King
Again, I am denying rank here, but Carrie may need a special mention not only as my favourite horror book but perhaps my favourite book of all time. It’s short and in case you have never heard, simply put a teenage girl slowly coming to realise her telekinetic powers is bullied. At the senior prom, she has a bucket of pig’s blood thrown over her and goes into a full on murderous rampage. That’s the surface level, and is probably how you have had it described to you if you’ve never seen it.
The truth is, it’s a story of a human girl. Someone who could be any of us. Any of us that’s ever been the target of a bully, or different, or weird. It’s a story of the systemic abuse parents can enact on children because of their own trauma. It’s a story about what happens when people – teachers, students, adults, children, doesn’t matter – allow bullying to happen, or perpetrate it ourselves. It’s about what happens when someone who is victimised, finally has enough. It tells us that monstrous acts come in many different forms, and don’t always a monster make.
This is perhaps one of only two books who’s ending has ever brought me tears – and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Film 2: The Fourth Kind
The film you’re about to see, consisting of archival footage and reconstructions, as well as an interview between the director and the subject – is a complete fabrication. Yet marketed so heavily into the Blair Witch-esque meta world that it comes across with complete earnestness. Rest assured, not a word of it is true. But could it be? The answer is a resounding – possibly.
The story is essentially that of a single mother and psychiatrist, who lives in the arse-end of Alaska with her son and daughter. When several of her patients start describing the same thing – nightly visitations by an owl – she uses hypnotic suggestion to probe deeper into their subconscious – and comes face-to-face with ancient forces from another world.
Rather than outright terror, the movie goes for a slow disorienting build. Each segment, each side-by-side ‘raw footage’ with ‘reconstruction’ moment, grows in a quiet intensity. It shows little at a time, in breathless whispers – and culminates in a heart-wrenching, absolutely terrifying sequence simply unlike anything I’ve come across in space-horror before. It’s like if you were watching History Channel’s Ancient Aliens – After Dark. And somehow, for me, it works beautifully.
And at the heart of the story? A mother’s quiet love and desperate unravelling.
Book 2: Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The second book on my list, Hex, takes us back into the more mystical world of witches and evil curses – which are fertile ground for any kind of horror. This book was recommended to me by a colleague once upon a time, after I’d joined the staff book club. I learnt quickly that in a school a ‘staff book club’ consists of the English department and a few brave other souls, meaning – and I mean this with love – all selections fall broadly into the category of ‘literature’. By which, if it has not been nominated for some kind of prestigious award, it is likely not to be considered. But, surprisingly, one of the members suggested I give this a go.
I was blown away. The basic story follows the town of Black Rock, a town which is subject to a curse from a 16th century witch. The witch wanders around town, half-naked and in chains, mouth sewn shut. There’s a few simple rules – don’t allow the witch to speak being one of the main ones. Thus, we’re thrown into a modern world of social media obsessed teens…and centuries old curses. I didn’t know what to expect going in – and it exceeded expectations I didn’t know I had.
Perhaps the key takeaway from this for me, was how little I understood towards the end. Foregoing easy answers, instead the end feels like some kind of horrifying fever dream, which chilled me to my core and set fire to my imagination at the same time. I don’t want to spoil it, but dear heavens I enjoyed this story to the final page. If you like books with phenomenal endings – go for this one.
Film 3: Alien
I’m rounding off the first part of my Halloween special by focusing on a classic. One which many people may argue isn’t even a horror film – but instead more firmly within the realm of Science Fiction. I would argue that if you can watch this film and not be terrified – then good for you. On first viewing, as a twelve year old boy, I was oddly bored and apart from a few bits of blood and guts, the film was just too slow for my adrenaline seeking mind.
But then I watched it as an adult. Alone, in the dark, on a big Tv with the sound way up. And I fell completely in love. You’re right, this might not be classifiable as horror, perhaps it is more terror. There on the edge of space, a team of regular joes are told to make a detour to a hostile world. Once there, they encounter an alien. But not some big-eyed grey little one, or some fella with a Cornish pasty engraving on his forehead – but a genuine alien organism. Slowly, but surely, they realise how far out of their depths they are as they’re picked off one by one. There are gruesome deaths, but what separates this from other space horror films is the underlying sense of terror.
Stephen King once said (more or less) the difference between horror and terror, is seeing a monster and feeling cold breath on your neck in an empty room. This is how I’d define what struck me about this film. It was the feeling of encountering something completely unknown, that looked, moved and behaved like nothing knowable. It was the sense of normalcy, a group of (as then) relative unknown faces – ordinary people – made idiotic decisions out of sheer instinct. It was the slowly mounting realisation that the humans in the movie were just as disposable to the unseen Mother as teens in a pulp slasher.
And then there’s Jonesy…
Until Next Time
Later this week I’ll finish this list and you can the other two films and other three books that make up my top ten horror experiences. I like horror which makes us think, which delves deeper than ‘oooh there’s a scary monster’. Some of the best horror films do everything without the need for graphic gore, or splashes and splashes of blood. It has it’s place – don’t get me wrong – and certainly does the job for a lot of people.
For me, I guess, true horror blends the gore with the terror. The seen with the unseen. The truly terrifying horror stories are the ones which lean into our own imaginations. That make us wonder what is around the next darkened corner, or try to anticipate what someone will do next. They make us question heroes and villains, the characters we see. Make us wonder where the monsters are – the ones within and without.
Perhaps that’s why horror of that nature works so well for me. It forces me to allow my imagination out. And when that happens we realise how dark our imagination can be by itself. It reminds us of that part of us, inside all of us, the existence of true evil – even if only in a shadowy imagination. With that in mind, I ask you again…
What happens when sleep becomes a luxury – and reality starts to unravel?
So, it’s been a while since we’ve done one of these. Almost since…well, summer. Now, before you get too excited it’s not a brand-new book (that’s still well on track for February 16th, 2026 – Bastet if you please). Instead, since my relaunch I’ve been steadily working on releasing all the Rick Rawes back catalogue in brand new refreshed paperback glory. I always will enjoy a paperback best. Thus, I’m happy to announce that Insomniac, my first true horror novel, is releasing in a refreshed paperback form just in time for 2025’s spooky season!
WARNING – *mild spoilers ahead for Insomniac (nothing too dramatic, don’t worry, but if you like to go in completely blind…simply go and purchase the book here…)
(see what I did there? Apparently, that’s called marketing)
Insomniac is a bit of an odd duck. It began life many, many moons ago as a story called “All Souls” – actually a movie script in the beginning. It was during the hay day of early 2000s slasher films – all of them blatant rip offs of the slasher films of the 1990s (which in turn were blatant rip offs of the slasher films of the 1980s… you see where this is going…). I could not get enough of them, and the worser the betterer. I would literally sit through an hour and a half of incomprehensible nonsense simply because it starred someone I knew from Buffy. Which led to films such as a confusing story about a car crash (I think?!) with Faith (Soul Survivors), and Anya kicking the ass of an evil tooth fairy a la Darkness Falls.
So in my teens I capitalised on this by writing a story where bunches of characters loosely based on my friends were bumped off unceremoniously by a shadow person – who, in a big twist, turned out to be a Shadow Person from some dark realm and not just a killer in a black onesie. It was awful. I can’t remember who ended up with their face in a blender in the school kitchen, but whoever it was I apologise for the gruesome demise.
There’s almost nothing left of the original DNA of All Souls in what eventually became Insomniac, but a nugget is still there. The central idea of taking a straightforward slasher-esque or Se7en-esque escapade and twisting reality around it into a knot, had a kind of Dusk ‘til Dawn genre bait and switch feeling I couldn’t resist.
Because I was going to go down a route of mashing genres – from a grim and gritty serial killer crime thriller to a psychological reality-bending horror, I also didn’t want traditional heroes. Enter, Liam Harper. A twenty-year-old psychology student, pushed beyond the brink. He is not a hero when we meet him, he is not doing anything in fact other than surviving.
His trauma as a character comes down to the simple truth that behind the veneer of civilised society lies people who have fallen through the cracks. The bright heady lights of student life, is not what is experienced by everyone. Many people struggle with the pressures and mental health impacts of the university light. Exam pressures, home expectations, being one of a thousand nameless faces on a course or in a system that sees you only as a number on a page. Liam broke. Liam started to recover. But when we meet him, you can still see the cracks.
Then, just as he’s about to re-enter the world, still struggling with the aftereffects of his chronic insomnia and his breakdown…people he once knew begin to die. Horribly, brutally…and it all leads back to him.
There’s a lot of layers and themes in Insomniac, densely packed with it some may say. I like questions, I like provoking – without always giving away easy answers. The Dark Man, Liam’s tormentor – is he real or not? And even if he is real, does that negate the impact on Liam’s mental health? Is he crazy or does that not even matter?
And then there’s the response. Someone is rapidly killing people in brutal ways – and the signs point to a young lad who’s just come out of psychiatric care. When all evidence points to him, is DI Lance Mercer wrong to go so hard after their suspect? Or his tunnel vision a kind of institutional prejudice that makes life so much harder for people with a label of ‘mental health’? What are the lines we can and can’t cross in the pursuit of saving lives?
The world of Liam Harper is a dark and intricate one, where hard truths blend almost inseparably into lived realities – and even the supporting cast are strange, flawed and unique beings that may or may not always be what they appear in the beginning. But, as the story territory grows stranger and ever more terrifying, I want you to bear with me – and know that in the end there is always hope. In darkness, there is often light. In horror, there can be beauty. In sorrow, there can be love.
Insomniac can be read on its own as a scary tale to tell ourselves in the dark. It can make you sad, make you cry, make you afraid all by its own merits. It does connect to the larger worlds I’m building – thus you will see familiar characters and themes running through this first Volume of the New Knights tales. So, if you do like it, maybe give the others a go as well. But if you’re okay with just a bit of horror, and happy with the self-contained story within – then hopefully you will be satisfied by the tale here.
Insomniac will always hold a special place in my heart, a cathartic self-exorcism of difficult times manifested into the life of a character. It reminded me of the power of the genre, not to celebrate darkness, but to honour the light. I will return to horror again, before too long. There’s something intoxicating about the darkness, about the monsters that look just like us. As I sit here writing, I feel my own Dark Man, just out of the corner of my vision, grinning that grin the colour of bone and whispering quietly with gentle promise.
Soon.
Rick Rawes 13th October 2025 Leeds, West Yorkshire
P.S. Grab your copy of Insomniac now – available in refreshed paperback on Amazon UK, US, and more…
Music has always been a big part of my life. Big shock – and so unusual, right? Okay, so I say some obvious stuff sometimes. This time I want to take a bit of time to chat about how music has shaped the words that come onto the page. How it moves me, evokes emotions that tie into my creative process – and maybe to let you glimpse a little bit more of my writing process. This is how it works for me, maybe that’s how it works for you.
The Early Days
Growing up we weren’t a particularly musical household. I mean, I had a play on a piano and keyboard for a while, but with only a songbook of James Bond themes from Dr No to A View to a Kill, my range became rather limited rather quickly and I haven’t tickled the ivories since. Somebody did it better (sorry, had to). However, music was still important. And I think like many of us, the music of our parents is our first introduction to the world of sound. Long before our friends are going on about the latest band – or even before the music channels on TV started intruding into our everyday lives – we grow up hearing what they play.
I remember a country and western album. A compilation of the greatest love songs of all time. I remember a seventeen-disc Rolling Stones greatest hits CD that went straight in my dad’s boot (because that’s where the automatic disc changer used to be). I remember listening to cassette tapes on my Walkman that ranged from Meat Loaf to Chris de Burgh. I remember being bought a P!nk CD (Missunderstood, I think) and finding that transformative. There was a Whitney Houston Greatest Hits double CD at some point (if you’ve never beaten the Elite Four on the Gameboy with a Mewtwo while blasting One Moment in Time into your headphones…well, you probably got out more). Somewhere floated Tracy Chapman.
I think it’s safe to say there was no one musical identity I came across growing up. Not even when the music tellie started to catch my attention, did I find there any difference between the screaming of Chester Bennington, or the latest aggressively marketed Shania Twain banger (how she managed to be on every television simultaneously in the early noughties was nothing short of impressive…). What always drew me every time was not ‘oooh this is by that person I like’ or ‘of course, I only listen to pan pipe Swedish death metal’, but rather a kind of mental storm that it evoked. Sometimes it was visual, ideas and visions popping into my head like mad. Sometimes it emotions – my heart would thump and the goosebumps spread. And the best of songs? It was often both. From there sprang ideas, from there connections formed and the emotional journey of a story solidified.
The Rise of Spotify & Avalon: Faerie Tales
Music has remained a key component for me creatively for a long time (and again, I know I’m not alone in that). But with my discovery of Spotify particularly (other music services are available…) I began to have a way to add them to a playlist as I went. It was a way to capture key scenes as well as a vibe of a story as it was going.
Avalon: Faerie Tales was going to be that bit campier than it’s predecessor. Some scenes were already there – the hypnotic pop synth of “ET: Extraterrestrial” by Katy Perry was the genesis of the opening scene, the introduction to the world of faeries. “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele had a thumping beat with just the right hint of desperation, perfect for an underworld-meet-seaside battle between good and evil with swords and fur coats. The soft (and yet always desperately beautiful) voice of Whitney’s “How Will I Know”, was perfect for a celebration of love in the face of desperate sacrifice. The rest were songs similar in vein and tone. Ethereal, longing, otherworldly and just more than a little bit camp.
I kind of half-heartedly shared the playlist, which also contained a few throwbacks to what I was listening to during the writing of the first Avalon but didn’t do much else with it.
Fire & Water: A Book Soundtrack
Now my next novel, Fire & Water, started off quite a bit differently. There were still songs which sung to me at key moments. The tragic need of Cam’s “Till There’s Nothing Left” spoke of love in the face of apocalyptic odds, Placebo’s “Running Up That Hill” of a moment where we cross our own lines and boundaries – and not for the better, even Skunk Anansie’s “Weak” as the doomed catharsis of the final brutal confrontation. What was different was an order started to come through.
The Fire & Water playlist is probably the first ‘book soundtrack’ I’d ever done. The emotions of the tracks that I had in the background while writing dovetailed perfectly with the emotional transitions of the characters throughout the story. As I stand back, I see the book in macro-scale, told through these individual sounds. Starting light, foreboding, and gradually escalating in tempo and tone. Rock beats of Through Fire and Linkin Park build until the literal breaking point. In the second half, increasing fracture, harsher lyrics, the hopelessness of Stone Sour and Seether. The last stand, sorrowful and grand – with Snow Patrol’s “Run” and Biffy Clyro’s “Instant History”.
And finally, the one which hit me the most and lingered with me throughout the entire writing process. Johnny Cash’s rendition of “Hurt”. One of the most powerful and moving interpretations of a song I’ve ever heard, that never fails to raise the goosebumps and bring a tear. As our broken characters are thrown towards an uncertain future, it perfectly encapsulated the emotion I felt. The emotions they felt. The ones I hope come through for the reader.
The Future….Ooooooh….
So, what’s next? Well, the playlists are there, and I think if you’re so inclined to, go and take a look and a listen. They’re not strictly meant to be listened to while reading, but they can give you a bit more of an insight into this crazy brain of mine and into the worlds you’re reading about. I think from now on I’ll keep adding them to my various book pages so you can decide yourself.
And upcoming? Well, the soundtracks of my WIPs at the moment are…somewhat unique. Bastet is building itself around strong, chaotic music by some of the best female artists out and around. Florence + the Machine is the heart and soul with both “Drumming Song” and “Raise It Up (Rabbit Heart)” alongside company like Sia, Self Esteem, Robyn and Amy Winehouse. I’m definitely liking the sounds, the messages, the beats. Completely un-1923-like but anachronistic is not just a word, it’s a lifestyle choice for Bastet.
Meanwhile, Fire & Water’s follow up Sinners & Saints is turning out to take the darkness and run with it. Themes of brokenness, redemption, and the uneven path to healing lay alongside the darkness of mass oppression, questions of faith and belief, and walking the hardest roads with no hope. Moving from “Ain’t No Grave” by Johnny Cash and concluding with “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down, navigating the works of IAMX, Bear’s Den and 3 Doors Down in between. Oh, and “La Bamba” for good measure.
It’s a long way from the cassette tapes of Chris De Burgh and Meat Loaf in many ways. And in some others, not that far at all.
Peace and love, y’all.
Rick Rawes
29th September 2025
Leeds, West Yorkshire
P.S. As always like and subscribe and share and stuff – every little bit helps!
P.P.S., I don’t own any of the music, rights or anything else. All the above songs mentioned are hella recommended, and can be found on various music streaming platforms, but they’re just a personal preference. I tend to like Spotify (which is where my shared public playlists are), but you find your own and enjoy it. Music is to be shared and to help us connect, with others and with ourselves. If music be the sound of stuff…rock on.
So, this is my first author update. Seems weird to be saying that, because I suppose every other post is a lil’ update and insight into the wacky world of progress. Progress that occasionally appears like interval training for the masochistic author, but progress nonetheless. However, this formalises and crystalises it for anyone who happens to be paying attention. Here’s what’s happening…
The Website and Blog
Very much a work in progress, but the website (as you can probably tell) is up and limping like Bruce Willis at the end of every Die Hard. The blog will be fortnightly, on a Monday, with new posts ranging from occasional musings on things near and dear to my heart, the occasional insight into my writing processes and inspirations, and at least once month a little update about my writing shenanigans. Updates a bit like this!
Paperbacks
As much as I love the world of kindle and eBooks, in real life I am very much a Gwen-Stefani-esque Paperback-Girl. Already the first three books in the Heroes & Demons series have been released in paperback as well as eBook, so that is us off to a good start. Avalon and Insomniac, the first two novels in the New Knights novels are underway and should be released sometime next month (though the eBooks of each are already available). Avalon: Faerie Tales, which has never before been in print and only online, should follow shortly after. As the dark months grow closer, snuggling up next to the fire with a hot coffee and a paperback a la Rick Rawes will be easier. As will stabilising wobbly tables, no judgment.
Bastet
The next big release is now well underway, and I’m very happy about it. I’ve always enjoyed experimenting with writing different genres and styles (though somehow always manage to hear myself within them). In this case, we have an action-adventure of mythic stakes. The novel begins in Ancient Egypt, in a time when Gods and humanity lived alongside one another. The world is incredibly different and yet eerily familiar. A world of family strife, political intrigue and royal exploitation. That world will collide across space and time with another, as the novel moves to the present Egypt in 1923, during the so-called ‘golden days’ of Egyptology. Evocative of tales like the Mummy or Indiana Jones, with more than a touch of Agent Carter style British espionage. It’s hard to describe (and yes, I get that’s my job).
Underneath it all what I’m enjoying incredibly about this novel is getting a chance to write about the character of Bastet herself. As a deity I’ve always found her interesting, being a cat lover myself. As I’m finding her voice, she’s surprising me, challenging me and becoming one of my favourite characters to write for. And, without spoiling things for regular readers, getting a chance to write again the story of a certain martini-soaked lady of the lake is a dream come true.
Finally, the story is becoming one of love. There have been romances in other novels I’ve written. Artie and Matt of Avalon, Liam and Kate of Insomniac. They’re there, but they’re part of the tapestry. What’s emerging differently here is the core of the story is love. A queer love story between two powerful and glorious women, that I hope to do justice.
Bastet is scheduled for release February 16th, 2026 (perhaps the 103rd anniversary of a certain well known ‘cursed’ event…) and I’ll be letting everyone know when pre-orders go live. So excited to share more as time goes on.
’til the End of the World
Another new project underway is my companion short story ‘television series’ which is starting to find it’s feet: ‘til the End of the World. With the novels in the New Knights series taking place around 2018 onwards and Heroes & Demons existing around a decade after that; the chance is ripe to go back in time and explore the mystical threads of this universe in a shorter, more episodic format. Thus, returning to my very first writing project as a teenager, I’ve been drawing once more on my Linkin-Park-and-Nickelback-angst-ridden-youth to explore the early days of some background characters.
Specifically, Amy Donaldson of MOO (Avalon: Faerie Tales). We follow the tale of how she came to be the formidable head of the Magickal organisation we saw, back in her teenage days. In a small sleepy Lancashire town, nestled amongst the valleys, we find a world of hidden dangers and supernatural threats, ignored by a mainly ignorant adult world. Beneath, Amy and her friends begin to discover the dangers and threats that exist beyond the daylight hours – and, in true young adult style, begin to fight back. The project is a love letter to the influences of my own youth – Buffy, Supernatural – while bringing in the flavours of small town British life. The setting is circa 2005, the world in which I made the same journey between childhood and adulthood. A world before all-encompassing smart phones, where dialup and Wi-Fi existed side by side. As the world was transitioning from pre-to-post millennium it was a time of great shift. Technology rapidly integrating into people’s lives, events like 7/7 shifting people’s understanding of safety and radicalisation, views on the representation of minorities and LGBT issues on television – everything was change and shift. Our characters, like me and my friends growing up, will find themselves changing along with them in equally unpredictable ways.
Though, to be clear, I did not fight demons, vampyrs and the forces of darkness while growing up. Honest.
The idea is that this series will become more of a ‘short story’ compendium, each short-story or novella being like an ‘episode’ that will collate into a season at a time, with ongoing storylines and themes. The first episode ‘Stand By Me – Part I’ has already been written, and I’m hoping to make available soon – through this website. It will be online only for the foreseeable future, with subsequent episodes made available in the same way. If you’re a fan of YA, then definitely bookmark this space.
And Beyond…
There’s a whole world beyond this update. So many things to do and exciting projects to get stuck into. Doing this isn’t easy, balancing alongside a full time job, a Masters degree, a gorgeous fiancé and seven beautiful pooches. But telling stories will always be worth it to me. Knowing someone, somewhere may occasionally pick up something I wrote and feel some kind of way. Maybe smile a little. Maybe just get taken away from their troubles for a bit. That’s priceless.
My thanks go to you. For reading this, whether this is the first thing of mine you’ve read, or if you’ve worked your way through every word. Telling stories is a privilege, and any read gives it purpose. I’m going to keep doing it for a long time to come, as long as fate allows, and I hope to see some of you there along the way.
Take care, look after each other and as always, peace and love.
Rick Rawes 14th September 2025 Leeds, West Yorkshire
P.S. Please like, subscribe, share because every little bit helps! Cheers!
* all opinions and research are my own. I may be wrong. I frequently am. No hate, just peace & love.
King Arthur.
The name alone is the stuff of fairy tales – and I think it’s safe to say one which no longer solely exists in British childhoods. It evokes, for me, a kind of Britan that never really existed. A mystical land of savage beauty and heroic deeds, steeped in myth. It’s there, somewhere, but in an ever more complex world is getting lost between arguments over fishing boats and some unsavoury politics.
The Britain of Arthur feels a million miles from all that. A land of unspoiled forests and misty mornings, the sunlight breaking through. A more natural land, dotted with the occasional castle owned by noble Knights. And not the brutal, sex-mad knights of certain modern fantasy television adaptations – side eye to a couple of blonde siblings. That’s not to say in the complex, and somewhat multinational, origins of the King Arthur legends there isn’t a bit of unsavoury scandal. A flash of ankle here, a bit of rumpy pumpy over there. But by in large, the Arthurian knights were chivalrous, courageous, quest-oriented. They existed in a land blended with otherworldly forces, some of which were friend and some of which were foe. Magick users, Merlin in particular, intrigue and dastardly plots. Watery vixens and knights with a keen interest in shrubbery. In short, King Arthur feels both the version of a swashbuckling knight you can bring home to mum, and like the granddaddy of all modern fantasy fiction. Of course, I’m generalising in the most horrific way – but bear with.
Just in case you’ve never heard of what I’m talking about, I’ll give you a conflagration of everything I know of the key players. Bear in mind, there are about 1,500 years worth of influences and stories, with endless interpretations, so what I’m including here is merely a general backbone of some of the most common parts. Heck, look far enough down the rabbit hole and you’ll find Merlin helped to build Atlantis (thank you Stargate). Anyway, you’ve been warned.
So, there’s a sword in a stone. Only the future king of Britain can pull it out. Along comes Arthur, who pulls it out (hearing Kenneth Williams in my head here). He becomes a super badass warrior with proper fancy armour then ultimately King of a united Britain. Which generally I take to mean England and Wales, because Ireland was still very much doing it’s own thing (more or less) and Scotland had yet to encounter Mel Gibson and begin it’s fight for independence. Heck, even the Italians had left behind a big wall to keep the Scots out, so maybe Arthur popped up for a Haggis and a good craic once in a while, but likely didn’t stop to rule.
Next he meets the love of his life, Guinevere – who because he’s a total stud muffin, falls in love with him and becomes queen. She likes doing all the queeny things, because apparently they’re often more popular than the monarch themselves. Perhaps she started a charity foundation working with water nymphs, as this was often written by men there’s not always a clear account of her day-to-day routine but you’ll just know it’ll have been bangin’. Now, Arthur decides to build a place called Camelot which is kind of a city/renaissance fair template and subsequently capital of Britain (or at least ‘his’ Britain, lord knows where the rest of the country was). It’s then he has the bright spark of an idea to gather a bunch of his mates to be Knights. He throws in a round table, because in Arthur’s Britain they’re all equal. Of course they are, like anyone’s going to push in front of him when queuing for a pint! (raises eyebrow)
Somewhere along the way, the Lady of the Lake pops up for breath while paddling in her pond (maybe in winter it was too cold for senior aqua aerobics) and tosses Excalibur at him. Excalibur being a kick-ass sword with which Arthur and his mates kick a load of ass. One of his best mates and advisors also happens to be a wizard, Merlin, who’s actually a bit of a douche and sometimes messes with the fellas a bit. Arthur’s sister, Morgan le Fay, also might be either a bit of a harlot or a witch and rival of Merlin’s, depends on who tells it. Plenty of adventures ensue, with various versions including them fighting dragons, questing after the Holy Grail (the cup version that apparently held the blood of Jesus Christ – not the one that had Tom Hanks flapping about in France twenty years ago), and all manner of bad knights. The kind that would make Sir Ian McKellan shake his head in disappointment – and you just know Magneto is always right.
Sometimes they’re all besties, sometimes there’s a bit of fall out – like in one version where his other best mate, Lancelot, tries it on with Arthur’s missus. Again, depending on the version you read, let’s just say her Anaconda might (one for the Avalon fans). Shenanigans! Anyway, it all culminates in a big battle (Camlann) in which Arthur is felled at the hands of his mortal enemy (or in some cases, incestuous child) Mordred. Happy days though, he does manage to take the bad guys down with him. He’s laid to rest on the mystical isle of Avalon (which cannot be tracked on Google Earth, but may or may not be near Glastonbury), with the promise that one day he might come back. Like a Disney-led Star Wars trilogy. Again helmed by JJ Abrams.
And that, ladies and gents, is the broad strokes of the Arthur story in a giant nutshell. Bonkers. Enduring. Lil’ bit lusty. Distilled from years of movies, television, books and, yes, Stargate. A giant tapestry of tales that reminds us of what we could be and gives timely warnings about politics, especially when it comes from strange women lying about in ponds, distributing swords. It feels like something British that we can be proud of. Idealistic, fantastical. Like modern Britain, it too was shaped (and dare I say enriched) by our global neighbours.
When I first started writing Avalon, unsurprisingly based off of Arthurian lore, it felt like the best place to start for a series about modern day superheroes in the UK. Malleable enough lore that it could tell a tale I felt needed – one about identity, belief and heroism – without straying too far from the inspiration. A world in which equality came at the head of a round table, where women weren’t just pretty bait for kidnapping villains but key powerful players in the tapestry. One where the mythical and the mundane could collide and the OtherWorldly forces could begin to bleed through. Stories of friendship enduring, caught in a shared noble purpose. Stories where good defeated evil, and there was always something worth fighting for, Mr Frodo.
I really hope that one day things will change. Not just here but around this increasingly worrisome world. Being British will be about understanding and owning our historical inheritance, without being doomed to repeat it. Being British will be about celebrating and embracing the rich diversity of all its people, without scapegoating the vulnerable. Being British will be about supporting the global community and contributing to our shared humanity, without being overbearing and taking over. It will be facing injustice, not electing it into office. It will be embracing one another, not painting roundabouts. It will be about being heroes sat together in equity, not at the head of a long table.
Perhaps instead, a round table.
Like King Arthur.
Peace & love y’all.
Rick Rawes 1st September 2025 Leeds, West Yorkshire
PS. If you wanna check out Avalon or it’s sequel Avalon: Faerie Tales based on Arthurian Legends, pop over to “The New Knights” tab!
There is no right or wrong when it comes to reading books. Indeed, if I’m so bold, there’s often not a lot of rights or wrongs when it comes to writing them. A writer writes, a reader reads. Sometimes what a writer writes is right for the writer, but wrong for the reader. Sometimes what a reader reads is right for reader but wrong for the writer. Sometimes it all just gets super muddling and before you know it, you’re unsure what day it is.
Shared universes have become all the rage these days, after the success of those Avengers battling it out in quippy style on the big screen in 2012 (or I suppose four years before that in a now sarcastically debated post-credits scene for Incredible Hulk). My inspiration came a few years before that, huddled deep in the stacks of second-hand books during my father’s days of selling them. I was attempting to make it through the rather dense Needful Things by Stephen King and started to notice something. Sheriff Alan Pangborn felt familiar. Indeed, so familiar, that by the time I managed to make it to a reread of The Dark Half (one of my favourite books of all time), it finally struck me. SAME GUY!!
Yes, it should have clicked earlier, but bear in mind I was a teenager, and our minds are often stuck on other, far less wholesome, things than literary characters. The interconnected web that transcends through King stories has always fascinated me. A random RF here, a lil’ turtle over there. A shared character or a similar theme. It was amazing to think that somewhere in this multiverse, a dog with rabies was preparing the most emotionally devastating ending to a novel I’ve ever read, while a through a little door Captain Trips was wiping out 98% of humanity.
That began my love of shared continuity, and so to be clear everything I write exists somewhere within the same big world. Somewhere Dr Rick Carter is taking on the first Horseman of the Apocalypse, while in another time and place Artie Abrams is discovering what the legacy of Avalon really means. Somewhere else, in the Nutbush Lounge, Madame Flutterby is…well, fluttering by.
Thus begins a little introduction to my world – for those inclined to stick around and read it all. You can find out more specific information by clicking the links nearby pointing you to individual series, but for a little spoiler-free insight into the differing series of books – look no further! This handy guide will introduce you to the Heroes & Demons series, the New Knights series and the Rest of the Rainbow. Following is just a quick word about order of reading. Of course, pick up anything you like, in any order you like! That’s the beauty of free will after all. But if you do pick up multiple titles, don’t be surprised to see the occasional turtle. Sometimes, all the way down.
As you may already know, Heroes & Demons is not exactly a world of heroes. In fact, as a series it can be read in complete isolation from any other book or novel with some ease, taking place as it does roughly a decade after the New Knights saga. Genre-wise you’re looking at a sprawling urban fantasy thriller series, with a lot of apocalyptic overtones. There’s elemental super powers, secret society intrigue and political machinations. There’s a touch of genesis, more than a touch of revelations, ranging from underground ancient temples to street-level fist fights.
Tone wise, there’s dark, dark humour, very tough romance, happy and unhappy endings and morally ambiguity that speaks to the deep core theme of duality. Not always an easy read, but (if I may say so myself) an important one. If you wish to understand what makes a writer tick, this can be said to be my most personal novel series, and one with timely themes.
What you’re in for with this is ultimately planned as a five-part series. Written already and available in eBook and Paperback form are the first three books. Heroes & Demons introduces us to the players in this apocalyptic game, Hope & Fury expands our mythos into new territories and Fire & Water acts as a trilogy capper by turning everything on it’s head (and allowing all the blood to rush into it). Coming soon will be Sinners & Saints (in summer 2026), while the following year will see it all end with Fall & Flood.
If Heroes & Demons is a continuous story, a full dessert, then the stories within the New Knights saga are more like pick ‘n’ mix. You can delve into the mythic with the Arthurian inspired Avalon and Avalon: Faerie Tales. These take place closer to when they were released (so roughly set around 2018). These are still urban, based in Manchester in modern day, but fall more clearly into the contemporary fantasy genre. Expect dragons and dangers, faeries and fights, swords and martinis. Okay, so they didn’t alliterate but there are a lot of martinis. They’re where magick comes alive, threaded through deep with a gay romance (yes, peeps, these are LGBT+everything positive). No one has sex with a werewolf though. To be clear.
Well, not yet.
But say you fancy something different? A darker tone? Well, you could always pick up Insomniac. What starts as a grim and gritty crime novel, with a serial killer stalking the streets of Manchester, morphs into a beautifully ambiguous tale of mental health, guilt and a touch of metaphysical thriller. Abusive. Painful. Honest. There will always be a place for the trademark Rick Rawes dark humour – but this is not the easiest of reads compared to the other.
Where is this going? Well, if anything Rawesian is comparable to the more modern ‘shared universe’ MCU-style idea, then it’d be New Knights. Two more Knights are on the way, with the upcoming Bastet (releasing 16th February 2026), a rip-roaring 1920s adventure as told over a cold martini; subsequently followed by the final Knight, Echo, a Sheffield-set modern tech noir thriller. Shortly after expecting a crossover event to close out the first volume, with The New Knights forming together to battle an ancient foe.
But…if team ups aren’t your thing – don’t worry. You don’t need to understand the OtherWorld of Avalon to feel the chilling terror down your spine of Insomniac. You don’t need to plunder the pyramids of Bastet’s world to face the nature of consciousness in Echo. You can pick up some or all (or none, but then this might be a boring read), and even The New Knights itself and have yourself a real good time, without depending on the others. The reading of all enriches, but does not detract from, each in turn.
If I say so myself. Which I do.
The Rest of the Rainbow
Everything else I write (and bear in mind there’s soooooo many ideas), I’ve put under it’s own umbrella term of “The Rest of the Rainbow”. So far Proud Marys sits alone, being as it is my only non-supernatural novel. There are no unicorns or pyramids in Proud Marys, despite being set in Manchester during the events of some of the other novels.
There’s real people, real friendships, real day to day problems. Proud Marys follows three gay men in Manchester as they navigate a year of relationships, inspired by the music of Tina Turner. There’s divorces, deaths and dickheads (oh and drag queens). There’s an 80s style comedy vibe, with an undeniable girls of the golden variety tone. And there is a lot of innuendo. Okay, so the tone isn’t completely different, I am me, after all.
There’s other standalone titles rattling around in the ol’ noggin and working themselves out slowly over time. When they begin to emerge, they’ll come here, to the Rest of the Rainbow section. Not sure which may be next. There’s a gay cabin in the woods horror novel, a psychic medium with depression, and even an story among the stars. There’s Superman meets Beautiful Thing, oh and that one on the Scottish Island. That’s to say, completely separate and yet still existing in the same world, there’s a lot of other tales to come. So also, please watch this space!
You Made It!
Okay, so you’ve made it to the end of the explanation – which believe me I have tried to keep brief. If you’ve got what you needed, please feel free to go and check those pages, have a browse through those Amazon pages or the GoodReads ones and feel free to go nuts. But, if you would like to be a constant reader, dear reader or simply have a lot of time to kill and a very wobbly table – below is two ways you can approach the Worlds of Rick Rawes:
1. Release Order – so one way to go for is to read through in the order they were released. It’ll jump around a bit in connections, but you’ll see how they naturally and organically evolved throughout the writing process. The books were released between 2017 and present, beginning with the Heroes & Demons series and then interspersing others in-between. The correct order would be to start with Heroes & Demons (June 2017), followed by Avalon (February 2018), Proud Marys (July 2018), Insomniac (March 2019), Hope & Fury (September 2019), Avalon: Faerie Tales (October 2024) and most recently Fire & Water (July 2025). Hopefully the below diagram helps!
Next up will be Bastet aiming for a February 2026 release!
2. Chronological Order – if you prefer to understand the novels in the order they are set then a word of warning – there’s many books to be released in all sorts of places! This might be a better option for people who want to reread (I’m a big re-reader myself, some of my spines have been tortured more than a chiropractor’s). But anyway, here we go. We start with Avalon which begins around July 2018, with Insomniac set a few months later in September 2018. Proud Marys covers the year from August 2018 to August 2019 so might be best to read next. We then return to the world of Artie Abrams with Avalon: Faerie Tales, which picks up approximately one year afterwards in around September 2019. The Heroes & Demons books have continuity around a decade afterwards, so can be covered Heroes & Demons, Hope & Fury and Fire & Water in one go.
One little note, though the upcoming Bastet is primarily set in Egypt in both 3000 BCE and 1923, it is told over a cold martini (and like a few cigarettes) in modern times and thus can be slotted in between Avalon: Faerie Tales and Heroes & Demons if you really wish (or read first if you like). Again, the below diagram should help!
And with that, my work is done! Many thanks for reading so far, please like my various social media pages if you’d like to know when new posts and books go live. There should be new blog posts with other insights at least twice a month to begin with, so there’s plenty of stuff to enjoy. And in the meantime, peace & love.
Rick Rawes 