It’s Indie April, a celebration of all things Indie, be it novels, movies, music or art. The idea being to encourage interaction between indie creatives, and that most elusive of beasties the wider audience, and it is a time to celebrate all those wonderful indie creatives and their work.  As a writer, my focus (yes I know you have read this bit before…) is on bringing indie writers to your attention. So for the rest of the month, I will be periodically featuring some of the best the independent scene has to offer. Some of these will be names familiar to those who read my blog, some will be new, but all of them are undoubtedly wonderful and deserving of a wider audience. So take the plunge and invest in some indie goodness, give an indie writer a try, I guarantee you’ll not regret it.

The Brennan and Rix Stories by Peter James Martin

Peter James Martin is Teesside born and bred. An aficionado of the weird and wonderful folklore and tales of the northeast and he weaves this into his tales of a supernatural detective and his partner, who happens to be a rat. When not writing, he is busy trying to survive the rigours of raising two boys and a new baby girl and two Shih Tzu dogs and a cat.

Who does not love a sarcastic rodent? Well okay, maybe I am on my own there but I grew up with Roland Rat on the TV so its part of my DNA… Add to that list poor long-suffering Brennan who has to put up with Rix baiting him at every opportunity. These stories (collected into one volume) are an insight into the strange and the wonderful, drawing heavily on local folklore, a sense of place, and a feel for melding the real and the surreal this is a delightful read. Think Harry Dresden, Jim Butchers much put upon Chicago Magician, transplanted to the side of the river Tees, struggling to scratch a living while others seem to do well off his back, not least Rix, who has the personality, manners and on occasion eating habits of a…. well a rat, clearly. It’s fun, it’s not as silly as you might imagine, it’s haunting and on occasion a lot deeper than you may expect. It’s a dark world out there, particularly when there is a goblin problem in the sewers below Stockton High Street…

You can find out more about the folklore which lies behind the stories of Brennan and his rat at https://tstpjm.blogspot.com/ and other news as well, also you can, of course, find Peters books on Amazon and elsewhere, now, care how you go, there be beasties about, and I ain’t talking about Rix…

Earlier posts on Peters novels …

• Dresden on Teesside

Aside from his own novels, Peter also has a short Brennan and Rix story in the Harvey Duckman Presents Anthologies. Which by no coincidence what so ever was released last weekend… Just waiting for you to read, so if you fancy a taster of both Kate’s work and 13 other Indie writers of SciFi, Fantasy, Steampunk and Horror, you could do worse than get yourself a copy, so click on the lovely picture below 🙂  More indie later in the week next up Madeleine Holly-Rosing the kickstart queen of American Steampunk wonders (who also is not in Harvey Duckman, so I may not mention it at all, I said may…)