The Inheritance tells the story of Mike Gray and his family. When Mike unexpectedly inherits a house in the picturesque town of Fairview in Georgia, he decides to move in with his family. But he soon learns that Willow House is not the dream home he thought it would be, as old family secrets come to light, a supernatural horror is awakened which threatens them all. That is the gist of the story and I’ve learned that describing your stories in a nutshell is much harder than I thought it would be! Especially when you don’t want to give too much away. I’ve been a book worm since I was a child and horror was my genre of choice.

It started off with Goosebumps, then the Point Horror series, then when I was older I read all the Stephen King, James Herbert and Dean Koontz (among others) novels I could get my hands on. I’m an environment officer by profession, but my passion for reading, as well as how much I enjoyed English literature at school, meant I also dreamed of one day writing my own novel.

I had started jotting down many story lines (I hope one day these too will be brought to life) and decided that The Inheritance would be my first. I choose this story line in particular because a haunted house is one of my favourite horror themes, as well as incorporating the whole supernatural and religious angle to the story. There are some dark themes in the novels so it is more suited for adult readers, but as an easy read it should appeal to a wide range of readers.

I hope readers will find the novel entertaining, as well as offering an escape from reality, and spooky too obviously! I think the novel also highlights the importance of family and what we sacrifice for the ones we love, as well as the drive to pursue what you really want from life. I also hope it inspires those wishing to write a novel to do so.

It’s hard work and will take a lot of time and commitment but I believe we all have a story to tell and there is no time like the present to get started. I like to believe that we are not born writers, but that we can all become one if we strive to do so, I warn you though writing is addictive. Once you publish your first novel, you’ll want to publish more, as I’m sure others in the Authors Lounge would agree with.

I am currently working on my third novel, which is hopefully the first in a series, exploring the theme of cursed objects. I was extremely pleased when W.F. Howes Ltd reached out to turn The Inheritance into an Audiobook. It’s been amazing to see that my first novel is being well received. As a self-published author, with no real training or experience, it’s very nerve wracking to put a little bit of yourself out there into the public domain, but I hope readers continue to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Another pipe dream would be to see The Inheritance adapted in to a movie. When I’m writing my stories they play out in my mind as a film, so this would be a dream come true, as well as my stories reaching as many people as possible.

My second novel The Lost Ring, is also a horror novel but explores a very different theme, that of paying for our sins and how we can never really escape our past… You can find my novels on Amazon at amazon.com/author/jgalliano To sum up, I’ll share one of my favourite reading quotes by George R.R. Martin, “I have lived a thousand lives and I’ve loved a thousand loves. I’ve walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read.”

Happy reading all. J. Galliano