Mark’s Retreat into writing is successful

Wolverhampton author Mark Edwards is celebrating the highly-anticipated publication of his new novel The Retreat, which reached number one in the Amazon charts on the day of its release.

Set in North Wales, the action revolves around a writers' retreat opened by a woman named Julia who lost her family in a tragic accident two years earlier.

"It starts with a horror writer, Lucas, going to stay at a writers' retreat in North Wales because he has writer's block. He thinks going to this beautiful place in the middle of nowhere will give him the time and space to work on his new book.

"The woman running the retreat is Julia. She lost her husband when they thought their daughter Lily had fallen in the river. He jumped in to try to save her and he drowned. It's assumed Lily also drowned but her body was never found.

"Julia is convinced that Lily might still be alive. Lucas, hearing about this story, starts to investigate what happened.

"While he's looking into it, all this creepy stuff starts happening like he hears a child singing in the next room to his. As he investigates he uncovers an urban legend of a witch, called the Red Widow, who, according to local folklore lives in the woods and a child is sacrificed to her every 35 years.

"Lucas uncovers all this weird stuff and around him people keep dying and it seems like somebody is trying to cover up what really happened to Lily," explains Mark.

As with his previous six solo books, readers can expect plenty of twists and turns along the way.

"It's crime with a creepy, horror element. It should appeal to people who like physiological thrillers but it should also appeal to people who like Stephen King and horror.

"There is a lot about writers and writing in it so it will also appeal to people who are interested in the literary life. There are a lot of in-jokes about writing, publishing and social media," says Mark,who lives in Compton.

He said the idea for The Retreat was sparked by a number factors. "The urban legend stuff came from my daughter, who was nine at the time, talking about the Bloody Mary folklore and it made me think about how these stories live on through the generations because I remember that one from when I was young.

"I also had an image in my mind of two parents walking along a fast-flowing river on a cold, winter's day with their little daughter. I saw something floating in the water, originally it was a coat, but in the book it's a soft toy.

"I had always wanted to write something where the main character is a novelist because I thought it would be interesting write and that's influenced by Stephen King because a lot of his books like Misery and The Shining are about novelists," explains Mark.

He says he is overwhelmed by the response the book has had since it was published on Thursday.

"It was fantastic to get to number one on publishing day, it was beyond my expectations. The reviews have been great and it's selling well. People seem to really love it.

"I was happy with this book when I had finished it. Usually I'm wracked with self-doubt but I was confident that this was one that people were going to like. I'm really happy with the response," says the 47-year-old

His next book, titled In Her Shadow, is already finished and will be published on October 4.

"It's about a woman who starts believing her daughter is being visited by her dead sister. It's Big Little Lies meets The Sixth Sense," says Mark.

The Retreat, published by Thomas & Mercer, is available from Amazon and Audible. Amazon Echo owners can listen to the first three chapters by saying 'Alexa, read The Retreat'.

"People can listen to a sample with their Amazon Echo. It's been done before with Harry Potter but this is the only other book it's been done with which is exciting," says Mark.

*See www.markedwardsauthor.com