Father Dirt
Rural Australia, 1900. Five years have passed since the dirt fell, but the body of Matthew Faulds has yet to be exhumed. In death he has been rechristened Father Dirt. They say he speaks to the living through his child. Mary Faulds must fight to find peace for her lost love.
Book Title: Father Dirt, by Taylor J. Thompson
Genre: Gothic Horror
Release Date: 2nd of February, 2025
Where To Buy It:
From the Blurb:
Rural Australia, 1900. Five years have passed since the slope gave out and the dirt fell, but the body of Matthew Faulds has yet to be exhumed.
Mary Faulds, twenty-four years old and five years widowed, struggles to move past the loss of her husband while managing the farm left to her and raising the couple's only child, a bright five-year-old named Lilith.
Mary's problems worsen when, from atop the mountain of dirt that took Matthew from them, Lilith claims she can speak to her lost father from beyond the grave. As Lilith begins delivering sermons in her father's name, Mary's grip on the farm, her family, and her sanity wane. Plagued by disturbing omens, bodily horrors, and the rise of a dirt worshipping cult, she must fight and suffer with all she has to try and find peace for her lost love and a future for their child.
Father Dirt is a Gothic Horror/Suspense novel that explores grief, greed, faith, and the dangers of groupthink.
About the Author:
Taylor J. Thompson is an Australian horror and weird fiction author. A lover of punk rock, running, and rum. He currently resides in Australia with his partner and their two cats.
More About Taylor J. Thompson:
How long does it take you to write a book? How long does each stage of the process usually take?
I'm pretty quick when it comes to getting a first draft done, usually getting down a few thousand words a day. Unfortunately I'm a bit of an obsessive revisor and will often edit or rewrite scenes and chapters over and over. I spent the better part of two years working on Father Dirt and about 90% of that time was just revision. I would have rewritten the first chapter from scratch at least a dozen times.
*
What is your favourite type of character to write?
Bitter/cynical characters with a secret heart of gold, I find them the most interesting and easiest to write.
*
Do you mine your own life for ideas, settings and/or characters?
100%. Without giving too much plot away, the first thing that comes to mind for this book is the child character preaching and playing from the top of a giant dirt pile. I grew up in rural Australia (also where the book is set) during a time when my hometown was going under quite a bit of expansion. Lots of construction sites around and lots of random dirt piles that myself, my younger brother and our mates would play on. That image of a child atop a mountain of dirt ended up being so important to the book that it actually became the scene chosen for the cover.
*
What authors or books inspire you the most?
There are so many, but one of the most important for me would be Lovecraft. In my early teens I lost interest in reading for a while and discovering Lovecraft's work got me back into reading in a massive way. Bram Stoker's Dracula also played a huge role in my deciding to become a writer.
*
What's next for your writing?
I'm currently working on a vampire novel set in small town Australia during the 90's, full of loads of body horror and alcohol induced chaos. Two of my favourite books are Dracula and Salem's Lot and I've always wanted to add something to the vampire genre myself.
Find out more about Taylor J. Thompson and his books via his Substack here:
Comments
Post a Comment