Writing What Hurts

New paperbacks - an excerpt - novel details & more

Author

David Niall Wilson
September 07, 2025

In partnership with

What’s Happening

Such a loaded question. There is a lot happening. Between studying for a couple of certifications that can help me get the next day job nailed down, Trish going in for surgery (hopefully that is a good thing, not bad, but I’ll be busy being both of us at home and taking care of her), and our herd of cats, I will be “turning to,” as we used to say in the US Navy. I have looked, and I can’t find any reliable source for that saying, but it means get to work… and work I shall.

I will be writing as well. I am very close to the end of the novel in progress. It’s complex, and fun, and frustrating. All these things lead me to believe that, at least to me, this one is going to be important. I really enjoy writing about Cletus. J. Diggs, and Donovan DeChance. Series novels have a charm of their own, and they are easy and comfortable for me because I know the settings, and the characters. This novel is connected to nothing else I’ve done, though there is a reference buried deep inside, a quote from another book I wrote long ago.

This book is all new. I only met the characters while writing this first draft, and I know from how they grew that I have work to do to bring them to life properly. The story began with a crazy premise, as my books tend to do, and it only got crazier as it went along. The key to typing THE END on this one is based on all the threads and strange events coming together with nothing left hanging. There are side stories that were left behind that I’m tucking in now and will have to modify and smooth out in revisions. We’ll see if I’ve been paying enough attention.

I have also begun organizing and continuing work on Writing What Hurts. I’m going to include a snippet from that below. I never reached the top of all the bestseller lists, but I’ve been writing, and publishing, for a very, very long time. I believe I have things I can pass on that others will find useful, or, at the very least interesting. Everyone’s creative experience is different. Sometimes it’s enough to share someone else’s perspective.

I am still auctioning off books from my personal collection with many more to come. None of our kids is really a reader except Katie, and she leans more toward Poppy Z. Brite than the older authors. I would rather these find a good home and honestly, the shelves look crazy with the ridiculous number of books weighing them down.

My collection, Hickory Nuts and Bones, has been moved to a December/January release date. The website and publisher info is still not available, but I’m very proud of this one, so expect me to talk more about it as time passes.

NEW

Two of my collections that have only been available in digital formats have gotten facelifts and print editions. One is already in audio, and the other will be soon. The rest of the various collections will follow and will be collected as the (hopefully not pretentious) Essential Short Fiction of David Niall Wilson. (It’s me… I’M that guy).

The Fall of the House of Escher & Other Illusions Paperback only $9.99 - eBook $2.99 and in unabridged audio HERE. This is my very first collection of short stories. It was originally published as a signed, limited edition trade paperback in 1995. This book includes many early stories that have never been reprinted, and two—notably “On the Third Day,” and “A Candle Lit in Sunlight”—that were later expanded to full-length novels. This collection includes vampires, magic, Lovecraftian horror, and religious fable. The introduction is by the late grandmaster of horror and fantasy, Hugh B. Cave.

The Whirling Man & Other Tales of Pain, Bl ood, and Madness Only $13.99 in paperback and $3.99 in eBook formats everywhere. This collection of fourteen stories represent more than twenty years of writing. They all feature madness in one form or another. There is everything here from serial killers to fairy tales, crazy artists and other worlds that might, or might not actually exist.

From Writing What Hurts

Introduction

There are a lot of books on writing, and I honestly hesitated before deciding to add to the woodpile. I'm a reasonably successful author, but I have only one best-seller behind me at this point in my career, and that was a Star Trek novel. You won't find my books face out in any bookstore I haven't visited personally, and to date no cable company or network genius has commissioned a mini-series for one of my novels.

When I thought about it, I realized there are also a lot of different types of books on writing. There are those with formulas and instructions. There are those laid out like a syllabus for an English Composition course, and there are others – like Stephen King's On Writing – that are as much about the writer as they are about the craft.

Writing is only a small part of the magic. I’m also a reader. I’ve been addicted to the written word from a very young age. I have written endless reviews, essays, and commentaries on stories told in every imaginable format. There's value in that. I’m also a publisher, and an editor. I have mentored authors who are making their own marks now and I’ve helped to discover others.

All of that splashes down into the same barrel, I suppose. I think, if I'm careful, I can dip out all the most important parts and share them. I've seen more than a half-century of life, and at least half of that was spent with the following words on my lips and embedded in my mind. "I'm a writer."

That's what I told people who asked what I planned to do with my life. It's what I told people when I joined the US Navy at age 17 and set out to see the world. It's what I continued to say, despite the fact that all I'd written for a very long time at that point was poetry, a couple of short stories in high school, none of which I'd shown to more than half a dozen people, and the lyrics to songs that never made it to the stage.

Then, while stationed in Rota, Spain, I started reading Writer's Digest Magazine, and The Writer. I read the ads and the articles. I thought about what I might actually write. I even started working on a novel – a young-adult fantasy where the last of the magical creatures of the world appeared near Chicago for one last shot at putting the world back the way it once was – back to a time where magic worked. What happened, in the end of that story, was that the city demanded taxes, and the government sent the army. It ended with the heroes carried off by Valkyries.  It was horrible (not the idea, so much as the execution).

I, of course, thought I was a genius, and that the only thing between myself and publication was the act of actually writing something down. Time passed, and my service in Spain ended. My wife at the time, Chrissy, was also in the Navy, so we worked a deal to be stationed together in Norfolk, VA.

A lot of things happened in a short period of time. I took a course through Writer's Digest School, for one. My assigned instructor was Jerry (J. N.) Williamson. Jerry had dozens of published horror novels to his credit at that point, and his list was growing fast. He also had two other important things. He had an innate ability to teach, and he had connections. I'll get to why the connections were important eventually. Let's start with a simple statement.

I have always said that I am a writer. I don't believe that became a true statement until after I finished that course, and I will always be grateful for Jerry's help and guidance. He was one of the nicest and most helpful professionals I've met in a long career, and he is sorely missed.

So, this is the first thing I'll say to you. If you are reading this because you have always said you were a writer but have not yet written anything or taken it seriously, or agonized over it, I want to be the one who pushes you over the brink, or pulls you back and sends you on your way without getting hooked. I think that writing is either a mild form of insanity, or a particularly tricky form of therapy. Either way, it can consume your world if you aren't careful – and if you are, it can leave you feeling empty and unfulfilled. Sounds great, eh? Believe me when I say, we're just getting started.

What I’m Reading

I finished the Patrick Barb edited And One Day We Will Die: Stories Inspired by the Music of Neutral Milk Hotel. One of the strongest anthologies, I believe, that I’ve ever read. I review everything I read on Goodreads, and usually on my website as well. Here is a link to my Goodreads review.

I am moving on to Long Division –Stories of Social Decay and Societal Collapse, edited by Doug Murano and Mike Bailey. For me, reading on the kindle works best for collections and anthologies.

What I’m Watching

We finished what there was of Ballard, a Bosch spinoff. Oddly, we never watched Bosch. This one feels entertaining, but not horribly deep. Started the new season of Peacemaker (Loving it, and Eagly is stealing the show). I hope he survives. We watched The Thursday Murder Club filled with magnificent older actors who killed it. A lot of fun. Now we are catching up on Star Trek Strange New Worlds.

What I’m Listening to

I am about 62% through the audiobook of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi and enjoying it. If I lived in that world, I’d be signing up for the army in a heartbeat.  

Next up will be Moonflow by Bitter Karella

Buy My Books

Make “portfolio chaos” a thing of the past

Tired of spending hours updating your portfolio or losing your work samples to site shutdowns?

Authory automatically creates a beautiful, self-updating portfolio page that showcases your work effortlessly & backs up everything you've ever published.

Keep your work samples safe, searchable, and ready to share at any time.

Join more than 10,000 freelance writers who already use Authory to impress potential clients and employers.