Chris Lynch: Author

Chris Lynch writes books for children and adults, most recently working on Doctor Who spin-off books in the extended Haisman universe for Candy Jar Publishing. Over the past few years, Chris has written a number of books, novellas, and short stories for Candy Jar and always has more in the pipeline. His first children’s book, “Curse of the Mirror Clowns“, was shortlisted for a Scribe Award in 2019.

Chris has had short stories published in a wide range of magazines and online journals. Many of these are new also available here on his website and, when time permits, Chris enjoys writing new short stories and flash fiction to share here.

Chris is always interested in discussing new projects, if you’d like to work with him then please reach out through the contact form.

Lucy Wilson is an Amazon #1

Wow... that was a week. On the back of the fantastic free book promo that Candy Jar Publishing ran for World Book Day/World Book Week, Lucy Wilson: Curse of the Mirror Clowns found its way into the top 150 free books on Amazon and all the way to #1 in a few categories.

Travelling the Vortex review "Curse of the Mirror Clowns"

One of the best things about writing stories set in the Haisman Universe and the world of "Classic Doctor Who" is how massively passionate the fandom is. I've referred to it before as being given access to the best toybox in the world, but that doesn't ever mean the toys are mine. I'm a firm believer that stories, once told, can take on a life of their own. Characters like Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, William Travers, Dame Anne Bishop, Lucy Wilson and Hobo Kostinen, all have a life beyond the words written down on the page. If I'm lucky, very lucky, the stories that I write live on past then in the minds and memories of the people who read them.

DLS Reviews talks Shadows and Teeth

DLS Reviews is one of the most in-depth book review sites I've ever seen and I'm really pleased to see the positive response they've had to Shadows and Teeth...

The Magpye in Geek Syndicate Magazine

Rebuilding my website has given me the opportunity, or more accurately the excuse, to Google my older books and search old reviews or bits of marketing that might be interesting. Today I found this copy of Geek Syndicate magazine from back in 2014 that includes a sample chapter from The Magpye.

Traveling the Vortex review "Lineage"

The Traveling the Vortex podcast have recorded a detailed review of the Lethbridge-Stewart Lineage collection that includes some very kind words about my story "The Arcade of Doom".

How Attack of the Quarks Came to Be

I wrote “The Arcade of Doom” for the Lethbridge-Stewart Lineage collection and it was only supposed to be a throw-away, fun story involving Lucy, Hobo, and the creepily squeaky-voiced Quarks. Set in an arcade that was an amalgam of the arcades from my childhood, including one in Porthcawl where I first encountered Gauntlet, it's a heavy dose of nostalgia for those of us who grew up paying 10p a time to play computer games.

Why I've Age-Gated Some Content on my Site

From today, you may encounter the occasional warning on my website asking you to verify that you're over 18 before you continue on to view a piece of content. Right now this mostly happens in the comics section, but you might encounter this anywhere after today.

Look, Mum! I'm in the newspaper!

Promotions for These 3 Streams are certainly hotting up and today the festival was featured in the Glamorgan Star. Yes, like a real boy, I was in the newspaper!

David Alan Binder interviews Chris Lynch

One of the benefits of improving my web presence has been a resurgence of contacts from other writers and people in the literary and creative space. I'd been missing out on this being spread too thin across multiple websites. It was a real treat when an email arrived in my inbox from David Alan Binder, asking me to take part in a series of interviews he has been compiling with writers from around the world.

Chris Lynch joins UNIT

When UNIT calls... you answer. And UNIT did call, in the form of Tim Gambrell in between Christmas and New Year, looking for a story to add to the UNIT: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories collection. The deadline was pretty tight, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to step into the world of UNIT and add my own piece of the lore and legend of The Brigadier.

The Doctor is Us and We Are The Doctor

New #doctorwho theory... It seems more or less canonical that when The Doctor regenerates, they choose a face from their own past. Someone they've seen before. But where does the personality come from? Why are they grumpy, or funny, or cunning, or brave?

What I'm up to, December 2021

It's a cold and somewhat damp night here in Cardiff. Autumn is giving way swiftly to winter and Christmas is drawing near. I find I write more in the autumn and winter; perhaps it is the dark nights keeping me indoors or perhaps it is the rich vein of inspiration that the pell-mell rush through Halloween, Bonfire Night, and Christmas offers.

Why The Doctor is best when they are "just a traveler"

I'm pretty relaxed about the whole Timeless Child thing. I get why some parts of Who fandom are angry about it, I get why some parts are confused by it (I am, if I think about it too hard), and I get that a lot of people are fine with changes to the mythos as long as those changes are good, well thought out, and well-executed... which they don't think the Timeless Child changes are. But broadly, I'm pretty relaxed about it. I even wrote a post a while back about how I thought The Timeless Child might actually be kind of a good thing; there is no reduction in peril for The Doctor even if they have infinite regenerations as each one is different to the last, The Doctor as we know them (and they know themselves) dies and the next Doctor could be anyone.

Synopsis vs. Blurb

I joined a writing group recently and as a published writer it seems people expect me to know about... stuff. Writing stuff. Editing stuff. Publishing stuff...

The Great eCommerce, Business, and Marketing Book Event

Wow! Woke up this morning to find that the books in the Great eCommerce, Business, and Marketing Book Event are dominating Top 10 lists all over Amazon. Great news for everyone involved and chance to once again say that The Truth About SEO is an Amazon best seller!

Current Status

The quieter I am on my blogs and social media, the busier I normally am behind the scenes. Here's what I'm working on right now:

End of an Era: The Dark Comic Book Domain Closed

My ruthless domain cull continues with the death of thedarkcomicbook.com (not that it exhibits a significant amount of "ruth", whatever that is, to hold on to a domain long after you need it)

Attack of the Quarks announced

Exciting news this week as Candy Jar announce that my story "The Arcade of Doom" us being re-released as the kick off story in a new collection, "Attack if the Quarks".

The Dark by Stuart Tipples

Back when The Dark was being released, I collected commissions of the character from some of my favourite artists. Top of the list with my fellow Monkey with a Machinegun, Stuart Tipples. His rendition of the character is classically moody, dark, and has a hawkish characteristic not unlike my favourite screen Holmes, Jeremy Brett.

Free Books for World Book Day 2022 and World Book Week 2022

The fine people of Candy Jar are at it again, arranging a monumental book giveaway for World Book Day and World Book Week!