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Life and Death

You’ll see from the date of my last post that I’ve not been around for a while. There’s good reason for that. My dad was taken ill at the end of January and, just over a week ago, he passed away (it still feels unreal to type that). Life for my family and I has been on hold for the last month or so.

It’s funny – as a horror author I write about death a lot (heck, the first line of AUTUMN is ‘Billions died in less than twenty-four hours’), but no matter how much you think you’re prepared or how many times you go through it, you’re never quite ready for the tsunami of emotions you feel when you lose someone you love.

My old man had a hellish final month. There were scenes that wouldn’t have been out of place in one of my novels, and Dad even joked that he wanted a slice of the royalties if I based a story on what he’d been through. It was a rollercoaster ride: we laughed, we cried, we laughed some more, then we cried even more after that. He received exemplary care from our incredible NHS, and he died after spending his final hours surrounded by people he loved and who loved him dearly.

See you, Dad, and thanks for everything. You’ll be missed by many, many people and will never be forgotten.

At this point he’d tell me to stop moping and pull my finger out, so I will. Normal service will be resumed here shortly.