David E. Gates

Award-Winning and Prize-Winning Author of Access Denied, The Wretched, The Roots of Evil, The Ghost of Clothes, Omonolidee, First Words and Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman, The Deeper Roots of Evil, UFO, Cinema, Realm of Rhyme, BD & Thrashman, Safe Place and Windows of Time along with numerous short stories, poems and articles.

David E. Gates
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About David E. Gates

David E. Gates, who has interviewed the likes of Clive Barker, James Herbert and Terry Pratchett, has published several books and short stories and won prizes and awards for his work. His first book, Access Denied, is a true story. A deeply personal and heart-wrenching account of becoming a father and having to fight the mother and Family Courts to see his daughter and also battles against the incompetence and lies of the Child Support Agency who seem hell-bent on ruining him, emotionally and financially.. It has garnered 100% positive reviews. The Roots of Evil, his first horror novel, is a graphic, violent, intense and gore-laden horror story. It's sequel, The Deeper Roots of Evil, released on Friday the 13th of March 2020, has been getting rave reviews. His second fictional novel, The Wretched, is an original horror story set in and around Portsmouth. A short story, My Mother and the Medium, written by David, won The News (Portsmouth) Creepy Story Competition in December 2019. His memoir, Motorcycle Man, is a joyous reminiscence of his motorcycling days. He turns his attention to compiling a selection of stories, investigative reports and testimonies from witnesses and investigators from the wealth of material available, most notably that from recently retired or declassified records currently in the custody of the US National Archives and other sources, in his new book, UFO: The Edinburg Incident and Other UFO Stories. Mind Blood is a collection of macabre and spooky short stories, many of which have never been published previously. Realm of Rhyme is a collection of poems that have been inspired by historical events and includes some silly rhymes along the way and shows David's frustration and joy of the world around him. His recent memoir, BD and Thrashman: The Express FM Years, tells of his and his friend's adventures and experience hosting a rock radio show on Express FM. Following this, David released a short travelogue called The Horror of the Hebrides and a short story called 'Til Deaf Us Do Part. His latest novella is a haunted house story called Safe Place, based on real experiences. A unique selection of historical poems makes up Windows of Time. Featuring tales of fascinating and fierce women, such as Mary Ann Bevan, Susanna M. Salter, Mary Church Terrell, Harriet Tubman and The Mother of Angola. Poems telling of the cruelty of the Romans and the collaboration of two disabled men of different faiths. The survivor of a bizarre accident, Phineas Gage, is also remembered, alongside macabre events such as The Mary Celeste and poems that honour those lost in World War I and World War II. David has previously written film reviews for Starburst and Samhain magazines and interviewed the likes of Clive Barker, Terry Pratchett, James Herbert and many others and his work has been featured on Express FM radio and Solent TV. David's first book, Access Denied, was nominated for the 2017 Readers Choice Awards. His first horror novel, The Roots of Evil, was voted best to read on the Novel Festival site. His second horror novel, The Wretched, won silver in the AuthorsDB 2017 Cover Contest and Unzipped: The Mind of a Madman is currently a semi-finalist in the AuthorsDB 2019 Cover Contest. David's poem, The Magic of Mushrooms, made runner-up in the Grow Wild poetry competition. Other poems, such as Vape Away, Terminators and Outrunning The Rain, have been featured in The Poetry Festival and The Ode of Phineas Gage is one of the poems being featured on the PoetrySoup website. David also won the silver prize in the AuthorsDB 2016 Cover Contest for his short story, The Ghost of Clothes, and won best Horror Novel Logline for 2016 for The Roots of Evil. He’s previously won first prize (Gold) for The Roots of Evil and third prize (Bronze) for Access Denied in the 2015 AuthorsDB Cover Contests, and previously won a competition to write the second part of a short horror story, called Savages. The first and last parts were written by the famous horror writer Shaun Hutson and are hosted on Shaun’s website. David is currently working on a full-length novel called The Climbing Frame, producing a short film, and developing and writing the second sequel to The Roots of Evil.

The Wretched makes the semi-finals!

My horror novel, set in Portsmouth, called The Wretched, has made it to the semi-finals of the AuthorsDB 2017 Cover Contest!

I still need more votes to get it to the finals… please vote HERE

The Wretched - Semi Finalist

To BUY, you can find it in Paperback here on Amazon and in all eBook formats at Smashwords and all other good online bookstores.

 

Bah Humbug!

Fed up of the excitement, false as it is, of companies and people “celebrating” Christmas way too early (some are advertising it and “looking forward to it” as far back as August!), I wrote the following poem which will feature in the second anthology of short stories and poetry coming in 2018.

Bah Humbug!

Christmas is coming.  

The goose is getting fat. 

But celebrate in October,  

And you’re nothing but a twat. 

 

There’s twelve days of Christmas, 

Something you should remember, 

These days start on Christmas Day, 

Not way back in September! 

 

Bonfire night comes way before, 

Though you wouldn’t know it, 

Put away your festive tree, 

Please don’t dare to show it. 

 

Get excited, by all means, 

But keep it to yourself, 

There’s a time and place for everything, 

Including watching Elf! 

 

Let’s keep Christmas special, 

Let’s really give a fuck. 

Instead of getting all worked up, 

Over a Coca-Cola truck! 

 

The holidays are coming, 

But they’re not quite here, 

Be joyous when the time is right, 

At that special time of year. 

 

Christmas is coming.  

We’ll all be getting fat.  

But let’s leave it until the day, 

To put on our Christmas hat. 

If you really can’t get enough of Christmas, why not read my short-story, The Christmas Carol, available FREE for a limited time from Smashwords.com. It’s a “Wonderfully written tale of suspense keeps you wondering what will happen next.” – Misty Reigenborn.

The Christmas Carol

If you do download and read my FREE short-story, please be so kind as to leave a review.

© David E. Gates – Shelley Show Productions – 2018.

David E. Gates to appear at Chandler’s Ford Book Fair on 28th October 2017

I’ll be attending the Chandler’s Ford Book Fair on 28th October 2017, promoting my work and selling my books. Come along and meet me and say “hi”. There will also be FREE GIFTS for those that make a purchase. Look forward to seeing you there.

For more details, go to https://www.facebook.com/chfordlives/

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Your HORROR Novel has been voted best to read on the Novel Festival site!

Have just received the news that my horror novel, The Roots of Evil, has been voted best to read on the Novel Festival site!

https://novelwritingfestival.com/2017/09/16/best-of-horror-gothic-novels/

I am so amazed that my first horror novel has been recognised in this way. I feel truly humbled but very, very proud.

Novel Festival - WINNER3D Paperback with GOLD - Trimmed

You can buy The Roots of Evil by David E. Gates in paperback and eBook formats from all good bookstores.

Festival for Poetry publishes my poem, “Vape Away”!

Festival for Poetry promoted my poem on their social networks and will make sure it’s read right away by 100s of people.

“Terrific poem.” They said.

You can read it here.

A selection of poetry, short-stories, scripts and other works is available in First Words by David E. Gates. It’s available in all eBook formats from Smashwords and Paperback from Amazon and other bookstores.

3D Cover - Cropped

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The Roots of Evil – Another five star review!

five-stars

on 29 August 2017
Incredible. I love horror books but this took gore to another level! With an engrossing story line and some shockingly brutal but brilliant content I could not put this book down. Finished it in 2 days but did not want it to end! Absolutely brilliant and would highly recommend but definitely not for the faint hearted!
Buy The Roots of Evil at all good online bookshops – Available in Paperback and all eBook formats.
Eric Barber works his way through the conditions of his father’s will, to secure a future fortune. But, in a remote village, the sins of lust, greed and envy of the inhabitants are disturbed by strange occurrences and disembodied evil that give way to shockingly graphic violence, intense horror and gore-laden revenge!
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Access Denied – Reduced Price for eBook

“I haven’t reacted to a book like this since reading To Kill A Mockingbird.” – Simon Arnold.

For a very limited time, my first book, Access Denied is available at a very reduced price of $0.99 from SmashWords. Normally $3.99, this is a chance to get the Number 1 Bestseller by David E. Gates for less than a dollar! Available in all electronic formats from:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/589941

When you’ve nothing left to lose, what else can you give?

The incredible true story of a discovered lie and the fallout that followed.

If the measure of a good book is it’s after burn, Access Denied is a great book. Thought-provoking, honest, extraordinary, revealing. A damning indictment of the Child Support Agency and Family Courts.

With 100% positive reviews, this is a must-read book!

“Thought provoking but brilliant read.” – Vanessa

“I couldn’t put it down!” – Lisa Roberts (CSA Rip-offs Support Group)

“A well told, quite extraordinary true story that stays with you.” – Jane Austin

“Amazingly jaw dropping story!” – Linda Conlon

“Captivating Story.” – Lanre Oke

cropped-3d-cover-small1.jpgPlease leave a review after reading. Thank you.

Amazon search goes from bad to worse.

You may recall I previously wrote about how god-awful Amazon’s search is. I wrote here about how it doesn’t find “David E. Gates” and here about how it associated works by another author on my audiobook page to me.

If you want an indication of how crap Amazon search is, try this: Pink, the female rock/pop artist, has a new song out today called “What About Us”. However, you wouldn’t know that from a search on Amazon:

Pink Search

Not one result for the artist’s new single! I have written to Amazon, several times, about this because it is beyond absurd. They’ve done nothing in the months since I highlighted the issue to them. They say they can’t change it but it’s clear they can because they changed it earlier this year and made it worse than it once was.

Amazon – are you listening?

Reviews for my (FREE) short stories.

As The Ghost of Clothes reaches 180 FREE downloads from Smashwords, I was somewhat surprised by the lack of reviews. Just one:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by: vivascarlett on March 17, 2016 :
A fantastic story, I loved it!

the-ghost-of-clothes-semi-finalist

Same for The Christmas Carol (126 FREE downloads to date):

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by: Misty Reigenborn on Dec. 24, 2016 :
Wonderfully written tale of suspense keeps you wondering what will happen next.

the-christmas-carol

And, until today and this post, none for A Planned Demise but now a fantastic review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by: prfog on July 25, 2017 :
Absolutely fascinating and very well written.

A Planned Demise

Thank you to vivascarlett, Misty and prfog for taking the time to leave feedback.

If you take and read one of my free stories, please be so kind to leave a review.

All of my books are available via all good online bookstores.

All Books

Another FIVE STAR review for The Wretched!

Such a good read. Spooky and a real page turner! Once I started it I couldn’t put it down. I love horror books and this one was fantastic! The fact that it is also set near where I am from makes it all the more creepy!
By B1234 on 12 July 2017
The Wretched by David E. Gates – Available at all good online bookstores in eBook and Paperback formats. Want an autographed paperback version? Message me for details.
New Vertical - Award Winning