The Digital Echoes of My Work: Google Knowledge Panels, Creative Timeline, Monetization, Platform Struggles, and Building an Independent Internet Ecosystem

https://jaimedavid.blog/2026/05/24/16/37/59/analysis/jaimedavid327/10993/the-digital-echoes-of-my-work-google-knowledge-panels-creative-timeline-monetization-platform-struggles-and-building-an-independent-internet-ecosystem/

Author Spotlight: Welsh Husband and Wife Horror Fiction Duo, Writing as TM Ellis

TM Ellis is the pen name of Tommy (he/him) and Margot (she/her) Ellis. They are Wales’ bestselling husband-and-wife horror writing team, and they specialise in short-form horror. They have released three books to date: Grisly Deeds, Grisly Deeds 2 and Grisly Deeds: Mini Edition. Their first book hit five, three and two in three separate Amazon bestseller charts as well as sharing a top five with Stephen King. “A Good Idea at the Time” was a story chosen from Grisly Deeds 2 for the world’s biggest horror podcast, No Sleep, which peaked at number two in the Apple Podcast Chart.

Tommy also writes under his own name and has a comedy-thriller trilogy called The Midas Cat and three middle grade adventures: The Puddle People, The Puddle People 2 and The Keepers of the Arkle.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Website: tommyellisauthor.wordpress.com

Book Links with Samples:
Grisly Deeds (Amazon UK – Look Inside to read a sample)
Grisly Deeds 2 (Amazon UK – Look Inside to read a sample)
Grisly Deeds Mini Edition (Amazon UK – Look Inside to read a sample)

Pitch for Readers/Book Clubs:

The Grisly Deeds series is an homage to the classic horror anthologies of the 1960s and 70s. Filled with tales of cold war experiments gone wrong, medical terrors, Victorian and Edwardian gothic, this is a collection to read with all the lights on. That shadow, though… The one in the corner… Did it just move on its own?

As a husband/wife duo writing horror, can you tell us how this works for you as a process, and how your publishing journey has been so far?

We both come up with horror short story ideas with Margot coming up with the majority of ideas.

Tommy writes them by hand, then does a second draft on the laptop.

He prints out the story, Margot reads it, suggests edits, then they both sit down and polish the story together.

Your latest releases are short story collections, Grisly Deeds. Tell us more about the themes of the collection, and how these stories fit together.

The books are collections of unrelated short stories ranging from Victorian and Edwardian gothic, through to weird cold war experiments that might have been.

They are a modern take on the old anthologies of the 1960s and ’70s, like The Pan Book of Horror series.

There are a lot of “what if” stories. E.g.: What if you could fast forward through time without aging? This would make prison sentences useless, therefore what crimes would you be willing to commit?

The series is also full of jet black humour, some of which is designed to make you feel guilty after you’ve laughed!

Margot comes up with most of the twists.

There are also a smattering of fairy tale retellings. You’ll never view Pinocchio in the same light again! (Grisly Deed: Mini Edition).

There are also a fair amount of medical horrors: The next time you go for an operation, be afraid!

How did you choose the order of the stories in the collection, and can you tell us more about the one you decided to be first? What do you think makes that one the best to kick off with?

We sit down and work it out between us, basing the order on how music albums are constructed. We front load the books with a twist shocker first. Something that will leave the reader exclaiming.

A few people have approached us having read book 1 and quoted the last line of the first story entitled “First Do No Harm”. This was a story of Margot’s.

Tell us more about the story you picked to be last – what makes that one a banger to end on, and what do you hope readers will take away from the collection once they’ve closed the book?

Again, we use the music album formula, ending on something memorable. The last story in book 1 is an atmospheric Victorian gothic piece entitled “Letters From the Attic”.

In book 2, we end with another Victorian, this time a ghost story.

In our latest release, Grisly Deeds: Mini Edition, we end with a Georgian tale which is based on a true story and entitled “The Bruton Street Murders”.

Which of the stories, if you absolutely had to pick, were your personal favourites to write, and why?

We both loved “The Bruton Street Murders” as it was an era we’d never worked with and great fun.

Margot’s personal favourite is “Line of Duty” because it’s in the realms of possibility.

Both tales are from Grisly Deeds: Mini Edition.

What’s next for you and your writing – what should readers look out for, and how should they keep updated on your work (sign up to a newsletter, subscribe to a mailing list, are you at any upcoming cons/events etc)?

We are working on Grisly Deeds 3 right now. More tales of terror!

Keep updated by logging onto tommyellisauthor.wordpress.com and, if you are in Mid or West Wales, look out for a solo saxophone entertainer performing one man tributes to 70s rock and roll, 80s ska, The Blues Brothers or 50s/60s rock and roll. There will always be a merch table set up, and you can get signed copies of all the books.

Like This? Try These:

Author Spotlight: Welsh Husband and Wife Horror Fiction Duo, Writing as TM Ellis

Meet Wales’ bestselling husband-and-wife horror writing team, writing as TM Ellis. They specialise in short-form horror with 3 books out and more on the way!

Classic Short Horror Stories by Women (Part 2)

Another list of classic short horror stories by women (1800s-1930s), this time ones you can find on Taesha Glasgow’s podcast, Just Chills – Short Scary Stories. Here you’ll find 35 authors to check out!

Classic Short Horror Stories by Women

A list of classic short stories by women which can be found narrated on the HorrorBabble podcast.

Author Spotlight: Sci-Fi Author Chloe Clark

Meet Chloe Clark (she/her), a Sci-Fi author of Collective Gravities, Escaping the Body, Patterns of Orbit and more. This spotlight focuses on her latest collection, EVERY GALAXY A CIRCLE. Follow Chloe on Bsky @pintsncupcakes.bsky.social

Author Spotlight: Paranormal Author Jason A. Kilgore

Meet Jason A. Kilgore (he/him), and his collection of paranormal tales, perfect for a spooky Christmas gift!

Author Spotlight: Fantasy Author Odessa Silver

Meet UK-based author Odessa Silver (she/her) and her Japanese-inspired fantasy short story collection, Tales of Yamato.

If you're a Netgalley user looking for your next favorite read, T. K. Rex's THE WILDCRAFT DRONES is available now to download. Filled with humor and heart, Rex's debut is 14 linked stories exploring the evolution of sentient drones and a rewilded world.

Download here: https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/792496

#netgalley #netgalleydownload #freedownload #freebook #bookdownload #shortstories #shortstorycollection #debutcollection #sciencefiction #smallpress #tkrex #thewildcraftdrones#sciencefiction #smallpress

We're so excited to see two Stelliform titles make the absolutely stacked BSFA Longlist! Rebecca Campbell’s “Wider Than the Sky, Deeper Than the Sea” (The Other Shore) is nominated in Best Short Fiction and Syr Hayati Beker’s What a Fish Looks Like in Best Shorter Fiction.

See the full list here: https://www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-longlist

#BSFAAwards2026 #BSFA #bookawards #literaryawards #bestshortstory #bestshortfiction #bestnovella #shortfiction #shortstories #shortstorycollection

You Like It Darker by Stephen King ended up being a solid and rewarding read for me. Not all the pieces were hits, but most of them were really good, and when you put them all together, they felt like a solid collection. I shared my full thoughts on the blog.

https://blackspineshelf.com/you-like-it-darker-by-stephen-king-book-review/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=cpc
#horror #shortstorycollection #stephenking #bookreview

Author Spotlight: Sci-Fi Author Chloe Clark

Chloe N. Clark (she/her/hers) is the author of Collective Gravities, Escaping the Body, Patterns of Orbit and more. Her next collection, Every Galaxy a Circle, is forthcoming from JackLeg Press. She is a founding co-EIC of Cotton Xenomorph.

Author Links:

Website: chloenclark.com

Bluesky: @pintsncupcakes.bsky.social

Your new collection Every Galaxy A Circle is out now: can you tell us how this collection came about, and how these stories developed?

These stories were written over an almost 20 year period (which is very sad to type out. How old does this make me?). When I was building this collection, I was selecting stories of mine that felt like they were in conversation with each other. Each story’s development was different. One story, for example, took years to write and revise while another is one I wrote in one sitting and then edited fairly quickly to a place that I felt was where it was supposed to be.

How did you decide to order the collection – how did you choose the first story, the middle stories, the last story? What made them feel like they should be in these positions in the book?

For me, ordering a collection (whether stories or poems) is one of the most intricate aspects of writing. I want a collection to read as a whole work–in the sense that it should have the movement of a longer narrative, even when the stories themselves are individual pieces. I always knew the first story of the collection, and built it from there. Every Galaxy a Circle should feel very much like you’re walking within memory itself, with stories connecting back to others or foreshadowing themes in ones that come later.

How do your personal values and philosophies play into the collection, and how did you develop these philosophies and values?

I think in anything I write, it starts with the dearest personal value/philosophy I have which is that we have to be kind. To others and to ourselves. This is a collection of stories about the weight of memories and how we construct our lives in relation to those who surround us.

I can’t really say how I’ve developed these values in any real or interesting way. I think being someone who values kindness is a value instilled by my parents and reinforced by living in the world. It’s so easy to be a jerk, and it’s often much harder to choose to be kind. But that work and choice is where living is actually done.

What is it about Sci-Fi specifically that enables you to explore the themes of the collection, particularly the themes of memory (collective and individual), and the mutual bonds of human relationships/what we owe to one another? 

I think we live in very Sci-Fi and speculative worlds in many ways because most of us are already living in our heads (whether that’s hopes or dreams or whatever), anyway.

So, to me it’s easy to take the reality of life and just heighten it a little. Like, many of us probably have memories we return to over and over, but what would we do if we could physically time travel to our most perfect memory rather than just visit it in our head? Would the memory live up to our expectations? What if it didn’t?

Good sci-fi, for me, is always based around the characters more than the plot. Ideally, it should work even if that Sci-Fi concept is removed. If the story about time travel was just about someone stuck in their own memories it would have a lot of the same narrative drive. And because Sci-Fi is based around the characters, it’s the perfect venue to think about human relationships and what we owe to those around us.

Would readers find these themes explored in more of your work – and if they have a book hangover from this collection, where would you direct them next?

I’m definitely obsessed in general with memory and what it means to be human. If you liked Every Galaxy a Circle because of the way it involves the fragility of being human then I’d direct you to my speculative horror poetry collection Escaping the Body. If you enjoyed Every Galaxy a Circle because of the near future concepts, then either of my previous fiction collections, Collective Gravities or Patterns of Orbit, might meet your fancy. And, if you’d like something that has the same sort of sad nostalgia as some of my stories but with may more heart and humor, then pick up Amber Sparks Happy People Don’t Live Here!

Can you share your favourite piece/s of feedback/reviews from this collection so far?

I was honored to get some incredible blurbs from authors who I deeply admire. Chrsitopher Barzak said I was “a master of blending the everyday with the strange.” Erika Swyler said the book’s stories “explore the depths and outer edges of what it means to be human.” And Anya Johanna DeNiro said it “feels like a cabinet of wonders.” Could anyone ask for more lovely blurbs from more lovely writers than these??

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ICYMI: there was a lovely review of Rebecca Campbell's THE OTHER SHORE in Brief Ecology, a newsletter focusing on environmental news - not just what's happening but also what we can do. It's definitely worth checking out.

Here's a link to Brief Ecology #22, where you can find more about THE OTHER SHORE: https://www.briefecology.com/p/no-desert-data-centers-climate-impacts

#rebeccacampbell #theothershore #shortstories #shortstorycollection #canlit #canadianliterature #canadianauthor #speculativefiction #sffh #bookstodon #books