David W. Adams (he/him) was born in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, but currently resides on the Isle of Portland, UK with his wife and fellow author C.L. Adams, and their little girl. His first published work was The Dark Corner in January of 2021. That series expanded from short stories into full blown novels across a shared universe which currently stands at 11 books, and is due to finish with a two-part finale next year.
He has since launched into sci-fi horror with the Frozen Planet Saga, where he has had the most fun and received the most praise, winning an award in December 2023 for Horizon. He also recently launched DWA Reviews, offering free reviews and a select number of free book trailers for indie authors needing a boost. You can find him primarily on TikTok and Threads.
Author Links:
TikTok: @davidwadams.author
Insta: @dwadamsauthor
Threads: @dwadamsauthor
What attracted you to Sci-Fi Horror, and the blending of these genres?
Honestly? I was inspired by other authors. I read a book called Dead Silence by SA Barnes, and it chilled me to the bone with its isolation aspect, and the whole ‘no-one can hear you scream’ aspect.
Then I read the novelisation of the movie Titan Find by Christian Francis, and fell in love with it. I’ve always been a fan of sci-fi movies and horror books, and so I wanted to write something that I could visualise in my head as an actual movie.
That’s usually how I approach my books when I’m writing them – how would they look on screen?
Tell us more about your Dark Corners universe and how that came about – what was the inspiration behind it, and how has the idea developed over time?
This series was supposed to die after 3 books! I had written short stories since I was a kid, but when Covid hit in 2020, I needed an escape more than ever. And so I took all of the ideas I’d had over the years and expanded them into short stories.
It wasn’t until the end of the book that I realised, however subtle it was, that they were all linked. The idea was to write a second volume of short stories and then a novel featuring the characters to conclude the series. But the characters wouldn’t go away, and the MCU was still going, and I thought well if they can do it, why can’t I?
I am now at 11 published books with 2 more to go, which I keep saying I’ll write soon, but other books keep getting in the way!
With some help from Christian Francis, the Dark Corner books were rebranded, reformatted and extended with new content and for the first time I was able to take my books wide. Although my attention has gone elsewhere lately, I guess this is still my flagship series.
Your work has won several awards – congratulations! What other highlights of your author journey can you share with us (including these if you like!)
Well, just one so far, but it was an incredible boost. Being an indie author is incredibly tough and on more than one occasion, you feel like throwing in the towel.
I was very grateful to win Best Dystopian Sci-fi for Horizon in December, and if anything it has pushed me to keep going with what I love, which is telling stories.
This was the first year I managed to hit £1000 in sales (not profit I hasten to add!), and I never thought that would happen. So now, I’m in the mindset where I will write what I want to and someone somewhere will find it.
Another huge highlight for me was getting my wife into writing. She now has 3 books out to rave reviews and I couldn’t be prouder of her!
But I think the main thing that has meant the most to me as an author, has been meeting some simply wonderful people in the Bookish community. I have so many wonderful author friends who I can bounce ideas off, and we exchange books as gifts, and Christian has been an incredible friend and resource for me. So advice for me would be to embrace the community and you’ll be fine.
What came first for you, telling stories in short form, or long form? How does your short form writing process differ from your long form process (or does it)?
As I mentioned earlier, short-form came first, mostly because I didn’t think I had it in me to write a novel. When I realised after writing The Dark Corner that I had in fact written an episodic novel of sorts, my attitude started to change.
Within a matter of months, I had flipped completely and was getting impatient to write my first novel, Wealdstone. I am 100% a pantster when it comes to writing anything, but definitely novels.
The starting point is different but only slightly. When I’m going to write a collection of shorts, I come up with all of the titles first and then formulate an idea for each one. With the novels, I get the idea, then the title, then write the book.
As I’ve progressed through the journey, I have started to adapt my techniques slightly. For example, when writing Horizon, as I was going along, I was making notes of unresolved plot points or potential plot points for the next book. I mean I haven’t done that since, but it worked a treat for that one!
Do you have a favourite from among your work, either a story, or a character, or a setting? If you can’t choose a favourite, is there something you’ve already written that you’d like to spend more time exploring in future work?
I’m so bad at this. I have said for the last 12-18 months that Horizon is my best work, only for my readers to tell me that it’s either of the sequels. Then there’s people who prefer my bloodier horror novels like Ingledene.
Personally, though, I stick by Horizon as my favourite. It was my first what I would call passion project. I was obsessed with writing it, loved every second, and revelled in the creature feature aspect of it.
But in terms of characters, my favourite comes from Resurrection, the fourth Dark Corner book, and his name is Jaxx. Imagine a cross between Jack Sparrow and Dean Winchester. But seven feet tall with orange skin and glowing white eyes. Always getting into trouble, witty one liners, that sort of vibe. I have a potential idea for revisiting him in the distant future at some point.
I’m trying to close down my series work and focus more on standalones going forward, or duologies because in truth The Dark Corner Series remaining unfinished is beginning to feel more of a burden and I don’t want that to happen. So more standalones in the future.
Do you have any future publication plans, anything we can look out for?
I have three confirmed books for 2025.
I have a horror novel out in March called Cornelia, which tells the story of when a little girl’s imaginary friend isn’t so imaginary and has a taste for blood and vengeance.
The second is the final book in the Frozen Planet Saga, called Vengeance, which is out in the late Summer.
And then I’m trying (and struggling) to complete a dark fantasy pirate epic called Dragonfly, which I keep delaying and delaying, but am now aiming for a Christmas 2025 release.
And I will finish the Dark Corner Series… at some point!
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