“I’m really proud of it. It’s a physical sign of all the effort that I put in,” he said.
While each story is isolated, the anthology is held together by the theme of liminality.
“Liminality is the spaces in between. It hyper-fixates on those transitional periods and those spaces. It’s a bit horror, a bit magical realism,” Mr Dover said.
“(The stories) are all different, but a good few do have a place in common.
“I’m really inspired by Stephen King and I love his use of Derry and Castle Rock as a central location, so I’ve sort of done that to an extent."
About five years ago, Mr Dover wrote the first 10 pages of a short story that would later appear in this anthology.
His “more directed work” of creating the rest of the stories took about two years.
On September 8, The Beautiful Empty was officially released, with Mr Dover self-publishing the work.
The anthology is currently available online, but its author hopes to see it physically distributed in the future.
“Seeing it in a store would be amazing, but I’m taking it one step at a time,” he said.
Mr Dover is most looking forward to hearing about readers’ opinions.
“The thing that I like the most is to hear about what it makes people think — that’s really cool, and it’s a lot better than giving people loose sheets of paper,” he said.
Having lived in the region for a good chunk of his life, he said he was grateful for the support shown by the local community so far.
“Quite a few people I know have picked it up, which is really nice to see the support for me,” he said.
“I’m glad to be a part of a lot of different people’s lives and it’s cool to see them supporting me.”
His parents and friends have also been a pivotal part of his writing journey.
“My parents have both been very supportive over the years, helping me pursue different avenues of creativity,” Mr Dover said.
“Tracey Smallthwaite is my boss at Kmart and a good friend, she’s supported me over the years a lot and helped me with test reading and giving her opinion.
“A lot of individuals have helped me with test reading, purchasing the book and getting it out there.”
Mr Dover is now pursuing publishing options for his completed full-length manuscript, hoping to get the novel picked up by a traditional publisher.
The Beautiful Empty can be purchased via tinyurl.com/5n6tu5dy
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