I’ll be at several events at the Bristol Festival of Literature specifically reading at this one: Suspension and one of the speakers at this one: Finding the Positive
I’ll be launching my novel Seven Deadly Swords at BristolCon and it looks like I’ll be on a panel there too.
If you can’t make BristolCon I’ll be doing a signing at Max Minervas in November
The Fantasycon programme has been published.
I’ll be on two panels on the Friday:
4.30pm – The Role of Class in Science
Fiction and Fantasy
Kevin McVeigh (m), Rosanne Rabinowitz, Peter
Sutton, Laura Mauro, Alison Baker
9.30pm – Occult and Supernatural
Adventures
Peter Sutton (m), Mike Chinn, Sue Tingey, Sara
Jayne Townsend, Georgina Bruce
Sadly my later panel coincides with Dungeons and Disorderly which looks like it’ll be a lot of fun.
and a panel and a reading on the Saturday
11.30am – Organising Events and
Awards
Steven Poore (m), Leila Abu el Hawa, Jan
Edwards, Peter Sutton
10pm: Readings:
Fantasy
Peter Sutton, Andy
Remic, Anna Smith
Spark, Jeanette Ng
You’ll have to drag yourself away from the Karaoke to come and see my reading…
I’m also helping Peter Coleborn launch Alchemy Press’s latest anthology which I have a story in:
3pm – Launch: Alchemy Press
Peter Coleborn
So looks like it’ll be a busy and fun FantasyCon!
Timon Singh loves action films, specifically 1980’s action films. He loves the vilains in those action films. So he set out to interview as many as he could – from Superman 2 to Die Hard, from Time Bandits to Indiana Jones Singh has tracked down a host of bad guys, and 1 gal.
The book is split into sections: The heavies, Superman 2, The Terrorists of Die Hard, The Outsiders, and the final boss. And includes such people as David Warner, Steven Birkoff, Julian Glover, William Atherton, Vernon Wells and many more
Singh is interested in what it takes to play a good baddie, the psychology of bad guys and gossip about the heroes and other co-stars as well as stories about the films these men, and it is almost 100% men, have been in. The interviews are entertaining and often enlightening and it’s great to spot a bad guy you may have seen in a few films but not know much about.
The book also has a great cover.
I hope Singh has more interviews up his sleeve -maybe some good guys next or the femme fatales of 80’s cinema?
Recommended to film lovers.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll know that a couple of years ago I had a copyright battle with someone who wanted to use my work for his profit without my permission, without attributing the work as mine and without paying me a penny. After a long and acrimonious battle, in which I had to threaten legal action, we eventually came to an agreement that I’d be able to scrutinise the work he was producing and veto anything that was ‘proved’ to be mine.
The reason this copyright battle happened was basically because Kickstarter had very lax rules at the time (they’ve since been tightened up. A bit) and it is now easy for anyone to be a publisher.
To update that previous post. The kickstarter eventually produced one book (out of the 4 people had pledged for). There were several chapters that I asked them to change -which they did, although their “rewriting” was pretty damn poor (where, for example I’d written – ‘they were never numerous.’ they’d written ‘there were never very many of them’ – that sort of ‘rewriting’. However by the time they sent me this the whole sorry debacle had been dragging on for ages and I really couldn’t be bothered to argue any more so I let them publish, and be damned…
Anyway that’s all preamble.
I received a mail from the Society of Authors requesting me to mail my MEP and ask them to support the new forthcoming Copyright Directive
The Copyright Directive seeks to modernise copyright for the digital age. As well as forcing platforms such as YouTube and Facebook (and Kickstarter) to take greater responsibility for the creative content they host, it contains the following much-needed provisions which would strengthen the rights of authors:
So as I’ve had some interaction with my MEP on Twitter I Tweeted her:
to which her reply was:
so I mailed her. She’s yet to reply…
Unexpected Heroines:
Why is it always the teenage girl who is the heroine?
These are the stories of female protagonists who are never cast in the feature films. The awkward, the old, the forgotten, the different.
Their adventures were never meant to be. Their save-the-world expeditions shouldn’t have happened. They are the ones who stepped forward when no-one else would.
Our unexpected heroines.
Forgotten Sidekicks:
We all know what happens when the hero saves the day, but what about their sidekicks?
Too often the hero is held high and celebrated whilst their sidekicks and comrades are brushed to the side; their own battles forgotten, and their actions airbrushed to nothingness from the tales of victory.
These are the stories of the ones who aren’t remembered; the ones who helped save the day, and got cast aside; the ones who don’t want the applause, and the ones who deserved the applause and never received it.
These stories didn’t make the headlines – but they happened, and they’re glorious.
Lost Gods:
They have slept for centuries. Buried. Forgotten. Lost.
Until they awake. Or are awoken.
When the deities of old return, will they bring blessings or destruction to a time that no longer remembers them?
Should they be left to lie in peace, or used for our own ends? Are they gods, or monsters?
What lies out there in the realms of the lost gods?
Submission Guidelines:
The submission window will run from 1st September until the 30th November inclusive.
Submissions to be emailed to:
Lost Gods – lostgodsanthology@gmail.com
Forgotten Sidekicks – forgottensidekicks@gmail.com
Unexpected Heroines – unexpectedheroines@gmail.com
All sub-genre and styles will be considered – comedic, epic, grimdark, noblebright etc. We are particularly keen on diversity – think older characters, LGBTQ, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities
Submissions should be (ideally) between 4-7,000 words (10% leeway given either side) and either 1.5 or double spaced and in an easy to read font such as Times New Roman or Arial size 12/14. Please include your contact details at the end of the story, along with a short bio and details of any writing credentials and/or social media handles.
We are aware that this is a long submission window, but hectic lifestyles for both writers and editors means that we must be patient. Editors will be reading submissions as they are received but final decisions are unlikely to be publicised until the end of December 2018 at the earliest. This allows there to be a reasonable amount of time for reading and selecting the final line-up.
Payment will be £15 per story and a physical copy of the final anthology for which the story appears and, should you also wish, copies of the eBook for your own private use and not for resale or lending.
Any questions relating to submission guidelines – please do ask away!
Blood Cruise by Mats Strandberg
Jo Fletcher Books
On the Baltic Sea no-one can hear you scream
Ever since hearing Mats describe this book at Archipelacon I’ve been wanting to read it. It helped that I arrived at Archipelacon on a ferry from Stockholm. The book is set on one such ferry, a booze cruise overnighter (I got the early morning one, so not quite so boozy) with a washed up former Eurovision star as the main entertainment.
Something ancient and evil gets on board and mayhem ensues. This is a vampire book with a difference. Told in multiple POVs Strandberg weaves a compelling, page-turning thriller. Not an easy feat with multiple POV.
The characters are memorable and there is a slow burn set up where you get to know them, and wonder which of them will survive. When the mayhem starts the book becomes unputdownable as the blood splashes up the walls and the emetic effects of alcohol kick in. It’s a visceral delight.
The cast is also diverse, which is a pleasant change from most horror staples, and individual; which is impressive with such a large list of dramatis personae.
But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that the author has critiqued lad culture, the double-edged role of alcohol in society and the nature of relationships. This explains the 500ish page count as it’s a more nuanced horror than the premise would indicate.
A brilliant addition to isolation horror and a modern vampire delight, highly recommended.
Happy to announce that I’ll be editing another anthology for Grimbold books. This is one of a set of three:
Unexpected Heroines:
Why is it always the teenage girl who is the heroine?
These are the stories of female protagonists who are never cast in the feature films. The awkward, the old, the forgotten, the different.
Their adventures were never meant to be. Their save-the-world expeditions shouldn’t have happened. They are the ones who stepped forward when no-one else would.
Our unexpected heroines.
Forgotten Sidekicks:
We all know what happens when the hero saves the day, but what about their sidekicks?
Too often the hero is held high and celebrated whilst their sidekicks and comrades are brushed to the side; their own battles forgotten, and their actions airbrushed to nothingness from the tales of victory.
These are the stories of the ones who aren’t remembered; the ones who helped save the day, and got cast aside; the ones who don’t want the applause, and the ones who deserved the applause and never received it.
These stories didn’t make the headlines – but they happened, and they’re glorious.
Lost Gods:
They have slept for centuries. Buried. Forgotten. Lost.
Until they awake. Or are awoken.
When the deities of old return, will they bring blessings or destruction to a time that no long remembers them?
Should they be left to lie in peace, or used for our own ends? Are they gods, or monsters?
What lies out there in the realms of the lost gods?
Submission Guidelines:
The submission window will run from 1st September until the 30th November inclusive.
Submissions to be emailed to:
Lost Gods – lostgodsanthology@gmail.com
Forgotten Sidekicks – forgottensidekicks@gmail.com
Unexpected Heroines – unexpectedheroines@gmail.com
All sub-genre and styles will be considered – comedic, epic, grimdark, noblebright etc. We are particularly keen on diversity – think older characters, LGBTQ, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities
Submissions should be (ideally) between 4-7,000 words (10% leeway given either side) and either 1.5 or double spaced and in an easy to read font such as Times New Roman or Arial size 12/14. Please include your contact details at the end of the story, along with a short bio and details of any writing credentials and/or social media handles.
We are aware that this is a long submission window, but hectic lifestyles for both writers and editors means that we must be patient. Editors will be reading submissions as they are received but final decisions are unlikely to be publicised until the end of December 2018 at the earliest. This allows there to be a reasonable amount of time for reading and selecting the final line-up.
Payment will be £15 per story and a physical copy of the final anthology for which the story appears and, should you also wish, copies of the eBook for your own private use and not for resale or lending.
Any questions relating to submission guidelines – please do ask away!
