Thought for the Day

"To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time." 

~ Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor

Gamebook Friday: ACE Gamebooks Abroad

Four weeks from today I will be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time. I will be a guest of Mantikore-Verlag who are launching the German language edition of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland at the event.

In fact, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is becoming a rather well-travelled book. Long time readers of this blog will remember that The Wicked Wizard of Oz is already on display in the All Things Oz Museum in the United States, but in July I was contacted by Vladimir Dorda, from the Russian Federation, asking if I would be willing to donate copies of some of my books to the department of the international literature at the library where he works. And yesterday he sent me this photograph.

Vladimir with copies of The Wicked Wizard of Oz and Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland in the Anton Chekhov Library in the Russian city of Taganrog.

In other gamebook news, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: Goblin Scourge Edition is now available to buy from the Nintendo eShop, which means that you can now play a game I worked on on your Nintendo Switch console.

I also sent NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! to the publisher this week, ready to be laid out, which means that I've been able to spend some time working on my next ACE Gamebook, Beowulf Beastslayer.

The Kickstarter to fund Beowulf Beastslayer will launch on Monday 1st October 2018. Join the Beowulf Beastslayer Facebook group to be kept up to date with developments.

Warhammer Wednesday: War for Armageddon is here!

After a rather convoluted voyage through the warp, my contributor copies of War for Armageddon finally arrived. And rather impressive the book looks too.

You can pick up your copy of the War for Armageddon omnibus here.

Thought for the Day

"Okay, writing advice. Best piece of writing advice I ever had was "Use words." This saved me a lot of trouble. I'd tried to write a short story using some cucumber slices and the skeletised spine of a vole, but the pacing was off, the plot dull, and the characters smelled weird."

~ Jonathan L. Howard

Kaiju. Rising.

Last year, I was invited to contribute a short story to Outland Entertainment's Kickstarter-funded anthology Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters II. Almost a year later, the eBook edition has been sent to backers, meaning that the mass market paperback release isn't far away.

Now entitled Kaiju Rising II: Reign of Monsters, you will be able to get your hands on the anthology on 1st November 2018. Here's the cover blurb:

We are surrounded.

A wealthy man hunts the kaiju that killed his daughter on an island inhabited by mega-fauna.

They are everywhere.

By the light of a campfire a young girl shares the true story of the epic brawl that caused Hurricane Irene.

There is no escape.

Sabotage turns an international science competition into a monster and mecha massacre.

They Reign.

From deep ocean trenches and dense vibrant jungles to alien worlds and other dimensions, the kaiju have returned! This is a collection of sixteen stories by some of the hottest names in speculative fiction. These modern myths celebrate and explore the Japanese film genre popularized by films such as Godzilla, Gamera: The Giant Monster, King Kong, Cloverfield, and Pacific Rim.

My story is called The Ghost in the Machine* and I, for one, can't wait for the book's release!

* I think my story might have made the editor cry when she read it. ;-)

Read A Book Day 2018

Today is National Read A Book Day, but why read a book when you could play a book?

So far there are two ACE Gamebooks in print, with a third coming soon. Classics of children's literature re-imagined as more mature, darker gamebooks. And you can find them here.

      

Last Chance for Late Pledges

If you missed the Kickstarter for my latest ACE Gamebook NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! you can still put in a Late Pledge*, but only until this Friday, 7th September 2018.

If you need any persuading, here's what the play-testers have been saying about the adventure:

"Be prepared for a rip roaring swashbuckling two-fisted pulp republic cliffhanger treat with NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! The most fun parts of Hook, Jurassic Park and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, blended into one death defying package!"

"Those of you who haven't been able to sample this yet, I can say you're in for a real treat! There are some really fun rules and memorable encounters throughout, and I can safely say this is my favourite of the ACE Gamebooks so far (High praise indeed, for the first two are fab)."

"Absolutely loving it so far. Some nice mechanics thrown in there. Very atmospheric."

Here's what you need to do if you would like to make a Late Pledge to the Kickstarter:

1. Look through the list of reward levels below and select the one you would like.
2. Look through the list of add-ons and decide if you would like to add any of these to your pledge.
3. Add the cost of any add-ons to the cost of the reward level you have selected, finally adding the correct postage for your country, to calculate the total amount you will need to pay.
4. Email info@jonathangreenauthor.com, making the title of your email 'NEVERLAND Late Pledge' and listing the reward and add-ons you have selected, along with the amount of money you will need to pay, including postage. I will then get back to you with details of how to make your payment via PayPal.

Please note - you can find out more about precisely what comes with each reward level by visiting the NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters! project page here.

 (No postage required)

 (No postage required)

 (No postage required)

 (Post and packing: UK £6 - European Union £16 - Rest of World £22)

  (Post and packing: UK £6 - European Union £16 - Rest of World £22)

   (Post and packing: UK £6 - European Union £17 - Rest of World £24)

   (Post and packing: Free in the UK or if included with another reward - European Union £6 - Rest of World £8)

    (Post and packing: Free in the UK or if included with another reward - European Union £6 - Rest of World £8)

    (Post and packing: Free in the UK or if included with another reward - European Union £6 - Rest of World £8)

    (Post and packing: Free in the UK or if included with another reward - European Union £6 - Rest of World £8)