Short Story Saturday: Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu

Today, 24th June, is Midsummer's Day. A year ago today Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu had yet to be published and I was teasing backers of the original Kickstarter with details of Tim Bayley's bonus story Lovecraft's Labours Lost...

Gamebook Friday: It was 24 years ago today...

For some reason, I have 23rd June stuck in my head as the date my first ever gamebook (and my first ever book, for that matter) was published. I may be wrong, but that's how I remember it.

I had been commissioned the July before* and wrote the book over the summer of 1992. I used my advance to buy an Amstrad word processor so that I could type up the manuscript from my hand-written version!

I also have vivid memories of visiting the Puffin offices in London and meeting commissioning editor Richard Scrivener, who gave me my first copy of Spellbreaker**. I also remember visiting WHSmith in Leamington Spa, around the 23rd June, and seeing the book on the shelf in a shop for the first time. I lost track of time as I perused the shop copy and ending up getting a parking ticket!

And now, today, 24 years later, the covers for the brand new edition of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks have been revealed. I wonder if Spellbreaker will end up joining them...

* So it will soon be the 25th anniversary of that momentous event in my life.

** Unfortunately I later lent that particular copy to someone and never got it back - something I still regret doing to this day...

National Writing Day - everyone has a story to tell

And the story I have to tell, at the moment, is Part 2 of the story of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

Thought for the Day

"To be a poet is a condition, not a profession."

~ Robert Frost

Short Story Saturday: Available Now and Coming Soon!

Available now...

Clockwork Cairo
Edited by Matthew Bright and published by Twopenny Books (June 2017)

A brand-new anthology of Egyptian-themed steampunk stories that will take you on adventures from the steam-powered souks of Cairo, to the clockwork bazaars of Alexandria and the shadowy mysteries of the pyramids.

Includes a brand new Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia short story, Worthless Remains.

You can pick up your copy of Clockwork Cairo here.

Coming soon...

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

Edited by George Mann and published by Titan Books (August 2017)

Once again, famous associates of the Great Detective - clients, colleagues and, of course, villains - tell their own stories in this collection of brand-new adventures. Meet Lucy Hebron years after Holmes's only ever failed deduction; follow your nose down the streets of London with Toby the Dog; join Mrs Hudson on her first ever case; greet an ambassador from Mars alongside Lord Holdhurst; and confess your sins to your cellmate, Professor James Moriarty…

My own contribution to this anthology is Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin, as related by Sir Henry Baskerville.

You can pre-order your copy of Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes here.

Frostgrave: Ghost Archipelago: Tales of the Lost Isles
Edited by Joseph A. McCullough and published by Osprey Games (October 2017)

The Ghost Archipelago has returned. A vast island chain, covered in the ruins of ancient and otherworldly civilizations, the Archipelago appears every few centuries, far out in the southern ocean. At such times, pirates, adventurers, wizards, and legendary heroes all descend upon the islands in the hopes of finding lost treasures and powerful artefacts. A few, drawn by the blood of their ancestors, search for the fabled Crystal Pool, whose waters grant abilities far beyond those of normal men. It is only the bravest, however, who venture into the islands, for they are filled with numerous deadly threats. Cannibal tribes, sorcerous serpent-men, and poisonous water-beasts all inhabit the island ruins, guarding their treasure hordes and setting traps for the unwary.

This book of fiction collects all-new stories set in the Ghost Archipelago, including my own A Nice Little Nest Egg.

You can pre-order your copy of Tales of the Lost Isles here.

Gamebook Friday: The Wicked Wizard of Oz - the first reviews!

The Wicked Wizard of Oz has been out for a couple of weeks now, and on top of that the original Kickstarter backers have started to receive their copies. As a result, the book has already received a number of reviews on Amazon.co.uk, and I'm very pleased to report that they are all 5-star reviews.

Here's what people have been having to say about my latest ACE Gamebook...

"I've played a few of Jonathan's books such as Howl of the Werewolf and Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland so I knew this book would be well written. The first thing that strikes you is just how big the book is. It's a whopping 850 sections long. No wonder though, seeing as you can play through the book as any of the 6 characters! I've played through as Dorothy, the Lion and the Tin Woodman so far and each story varies more than enough to make playing through the book as each character worth while. You won't get the feeling that "you've done all this before"."

"Having received a preview copy of Wicked Wizard and played it , I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Being an Oz fan, I loved this dark dieselpunk version of the Land over the Rainbow! The gameplay was suitable absorbing using either dice or playing cards. Also, being able to play as different characters from the original stories gives this game book great re-playability! Finally the illustrations are beyond awesome..."

"First impressions: it looks beautiful and it's a huge book - so lots to look at and enjoy and lots to and have fun with. It''s been a long time since I last had a choose your own path adventure book but this was a wonderful reintroduction to the genre - easy to follow and to play. Well written and engaging storylines. I love being able to play the different characters. Have played several times in the 24 hours I've had it and have had a completely different experience each time. Highly recommended!"

"Once again Jonathan Green hits the bulls-eye with this incredible gamebook. Take what you think you know about that famous "land over the rainbow" and prepare for a trip into adventure. Journeying through the land of Oz you get to choose which of the famous Oz characters you wish to play - all of whom start in different places and have their own specific strengths and weaknesses. Never a dull moment, this adventure gamebook will keep you gripped from start to finish - and the best bit is you can then swap characters and explore a different path through Oz."

You can pick up your copy of The Wicked Wizard of Oz here.

In other gamebook-related news, my Kickstarter backer copies of Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars graphic novel arrived yesterday, and they are a glory to behold. I especially like the FF pin badge.

 The Wicked Wizard of Oz ACE Gamebook, alongside Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars graphic novel.

You can order your own copy of The Trolltooth Wars here, or you can pick one up at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 in September.

Steampunk Thursday: Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes

Anyone who has read my Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novels, and has even a basic knowledge of the literary adventures of Sherlock Holmes, will know that the latter in some part informed the former.

Coming out this summer is my first published Sherlock Holmes short story. It's called Sherlock Holmes and the Beast of Bodmin, and appears in Titan Books' Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes, edited by m'colleague George Mann.

The premise behind the anthology is that each story is told by one of Holmes' associates, in my case Sir Henry Baskerville, the poor put upon subject of the murder plot in The Hound of the Baskervilles (which is one of only four Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).

The following is taken from the book and explains why I chose Sir Henry to be the narrator of my tale.

Further Associates of Sherlock Holmes is published at the end of August and you can pre-order your copy here.