Thought for the Day

"I Learned Today: Over 80% of published authors stop after three books. About 10% of published authors make it to six books. And 5% make it to twelve."

~ Mark Chadbourn

Short Story Saturday: World War Cthulhu

World War Cthulhu: The Fiction Anthology is now available through DriveThruRPG. Now only that but it's been marked down by 20% for the duration of this weekend!

As the shadows of war gather over Europe something is stirring within the darkness; something far older than humankind. Those with evil intent will seek to harness these terrible powers, while those fighting to turn the tide of war will find themselves up against far more than bullets and bombs. In forgotten R’lyeh, Cthulhu stirs as the mighty armies of the Third Reich march.

Critically-lauded editor Jonathan Oliver (The End of The Line, House of Fear, Magic) has collected together fourteen original tales of the Mythos including work by James Lovegrove, Weston Ochse, Rebecca Levene, Robin D. Laws, Simon Bestwick, Gaie Sebold, T.P. Pike, Sarah Newton, Greg Stolze, Paul Finch, John Llewellyn Probert, Jonathan Green, Archie Black and World Fantasy Award winner Lavie Tidhar.

The World War: The Cthulhu Fiction Anthology is an ebook download, featuring ePub, mobi and prc formats.

ACE Gamebooks at International Gamebook Day 2020

ACE Gamebooks are part of the first International Gamebook Day, which is taking place today, Thursday 27 August 2020.

To buy signed copies of my ACE Gamebooks, go here.

To buy official International Gamebook Day merchandise, go here.

Thought for the Day

"You are never truly locked down with a book. Books give you room to exist beyond the reality you're given. Reading makes the world better. It is how humans merge. How minds quietly and deeply connect and expand. Dreams. Empathy. Understanding. Escape. Reading is love in action."

~ Matt Haig

Gamebook Friday: ACE Gamebooks at Virtually Expo

Virtually Expo - the online, social-distanced, coronavirus-free of the UK Games Expo - kicks off today and runs from 9.00am Friday 21st - 7.00pm Sunday 23rd August 2020.

You can visit the ACE Gamebooks virtual stand at V-814 where you will be able to find out more about the books in the series, as well as buy signed copies, just as you would at the psychical version of the event. I even have some Fighting Fantasy Fest T-shirts for sale.

I am hoping that we will all be able to gather at the UK Games Expo again next June, but in the meantime I hope you will stop by my virtual stand this weekend and maybe buy a book or two.

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Cthulhu Thursday: Happy Birthday, Mr Lovecraft!

Today is - or rather, would have been - H P Lovecraft's 130th birthday. The impact his work made on the horror and science fiction genres cannot be underestimated, and his Cthulhu mythos has inspired writers and artists all over the world.

I have written a number of stories that reference the Cthulhu mythos, and I have move ideas I would like to develop in the pipeline. I also edited an anthology of Cthulhu short stories that merged Lovecraft's creations with the Bard of Stratford's plays. There are even elements of the mythos in my ACE Gamebook NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!

So why not check one of them out today?

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu

An anthologie of fine stories inspir’d by the Bard of Stratford and the Lovecraftian Mythos

Imagine if it had been William Shakespeare, England’s greatest playwright, who had discovered the truth about the Great Old Ones and the cosmic entity we know as Cthulhu, rather than the American horror writer H P Lovecraft.

Imagine if Stratford’s favourite son had been the one to learn of the dangers of seeking after forbidden knowledge and of the war waged between the Elder Gods in the Outer Darkness, and had passed on that message, to those with eyes to see it, through his plays and poetry. Welcome to the world of Shakespearean Cthulhu!

To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, Snowbooks proudly presents fifteen stories of eldritch horror that blend the Bard’s most famous plays with Lovecraft’s most terrifying creations. But before you dip into this curséd tome, be warned – that way madness lies...

The Serpent's Egg

A Dark Tale of the Cthulhu Mythos

“When oblivion comes, it is forever, as endless as the slumber of those beings that lie buried beneath the roots of the world, dreaming in darkness.”

A writer’s research into the legend of the Lambton Worm takes a horrifying twist when he uncovers the true origin of the story: a legend that stirs, knowing the time for its rebirth is near…

NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!

An ACE Gamebook

On the 15th April, 1912, during her maiden voyage, the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg. 1,503 people died, including passengers and crew. But 706 people survived, among them Wendy Darling and her dog Nana...Separated from the rest of her family, Wendy's lifeboat is washed up on the shore of a mysterious island a place lost in time home to creatures long thought extinct, a forgotten tribe, and a boy who can never grow up.

But the notorious pirate Captain James Hook and his crew have also found their way to Neverland, and the island is angry...

In NEVERLAND Here Be Monsters! YOU decide which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the island's strange, prehistoric denizens to fight. Play as shipwreck survivor Wendy Darling, automaton avenger Peter Pan, heroic hunter Tiger Lily, or plundering pirate Captain James Hook. But be warned whether you succeed in your quest or meet a dire end will be down to the choices YOU make.

Will you manage to escape from Neverland?

The Scottish Patient

As featured in the World War Cthulhu anthology

As the shadows of war gather over Europe something is stirring within the darkness; something far older than humankind. Those with evil intent will seek to harness these terrible powers, while those fighting to turn the tide of war will find themselves up against far more than bullets and bombs. In forgotten R’lyeh, Cthulhu stirs as the mighty armies of the Third Reich march.

Thought for the Day

"Each night when everyone is asleep I stand at the computer, tired, uninspired, and not wanting to work. But I open the document anyway, find my place, stare at it a bit, and then I start getting ideas. And then suddenly I'm not so tired anymore.."

~ Peter V. Brett

Gamebook Friday: ACE Gamebooks at Virtually Expo

Next weekend Virtually Expo is taking place from Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd August 2020. And ACE Gamebooks will be there!

In March, the organisers of the UK Games Expo took the difficult decision first to postpone, and then to cancel UK Games Expo 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, they were determined not to let the year pass without providing some way for everyone to enjoy as much of the Expo as possible. Thanks to the vast array of technology solutions available and the continued support of customers, volunteers, sponsors and show partners, they are happy to present Virtually Expo!

The ACE Gamebooks stand is V-814 and looks like this...

You can do all the things you would normally do if you visited the ACE Gamebooks stand at the physical UK Games Expo - in other words, buy signed books!

So please stop by next week, and let all your friends know. You can find out more about how Virtually Expo works here.

Thought for the Day

"Books are the mirrors of the soul."

~ Virginia Woolf

Short Story Saturday: Have you listened to a good short story lately?

Thanks to some recent releases, and some older titles, you can now listen to three of my short stories as audiobooks, and a whole anthology of shark stories edited by Yours Truly.

Features my short story The Hunting of the Jabberwock.

Features my short story Who Walks With Death.

Gamebook Friday: International Gamebook Day

I recently learned that 1st August is International Childfree Day, which drove it home to me that you really can have a day for anything.

So I am proposing that 27th August be designated as International Gamebook Day, when people around the world can celebrate their love of interactive fiction.

Why 27th August? Because it was on that day in 1982 that the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, was first published.

So who's with me?

   

Wonderland: An Anthology available now from Audible

Wonderland: An Anthology of Works Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane, and which features my short story The Hunting of the Jabberwock, is available now as an audiobook from Audible from today.

From the greatest names in fantasy and horror comes an anthology of stories inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Join Alice as she is thrown into the whirlwind of Wonderland.

Within this audiobook, you'll find myriad approaches to Alice, from horror to historical, taking us from the nightmarish reaches of the imagination to tales that will shock, surprise, and tug on the heart-strings. So, it's time now to go down the rabbit hole, or through the looking-glass or...but no, wait. By picking up this audiobook and starting to listen to it, you're already there, can't you see?

Also available from Audible...

Thought for the Day

"A lot of people think that you wait to get creative, and then get to work. But more often than not, the truth is you get to work and then get creative."

~ Peter V. Brett

Short Story Saturday: The Doll's House

Available now from Green Man Books and Audible, as an audiobook narrated by Lesley Dessalles...

What horror dwells behind its peeling paint façade and lifeless windows?

A young mother, struggling after the birth of her second child, starts to question her sanity when the appearance of an unwanted childhood toy rekindles unwelcome nightmares.

A chilling tale written by award-winning author Jonathan Green.

“Jonathan Green will make you lose sleep." ~ Amazon.co.uk

"Seeing the name Jonathan Green on a cover of a novel, for me, sells it instantly." ~ Amazon.co.uk

Download The Doll's House from Audible here, and download the eBook from Amazon here.