Thanksgiving Thursday: Wishing you a Black River Christmas

Seeing as it's Thanksgiving today in the US, I thought it appropriate to focus on a couple of titles published by US publishers that I have had a hand in.

The first is Book 2 - or rather Level 2 - in The Black River Chronicles series by m'colleague David Tallerman (he of SHARKPUNK fame). I was thrilled when David asked me to write the introduction to his new book, The Ursvaal Exchange, and so, having had a sneak peek at the manuscript, that is precisely what I did.

Here's what Amazon has to say about the book, which is published by Digital Fantasy Fiction:

Student ranger Durren Flintrand had thought he was settling in at the Black River Academy for Swordcraft and Spellcraft. But when rebellious rogue Tia Locke uncovers a horrifying secret in the dungeons beneath the school, Durren quickly realises that the challenges he's faced so far were scant preparation for what lies ahead. Along with magic-averse wizard Arein and blunt but good-hearted fighter Hule, he and Tia find themselves on Black River's first student exchange program: they're being sent to the Shadow Mountain Academy in the dank and dismal land of Ursvaal, and they're going whether they like it or not.

At Shadow Mountain, things are done differently. No longer is Durren a ranger but a bard, despite his lacking the slightest notion of what being a bard involves. And not only that but Tia is acting even more strangely than usual, Hule is taking being a paladin awfully seriously, and Arein has a new party member with ideas very different to her own to contend with, in the shape of irascible cleric Cailliper Ancrux - who wants nothing less than to be involved with Shadow Mountain's unpopular newcomers.

The four Black River students will have to relearn everything they thought they knew; but the threats surrounding them aren't about to wait. Can they hope to survive an uprising of the dead, the winged horror that haunts this desolate land, and an ancient plot risen from the blackest depths of Ursvaal's history? And even if the somehow should, can Durren possibly overcome his tone deafness and learn to play the lute?

The second title I'm going to mention is one of mine. It's not a new book but rather a new edition of an old book.

Having already brought out a second edition of my Scottish Miscellany, which has always been popular in the States, this month Skyhorse Publishing is releasing a new edition of my Christmas Miscellany.

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate Christmas the way we do? In this whimsical book, Jonathan Green tells you all about the fascinating stories behind our most beloved holiday traditions. Make yourself cozy by the fireplace, open up this fully illustrated treasure trove, and learn:

Why we sing carols

Why we burn Yule logs

Why we hang stockings

Why we kiss under the mistletoe

Why we send greeting cards

Why there are twelve days of Christmas

And what is figgy pudding?

Each chapter explores a different custom and its history: when and where it started, how it has changed over the centuries, and why we still love to recreate it today. You’ll learn why holly and ivy are important symbols, who Good King Wenceslas was, and why we eat turkey for Christmas dinner. Additional fun facts and trivia are sprinkled throughout, accompanied by classic illustrations. This is the perfect gift or stocking stuffer for curious-minded friends and family this holiday season!

Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas is released by Skyhorse Publishing a week today, on Thursday 30th November.

My Annotated Workspace - July 2014

Back in February I posted this, in which I annotated my workspace and explained what all the projects were I was working on at the time. Well I'm going to do it again, five months on, so here we go...

1) I've been proof-reading YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. Here you can see art by Martin McKenna, Les Edwards and Pete Knifton.

2) The 350th issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine - I've had a couple of short stories in this over the last couple of years and it's time I came up with some more story proposals. 

3) Christmas Books - I'm re-vamping What is Myrrh Anyway? Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Christmas in time for Christmas 2014, including additional content. The new edition of the book will go by the name A History of Christmas.

4) My laptop, open at the Eventbrite ticket page for Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014. Buy your ticket today!

5) Sharkpunk is an anthology I'm editing for Snowbooks, that will be published in May 2015. The story you can see here is by David Tallerman.

6) The 250th issue of SFX Magazine and a commissioning form for a piece I'm writing for a future issue about Ted Hughes' The Iron Man.

7) Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon - I've recently reviewed this book and there's even a competition to win a copy of the book. Check it out!

JG at the Sci-Fi Weekender 5

I can't quite believe that a week ago today, the Sci-Fi Weekender was already over for another year. I had been looking forward to the event for a long time and then it was all over for me in somewhere around 48 hours. But what an intense 48 hours it was!

This time the Sci-Fi Weekender was a family affair, with the rest of Family Green accompanying me to furthest ends of the Earth to geek out for a solid two days with like-minded individuals. It began with an epic six-hour drive to the Hafan y Môr Holiday Park just outside Pwllheli on the Llyn Peninsula.

The Ends of the Earth.

Having arrived late Thursday night I had to be up early Friday morning to get set up for the onslaught of fans who would stop by my stand during the course of the weekend. And from there on in it was a blur of meeting people, selling and signing books, moderating panels (one of which was crashed by an Alien Xenomorph), partaking in interviews, eating pizza, and ending each evening relaxing at the bar with friends both old and new.

Highlights of the weekend included meeting Royd Tolkien, having people accuse me of being a very bad man for making them stay up until 4 in the morning reading The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus, having other people tell me how much they loved my stories (Thanks, Amy!), seeing a life-sized Night Lords Chaos Space Marine win the Cosplay competition (Aaron Dembski-Bowden would have been proud), and taking part in the panel show Just A Minute with my fellow authors Gareth L Powell (a worthy winner), Steve Lockley and David Tallerman.

J R R Tolkien's grandson meets Albert Green's grandson at the Sci-Fi Weekender 5.

David Tallerman and I having to concentrate far too hard during Just A Minute.

It was during Robert Rankin's introduction to Just A Minute that the author of far-fetched fiction christened me his "Evil Steampunk Nemesis" which is a badge I shall wear with pride, and a role I played up to during the show, even being booed by the audience at one point (much to my children's distress), proving that Panto is alive and well and living in an off-season holiday camp in North Wales!

To sum up, here's a slideshow of just some of things that happened over the course of the Weekender, and here's to the Sci-Fi Weekender 6 in 2015!

FantasyCon 2012 - The Aftermath

This morning I find myself feeling a little tired, with aching legs and a strange sense of displacement... Ah, yes, it was FantasyCon this past weekend. That'll explain it...

I arrived at Friday lunchtime in time to have a pint* practically put straight into my hand and then it was off to the 'How Important Are Blogs?' panel, which due to the vagaries of people's travel plans meant it became dubbed the 'Angry Robot How Important Are Blogs?' panel. The general consensus of opinion was that blogs are important**, although Emelyn Rees isn't a fan of author blogs****.

Straight after the Angry Robot panel it was time for 'Blurring Genre Boundaries' which was the first FantasyCon panel I've sat on. It was moderated my m'editor Jonathan Oliver and was a really fun panel, with a great atmosphere****. It is always pleasing when other well-known writers and editors attend panels and on this occasion is was Joe Abercrombie who came up with a great question from the floor.

The rest of the day became a blurring of catching up with old friends and making more new ones. (Just don't search for #JonCon on Twitter, whatever you do!) But the main event was yet to happen.

Saturday was, to use the vernacular, 'full on'. The day began with a very necessary hearty breakfast and then it was straight off to 'What Makes A Good Short Story?' with m'colleagues Cavan Scott and Mr Kit Cox. During the course of the panel I'm pleased to say that my one-time roomie Simon Bestwick was recommended as a master of the horror short.

The rest of the day involved various book launches - Angry Robot as well as the already legendary Solaris/Abaddon Give-Away, the launch of the new Solaris anthology Magic - not meeting James Herbert in the bar, not meeting Mark Gatiss in the bar, and making plans for a new anthology...

At the Solaris/Abaddon Give-Away.

Now that's Magic!

The Angry Robot's less angry meat-slaves.

Then it was time for 'Is Steampunk Here To Stay?' my second panel of the con, moderated by Jared Shurin, and with Yours Truly as the only author on the panel who seemed happy to have his work described as steampunk. To sum up the panel Kim Newman thinks steampunk has had its day and is on its way out, I think it's here to stay, and Eastern literature may be the source of its salvation.

Can you feel the tension in the room? I could!

After going for dinner with friends, there's not really very much to say about Saturday evening other than...

DISCO!

Gollancz challenged the FantasyCon attendees (which included writers, editors and publishers, as well as book-bloggers and other fans of the genre) to drink their free bar dry. After about half an hour that challenge had been met.

Pimms, you say? Why thank you, sir! That's my five-a-day sorted anyway.

I have to say there's nothing quite like a room full of authors and the like dancing (and shouting along to) The Beatles' Paperback Writer.

Need I say more?

There's also nothing quite like doing a reading at 10.30am on the Sunday morning after the disco with very little voice but I'm delighted to say that despite being up against the BFS AGM and the Sunday Morning Hangover, including myself my reading's attendance made double figures. Thanks again for those who came to listen (including David Tallerman) and for the kind comments afterwards.

Yes, that is a throne I'm sitting upon.

Congratulations to all involved in the organisation of the event and a big thank you to Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane, Alex and Emma Davis in particular. Here's to World FantasyCon 2013!


* The first of many.

** Which was a relief, otherwise what's the point in me typing this first thing on a Monday morning?

*** I would have liked to have caught up with him later to discuss his comments and set out an argument for the defence but there just wasn't the time - it really was that busy.

**** At least I thought so.

On Writer's Block

Pinch punch, first of the month, an' all that. I'm off to visit a school for almost the entirety of World Book Day so here are some words of wisdom from David Tallerman - author of Giant Thief - on the subject of Writer's Block.

"I'm not sure I believe in writer's block as such... you'd be pretty quick to fire your plumber if they started complaining about "plumber's block", wouldn't you?"