Happy 100th Birthday, Winnie-the-Pooh!

Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne, was published on 14th October 1926.

It was precisely because 2026 marks the book's centenary that I crowdfunded 100 Aker Wood earlier this year. 100 years, 100 acres, 100 sections.

The book is now complete and fully laid out. In fact, I was hoping the proof copy of the paperback might arrive before the end of play today, but sadly it didn't. I am also in the process of finalising the order for the collector's hardbacks.

I am really pleased with how the book has turned out. But don't take my word for it. Here's what Victor Cheng, one of the people who play-tested the book, and Mira Manga have had to say about it.

"The melancholic and sombre tone is well-utilised for what I can only describe as a tale of poetic tragedy: the more you discover, the sadder it becomes. It is beautifully written yet depressing to read despite the more hopeful ending (that being a compliment)."

Victor Cheng

“Green’s poignant and powerful prose draws you into a contemplative and transformative journey. Enchanting, moving and magical, this atmospheric adventure will leave you changed. Best played with an open heart and a handkerchief close at hand.”

Mira Manga

So, there you go. 100 Aker Wood will be published in January 2027 by ACE Gamebooks.

Gamebook Friday: One month left to back 100 AKER WOOD on Kickstarter!

If you have yet to pledge your support to the 100 AKER WOOD ACE Gamebooks Kickstarter, you have until Monday 7th September 2026 to do so. After that date, Late Pledges will close as the book goes to layout.

Heraldo Mussolini has completed the illustrations for the book, and I have been tinkering with the cover for the paperback. Having thought I would take it one way, this morning I tried something different, and I'm really pleased with it. I think it could work...

That said, nothing is set in stone at this time so, it may well change before 100 AKER WOOD goes to print.

Just make sure you don't miss out on the chance to be part of the Kicktstarter and receive some exclusive rewards that won't be available to people who buy the gamebook later through retail.

100 Aker Wood accepting Late Pledges now!

100 Aker Wood - which is soon to become the ninth ACE Gamebook - funded on Kickstarter last Thursday. Since then, seven people have joined our trek into the Ashdown Forest by placing a Late Pledge, via Kickstarter.

If you would like to place a Late Pledge, and receive a set of art postcards along with your physical copy of the book, simply click this link.

100 Aker Wood - One week in!

Amazingly, a whole seven days have passed since 100 Aker Wood launched on Kickstarter and the project is currently 113% funded.

If you are new to Kickstarter, or you are a tried and tested backer of ACE Gamebooks projects, you will be pleased to hear that yesterday I completed my second pass on the 100 Aker Wood manuscript and have sent it to be printed, ready to be proofread.

Once I have done that, I will be ready to send the adventure to play-tester backers, once the Kickstarter ends on Thursday 4th June 2026 at 8pm BST.

We are more than a quarter of the way towards the first Stretch Goal, which will add postcards of Heraldo Mussolini's artwork to physical rewards of 100 Aker Wood.

So, if you would like to receive a pack of postcards - and then dice, and eventually playing cards - along with your book, and at no extra charge, please share this project far and wide, reposting my own social media posts, as often as you can.

Thank you for your ongoing support. :-)

Gamebook Friday: 100 Aker Wood is fully funded on Kickstarter!

Despite only launching on Kickstarter on Tuesday, within 48 hours 100 Aker Wood passed its funding goal.

If you are one of those who has already pledged your support, thank you very much. If you have yet to choose your reward, you can do so here.

As the Kickstarter has already funded, we are now working towards the Stretch Goals. The first of these will add packs of postcards, featuring Heraldo Mussolini's artwork for the book, to any physical reward. And after that come bespoke ACE Gamebooks dice and themed playing cards for backers of the hardback edition.

As well as pledging your support, you can help by sharing the Kickstarter project page on any social media channels you have access to. Thank you for your support.

Genfærdets hævn - The Ghost's Revenge!

Currently live on Kickstarter is Genfærdets hævn, which is Danish for 'The Ghost's Revenge' - a.k.a. Night of the Necromancer.

The crowdfunding campaign is being run to fund production of a Danish translation of my seventh Fighting Fantasy gamebook, by publisher Faraos Cigarer, who have already published Danish language editions of Howl of the Werewolf and Secrets of Salamonis.

Danish gamebook author Morten Gottschalck - the man behind the new extended version of Starship Traveller - is handling the translation. As of writing, the Kickstarter is already 92% funded, having only gone live this evening.

I must admit that I have a vested interest in the Kickstarter succeeding, not because I will make an money from it - I won't - but because if it is a success, it could open the door to ACE Gamebooks being published in Danish.

So, if you are a Danish speak yourself, or a hardcore Fighting Fantasy collector, you can pledge your support to the crowdfunding campaign here. And even if you are not planning on backing it yourself, please share the link far and wide.

In other news, the Kickstarter for 100 Aker Wood, the ninth ACE Gamebook, goes live two weeks today on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

Gamebook Friday: If you go down in the woods today...

You're sure of a big surprise!

100 Aker Wood launches on Kickstarter in under three weeks' time, and you will want to be there are the beginning, because there are some rather special rewards on offer, that are limited by time and number.

If you are one of the first 50 people who back at the POOH Hardback reward level or above, you will have your name listed in the front of the book as a Founding Backer.

On top of that, anyone who backs the project within the first 24 hours will be invited to join a live Zoom Q&A with Yours Truly on Saturday 16 May 2026 at 3pm UK time (7am West Coast US/10am East Coast US/4pm Central Europe/6pm Middle East/10pm East Asia/11pm Japan/Midnight Sydney, Australia).

The initial funding goal for the Kickstarter is £5,000. Once that is achieved, the Stretch Goals will kick in, which will add artwork postcard packs, dice, and playing cards to qualifying backer's rewards.

So, set an alarm for 12pm BST on Tuesday 12 May 2026 to make sure you don't miss out on one of these special rewards.

Gamebook Friday: 100 Aker Wood

The ninth ACE Gamebook, 100 Aker Wood, is coming to Kickstarter on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

As you will doubtless be able to tell from the title, 100 Aker Wood is inspired by the Winnie-the-Pooh books by A. A. Milne.

Winnie-the-Pooh was published 100 years ago this year, on 14 October 1926, and the plan is to publish 100 Aker Wood early in 2027. (Please note, the image to the right is not the final artwork for the cover but merely a placeholder.)

It is unnusual because the story is told through just 100 sections, but will still include everything you would expect from an ACE Gamebook.

It is also an interactive folk horror story, about grief and guilt. To explain much more than that at this stage would be difficult without giving away too many of the book's secrets. But rest assured that 100 Aker Wood will be a more subtle take on the idea than some other recent adaptations*, and will have a pervading atmosphere of creeping dread.

Other influences on the adventure include Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood (which won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1985) and Stephen King's Pet Sematary (which the author considers his most disturbing and terrifying novel).

I'm not entirely sure what made me think of merging Winnie-the-Pooh with Pet Sematary, but what clinched it for me was when I considered how Christopher Robin misspelt 'Acre' on his map of Hundred Acre Wood, just as the children of Ludlow, Maine, misspelt 'Cemetery' on the sign they made to mark the resting place of their much-missed family pets.

If all of this has you intrigued, check out the Kickstarter preview page and click the button to be notified when the campaign launches. You could also subscribe to my newsletter.

* And I use the word loosely here.

Short Story Saturday: The Iron Code

One Kickstarter only finished on Thursday, and here I am telling you about another.

Currently funding on Kickstarter is The Iron Code, an anthology of stories in honour of David Gemmell, which will be published to mark the 20th anniversary of his passing.

As the Kickstarter says, "Pick up your sword and your axe and prepare to be dazzled by some of the best fantasy fiction you will ever read." And a story by Yours Truly.

Publisher Ian Whates, of Newcon Press, asked 21 authors to write 21 new short stories to celebrate the man's life and his work. Among those contribution authors are Dan Abnett, M. R. Carey, John Gwynne, Joanne Harris, Juliet E. McKenna, Mark Lawrence, Gavin Smith, and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

By supporting this Kickstarter - which is currently 342% funded! - you will receive a copy of the book ahead of its official release date. In addition, your name will be listed in the Roll of Honour at the back of the book, acknowledging your support (unless you choose not to be included).

To find out more, click this link to visit The Iron Code Kickstarter project page.

Gamebook Friday: Dracula Anniversary Hardback

As of writing, the Kickstarter campaign for the 5th Anniversary Hardback of the ACE Gamebook Dracula: Curse of the Vampire, has just 6 days left to run, but is already 56% funded.

There is now a no frills hardback reward available for £50. So, if you've been holding back from backing the Kickstarter, maybe this option is for you.

If you haven't backed the project yet yourself, here's a reminder of what you will be getting:

• 
  A hardback of the 1,000 section adventure, in which you can play as either Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, Dr John Seward, or Count Dracula. This will differ from the original hardback in that the cover will be red with black printing on it.
• Known errata will be corrected in this new edition and backers of the Kickstarter will have their names featured inside.
• Each book will be individually signed by the author.
  

Those people who back at the £70 or £120 reward levels will also receive the following rewards:

• 
  A collectible bookmark, only available with this edition of the book.
• A pack of 10 postcards featuring Hauke Kock's artwork.
• A pair of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire themed black dice.
• A golden pin badge in the form of Dracula's crest.
  

So don't delay, back today! And please share the project far and wide with your contacts on social media.

Thank you.

World Book Day 2026

As it is World Book Day, I thought I would draw your attention to four gamebooks that may be of interest to you.

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come was published last November. YOU take on the role of William Shakespeare himself as he navigates the nightmarish worlds of his plays and comes up against very servants of the Great Old Ones.

Here is what one reviewer had to say about the adventure:

"An absolute joy to flit through the worlds of Shakespeare as you fight your way through to hopefully a successful conclusion. Each read through bringing a little more insight and a better chance to make it out to the other side. This is a fast paced story as you are constantly being thrown from one story to the next and new paths and options unfold before you."

You can buy the paperback of Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come here, and you can buy a signed hardback direct from me here.

The Kingsport Metamorphosis was published in February and is the third title in the Arkham Horror Investigators Gamebooks series.

A mysterious letter summons you to the seaside town of Kingsport, where dreams leak into reality, to a wealthy estate transformed into a place of unspeakable nightmares. Curious as to why the reclusive Elijah Harcourt has summoned you to his home, you are unsettled when you discover Harcourt’s purpose is far more nefarious than you realized, leaving you and his guests with riddles to solve if you are to survive. As each hour passes, your companions meet terrible fates, forcing you to navigate a spiderweb of betrayal.

Here's what one reviewer has had to say about this adventure:

"Another solid entry in the series (this one stronger on parlor-room mystery vibes than on cosmic horror vibes, though these are present too) from gamebook maestro Jon Green."

You can buy The Kingsport Metamorphosis here.

Valiant is the first Warcradle Studios Gamebook and will be published on Saturday 7th March 2026.

It is the Dystopian Age.

YOU are Valiant, an agent of the Crown Ministry of Intelligence, an unsung hero, working in secret to keep an unstable world from igniting into all-out war. Victoria may reign as Queen, but it is the super-science of the Enlightened that dominates the world thanks to their discovery of otherworldly technologies. The great global superpowers strain against the uneasy detente that exists between them. All it takes is the right agent in the wrong place, so after a secret mission goes disastrously wrong, all that stands between a shadowy conspiracy and global ruin is YOU!

Her Majesty is counting on YOU to end this threat.

Only YOU can save Queen and Country - and perhaps the world! 

When asked which release she was looking forward to most in 2026, Warcradle Studios' Game Development Manager Sophie Williams, who worked closely with me on the adventure, had this to say:

"Valiant! I love choose-your-own-destiny books. Play as a Crown spy in the Dystopian Age whilst navigating a story packed with adventure, deciding how you would deal with the challenges ahead, yes please!"

Finally, the 5th anniversary collector's hardback edition of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire is currently funding on Kickstarter.

1897

In the wolf-haunted Carpathian Mountains, a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, travels to an isolated castle to assist a mysterious Count with purchasing a number of properties in England. But what he witnesses there drives him to the edge of madness…

Meanwhile, in Whitby, Harker’s fiancée, Mina Murray, visits her dear friend Lucy Westenra. But during her stay, Lucy is attacked and becomes seriously ill…

In London, Lucy’s suitor and physician, Dr John Seward, becomes preoccupied with the case of a certain Mr Renfield, an inmate at his lunatic asylum, who seeks to collect lives for his master, having not long returned from a trip to Transylvania…

And so, the pieces for the game are set. For they are all pawns in a plan devised centuries ago by the Voivode of Wallachia, Vlad Tepes, a cruel tyrant whom history remembers as ‘the Son of the Devil’, his bloodthirsty deeds having earned him another name…

Dracula.

The new edition of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire has a red cover, with black lettering, and known errata have been corrected. The book will also include the names of everyone who backs this latest Kickstarter.

Those who back the campaign will also receive some unique rewards including a collectible bookmark, a pair of black Dracula-themed dice, a set of 10 postcards featuring Hauke Kock's artwork from the book, and a golden pin badge in the form of Count Dracula's crest.

The Kickstarter. is running until Thursday 19th March 2026 and, as of writing, is almost 50% funded already.

Dracula: Curse of the Vampire 5th Anniversary Hardback funding on Kickstarter now!

The Kickstarter campaign to fund a 5th anniversary edition of the hardback of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire is now live!

There are only two rewards on offer - one comes with one 5th anniversary collector's hardback and the other includes two 5th anniversary collector's hardbacks (perfect if you are looking for a gift for somebody else, or an investment for yourself).

Each hardback comes with a collectible bookmark, a pack of 10 postcards featuring Hauke Kock's artwork from the book, a pair of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire themed black dice, and Dracula's crest in the form of a gold-plated pin badge. Each book will also be signed by the author, and everyone who backs the Kickstarter will have their name appear within its pages.

Ebook and signed paperback editions of the adventure are available as add-ons.

To find out more and pledge your support today, click this link.

Gamebook Friday - Dracula: Curse of the Vampire

The Kickstarter campaign to fund a 5th anniversary edition of the hardback of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire, including the bonus chapter brimming with desginer's notes and artist's sketches, launches on Tuesday 3 March 2026, at 1pm GMT.

First published back in 2021, Dracula: Curse of the Vampire reimagines Bram Stoker's classic as an interactive adventure. YOU play as one of three Vampire-Hunters - Jonathan Harker, Mina Murray, and Dr John Seward - or even as the eponymous Count himself.

At 1,000 sections, it is the longest gamebook I have written to date and is illustrated throughout by Hauke Kock.

Some of Hauke's illustrations from the adventure. (Click to enlarge.)

While the book is still availble in paperback and as an ebook, the hardback has been out of print for a while. So, to mark the 5th anniversary of the publication of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire, I am running the forthcoming Kickstarter. Where the original hardback featured a black cover with red lettering, the new edition will have a red cover with black lettering.

The original Dracula: Curse of the Vampire alongside a mock-up of the new edition.

Each hardback comes with a collectible bookmark, a pack of 10 postcards featuring Hauke Kock's artwork, a pair of Dracula: Curse of the Vampire themed black dice, and Dracula's crest in the form of a gold-plated pin badge.

Each book will also be signed by the author, and everyone who backs the Kickstarter will have their name appear within its pages.

Remember, the Kickstarter campaign goes live on Tuesday 3 March 2026, at 1pm.

Gamebook Friday: Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu - What Dreams May Come

Coming soon from ACE Gamebooks... Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come!

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come
shown with rewards from the Kickstarter.

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on…”

The year is 1613, and England's foremost playwright is committed to finishing his latest magnum opus, Love's Labour’s Won, for his new patron, the Earl of Gloucester. However, after falling asleep while working late at the Globe, he wakes to find himself in a subtly altered world that is both familiar and yet strangely unfamiliar.

What follows is an epic quest through Shakespeare’s plays in which the Bard of Stratford is confronted by sinister eldritch forces in service of the Great Old Ones – malign beings of unimaginable power – the greatest of which is the cosmic entity known as Cthulhu.

______________________________________

Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come is an interactive fantasy novel, inspired by the Bard’s most popular plays and the unsettling creations of the American pulp horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.

In this adventure gamebook, YOU take on the role of William Shakespeare himself, deciding which route to take, which perils to risk, and which of the villains and eldritch horrors you will meet along the way to fight. But whether you survive your ordeal or succumb to riotous madness, will be down to the choices YOU make.

“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

Happy Birthday, Mr Shakespeare!

It is one year to the day since Shakespeare Vs. Cthulhu: What Dreams May Come funded on Kickstarter, but there's still time to place a Late Pledge - but only just!

I am making a few final tweaks to the manuscript, ready to start proofreading and renumbering next week. In the meantime, illustrator Heraldo Mussolini is working on producing the artwork for the book. Here are a couple of his finished illustrations.

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?"

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

Happy Birthday, Mr Shakespeare!