The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 10: Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Happy Solstice Day!

First published three years ago, in 2017, the premise of Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man was that Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghost of of Jacob Marley work together to solve mysteries of an occult nature within the Victorian world of Charles Dickens' books.

The intention was to write more stories set within this world, and even a gamebook, but the adventures of this pair of occult detectives didn't take off in the way that I had hoped.

I did publish another story, Murder in the Cathedral, and have plotted out four more, but when or if they appear, we will have to wait and see...

     

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

A year on from the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with just one thing at stake… Everything!

      

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): Murder in the Cathedral

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

      

Short Story Saturday: The Serpent's Egg - the audiobook!

I have been wanting to share this particular piece of news with you since April! And thereby hangs a tale...

When the world went into lockdown I had an idea; I would use ACX to produce audiobooks of some of my stories, which people would then download by the score and listen to while they were off work and trapped at home, providing myself with another income stream. The trouble is, every other writer on the planet had the same idea and, unbeknownst to me, ACX reduced their workforce quite dramatically.

Meanwhile, I put The Serpent's Egg out to tender, listened to audition samples, and finally chose Mark Rice-Oxley to be the voice actor who would record the Lovecraftian novella for me. This he promptly did, and a fantastic job he did of it too. However, the approval process, which I was expecting to take a month at most, ended up taking much longer than expected...

After three months, ACX rejected the audiobook, claiming that there were all sorts of things wrong with it - which there weren't - and so Mark re-submitted it to me and I re-submitted it to ACX for approval.

Fast forward another three months and ACX finally approved The Serpent's Egg audiobook for sale this morning. It only took six months(!), and in that time Lesley Dessalles' recording of The Doll's House was approved straightaway (after only another three months), but I am delighted that you can now download it and listen to it yourself.

To find out more, click on the audiobook cover below.

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.

Happy Deathday, Mr Dickens!

Charles Dickens died 150 years ago today.

According to Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man, Jacob Marley died 28 years before that, on Christmas Eve, 1842.

Will there be any more Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) stories? We'll have to wait and see, but for the time being that are still these two to enjoy...

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man
A year on from the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with just one thing at stake… Everything!

      

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): Murder in the Cathedral

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

      

Short Story Saturday: The Doll's House

Available now from Green Man Books...

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 Amazon now and read it for free via Kindle Unlimited.

Short Story Saturday: The Serpent's Egg - A Dark Tale of the Cthulhu Mythos

First published seven years ago, as part of the Dreaming in Darkness collection, The Serpent's Egg was the first novella I self-published under the Green Man Books banner back in 2017.

But now I have given it a face-lift, with a new cover image of the Lambton Worm licensed from 2000AD and Magic: The Gathering artist Dave Kendall.

You can pick it up for just £1.99 on Amazon, or if you are signed up to Amazon's Kindle Unlimited plan, it won't cost you a penny.

So why not check it out today?

Short Story Saturday: Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Yesterday was Charles Dickens' 208th birthday, which is a good enough excuse for me to remind you that I have written two stories inspired by Ebenezer Scrooge and his late business partner Jacob Marley, from A Christmas Carol.

You might want to check them out, seeing as how you can read them for free via Kindle Unlimited.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man
A year on from the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with just one thing at stake… Everything!

      

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): Murder in the Cathedral

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

      

Steampunk Thursday: Dark Side

This week is World Space Week and the theme for 2019 is 'The Moon: Gateway to the Stars'. Much of my sixth Pax Britannia novel Dark Side, published back in 2011, takes place on the Moon.

Start A New Life on The Moon

Ulysses Quicksilver visits the British lunar colonies, searching for his missing brother, Barty, believed to be on the run from gambling debts on Earth. The clues lead our detective and his faithful butler into the path of unsolved murders, battling robots, shady millionaires and stolen uncanny inventions. Used to working inside the law, Ulysses is stalled when his pursuit puts him on the wrong side of the Luna Prime Police Force.

But why is Ulysses' ex-fiancée Emilia also in the colonies? Who is the strange eye-patched man following Ulysses? And what is really happening in a secret base on the dark side of the moon? Used to meeting every adventure with a devil-may-care attitude and a snappy one-liner, Ulysses will be forever changed by the revelations he discovers on this most deadly of trips.

The Kindle edition of Pax Britannia: Dark Side is available to buy here. The book is also available as part of The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus: Volume 2.

Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces - Out Now!

Scarlet Traces: An Anthology Based on H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, edited by Ian Edginton, is available now!

It is the dawn of the twentieth century.

Following the Martians' failed invasion of Earth, the British Empire has seized their technology and unlocked its secrets for themselves. It is a Golden Age of discovery, adventure, culture, invention—and of domination, and rebellion.

Scarlet Traces reveals a world of ant-headed nightmares; vacuum salesmen; war machines; deadly secrets; clockwork marvels; and Sherlock Holmes, T. S. Eliot and Thomas Edison as you've never seen them before...

Including stories by Stephen Baxter, I. N. J. Culbard, Adam Roberts, Emma Beeby, James Lovegrove, Nathan Duck, Mark Morris, Dan Whitehead, Chris Roberson, Maura McHugh, Jonathan Green, and Andrew Lane.

Ian Edginton is a New York Times bestselling author and multiple Eisner Award nominee.

His recent titles include the green apocalypse saga The Hinterkind for DC/Vertigo; Steed and Mrs Peel for BOOM, the steam- and clock-punk series Stickleback, Ampney Crucis Investigates and Brass Sun for the legendary UK science fiction weekly, 2000 AD; game properties Dead Space: Liberation and The Evil Within for Titan Books, and the audio adventure Torchwood: Army of One for the BBC.

He has adapted the complete canon of Sherlock Holmes novels into a series of graphic novels for Self Made Hero, as well writing several volumes of Holmes apocrypha entitled The Victorian Undead. He has also adapted H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds as well as writing several highly acclaimed sequels, Scarlet Traces and Scarlet Traces: The Great Game.

He lives and works in England. He keeps a bee.


Also out today is Dr Janina Ramirez's brand new Ladybird Expert book about Beowulf. And yes, that is the same Dr Janina Ramirez off the telly who wrote a cover quote for Beowulf Beastslayer.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Today is Charles Dickens' 207th birthday, so it seems like an appropriate time to remind you that I have written two stories, riffing off one of the author's most famous creations - A Christmas Carol.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"An entertaining, well-written sequel to 'A Christmas Carol' with plenty of fun twists."
Fantasy Book Review

      

“The layers of the dead lie deep here,” the ghost said.

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

The second book in the new series by award-winning author Jonathan Green.

     

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

Available in time for Christmas, from Green Man Books, is the traditional seasonal ghost story Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"An entertaining, well-written sequel to 'A Christmas Carol' with plenty of fun twists."
Fantasy Book Review

      

Steampunk International is available to pre-order on Kindle

You may have seen my post about Steampunk International last month. Well, if you prefer your reading material as a series of zeroes and ones, rather than in the more traditional processed tree carcass format, you will be pleased to hear that the anthology is now available to pre-order on Kindle here.

Steampunk International officially goes on sale on 17th July and features a brand new Ulysses Quicksilver short story entitled Reckless Engineering.

Don't forget that the previous Pax Britannia short story Worthless Remains features in Clockwork Cairo, which is also available for your Kindle.

Steampunk Thursday: The Charles Dickens Museum

On the twelfth day of Christmas I visited the Charles Dickens Museum in Holborn. Despite having lived in West London for over 20 years, this was my first visit and I couldn't have timed it better, since the house was decorated for Christmas.

Unless this is the first time you have visited my blog, you may have noticed that I've been a little bit obsessed with Dickens' A Christmas Carol of late. Unsurprisingly, considering the season, the museum was hosting an exhibition about the most famous Christmas story in the world (after the Nativity), which included costumes from the recent film The Man Who Invented Christmas, and delved into the origins of the story.



If you've not been before, and you're down London way, it's definitely worth a visit. You can see the actual desk and chair that Dickens wrote at in his study, along with his personal collection of books.

It may not be Christmas any longer, but the first Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) tale, The Haunted Man, is still available as an eBook from Amazon, and I fully intend to write further stories over the coming year, as long as there's enough support for the books.



On a side note, is it just me or is The Carol of the Bells absolutely everywhere now around Christmas time? Ten years ago I don't think I'd even heard of it, but now it's everywhere, in adverts, on TV shows and film soundtracks... there's no getting away from it. Not that I'm complaining, I think it's great - especially this version.

Wishing you a very Scrooge and Marley Christmas!

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

Now available from Green Man Books is my new novella, Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man, which is a traditional Christmas ghost story.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"Can do dark very well." ~ award-winning editor Jonathan Oliver

"Jonathan Green's books have a wonderful way of making you smile; like the Cheshire Cat that got the cream." ~ Kit Cox, creator of Major Jack Union and author of How To Bag A Jabberwock

      

I have a list of artists and illustrators I hope to work with one day and Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) provided me with the perfect opportunity to work with Garen Ewing, creator of The Rainbow Orchid. I thought his ligne claire style would really suit the characters and the setting, and I was delighted when he agreed to work on the project, happening to have a free slot in his very busy schedule.

And I was just as delighted when he sent through first his pencil sketches, then the inks, and finally the fully coloured cover image, which you can enjoy in all its glory here. (Simply click on the images below to enlarge them.)

Garen's finished pencils.

 The completed inks.

The fully coloured image for Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

copyright (c) 2017 Garen Ewing