Steampunk Thursday: Abaddon Books appoints David Moore as new commissioning editor

Exciting news! Abaddon Books, publishers of my Pax Britannia series of steampunk novels, have appointed desk editor David Moore as commissioning editor of the imprint.

You can read more about this story here.

David Moore promoting the Abaddon imprint at the SFX Weekender.

 

JG at the SFX Weekender 3

In case you've been snowed in or were without the Internet for the past few days, like me*, then you may not know that this past weekend somewhere in the region of 6,000 SF and Fantasy fans invaded Prestatyn Sands holiday camp** to celebrate their love of all things genre - from movie screenings and celebrity appearances, to author panels and young ladies wearing stilts (and not much else).

A packed pub for the Abaddon/Solaris Fun (or should that be 'Pun'?) Hour

If I had to sum up my 67 hours in Prestatyn in one word it would have to be 'Awesome'***. Alternatively I could write screeds about all the wonderful people I met, new fans and old friends, all the bizarre and totally unreal things I witnessed****, and all the debates embarked upon. But the next Pax Britannia book won't write itself and, having spoken to a number of fans over the course of the weekend, I know that there are a lot of people already desperate to get their hands on Time's Arrow Part 2*****.

The 'How do you put the punk into steampunk?' panel

So instead I'll just say a massive thank you to Dave Bradley, Rich Edwards, Jordan Farley, Dave Golder, Nick Setchfield and the rest of the SFX team for a fantastic event; to Jon Oliver, David Moore, Keith Richardson, Pye Parr and James Newton for doing such a good job of selling my Pax Britannia books; to my fellow steampunk panelists; and to everyone who stopped me to say hello over the course of the weekend. Hopefully we can do it all again next year.

Yours Truly signing with Guy 'I never thought I'd be Craig Charles's back dancer' Haley on the Abaddon/Solaris stand

In the mean time, here's my Top Ten list of things I didn't know before the SFX Weekender 3, but which I do know now.

1) If you're a big name you don't have to queue in the freezing cold. (My name was big enough to qualify. Which was nice.)

2) Darth Vader won't serve Rose Tyler alcohol without photo ID.

3) Some of the recently refurbished chalets at Pontin's come with interesting internal water features.

4) When the Zombiepocalypse****** comes, lock yourself in the loo.

5) Lavie Tidhar is so steampunk he [blank] cogs.*******

6) Designers address people as 'Dude'.

7) Being Human appeals to BBC 3's Twilight crowd, allegedly.

8) Craig Charles finished filming the new series of Red Dwarf at 7.00pm on Saturday evening.

9) Brian Blessed is a fully trained cosmonaut.

10) Apparently, I am the King of Steampunk.

* Nightmare!

** Or, as author Simon Bestwick put it, "the housing estate from Mordor."

*** Although 'Flooded' came a close second.

**** Which are totally normal for the SFX Weekender, of course.

***** A.k.a Black Swan.

****** Copyright and Trademark Jonathan Green, 2012!

******* You can work this one out for yourself. After all children read this blog, you know.

How do you put the punk into Steampunk?

That is the very question that I shall be attempting to answer on Friday at the SFX Weekender, ably assisted by a number of other luminaries of the UK Steampunk scene. Joining me on the panel will be:

Ms Raven Dane - author of the Cyrus Darian books, Ms Dane is a more recent convert to the cult of Steampunk. As well as writing Steampunk stories she has also published vampire books and comedy fantasy novels.

Ms Karen Grover - also (well-)known as Lady Elise within Steampunk circles, Ms Grover is a Steampunk enabler and a leading light of the Victorian Steampunk Society. She possesses an expert knowledge of historical costumes, a knowledge that she has lent to countless TV shows including Channel 4's 1066: The Battle For Middle Earth.

Mr Stephen Hunt - is a fantasy, science fiction and thriller/crime author, probably best known as the creator of the Jackelian series of books. 2012 sees the publication of Mr Hunt's sixth book in the series, From the Deep of the Dark.

Mr Robert Rankin - The nearest thing we have in this country to Steampunk royalty. Mr Rankin was writing Steampunk before it gained the mass market mainstream appeal it is teetering on the verge of today. Mr Rankin also does a splendid turn as your compere for Saturday night's SFX Awards.

Ms Sam Stone - Author of the Vampire Gene series, Ms Stone will no doubt be wowing the audience with one of her very fine corsets as well. She is also on a host of other panels and signing for a plethora of publishers over the weekend, so we're very lucky to have her join our Steampunk shenanigans.

Mr Lavie Tidhar - Mr Tidhar is a prolific writer, keeping up a steady stream of highly-regarded novels, novellas and short stories, and has even been described as an “emerging master” by Locus Magazine. He is the author of the Bookman Histories - the third title The Great Game is launching at the Weekender - while his novel Osama is up for not only the coveted Red Tentacle award at the 2011 Kitschies, but has also been shortlisted for the BSFA Award.

Remember, 5.00pm Friday in the Screening Zone.

My signing slot has been moved to 10.00am on the Saturday (crikey!) and I'll also be taking part in the Abaddon/Solaris Fun Hour in the Victoria Bar at 2.00pm on the Friday.

Remember, if you see me, do stop and say hello. Maybe I'll see you there...

The SFX Weekender - The Schedule!

It's been some time coming but yes, the schedule for the SFX Weekender 3 is finally here!

I'm getting quite excited/nervous about this now, partly because of how much work I still need to finish between now and then but mainly because I'm going to be hosting the 'How do you put the punk into steampunk?' panel on the Friday.

It's the first time the SFX Weekender has had a dedicated steampunk panel (last year the steampunk element was amalgamated into the 'Duel Britannia' panel) and I feel a certain responsibility now rests upon my shoulders not to let the side down, an onus to... basically, to not cock it up!

So although you'll see that the bar opens at midday on Friday, I'm going to be taking it easy before 5.00pm and letting my hair down (which may or may not be coloured green for the occasion) at the Kitschies Awards ceremony later the same evening.

I won't be going too mad there either though, because come 10.00am the next morning I'll be signing in Bartertown alongside Guy Haley (he of SFX/White Dwarf/Angry Robot/Solaris fame). I promised I'd catch up with Guy at some point over the weekend, but at the time didn't realise I would be sharing a table with him, so job done!

I should also give a shout out to the Abaddon/Solaris Fun Hour which is taking place at 2.00pm on the Friday... in the bar! Last year it was the Abaddon Pub Hour, which probably tells you all you really need to know. But to truly experience its wonders you have to be there, so do come along. It'll be a lot of fun and, failing that, it's in the bar.

There's loads going on all weekend, with panels, Q&As, signings, competitions and screening from dawn (well 10.00am) until dusk (actually, well past midnight), so if you are coming along, check out the schedule and maybe I'll see you there.

SFX Weekender 3 - one week to go!

There's only one week to go until the SFX Weekender 3 beams in to Pontin's Prestatyn. Are you excited yet, 'cos I sure as hell am!

To help get you fired up about the Weekender, head over to the Geek Syndicate and check out their audio interview with SFX Editor-in-Chief David Bradley.

Among the things you'll learn from David are that there are eight actors attending the premier SF/F event, along with some 50 writers and artists (Yours Truly included). 2000AD will be celebrating its 35th birthday there and the Kitschies Awards Ceremony will also be taking place on the Friday night. And on Saturday night Robert Rankin will be hosting the SFX Awards whilst later on Craig Charles will be DJing like last year.

So are you excited now? If you are, I hope you've already got your ticket because the event sold out weeks ago! And if you have got your ticket, maybe I'll see you there.

Jonathan Green at the SFX Weekender 3

In less than two weeks time 4,000 science-fiction and fantasy fans will descend on Pontin's Prestatyn Sands to meet the likes of Sylvester McCoy, Alex Kingston, Brian Blessed and Eve Myles. And I'll be one of them.

But I'm not only going as a fan, I'm also going as a guest. And if all goes according to plan, I'm going to be hosting the 'How do you put the punk into steampunk?' panel on Friday 3 February at 5.00pm, featuring the likes of Robert Rankin, Stephen Hunt and Lavie Tidhar.

Later the same evening, from 7.00 - 8.00pm to be precise, the Kitschies awards ceremony will be taking place, when the year's most intelligent, progressive and entertaining genre literature - a.k.a. the 2011 Red, Inky, Golden and Black Tentacles - will all be revealed.

Then, on the Saturday morning, at the semi-respectable time of 11.00am, I shall be signing at the Rebellion stand, so if you're coming along, drop by and say "Hi" and thrust copies of your favourite Pax Britannia novels or Fighting Fantasy gamebooks in front of me - or even my newest Doctor Who adventure* - and I'll happily deface them for you with a permanent marker. Now I can't say fairer than that, can I?

Now if I can just shift this cold and sore throat before then...

* Which is just out in time for the Weekender!

Hell Train launch

So, on Thursday evening I popped along to Foyles for the launch of Christoper Fowler's Hell Train (published by Solaris Books). The event kicked off with Chris in conversation with Jon Oliver (Editor-in-chief of both Abaddon and Solaris Books), with the audience then being invited to ask questions afterwards, and finally there was a chance for Mr Fowler to sign some books.

Jonathan Oliver and Christopher Fowler in conversation.

My copy of Hell Train, signed by Chris.

Chris is a fascinating man with an amazing past - he was the guy who came up with the tag line 'In space, no one can hear you scream' - and I could have sat an listened to him talk all night. Fortunately I got to go for a drink with him afterwards and got to hear a few more of his, no doubt many, anecdotes. Chris was celebrating, having literally just finished his tenth Bryant and May book that afternoon, and Jon and David were celebrating because Abaddon/Solaris won Publisher of the Year in the This is Horror 2011 awards.

Was it something I said?

At the local alehouse I also got the chance to catch up with champion of geek culture Anne Perry (of Pornokitsch and The Kitschies fame), fellow Abaddon scribe Bex Levene and David Moore of Abaddon/Solaris. I tell you, any fans of the Pax Britannia series out there would have loved to have been able to eavesdrop on the conversation we were having.

I also got to chat to Will Hill properly for the first time (he of Department 19 fame) having only met in passing a couple of times before that - and online, of course. And last, but by no means least, I chatted with Clifford Beal, Solaris Books' latest signing. His Civil War novel Gideon's Angel sounds simply awesome; you can find out more about it here.

Before the evening was through Jon, David, Will and myself made a pact, involving the first night of the SFX Weekender. As to what that is, I'll leave you guessing for now, but if David and I stick to our other pact you may find out during the course of the Weekender itself.

David Moore, Will Hill and Jon Oliver (again).

And talking of the SFX Weekender, check in again tomorrow for some big news (well it's big as far as I'm concerned).

The Kitschies

Just in case you don't already know, the Kitschies (sponsored by The Kraken Rum) are a set of annual awards that celebrate those books which best elevate the tone of genre literature - the most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works. Basically the titles that do the science fiction and fantasy community proud.

There are four judging categories: Red Tentacle (Novel), Golden Tentacle (Debut), Inky Tentacle (Cover) and the Black Tentacle (Discretionary). Winners receive a cash prize in addition to a lovingly hand-crafted Tentacle trophy, not to mention a bottle of The Kraken's fine ink-black liquid.

A record number of submissions have been received for the 2011 Kitschies - a total of 152 books from 38 different publishers. The finalists in each category will be announced tomorrow - Friday 13 January - and the winners will be announced on 3 February at the SFX Weekender, the UK's largest science fiction convention.

And there's only 19 hours to go until the shortlisted finalists are announced at 3.00pm tomorrow...

JG on Scrolls at the Geek Syndicate

Dion Winton-Polak of Scrolls has kindly let me know that the interview he conducted with me at the SFX Weekender 2 is now available to listen to via podcast over at the Geek Syndicate.

Follow this link and scroll down to 'Scrolls Chapter 12, Part 1: Author Interviews'. I make a couple of appearances throughout the recording, and at the start you can hear my frankly ridiculous (but honest) answer to the question "How many books have you written?"