Win a walk-on part in Anno Frankenstein!

Just a quick reminder about the latest competition I'm running...

It's not long before I commence work on my next Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein. And it could feature YOU!

The Prize

A walk on part in the next Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein, due to be published by Abaddon Books in 2011. It will be up to me how you appear in the book and whether you're a hero, a villain or a name on a tombstone, but your name will appear somewhere within the book.

How to Enter

All you have to do to qualify is create your own Pax Britannia scene - out of Lego! It can be from any of the already published Pax Britannia novels (mine or Al Ewing's) or the forthcoming Dark Side (which is out soon). It could even be from the as yet unwritten Anno Frankenstein, using Mark Harrison's stunning cover for inspiration.

So, if you're up to the challenge here's what you need to do:

1) Create your Lego model.

2) Take a photograph of it.

3) Email your photograph, along with your name, to paxbritannia@hotmail.co.uk.

4) Do all of this by 31 October 2010.

Good Luck!

33

Just a quick reminder that on Tuesday 5 October, at 6.30pm, I shall be one of the authors reading extracts from their short stories, published in 33, at Richmond Library. Also appearing will be Patrick Binding, Susannah Rickards and publisher Bobby Nayyar.

From 4–7 October, fourteen of the 33 authors will be reading at events in Westminster, Richmond, Islington and Hammersmith. This includes some rising stars such as Nikesh Shukla and Tena Stivicic and some more established names such as Debi Alper and Daisy Goodwin.

The readings form one of the highlights of the Mayor's Story of London Festival, which features more than 100 events across the capital and runs from 1-10 October.

Here's Bobby, Publisher of Glasshouse Books, to tell you a little more:

‘The aim of the Story of London festival is to celebrate London’s past, present and future. This is precisely what we set out to achieve in 33. Each story has brought something new to our understanding of this great city.’

So, maybe I'll see you next Tuesday...

Gamebook Adventures: Revenant Rising

More exciting news from Tin Man Games...

UK Games Day OK!

So, Sunday was Games Day UK and I woke early, excited at the prospect of catching up with old friends, enjoying all the news things GW has to offer and generally thrilling at the thought of immersing myself in the worlds of Warhammer and 40K for a few hours.

I arrived at the NEC before 9am, fully prepared to queue for a goodly while and then - wonder of wonders bumped into Mark of My Favourite Books. He ushered me along to join him and his wife Liz at the very front of the queue* which also happened to be in site of the Black Library stands.

At 9.40am, we were actually let in early and so I hurried with Mark to the BL sales stand, picking up a signed copy of Jim Swallow's Bloodline**. while I was there I picked up Clint Werner's latest, Wulfrik***, and Darius Hinks' Warrior Priest, along with two new audio dramas, Jim's Garro: Oath of Moment and Waiting Death by Steve Lyons.

I spent a while chatting with Christian Dunn and the Black Library Digital stand and saw my short story The Relic presented as part of an eBook on an iPad. I also caught up on all the news with Head of BL George Mann. I then dropped by the author signing stands and met Chris Wraight (author of the excellent Iron Company) for the first time but missed editor/author Nick Kyme, who was busy being interviewed at the time. I waved at Dan Abnett (which is not unusual at these things) and got to admire Xhalax's Titan Crew costume posse firsthand.

Other highlights of the day were catching the new trailer of the CGI Ultramarines movie (scripted by Dan Abnett) and seeing a tantalising sculpture on the Forgeworld stand of a Necron Tomb Stalker. The new Dark Eldar Codex looked pretty tasty too. I also had to fight to resist parting with a shed load of cash for the new Deathwatch book from Fantasy Flight Games and Forgeworld's Imperial Armour Volume IX - The Badab War Part 1.

But for me Games Day is all about the Black Library and this year's (my fifthteenth!) was awesome. So roll on Games Day 2011!

You can read more about other people's experiences of the day here, at Dan's blog, and here, courtesy of Liz of My Favourite Books.

* It's all about who you know!

** An exclusive chapbook produced especially for the day.

*** Anything by Clint is a must for me - especially if it's one of his Bad Guy Books.

JG and the British Library

I've lived in the suburbs of London for fourteen years now and so all the wonders of the capital are effectively there on my doorstep. One of those wonders is the British Library. I've known for a long time that various books of mine are stored within its vaults and, as a result, my name is there on their database.

So, this summer, when I found myself near St Pancras with some time on my hands, I wandered in to check out my listing. This is what I found...

Now I know that having children has aged me, but not by that much! I mean I'm not even 40 yet (well, not quite).

So what's happened here is that the renowned dictionary author Jonathon Green has been credited with all my hard work. And you can rest assured that I'm not going to let this lie... Wish me luck trying to get the problem resolved!

Two weeks in the life of Gamebook Adventures

Tin Man Games have recently posted on their blog about their experiences of producing brand new gamebooks for the iPod generation.

It's certainly an exciting time and these guys are true trailblazers. They're not just re-packaging already published books - every adventure is brand new, especially written with the capabilities of the iDevice in mind.

I'll keep posting news about developments in Gamebook Adventures and you can read more for yourself here.

Pax Britannia Lego

Anyone considering entering the Anno Frankenstein competition I'm currently running should check these out.






Congratulations to Sparshott and Son! Ladies and gentlemen, the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down! They're going to be a tough act to follow!


Good luck!

Pax Britannia: Dark Side

Pre-order your copy today!

33 Author Event

For anyone who might be in the area, on Tuesday 5 October, at 6.30pm, I shall be one of the authors reading extracts from their short stories, published in 33, at Richmond Library. Also appearing will be Patrick Binding, Susannah Rickards and publisher Bobby Nayyar.

From 4–7 October, fourteen of the 33 authors will be reading at events in Westminster, Richmond, Islington and Hammersmith. This includes some rising stars such as Nikesh Shukla and Tena Stivicic and some more established names such as Debi Alper and Daisy Goodwin.

The readings form one of the highlights of the Mayor's Story of London Festival, which features more than 100 events across the capital and runs from 1-10 October.

Here's Bobby, Publisher of Glasshouse Books, to tell you a little more:

‘The aim of the Story of London festival is to celebrate London’s past, present and future. This is precisely what we set out to achieve in 33. Each story has brought something new to our understanding of this great city.’

So, maybe I'll see you next Tuesday...

Another day, another franchise tie-in

It's the beginning of a brand new writing week and I've got a brand new project to get cracking on.

The Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack is on the iPod, as is King Kong, and so to work...

Dark Side - the movie trailer

With the pressure of actually having to finish the book off me, I've had time to indulge in a little movie magic and have come up with this...



You can order your copy of Pax Britannia: Dark Side right here!

33 West

Out now from Glasshouse Books is 33 East and 33 West. These two volumes form one short story anthology about London. London is made up of 33 boroughs (did you know that?) and each one has its own short story in either 33 West or 33 East - you get the idea...

I'll let the publisher, Bobby Nayyar, explain...


BOOKS / 33 East and West

33 Boroughs, 33 New Shorts, 1 London

Can you name all 33 London boroughs? No, neither could we. 33 pushes the short story genre to new territory by giving 33 writers new, established and up and coming the opportunity to write a story set in their borough. From Bexley to Barnet, Havering to Hounslow.

This is no small achievement. This is London.

I contributed something a little different to 33 West for the London borough of Richmond. Part love story, part [CENSORED - I don't want to spoil the surprise!] and its all told via Twitter, the way we communicate today.

You can get hold of your copy of 33 West (or 33 East) here.

Pax Britannia: Dark Side

Coming soon...

www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com

I have a new website! Well, it's actually this website but you can now access it by entering the much more straightforward:

www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com

So, set it as one of your favourites, along with the new www.PaxBritannia.com which is the new official way to reach the PB blog.

See you round!

Pax Britannia - feelin' the love

Pax Britannia fan Edi has been bigging up my latest PB competition over at his Edi's Book Lighthouse blog. Kudos to Edi and you can read his latest post here.

M is for Monster!

M is for Monster is a new horror anthology coming this Halloween, but it's a publication with a difference. I'll let compiler John Prescott (no, not that John Prescott) explain...

What you hold in your hands is a culmination of desire, talent, and a collective love of the macabre, mixed with a little luck and a big leap of faith. This is the product of a group of authors who came together to produce something unique - something that speaks of us all and unites us on a worldwide scale. With the book you're holding right now, we invite you to share the journey.

Inside, you will find twenty-six varied tales of monsters old and new, some dredged from the die-hard legends of old and some assembled from the innovative demands of creative necessity. These monstrosities span the lengths of the English alphabet, and with them, we authors bring to you a taste of our own flavors and haunts from around the globe.

At the outset, it seemed an intimidating challenge, this rallying of so many authors from so many locations and walks of life. But times are changing. Creative collaboration no longer knows any geographical bounds. The world is a much smaller place these days, and we twenty-six came together, bound by a common vision, to bridge what gaps remain.

I'm glad we took the plunge, and I'm honored to know twenty-five other authors willing to dive on in with me. Now it's on to you. Take a swim with us. Turn the page and ride the wave.

But beware... monsters lurk in these waters.

John Prescott

It's also quite a departure for me, as my story - I for Incubus - is about the most explicit, unpleasant and distasteful thing I've ever written, to the extent that I'm wondering if I should start an 18-rated blog to promote it, and any others stories like it that I might write.

But if all this has piqued your interest, then watch this space...

Feel better with Feelgood's!

Coming soon from the world of Pax Britannia...


... watch this space!

Lego Frankenstein

Looking for inspiration for your entry in my brand new Anno Frankenstein competition? Then you should check this out...

BL at Games Day UK, okay?

This Sunday (26 September) Games Day UK is taking place at the Birmingham NEC. I'll be there (as a fan as well as to chat to the BL editors and authors) and if you're planning on coming along yourself, check out this visitors' map (taking careful notes of the Black Library Digitial bit - cool!).


Maybe see you there?

Win a walk-on part in Anno Frankenstein!

I love Lego and I love steampunk, so I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff...

... which got me thinking...

It's not long before I commence work on my next Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein. And it could feature YOU!

The Prize

A walk on part in the next Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein, due to be published by Abaddon Books in 2011. It will be up to me how you appear in the book and whether you're a hero, a villain or a name on a tombstone, but your name will appear somewhere within the book.

How to Enter

All you have to do to qualify is create your own Pax Britannia scene - out of Lego! It can be from any of the already published Pax Britannia novels (mine or Al Ewing's) or the forthcoming Dark Side (which is out soon). It could even be from the as yet unwritten Anno Frankenstein, using Mark Harrison's stunning cover for inspiration.

So, if you're up to the challenge here's what you need to do:

1) Create your Lego model.

2) Take a photograph of it.

3) Email your photograph, along with your name, to paxbritannia@hotmail.co.uk.

4) Do all of this by 31 October 2010.

Good Luck!

Win a walk-on part in Anno Frankenstein!

I love Lego and I love steampunk, so I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff...

... which got me thinking...

It's not long before I commence work on my next Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein. And it could feature YOU!

The Prize

A walk on part in the next Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein, due to be published by Abaddon Books in 2011. It will be up to me how you appear in the book and whether you're a hero, a villain or a name on a tombstone, but your name will appear somewhere within the book.

How to Enter

All you have to do to qualify is create your own Pax Britannia scene - out of Lego! It can be from any of the already published Pax Britannia novels (mine or Al Ewing's) or the forthcoming Dark Side (which is out soon). It could even be from the as yet unwritten Anno Frankenstein, using Mark Harrison's stunning cover for inspiration.

So, if you're up to the challenge here's what you need to do:

1) Create your Lego model.

2) Take a photograph of it.

3) Email your photograph, along with your name, to paxbritannia@hotmail.co.uk.

4) Do all of this by 31 October 2010.

Good Luck!

24 Hours in Nottingham - or - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Metal

So, last Friday lunchtime (with still some way to go on my latest Pax Britannia novella Proteus Unbound*) I packed in work for the day and headed up to Nottingham for FantasyCon 2010. Due to other commitments I would have to hit the motorway again at 2pm Saturday so arriving in Robin Hood's hood at 2pm on the Friday, I had 24 hours in which to experience all that FantasyCon had to offer.

Friday 17 September 2010

2pm - Arrived in Nottingham in need of a comfort break and so stopped at GW HQ and popped into Bugman's Bar... Where who should I run into but Christian Dunn and Alex Davis from Black Library editorial. Chris is holding a handful of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and was about to sit down with Alex to discuss... I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. Not yet, anyway. Suffice to say it was a very exciting moment!

Relaxed and ready to take on the world again, I had a good nose around the Warhammer World miniatures hall which gave me a few ideas for... But again, alas my lips are sealed for the time being.

3pm - Checked in to my hotel where I discovered that complimentary Wi-Fi in all rooms didn't actually mean free. Settled down to do some more work on Proteus Unbound.

8pm - Headed into the city, to The Salutation Inn, semi-ready for a night of Abaddon Books-sponsored metal karaoke. The first fifty to the bar received a complimentary** copy of Al Ewing's I, Zombie while David Moore judged the metal karaoke-ists, the winner receiving a complete set of his chosen Abaddon series!

10pm - David took the mike himself and I wondered why I don't do this sort of thing more often. David's hat gets passed round, photos are taken, and reputations are ruined, all at the click of a shutter lens.

Just for the record, I am not in any way metal - as this photograph proves most effectively.

11pm - Tinnitus kicks in and I realise why I don't do this sort of thing anymore.

12am - Head back to my hotel while the hardcore (a.k.a. Jon and David) rock into the wee small hours of the morning.

Saturday 18 September 2010

8am - Stumble out of bed, ears still ringing. Swear never to go to another metal karaoke as long as live (or until the same time next year, whichever is sooner).

9am - Back to the laptop. Proteus Unbound is starting to come together quite nicely now.

10am - Head off to the Britannia Hotel to experience FantasyCon for myself for the first time. Conclusion: It's basically a load of mates (who happen to be writers, artists and editors) all getting together for a pint*** and a chat.

Barely through the door when I'm met by Mark and Liz of My Favourite Books (go check it out!) and Mark Charan Newton of Nights of Villjamur fame. Then run into Jonathan Oliver, who's looking a lot worse than I am (see above).

Head off into the dealers' room and meet Lee Harris of Angry Robot Books and pick up Guy Adams' The World House along with Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman while I'm about it.

Check out the Art Show upstairs and display incredible self-control and great restraint in managing not to purchase a print of Les Edwards' cover for Creature of Havoc or a piece of original Bryan Talbot comic artwork.

Go back downstairs to the bar where I run into Marc Gascoigne (Angry Robot overlord, former BL publisher, my first FF editor and former flatmate) followed by Bryan Talbot. I even get to shake the great man's hand****.

1pm - The End of the Line book launch. Twelve authors arrayed to sign Solaris Books' latest horror anthology. Take pity on Jon Oliver and David Moore (who are both looking worse than me) and buy them a re-hydrating Coke each. Manage to pick up the last copy and get it signed by all present, in the process meeting such luminaries as Simon Bestwick and Stephen Volk in the flesh for the first time.

2pm - Leave FantasyCon with a bag full of books, Doctor Who toys for the kids and safe in the knowledge that I'll earn a few Brownie points for leaving on time!

Here are the books I picked up at FantasyCon. Some were freebies, some I parted with my hard-earned cash for.

Nice one, FantasyCon. See you next year down in Brighton.

* I can say that now that it's finished and in with my editor. ;-)

** Complimentary here does mean free.

*** The definition of 'a pint' that I'm using here is 'Anywhere between 2 and 10 pints, but most definitely not just the one'.

**** Bryan Talbot's, that is.

Normal service will resume shortly

I always swore I'd never do this, but I find myself having to apologise for the general lack of posts, Facebook updates and Tweets of late. The thing is, this summer the Green family moved house while I was busy trying to write my twelfth novel.

Well, the good news is that the novel - Pax Britannia: Dark Side - is now finished (I'm just waiting on my editor's comments on the short story that's accompanying it). Plenty more tasks lie ahead and Phase 2 of the Big Move awaits, but you can expect a flurry of updates over the next few days, specifically regarding the Pax Britannia books and a couple of short story anthologies I'm appearing in.

So, until next time...

Talk like a pirate

Today (what's left of it) is Talk Like A Pirate Day. And if you want some pointers on how to sound like an authentic pirate, you could do a lot worse than pick up a copy of my pirate gamebook Bloodbones.

Gamebook Adventures: Slaves of Rema

Slaves of Rema, the third release from Tin Man Games' Gamebook Adventures range is out now!

FantasyCon 2010

I didn't think I was going to be able to make it (what with work commitments and the rest) but it turns out that I am going to be at FantasyCon after all this year. I'm actually going to be there for less than 24 hours but I will be attending the Abaddon-sponsored Metal Karaoke Night at The Salutation Inn on Friday and I'll be hanging out in the vicinity of the Abaddon stand on the Saturday morning (and hopefully not going before The End of the Line book launch).

So if you're going too why not drop by the Abaddon stand and say "Hi!" I might even sign something for you. ;-)

Abaddon Books invites you to an evening of metal karaoke!

So, are you up for it?


You can find out more details by clicking this link.

Night of the Necromancer

It was only a year ago that I was writing this...



It came out back in April but it feels like an age since I first put pen to paper. But then a lot has happened in the time since...

Howl of the Werewolf is here!

These arrived in the post this week. Colour me pleased.

Black Library invades Forbidden Planet

I was fortunate enough to attend Thursday night's Black Library Invasion event at Forbidden Planet, where Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent, Graham McNeill, Nick Kyme and Sandy Mitchell were all signing the new Sabbat Worlds anthology edited by Dan the Man himself.

As well as getting my pre-official-release (or whatever) copy defaced by all and sundry, I also got to spend some time chatting to the guys (and gal), James Swallow among them. The hard core then retired to the Phoenix Club for beers (ginger in some cases) and stories about the Ultramarines movie and writing for Doctor Who.

So, all in all, a great night, that's spurred me on to keep plugging away at a couple of projects and left me looking forward to Games Day 2010 in two weeks' time.

You can see somebody else's photos of the event here.

To the Moon and back

Well, it's been a while but I'm back online. (To be honest I've never really been off-line, it's just that I've been a tad busy and my form of internet access didn't lend itself to regular blog-updatage.)

So, here are a few updates for you...


First of all, as of 12.30am Pax Britannia: Dark Side is finished! My editor likes what he's seen so far (which is always a good sign) so I'm hoping he'll like the rest of it too. I now just need to write the accompanying short story - in three days!

Secondly, Howl of the Werewolf's been out for about a week in the new Wizard edition. This contains the Fighting Fantasy adventure you know and love along with three pre-generated playable characters (Johann Ironarm, Wolfrick of Pritzbad and Sabine Greypelt) and a preview of Trial of Champions.







Thirdly, a new horror short story anthology is coming out this Halloween and I've got a little something in it. It's unlike anything I've ever written before and I should warn those blog-followers of a sensitive disposition (and the more youthful among you) that it should definitely come with an 18 rating. You have been warned.





Lastly, I stumbled across this website the other day. And something tells me the guys in charge quite like my Pax Britannia books...

Until next time (which won't be as long as last time)...