World FantasyCon 2013

Just a quick reminder that I shall be attending World FantasyCon in Brighton from today until Sunday. My schedule for the weekend looks like this...

Thursday 31 October 2013

4.30-5.00pm - Pax Britannia Signing
Signing at the Abaddon/Solaris table in the dealers' room at the Hilton Brighton Metropole.

8.00-9.30pm - David Gemmell Legend Awards

9.30-10.30pm - Legends Launch
Legends: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell anthology launch and signing in the Regency Suite at the Hilton Brighton Metropole. Featuring Joe Abercrombie, James Barclay, Jonathan Green, Juliet E McKenna, Anne Nicholls, Stan Nicholls, Gaie Sebold, Jan Siegel, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Ian Whates, as well as cover artist Dominic Harman.

Saturday 2 November 2013

11.00am - Newcon Press Party
Newcon will be hosting a Legends signing, as well as launching new titles from Tanith Lee, Stan Nicholls, and Steve Rasnic Tem.

I am also hoping to attend the following panels...

Thursday 31 October 2013

3.00-4.00pm - Writing Historical Fantasy

Friday 1 November 2013

11.00am-12.00pm - Alan Lee Interview

12.00-1.00pm - Joe Hill Interview

3.00-4.00pm - Sir Terry Pratchett: In Conversation

5.00-6.00pm - Lifetime Achievement Award: Tanith Lee

Saturday 2 November 2013

2.00-3.00pm - Lifetime Achievement Award: Susan Cooper

3.00-4.00pm - Steam Punk'd

4.00-5.00pm - Can't Write, Edit An Anthology

9.00-11.00pm - Two Ghost Stories

Sunday 3 November 2013

10.00-11.00am - When Did Lovecraft Become a Franchise?

12.00-1.00pm - How to Write That Second Book

Don't say I never give you anything

New to the world of Pax Britannia? Then pick up the first Ulysses Quicksilver adventure Unnatural History for the eReader of your choice for free!

Action and adventure in a new Age of Steam! 

In two scant months the nation, and all her colonies, will celebrate 160 years of Queen Victoria's glorious reign. But all is not well at the heart of the empire. It begins with a break-in at the Natural History Museum. A night watchman is murdered. An eminent Professor of Evolutionary Biology goes missing. Then a catastrophic Overground rail-crash unleashes the dinosaurs of London Zoo. 

But how are all these events connected? Is it really the work of crazed revolutionaries? Or are there yet more sinister forces at work? Enter Ulysses Quicksilver - dandy, rogue and agent of the throne. It is up to this dashing soldier of fortune to solve the mystery and uncover the truth before London degenerates into primitive madness and a villainous mastermind brings about the unthinkable. The downfall of the British empire!

The Book of the Dead - released today!

That's right, The Book of the Dead is out now!

This first ever volume of original mummy stories, published by Jurassic London in partnership with the Egypt Exploration Society, The Book of the Dead contains 19 new tales of mummies, mayhem, revenge, romance, pharaohs, cats and candy!

"Ramesses on the Frontier" by Paul Cornell
"Escape from the Mummy's Tomb" by Jesse Bullington
"Old Souls" by David Thomas Moore
"Her Heartbeat, An Echo" by Lou Morgan
"Mysterium Tremendum" by Molly Tanzer
"Tollund" by Adam Roberts
"The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn't, The Mummy that Was and the Cat in the Jar" by Gail Carriger
"The Cats of Beni Hasan" by Jenni Hill
"Cerulean Memories" by Maurice Broaddus
"Inner Goddess" by Michael West
"The Roof of the World" by Sarah Newton
"Henry" by Glen Mehn
"The Dedication of Sweetheart Abbey" by David Bryher
"All is Dust" by Den Patrick
"Bit-U-Men" by Maria Dahvana Headley
"Egyptian death and the afterlife: mummies (Rooms 62-3)" by Jonathan Green 
"Akhenaten Goes to Paris" by Louis Greenberg
"The Thing of Wrath" by Roger Luckhurst
"Three Memories of Death" by Will Hill

The anthology is illustrated by Garen Ewing and introduced by John J. Johnston, Vice Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society, and you can pick up your copy here.

The official launch of The Book of the Dead is taking place this evening (Tuesday 29 October) at the Phoenix Artist Club (off Tottenham Court Road, on Phoenix Street), so maybe I'll see you there...

Thought for the Day

“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”

~ Roald Dahl

 

 

Pax Britannia at the London MCM Expo 2013

Pax Britannia* will be attending the London MCM Expo this weekend as part of the regular Steampunk contingent.

I will be there, selling my wares, and with my ever popular Steampunk Tombala and Book Lucky Dip in tow too. So if you're around, do stop by the Steampunk stand and say hello**.

(Rumours have it that Archimedes the robot parrot might be attending too.)

 And people ask me why I'm into Steampunk...

* Or, in other words, Yours Truly.

** Or even better, buy a book!

Gamebook Friday: The Art of Allansia

One of the things I used to love about writing Fighting Fantasy gamebooks was working with the artists. I would slave away over the manuscript for a couple of months, and during the process write an art brief for all the wonderful illustrations that would appear in the book. And there were just so many! Between 25 and 30 usually (and not including the filler pictures or cover)!

Well I'm at that stage with YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks now, negotiating with artists about which of their pictures I can reproduce in the book. So far Martin McKenna's cover art is in (and it's awesome), as are Iain McCaig's updates for Zanbar Bone and the Bloodbeast (they are also awesome), and Russ Nicholson has produced a brand new portrait of Zagor the Warlock for the book. (Guess what - it's awesome!)

YOU ARE THE HERO will also definitely feature art by Rodney Matthews, Pete Knifton, Malcolm Barter, Kev Crossley, Greg Staples, David Gallagher, John Blanche, Alan Craddock, Tony Hough, Nicholas Halliday, Stephen Player, Gary Ward and Edward Crosby, and cartographer Leo Hartas. And those are just the ones I can tell you about at the moment!

So exciting times indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me I just need to phone Chris Achellios.

Until next time...

Steampunk Thursday: Germany loves Pax Britannia!*

What more do I need to say? It would appear that German readers have taken Ulysses Quicksilver and his exploits into their hearts.

My first steampunk novel has only been out for five minutes in its brand-spanking-new German edition, and yet it has already received three 4 star and two 5 star reviews on Amazon.de which say nice things like this**:

"Exciting! Unnatural History is like a colourful bag in terms of genre, there are some horror elements that make a hair stand on end, but to also enjoy the classic adventure novel, with a wink. In addition, the allusions are gorgeous."

"Pax Britannia is a rather ingenious homage to Pulps. It is a real pleasure to see the many allusions... Whether because dinosaurs are shipped from the Lost World in the London Zoo, the personal physician of Queen Victoria, a certain Doctor Moreau is, it's just funny."

"Quicksilver looks like a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones and rushes from one action scene to the next, without the story suffering. The novel is a summer blockbuster in book format."

"Steampunk + agent + London seems almost to be a standard for the genre. But the big difference to other novels is the year in which the action takes place. Not the end of the 19th Century, but in 1997. It is a completely different approach."

"The book offers a colourful action-packed story with witty and wacky ideas. I have enjoyed reading it and look forward to continuing with the series."

"Unnatural History is not easily pigeonholed. It is a blend of Steampunk, Thriller, Adventure and Horror, topped with a good sense of humour."***

You can pick up your German edition of Unnatural History here, or the old-fashioned English original as part of The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus Vol. 1 here.


* Which is ironic when you consider what happens later on in the series...

** At least that's what Google Translate tells me they say.

*** A bit like me really.

Warhammer Wednesday: Iron Hands - the eBook edition

I received a pleasant surprise on Friday when Black Library's weekly newsletter arrived in my email inbox.

That's right, my fourth novel (and my second set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe) is now available as a series of zeros and ones for your eReader of choice.

The Iron Hands Chapter is getting a lot of interest at the moment, thanks to Forge World's Horus Heresy range, but the novel Iron Hands is notable for one reason in particular. It was in that book that I created material that has since become canon in the 40K universe, particularly the names of some of the Iron Hands Clan Companies that you will now find in the latest edition of the Space Marines Codex (just as material that I first wrote for Codex: Chaos formed a vital part of the narrative behind the Battlefleet Gothic game, some of which has more recently appeared in the digital Black Legion Codex: Chaos Space Marines supplement*).

So there you go. You can pick up your eBook version of Iron Hands direct from Black Library here.


* Namely the Eye of Night and Hand of Darkness.

Tie-in Tuesday: The Day of the Doctor

Are you as excited about this as I am?



No, I don't think you are*.


* Unless you happen to be Cav Scott.

Thought for the Week

Jonathan Green appearing at World FantasyCon 2013

Two weeks today* I will be one of the many guests attending World FantasyCon 2013 in Brighton, beside the seaside. In case you're also popping along, and you fancy stopping by and saying hello, you'll find me at the following places at the following times.

Thursday 31 October 2013

4.30-5.00pm - Pax Britannia Signing
Signing at the Abaddon/Solaris table in the dealers' room at the Hilton Brighton Metropole.

8.00-9.30pm - David Gemmell Legend Awards
Legends: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell - an anthology of stories in honour of David Gemmell**edited by Ian Whates, and featuring a story by Yours Truly - is being launched at the reception immediately following the awards ceremony.

Saturday 2 November 2013

11.00am - Newcon Press Party
Newcon will be hosting a Legends signing, as well as launching new titles from Tanith Lee, Stan Nicholls, and Steve Rasnic Tem.

There is also a panel taking place at 3.00pm on the Saturday called Steam Punk'd, but at this time I can neither confirm nor deny whether I will be taking part or not. I suspect not.

* Are there really only fourteen days left to go?

** Funnily enough.

Abyss Gazing

In honour of Friedrich Nietzsche's 169th birthday today, a quote from the German philosopher himself...

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

Steampunk Tuesday: Unnatural History launches in Germany

That's right! Volume 1 of the Ulysses Quicksilver chronicles officially launches today in Germany, courtesy of German language publisher Luzifer-Verlag*.

This is the first foreign edition of one of my Pax Britannia books, and the first of all my published titles to be translated into German.**

Despite the fact that it's not supposed to be out yet, the book has already received a number of rave reviews from German-speaking fans.

To order your German edition of Unnatural History, follow this link.

* Who has already expressed an interest in translating Leviathan Rising into German too.

** There was some interest from a French publisher some years back, but he decided the books were just too English for a French market!

Thought for the Day

"Synopses and diagrams and character arcs are one thing, but a new book never feels real until I put a few thousand words of prose on its bones."

~ Will Hill, author

Fighting Fantazine #12 out now!

The incredible twelfth issue of the Fighting Fantasy fanzine - Fighting Fantazine - is available to download, for free, here!

You will also be able to read about the Fantazine in the forthcoming YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

Short Story Saturday: Nazi Zombie Army 2

Nazi Zombie Army 2 (the sequel to Nazi Zombie Army, funnily enough) is out later this year.

Back in February, my short story Götterdämmerung was released to coincide with the release of the original Nazi Zombie Army.

Well, register now for the Rebellion newsletter and you could end up with a free download of the NZA2 soundtrack! 

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Gamebook Friday: Défis Fan­tas­tiques!

An intriguing package arrived from our Gallic cousins yesterday, courtesy of Florent Haro and Scriptarium - French editions of Graham Bottley's updated Fighting Fantasy RPG a.k.a. Défis Fan­tas­tiques (en France).

To find out more about Scriptarium's FF (or should that be DF) revival follow this link. To find out more about the English language edition of AFF 2nd edition, follow this link.

Tie-in Tuesday: The Great Moshling Egg

Thought for the Day

"Writers tend to revisit the same themes, tropes, places, and concerns, again and again, until they figure out how to use them in a satisfying way."

~ Joe Hill

Gamebook Friday: The Way of the Tiger

Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson, who have both been interviewed for my upcoming history of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks YOU ARE THE HERO, have recently launched their own Kickstarter project, along with Megara Entertainment, to bring back another '80s gamebook classic, The Way of the Tiger.

The series' original publishers Hodder and Stoughton originally signed a seven book deal with Smith and Thomson, which they cancelled before the last book could be written, re-writing the ending of Book #6 Inferno, in order to bring the series to an end. (If you want to know why, you'll just have to read YOU ARE THE HERO.)

But now, riding the wave of nostalgia that is powering the current gamebook revival, Megara Entertainment are bringing the books back in a new, full-colour, harback collector's edition. Not only that but two new books will be added to the current six - a prequel, Book #0, entitled Ninja, and the long anticipated Book #7 Redeemer!

To find out more about this project, this classic series, and to fund this new gamebook project, follow this link.

National Poetry Day - Fish Supper

Fish Supper (the abridged version) by Jonathan Green

I don't like fish of any sort,
No matter how or where they're caught...
So no matter how you vary 'em,
I'll not eat an aquarium.

To find out more about National Poetry Day, and this year's theme of 'Water, water everywhere', follow this link.

The Fish Supper's Revenge

by Tony Hough

From the Fighting Fantasy adventure gamebook Bloodbones, by Jonathan Green