Yesterday (8 November) was Bram Stoker's birthday. Stoker's most infamous creation is surely the vampire count Dracula, but amongst his other works is
The Lair of the White Worm which takes its inspiration from the Legend of the Lambton Worm.
Vampires have cropped up one or two times in my own work (
Shadows Over Sylvania and
Blood Royal to name but two), but the Legend of the Lambton Worm has directly influenced my work in print four times so far.
First there was the Wodewitch's Devilworm in my first published book
Spellbreaker. Then there was the
Pax Britannia novella
Conqueror Worm. More recently the legend inspired my new novella
The Serpent's Egg that appears in
Dreaming in Darkness. And now there's
The Scottish Patient, published recently in
World War Cthulhu by Cubicle 7 Entertainment.
Interestingly, for readers of
Dreaming in Darkness,
The Scottish Patient is a sort-of-prequel to
The Serpent's Egg. Although it's come out second, it was actually written more than a year before
The Serpent's Egg.
Edited by British Fantasy Society Award winner Jonathan Oliver,
World War Cthulhu contains short stories by such luminaries as James Lovegrove, Weston Ochse, Rebecca Levene, Robin D. Laws, Simon Bestwick, Gaie Sebold, T.P. Pike, Sarah Newton, Greg Stolze, Paul Finch, John Llewellyn Probert, Yours Truly, Archie Black and World Fantasy Award winner Lavie Tidhar.
As the shadows of war gather over Europe something is stirring within the darkness; something far older than humankind. Those with evil intent will seek to harness these terrible powers, while those fighting to turn the tide of war will find themselves up against far more than bullets and bombs. In forgotten R’lyeh, Cthulhu stirs as the mighty armies of the Third Reich march.
You can download
World War Cthulhu as an ebook
here.
And while we're on the subject of
Dreaming in Darkness here's
another awesome review.
That's right, it's the day Scots all over the world celebrate the life of the patron saint of Scotland. And you could celebrate too by picking up a copy of my very own Scottish Miscellany here.
Of course, as it's St Andrew's Day, that means that tomorrow is Stir-up Sunday, when people traditionally make their Christmas puddings. To find out more about this and other customs, pick up a copy of my Christmas Miscellany here.
Today is 29 November, which means that it's Black Friday - the day retailers knock a load of cash off their stuff to encourage you to buy it. Well Tin Man Games have done just that with their Gamebook Adventures, including my own Temple of the Spider God.
There is Only War must surely be the largest book the Black Library has ever published. 992 pages long, weighing over half a kilo, and containing 41 short stories, it is (according to the BL website), "written by the cream of Black Library’s talent", which means I'm in there. ;-)
As fans of my Pax Britannia books will already know, Steampunk hero Ulysses Quicksilver encountered the legendary Kraken in Leviathan Rising. But now Professor Mark McMenamin is proposing that the Kraken isn't a legend after all.
To help promote Jurassic London's The Book of the Dead - which features my story Egyptian death and the afterlife: mummies (Rooms 62-3) - I wrote a piece on the enduring appeal of Mummies for the The Speculative Scotsman, which you can read here.
Tin Man Games have got another sale on, with the price of many of their Gamebook Adventures slashed by 50% - including Temple of the Spider God!
Bounty Hunter - my Necromunda-set Nathan Creed novel.
"He was between stories, and he felt despicable.”.jpg)
Anthology - Legends: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell
Anthology - The Book of the Dead
Anthology - Ghosts of the Asylum
Dreaming in Darkness - Anthology of the Year
Yesterday (8 November) was Bram Stoker's birthday. Stoker's most infamous creation is surely the vampire count Dracula, but amongst his other works is The Lair of the White Worm which takes its inspiration from the Legend of the Lambton Worm.
"Often... I go through periods of not writing. When this happens I feel a pressure inside my skull. Something inside me won't let me rest for long. It wants me to write. It needs me to create. I don't know what that thing inside me is. Perhaps it's best I never find out."
"When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge."
The Way of the Tiger New Collector's Edition Kickstarter ends today at 9:00pm.
