Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014

The first dedicated Fighting Fantasy convention, with Guests of Honour

Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone

who will be giving a talk on the History of Fighting Fantasy.

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014 will also feature the official launch of

YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks

by Jonathan Green

as well as 

Fighting Fantasy Artists Russ Nicholson, Chris Achilleos and Tony Hough, Panels, Book Signings, Games, a Fighting Fantasy Exhibition, Special Guests, Trade Stands, and a Fighting Fantasy Auction.

Tickets go on sale Saturday 31 May 2014 at 8.00am (BST)!

To find out more, click this link.

Frome Steampunk Extravaganza II

Just a quick reminder that I shall be attending the
Frome Steampunk Extravaganza this weekend, along with Archimedes the Steampunk Robot Parrot* and my various Pax Britannia books - not to mention my now legendary Steampunk Tombola and Book Lucky Dip!

You'll find me in the Cheese & Grain on both Saturday and Sunday, and I'll be giving a talk about my work, along with a reading from one of my books, on Sunday at 12.00pm.

If you're coming along for the weekend, do stop by and say "Hello!" I shall look forward to seeing you there.

* The original and still the best!

Steampunk Thursday: Lucy Saxon

Lucy Saxon is one to watch in the world of Steampunk fiction. At only 19 she has had her first novel Take Back the Skies published by Bloomsbury and is the featured author in this month's SFX Magazine.

Lucy Saxon signing at the Bloomsbury stand at the MCM Comic Expo in London.

Lucy wrote the first draft of the novel at age 16 and Steampunk was a massive influence on the work. Take Back the Skies features grand skyships, mechanical servant 'mechas' and other wondrous inventions.

Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever. 

So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all...

You can pick up a copy of the limited edition hardback here.

Jackson and Livingstone signing at the UK Games Expo this weekend

If you're not already heading to Frome for the town's Steampunk Extravaganza this coming weekend, then it's just possible that you might be heading to the UK Games Expo being held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole National Exhibition Centre instead.

Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson will be appearing at the Expo on Saturday 31 May, giving a talk from 2.00pm followed by book signings at 3.00pm in the Kings Suite. The Warlock will also be there selling books that you can conveniently then get signed on the spot. If you've not already purchased your ticket you can pick one up on the door on the day.

Of course, if you're not able to get up to Birmingham this weekend, there's always Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014, that's taking place in Ealing this September...

Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and their Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. (Don't know who that bloke is in the background standing next to Alessio Cavatore...)

Thought for the Day

"I am often accused of being childish. I prefer to interpret that as child-like. I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things. I tend to exaggerate and fantasize and embellish. I still listen to instinctual urges. I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind. I never water my garden without soaking myself. It has been after such times of joy that I have achieved my greatest creativity and produced my best work."

~ Leo Buscaglia, American author

Steampunk Thursday: Win Tickets to the Frome Steampunk Extravaganza!

Fancy coming along to the Frome Steampunk Extravaganza on from Friday 30th - Sunday 1st June but you haven't purchased your tickets yet?

Then you've still got until 11:59pm BST to enter this competition to win a pair.

And who knows, if you win maybe I'll see you there...

Thought for the Day

Short Story Saturday: One-Way Ticket - Part 2

I can't believe a month has passed since the first part of my latest Judge Dredd short story appeared in Megazine #347. But it clearly has, because Megazine #348 arrived in the post today with this inside...

Lovin' that picture of Dredd on his Lawmaster with Lawgiver in hand.

Part 1 was mainly the build-up for the story and in Part 2 the action really kicks off. You can read a preview of the issue here, and purchase a copy for yourself here.

Enjoy.

Gamebook Friday: El Aullido Del Hombre Lobo and Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

This week I had a very productive meeting with Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone at which we decided to make the following public...

Fighting Fantasy Fest is the first dedicated Fighting Fantasy convention, featuring guest appearances by the co-creators of the world's premier gamebook series, artists who have contributed to the books over the years, and the official book launch of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks. You can register your interest in attending the con here.

When I arrived at the pub... I mean, our meeting... Steve had a rather nice surprise waiting for me - copies of the first Spanish translation of one of my gamebooks.

German, French and Spanish editions of just three of my fifty books. 

El Aullido Del Hombre Lobo is unusual because it is the first time I have been credited as Jon Green in any published work. Although I refer to myself as Jon, I always use my full name for published projects. This was something of a surprise, but then so was the publication of Howl of the Werewolf in Spanish. ;-)

Steampunk Thursday: Alice Aid

Last Saturday I attended Alice Aid, the fundraiser event held at The Pipeline in East London to raise money to turn Robert Rankin's novella Alice on Mars into a movie, directed by Martin Gooch.

Other guests included Kit Cox (who did a stand-up comedy set), Andrew O'Neill (who was MC for the evening), a couple of Elvis impersonators, Lady Raygun on the steel drums*, various other actors and musicians and even Mr Robert Rankin himself.

Archimedes the Steampunk Parrot was in attendance too and really got into the groove, as you can see here.



You can see some photos of the event here.

If you would like to help make Alice on Mars - The Movie a reality, you can pledge your support for the project here.


* I've never heard 'I Gotta Feeling' played on the steel drums before, or 'Birdhouse in your Soul', but they sounded great!

Fighting Fantasy Fest 2014

I am very proud to announce that the first ever dedicated Fighting Fantasy convention will be held on Sunday 7 September 2014 in Ealing, West London. Featuring guest appearances by Mr Steve Jackson and Mr Ian Livingstone, it will also include the official book launch of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

Save the date, register your interest here, and tell your friends. Tickets go on sale soon!

Thought for the Day

"Writing a book is like telling a joke and having to wait two years to know whether or not it was funny."

~ Alain de Botton

 

 

Short Story Saturday: Sharks, Shakespeare and Shirley Jackson

On this Short Story Saturday I am delighted to be able to tell you that I am branching out and trying something new with my writing this year. I'm going to be editing not one but two short story anthologies for Snowbooks.

The first, and heading your way this time next year, is SHARKPUNK - an anthology of pulpy shark-themed stories that cover every speculative fiction sub-genre from steampunk to urban horror, by way of war-time tales of terror and post-modernist dark fantasy. SHARKPUNK features all new stories, from a host of genre writers, working at the top of their game, that includes the likes of Gary McMahon, Al Ewing and Toby Frost.

And after that, there's Mr William Shakespeare's Tales of Cthulhu*, which blends some of the Bard's most well-known and best-loved plays with the eldritch squamous horrors of H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

In other Short Story Saturday-related news, The Book of the Dead, edited by Jared Shurin, and which features my mummy-themed love story Egyptian death and the afterlife: mummies (Rooms 62-3), has been nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award, for Best Anthology, which is nice.




* Working title.

Steampunk Thursday: Alice Aid - A Night of Alternative Music & Comedy

Just a quick reminder that I shall be attending the Alice Aid night of alternative music and comedy, to help raise funds for the production of Alice on Mars - The Movie, this Saturday 10 May 2014, from 7.00pm until midnight!

To find out more about Alice Aid, click this link. To find out more about Alice on Mars - The Movie, follow this link, and pledge your support today!

Thought for the Day

"No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."

~ C S Lewis

May the 4th be with you

Free Comic Book Day

Three quarters of Family Green spent Saturday in central London, enjoying all that Free Comic Book Day had to offer.

First it was off to Forbidden Planet to say hello to Tharg's representative on Earth (a.k.a. 2000AD and Megazine editor) Matt Smith and Tiernen Trevallion (who illustrated one of my Inferno! short stories years ago), who were appearing along with artist extraordinaire Henry Flint.

The unsurprisingly busy 2000AD signing at Forbidden Planet.

Matt Smith, Henry Flint and Tiernen Trevallion sign their lives away.

Tiernen Trevallion, illustrator of The Plague Pit.

Next we headed into the heart of Soho to Gosh! Comics, where half of Family Green made the most of the art activities on offer for the discerning younger comic book fan.

Window art being created to mark Free Comic Book Day as we watched.

I'm not sure who's taking advice on creating comics from whom here.

All in all it was another inspiring day, and we didn't do too badly on the free comic books front either.

Short Story Saturday: Das Puppenhaus

The print edition of Diabolos MMXIV arrived from Germany via snail mail the other day, and quite a doorstop of a publication it is too.

The best thing about it is that the title of my own contribution, The Doll's House, translates as Das Puppenhaus.

You can pick up the print edition of Diabolos MMXIV here, and the eBook version here.

Genießen!

Zombie Friday: Dead Wake

All her life, all Courtney has ever wanted is a quiet, settled life. But life never works out as planned, and Courtney's about to find herself in the middle of a nightmare from which she can never escape, when the dead wake...

I've been sitting on this one for a while now (nine months to be precise) but I'm thrilled to be able to reveal today that I am writing a series of zombie stories for Ultra Pro, the leading global supplier of investment protection products.

These new novellas are linked to Ultra Pro's Dead Wake line. The first tale involves a character called Courtney, who works at the aptly-named Flesh Vault, and who also happens to appear on deck protectors and a play mat, illustrated by award-winning concept artist Corlen Kruger.

(Readers of a sensitive disposition might not want to check out the following link, but if you're a fan of savage, no-holds-barred, explicit, 18-rated, zombie, brain-chomping mayhem, and the rest, then click away.)

Hunger for Revenge is Chapter One in a planned trilogy of eBook novellas and you can read an opening taster (as it were) here.

Special thanks must go to m'colleague Iain Lowson, without whom I wouldn't be posting this post, and if you like what you've read so far, you can purchase the eBook at the bargain price of $0.99 or 77p here.

I would say enjoy, but instead I'll just say, its best to be prepared to be scared. ;-)

Steampunk Thursday: Forthcoming Events

I have a couple of events coming up this month that readers of my Pax Britannia Steampunk novels might be interested in.

Alice Aid
Saturday 10 May 2014 - 7.00pm-12.00am

I shall be attending the Alice Aid night of alternative music and comedy, to help raise funds for the production of Alice on Mars - The Movie! To find out more about Alice Aid, click this link. To find out more about Alice on Mars - The Movie, follow this link.



Frome Steampunk Extravaganza II
Friday 30 May - Sunday 1 June 2014

I shall also be attending the FSE II this year. Last year's event was, by all accounts, a great success, so I'm looking forward to meeting the South-West Steampunks and spreading the word about Pax Britannia. As well as selling my books, I am expecting to be taking parts in panels and readings over the course of the weekend. So, if you live in the vicinity of Frome, maybe I'll see you there. You can find out more about the event, and a link to buy tickets, here.