Monday 30 November 2015

Happy St Andrew's Day from Scottish Miscellany!

Seeing as how it's St Andrew's Day - hello to all my Scottish fans - I thought it worth reminding you that I wrote a book about all things Scottish, once upon a time.


And do you know what's really good about this book? My Scottish Miscellany is now in a new edition - and yes, you did read that right, it does say that I'm the best-selling author of Skyhorse Publishing's Christmas Miscellany. Speaking of which, it's 1st December tomorrow...

The Warhammer 40,000 Fifty Quick Reads eBundle

Continuing the Cyber Monday madness, Black Library are offering - for one day only! - this amazing eBundle, featuring 50 Warhammer 40K short stories, by 38 different authors, with my own Black Templars story The Relic making yet another appearance.


So don't delay - download today!

Cyber Monday Madness

It's Cyber Monday, so why not considering purchasing a Pax Britannia eBook, or the Temple of the Spider God gamebook app, or Warlock's Bounty: Revenge of the Sorcerer over on Google Play, or even GAME OVER - a book all about cyber-related shenanigans?


Thought for the Day

The Doctor is such a familiar character, do kids think you're actually him?

"It's lovely. I'm still Peter, but when I walk into a room I get all the smiles the Doctor would get. The other day I had a little girl come up to me and throw her arms around my neck, crying: 'Doctor Who, Doctor Who.' 

"It's very easy to make people happy when they're automatically glad to see you and you just have to be nice to them in return. Which is a pretty good rule for life. Just show up and don't be horrible, and you'd be surprised how much people like it."

~ Peter Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor

Sunday 29 November 2015

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain - The Eleventh Hour!*

There are only eleven hours to go until The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Kickstarter funds (at 11.00pm on Sunday, UK time). If you've not backed it yet, don't miss out on this unique opportunity.


You can read about my involvement in the project here.


* And don't worry, I know that's not what the expression 'eleventh hour' means, it was just too good a phrase not to use it. ;-)

Saturday 28 November 2015

Dragonmeet 2015 - one week to go!


There's only one week to go until Dragonmeet, where I will be launching my brand new, choose your path adventure gamebook Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland. The launch itself will happen at 12.00pm - after the Jackson and Livingstone signing at the Fighting Fantasy stand that is next door to mine.

Click image to enlarge.

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is going to feature in the event programme too, partly in the form of this rather fine advert...


... and partly in a piece I've written about converting Lewis Carroll's classic children's book.

So if you're in the West London/Ibis Hotel Earls Court area, why not stop by and say hello? Just look for this banner!



Friday 27 November 2015

Black Snow Friday

It's Black Friday! And you know what they say - if you can't beam 'em, join 'em.

So why not log on to www.snowbooks.com, check out their selection of eBooks and then enter the code BLACKSNOWDAY50% to get 50% off all eBooks? And that includes  SHARKPUNK, GAME OVER and YOU ARE THE HERO. So what are you waiting for?

The Snowbooks' ebooks page can be found at the end of this link.


Gamebook Friday: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland

As of writing there are only three days to go until The Warlock of Firetop Mountain Kickstarter funds (at 11.00pm on Sunday, UK time). If you've not backed it yet, don't miss out on this unique opportunity.


In other Kickstarter gamebook news, we're just waiting on the delivery of Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland from the printers in Poland, which will be here imminently. I can't wait to unleash this, my 16th gamebook, upon the world.


And finally, yesterday I was sent the cover image for my next piece of interactive fiction... but you'll just have to wait until another time to find out more about that one. ;-)

Thursday 26 November 2015

Steampunk Thursday: Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland

On 26 November 1865, the mass market edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published. And now, 150 years later, this is on the horizon...




Monday 23 November 2015

Happy 52nd Birthday, Doctor Who!

He may over 2,000 years old, but today actually marks the 52nd anniversary of Doctor Who appearing for the first time on terrestrial television sets, on 23 November 1963.

It also means it's already two years since the 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor aired, in what was the world's biggest simulcast at the time.

It seems that this month is all about anniversaries. On Thursday it will be the 150th anniversary of the mass market publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and hopefully, by then, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland will be poised to be unleashed upon the world.

So, see you Thursday!

Thought for the Day

"Being a writer is about writing. Full-stop."

~ Chuck Wendig, Author

Saturday 21 November 2015

Short Story Saturday: The Sssentence isss Death...

The Judge Dredd Megazine has launched a Dark Judges short story competition*. I've had short stories appear in the Megazine before and recently submitted another one for publication, but I've never written one about Judges Fire, Fear, Mortis and Death.


You can write about any aspect of the foetid four. Your story can be set during Necropolis, the Day of Chaos, or even or Deadworld. It could be told from the point of view of Dredd, Psi-Judge Anderson, or the Dark Judges themselves.


Stories must be no longer than 3,000 words and should be emailed as an rtf file to dreddlines@2000ADonline.com, with your name, address and email address at the top of the document. You are also restricted to just one entry per person.


The winner will receive a stunning replica Judge Death badge, courtesy of of Planet Replicas, while the two runners-up will each get a copy of the Dark Justice hardback collection. All three stories will be published in the Meg in 2016. Deadline for entries is 19 January 2016. Ssso get ssscribbling, sssinnersss!



* The competition is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland.

Friday 20 November 2015

Gamebook Friday: Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland

It's not long now until Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland is published, and coming not long after that is another new project from the Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland stable...


Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland Colouring Book is a spin-off title from the soon to be released gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, that backers of the original Kickstarter helped to fund. It was first proposed by publishing supremo Emma Barnes when she saw Kev Crossley's finished illustrations for the book. And now it's an actual thing, the perfect Christmas gift for anyone who enjoys indulging their artistic side, no matter how old or young they are.

You can pre-order the book now direct from Snowbooks, and I will have a few to sell as Dragonmeet on Saturday 5 December.



Monday 16 November 2015

Thought for the Day

“Night-time awakens a more alert chemistry in me.”

~ Tom Wolfe, self-confessed night writer

Saturday 14 November 2015

Short Story Saturday: Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu... Coming Soon!

Coming soon to Kickstarter, a squamous*, cyclopean** anthology of short stories that blend the best of Shakespeare with the worst of H P Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.


Please consider joining the Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu Facebook Group and help spread the word about this new book. After all, Kickstarter projects only work if people get to hear about them. And some indecently brilliant authors have already signed up to the anthology - and signed their sanity over to Great Cthulhu in the process.


Talking of Kickstarters, three weeks today I'll be attending Dragonmeet, and launching my brand new, Kickstarter-funded gamebook Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland on an unsuspecting gaming public.

Click image to enlarge.

The book is going to have a substantial presence in the event programme too, including this rather fine advert.


This year the Special Guests are Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone - not to mention Lone Wolf creator Joe Dever) - so if you're in the West London/Ibis Hotel Earls Court area, why not stop by and say hello?




* It's not actually going to be scaly.

** It's not actually going to be that big either.

Monday 9 November 2015

Saturday 7 November 2015

Short Story Saturday: One-Way Ticket

I stumbled across a review today, of a story that first came out a year and a half ago. It's for Part 1 of One-Way Ticket. It comes with a picture attached, the relevance of which you'll see as you read on.


That imposing figure above is the only artwork for this story, as it’s a two-page prose piece. But just because it doesn’t have pictures doesn’t mean it’s any less of a slice of Dredd and The Meg as what you’ll find in 2000 AD or the Megazine. And like most of the good stories, Dredd is more of a support character, leaving the focus on Judge Thomas Arnold. It seems Judge Arnold has taken as much of the punishment Mega-City One dishes out as he can take. So what’s his other option? A one-way ticket out, of course! Simple, right? When has that ever been the case…

Monday 2 November 2015

Thought for the Day

"Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it who makes a difference."


~ Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari

Sunday 1 November 2015

Forthcoming...

Seeing as it's a new month, I thought it timely to review what's coming up in the next six weeks, or so...


Several years after the events of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Alice finds herself back in Wonderland and called upon to save the world of playing cards and talking animals from the increasingly deranged Queen of Hearts. But all is not as it first appears in the fluctuating dream world and soon Alice is battling to save herself from the nightmare that is rapidly overtaking the realm.

 Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Alice hadn’t drunk from the bottle labelled ‘Drink Me’, or if she hadn’t joined the Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse for tea? Well now you can find out. In Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, YOU decide which route Alice should take, which perils to risk, and which of Wonderland’s strange denizens to fight. But be warned – whether Alice succeeds in her quest or meets a dire end as the nightmare escalates will be down to the choices YOU make.

Are you ready to go back down the rabbit-hole?


Imagine if it had been William Shakespeare, England’s greatest playwright, who had discovered the truth about the Great Old Ones and the cosmic entity we know as Cthulhu, rather than the American author Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

Imagine if Stratford’s favourite son had been the one to learn of the dangers of seeking after forbidden knowledge and of the war waged between the Elder Gods in the Outer Darkness, and had passed on that message, to those with the eyes to see it, through his plays and poetry.

Welcome to the world of Shakespeare vs Cthulhu! An anthology of tales of cosmic horror and the Elizabethan men and women who find themselves battling to resist the call of Cthulhu. Coming soon to Kickstarter.


In his ongoing adventures in the services of the Empire, Ulysses Quicksilver – hero and dandy – is increasingly confronted with the darkness at the heart of Britannia. This worthy tome collects three tales of desperation.

Evolution Expects: After more than 150 years as the supreme power on the planet, the British Empire has become stagnant and corrupt. The new Prime Minister, Devlin Valentine, promises change, but there are those who lack the patience for politics. With a dangerous vigilante stalking the streets, a monster on the loose in the East End and rival gangs fighting for control, there may be nothing Ulysses – trapped in the notorious Bedlam Hospital – can do to prevent a catastrophic metamorphosis!

Blood Royal: With the city, and the Empire, reeling from the transformations of a month before, a twisted new religion rises from the devastation. In the meantime, in Europe, the spectre of war rears its ugly head; and rumours hint at monsters, things of myth, on both sides. Ulysses Quicksilver, fighting for peace and for reason – for civilisation itself – follows a path that leads him from the shattered streets of London to the icy wastes at the heart of a dark and bloody empire.

Dark Side: Searching for his missing brother Barty, Ulysses heads to the British Lunar colonies. The trail leads him and his faithful butler into the path of unsolved murders, battling robots, shady millionaires and uncanny inventions. Stalled when he ends up on the wrong side of Lunar law and hunted by a mysterious eyepatch-wearing stranger, the dandy adventurer will uncover, in a secret base on the dark side of the moon, truths that will challenge everything he knew about Britannia…

The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus: Volume 2 will be published on Thursday 3rd December 2015


I shall be one of the guests attending Dragonmeet this year on Saturday 5th December. This will be one of the first occasions you will have of buying Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland which I will also sign for you, of course. So, if you're in the area, why not stop by?