A Winter Solstice Selection

Having been a published author since 1993, over the years I have written numerous short stories, books and games that have a strong connection to Christmas. Just check out these if you're interested...

Scrooge & Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

A sequel to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas

A festive ACE Gamebook inspired by the legends and folklore of Yuletide.

'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas

A rules-lite festive RPG that's fun for all the family.

Christmas Past

A Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia short story set at Christmas time.

(Published as part of Pax Britannia: Human Nature)

Christmas Explained

Everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas but were afraid to ask.

Christmas Miscellany

The US edition of What is Myrrh Anyway? which was the precursor to Christmas Explained.

Journey of the Magi

A Warhammer 40,000K short story in which three wise men follow a star.

Happy Yule!

The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 8: Christmas Past

Twelve years ago I wrote a festive-themed Ulysses Quicksilver short story, which was published with my third Pax Britannia novel Human Nature.

Christmas Past, as the story was called, featured a murder mystery set in Oxford, or at least the Pax Britannia universe version of the City of Dreaming Spires.

You can still read Christmas Past, as it appears in the Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus Vol. 1, which is still on sale from Amazon.

The Krampus Kalendar: B is for The BOX of Delights

The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield, remembered as much for the BBC's 1984 dramatisation of it. In the story, Kay Harker returns from boarding school only to find himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box, which allows the owner to go small, go swift, experience magical wonders contained within, and travel into the past.


The dramatisation is noted for its Yuletide atmosphere (it is set during Christmas, after all) and has become something of a nostalgic treat for followers of cult TV. The seasonal theme music is Victor Hely-Hutchinson's wonderful orchestral arrangement of "The First Noël" from his Carol Symphony.

If you've never seen it, it's worth checking it out, and if you remember it fondly from your childhood, as I do, enjoy the following clip as you take a trip down memory lane and recall a creepy children's Christmas classic...

I have made my own homage to The Box of Delights in 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas, and will do the same in 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, which is currently funding on Kickstarter.

   

To find out more about the festive season and its many traditions, order your copy of the Chrismologist's Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts today!

The book is also available in the United States as Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Christmas.

      

Gamebook Friday: 'Twas - The Krampus Night Before Christmas

Over the years I have written a number of Christmas-themed books and stories, most notably the non-fiction title Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts (a.k.a. What is Myrrh Anyway? a.k.a. Christmas Miscellany).

     

In terms of fiction there's the Pax Britannia novella Christmas Past and the short story Claws.

     

I've also written two festive-themed Judge Dredd short stories, You'd Better Be Good, For Goodness' Sake and Miracle on 34th and Peltzer. And last year I self-published the novella Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man.

My latest Christmas-themed endeavour is the fifth title in my ever-growing ACE Gamebooks series, and you can find out more about it by joining the new ACE Gamebooks Facebook Group now.

The Kickstarter to fund production of 'Twas - The Krampus Night Before Christmas launches on 1st January 2019.

Short Story Saturday: Ain't No Sanity Clause

It's Saturday again (already!) which means it's time for some more short story news...

I shall be appearing in new publisher Fringeworks' first collection of Christmas stories, Ain't No Sanity Clause, edited by Theresa Derwin. The brief for story pitches was to combine psychopaths and other lunatics with a Christmas theme. So that's what I did.

The book's out on 10 December and my story is called - appropriately enough - Claws.

Here's the cover by artist Harry Raymond.

Of course I've tackled psychos and Christmas together before in 2009's Pax Britannia novella Christmas Past, which is still available to download for free here.

And in other short story news, in case you didn't know about it already, by first horror-themed short story collection is available now in eBook form*.

Dark Heart collects six of my horror-themed short stories under one cover**, including The Doll's House that first appeared in Solaris Books' House of Fear anthology, and is something of an eBook experiment in self-publishing.

Simply click on the appropriate cover below to download your copy today.

* The print edition is on its way too.

** All be it a cover formed from zeros and ones inside the eReader of your choice.

Steampunk Thursday: Literary Junk Food

The quote below comes from this review of my Ulysses Quicksilver festive short Christmas Past:

"Green's writing is the literary equivalent of your favorite junk-food - it's bad for you, but you enjoy it anyhow."

Classic.

Pitt Rivers and the Christmas Killer - a.k.a. just another day podcasting in Oxford

So yesterday I was up in Oxford, visiting Abaddon HQ to record a new podcast. David Moore (Abaddon/Solaris Desk Editor) took the role of interviewer and Colm Bannon (Marketing Intern) was there as well to contribute his thoughts on Nazis as villains, among other things.

Anyway, it all seemed to go very well (even though I did get a little tongue-tied on a couple of occasions) and I even got to give a reading from Time's Arrow Part 1.

A hard morning's podcasting was then followed by a very pleasant lunch with the guys from Abaddon/Solaris, some of the guys from 2000AD and the guy - Angus Abranson - from Cubicle 7 Entertainment.

Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers -
not Angus Abranson

With lunch and business done for the day, I wandered into Oxford itself and found myself at the (not so) newly re-furbished Pitt Rivers Museum. My Pax Britannia short story Christmas Past takes place in Oxford, and it's at the PRM that Ulysses Quicksilver discovers a vital clue to solving the mystery of the Christmas Killer. Being there reminded me of the story and that Abaddon are currently running a Pax Britannia-themed competition through the Steampunk Forum at BrassGoggles.co.uk.

So, if you'd like to win some signed PB books, get over there now, by following this link.

(When the podcast's up on iTunes, I'll let you know.)

National Short Story Week

In case you didn't know, it's National Short Story Week at the moment. (Don't worry if you didn't know, it is the first one after all.)

I love short stories. I enjoy reading them and I particularly enjoy writing them. In fact, I've had somewhere in the region of 50 odd published over the last 15 years. As a literary form they allow you to try something new that you maybe couldn't (or wouldn't want to) sustain for the length of a novel, or even a novella.

For example, I've written stories in the third person present tense, I've told stories where events happen out of order, I've written stories that are basically a one-trick pony with a twist in the tail (tale?).

Anyway, the point of this post is to say that as it's the first National Short Story Week, and as it's one calendar month until Christmas, you can download and read one of my short stories for free. It was actually given away by Abaddon Books last Christmas and it first appeared in the back of the Pax Britannia novel Human Nature.

If you've not read it already, follow this link and you can download it for free now.

Enjoy.

The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Vol.1)

The postman struggled to deliver this today...

Opening up the (it has to be said) huge box I was delighted to discover the following lurking inside...

Yes, The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Vol.1) is here! Weighing in at over half a kilogram and 734 pages it is a hefty tome indeed and the ideal way of catching up with all things steampunk and Pax Britannian if you're new to the series or a late-comer.

Contained within a brand spanking new cover by Simon 'Pye' Parr are the first three Ulysses Quicksilver novels - Unnatural History, Leviathan Rising and Human Nature - as well as two Pax Britannia novellas - Vanishing Point and Christmas Past. And on top of all that, there's also a brand new introduction to the series and the character of Ulysses Quicksilver written by yours truly.

Featuring a wonderful new design for the series by Pye as well, it's available for an astonishingly reasonable £9.99 from Abaddon Books and even features a rather wonderful quote from SFX magazine on the back. You can pick up your copy here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here's hoping that Father Christmas brought you everything you hoped for and that you and yours have a happy and memorable Christmas.

Wishing you a
MERRY CHRISTMAS
and a
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Best wishes

Jonathan Green

And, in case you missed the post earlier in the week, here's a present from me.

Merry Christmas from Pax Britannia and Abaddon Books

Glad tidings I bring, to you and your kin...

Those very generous people at Abaddon Books have a seasonal gift for all eBook readers this year - a FREE Pax Britannia short story, by me, entitled Christmas Past. This special edition also has a couple of extras tucked away inside, including news of some upcoming titles.

Go to www.abaddonbooks.com/download and you can be the proud owner of a little seasonal madness from the world of Ulysses Quicksilver and Pax Britannia too!

Yo, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

A Very Abaddon Christmas

Abaddon Books, the publishers of my Pax Britannia series of books, have made an exciting announcement today regarding a festive treat they've got planned for their loyal readers this Christmas. Check out their news blog here for more details.

The worst horrors are those spawned by Man's own selfish nature

Yes - it's here! Pax Britannia: Human Nature arrived at the Green household this morning and a very nice job of it Abaddon's designers have done too.

Here's what it's all about:

The Whitby Mermaid, prize exhibit of Cruickshanks’ Cabinet of Curiosities, has been stolen. But have no fear; consulting detective Gabriel Wraith is on the case. And he’s not the only one, for wherever there is a mystery to be solved, Ulysses Quicksilver is never very far away. What does the theft of what would appear to be a poorly-conceived fake have to do with the mysterious House of Monkeys? And what of the enigmatic criminal known only as the Magpie?

When Ulysses probes further into the case, he finds himself embarking upon an adventure that will take him to the industrially-polluted North of England and the fishing town where the curious creature was supposedly caught. But there are worse things awaiting him there than mermaids. The moors of Ghestdale are haunted by the savage Barghest beast, while in the abandoned mines beneath the Umbridge estate, impossible abominations lurk in the darkness, waiting. And yet Ulysses Quicksilver is about to discover that the worst horrors are those spawned by Man's own selfish nature.

Trapped within the very heart of darkness, with his body and sanity threatened, can he escape a fate worse than death ­ with both still intact ­ before one man's insane quest for immortality comes to fruition?

The novel includes the brand-new, specially-commissioned short story Christmas Past, and some unique Magna Britannia-style advertisements in the back.

Remember, you can pick up your copy of Human Nature, and get it signed by me at the same time, at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, tomorrow - Friday 9 January - between 6.00pm and 7.00pm.

Christmas Past

There's more news from Abaddon Books of a vaguely festive nature. However, what's probably of most interest to readers of this blog is that the fourth Pax Britannia novel (and the third featuring dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver) is all ready for a January release. And what's more, Human Nature comes complete with an original novella, especially commissioned for the festive season, entitled Christmas Past.

As if that wasn't enough to to save you from those post-Christmas blues, you can also meet me on 9 January 2009 at the Shaftsbury Avenue Forbidden Planet store in London, where I will be signing copies of Human nature from 6.00pm to 7.00pm. Maybe I'll see you there.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Has finally been laid to rest. Confused? Well don't be.

Today I finished writing Christmas Past, the exclusive short story that will appear at the back of Human Nature, my next novel from Abaddon Books. It's a traditional festive tale of murder, mystery and mayhem and features, of course, dandy agent of the Crown, Ulysses Quicksilver.

And what's even more exciting is the fact that Human Nature can now go off to the printers and be out in time for a Pax Britannia book-signing at the Forbidden Planet store in London. I will of course update you regarding this event, via this blog, as and when I details have been finalised.

So, watch this space.