Short Story Saturday: Game Over

GAME OVER came out last year and has received some very positive reviews, including this one:

Short story collections are problematic .Too loose thematically and there may be only one or two works of interest. Too tight and every story can be a carbon copy.

Game Over neatly overcomes these difficulties and easily takes its place among the high scores. It does this due to editor Jonathan Green being brave enough to collect together stories and authors which in turn are brave enough to push the boundaries of the stated subject of computer games and produce stories which are relevant to this without being constrained by it.

All the stories are excellent and involving. It Was Beauty by Gav Thorpe pulls your heart strings when you least expect it and Simon Bestwick's The Face Of The Deep scored a total bull's eye with me perfectly evoking my memories of the game which inspired it while taking it in directions you wouldn't have imagined previously.

Most of all it made me remember that when I played these games ,when I hastily reached in my pocket for more coins and eagerly pressed chunky start buttons 90% of what took place while playing was in my imagination.

Buy this book!

You can pick up a copy of GAME OVER for yourself here.

Short Story Saturday: The British Fantasy Awards 2016

Just to let you know that voting for the British Fantasy Awards closes at the end of the month, which is Monday. You can see the suggestions list of eligible titles here, and if you peruse that list you'll notice that both my short stories anthologies SHARKPUNK and GAME OVER are there in the Best Anthology category, while the short stories that appear within in them are in the Best Short Story category.

You are eligible to vote what makes it through the the shortlist if you're:

a) a BFS member
b) attended FantasyCon 2015
c) are attending FantasyCon 2016.

But after that, it's over to the juries; if they decide there's been an egregious omission they'll add it to the list, then deliberate (as happened with YOU ARE THE HERO last year).

If you're eligible, please vote if you can. Not necessarily for any of the above (although that would be nice) but just to make sure you have your say. As Simon Bestwick, whose story The Face of the Deep from GAME OVER is eligible in the Best Short Story category, says, "Take part. The more people do, the fairer the selection process will be, and the more meaningful the award."

Short Story Saturday: GAME OVER

While Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland still has over two days left to run, it's time that I drew your attention to another new project of mine.

GAME OVER is a collection of horror stories inspired by classic arcade games. And in the sinister seaside amusement arcades of the British coast, as well as the surreal worlds of the 8-bit shoot-'em-ups and platformers, there is much horror to be found.

This anthology draws together a veritable High Score table of writers, including the 'Godfather of Indie Games' Design James Wallis, and BAFTA-nominated scriptwriter and New York Times bestselling author James Swallow, as well as Simon Bestwick, one of "the most important writers of contemporary British horror” (according to Ramsey Campbell), and Judge Dredd scriptwriter Michael Carroll, while games designer and one-time Warhammer Loremaster Gav Thorpe has taken a break from dragon-riding elves and the grim darkness of the far future to contribute a tale.

After swimming with sharks and lived to tell the tale, a number of SHARKPUNK contributors are back to harry us with tales inspired by arcade games as well as arcade gaming, including multi-award winning editor (and writer) Jonathan Oliver, mistress of the macabre Sarah Peploe, and co-editor of Holdfast Magazine Laurel Sills.

GAME OVER also introduces you to some writers you may not have heard of - yet! The likes of Tim Major, Alexandra Peel, George Pickett, and Adam Chillman.

GAME OVER is published by the award winning UK publisher Snowbooks Ltd and will be booting up and invading your reality very soon!