World Octopus Day

Anyone who has read my work for a while, particularly my gamebooks, will know that I have a bit of a thing for cephalopods.

I have always been fascinated by these highly intelligent, boneless mollusks, starting with legends of giant squid. In fact, I even have a print of a giant cephalopod on my wall. I based this image from my map of Neverland on the self-same print.

The Terrorsquid, by Jonathan Green.

I should warn you that there are minor spoilers ahead...

There is a Giant Octopus in Bloodbones, the Abyssal Horror in Stormslayer shares some features with a giant cephalopod, there's the Terrorsquid in NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!, and a Kraken in Beowulf Beastslayer.

Giant Octopus, by Tony Hough.

One of my books - Doctor Who: Night of the Kraken - even has a cephalopod in the title. And there are squid or octopus-like creatures in 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, and RONIN 47. And that's just the gamebooks.

Giant Squid vs. Ghost Whale, by Neil Googe.

Something very much like a giant squid gets a fair bit of screen time in the second Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Leviathan Rising, and there is a fantastic illustration of a Kraken in Heorot - Roleplaying in the World of Beowulf Beastslayer.

Kraken, by Heraldo Mussolini.

Will there be octopuses and giant squid in future books? Undoubtedly!

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer and Night of the Necromancer hit Brazil

Two of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Stormslayer and Night of the Necromancer, are going to be released soon in Brazil by Jambo Editora. This will double the number of FF adventures of mine that are available in Portuguese.

Here are the covers for the new editions.

Also coming soon from Jambo Editora is the Brazilian edition of The Wicked Wizard of Oz. Watch this space for more info!

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer, Martin McKenna, and Spellbreaker

A had a surprise on Facebook on Wednesday when I was tagged on Facebook, on a post showing a series of stills from Channel 4's 24 Hours in A&E. Why had I been tagged? Because the photos showing a man in the waiting room playing a Fighting Fantasy gamebook to help pass the time, and the gamebook in question was Stormslayer*.

Was this you? If it was drop me a line!

Talking of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, of the seven I have written, one was illustrated by Stephen Player (Stormslayer), one was illustrated by Alan Langford (Spellbreaker), two were illustrated by Tony Hough (Knights of Doom and Bloodbones), and three were illustrated by Martin McKenna (Curse of the Mummy, Howl of the Werewolf, and Night of the Necromancer).

Martin has recently listed a number of his Fighting Fantasy illustrations on ArtPal, including the covers he produced for the Wizard Books' edition of Bloodbones and Spellbreaker. You can marvel at his artistry here and order prints of his illustrations yourself.

While we're on the subject of Spellbreaker, next month marks 25 years since its publication. To commemorate the occasion I will be running a prize draw at the UK Games Expo next weekend. If you buy a book from me over the course of the three days, you will be entered into the prize draw for a chance to win a signed, limited hardback collector's edition of my latest gamebook, NEVERLAND - Here Be Monsters!

* Penned by Yours Truly, in case you didn't already know.

Gamebook Friday: Fighting For Your Fantasy

Justin McCormack has been systematically playing through my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks on his Fighting For Your Fantasy blog and has now tackled all of them.

His playthroughs make for very entertaining reading. If you would like to sample his words, and my adventures, simply click the appropriate link below.


Spellbreaker

Knights of Doom

Curse of the Mummy

Bloodbones

Howl of the Werewolf

Stormslayer

Night of the Necromancer

Happy St Dragon's Day!

Since today it St David's Day, I thought I would draw your attention to works of mine with a Welsh focus... or at least ones featuring dragons!

Actually, my very first published book Spellbreaker features a lot of Welsh names.

When I was starting out as a writer, I consciously tried to steer clear of fantasy cliches in my writing (although a magic sword does appear in Spellbreaker), but one of my earlier gigs was writing an article about Dragons in Warhammer, for White Dwarf magazine, entitled Enter the Dragon.

Dragon-like creatures appear in Knights of Doom and Stormslayer, but there are not technically dragons.

There was a dragon in Warlock’s Bounty: Revenge of the Sorcerer, and there was a Zombie Dragon in Shadows over Sylvania.

I do have ideas for various stories featuring dragons, including a Pax Britannia one, but I just haven't got round to writing them yet.

I gave the old explorer's adage 'Here be Dragons' a twist with my Doctor Who novel Terrible Lizards, and I intend to revisit that concept later this year, in Neverland.

Dragons, look you!

In celebration of St David's Day today, and Google's doodle of the day, if you like your fiction to feature firedrakes, then you should check out these stories of mine.

1       Fighting Fantasy: Stormslayer (2009)

1     Warlock’s Bounty: Revenge of the Sorcerer (2012)

1       Black Library Gamebook: Shadows over Sylvania (2013)

1       Fighting Fantasy: YouAre The Hero – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks (2014)

1       Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland (2015)

Tie-in Tuesday: Public Lending Right loans - 2014/2015

It's rather appropriate that this particular blog post about my PLR earnings for the last year should appear on a Tie-in Tuesday, since the books that boost my income the most, thanks to PLR, are tie-in titles.

It turns out this is my ninth year of doing this, so here's the list of my top ten most library-loaned books for July 2014 - June 2015 (with last year's placings in brackets):

1. (2) Monstrous Missions (Feb 12)

2. (5) The Great Moshling Egg (Dec 13)

3. (3) Zack Binspin (Mar 13)

4. (1) The Night Before Twistmas (Sep 12)

5. (4) The Horror of Howling Hill (Mar 08)

6. (6) Moshi Music Stars (Jan 13)

7. (7) Crisis on Coruscant (Jan 10)

8. (8) Stormslayer (Sep 09)

9. (12) What is Myrrh Anyway? (Oct 08)

10. (9) Moshi Monsters: Moshipedia (Nov 13)

5 Moshi Monsters titles, 2 Doctor Who titles, 1 Star Wars title, 1 Fighting Fantasy gamebook, and 1 non-fiction book.

My most borrowed Fighting Fantasy gamebook was clearly Stormslayer, and my most borrowed Pax Britannia novel (or rather omnibus) was The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus Vol.1.

Tie-in Tuesday: Public Lending Right loans - 2013/2014

I'm now in my eighth year of doing this, so here's the list of my top ten most library-loaned books for July 2013 - June 2014 (with last year's placings in brackets):

1. (3) The Night Before Twistmas (Sep 12)
2. (1) Monstrous Missions (Feb 12)
3. (7) Zack Binspin (Mar 13)
4. (2) The Horror of Howling Hill (Mar 08)
5. (-) The Great Moshling Egg (Dec 13)
6. (5) Moshi Music Stars (Jan 13)
7. (4) Crisis on Coruscant (Jan 10)
8. (6) Stormslayer (Sep 09)
9. (-) Moshi Monsters: Moshipedia (Nov 13)
10. (9) Night of the Necromancer (Apr 10)

This last year has been my most successful year Public Lending Rights-wise. Thank the Lord for tie-in titles, that's what I say. (Only one of my tie-in books didn't appear in my top ten this year, and that was the 2010 Official Doctor Who Annual which I ended up writing most of.)

My Fighting Fantasy titles continue to prove popular, even though some of them were written years ago. Once again, Stormslayer is my most borrowed FF gamebook. (There are nine titles on the following list, because several of the books appear in more than one edition.)

1. (1) Stormslayer (Sep 09)
2. (2) Night of the Necromancer (Apr 10)
3. (6) Bloodbones (Sep 06)
4. (4) Curse of the Mummy (Oct 95)
5. (3) Howl of the Werewolf (Sep 07)
6. (5) Spellbreaker (Jun 93)
7. (6) Bloodbones (Sep 06)
8. (4) Curse of the Mummy (Oct 95)
9. (3) Howl of the Werewolf (Sep 07)

My Pax Britannia books are also good loaners, with the newest title Time's Arrow moving into pole position this year.

1. (2) Time's Arrow (Nov 12)
2. (1) Human Nature (Dec 08)
3. (7) Blood Royal (Jun 10)
4. (4) Leviathan Rising (Mar 08)
5. (8) Unnatural History (Feb 07)
6. (5) Anno Frankenstein (May 11)
7. (3) Evolution Expects (May 09)
8. (9) The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus (Nov 10)
9. (6) Dark Side (Oct 10)

Gamebook Friday: Steam Golems, Stormslayers and Sunday the Seventh of September

As a result of being tagged in a recent post on the British Steampunk Community Facebook page, I discovered Micro Art Studio's Steampunk miniatures, amongst which I found this Security Golem...

After reminding me that I need to write a piece for SFX magazine about Ted Hughes' The Iron Man, the miniature made me think of my own Steam Golem from Stormslayer...

Stephen Player, the artist who illustrated Stormslayer, teaches an illustration class and has used the art brief for the book with his students. As a result, every once in a while new interpretations of his original illustrations appear online, usually over on DeviantArt, such as these...

The last of these images is by the artist Emerson Tung. Emerson also created an alternative image of the Eye of the Storm (the giant fish-shaped brass flying machine) from the book, which appears in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.

And of course YOU ARE THE HERO is going to have its official launch at FIGHTING FANTASY FEST 2014 on Sunday 7 September. Buy your ticket now and become a part of Fighting Fantasy history yourself.

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer

"If you don't already know, a gamebook is something like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, but more like a solo Dungeons & Dragons adventure. You create a character with stats and equipment, then wander through the book exploring the world and solving challenges. You fight monsters (dice are required) and accumulate treasure, in the hopes of beating the final villain at the end of the book. 

"Stormslayer is a great example of the genre, with lots of interesting wrinkles. The quest has you making your way to four different areas in the hopes of acquiring powers of the elements - fire, earth, air and water - all in the hopes of eventually facing off against an evil weather-controlling wizard. There are lots of items and different abilities to find, as well as mini-games and wrinkles like a day-of-the-week system. In addition, the writing is quite well executed, with memorable characters, epic battles and a subtle humor throughout. Recommended!"

You can pick up your own copy of Stormslayer here!

Gamebook Friday: Le Maître des Tempêtes

The postman delivered yet more foreign editions of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks at the weekend, courtesy of Editions Gallimard. This time it was the turn of Le Maître des Tempêtes (a.k.a. Stormslayer).

 Le Maître des Tempêtes

 Le Maître des Tempêtes alongside another recent foreign edition of one of my books.

The inside back cover of Le Maître des Tempêtes features adverts featuring more books by Yours Truly.

Now that Le Maître des Tempêtes is in print, Curse of the Mummy becomes the only FF gamebook of mine not to have been translated into French. I mean there's even a French language version of Temple of the Spider God!

If you are so inclined, you can pick up your copy of Le Maître des Tempêtes here.

Gamebook Friday: Le Maître des Tempêtes

Rather conveniently (seeing as how it's Gamebook Friday) the French edition of Stormslayer - Le Maître des Tempêtes (or Master of Storms) - is published today by Gallimard Jeunesse.

If you are of the French persuasion, or are just a collector of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, you can pick up your copy here.

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer images

A trio of blog posts for you this Gamebook Friday...

Stephen Player - the artist who illustrated my sixth Fighting Fantasy gamebook Stormslayer - has been in touch this week too*. He also lectures at the San Francisco Academy of Art, and his Fantasy illustration students having been producing more illustrations based on the Stormslayer art brief.

And I thought you might like to see them...

Captain Katarina, Scourge of the Eelsea

 

The Abyssal Horror

 

Khaddan Khan, Master of the Thundering Horde

Tremor Worms

Muldwych the Mad Monk attacked by Marsh Wraiths

 

The Ferrovore

Larni the Huntress and the Yeti

 

The Birdmen of the Screaming Canyon

 

The Giant

 

The Magma Beast of Mount Pyre

 

The Stormdrake and the Eye of the Storm

Some of these are simply awesome and surely the artists responsible have fantastic careers in art ahead of them. Who knows, maybe I'll get to work with some of them one day.


* I've heard from Russ Nicholson as well.