Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces anthology on sale now!

Rebellion are clearly having a massive clearout of their warehouse since loads - and I mean loads - of grpahic novels and other books are heavily discounted over on their webstore.

Among the books that have been knocked down massively in price is the Scarlet Traces short story anthology, which includes a contribution from me: Wonderful Things.

Another book that is currently massively discounted is Judge Fear's Big Day Out and Other Stories, which features four of my Judge Dredd short stories - Psimple Psimon, One-Way Ticket, You'd Better be Good, for Goodness' Sake, and Miracle on 34th and Peltzer.

So head over to the 2000AD webstore now and grab yourself a bargain!

Steampunk Thursday: Scarlet Traces on the 2000 AD Thrill-Cast

The latest 2000AD Thrill-Cast focuses on the new Scarlet Traces anthology. It consists of an hour-long discussion between Scarlet Traces co-creator and anthology editor Ian Edginton, writer Maura McHugh, Rebellion commissioning editor David Moore join, and 2000 AD publicity droid Molch-R, about the world of Scarlet Traces, the legacy of H G Wells' original novel, imperialism and speculative fiction, and moving from comics into prose.

It's an interesting listen, but when the spectre of steampunk rears its ugly, cog-adorned head, it's clear that people have a problem with steampunk, to the point where Pax Britannia, Rebellion's own steampunk novel series, doesn't even get a passing mention.

You can purchase Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology, which includes my story Wonderful Things, here.

Short Story Saturday: Tales from Wonderland and the Red Planet

Wonderland, the Alice in Wonderland-inspired anthology, has been been undertaking an epic blog tour of late, which has resulted in all sorts of positive comments. But the one which stood out for me was the one that appeared on Set the Tape, and that mentioned my own story, The Hunting of he Jabberwock.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine (#412), features a piece by Stephen Jewell about the Scarlet Traces anthology, which mentions my own story, Wonderful Things, and even includes a soundbite from Yours Truly*.

Wonderland: An Anthology , published by Titan Books, and Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology, published by Abaddon Books, are both available to buy now.

* Although I'm not keen on the rather pejorative use of the word 'claims' in that part of the article.

Short Story Saturday: Scarlet Traces

When I returned from MantiCon, last weekend, I was delighted to find the hardback of the Scarlet Traces anthology waiting for me. Edited by Ian Edginton, contributing authors were simply given the brief of writing a story set somewhere within the timeline of the Scarlet Traces comics written by Ian, and illustrated by D'Israeli (a.k.a. Matt Brooker).

I first discovered Scarlet Traces when it appeared in the Judge Dredd Megazine, the series having originally been conceived as a partially animated serial, intended for the now-defunct website Cool Beans World.

The premise, for anyone who doesn't know, is that after the Martians' failed invasion of Earth, in H G Wells' The War of the Worlds, the British Empire retro-engineers the aliens' technology and uses it to expand even further. But the Martin menace is not done, and something is draining young women of blood whose bodies are being washed up on the banks of the Thames near Whitechapel...

There are now numerous graphic novels continuing the saga, and I had the original one signed years ago by D'Israeli. I took as the launching off point of my story something that is mentioned in passing in one panel in Book 2, The Great Game. Fans of the Pax Britannia series may find the writing style feels a little familiar and it features two of my ongoing interests, Ancient Egypt and Mars.

Scarlet Traces: A War of the Worlds Anthology is published by Abaddon Books on 5th September, and is the third anthology I have been published in this year.