Win a walk-on part in Anno Frankenstein!

Just a quick reminder about the latest competition I'm running...

It's not long before I commence work on my next Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein. And it could feature YOU!

The Prize

A walk on part in the next Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Anno Frankenstein, due to be published by Abaddon Books in 2011. It will be up to me how you appear in the book and whether you're a hero, a villain or a name on a tombstone, but your name will appear somewhere within the book.

How to Enter

All you have to do to qualify is create your own Pax Britannia scene - out of Lego! It can be from any of the already published Pax Britannia novels (mine or Al Ewing's) or the forthcoming Dark Side (which is out soon). It could even be from the as yet unwritten Anno Frankenstein, using Mark Harrison's stunning cover for inspiration.

So, if you're up to the challenge here's what you need to do:

1) Create your Lego model.

2) Take a photograph of it.

3) Email your photograph, along with your name, to paxbritannia@hotmail.co.uk.

4) Do all of this by 31 October 2010.

Good Luck!

33

Just a quick reminder that on Tuesday 5 October, at 6.30pm, I shall be one of the authors reading extracts from their short stories, published in 33, at Richmond Library. Also appearing will be Patrick Binding, Susannah Rickards and publisher Bobby Nayyar.

From 4–7 October, fourteen of the 33 authors will be reading at events in Westminster, Richmond, Islington and Hammersmith. This includes some rising stars such as Nikesh Shukla and Tena Stivicic and some more established names such as Debi Alper and Daisy Goodwin.

The readings form one of the highlights of the Mayor's Story of London Festival, which features more than 100 events across the capital and runs from 1-10 October.

Here's Bobby, Publisher of Glasshouse Books, to tell you a little more:

‘The aim of the Story of London festival is to celebrate London’s past, present and future. This is precisely what we set out to achieve in 33. Each story has brought something new to our understanding of this great city.’

So, maybe I'll see you next Tuesday...

Gamebook Adventures: Revenant Rising

More exciting news from Tin Man Games...

UK Games Day OK!

So, Sunday was Games Day UK and I woke early, excited at the prospect of catching up with old friends, enjoying all the news things GW has to offer and generally thrilling at the thought of immersing myself in the worlds of Warhammer and 40K for a few hours.

I arrived at the NEC before 9am, fully prepared to queue for a goodly while and then - wonder of wonders bumped into Mark of My Favourite Books. He ushered me along to join him and his wife Liz at the very front of the queue* which also happened to be in site of the Black Library stands.

At 9.40am, we were actually let in early and so I hurried with Mark to the BL sales stand, picking up a signed copy of Jim Swallow's Bloodline**. while I was there I picked up Clint Werner's latest, Wulfrik***, and Darius Hinks' Warrior Priest, along with two new audio dramas, Jim's Garro: Oath of Moment and Waiting Death by Steve Lyons.

I spent a while chatting with Christian Dunn and the Black Library Digital stand and saw my short story The Relic presented as part of an eBook on an iPad. I also caught up on all the news with Head of BL George Mann. I then dropped by the author signing stands and met Chris Wraight (author of the excellent Iron Company) for the first time but missed editor/author Nick Kyme, who was busy being interviewed at the time. I waved at Dan Abnett (which is not unusual at these things) and got to admire Xhalax's Titan Crew costume posse firsthand.

Other highlights of the day were catching the new trailer of the CGI Ultramarines movie (scripted by Dan Abnett) and seeing a tantalising sculpture on the Forgeworld stand of a Necron Tomb Stalker. The new Dark Eldar Codex looked pretty tasty too. I also had to fight to resist parting with a shed load of cash for the new Deathwatch book from Fantasy Flight Games and Forgeworld's Imperial Armour Volume IX - The Badab War Part 1.

But for me Games Day is all about the Black Library and this year's (my fifthteenth!) was awesome. So roll on Games Day 2011!

You can read more about other people's experiences of the day here, at Dan's blog, and here, courtesy of Liz of My Favourite Books.

* It's all about who you know!

** An exclusive chapbook produced especially for the day.

*** Anything by Clint is a must for me - especially if it's one of his Bad Guy Books.

JG and the British Library

I've lived in the suburbs of London for fourteen years now and so all the wonders of the capital are effectively there on my doorstep. One of those wonders is the British Library. I've known for a long time that various books of mine are stored within its vaults and, as a result, my name is there on their database.

So, this summer, when I found myself near St Pancras with some time on my hands, I wandered in to check out my listing. This is what I found...

Now I know that having children has aged me, but not by that much! I mean I'm not even 40 yet (well, not quite).

So what's happened here is that the renowned dictionary author Jonathon Green has been credited with all my hard work. And you can rest assured that I'm not going to let this lie... Wish me luck trying to get the problem resolved!

Two weeks in the life of Gamebook Adventures

Tin Man Games have recently posted on their blog about their experiences of producing brand new gamebooks for the iPod generation.

It's certainly an exciting time and these guys are true trailblazers. They're not just re-packaging already published books - every adventure is brand new, especially written with the capabilities of the iDevice in mind.

I'll keep posting news about developments in Gamebook Adventures and you can read more for yourself here.

Pax Britannia Lego

Anyone considering entering the Anno Frankenstein competition I'm currently running should check these out.






Congratulations to Sparshott and Son! Ladies and gentlemen, the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down! They're going to be a tough act to follow!


Good luck!