Inspiration - Fruiting Bodies

Back in April 2007 I wrote my first Ulysses Quicksilver novella, entitled Fruiting Bodies. As anyone who has already read it will be able to tell you, the climax of the story takes place at Kew Gardens in London.

The inspiration for the story came from several stories, not least of all eco-disaster TV dramas from the 70s and 80s - namely the BBC's adaptation of The Day of the Triffids and the classic Doctor Who adventure The Seeds of Doom.

I recently discovered that the writer of The Seeds of Doom, Robert Banks Stewart, as well as being inspired in part by John Wyndham's tale of vegetable vengeance, lived with his family close to Kew Gardens which directly inspired billionaire Harrison Chase's estate. Banks Stewart is even supposed to be descended from Joseph Banks, the botanist who took part in Captain Cook's first great voyage and was almost single-handedly responsible for stocking Kew Gardens in the first place.

I think, subconsciously at least, another of the inspirations for my story Fruiting Bodies was this illustration by Martin McKenna of a plant golem, that appears in the Fighting Fantasy gamebook Legend of Zagor.

As any fan of the Fourth Doctor's adventures will be able to tell you, McKenna himself was inspired by the humanoid form of the Krynoid, the alien intra-galactic weed that threatens Earth in - you guessed it - The Seeds of Doom.

(You can pick up Fruiting Bodies now as part of The Ulysses Quicksilver Short Story Collection for the Kindle, or your preferred eReader of chocie, here.)

A new Fighting Fantasy Adventure Gamebook!

As you may already know, Ian Livingstone - who co-created of the Fighting Fantasy series with Steve Jackson - is writing a new gamebook to be published on 27 August 2012 - 30 years to the day since The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public.

Ian has kept the details of the gamebook very close to his chest, not even releasing a name. However, he has been dropping various hints on Twitter. And apparently, he's going to leave the choice of title to the public. Just watch this space to be a part of gamebook history.

Coming soon from Tin Man Games...

2012 - The Year of the Gamebook?

The Tin Man over at Tin Man Games, believes that 2012 might well be the year of the Gamebook. Here's why.

Happy Birthday, Tony Hough!

As regular readers of this blog will know, Tony Hough is the artist who produced both the internal illustrations and cover for my second FF commission, Knights of Doom.

It was his painting of the Chaos Steed and its Beastman rider which really made the book stand out from all the others in the series, thanks to a palette that was predominantly based around purple.

Skip forwards some ten years or so and I was putting the finishes touches to the updated and expanded version of Bloodbones, ready for publication by Wizard Books. I discovered that Martin McKenna, who had already produced the cover, was not available to draw the internals, but was delighted to hear that Tony would be doing so instead.

His style and skill had moved on in the past decade and I feel that his illustrations for Bloodbones have a lightness and depth that make them among some of the best black and whites he’s produced. The detail in these images is astonishing and I love how he has turned what were my flights of fancy into living and breathing men and monsters.

Last year, Tony brought out a book of his artwork called, appropriately enough, Fragments - The Fantasy Art of Tony Hough.

It's his birthday today, so if you feel like getting him a present, why not order follow this link to order yourself a copy?

There's nothing quite like a real book

Incredible...

Follow this blog and win a prize... possibly

One of my professional aims for this year is to have 100 (or more) people following this blog. Currently (as of typing this) there are 78 followers.

What I propose is that once the number of followers reaches 100 (or more) I will carry out some sort of prize draw. I'm not exactly sure what the prize will be yet, but it will involve free stuff and/or some sort of unique opportunity.

Anybody who is a follower will be eligible so if you're already following JonathanGreenAuthor.com you're sorted. Equally, anyone who joins from here on in will be eligible. I will announce the prize draw once the magic number of 100 has been hit, but won't make it that very day, giving more of you the chance to be in with a chance, as it were.

So, watch this space and tell all your friends!