Networking

Last Saturday I was on the panel at a Writers’ Networking meeting, run by Writing West Midlands. I was accompanied by Kate Long (The Bad Mother’s Handbook) and Jan Edwards (The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders).

Kate talked about her writing career – how she became a successful published author. It was an interesting tale, one that involved all the usual: perseverance, thick skin, talent, and luck, etc. I then discussed the small press – focussing on The Alchemy Press, obviously – and mainly in the SF, fantasy and horror field. Jan then had to finish off and made a lot of valuable points about submitting one’s work to an anthology (most important of which was ‘read the guidelines’). Judging by the feedback after the formal part of the meeting, our words were well received.

I was glad to see that several members of our writers’ group – Renegade Writers – turned up. Fortunately they didn’t heckle, as they had promised to do so. Thanks, guys.

FantasyCon 2007

I thought it was about time to mention another of my editing stints.

In 2007 I was asked by that year’s FantasyCon committee if I would like to produce (i.e., edit and design) their Souvenir Programme Book. Naturally, I said yes; I was easily persuaded (and in turn I persuaded Jan Edwards to sit in the assistant's chair). So I diligently set about acquiring material by and about the Guests of Honour (Terry Brooks, Michael Marshall Smith and Stephen Jones) and the Master of Ceremonies Peter Crowther.

The FantasyCon 2007 committee were (alphabetically) Jenny Barber, Vicki Cook, Pat Barber, Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan. The convention was held 21-23 September in the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham -- a great city-centre venue. It was interesting, visiting that city, seeing how much things had changed, how much hadn't: I worked in Nottingham from 1975 to 1980.

Front cover painting (Beowulf) by Edward Miller

Terry Brooks: The Magic Works by Mark Yon

To Know Magic by Shawn Speakman

Facing Down the Monster by Terry Brooks

You, Too, Can’t be Michael Marshall Smith by Paul McAuley

At Home With the Smiths by Paula Grainger

Last Glance Back by Michael Marshall Smith

Stephen Jones: Loving the Idiots by Neil Gaiman

The Creative Spirit by Christopher Fowler

The Karloff Quartet by Stephen Jones

Lust for Life by Paul di Fillipo

Narrow, and Other Houses by Stephen Gallagher

Dream a Little Dream for Me by Peter Crowther

The Timeless Genius of Leonardo by Mike Carey

The Horror Writers’ Association by David Riley

Marvin’s Summer Nights by Stephen Jones

Bridge of Dreams by Chaz Brenchley

The Write Fantastic by Sarah Ash

Reasons to Join In by Marie O’Regan

Wake Up in Moloch by Joel Lane

Interior artwork/photos by: Randy Broecker, Judine Brooks, Mike Chinn, Peter Coleborn, Bob Covington, Steve Double, Les Edwards, Chris Fowler, Allen Koszowski, Uli Meyer, John Picacio, Anne Sudworth, Dan Skinner and Mandy Slater.

I was pleased to use Paula Grainger’s piece on her husband, Michael Marshall Smith – her first ever publication. I was a bit concerned about using Neil Gaiman’s article on Stephen Jones, which although rather humorous, could be taken as slight criticism of the GoH. Fortunately Steve loved the piece – he even reprinted it on his own website.

I was very happy with this publication and was pleased to have been invited to produce it.

The Spiral Garden

Way back in the late 1990s Jan Edwards and I discovered that Louise Cooper was a relatively close neighbour of ours – she lived in Bromsgrove, we in Birmingham. We struck up a great friendship with her and her partner, the artist Cas Sandall, but after they moved to a little fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall we only managed to visit once before she sadly died in 2009. In case you are not aware, Louise is the author of books such as The Book of Paradox, The Timemaster Trilogy and the Indigo Saga.

In 2000, Jan put together a book of Louise’s short stories, The Spiral Garden, which included five stories, one original to this collection – “St Gumper’s Feast”. The other tales were: “Cry”, “The Spiral Garden”, “His True and Only Wife” and “The Birthday Battle”. Cas provided the artwork, and Diana Wynne Jones wrote the introduction.

The Spiral Garden was published by the British Fantasy Society in two editions: a regular paperback and a signed hard cover. My involvement was limited. Jan did most of the production work; I acted as advisor and assistant. Regardless of my input, this was a tremendous project and I’m pleased to have been involved.

Ancient Wonders

The Alchemy Press is now seeking submissions for its second anthology of the year: The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders will be edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber. More details can be found here.

More zombie stories...

I am delighted to report that Jan Edwards -- my better half by far -- has a new story in Alt-Zombie, edited by Peter Mark May. It will be published by Hersham Horror Books in June. Jan's story is called "Midnight Twilight", and is an intriguing take on the undead.

Dark Horizons 51

Issue 51 of Dark Horizons (again co-edited with Jan Edwards) appeared towards the end of 2007. The cover was a photograph taken and altered by a member of a local photographic society. Don Barker had created several fabulous Photoshopped images that were – it seemed to me – not fully embraced by many of the typically more conservative society members. Pity.

Anyway, contents wise, DH51 included a brief piece by H P Lovecraft! This was the vignette’s first UK publication.

And between DH’s covers:

What the Moon Brings - H P Lovecraft (introduced by Stephen Jones)

By Right of the Stars - Anne Gay

Roots of the Editor: Ellen Datlow - Jan Edwards *

In His Charge - Nicki Robson

Decayed Gentility - Marion Pitman (v)

The Invisible Prince - David Sutton*

The Perils of Pentavir - Allen Ashley

The Dullitch Assassins - David Lee Stone

Father’s Day - David Turnball

That was My Veil - Ian Hunter (v)

The Children of Monte Rosa - Reggie Oliver

(v) = verse,  * = non-fiction

David Sutton’s article was on the Irish fantasist J Sheridan Le Fanu. In the notes, Sutton said he began writing the piece in the 1970s for a book project that didn’t see completion.

Additional artwork and photos were by Bob Covington, Reggie Oliver, Glenn James, Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards.

Dark Horizons 50

After being away from BFS activities for some years, I was asked to once again edit Dark Horizon. So in spring 2007 issue 50 appeared, edited by Jan Edwards and yours truly. Of course, this being issue 50 we had to celebrate and so asked three past editors to help mark the moment: David Sutton, Debbie Bennett and Mike Chinn.

I note from the editorial that DH50 was a few months late, and this was blamed on my daughter’s broken ankle – she snapped the bones on the first day of a short “break” in Amsterdam. Jan and I had to drive up to Liverpool to collect her from the airport. It was a night of bad – seriously bad – storms. It took us three or four hours to drive 50 miles up the M6!

And to complete the circle: as I type this blog post I am recovering from a broken ankle. Like my daughter, I have a plate holding bones together. But I broke my bones in the less romantic city of Stoke-on-Trent.

Dark Horizons 50 included:

The Bookshop – Murray Ewing

The Roots of the Artist: Anne Sudworth – Jan Edwards *

Death’s Angel’s Shadow – Karl Edward Wagner (v)

In Lonely Places: The Essential Horror Fiction of Karl Edward Wagner – John Howard *

Midnight Sun – Kark Edward Wagner (v)

All Beauty Must Die – Mike Chinn

My Heart Laid Bare: The Work and Art of Joyce Carol Oates – Robert Parkinson *

Apoca ca lypse – Joy ce Car ol O a te s

Fantasycon GoH Speech – Juliet McKenna *

The Ice Game – Sue Anderson

Where the Dead Go – Ian Hunter (v)

Black Angel: John Connolly Interview – Marie O’Regan *

The Woman with the Hair – Ian Hunter

The Phoenix of Fantasy – David Lee Stone *

Murdoch Celeste – Allen Ashley

(v) = verse, * = non-fiction

The colour cover painting was by Anne Sudworth. Internal artwork was by Bob Covington, Stephen Jones and Peter Coleborn.

That year’s FantasyCon was held in Nottingham, over the weekend 21-23 September. The Guests of Honour were Terry Brooks, Michael Marshall Smith and Stephen Jones. Peter Crowther was the Master of Ceremonies. The FantasyCon 2007 Programme Book was edited by … Peter Coleborn (I’ll post details later).

The Hammer Out Book of Ghosts

I am delighted to report that Jan Edwards -- my better half -- has a story in The Hammer Out Book of Ghosts, edited by Dexter O'Neill. The book is published in aid of the Hammer Out charity -- fighting against brain tumours. A link to the Hammer Out webpage can be found on the Piper at the Gates of Fantasy blog. Jan's story, "Orbyting", is an amusing take on those silly ghost hunting programmes that we sometimes see on television.