CONFESSIONS

Last Post

2011-08-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

A moment of silence for the demise of this blog.

It’s been a faithful friend for over three years, born witness to some momentous changes and events, and been here for me when I’ve needed to rant my arse off.

Most notably, it saw my return to the SF Convention circuit and the first, slightly fearful, postings of my fiction online…

…and look where that got me.

If you’d like to find out what happens next, you can find me here.

Fancy A Little Horror?

2011-07-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Written by my friend Michael Woodman, Brag Productions' short horror film ‘Get Well Soon‘ is opening this weekend!

Theodore Fisk has cancer, and 'Get Well Soon' follows his drug and alcohol fuelled decline. As pressure in his home and marriage escalates, inexplicable things start to happen in the house – Theodore’s nightmares seem to take on a more physical quality, and the fabric of reality gradually starts to unwind.

This film's very first ‘public’ screening will be taking place in a cosy little 24 seater screening room in Balham – the Exhibit. If you're keen on coming, please, please buy tickets now from Wegottickets:

Click here for 4.00pm screening – 24th July 2011
Click here for 5.00pm screening – 24th July 2011

You'll also get a chance to see ‘Golf With a Shotgun‘ which went to Cannes this year, directed by Kristof Deak.

Announcing: FP/Gollancz Multi-Author Event!

2011-06-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

YES! We're hosting one of our trademark multi-author signings - you know, the one where we all go down the pub afterwards.

At 6:00pm on Thursday June 23rd, Forbidden Planet 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London will be playing host to: -

• Ben Aaronovitch
• James Barclay
• Elspeth Cooper
• Stephen Deas
• Jaine Fenn
• M D Lachlan
• Tom Lloyd
• John Meaney
• Chris Wooding

To promote the release of Elspeth’s new book SONGS OF THE EARTH, Forbidden Planet has gathered a host of science fiction and fantasy talent into one event – an event to bring writers and fans together and to promote interest in new and different kinds of fiction.

This is one of our trademark multi-author events, bringing our guests out from behind their tables and giving their readers a chance to meet them and talk to them about their work. An array of fantastic books will be on hand to be picked up and signed – including works by every one of the writers present...

...oh, you know how this works. Turn up, get books, hang out with your favourite authors, go to the pub.

Got to love it!

A Very Short - and Very Honest - Blog Post

2011-05-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

I saw a wonder today.

I took my Mother to the Science Museum. She’s never been; she’s lived on the edge of the city for many years, yet such things are a mystery to her. She knows Harrod’s, Harvey Nick’s, Oxford Street… but after that, the map says ‘Here Be Dragons’.

In the 60s, my Mum was air hostess, flying BEA and Jersey Airlines out of the Channel Islands. There are pictures of her, exquisitely glamorous with her little hat perched on top of her swept blonde beehive… I’ve no idea how I manage to be her daughter and such an irredeemable scruff. I knew the Flight exhibit would be special, but I don’t think I was prepared for how much.

This afternoon, I’ve spent an hour watching my Mother walk through her past, seen the memories shadow her gaze and pass across her face like ghosts. I don’t know what they were – only pieces – but to see her youth suddenly shining like that brought a lump to my throat and I had to turn away.

It’s easy to think of our parents as through their lives began when ours did, to forget that they were young and foolish and reckless too. Seeing my Mum transformed like that, seeing the magic of her twenties and thirties, her life and hopes and dreams, seeing everything she loved and lived for…

Even typing it now brings tears to my eyes.

That was quite the most wondrous thing.

EasterCon 2011: RandomCon

2011-04-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

In the early 1990s, we used to save up for months to go to EasterCon.

A pack of us, crammed in the back of a van, laden with re-enactment gear and scrounged-together dressing-up kit (the word ‘cosplay’ hadn’t been invented). We’d rent a room between us, two in the bed and six on the floor; we’d sneak out to the local corner shop and come back laden with cheap food and salty snackage and two-litre bottles of bad white cider.

And it was awesome.

I remember attending Writers’ Workshops, wide-eyed and wanting to learn everything, participating in the Masquerade (the immortal comment, ‘S&M rubbish, 8/10’ has stuck in my mind ever since) and falling flat on my face when a picture of my mate and I in full (brief?) costume appeared in centre spread of Starburst magazine. I think it was Issue 5.

This year’s EasterCon, then, was rather a landmark event.

I’ve grown out of my costumes (sadly sideways) and these days the van is packed with books and not people. I’m still not quite over the novelty of having a room to myself, never mind the engorging breakfast… and the use of swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam was verging on surreal.

Not as surreal, though, as the deluge of congratulations and questions that followed the announcement of my deal with Titan Books.

The wide-eyed twenty-something that attended those Writers’ Workshops is not really that far in the past – and the realisation that sometimes these things do come true is still a little overwhelming. It’s magical, it’s scary, it’s not quite solid. There’s a part of me that still expects to wake up with my mates all snoring round me.

Slotted in with all of this were other moments of bizarre comedy – moderating a panel with the Guest of Hono(u)r and a line up of fantastic authors, being asked to attend a Con event as an author in my own right (which I didn’t) and seeing my name in print for the first time… it all added up to blow my little mind.

Though that might’ve been the (cringe) Johnnie Walker…

Back to the point though. Thanks to the ludicrous overpricing of the hotel, Alex and I resorted to sneaking carrier bags of provisions into the building. Between gasping in horror at the bar prices, and counting out our pocket-change like skint and errant kids, the irony of this wasn’t lost on either of us.

While ‘Illustrious’ could well have been renamed ‘RandomCon’, the humour of it all did reveal one core truth. Seems time goes in a circle – no matter who you are, where you go, or how your life changes, it’s all comes back to where it started.

And to who you started it with.

Book Deal Announcement!!

2011-04-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

From the Titan Books website - as I'm still kinda speechless...

Titan Launches Original SFF Initiative with First Time Author

In the week preceding key science fiction and fantasy convention, EasterCon, Titan Books are delighted to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights to a fantastic debut fantasy novel and its sequel by first time writer, Danie Ware.

In searching for fresh talent to kick-start Titan’s new SFF enterprise, editor Cath Trechman unearthed exactly the kind of inventive manuscript she is looking for from within the Titan Entertainment group itself: a fantasy story written by historical combat enthusiast Danie Ware. As the publicist and event organiser for Titan sister company and cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet, Danie is already known and respected by many in the SFF community and has been writing epic fantasy at every opportunity her busy work schedule allows.

The currently untitled novel following Ecko, a cybernetics-enhanced warrior, is scheduled for publication in 2012. Cath Trechman says “Danie has created an extraordinary fantasy world, filled with rich, vibrant characters, and a story that is thrilling, compelling and wonderfully unpredictable. We at Titan feel very lucky to have found such a remarkable talent so close to home.”

(Ummm - Squeeee?!)

Foursquare Day

2011-04-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Danie and I’m addicted to Foursquare.

Everywhere I go, if I can legitimately claim that I stopped, out comes the iPhone and I have to check in. Have to. No, you don’t understand, I HAVE TO.

People I’m out with roll their eyes and laugh at me – ‘on foursquare again’, but I can’t bloody help it, damn thing has given me OCD. I must add that extra location, that extra point. I must, dammit!!

It’s not like I’ve actually found a use for it – I’ve never had a foursquare bonding moment with a random SocMed stranger, nor gained a free coffee from a local ‘special’. So why the blazes can’t I leave it alone?

Badges. I need those steeeeenking badges. Just like my son at Beaver Scouts, getting a badge gives me a lift (plus I don’t have to sew the bloody things on). That magical ‘unlock’ email – hell, if I could powder that feeling, and sell it in little plastic bags, I’d be rich.

Or in the dock, one or the other.

But my OCD doesn’t stop there.

Foursquare’s points system lures me with a beckoning fingernail – in the earlier incarnation, there were points for adding new places and we rapidly ascended to be Mayors of our houses, workplaces, local supermarkets… (I was very amused when one of my colleagues added Titan House a second time as Titan Publishing – just so he could get those points too). Now, though, that compulsion has been expertly fine-tuned, being Mayor has perk-points, you can gain additional pluses for repeated visits in a week or for returning to a location when you’ve been absent for a while. Dear Gods, I don’t stand a chance, with all those lovely, handy increments so easily available…

MUST… CHECK… INNNNN…

And even worse than THAT – Foursquare now teases and tempts you, coaxes you like the snake in The Jungle Book. The site offers a visible leaderboard; it tells you as you overtake someone, dangles the next person in your sights like a plump and juicy target. That same competitive urge that leads you to compulsively place the last eBay bid just so you can win… yeah, you know the one. That.

Obviously, the practical uses for business are colossal – I’m starting to look at it with a Marketeer’s eye. Honest. (For example, Foursquare is an urban thing; it’s amazing how it hasn’t caught on outside London).

But in the meantime, as those steeeenking badges rack up and the lists of my Mayorships increase, as my friends roll their eyes at my newest addiction, I’m wondering…

Would it be bad form to check in when I roll up outside the Foursquare Rehab Centre..?

Kapow!

2011-04-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

Comics culture is expanding. And a day at Mark Millar’s Kapow! is all you need to see it for yourself.

We know Comic Cons; we’re used to the demographic and the slightly grubby, lightless venues. We’re used to long boxes of variant covers and collector’s editions, to fans that flick through them for the rare ones they don’t yet own.

For the outset, Kapow! was going to do things differently.

This is a stronger event, brighter, more dynamic. This is big; this is shiny. Under the sunshine coming through the roof of the Design Centre, there’s a heaving, mobile statement about the modern changes in Geek Culture. Cybercandy are here, and the London Rockin’ Rollers. This is cool – and it knows it.

The audience is younger, hotter, better dressed – and there are more girls than ever.

From behind the FP stall, we see a lot of ink, top-end body art and some arsekicking alternative fashion. There’s a teasing gleam of Steampunk, a timeless flicker of Who, an errant Manga cosplayer – but here, the costumed characters, too, have presence and quality. The ones present in force are the Superheroes, the icons of our childhoods, but like the culture itself they’re streetwise now – they fuse retro with all growed up.

As the culture expands, then, so does its personal expression. No longer is the comic restricted to the printed page. We know that Superheroes have made the big screen and become socially acceptable; we know that independent comics have found new expression on the web. What we’re seeing now is that comics imagery is permeating youth culture, fashion and self-expression. It’s not just for nerds anymore – or has the very word expanded at the same rate?

On my way in on the train, there was a guy in Marvel headphones; at the event itself there are accessories from jewellery to household décor. FP are doing a roaring trade in Kick Ass mugs and travel-pass holders – and the Genki Gear guys have likewise expanded their product range.

Keeping a lookout for Kapow!’s best geek t-shirt (the guy in the ‘Han Job’ tee probably won that one hands – erm – down) got me thinking.

Rebellion’s Keith Richardson commented that more people were asking him about 2000AD, about where they should start and what they should read. If the readership is expanding, and events like Kapow! are turning comics culture into a lifestyle choice… then the old belief that the t-shirt is the ultimate geek status symbol is surely becoming outmoded.

And the best accessory is taking over.

So – am I talking pants? What do we think of these as a winner?

Flash Fiction: The Sixty

2011-03-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

A shout of thanks to artist Andy Bigwood, who asked me to contribute a piece of flash fiction for his forthcoming title The Sixty. Launching at EasterCon, containing no less then forty authors who each add a thought to one of Andy's superb illustrations, The Sixty is a collection of science fiction and fantasy art illuminating brave new worlds, dark realities and fantastic realms.

Andy was recently shortlisted for the BSFA Award for best artwork for his cover for Conflicts. You can see some of his artwork on his deviantART page - and you can check out The Sixty, here.

And in case you have any doubts:

Gorgeous juxtapositions of the nearly familiar and the oddly alien - of textured other-world terrains and the strange beings that belong there, even if they're us. City architecture merged with airships or deep space, forming poignant gestalts that always work. Inspired stories in a book of images. Everything combines to produce art that is new, lustrous and haunting.
- John Meaney, Author of the ‘Ragnarok’ Trilogy

Andy's beautiful, unique artwork, blended with gems of fiction by exciting contemporary writers, creates a most original dream world. It's a treasure trove, a box of gorgeous delights that you'll want to dip into constantly. Just curl up by the fire and lose yourself!
- Freda Warrington, Author of ‘Elfland’ and ‘Midsummer Night’

Andy Bigwood has created a wide and varied range of images and has brought them together with an impressive collection of fiction. His passion for his work shines throughout and the whole book is a treasure-trove of creative minds.
- Anne Sudworth, Fine Artist

Privileged to be a part of the project - thanks, Andy!

Twitter - Don't Be A Cunt

2011-03-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month, Mashable did a piece on Twitter and ‘the happiness divide’ – does the site divide the happy and the unhappy?

Positive energy attracts positive energy – we know this – it’s hardly Social Media genius to realise that Twitter encourages you to be upbeat and outgoing. If you’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and you provide interesting communication, then that’s what you’ll attract. Eventually, we become the centre of our own audience.

But perpetual optimism can be fake. Can’t it? Shiny-shiny? Aren’t we supposed to be socially genuine? Well, fuck yes – we all have crap days. When your personal life is in disarray and you’re dealing with too much Big Shit, the chirpy-chirpy tweet-tweet can be both ludicrous and facile. No-one says you have to be positive all the fucking time – and good riddance to those who leave your list because you’re human.

Certainly, Twitter is a Bird With Two Beaks – I’m just not sure that they’re positive and negative. If you’re genuine, you should have both.

No, I think they’re something else completely.

As an illustration, the Little Blue Bird has today given me communication, support and outlet. On this day of protest marches, it brings sight of the outside world; lets me feel a part, even though I’m apart. And with tragic news, it gives a sense of community and closeness when we all feel like we’ve lost a friend. I’m under House Arrest and Twitter is insight, human and company.

And the opposite?

I’m steering away from the obvious. For example, I don’t mean the Time Sink – we’ve all fallen into that one. We’re used to the spammers and the porn and the soulless marketeers. The banality is inevitable, the narcissism quintessential. We’ve learned how to manage this stuff.

No, the Dark Side I mean is Twitter’s real negativity: lack of consideration. Information is sensitive stuff. It’s not about optimist or pessimist – it’s about responsibility.

Throwing up other people’s delicate personal information; preaching exaggeration and melodrama in order to gain attention. Deliberate misuse of your audience to make yourself feel important. If you want to shout the loudest, be the biggest, or play pointless pretty flame-wars, fuck off and visit a forum. National, political or personal, take a moment and think before you fucking tweet.

Be positive, be negative, be sarcastic, be banal – have an opinion and speak it honestly.

Just get a grip on your fucking ego.

And don’t be a cunt.

Heresy and The Tenth Doctor

2011-03-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, you got me… I never really liked Tennant as Who.

Before you stone me for heresy, though, I’m a child of the Seventies and Tom will always be the Doctor to me. I miss the jelly babies and the scarf; I miss the voice and the humour and his wonderful, powerful presence. Seeing him on stage at the SFX Weekender, last year, was a throwback to my SF roots.

But!!

Having said that, Titan Merch have just released images of their latest 9” limited edition maxi-bust featuring Tennant as the Tenth Doctor – and I might just change my mind. It’s gorgeous. It’s got the pose, it’s got the stare, it’s got the tight sense of dynamism and the posture and the sharp suit. It's even got the sonic screwdriver.

There’s a strong sense of motion to the flow of the garments – his energy is palpable. Hell, he almost looks like he’d move.

My son is a Tennant Fan – I guess we all fall for the Doc we grew up with. And looking at this particular release, I’m wondering if he might have a point after all.

He’s startlingly contemporary – and I guess you do have to move with the times. He is the Doctor, after all.

A Touch of Anarchy

2011-03-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

...or possibly a touch of madness!

The ever project-driven Andy Remic is launching a radical, multi-media new imprint called Anarchy Books - and I'm ~~delighted~~ alarmed to have been asked to contribute. In a literary event horizon sure to damage reality as we know it, the anthology 'Vivisepulture' will be impact in .pdf, ebook and MOBI formats. And yes, it's absolutely heaving with deviance. From the press release: -

"Weird tales of twisted imagination by Neal Asher, Lauren Beukes, Eric Brown, Ian Graham, Vincent Holland-Keen, James Lovegrove, George Mann, Gary McMahon, Stan Nicholls, Andy Remic, Jordan Reyne, Ian Sales, Steven Savile, Wayne Simmons, Jeffrey Thomas, Danie Ware, Ian Watson, Ian Whates, Conrad Williams, and artwork by Vinny Chong."

Anarchy Books is out of the darkness, sticking its greasy tentacles where other imprints dare not go. Look out for Andy's own SERIAL KILLERS INCORPORATED, complete with music album provided by th3 m1ss1ng (featuring Jon Bodan from Atlanta's Halcyon Way) and short film shot and chopped by Grunge Films, plus, a little later in the year, his SF novel SIM. There's also SF/horror novel MONSTROCITY by Jeffrey Thomas, then horror novel RAIN DOGS by Gary McMahon.

My own anthological (is that a word?) contribution is called 'Disturbed' - it seemed appropriate.

Frankly, it's all enough to put you off your lunch - but hey, it's a little corner of ANARCHY.

Finally, there's ANARCHY in the UK!

Forbidden Planet does... The Royal Wedding?!

2011-03-09T04:23:00.000-08:00

When the Royal Wedding Street Party memorabilia starts arriving in the Forbidden Planet office, you realise that you're facing the most surreal event yet. In eight years of doing this, I've never had to wear a cardboard waistcoat before...

But! It gets better!

On Saturday 2nd April from 1pm, Forbidden Planet will be celebrating the forthcoming marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton – with our very own in-store street party.

Join Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston, artist Gary Eskine and Owen Jollands as they bring you the wedding of the year - with the Markosia Comics release of ‘Kate & William: A Very Public Love Story’.

This is a signing with a difference – not only the perfect opportunity to discover the story of Wills and Kate in graphic novel form, but to have your picture taken with the happy couple (well, kind of) and to enjoy the classic retro feel of an old school street-party, complete with tiaras and bunting.

We can’t promise we’ll be taking it too seriously – but we can promise that it will be done in true Forbidden Planet style!

Also available will be the two commemorative one-shots ‘William Windsor: A Very Public Prince’ and 'Kate Middleton: A Very Private Princess’. Make sure you pick up your commemorative copy.

The Forbidden Planet London Megastore is the largest of its kind in the World. It’s the true home of Sci-Fi and Cult entertainment, the heart of Geek Chic.

But we can do 'cheese' too...

Warm Up for KAPOW! at Forbidden Planet

2011-03-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

In a special pre-KAPOW! event, ANDY DIGGLE, JOCK and JAMIE DELANO will be signing at FP London at 6:00pm on Friday 8th April... and may well be in the pub afterwards!

Grab yourself a copy of the Titan Books publications of Rat Catcher and Hellblazer: Pandemonuim - and get a head-start on the hottest, newest Con!

According to underworld legend, the Rat Catcher is a peerless assassin who specialises in silencing mob snitches. There's just one problem – he doesn't exist. Now there's a pile of dead bodies in a burning safe house outside El Paso. The Rat Catcher has finally slipped up, and a washed-up FBI agent has one last chance to hunt him down. Follow Andy Diggle’s tale of two master man-hunters in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, each of them hiding a secret from the other.

In Hellblazer: Pandemonuim, an alluring Muslim woman catches John Constantine's eye and brings troubles to his doorstep: a bombing in a London museum, mysterious ancient Sumerian artifacts and a terrifying creature running rampant with renegade intentions. To save his life and freedom, Constantine embarks on a desperate trail, blazing from the back streets of London to the detainment centres and battlegrounds of contemporary Iraq. Hellblazer: Pandemonium brings original Hellblazer writer Jamie Delano together with fan-favorite artist Jock to tell a tale about war and terror in a horror story tailor-made for the 21st century.

The best comics events - at Forbidden Planet!

Hands-On at the Science Museum

2011-02-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

If I ask my son where he wants to go for a day out, he always answers the same – the Science Museum. He never tires of it, there are so many things to look at and play with. And for as long as he wants to go, I’ll always take him. I’m proud of my mini-geek and encourage him to learn as much as I’m able.

But it got me thinking today – why is it such a win?

When I was a kid, the Science Museum was kind of static. There were cool things to look at, sure – but those dear old Massey model tractors in the agricultural display have now been ploughing that little dirty circle for forty years. Even the model trains on the balcony of the ground floor – yes, you can press a button and watch the steam-pistons, but they’ve long since dropped off the timetable.

As attention spans become shorter, so the Museum’s displays have adapted, they’ve become brighter and more interactive.

Isaac loves the space-age stuff – it’s shiny and out-of-this-world and larger-than-life. He particularly likes the movie of the thousands of satellites that orbit the Earth, and the new spherical-holo of the global climate. These things have vivid, compelling colour and movement; it makes them real. It’s much easier to explain global warming to a child when the globe is right there in front of him.

Downstairs in the basement lurks hell-on-earth – the ‘garden’ where the very little ones go to learn about basic sensory input. I fear the noise (particularly at half-term) but I’m very happy that the Cubs are hands-on from the ground up – literally.

As we explore the ‘Secret Life of the Home’, it occurs to me that learning, just like media, has become all about ‘interactive’; it’s about making things real and accessible. And that starts with shrieking noise of the smallest kids - and it goes all the way up.

Around us, as communication becomes faster, easier and worldwide, so learning becomes about sharing and experiencing – not about 'being taught'. Chalk-dust has become just that. Now, Isaac gazes fascinated at the workings of cockpits and CDs and VCRs; we play classic ‘Pong’ from 1978. These things are history to him, but they’re a part of my life experience and we can share them and learn together.

It brings us closer. And it’s fun.

As the years of new layers have been added to the displays, yes, it has become a little chaotic. The old tractors are next to the modern plastics; classic 1970s Dan Dare looks out over a floor of games about modern energy and resource (though I daresay he’d approve).

Communication, both media and education, is changing – and it’s very good to see that our kids can be really involved in this from the youngest age.

Today, I’ve been asking Isaac to take pictures – hopefully, encouraging him to look at what’s around him and to enjoy the learning experience. Some of his pictures are on this post. You’ll find the rest on his very own Flickr page, here.

Needless to say, he has help me download them and choose them and label them. I think it's all part of the same experience.

The Third Doctor and the Weeping Angels

2011-02-17T08:32:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was hiding behind the sofa.

Before I grew big enough to watch Tom's showdowns with Davros - or to get girly over Peter's cricketing whites (sshh!) - the Third Doctor was the Main Man of the early Seventies. Elegant, well-presented, with authority, presence and a flair for technology - you got to love a man in frills who takes out the bad guys with Venusian Aikido.

Today, my six-year-old son isn't having this sofa crap, he's completely enwrapped in Doctor Who. He's a Tennant-fan (fairly obviously!) but likes to play games of imagination featuring his favourite Bad Guys. Daleks and Cyberman dominate - but he and I both are tranfixed by a more up-to-date Nasty...

The latest releases for Titan Merchandise, both these characters are now available as 8" maxi-busts, with the kind of high-quality sculpting that makes me wish I didn't have two left hands.

Though they do make me think... what would happen if they ever actually met...

The SFX Weekender

2011-02-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

The second SFX Weekender – the second visit to Camber Sands – and this time you know what to expect…

Yes, the Mouth of Hell.

You know you’re in the middle of nowhere, scoured to the bone by wind and sand. You know your teeth will be chattering as you run to and from your tiny chalet, lost in the nightmare maze of concrete walkways. You know to pack your towel, your sleeping bag, everything you’ll need for a weekend’s indoor camping. Just like you know the carpet in the Main Void will stink from years of liquid abuse, and the velour on the benches in the pub will be worn to a shine by generations of drinkers’ bums…

But hey, you go – because you also know that you’ll have a fantastic weekend.

Favourite moments include the steampunk costumes of the actuator girls, the new take on an old act done by the eerily bendy Chris Cross, Dan Abnett allowing himself to be strangled, and Titan the Robot (of course). Craig Charles spun a spectacular set, Terry Pratchett was greeted by a cheer that raised the roof (‘never give up, never surrender’) and I met my son's favourite canine celebrity.

Props go to the publicists, authors and artists who supported the utterly loopy signing schedule at the FP table – and the space we had to host it in. I’ve never had to contortion six names into a three-foot gap before (and, please, I’ll never have to do it again). Likewise props to the unnamed security guard who let us escape on the Friday night after nearly eleven hours on our feet – and to those who blessed us by bringing much-needed humour and beer.

Oh, and to those who asked? Yes, my head did fit into the saucepan.

Black Library publicist Andy described the weekend as ‘The Land That Time Forgot’, amused by the irony of the situation. Here we are, he said, science fiction readers and watchers and fans, looking to the future, and we’re stuck in something out of a 1950’s timewarp. Horror author Wayne Simmons observed that same irony as he talked about the progressive nature of the event – blending books and toys and comics and signings and music and panels and cabaret into something new that kicks down the doors of ‘fandom’.

Last year, the whole ‘chalet’ experience added to the event – giving a strong sense of ‘surviving disaster’ team spirit. This year, that legend became a Branding-point, with teasing tweets and wind-up conversations bringing anticipation and laughs of horror. Knowing what to expect, we all got into the spirit of things, swapping tales of terror from our scrotty, student-level digs.

Yes, I had to wash my hair in a saucepan – but it’s exactly that experience that turns the whole weekend into one long festival – a celebration of geekery in all its forms.

Well done, SFX!

Who Owns A Book?

2011-01-30T04:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday’s signing – and the conversation that followed in both staffroom and pub – has made me ask myself a question.

Who really owns a book?

It it's written by the Author, represented by the Agent, bought by the Publisher, polished by the Editor - and then Printed (one way or another), promoted by the Publicist, reviewed by the Bloggers, featured in the Press, sold by the Bookstore, bought by the Public and promoted all over again… breathe, dammit... whose is it, really? What if you add digital publishing and certain online retailers to this cycle and it becomes more complex still? (Or less, depending upon which side of the till you’re standing. Charlie Stross put this one better than I ever could).

And that's not forgetting the self-published authors; the cover artists, and blurb-writers, the fan-bases and bloody, bloody Facebook… everything folds in together and the list goes ever on.

Eventually, with fortune and planning, the whole thing comes full circle – and the Author comes in to talk to the Public. As a friend of mine used to say, 'Everybody wins'.

But does that answer the question?

The face of publishing is changing. We’ve glimpsed it in the darkness – where new hopefuls or talented artisan writers are treated like monkeys, given peanuts for selling soul and talent to organ-grinders who want only profit… and the backlash has been substantial. I'm sure we all remember a certain gentleman in Frey Flannel.

I’m always reassured that the moment one faction steps in and demands sole ownership, the fight rises to topple their monopoly.

Watching Joe talking about and reading from ‘The Heroes’ yesterday – watching the responses of and questions from his fans – has made me realise something. Not about fighting (though we talked about that too) but about the real owners of a book.

Who owns a book? The characters. That's where the passion is; if the cycles turns properly, then they live in the hearts of minds of everyone, Author to Public, all the way round. (It's when they don’t that it seems to go tits up). To coin a popular phrase – it's character driven, the whole damn thing.

And that's how it should be.

Witness: -

With thanks to Joe, his Heroes, Gollancz - and the team at FP Bristol.

Culture Shock

2010-12-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Culture Shock is a very strange beast.

It’s not the big stuff – the high-rise Miami condos and the golden beach – that’s expected, absorbed parts of the background noise. In a Brit’s constant exposure to American culture, both tele-visual and through Twitter, some stuff just sinks into your subconscious.

No, it’s the little stuff that has the power.

Some of it’s half-expected, but still humorous – driving on the wrong side of the road, overhead traffic lights and ceaseless intersections, fire-hydrants and strip-malls, the guys who put their bikes on the front of the bus (yeah, that one absolutely foxed me). Some of it’s sheer ‘I-don’t-fucking-believe-this’ comedy – the juxtaposition of sunshine and palm trees with Christmas decorations. Sign-spinners (tell me they’re not real)… and what is it about the denizens of Miami and bloody pom-pom dogs?

Some of it, though; some of it just brought me to a dead stop.

Partially it’s the poverty. There’s no shortage of it in central London, but seeing it another context is both surreal and, rather uncomfortably, too real for words. The suburbs are a tessellation of street-art, chickenwire and urban decay; over them, the skeletal overlords of the empty skyscrapers stand grim against flawless blue. Miami smells like concrete, like sun-baked stucco; I hadn’t realised how much the absence of rivers and parks bothered me until I got home.

In a city built on a swamp, where hurricanes are a fact of everyday life, such ‘urban’ things as I take for granted are luxuries. That’s kind of an eye-opener.

Coming back to the tele-visual thing – I seemed to be forever walking into filmsets. The Tobacco Road bar was waiting for Arnie and a shotgun; the very poverty itself was straight out of Robocop. The fantastic, 50s ‘Art Deco’ buildings seemed two-dimensional – had I leaned far enough over, I could’ve nudged them to fall flat. Seeing white bird feathers decorating a grave… it took a minute for me to realise that the ritual employed had, yes, been absolutely sincere.

No Danie, just because it’s a churchless graveyard doesn’t mean it’s an episode of Buffy…

The tourist in me took in The Everglades (damn those ‘gators are big!), the Coral Castle, the KidRobot store, and wandered along the sprawling pretentiousness of Art Basel… evidence of which was washing up on the beach a couple days later. Plus a shout, here, to the wonderful Tate of Tate’s Comics and Videos – when he realised who I worked for, he and his team granted me Ambassadorial status. That’s a whole new and different form of Culture Shock!

In all of this though, there’s one thing that stands out as the greatest Culture Shock of all.

Twitter has made the world smaller; broken it into bite-size pieces and allowed everyone to find their own involvement. It’s also become saturated with spammers and life coaches and soulless marketeers – it’s very bloody noisy.

And it’s all too easy to lose track of your friends.

The opportunity to meet some of those friends – people I’ve been talking to for nearly four years, people from the Little Blue Bird’s first nesting days – was a wondrous thing; I have no words to really do it justice. However small the world may shrink and however swiftly its changes may pass us by, some things are worth taking a moment to remember, and to take a hold of.

Just like the city itself, they have to be done in person.

And that’s not just Culture Shock. It's magic.

You can read another viewpint on my visit here.

That 'All-Boys' School' Thing: The Ardingly Reunion

2010-11-29T10:29:00.000-08:00

When you tell people you went to an all-boys’ school, their reaction is somewhere between envy and disbelief… or a nudge and a wink and a ‘that must’ve been fun, love’.

In fact, it was one hell of an experience – but not for the reasons you’d think.

In 1982, Ardingly took in nine girls in the ‘Shell’ year (we were 13). Unable to board, we were firmly ensconced under the Headmaster’s House, in a study of our own where James and Mary Flecker, the Headmaster and his wife, could keep a bead on us. Mary was protector and defender; Mum and Aunt and big sister. We were going to get into trouble (it was inevitable) but she was there to deal with it.

In retrospect, it was a fucking crazy thing to do – as an adult, the boldness and sheer bloody dangerousness of the manoeuvre awes me. We were what?? There were those among the staff, public school tutors of long-standing tradition, who were opposed to our presence – GIRLS??!! - we were invading their territory, stalwart British standards were about to come tumbling down…

They cut us no quarter – but they were never unfair. We were expected to work and train and sport just as sodding hard as the boys did. And that was normal to us; it made us. I wonder how such treatment would be received in modern schooling?

The point to all this reminiscence and waffle?

Last Thursday, we had a school reunion – at the House of Commons, no less. It’s an astonishing building – exquisite, with a heavyweight of impeccably polite security more familiar to an episode of ‘Spooks’ – but it has a chill feel, an emptiness, that’s palpable. In spite of breathless beauty, paintings, plaques in the floor and vaults in the ceiling, it feels hollow.

But we didn’t linger long in the echoing-cold Corridors of Power.

Instead, we found ourselves at the very back of the building, right by the River… and twenty-three years in the past.

Coming full-circle, it was system-shock to see so many familiar faces that had changed so little. Badge peering was prevalent, wine was free-flowing and sneaking out for an illicit smoke brought back many memories (though the scenery was better). It was uncanny, too, that the old social groups drifted back together. Teenage tensions may have passed, the scenery may be spectacular… but friendship and character in many ways remain unchanged.

The thing that had changed the most was the generation gap – or the lack of one. When we were teens, James and Mary, Lady Whitmore, many others, were our teachers and caregivers, far more so at a public school than teachers at the modern comprehensive. At forty-plus, standing in the Houses of Parliament themselves, these shapers of our lives are no longer ‘masters’, they’re just people. In many ways, they’re equally unchanged (though the urge to call James ‘Sir’ is almost too deeply programmed to shift); they may be shocked by our age and treating us with choice anecdotes of our teenage years – but their affection remains. It’s enormous, and very moving.

We wouldn’t be who were are without these people, and the way they have touched our lives.

As the evening ended, we wound our way into the cold London night promising we would stay in touch, and come back next year.

I hope we will – and I hope the reunion continues to expand, bringing in more years and more OAs. In this world of FaceBook, you forget how catching up with people’s faces is so important.

Thanks to Jen for the inspiration, and Jane for making it all happen.

Facebook and 'Targeted Advertising'

2010-11-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

(Rant Warning!!)

So, Facebook, I’ve changed my relationship status.

Yes, I’m a forty-plus year-old woman, and it now says that horrifying, mortifying word – ‘single’. Apparently, I’ve shifted demographic and found myself in Hell.

No longer am I a happy and successful Mum, career professional, writer, fighter, fitness fanatic; no longer am I exactly what I was a word-replacement ago. That one change, that one little thing, has torn a massive hole in my feminine credibility.

And through it seethe the advertisers, minions of Cthulhu.

I can cope with the dating site ads – I’ve no wish to sign up to Zoosk at the minute, but I understand why they're there. Fairy snuff.

What really fucking bugs me are these: -

eHarmony – no, I’m not looking for a life-partner. Perhaps I may be in the future, but for the moment, I’m enjoying my independence. Do single guys get eHarmony ads? Or is this the adult version of Jackie magazine – all girls really want is a boyfriend? I think someone’s been watching too much Twilight.

Dress ads for ‘plus’ sizes – when I changed status, I didn’t automatically gain five stone. I could put an upright and a guy line in the dresses you’re offering me and use them as tents. In fact, offering me the tent would far be more sodding useful.

Self-help books – you fucking what now? So, I’m looking for a life-partner while comfort-eating cream cakes and reading ‘How To Start Over Yet Again’. Are you seriously scanning my keywords or have your malfunctioned here?

Wedding advice – this one left me speechless. Because I’m a single woman, I must want to get married. Would this be before or after I fit the size 32 dress?

Fertility treatment – my absolute favourite. It has to be a mistake – I’m single and over forty and it’s offering me what..?! I’m only guessing that after I gain five stone, fit the hot tent-dress, finish the self-help book and get married, then 2.2 children (all right 1.2 children) will complete my life.

Oh look, I’m a formula. That’s so much easier to manage!

Seriously, marketeer or no, this is too much. It’s assumptive, it’s insulting and it skating closely round the edge of outright sexist. Yes, I realise that demographic streamlining has become a part of our existence and that we all get boxed into corners who’s angles don’t fit – but if you’re going to target ads, that for chrissakes target them efficiently.

And that means I’m an individual. I’m exactly the same individual that I was when I had that diamond on my finger.

If this is your ‘targeted advertising’, then you may want to adjust your sights.

#MADMONTH! BristolCon and Other Stories

2010-11-09T03:27:00.000-08:00

Every so often, life at Forbidden Planet goes balls-to-the-wall crazy.

We’ve done Star Wars Days and Hallowe’en Celebrations, we’ve had signings with some of the most exciting names in the industry and we’ve taken our butts and our books to the Bristol Ramada and drunk far too much beer at BristolCon… and had a great time doing all of it. No matter how busy the business may be, there’s a sense of involvement that keep the energy levels high.

As Doctor Tim, manager of the Bristol Megastore said: we do it because we love it.

Honest, guv’nor.!

Seriously, though, sometimes, this stuff is just a privilege. From the wondrous (and hair-raising) tales of Michael Moorcock’s youthful antics, to stealing William Gibson’s ebook signing pen (erm… sorry about that), to remembering the basement days of Denmark Street with Iain Banks, to rediscovering the warm and open friendliness of Simon Pegg… there’s never a dull moment. The tales of Denmark Street remind me that all of these people started in exactly the same place as the rest of us – and each one still values the opinion and input of every single one of his fans. Props to the lot of them!

The #madmonth has ended with a day at BristolCon – a new venture for the local SF/F collective and a perfectly slotted-together event. In the Dealers’ Room as ever, it was still good to see a full and engaging programme of events (we at least got to Nick’s pub quiz – Walters, you’ve missed your calling as a stage comedian!) and (inevitably) to the bar… plus we got to chat to a guest list, all local, that all pitched in to make the event a success.

And the ‘local’ is absolutely the event’s hand-on win. There’s a strong genre family in Bristol, a gathering of authors and bloggers and podcasters and fans who’ve helped build a city hub that’s become big enough to host a Con of its own – and to make it a success. The atmosphere was very chilled - and there was a togetherness to it that can be missing from larger gatherings.

As with the signings at the Megastore – it’s gone to underline that we’re all the same at the root, and we all have the same things dear to our hearts. At the risk of sounding a scrape too cheesy… do we all do it because we love it?

So - props to Jo and her team for a fantastic event that will grow into something even better next year. It was absolutely bigger on the inside!

And yes, we will be back!

Toy Launch: Lunartik at Forbidden Planet!

2010-11-04T05:51:00.000-07:00

HAVE A CUP OF TEA!

We're delighted to be hosting the Launch Event for Matt ‘Lunartik’ JOnes’ latest range of vinyl figures Lunartik in a Cup of Tea: Mini Series 1 at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR.

Matt JOnes’ debut figure, Lunartik In A Cup Of Tea, was an instant and refreshing success to the UK art toy world; Lunartik was the base design for the gorgeous Custom Tea Tour involving such artists as Pete Fowler and Jon Burgerman, which also made its debut at Forbidden Planet. Now, Matt JOnes brings us his first set of blind-boxed mini collectibles, including 12 fresh favours and four hidden special brews!

And from 1pm on Saturday 20th November, Matt ‘Lunartik’ JOnes will be in our store to make you a cup of tea – as only he knows how – along with beautiful cakes supplied by Hidden Crumbs.

Matt JOnes is also the designer of the 3D version of our famous ‘rocket’ brand, originally created by Rian Hughes.

Forbidden Planet has always been on the forefront of the art toy sensation in the UK, hosting events with Tara McPherson, Jon Burgerman, Pete Fowler and James Jarvis as well as being the only UK venue on the Custom Bart Qee Tour in 2007 and raising money for the Alzheimer’s Research Trust with the MonQee Project, as supported by Terry Pratchett and Toy2R.

Visit Matt's portfolio at: www.Lunartik.com

Dark Fiction Magazine

2010-10-27T01:18:00.000-07:00

Dark Fiction Magazine is pleased to announce the launch of a new service for fans of genre fiction. Beginning Oct 31st (Hallowe'en), Dark Fiction Magazine will be launching a monthly magazine of audio short stories. This is a free service designed to promote genre short fiction to an audience of podcast and radio listeners. A cross between an audio book, an anthology and a podcast, Dark Fiction Magazine is designed to take the enjoyment of short genre fiction in a new and exciting direction.

Dark Fiction Magazine publishes at least four short stories a month: a mix of award-winning shorts and brand new stories from both established genre authors and emerging writers. Each episode will have a monthly theme and feature complementary tales from the three main genres – science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Co-founder Del Lakin-Smith said: "I love reading short stories, and with the increased uptake of mobile and portable devices this really is a growth area. But like many I find I don't have as much time as I would like to read, so I tend to listen to many podcasts on the go. The idea of replacing my podcasts with high quality, well performed audio short stories is something I find highly appealing, so Sharon and I set about making that a reality."

Sharon Ring, co-founder of Dark Fiction Magazine, said: “From technophobe to technophile in less than two years; I spend a great deal of time working online. To while away those hours, I like to listen to podcasts and drink copious amounts of strong coffee. Now, while I don’t recommend you drink as much coffee as I, I do recommend you check out what Del and I have created. We love podcasts; we love genre fiction; we built a site to bring the two together.”

The theme of Dark Fiction Magazine’s first episode is The Darkness Descends and will feature four fantastical stories:

‘Maybe Then I’ll Fade Away’ by Joseph D’Lacey (exclusive to Dark Fiction Magazine)
‘Pumpkin Night’ by Gary McMahon
‘Do You See?’ by Sarah Pinborough (awarded the 2009 British Fantasy Society Short Story Award)
‘Perhaps The Last’ by Conrad Williams

Lined up for future episodes are Pat Cadigan, Cory Doctorow, Jon Courtenay, Grimwood, Ramsey Campbell, Rob Shearman, Kim Lakin-Smith, Ian Whates, Lauren Beukes, Mark Morris, Adam Nevill, Gareth L Powell, Jeremy C Shipp, Adam Christopher, and Jennifer Williams, among others.

With a team of dedicated and passionate narrators, a central recording facility and a love of genre, Dark Fiction Magazine delivers a truly outstanding aural experience.

Dark Fiction Magazine will also be producing special editions with seasonal stories and topical issues, competitions, flash fiction episodes and novel excerpts. Each episode aims to shock and delight, to horrify and confound as Dark Fiction Magazine takes its listeners on an aural tour through the world of genre fiction.

Dark Fiction Magazine is a collaborative project, created and developed by Del Lakin-Smith and Sharon Ring. For further information, contact Del or Sharon at
editorial@darkfictionmagazine.co.uk

Thanks Sharon and Del, and good luck with the project. My own Public School tones may not be too far away!

The Imperial March

2010-10-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

They never tire of it.

The frightened little ones, the loud-mouthed pre-teens, the squealing girls and the enthusiastic Dads – everywhere the Garrison go, you see the same kaleidoscope of reactions. All the hot girls love a Stormtrooper, all the geeks make jokes about droids, and all the smart arses end up on the pavement with their hands behind their heads.

Hell, I never tire of it either.

And we’ve had a few new discoveries this time. Working with us at Bristol and Southampton to promote our exclusive book-plated edition of Star Wars: The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, the UK Garrison do seem to like Forbidden Planet. Lord Vader himself came to inspect Bristol, where he absolutely refrained from throttling anyone (unless they really deserved it) and loomed outside the store, silent and menacing and breathing as only Vader can. Surrounded by a plethora of flashing cameras, eagerly costumed children and wide-eyed tittering Mums.

The UKG absolutely excel at the Comedy Photo Op. They will pose for days and the passing public will never let them go… but there’s also something surreal and hilarious about any Stormtrooper doing something that’s essentially mundane. Trooper reads menu, Trooper goes into shop – it’s a win every time. Faceless and humourless, voices both mechanical and polite, all they have to do is stop by the front of a market stall and people turn and point.

And they never, ever, tire of it.

Today, though, we’ve had a moment.

Spotting a pair of smartly kilted bagpipers on Southampton High Street, the Troopers naturally had to investigate. The public were naturally entertained. The piper naturally made an attempt at The Imperial March on his chanter, and promised solemnly he would ‘learn it’ for the next time.

Fair enough, we thought.

Imagine our wonder, then, when the ‘next time’ turned out to be two hours later, when both pipers came down to Forbidden Planet Southampton. As promised, he played, fucking flawlessly, the Imperial March.

We were, Troopers and store and onlookers alike, absolutely gobsmacked.

Check this out…

Piper at the Gates of... from Danie Ware on Vimeo.

Who're You Calling A Quitter?!

2010-10-18T10:47:00.001-07:00

There’s only one piece of advice to give a writer:

Put arse in chair; get on with it (variation in chair and choice of toolage may apply).

But when do you give up? How many years does it take before the ‘day job’ becomes the ‘career’? Before you eventually grow bored or distracted? Do you eventually tire of firing your passions and seeing them flare and fade, of throwing yourself at the page and sliding to the floor?

How long can your obsession survive when your alarm cuts through it at seven every morning?

At thirty (thereabouts), I quit. I didn’t mean to. I had two completed novels and umpteen other, smaller projects that I’d waved randomly at the industry from a safe distance… and equally randomly at long-suffering friends, a little closer to home. Yet somehow I’d never quite broken beyond those boundaries and my attention…

…eventually…

…wavered.

It took a long break before my arse went back in that bloody chair.

So – today is a minor victory. It’s taken a little longer than the Writer’s Workshops of my early twenties reckoned, but hey, that’s what quitting did for me.

Find 'Cure', my first ever paid-for piece of short fiction here, on Hub Fiction. (Thank you Alasdair for the invitation and publication).

The moral of this story?

Never Give Up, Never Surrender.

The picture is Rodney Matthews' 'Terrestrial Voyager'. Read the bloody story, already, and you'll get why it's here, okay?

Film Trailer: Get Well Soon

2010-10-14T03:14:00.000-07:00

This is an utterly shameless plug for a despicably talented mate: -

"Janet Fisk has been supporting her husband, Theodore, through his experience of breast cancer -- but now that he is in remission, she realises that their relationship has been empty for some time. Her secret discovery that she is pregnant is the final straw. More trapped than ever, the bathroom becomes her refuge, and her prison. As the pressure mounts, inexplicable things start to happen in the house -- all leading back to the bath.

Starring Gresby Nash (The IT Crowd) and Laura Howard (Midsomer Murders), 'GET WELL SOON' is a taut psychological horror is the first short film from directors Ian Baigent and Jack Burnford, and writer Michael Woodman.

The film is produced by Gregory Rinaldi and Alison Baxter of BRAG Productions, and brings together the talents of crew who have worked on projects as diverse as Fantastic Mr. Fox, Luther, Heartless, Quantum of Solace, and Alice in Wonderland. It will be entering festivals in late 2010.

Follow Michael Woodman's blog on the BRAG Productions website, which discusses the process of making a short film on a tight budget, and also tackles DOP Rory Moles' experience of shooting with the Canon 5D."

Well done guys - that absolutely fucking rocks!!

My '15 Books' List

2010-10-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

Stephen Donaldson ‘The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant’

Two people have ever rendered me speechless when they’ve guested at FP… and the other one was Ray Harryhausen. I was 14 when I fell in love with Land, and (while Covenant remains an irritating twat), that love has never, ever left me… and distils to my own writing to this day.

Eugene O’Neill ‘The Iceman Cometh’

I love the play – and the moral dichotomy. When the Iceman breaks the fabricated reality of the rather lost cast of characters… does he do the right thing? It cuts very close to the bone, and I still don’t know the answer.

Douglas Adams ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’

Oh my GODS the continuity!! Simply the most finely wrought, beautifully convoluted timeline… I love the Hitchhiker series as much as the next (wo)man, but this… is a thing of beauty.

Kurt Vonnegut ‘Galapagos’

In VIth form, my English teacher recommended this as his favourite book ever. He wasn’t wrong. Again, the gloriously wrought timeline – plus Vonnegut’s dry sense of humour shown in true shrewd, sharp style with the wonderfully bizarre cast.

Michael Marshall Smith ‘Only Forward’

I think I embarrassed MMS when I told him how much I enjoyed this book. It’s absolutely off-the-wall, clever, insightful and breakneck downhill. And it has cats.

John Milton ‘Paradise Lost’

I know, its cheesy – but I can’t do this without adding at least one Major English Work and I love it. It big, it’s bold, it’s ludicrously OTT… but as allegorical works go, it’s the fucking Daddy.

Peter Mathiessen ‘The Snow Leopard’

A tale about discovery – about going looking for one thing and finding completely something else. The only religious text you’ll ever need.

Tony Ballantyne ‘Twisted Metal’

It’s DIFFERENT. It’s new, it’s brutal, it’s vicious; it takes no prisoners. It’s almost a concept book - no-one has ever written robots like this. My absolutely top book of last year; it absolutely blew me away. If you haven’t read it – why not??

Tom Stoppard ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’

Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads. Heads.

William Golding ‘The Lord of the Flies’

Another core text – but with good reason. The boys’ descent into brutality is drawn in both blood and pity; and the scene of the dead man in the parachute haunts me to this day. There are echoes of Golding's voice in David Moody's 'Hater' - another book I really enjoyed.

Lord Dunsany ‘The Kind of Elfland’s Daughter’

Much as I love LOTR, its presence is too predictable - and this was written in the 1920’s. It’s simple, it’s beautiful; it’s elegant, the imagery is massively powerful and absolutely sincere. A fontspring for the genre.

T. H. White ‘The Once and Future King’

Add to this one ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ and ‘The Mists of Avalon’ and several more besides… I went through a phase of being smitten with the whole thing. I guess there’s always been a part of me that’d like to believe it has its feet in the truth. Saxon, maybe?

Robert Holdstock ‘Mythago Wood’

My copy of Mythago Wood was pressed into my hands by Rob Holdstock in person – shocked when I ‘fessed that I’d never read it. I promised him solemnly that I would – but hadn’t started it when he died a month or so later. I’m sorry I never got the chance to tell him how dream-woven, poignant and lovely the story really is.

Andy Remic ‘War Machine’

An odd choice to close – but absolutely belongs in this list. War Machine was my Pivot Book, the one that made me realise that I ‘could do this’. It was the book that started me writing again (seriously) after an eight-year drought. One day, I will blog about this properly...

Apologies - this was only posted here because Nick tagged me to 'fess up and Facebook's being an arse. Because of my job, I made a professional choice: I DON'T write book reviews!

'Blue Bum': What's in a Nickname?

2010-09-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

I went back to Norwich last weekend – to catch up with some of my oldest mates. Mates from carefree days of deadend jobs, shared houses, Viking re-enactment and loooong nights of gaming. Mates with whom I’ve shared dreams beyond the describing of them.

In that time, we acquired many nicknames. Among mine: Mog, Authentika the lycra Viker (something about wearing a swimsuit with a swordbelt, (hey I was young!)) and yes, the lovely piece of calligraphy above, done by my friend Alan. It actually says Danie Ware Blue Bum (another swimsuit story, this one to do with a hot day and chemical toilet and a barely-covered arse...)

@Danacea, btw, is a mix of Danie, Danae and Panacea. The only person who ever twigged it first time was Frank Wu. Go figure!

Posting this gift of art and memory on twitter last night raised some interesting responses: -

@tomiwk - in the next episode of "Neon Genesis Evangelion"...
@tompl - Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
@Disrepdog - it's from the underground, says "mind the gap" :)
@Surfingsue - I reckon it's subliminal advertising 'Buy more comics' ;-)
@mkhall - "Objects in trousers are smaller than they appear."
@Loudmouthman - Its clearly an extract from the ancient chinese love text showing sex positions
@125f8 - 'good time down town tonight' ..
@DavidTouchette - If it's yellow, let it mellow. ??
@geosteph - Hare today, Goon tomorrow (from "little bunny Foo Foo)
@clobberTr0n - it means "Jedi love with your favourite song"
@neverwhere - おなまえわ?でもダニワレが谷吾じゃなあいですね ;-)
@DC_Zol - "Off to the Pub, Dinner is in the Panda"? (sorry, thinking Ranma 1/2)
@AnnOhio - Three guys walk into a bar....
@twig84 - the language settings on your iPhone are fucked.
@Nubenu - "All men are bastards"?
@Herne - "May you live in interesting times" ? ;P
@daphneblake - 'Lord Voldemort will rise again and sell Jaff cakes at the market'?

Plus a particular mention for Paul Cornell for not hitting too wide of the mark: -

@Paul_Cornell - there's three and blue in there.

Seeing all these got me wondering… why do people pick particular combinations of initials and/or dates? Why do people choose to go just with their own names, or with a nickname? Why do others go with the modern textspk principle of abbreviation, numeration and punctuation… was it just because the name they wanted had already gone?

Rhetorical question :)

Anyway, the winner is @Disrepdog, not only because her own choice of nickname is so cool – but because ‘mind the gap’ is entirely appropriate to the whole ‘chemical toilet’ incident...

The moral of the story? Other people will not necessarily give you the nicknames you’d choose for yourself… but they remain, down the years, and can bring you back the best of memories.

Danie Blue Bum
A nickname that's still engraved on my old Zippo lighter.

New Tricks!

2010-09-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

There are (ironically really) a thousand and one different websites that will tell you how a short story differs from a novel.

In keeping with the theme, it can be distilled down to one word: -

Focus.

Narrative format, single incident, character that reveals itself at a critical point in the storyline… I’m sure we’ve all studied this stuff.

The point is: this is where your close analysis kicks in - you don’t have room to fuck about. All that artsy scenic description and character motivation and exploration and development and yadda yadda… sod all of that, get to the point.

So – I will.

The guys at GeekPlanet have been kind enough to host my short story, ‘Valkyrie’, here.

This is completely new – not only the story itself, but the fact that it’s read aloud – a creative venture that’s been fun to undertake. It’s a very short short story, hearkening back to my wannabe-warrior-maiden days in the Vike… and hence seemed to lend itself to an oral (aural?) tradition.

Music is courtesy of Thumpermonkey and my despicably talented friend Mike Woodman – check out the full album here.

Oh - and forgive (enjoy?) the polished public school tones…

…some things you just never grow out of.

What the Fuck Happened?!

2010-09-13T03:32:00.000-07:00

You ever have one of those days when you wonder what the fuck happened? When you wonder what the you-of-a-decade ago would’ve thought? When several things, good or bad, all sneak up on you at once and you find yourself looking at your hands/screen/surroundings and wondering quite how you got where you are? (And no, I don’t mean waking up on a mystery couch at 6am).

You know what I mean – yeah, one of those.

I’m having a morning like that. Never mind that it’s Monday, never mind that the not-FP Danie has been sailing the choppy seas of Divine Amusement recently… never mind any of that shit. I’m up to my ears in a sudden and wondrous feeling of gobsmacked surreality.

And what I’m looking at is this:

Pat Mills and Clint Langley
Rob Rankin
Brian Froud
Guillermo del Toro
Iain M Banks
William Gibson
Michael Moorcock
Bryan Hitch
and
Simon Pegg

And there are still more coming - look out for Bryan Talbot in December.

I mean, seriously. I read down that list and my eyes nearly fall out – our signings diary has gone up by a third year-on-year for the last couple of years, but that? That’s a list of childhood heroes and modern-day rock stars that’s verging on scary.

What the fuck happened? I’m not sure I know - but I do know that it's down to more people than I can list or name, who all work together to make this shit real.

Come on, gobsmacked or no, you got to love it!

The Black Library Invade!

2010-09-10T07:42:00.001-07:00

They may have left their bolters at home and checked the Dreadnought at the door… but you can’t underestimate the efficiency and passion of the boys – and girl – from the Black Library.

Writing warriors all, every one of them has an incredible enthusiasm for the stories and characters, which comes across with everything they do. I’m guessing this is why the Forbidden Planet ‘open plan’ event malarkey absolutely suited Dan Abnett, James Swallow, Graham McNeill, Nick Kyme, Nik Vincent and Sandy Mitchell – all of whom were good enough to work their socks off last night.

And it suited the fans too. The chance to actually ‘mingle’ with the authors and creators of the mythology was a new thing to them – they’re not standing in front of a table, they’re actually on ground level and can talk about the characters and the books that they love… as an equal. To me, that’s completely the point.

I’ve ranted about this before.

We had a great night. In the office before the event began, Sandy was talking about kids’ love for gaming, in particular his seven-year-old daughter and her Barbie-pink Tyranid army… and in the pub afterwards, Dan was telling wondrous tales from the ‘set’ (you know what I mean) of the Ultramarines movie. From school kids to international movie releases – nothing illustrates more effectively just how wide a range of appeal the mythology really has.

And between these points, you have two New York Times bestselling authors both still gobsmacked by their own success… and, more importantly, delighted for the profile and credibility it’s brought to all of them, and to the tales they, too, loved as kids.

With every person they spoke to, every interview they undertook, you could see that all six of these writers would be nowhere else. Their own Forbidden Planets are alive, bristling with new potential – and it was all there to be seen our books department last night. Perhaps that’s how the WarHammer worlds get an appeal that goes from children to filmset.

A final thank you to the crew for showing military efficiency in signing so many books for us (I was half-expecting to hear Dan bark, ‘ONE, two, three ONE!’ and have everybody sign in sync). Watching last night work so well was fantastic – as Invasions go, you lot can come again!

Save The Words

2010-09-06T02:54:00.001-07:00

Language is organic.

In an accelerating age of instant communication, word and sentence structure adapt faster than ever, almost too fast for us to keep track. Abbreviations more suitable to text and IM creep steadily into everyday use; looking deeper, this change is led by a younger generation. As our education system prioritises new criteria, so our language changes with each passing year. Love it or hate it, it’s inevitable.

When my son acquires his first mobile, I doubt I’ll even understand his text messages.

And I’m sure that’s part of the point.

Yet the ghost of my English teacher haunts me still. Bless Jock Craig, that man taught a wonder and joy in the versatility and beauty of our language that has never left me. Despite his stern humour, he had a passion for his craft that infected all of us. From Beowulf to Chaucer to Milton to modernity, I defy any Ardinian taught by Jock to have come away texting lolcat.

In a week that’s seen the demise of the printed Oxford English Dictionary – is the traditional edifice of our language crumbling? Whither its remnant now?

Well, apparently, it’s here.

This is Save The Words. A site where you can show your love of the depth and richness – and downright bloody stupidity – of the English language by ‘adopting’ a word and promising to use it in day-to-day conversation.

Here are some of my favourites: -

Snobographer – one who writes about snobs
Perantique – very old or ancient
Vadosity – shallow body of water that can be crossed by wading
Quadragintireme – vessel with forty pairs of oars
Lubency – willingness, pleasure

The list goes ever on – it’s mesmeric and compelling.

If you choose to adopt a word, the site will tell you that 90% of everything we write is communicated by only 7,000 words – and I’m guessing that’s not including txtspk. Here is Oxford taking up the challenge, adapting with the times and bringing our language full-circle – using the very digital technology that’s causing the change to ride it and move with it.

Go on: adopt a word. Tell a friend, opt into the word-a-day email. Pick up your own word-banner and make sure it’s seen and heard.

No-one says you can’t like lolcats. But take a moment to think about where they came from.

Scott Pilgrim Event at Forbidden Planet

2010-08-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

Bryan Lee O’Malley does not have seven evil exes.

In fact, he’s quiet, almost shy, responding to questions with a subtle, dry wit and a sideways flash-glance that seems to gather more than it gives away. When I ask him where the inspiration for the character of Scott Pilgrim came from (you have to do these things) his answer is a blend of himself and the people he’s met during his life.

But isn’t that true of every writer’s protagonist?

I’m remiss in never really having heard of Scott Pilgrim – not until the movie merchandising began and the build-your-own avatars were saturating my Twitter page. Yet there’s something about him… the artwork’s compelling and he doesn’t let me go. The big eyes and the strong expressions are very anime, and very accessible. The characters that surround him are lively and engaging and you’re sure you know them from somewhere...

I learn more about the character while trading anecdotes in the backroom at Forbidden Planet – meantime, Bryan faces a truly epic pile (of epicness) of pre-orders with that same wry sense of humour and truly record-breaking speed. Excited members of FP staff are frequent and jumping-up-and-down with enthusiasm and the queue outside the store is a patiently sprawling monument to just how popular Scott Pilgrim really is.

I really feel I should get to know him a little better.

I find out that, if there are parts Bryan Lee O’Malley in Scott, then there are no less parts of us all. He’s every one of us, every youthful memory and bright-eyed hope. Scott Pilgrim is those post-Uni days when you hadn’t quite settled on what you wanted to do; those days when you were all about the dreams and your life was all ahead of you and sharing a bed with your mate was just how it was.

He reminds you of the hot girl or boy that you wanted desperately and then (amazing!) actually got, the hot girl or boy you that didn’t really want but didn’t really want to have to hurt… the thing about Scott Pilgrim is that we’ve all been there. And the thing about Bryan Lee O’Malley – is that he must’ve been there too.

So: I’m guessing that, if Scott Pilgrim is made up of all of everyone, then that would explain the sub-space highway in his head…

…and maybe why I’ve been dreaming about hot girls on roller-blades.

PS: If you are the girl who decorated this fantastic Munny - or you know who she is - please shout so give the credit where it's due.

So... what IS the most dangerous thing in the Universe?!

2010-08-07T10:33:00.001-07:00

You’re a writer, right? And you’re stuck?

When you ask Google – or Jeeves – a question, you’ll get an answer. It’ll be dry, it’ll be humourless, but (assuming you’ve asked the question correctly) you’ll get what you were after.

When you ask Twitter a question, THIS is what happens…

@Danacea Cub Question du Jour: Mummy, What’s the most dangerous thing in the Universe?

Replies received went as follows: -

@Becca_Masters in all honesty it’s probably humans!!!
@Steve_G A collision between matter and anti-matter? That should keep ‘em quiet for a while :)
@RyanMacG Mums :P
@daphneblake eating too much candy and watching Hannah Montana
@ALRutter Boredom
@bobcatrock my inner-hippy immediately said “a closed mind!”
@pandermoanium gossip
@garenewing the Universe itself!
@justinpickard – Sharks with laser beams? Or a supernova? Though the second answer, when explained, might cause more problems that it solves
@SamSykesSwears Desire
@frandowdsofa Mummies
@Big_Jim religion. Or Galactus. Your choice.
@ALRutter Religion
@destroytheearth “Questions, so shhh!”
@Entorien Seriously? The Human Race. Non-seriously? The Cookie Monster.
@Entorien Or if you’re feeling really deep and thoughtful, and your Cub’s as smart as he sounds… ignorance ;-p
@sennydreadful Spiders. Yeah, I know that mostly they’re harmless, but that’s just because they haven’t revealed their plans yet.
@neilbeynon A big red button marked Do Not Press
@mrdomrocks [shortened version from Twitlonger] People.
@davecl42 Black hole? Gamma Ray burst? Dalek??
@Shockwave A woman locked out of a 95% off shoe sale
@Faithful_Shadow The teen says pissed off mum
@stephenjsweeney Cheese
@x_richard_x Daleks, cybermen, a woman scorned?
@ghostfinder Anti-matter!
@talithabee A curious mind
@Faithful_Shadow my vote goes for black holes
@Rhiarti Stupidity
@beaki gamma rays
@brendajos tell him girls that aren’t mummy
@leighjohnston Quasar?
@kevmceigh Simon Cowell
@dracona1031 I’m not sure Daleks count any more, now that they come in Fisher Price colors…
@Herne politicians

@Von_Cheam Chinese-built motorcycles

This list has omitted those of you with protected streams, the debate between @ghostfinder and @davecl42 about the nature of Quasars, and the venn diagram overlapping Religion and Desire as outlined by @SamSykesSwears… just an extra level of involvement to put a blue bird on your shoulder.

But… you’re a writer, right? And you’re stuck? That’s over thirty answers to a single tweeted question – all creative, all with a sense of humour, all with insight and each with a personal slant. That’s fodder for fucking days.

The most dangerous thing in the Universe? Is bloody Twitter.

I was going to thank people in my twitterstream, but you’re all too cool *laughing!*

So - who's going to pick a favourite?!

Through A Lens, Clearly

2010-08-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

There are many milestones to visible age: -

Your braces.
Your first kiss (usually while you’re still in them).
Your first piercing or tattoo.
Your first alcoholic drink…
…and your first hangover.
Your first proper suit.
Feel free to add your own.

All though your life, these milestones are marks of maturity (if you’re lucky), knowledge, experience and insight. Each one gives you a sense of achievement and makes you feel like you've reached a certain summit, a peak upon which you can stand proud.

So, in this age where Geeks are Cool, Nerds are Heard and it’s okay to like hardware, software, science and fiction…
The first time you wear your glasses should be another pinnacle, right? It’s an accomplishment: I can read, write and work without the headaches that seemed to be laying in wait for me recently…

It’s not age, it’s not. Forty-one is a state of mind.

This is the first time I’ve worn them to write a blog post.

It feels…
Very…
Fucking…
Weird!

Toy Story 3

2010-07-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

I can’t remember the last time I cried in the cinema (I watched ‘UP’ at home), but any film that can make you laugh your arse off all the way through and then have you wiping water from your eyes (the 3D glasses make this downright awkward) at the closing scenes – well, it’s more than just a film for Cubs.

The plot of Toy Story 3 is swift, bright, clear – beautifully wrought. It's continuity is wondrous - the smallest dropped fragment (Woody's Hat) becomes a demoniac device for later in the story. It can be predictable - but that's no bad thing. While we know what’s exactly going to happen to the toys in the daycare centre, for example, the tension is built so skilfully that the shock and horror are still genuine. The wheeler-dealing of the bad guys in the roof-club of the snack-machine, the final fate of Lotso – in each case, you know what's coming, but the scene-setting, the references, the symmetry are all flawless. The entire script is absolutely stuffed with sly adult gags – my favourite being Ken throwing open the door before a love-struck Barbie with the words, ‘Baby, this is where is all happens!’ – and it’s to his wardrobe… words fail me.

We all love Buzz and Woody – but Ken, accessory or not, totally stole that entire film. Right down to his love-heart shorts.

In fact, there just wasn’t a weak character. The dastardly, strawberry-scented bear, voiced to villainous perfection by Ned Beatty, is more iniquitous than any plush toy has a right to be – but the perfectly dovetailed flashback by the sinister clown just tinges his soft menace with sympathy. It also wins us to the side of the lumbering-simple Big Baby, tormented by the one thing he trusts. Assisted by the truly scary watch-monkey and a scattering of sinister side-kicks (we liked the two faced robot), Lotso is absolutely a genius evil.

And props for the silent Totoro. I wonder if he was on an exchange visit?

This is a film that carries you along regardless. (The Claw!) Made for a younger audience or not, I challenge any adult to watch it and to not have their heart touched. What was your favourite toy as a child? What happened to them? The closing scene of the teenage Andy introducing little Bonnie to his friends was what reduced me to tears – and not only me, I suspect, from the snufflings next to me.

It’s a reminder that, for all we’re supposed to be adult, are we supposed to be grown-up?

STOMP! STOMP! STOMP!!

2010-07-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

He's the best pet ever! You’ve seen the film (all of them), now you can have one of your very own…

This huge beast is two feet at the shoulder – that’s above your knees – and over 28” long. He comes with a zip-line through the body and fully articulated legs, plus LED lights and all sorts of movie sounds and phrases… he (almost) walks, he (pretty-much) talks and he’s dead cheap to take to the vet.

Plus: he comes with his own keeper – a 3 ¾” driver action figure (with speeder bike) and he has enough space to hold up to 19 more Star Wars action figures.

He’s an All-Terrain Armoured Transport, AT-AT for short, and he really hates teddy bears.

The only question that remains is…

…what are you going to call him?

Titan Books: New Website

2010-07-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

This week, my colleagues downstairs at Titan Books have launched a shiny all-new site.

Titan specialise in the good stuff - film, TV and music tie-ins, illustrated books, hot fiction and cool graphic novels - titles like The Simpsons, Supernatural, Batman, Star Wars and Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass... you'll find many of them on the Forbidden Planet site too, oddly enough.

Their marketing team are Bookseller Awards short-listed and they've been having fun with the digital and social media thing - look out for the Hammer Glamour app for the iPhone and iPad and for Titan on twitter at @TitanBooks.

The new site, as well as keeping you updated with all the hot titles forthcoming from the Titan presses, features a blog offering such goodies as exclusive interviews (Mark Millar, Joe Simon) and guest posts (Scroobius Pip, Robert Graysmith) - plus sample chapters, exclusive sneak previews, video clips of games and films, quizzes and behind-the-scenes news from the Titan staff. And don't miss the competitions page - for thirty days from August 2nd there will be a new competition featured on the site daily. Get your mitts on an X-Box 360, original artwork, props from hit shows like CSI and Firefly, as well as signed books, DVDs and CDs.

And, of course, there's the forthcoming events page - making sure you don't miss out.

Go have a nose for yourself at www.titanbooks.com!

Writing and Twitter: The Case for the Opposition

2010-07-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

So – the validation thing.

I have this theory (stone me if you will): the point at which you stop needing validation is the point at which you’ve learned to write like yourself (not like Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk or Dan fucking Brown). Don’t get me wrong – we all need feedback, positive or negative, that’s how we learn – but thirsting for constant reassurance means you’re still seeking your own voice… and your own feet. As you’re finding these things, and becoming secure in them, that need will thin and fade.

Those authors who have success as their feedback seem to forget this – they, too, started somewhere.

I’ve blogged before about Twitter as a distraction (and Gods fucking KNOW it can be!) but the Case for the Opposition is that Twitter can provide three things (other than helping you market your title, we got that one already): -

Support and reassurance: we all have to take those first steps.

A smack round the head: as well as being a distraction, Twitter can be a motivation. Whether you gain your necessary arse-kick from stating what you’re going to do, or from a friend’s booted foot, that doesn’t really matter. Perversely, Twitter can be good for actually making you work.

Research: neatly bringing me to where I was going.

While the Great Prophet Google goes almost all the way to making research easy, there are times it genuinely can’t help you. So, when you find yourself asking a question, a question that’s so spectacularly simple, so downright fucking dumb, a question that’s so ridiculous that you didn’t even know that you didn’t know...

…you ask Twitter.

And Lo! Where the Great Prophet fails, the Little Blue Bird offers up the answer.

So – this blog is a thank you to all those people who answered the idiot query ‘Do you open your glove compartment with the same key as you open your car?’ It’s also a thank you to Lloyd Davis over at Perfect Path for chipping in with his busking experience – and a shout out to all those people who make Twitter, not about pointless validation, but about help that actually matters.

Twitter can be like the bottom of the bird-cage – what you get out of it depends entirely…

…you know what I’m saying.

The Squeee At Last: Michael Moorcock!

2010-07-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

MICHAEL MOORCOCK will be signing his new Doctor Who novel The Coming of the Terraphiles at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday 21st October 6 - 7pm.

There are no words to describe the massive effect that Michael Moorcock has had on the growth of our genre/s – and on all of our lives. He's won the Guardian Fiction Prize for The Condition of Muzak, and been shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize for Mother London. He’s best-loved through, for the epic characters he has created Elric, Jerry Cornelius and Colonel Pyat. This is rare opportunity to meet our own Eternal Champion.

Miggea - a star on the edge of reality. A point where space-time has worn thin, and is in danger of collapsing... and the venue for the grand finals of the Arrow of Law competition. The Doctor and Amy have joined the Terraphiles - a group re-enacting Earth’s ancient sporting events and they are determined to win the Arrow. But reality is collapsing, ships are disappearing, Captain Cornelius and his pirates are looking for easy pickings. The Doctor and Amy have to find out who is prepared to kill to get their hands on the Arrow. And uncover a traitor. And win the contest. And – of course – save the universe from total destruction. This is a thrilling, all-new adventure featuring the Doctor and Amy, as played by Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.

Guys - this is going to be big. Please take moment to consider the people in the queue behind you and DON'T come down with a big ol' bag full of all your Elric novels - there will be restrictions on what you can ask to be signed.

Scott Pilgrim Vs... Forbidden Planet!

2010-06-30T01:58:00.000-07:00

BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY will be signing the sixth and final title in the massively popular Scott Pilgrim series: SCOTT PILGRIM’S FINEST HOUR at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR on Tuesday 17th August 6 – 7pm.

It’s finally happened! With six of Ramona's seven evil exes dispatched, it should be time for Scott Pilgrim to face Gideon Graves, the biggest and baddest of her former beaus. But didn't Ramona take off at the end of Book 5? Shouldn't that let Scott off the hook? Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn't, but one thing is for certain: all of this has been building to Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour!

Bryan Lee O’Malley is an award-winning Canadian cartoonist. He has been working on a series of graphic novels called Scott Pilgrim. He writes the words and draws the pictures.

Now - if only he can persuade Scott Pilgrim to catch up with a couple of exes of mine...

A little Culture culture

2010-06-29T03:41:00.001-07:00

How many of you have had a creative idea in your head that you've been tinkering with for years... only to see it manifest by another author/artist/muso before you’ve had a chance to shout about how good it is?

My feelings, pretty-much exactly, when I saw the cover of Iain M Banks’ new book.

(On the other hand, of course, it does tell me that the idea was a good one!)

Whatever the personal ironies (they’re all over the use of the fractal eyes theme, dammit!) it’s a kick-arse cover, and Mister Banks himself will be at FP to sign his latest Culture title, Surface Detail, on October 7th at 6pm.

Don’t miss this one – it’s likely to be big!

An Anti-Vamp Rant

2010-06-25T03:12:00.001-07:00

I used to like watching Buffy – I own it on… actually on VHS… and I’ve watched it to absolute Undeath.

But by every Mother of God am I sick of fucking vampires!

It was with a huge cheer, then, that I read Neil Gaiman’s comments in the Independent this morning – kicking back against genre and marketing saturation, and against the de-fanged and de-balled castrato-vamp that we’ve all learned to loathe. He’s right, they’re like cockroaches, they’re everywhere – and we’ve had enough.

And not only Gaiman, bless him. He’s backed up by Sam Stone and Graham Marks… and even Ms. Meyer herself has had enough. Could it be – finally – that the public backlash is finding its teeth?

I get marketing trends – hell, I’m supposed to, I have to follow and ride them for a living. But when does a trend become a dictation? When does it stop being something the audience want – and become something they’re told they must like? Working where I do, I’ve been on ground level with marketing a motherlode of Vampire merchandise… and you can guarantee that, for every Twilight-Sparkly-Box-Souvenir that we’ve promoted through our Social Media net, we’ll get a kick-back of customers who’ve all reached their own saturation limit.

And so I ask: have we now reached the point where our media consumption is being utterly dictated by its buying trends – and where those very trends are set by a nation of proto-teen consumers? Just who is in fucking charge here anyway?!

Please – enough with the ‘safe sales’, already, and enough with the sheep-herding; enough with the force-feeding of pulp and enough with having our consumption controlled.

Let’s give the Vampire back his teeth... while we open out, and embrace the full scope of our genre.

Father's Day Geek Win!

2010-06-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

It’s a pretty unholy fusion – geekery and musical theatre were not really meant to be together.

But up in Leicester Square today, it’s been all about Superheroes, Sith Lords, Singers and Pink Drapery as we’ve once again taken up a two-day residence in a West End Live display tent… and proved that Glee isn’t the only thing that can cross that potentially hazardous cultural boundary.

We know the drill – we’ve done this four years running. Armed with a TARDIS, a cut-out of The Doctor and a selection of SF-style helmets and weaponry, we’re there to provide an uber-cool photo op and a chance for the kids to get their hands on (and their head in) a Clone Trooper helm.

But here’s the thing…

It’s not just the kids.

While Mums want a picture of their little’un with Batman, while teen girls squee at even a cardboard Matt Smith, Dad has never outgrown actually being a superhero. Mum will take a goody bag for the kids; Dad will take one for himself as well – and be chuffed as fuck to get a Spider-Man comic. Mum will wander off to watch the cast of Legally Blonde; Dad will stay and tell his kids about Darth Maul.

You know it: it’s always Dad who has to try the Optimus Prime helmet on.

Up at Forbidden Planet, our female customer base is bigger than it’s ever been – we all know there’s a Geek Grrl Revolution going on. But I’ve stood in the back of that tent today and watched a starry-eyed Dad teach his five-year-old correct rifle etiquette with a steampunk-style Annihilator Mk II… and then take a picture that will last him the rest of his life.

It was a tad surreal - but it did underline one thing...

Today is Father’s Day. And it’s been a complete Geek Dad Win!

The Daleks and the Geek Mum Win

2010-06-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

My son loves Doctor Who.

He’s five – and it’s become his story and his focus. Sod Ben 10, stuff Transformers, and Batman is just so over… Who is where it’s at.

And nothing makes him jump up and down on the sofa (hiding’s for wusses) like the appearance of the Daleks.

I remember hiding from them; they were wonderfully scary. Now I’m having to remember the 1980s plotlines as my son Isaac will quiz me about every decision Davros ever made and who where the Kaleds anyway…

…my job, sometimes, is a life-saver in more than one way!

Now the Daleks (with a little help for Professor Bracewell) have finally machined some help for my plight.

One fully functional radio controlled Ironside with full 360-degree movement and flashing lights and speech and poseable gun and arm and yadda yadda… BUT WE CAN MAKE THEM FIGHT.

Two Daleks, twelve batteries and one very excited small child later…

…there are no more questions about Davros.

And I have a Geek Mum Win.

Forbidden Planet Bares All!

2010-06-10T02:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Angry Robot books, LAUREN BEUKES will be signing an exclusive pre-release hardcover of ZOO CITY at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR on Thursday 29th July from 6 – 7pm.

Zinzi December has a talent for finding lost things. But in a city of black magic, familiars and damaged people, some lost things don’t want to be found. To save herself, Zinzi will have to confront her demons and find the hardest thing of all: the truth. An astonishing second novel from the author of the highly-acclaimed Moxyland.

Lauren Beukes is a recovering journalist who used to hang out with township vigilantes, electricity thieves, trendoid swingers, teen vampires and great white sharks; now she spends most of her time making stuff up as a TV scriptwriter and novelist. She lives in Cape Town with her husband and daughter.

ZOO CITY ART TOY CHARITY AUCTION

As part of the Zoo City promotion, five art toy BARES are being auctioned for the Suitcase Project, helping Johannesburg’s refugee children. These unique customs a have been donated by the Am I collective and decorated by South African artists Joey Hi-Fi, Elise Wessels, Clemi, Willeen le Roux, Carine Nguz and Bia van Deventer.

Lauren will be bringing one of the Bares, Bi-Polar Bare by Willeen de Roux, with her to the event.

And please don't forget to go and bid!

Bullshit and Artistry

2010-06-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

The saying goes: that a short story is to a novel what a sniper rifle is to a shotgun. It’s a precision instrument – there’s no room to fuck about if you want to do the job properly. You can’t just paint the target and hope… you need to know exactly where you’re aiming, and how you’re going to get there.

Having just finished the first short story I’ve written in (cough!) far too many years – and prayed my trigger mechanism isn’t too rusty – it’s kind of led to something else…

Sticking with the analogy: is urban fantasy to epic fantasy what using a weapon is to just noising about it? It has to be real – you have to know exactly what you’re doing because people will bloody-well notice if you’re a bullshit artist.

If you’re an epic fantasy writer, you can make all sorts of cool shit up – a home, a battlefield, a drinking den, an historical date, a stupidly-oversized sword – as long as it’s a socio-cultural fit, you’re away.

Then you come to writing something set in London.

After a bit, it dawns on your little brain that you can’t make that shit up any more. If your characters have a home – you need to know where it is, you need to know what it looks like, you need to know where the closest Tube station is and what the streets are like at two in the morning. Are there pubs or clubs in the area – what time do they shut? Where (if you want to get really anal) do your characters go to get a pint of milk on a hungover Sunday morning?

Hrmmm….

With all this crap in my head, this afternoon I’ve been up in Camden. Not shopping, not even in the Market itself a lot of the time – but ranging that little bit wider. I’ve been on manoeuvres: the side streets, the backstreets, the suburbs, the churches and the tiny, forgotten parks. The normal places, the places that the tourists never go; the places that the cool guys with the facial piercings have no interest in… because no-one can see them hanging there.

What we see in any city – any place – is largely what we’re looking for. When you take a step back from yourself and what’s expected of you, and you go out looking for something new, it’s amazing what you’ll find.

The pen, it seems, it truly the mightiest weapon of all - it makes us aware. But I'm guessing we knew that...

Going Postal

2010-06-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

What wonder is this – Bank Holiday viewing that’s fun, original, beautifully put together and has us glued to the screen for two hours on two consecutive nights?

It can only be Mister Pratchett.

Last night, my son dozed off on my shoulder and I sat, my arm going to sleep, absolutely bloody riveted. If I have a complaint, it’s that there were too many sodding adverts, thank you Sky!

But! A flawlessly paced and solid narrative, a charismatic performance by Richard Coyle as Lipwig, ably supported by the stern schoolmistress sexiness (it’s a cheap shot but, hell, it works) of Miss Dearheart. We fell in love with Stanley and his pins – the moment of his perforation genius brought twitter tears to many, I think. Stanley is the geek in us all, we decided – and it’s pure comic insight that takes a single, recognisable quality and turns it into loveable character with which we can all empathise.

Charles Dance made a beautifully austere Vetinari – but all were utterly upstaged by the outrageous ‘Evil Genius’ overacting of David Suchet as Reacher. He was bad, he was glorious – and he was kind of hot (sorry, that might just be me)…

The thing at which Sir Terry has always excelled is taking modern clichés and referencing them in a Discworld context – so the three ‘x-files’ geeks who bust the code of the Clacks, the industrial regulations of the Golems, the media and corporate wars that made up a strong part of the story – and not forgetting ‘Extreme Pins’ magazine – all of these draw us in and bring the Discworld to vibrant life. We can identify with it, because it’s so close to our own experience.

Gorgeous set, snappy dialogue, perfect timing – and a wonderful cameo by the Man Himself at the end – what else is there to say?

One thing.

The final race sees the triumph of a book (more than one, if you include the ledger) over technology.

Perhaps Going Postal was making a point?

Colonel J Fizziwig's Blasters & Disruptors

2010-05-26T03:26:00.001-07:00

Some adventures demand guns.

And some guns demand adventures.

Lock’n’loading somewhere between Doctor Grordbort and Hellboy, this is one palm-itching, mouthwatering range of steampunkery that’s enough to make you crave big game – and I don’t mean the bloody World Cup.

Available at Forbidden Planet, each of one these cries out to be accompanied by a full bustle and a pith helmet – or the gentlemanly equivalent. Sadly lacking costume, I will have to settle for throwing out my son in order to make some space.

Whatever Steampunk may do as a literary genre (you’ll pardon me for not writing this post in the style of an excerpt from King Solomon’s Mines) in the art world, it kicks butt… these weapons are props and statues, there to be admired and BIG-TIME shown off.

They may be convertible to cosplay with a crafters’ eye and a steady hand (though I’m not recommending it), but I want to know..?

How can I make one WORK?!!

Three of the Best Event: When A Plan Comes Together!

2010-05-24T04:28:00.001-07:00

I love it when a plan comes together.

Oh all right, all right – there may be a plan, but its execution isn’t mine. This stuff doesn’t happen without the unsung heroes in the books department, without the publisher, without the fantastic triple bill of the boys themselves, and without Sharon Ring who rounded up the critical mass of bloggers and brought them in for the night.

And what a night.

From Adam’s cherry flavoured e-cig to the threat to shave Mark’s head, from China’s choice of entry music (check Mark’s blog for this one) to the winding–fractal queues (suitably squid-like in fact) that coiled across the floor… this was an evening that coalesced flawlessly. Yes, there were books and there were buyers, there were writers and there were readers – but there was also that fantastic, spontaneous combustion of friendliness and badinage that brings tradition down in flames and builds something Phoenix-like (see what I did there?) out of the ashes of what has gone before.

(Breathe).

Question: why do people feel they can @celebs on twitter? Because it’s an even field; when you look at your screen, at your choice of app, Stephen Fry has exactly the same 140-character slot as your next mate down. Suddenly, if you wish it, he’s approachable.

So: we're breaking tables. Their absence removes emotional barriers, social barriers – barriers that divide an author from their readership, and that readership from each other. Queues formulate readers into ceremonial silence.

And don’t we want to shout about the books we love?

Once again, I return to the sense of community – and the multiple subsequent posts I’ve seen about this event all celebrate the same song. We met our friends and we shared something that mattered.

Yes, we might read a book alone (though if it’s ‘Apartment 16' you might want the light on) - but being able to share that book, not only with your friends, but with the author that wrote it, really matters.

Thank you to everybody who came down and made that event what it was. I only work there ☺

(The image is Krakencome by Nycopterus. Sadly, my iPhone takes lousy photos. That’s what I tell myself anyway)…

Five Authors, One... Oh, You Know How This Works!

2010-05-05T03:47:00.001-07:00

And off we go again!! Forbidden Planet and Gollancz publishing are delighted to bring you one of our now-celebrated, open-format, multi-author signings! At 6pm on Thursday May 13th, Forbidden Planet 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London will be playing host to: -

• Stephen Deas
• M D Lachlan
• John Meaney
• Sarah Pinborough
• Adam Roberts

Once again, we've have gathered the hottest new sf/f releases into one event – an evening that bring writers and fans together and promotes interest in new and different kinds of fiction.

This is a free-form and open signing, bringing the authors out from behind their tables and giving their readers a chance to meet them and talk to them about their work. An array of fantastic books will be on hand to be picked up and signed – including works by every one of the writers present.

You know how this works - you've been to one of these before!

Three Of The Best!

2010-04-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

FORBIDDEN PLANET & TOR UK
are delighted to bring you

CHINA MIÉVILLE, ADAM NEVILL & MARK CHARAN NEWTON

Three huge talents; one signing event - we're delighted to be hosting a triple signing with Clarke Award winner China Miéville, Adam Nevill and Mark Charan Newton on Thursday 20th May 6 - 7pm at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8JR.

In China Miéville’s KRAKEN, a prize specimen has come to the Natural History Museum – a giant squid, whole and perfectly preserved. When it disappears, curator Billy Harrow finds himself in a city of warring cults and surreal magic – and the forthcoming end of the world.

APARTMENT 16 by Adam Nevill is wonderfully written, deftly plotted tale of utter horror that will have you turning the lights on in the middle of the night. Follow and unravel the tale of Barringon House – and discover that the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something terrifying.

Three weeks in advance of publication date, CITY OF RUIN by Mark Charan Newton is the follow-on to the massively successful Nights of Villjamur, taking us back to the lands of the Red Sun. This time, we go to Villiren, where Brynd and investigator Jeryd must fight to save a city that’s already in ruins.

This will be an open-plan event, and is very likely to be followed by an evening of celebration.

You have been warned!

Tweetox and the #amwriting Hashtag

2010-04-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

So, there you are – you’ve got 20 minutes between finishing the dishes and settling down for Doctor Who. No point writing anything, let’s fire up Twitter and see what the world is up to…

…whaddaya mean it’s still fired up from the last 20 minutes 40 minutes ago?

You, yes you, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’ve tried to be good – when I #amwriting, I shut twitter down. On those glorious, rare and blissful occasions I actually get the house to myself for four WHOLE HOURS I can still crank out the wordcount – and Twitter goes OFF.

But it’s the snippets, the corners of time between one thing and the next, the not-quite-getting-round-to-it and the I’ll-do-it-in-a-minute…

…who am I fucking kidding?

After coming back from EasterCon, I entertained a little cold turkey – quit the booze (to give my long-suffering liver a rest), for a start, but also took a moment to wrap twitter’s beak in gaffer tape and shut it the hell up.

What I found out should be no revelation.

Those twenty minutes matter. Those corners of time, those fragments of finger-twiddle between this thing and the next… even if they don’t count towards your final wordage total, they keep the ideas moving, the characters talking, the plotline unrolling (okay, occasionally writhing) in your head. If you default to tweet, soon you find your characters wandering off into the middle distance – and when you DO have time to actually write, you spend a precious hour going to look for them – and bringing them back.

And that’s wordcount wasted.

I can’t pretend I didn’t miss it (my Facebook updates became rather more frequent and I really missed both twitpic and blip.fm), but the tweetox was well worth the insight.

With absolute respect to those who use the #amwriting hashtag to network, community build and connect with other writers to help each other and all move forwards, I still can’t get my head round it.

When I #amwriting, Twitter gets shut down. And that should now go for those errant 20 minutes, as well - yes, all of them.

No mercy! :)

Odyssey 2010 - Breaking Into The Future

2010-04-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

And so, to the Heathrow Radisson, two years on from my own return to fandom – and with a wash of déjà-vu borne by the wings – and the scent – of the aircraft overhead.

This year, we finally witnessed the fusion of fandom with social media – the Saturday afternoon saw a plethora of panels discussing blogs, soc med platforms and the glory of the #EasterCon hashtag. Saturday membership soared from speculative walk-ins – not fans, just people who’d seen the chat on twitter and wanted to see what was happening.

My own Social Media panel was live-streamed – huge thank you to Nik Butler for the tech spec and to Lee Harris, Del Lakin-Smith and Paul Cornell for their expertise – but the hotel was full of many digital champions. Mark Charan Newton, John Coxon and the ever-blogging Cheryl Morgan only touched the screen-surface – for one glorious moment on the Sunday, the #EasterCon hashtag hit as a world trend.

As ever, I spent much of my time behind the Dealers’ Table – but, with MacBook open, was able to track the Twitter backchannel and attend events by proxy – something that was happening with fans at home, I’m sure. Cheryl’s panel on Virtual Attendees opened this concept wider – a huge potential for people to attend Conventions all over the world, for knowledge and family to be shared. Not only that, but the huge out-spilling ripples caused by the Award announcements each made more noise than the Heathrow runways outside.

My work-mate Mat commented ‘you know everybody’ and it did feel like that – an odd two-year jump from ‘08 where I sat scared on the Thursday evening knowing one name from the 1,000 plus in attendance. This year, I could stroll the semi-marble oddities of the Radisson, from the Corner of the Damned (Smoker’s Terrace) to the Atrium Bar, and there would always be someone to chat to – and always something to chat about. Reading, writing, gaming, fighting, costume-making, publishing, tech spec and social media – whatever your part in it, the SF/F industry is a strong community; it embraces its own and no amount of hashtagging can equal a Con’s strong feeling of extended family.

‘I like Cons’ I overheard one fan said to another ‘It’s okay to be weird’.

In the Venn diagram of real and virtual, this was an EasterCon that occupied the centre – where we watched as the two things met and overlapped and enhanced each other, working on dual level to share information within the Con itself and to broadcast that information to the outside world.

I know ‘everybody’ because of Forbidden Planet – but also because of Twitter – and because of the way I’ve woven them together. Watching this happen on a bigger scale, on a Worldwide Trending Topic scale, was astounding.

Fandom's gone digital. And high time!

2010-03-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

FORBIDDEN PLANET is delighted to be hosting one of our famous multi-author events. To celebrate two brand new NewCon Press anthologies, THE BITTEN WORD and CONFLICTS, at 5pm on April 22nd, Forbidden Planet 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London will be playing host to: -

Keith Brooke, Eric Brown, David L Clements, Andy Remic, Sarah Singleton, Kari Sperring, Sam Stone, Ian Watson and Ian Whates

This is a new-format signing, no tables, no queues – we open out the store floor and give readers a chance to meet the authors and talk to them about their work. An array of fantastic books will be on hand to be signed – including Ian Whates’ CITY OF DREAMS AND NIGHTMARE and Ian Watson’s ORGASMACHINE.

Also available will be special pre-publication copies of Andy Remic’s SOUL STEALERS, second book of his successful Clockwork Vampire series from Angry Robot Books.

And yes, there will be beer, though possibly not with these two...

WHC: World Horror Con

2010-03-28T11:45:00.001-07:00

So – how do you write about a Con that you saw so little of??

In fact, though Alex and I were nailgunned behind the FP trading table as usual, we did manage to prise our way free and explore the labyrinthine wonders of the antique Brighton hotel… certainly enough to know that World Horror Con was doing it old school.

Here, we found, the fans were serious – an older generation of dedicated horror collectors disdaining the common paperback in favour of first edition hardcovers, many of them calculating their luggage weight as they went along. World Horror Con was not a Con about costumes, it was gathering of experts – world-wide, word-wise and hard-core.

Though the Dealers’ Room was tucked out of the way of the main programe, props to Stephen Jones and the ever-eloquent James Bacon for bringing events in to us… peaking with the two-hour signing with the Master Himself, James Herbert – a man for whom Brian Lumley will stand and queue and Ingrid Pitt will publicly declaim her affection. I mean, horror-fan or no, who hasn’t read a James Herbert book?

The appearance of Neil Gaiman as secret special guest caused the inevitable flurry – perhaps the only point that paperbacks were suddenly in vogue. Had we known he was coming, of course…

Anyway, away from the (mostly) revered silence of the Dealers’ Rooms, the Con took ‘old school’ in a fantastically retro direction – out onto Brighton Pier with a free bar and an open Ghost Train ride, a winner of a combination.

And just to add to the nostalgia, the MonQee reappeared, gathering more fans and more signatures – he crashed over with me on the Saturday after the Stoker Awards.

Throw in a plethora of book-launch parties and you have a WorldCon worthy of its title. There may only have been 500 members, but I’ve never seen a community so focused upon the genre they love and have grown up with, upon the multiple anthologies they collaborate and write, and upon friendships that stretch back through years without number.

There have been many of our friends there too – but, at World Horror Con, we could watch a different age of fandom.

‘Horror’ said Solaris’ Jon Oliver in an interview with Andy Remic, ‘has no boundaries’. Ironic really, when you consider how close the community that surrounds it really is.

SF/F and Social Media and – Join Us Live at EasterCon

2010-03-24T01:56:00.000-07:00

At EasterCon this year, on Saturday 3rd April at 3:00pm (BST), UStreaming live from Odyssey 2010, we will be merging industry and Social Media to debate – and real-time demonstrate – this question: -

Just how far has the SF/F industry really embraced Social Media?

We know that writers are all over Twitter; they’re everywhere. Promoted by publishers, orbited by bloggers and followed by fans, they meet one another through the #amwriting hashtag or join David Rozansky’s #scifichat. Competitions and give-aways abound freely (please RT), circling like little bluebirds over the head of a dazed man.

But, in the grand scheme of things, how much impact does this have? In a world where only the top 15% of books published sell more than 5,000 copies… can we do more with Social Media to ensure that the industry accepts change and allows itself to grow?

The Twitter support community is great – on one level, we’ve embraced the ideal of completely. People help each other – no, I mean it. But socially, the industry is insular – despite the ‘New Age of Geek Chic’ and all of that gubbins, are people reluctant to reach beyond their safety zone?

Are we going round in circles, preaching our love of SF to the already converted?

And it goes beyond Twitter. Twitter is the foyer; there are many other rooms to peek into. The David Gemmell Legend Awards can be found on Ning; video promotions for book titles are becoming quite the thing, dahling – and more and more authors follow the free-download example set by Accelerando.

Is good Social Media an effective long-term investment – or is its short-focus immediacy just a smart way to give out a quick dozen books? Will it, as Jim C Hines mused, eventually prove to be the end of the book signing?

And, of course, the very nature of those books is changing under our hands – not only their format, but how they’re sold – that was one trip up the Amazon we all remember. How far can Social Media promote the awareness and acceptance of those changes – professional, legal and personal – and help ensure that they’re beneficial in the right places?

To find out - and to chip in - come to #LiveCon.

Track the #EasterCon and #LiveCon hashtags at UStream TV, or on the BSFA website – or join us on Twitter – use the #LiveCon hashtag to ask my panel a real-time question.

Join author Paul Cornell and Angry Robot Books' editor Lee Harris as they match their industry wits with Social Media experts Nik Butler and Del Lakin-Smith – and follow all of us live on Twitter for commentary, not only from #LiveCon, but from the whole weekend.

KICK-ASS!

2010-03-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

MARK MILLAR and JOHN ROMITA Jr. will be signing the graphic novel KICK-ASS and the movie companion book KICK-ASS: CREATING THE COMIC, MAKING THE MOVIE at Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2h 8JR on Sunday March 21st 2 – 3pm.

The KICK-ASS phenomenon unites acclaimed writer Mark Millar and award-winning artist John Romita Jr. for one of the 21st century’s most outrageous and acclaimed series. What would happen if you tried to be a superhero – if an ordinary kid in spandex came face-to-face with the criminal underworld?

In the graphic novel, Dave Lizewski is just a regular American teenager with a MySpace page, a comic book collection, and no girlfriend. As self-styled vigilante Kick-Ass, however, he’s about to find out exactly how a superhero would fare in the real world... and it’s going to get really, really violent!

To accompany the film release, Mark Millar has also written the full and official page-to-screen story of KICK-ASS, collecting the input of the cast and crew as well as artist John Romita Jr. With eye-popping art from the original comics, script extracts and hundreds of movie photos, this is the indispensable guide to every aspect of ass-kicking.

Please note we can't offer signed pre-orders for these titles - though we do have a crapton of cool merchandise. If you want to get your ass kicked, so to speak, you'll need to be at the event!

The Definitive Solomon Kane Archive

2010-02-12T04:34:00.000-08:00

Check this fantastic piece of cheeky widgetry, sent over to FP by the guys at log.tv!

And if that bundle wasn't enough, Solomon Kane star JAMES PUREFOY will be signing at Forbidden Planet Megastore on Saturday 20th February 1:30 – 2.30pm.

RSC-trained, James grabbed the spotlight when he played Mark Anthony in the series 'Rome'. As well as numerous TV appearances, his movie career includes 'Resident Evil', 'A Knight's Tale' and the forthcoming 'John Carter of Mars'.

Solomon Kane, written and directed by Michael J. Bassett (Deathwatch), is the tale of a brutally efficient 16th Century killing machine. Armed with his signature pistols, cutlass and rapier, he and his men unleash their bloodlust as they fight for England in war after war - but when Kane decides to attack a mysterious nearby castle, things take an evil turn.

One by one, Kane’s men are picked off by demonic creatures until he alone is left to face the Devil’s own Reaper – dispatched from the depths of Hell. Though Kane at last manages to escape, he knows that he must redeem himself by renouncing violence and devoting himself wholly to a life of peace and purity. His newfound spirituality, however, is quickly put to the ultimate test and he finds himself having to jeopardise his own soul by re-embracing his murderous talents for a higher cause.

Grab your own Solomon Kane widget here!

The SFX Weekender: Sensory Overload!

2010-02-08T03:35:00.000-08:00

Where can you find a half-dozen hot dancers on four-foot actuators, their endless changes of fantastical costumes towering over the assembled mass? Where can you find Tom Baker’s sincerity, love and dry wit – and James Marsters’ American accent cussing the sparkly vampires of ‘Twilight’? Indeed, where can you find Aliens shagging the foyer – and a red-faced fan couple shagging in the TARDIS?

If I told you it was in a bedraggled and shabby ‘Hi-De-Hi’ holiday camp, you’d think I’d been on the little pink pills. But, no pills – this was the SFX Weekender at Pontin’s in Camber – a sensory overload where ‘surreal’ became an inadequate word to describe increasing layers of wackiness.

By day, we were defended by the Forbidden Planet trading table - able to see over the heaving seethe of fans to the talks and panels of the main stage. Not only Tom Baker and James Marsters, but Gareth David-Lloyd, Lis Sladen, Gerry Anderson – all of whom the business has met before. An impressive line-up – and one that had the Weekender’s attendees queuing for signatures in great fan-serpents of patience, winding across the floor.

And it wasn’t only about the celebs. A series of talks and panels by the best in speculative fiction and comic book talent gave the weekend another level of appeal. A thank you to the guys and girls of Gollancz and Tor UK for dropping by our table, and lending us their support and time.

I should also insert a special thank you to Dave Gibbons for, not only signing for us, but this - the moment which made the weekend of Watchmen fan Gus: -

By night, there yet more layers – from a teenage compulsion to play the arcades to donning an evening dress to hit a sweaty dance floor. The DJ set was played by Pat Sharpe (a name ever-associated with children’s TV and that god-awful mullet) and decorated by male dancers shedding sparks from angle grinders, actuator girls covered in the most glorious CyberDog-esque LEDs and a miniature Lucifer, enticing us all us to dance our way to certain doom.

So we did.

With a wealth of costumes and performers everywhere we turned – from fan to pro, frock to Stormtrooper, confident card magician to blue-painted Na’vi - the SFX Weekender was all about layers – more than I’ve ever seen at an industry event. But however many there were, there was that same sense of community that comes with the bigger common interest – that comes with being a fantasy island, secure away from the real world. That, perhaps, is why the nostalgic seediness (and peculiar ‘Prisoner’ atmosphere) of the Pontin’s Holiday Camp worked so well.

Part Fan Con, part SF/F Con, part costume parade, part rave, part quiz, part signing, part chaos and all wonderfully surreal, this was an ambitious, wide-appeal winner. No-one had known what to expect… what we got, was everything.

Well done to Stuart and the SFX team. We look forward to next year!

Win A Gruesome Death!

2010-01-28T04:36:00.000-08:00

Your chance for immortality by your own gruesome demise - in John Meaney’s (Thomas Blackthorne’s) next Angry Robot title – or you can win a gorgeous replica Aztec calendar offered by Aliette de Bodard.

All you have to do is be at the signing of 'Edge' and Aliette's stunning 'Servant of the Underworld' at Forbidden Planet’s London Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue on Friday 12th February 6 – 7pm.

There will also be a unique opportunity to interview the authors – and to speak to them about their work – after the signing... (which is also likely to involve beer).

John Meaney brings us the terror of Knife Edge – the reality TV show where wannabe blade fighters are the celebrities in a nation going to hell. Take a bloodied trip through a future London where prime-time gladiatorial combat has taken on a deadly bite.

Aliette de Bodard is a winner of the Writers of the Future Award and a Campbell Award finalist. 'Servant of the Underworld' is her debut novel, an Aztec mystery-fantasy featuring ghostly jaguars, bloodthirsty Gods and fingernail-eating monsters – and revealing her passion for, and knowledge of, Aztec mythology and culture.

Check it out at Forbidden Planet, or at Angry Robot Books.

At Last We Shall Have... Peter Serafinowicz

2010-01-26T04:08:00.001-08:00

We’ve had Simon Pegg – advising me on what to call my then-unborn son - and Nick Frost – running loose with a price-gun and answering the phones. Hence, it seems rather fitting that their Spaced arch-rival Peter Serafinowicz will be signing at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore on Monday 1st February 6 – 7pm.

Peter Serafinowicz is a cult figure, known by fans for his show-stealing appearances in Spaced, Black Books, How Do You Want Me?, Look Around You and Shaun of the Dead. He also has a hugely credible list of guest appearances to his name – including, famously, providing the voice for Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

Taking a humorous swipe at today’s choice of viewing, the BAFTA-Award nominated The Peter Serafinowicz Show hosts gloriously futile television game shows, including Heads Or Tails? and Which Hand Is It In?, while offering exclusive ‘celebrity’ interviews on O! News.

Through his impressions of familiar faces, Peter creates a world in which Simon Cowell and Terry Wogan mingle with famous fictional characters like Darth Vader and with his own quirky creations – like the wonderfully incompetent PI Brian Butterfield. And look out for Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Mikey, Mikey and Mikey, and Kitchen Gun’s Derek Bum.

We’re just hoping we can persuade him to use the tannoy…

Many Dead Things - The Art of Eldritch Horror

2010-01-24T12:11:00.000-08:00

Thomas Theodore Merrilyn is an enigmatic figure, a 19^th Century aristocrat and naturalist who spent his life scouring the earth for wonders forgotten by science.

In an exquisitely sinister book, he presents the specimens of his century-long search – the anatomical research cases of the werewolf, the remains of the vampire, the macabre equipment used by Doctor Moreau.

Found in 2006 in the sealed basement of a London Orphanage, the Merrilyn Cryptid Collection is a treasure trove of ephemera that defies our knowledge of nature. Each piece is linked by a story arc – a tale that encapsulates the mystery surrounding this odd figure and his compelling collection of things that never were.

The book described above is the work of artist Alex CF, something so ghoulishly creative that I was absolutely bowled over. It’s a beautiful fiction, ghastly and fascinating, thorough and believable – a mixture of eldritch horror, Darwinian biology and the willing, even eager, suspension of disbelief.

Featuring a foreword by Reece Shearsmith, himself a collector of Alex’s work, the book is meticulous, all-encompassing – detailed diaries, anatomical drawings, life-like specimens, microscope slides and mummified Pharaoh remains - all of it darkly, gloriously grotesque. Yet the pages turn and turn as if Merrilyn himself is reaching out to help them.

It's rare I'm sent something that renders me as speechless as the work of Lord Merrilyn – four years in the creation, it's beyond mind-blowing. This is a book that needs to do for exquisitely ghoulish biology what WETA’s Doctor Grordbort did for rayguns.

Alex is looking for a publisher - and something this beautiful needs to be shared.

The Best Comics Events

2010-01-19T01:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, you need to get back to your roots. And if you're Forbidden Planet, that means COMICS!

We're delighted to be welcoming: -

Thursday 28th January 6 – 7pm: PAUL CORNELL signing Captain Britain

Thursday 4th February 5:30 – 7pm: THE 45 EVENT from Com.X

Friday 25th February 6 – 7pm: ANDY DIGGLE & JOCK signing The Losers

In Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State, Paul brings us the tale of the King of the Vampires – and he’s back! What does he want with Spitfire? And how will an election help his cause? Surely Captain Britain and the rest of MI13 have a way to defeat him! Plus: Meggan is Captain Britain's wife, an X-Man in Hell. she get back to Earth in time to help her husband turn back Dracula and his evil invasion?

Our ‘45’ event brings together Andi Ewington and an all-star creator-cast for one of our famous and trademark free-form signings – no tables, no queues. With an array of fantastic Com.X titles on hand, this event blows away the barriers and gives readers and fans a change to mix and chat on a less formal level, grab some great sketches, and really find out what goes on in the world of comics!

Needing no introduction, The Losers was winner of the Best New Comic, National Comics Awards 2004, and nominated for the Best New Series, Eisner Awards 2004 – and it’s now a major motion picture. Come and meet the creators!

And look out for Mike Carey's 'The Unwritten' - scribbling at an FP near you (no bogus identities promise) in March!

Republic Commando Invasion!

2010-01-12T02:41:00.000-08:00

First, we had Commander Bly – then the Galactic Marine. Now, Forbidden Planet and Gentle Giant bring you: the Republic Commandos.

Over the years, top toy and figure sculptors Gentle Giant have received many requests for the Delta Squad Clone Troopers from the Lucasarts video game Republic Commando - now, they take that invasion worldwide.

Each of the four Commandos is being launched at ONE place in the world – Forbidden Planet will be launching the London figure, the bust 'Sev', on 30th January. We will also have very limited amounts of the other three – 'Boss’ (USA), ‘Fixer’ (Japan) and ‘Scorch’ (the Netherlands).

Plus, you can meet the Gentle Giant himself, Karl Meyer, there to sign these incredibly limited edition pieces.

There will be free Star Wars bust-ups and prize draws for Gentle Giant goodies. Randomly selected winners will have their features digitally scanned – and one lucky winner will have their head placed upon a totally unique Star Wars bust.

Like this chap...

Eyepod: Unique Artwork Opportunity

2010-01-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

Announcing an amazing, one-off opportunity to purchase a unique artwork, created by master metal-crafter Simon Fearnhamm of Raven Armoury.

This life-size bronze skeleton took over a year to create. Named ‘Empathy’ for the MP3 to which he listens, he’s sitting cross legged, listening to his ‘eyepod’ and smoking a cigarette.

His eye is synthetic, made in silicon by a top prosthetics expert; his other eye is acrylic and inset in the sterling-silver-and-ebony ‘eyepod’ itself – which is looking back at him. His headphones are steel, copper and leather; the cigarette is mammoth ivory with wire wool for tobacco.

More details and the opportunity to purchase this exclusive item can be found here.

Established in 1987, Raven Armoury is a highly regarded company of English Sword Makers. Every item created is hand-made, with quality materials and meticulous attention paid to every detail and accuracy.

Well-known to collectors world-wide, Raven specialise in made to order work, creating reproductions of original swords and daggers as well as custom designs. Most recently, Simon Fearnhamm created the exquisitely accurate replicas of David Gemmell’s famous ‘Snaga’ for the David Gemmell Legend Award.

Win-Win: How To Sign An Ebook

2010-01-02T05:11:00.000-08:00

It’s so simple, it’s genius.

Removable, collectable vinyl covers – plain, a selection of colours, maybe they can be stylised by your favourite art toy designer – but ultimately, they’re there to collect signatures. Take one to a Convention, keep it on you, it protects your Kindle, it looks cool – and you get to show off all the autographs/sketches you’ve collected.

It’s a talking point in the bar – a great way to chat up fanboys/girls and a lovely excuse to approach your favourite writer. Plus the authors get to keep up with their public appearances – hell, if this is marketed right and catches on, it could be a new and different lease of eventing life… bigger multi-author signings will surely become more popular, and (we’re back to this again) everybody wins.

And how can you lose?

• People love to collect stuff – toys, stickers, hardware.
• People love to show stuff off – particularly in this industry.
• How many geeks have covers for their laptops – collect a year’s worth of stickers then change for a new one?
• How many fans have signing books – a new page for every author and/or artist they’ve met?
• How many people collect art toys, blind-boxed or otherwise?

As my boss would say, this fucking writes itself.

Art toys have invaded every level of the geek lifestyle – from iPhones to USB keys to every kind of ‘streetgeek’ fashion… the MonQee was a groundbreaker – the first cross-over of art toy and speculative fiction.

He proved that it works.

Let’s do this again – focused and saleable, an industry revolution. Vinyl designers to produce signable, collectable covers for eBooks. Don’t even get me started on rare versions and limited editions and yadda yadda…

It’s so simple, it’s genius.

So - who's going to manufacture me a prototype?

Just FYI: there's a follow up to this post on my new blog - here).

About The Books: 2009 Review of the Year

2009-12-29T02:25:00.000-08:00

With a sharp change in emphasis from the Soc Med focus of 2008, this year has been all about the books – not only finishing my own (and throwing it out to the ether to see where it landed), but helping sell other people’s.

In his post on signings, Jim C Hines argues the case for such events being a waste of time – low turn-out, poor sales, bored staff – and yes, we’ve had our tumbleweed moments. I’d be lying through my teeth if I denied knowledge of how that feels.

But.

As Borders glubs finally below the surface, it’s the industry’s responsibility to keep book sales afloat – and that means (for my part) taking the ‘bored-bloke-with-Sharpie’ signing and kicking some life into it.

Cue Dave Devereux’s ‘Eagle Rising’ signing last January – publishers, authors, marketeers, bloggers and retailer all joining forces to rip up the rulebook and defy the ‘why bother’ trend – the event was massive and the subsequent publicity for all was off the scale. Suddenly they were – quite literally – all the rage. As we said at the time, ‘everybody wins’.

In April, another first – asking China Miéville to read, live, from The City & The City; Joe Abercrombie came in a month later for a similar event.

Forbidden Planet is a hub – it’s a brand that Makes Shit Happen. I can’t claim that every signing has been a screaming-teen success – but if you make the effort, this stuff snowballs.

And that’s where the Soc Med gubbins learned last year comes back into its own.

During 2009, membership of Twitter has increased by well over 1000%; business identities now form 40% of FaceBook pages. In a struggling climate, success is all about communication, about visibility and Customer Service - and these are the tools we now take up.

Whether your signing is a success or not, that’s only the investiture of petrol money and a sandwich. The point is that those signed books, that Soc Med coverage, that interview, that blog post – they’re all about public visibility. I’m better Mister Hines had more people read that post than turned up at the signing in question.

In order to turn Soc Med’s now well-oiled wheels, you need the event – the trigger, the spark, the gimmick, the kick-start for the momentum to roll. Hubspot have a lovely piece on Dominos – one Brand that’s made it happen.

This year has been all about re-invention – about the personal re-invention of my own random scribblings… and about completely re-visualising the traditional concept of ‘signing’.

And with the economic climate as it is and the industry under so much pressure, that re-invention has a name.

2009 is less ‘So.Me’ – and more ‘So.Everyone’.

AVATAR

2009-12-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

Every so often, a film comes to the cinema that dazzles your senses, that forces you against the back of your seat though you want to be sitting on its edge, that takes your skull and blow your mind and leaves your smoking boots on the auditorium floor.

AVATAR is not that film.

The 3D’s pretty, don’t get me wrong (delighted that he avoided any monster-coming-out-of-the-screen shit) – but if you take the story from The Abyss and the marines from Aliens, chuck in two scoops of Titanic tragedy and an eight-foot blue elf with tits that don’t quite show, then you end up with a flick that epitomises the phrase ‘style over substance’.

A grating script – cringeworthy in places, a predictable narrative, acting that was better done by cgi beastie than paid professional, and a environmental message that should have been a subtle suggestion and was more like something out of South Park (pause and breathe). I get spectacular, I really do, but the irony of the film having three dimensions while the characters barely managed two was not lost on me.

Oh, and WHY does every director ever born think you can use a longbow as a quarterstaff? Bugs me EVERY time!

Back to the point – it was spectacular. The cry that it has revolutionised the format is absolutely true – if any film is going to put a shot of shiny-elf-light into the fading arm of British Cinema, then this is the one, and as such I will forgive it all.

Though it does strike me: the reason you have to see it on the big screen?

Is because if you see it on a small one, it’ll be stripped – right down to the Emperor’s New Clothes.

Joe Mad's DARKSIDERS

2009-12-18T03:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's finally happened.

The flaming horse, the huge firearm, the gigantic sword, the almighty demon - not to mention comics legend Joe Madureira - are all coming to Forbidden Planet in the new year.

On Thursday evening, 7th January, for the very first time in the UK, you can get your mitts on THQ's epic 'DARKSIDERS' (for PS3 and XBox) at FP London. Joe will be there to sign the game and talk about his work, plus we'll have pods right there so you can get up-close-and-personal with the Four Horseman.

This is a first for us - kicking off a whole new decade with a whole new kind of event.

Go on...

...go Mad!

Blood Drinker?

2009-12-17T02:34:00.000-08:00

There are times when a piece of promo-merch really hits the spot. In this case, the bloodspot. Yes, just in time for your Yuletide tipple, the TRU BLOOD drink is available in a handy four-pack carry-out or as a single bottle.

If you need to freak your Christmas rellies, it’s pretty convincing, – the 14oz glass bottle is an exact replica of the one seen on the show, featuring a rich red stain and the Tru Blood lettering in both English and Japanese Kanji. Even the carry-out box is authentic... almost.

The difference? This one's blood type is blood orange.

It's slightly carbonated, slightly tart, slightly sweet, slightly naughty... and just begging for a double vodka depth-charge. Go on - leave one out for Santa!

The Ultimate Geek Gift

2009-12-03T04:29:00.000-08:00

Somehow, Christmas is always associated with films by Tim Burton - maybe it's the 'snow' theme, or the annual resurgence of Jack Skellington - he's become as seasonal as looking forward to your stocking on Christmas morning.

And this year sees the release of 'The Art of Tim Burton', the ultimate insight, an astounding, definitive compilation of forty years of the master's artistry. Containing over 1,000 illustrations from his personal archives, it follows his passion for humanity’s oddities and misunderstood monsters through 434 pages of fascinating, beautifully showcased artwork - furnished with the thoughts, anecdotes and insights of his many friends and condifidantes.

Also available is a Deluxe Edition that comes with a hand-signed and numbered lithograph (1,000 in total). Each of these rare and collectible books come in a fabric-wrapped slipcase through which the dramatic, spiral cover will still be visible.

Ideal to ensuring you have no nightmares before Christmas!

Hardcore

2009-11-26T07:07:00.000-08:00

He came, he saw, he kicked arse - so much so we kinda invited him back...

Andy Remic will be signing Hardcore at Forbidden Planet, 92 Bold Street, Liverpool, L1 4HY, on Saturday 12th December 2009 from 1:00 – 2:00pm

Hailed as ‘the new David Gemmell’ and recently nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award for his fantasy novel Kell’s Legend, Andy Remic is a British writer and teacher with an unhealthy love of martial arts, kick-arse bikes, mountain climbing and computer hacking. The new master of violent, high-octane science fiction, Hardcore is his seventh novel and follows the characters from the massively successful Combat K series.

Now, the tense dynamic of the Combat-K squad is back as Keenan, Franco and Pippa face their hardest brief yet - Sick World, a planet once dedicated to the ill, the deformed and the dying. A thousand years ago, it was a state-of-the-art research facility dedicated to the new ailments contracted by humanity after mixing with alien races; today, it lies deserted. On a reconnaissance mission, the Combat-K squad are about the find out that the staff of Sick World have only been in hibernation – a millennium-long gestation of new, hardcore healthcare technology. And now, they can smell fresh meat.

Check out the trailer!

Retromancing!

2009-11-24T03:37:00.000-08:00

Yes, he's back! The one-and-only Rob Rankin will be signing Retromancer at the Forbidden Planet London Megastore on Saturday 12th December 1:00pm – 2:00pm. And I swear we're all out of rayguns...

Evil magic is abroad. The Germans have won WWII; America is a nuclear wasteland. And worst of all, the breakfast menu at The Wife's Legs Cafe in Brentford is serving Bratwurst. It’s time call Hugo Rune - a man who offers the world his genius, and asks only that it cover his expenses. Together, the Retromancer and Rizla return to war-torn London, match their wits against beautiful spies, alien technology, killer robots and death rays – and come face to face with Hugo Rune's arch-enemy, the sinister Count Otto Black.

London-born Robert Rankin started writing in the 1970s and his books regularly storm the bestseller lists including The Witches of Chiswick and The Toyminator. He’s one of the country’s most renowned humorous fantasy writers and is well known for having recurring characters and running gags that pop up throughout his books. Robert is also an unrepentant Luddite who writes novels by hand in exercise books.

And I swear I'm not just posting this because he hosts a class party!

Now With Added Swearing

2009-11-23T03:24:00.000-08:00

There's no better arse-kicking heroine than Tank Girl - the icon of my twenties, the rebel streak of my thirties and now a professional contact of my forties (ain't life surreal!). Yes, Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo, unaccompanied by kangaroos, will be signing Skidmarks #1 at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Saturday 5th December 1 - 2pm.

Alongside artist Jamie Hewlett, Alan created Tank Girl in 1988 for Deadline magazine - and now, this gorgeous and anarchic heroine is a cult icon that has starred in strips, monthly comics, graphic novels, prose novels and a Hollywood movie. For Skidmarks, Alan has been joined by hot British artist Rufus Dayglo - and they've brought us, complete with added swearing, a riotous, brand new Tank Girl mini-series.

Skidmarks shows us Australia in the near future: a post-apocalyptic, but still rather picturesque wasteland. The former bounty hunter turned outlaw known as Tank Girl spends her days drinking, fighting and getting up to all manner of mischief - until she's forced to give up her life of semi-retirement and climb back into the saddle to save the life of her best friend, Barney. This is everything you ever wanted to know about Tank Girl’s schooldays – and everything you didn’t!

It's a book that makes me wonder if I missed out on a load of (tank)-girly schooltime fun...

(The poster for done for FP by Rufus last year - don't let the date confuse you!)

Starhyke Blast Off!

2009-11-19T01:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, we boldly go... where everyone wants to be! STARHYKE blasts off at Forbidden Planet London with the launch of the DVD BOX SET featuring guests Danny John-Jules, Jeremy Bulloch and Suanne Braun, on Thursday 26th November 5:30 – 6:30pm.

Starring Claudia Christian (Babylon 5), Jeremy Bulloch (Star Wars), Danny John-Jules (Red Dwarf) and Suanne Braun (Stargate SG-1), Starhyke is a off-the-wall, tongue-in-cheek science fiction series in the glorious tradition of the best in UK SF. Released on November 30th, this is a chance to get your hands on a signed edition of Starhyke before its shelf-date!

In the far off and distant future, mankind has evolved past petty emotions. They care about survival and space warfare – and the remorseless onslaught of the human race soon becomes too much for other species. Now another species, the Reptids, has developed a secret weapon – a bomb that will force mankind’s emotions to reawaken, thus swamping them with guilt and rendering them unable to fight. Their plan goes well until a single human ship, the Nemesis, begins to chase them. To conceal the plan, the Reptids self destruct – and the force sends the Nemesis to the twenty-first century, complete with emotions. Can they get home and stop the Reptids from re-creating their bomb?

Joining David Gemmell

2009-11-18T04:27:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve (rather belatedly – sorry Stan!) today joined up over at the DGLA website, I’ve just had a proper old nose through the nominations, not only for the DGLA itself, but for the two new categories introduced for 2009.

The David Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Newcomer

‘The Morningstar Award will give recognition to emerging talent in the field of fantasy fiction. As David Gemmell always took a keen interest in new writers, and helped many onto the path to publication, we regard this as an appropriate category to add, and one we feel sure David would have approved.’

The David Gemmell Ravenheart Award for Best Fantasy Cover Art.

‘The Ravenheart Award will honour the best fantasy book cover art. The importance of fantasy cover art deserves admiration, as do the artists who produce it, yet there is no major UK award acknowledging this. The Ravenheart Award will fulfill that role.’

There a list of current nominations on the site here.

I was a huge fan of David's work (I think I was 19 when I read ‘Legend’ and it’s left a mark to this day) and therefore very privileged to be at last year’s awards (rumours about my axe-wielding may have been exaggerated).

I’m also looking forward to casting my votes in this one - a celebration of the best in the genre is always a good thing.

The 2010 David Gemmell Awards ceremony will again be held at The Magic Circle headquarters in London, on Friday 18th June.

And I can't help but wonder... just what Raven Armoury have in store for us this time...

Five Authors; One Event (You Know How This Works!)

2009-11-17T00:59:00.000-08:00

FORBIDDEN PLANET and Gollancz Publishing are delighted to be hosting an open-format, multi-author signing. Five authors, one event – at 6pm on Thursday November 26th, Forbidden Planet 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London will be playing host to: -

• David Devereux
• Paul McAuley
• Justina Robson
• Adam Roberts
• Chris Wooding

To promote the release of Justina’s new book CHASING THE DRAGON, Forbidden Planet and Gollancz Publishing have gathered a host of science fiction and fantasy talent into one event – an event to bring writers and fans together and to promote interest in new and different kinds of fiction.

This is a free-form and open signing, bringing the authors out from behind their tables and giving their readers a chance to meet them and talk to them about their work. An array of fantastic books will be on hand to be picked up and signed – including works by every one of the writers present.

And, as usual with these events, there are likely to be more than a few surprise guests...

...and a subsequent visit to the pub!