Over the course of last year (though we still have a couple of members who slipped the net), the blog ran a series of interviews where NSFWG members answered the same set of questions.
Just in case you missed them (and they're all entertaining), here's a round-up
First up was NSFWG founder Ian Watson, which is only fitting.
He was followed by:
Nigel Edwards.
Steve (Dr Steve) Longworth
NSFWG co-chairman Ian Whates
Paul Melhuish
Mark West
Tim C. Taylor
Andy West
Donna Scott
Mechphil
Susan Sinclair
Showing posts with label steve longworth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steve longworth. Show all posts
Monday, 4 May 2015
Monday, 27 April 2015
The Book That Made Me (a round-up)
Last year (though we have a few members who are yet to contribute), the blog ran a series of articles where NSFWG members discussed the "Book That Made Me", the one that sticks in their mind as the entry point to their favoured genre.
Just in case you missed them (and they're all entertaining), here's a round-up of what's appeared so far.
Just in case you missed them (and they're all entertaining), here's a round-up of what's appeared so far.
Monday, 16 March 2015
Sir Terry Pratchett
Memories of a Master - thoughts on the passing of Sir Terry Pratchett
Terry and Me: an anecdote
* * * * *
‘Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.’
Steve Longworth
I haven’t read a great deal of him since but Nick has and he was jealous when I told him Sir Terry was to be a Guest of Honour at the World Fantasy Convention in 2014. I went to his talk, which was very well attended (the auditorium was packed, people were standing around the sides) and the love in the room for the man was palpable. Unfortunately he wasn’t having the best of days but he was funny and engaging and I hope he realised just how much he meant to everyone in that room.
He once said “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away” and if that’s the case, Sir Terry Pratchett will live on for many years to come.
Mark West
* * * * *
Sir Terry died at his home from a severe chest infection with final complications from his Alzheimer's, according to his publisher. A sequence of tweets from his account written by his daughter Rhianna just after his death started with "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER." then "Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night." The third tweet was a link to an obituary notice, followed by the final tweet of his account, which simply read: "The End."
RIP Sir Terry Pratchett, thanks for it all
Terry and Me: an anecdote
 |
| Terry and Ian - photo by Peter Michaleczky |
A few years before this photo was taken, Terry and I were at a convention in Düsseldorf. We took the elevator up the Rhine Tower to the observation deck which has glass windows slanting forward at about 45%. Strong glass: German youths without vertigo throw themselves upon the glass hanging 170 metres above the ground to impress their girlfriends. Terry wisely retreated, his back to the elevator wall. I calculated: obviously no German youths had died so far due to any panel of glass giving way beneath their weight. To Terry's horror, I lowered myself upon the glass, carefully—and I did get a story out of this, called "Looking Down on You", with a walk-on (or rather stand-rigid) role for Terry.
Despite my alarming misbehaviour, Terry generously offered to drive to my house from his own about 70 miles away to put useful programmes on my hard disk with names which I forget, such as QuickSkip or something similar—Terry was much more geek than me.
This was extremely kind of him. A few minutes after Terry drove away from my house in my dark little village quite late at night, in his Ford...
I pause to mention that Terry drove a Ford back then because it was a very standard car with spare parts available everywhere. A few years later, to indulge himself, well justifiably, he decided to buy a Rolls-Royce. So he walked into a Rolls-Royce showroom and told the salesperson, "I want one with all the trimmings." The salesperson led Terry to the top-of-the-range Roller and Terry looked around inside it while the salesperson was opening up the bonnet.
"Fine," said Terry, "I'll take it."
"But Sir," gasped the salesman, "don't you want to see the engine?"
"No," said Terry, "I assume it works."
...anyway, in his Ford Terry had been gone a few minutes when I saw on my floor Terry's black bag containing all his disks, and maybe discworld too, left behind.
Clutching that bag, immediately I raced over the road to my own car, a Mazda 3 (spare parts a nuisance to find), started up and went vroom. Ten miles from my village Terry would reach the M40 motorway and be unstoppable, but late at night no traffic was on my rural road, I knew all the many bends, and any car coming towards me would reveal itself with its headlights. What if I hit a badger or a Muntjac deer? That would make a mess—of the badger or deer, and probably the front of my Mazda. But over the course of many years I had only seen live Muntjacs twice, and live badgers never.
Vroom-vroom. Where the road dives down and bends beside Thorpe Mandeville I knew exactly where to change down to third gear to boost Mazda out of the dip, revs raging, while avoiding both potholes before curving into three hundred yards of straight at high speed. Go on, Mazda, you can do it! I knew how late I could leave it to brake before twisting left and down.
After about seven miles I caught up with Terry's Ford, so I flashed my lights and indicators and hooted a lot.
Terry accelerated. He must have thought an impatient drunk driver was following him. Hmm, I must have drunk something while hosting Terry.
So next I flashed and hooted and overtook Terry. Indicating left, quickly I pulled into an open space which I knew would be there by the road while opening my window and frantically waving my arm.
Failing to understand the intentions of an evidently dangerous lunatic, Terry sped past me fast.
Quickly I pulled out and revved. After another mile of bends—no sign of oncoming cars lights, or badgers—I caught up with Terry again. By now the motorway was getting closer; this had to be my last attempt.
Straight stretch ahead—and vroom I overtook Terry again at about 80 miles per hour. I needed to be well ahead of him, and he might have slowed a bit now that the madman was past—for then I did what before I had only seen in films: I braked and turned my car sideways to block the road.
Terry stopped fifty yards back.
I got out, gesturing with his black bag.
As I strode towards him, I swear that he became smaller and smaller till somebody more like a Carpet Person was clutching the open window of the Ford.
"What do you want?" said a tiny voice. Evidently Terry totally failed to recognise me.
"You left your bag, Terry," I said.
"Oh," came the tiny voice.
I bundled the bag through the car window and little hands received it. "Thank you."
He still didn't recognise me.
When I mentioned this car chase to Terry a few years later, he denied that any such thing ever happened. Post-traumatic Stress, I suppose.
Ian Watson
Despite my alarming misbehaviour, Terry generously offered to drive to my house from his own about 70 miles away to put useful programmes on my hard disk with names which I forget, such as QuickSkip or something similar—Terry was much more geek than me.
This was extremely kind of him. A few minutes after Terry drove away from my house in my dark little village quite late at night, in his Ford...
I pause to mention that Terry drove a Ford back then because it was a very standard car with spare parts available everywhere. A few years later, to indulge himself, well justifiably, he decided to buy a Rolls-Royce. So he walked into a Rolls-Royce showroom and told the salesperson, "I want one with all the trimmings." The salesperson led Terry to the top-of-the-range Roller and Terry looked around inside it while the salesperson was opening up the bonnet.
"Fine," said Terry, "I'll take it."
"But Sir," gasped the salesman, "don't you want to see the engine?"
"No," said Terry, "I assume it works."
...anyway, in his Ford Terry had been gone a few minutes when I saw on my floor Terry's black bag containing all his disks, and maybe discworld too, left behind.
Clutching that bag, immediately I raced over the road to my own car, a Mazda 3 (spare parts a nuisance to find), started up and went vroom. Ten miles from my village Terry would reach the M40 motorway and be unstoppable, but late at night no traffic was on my rural road, I knew all the many bends, and any car coming towards me would reveal itself with its headlights. What if I hit a badger or a Muntjac deer? That would make a mess—of the badger or deer, and probably the front of my Mazda. But over the course of many years I had only seen live Muntjacs twice, and live badgers never.
Vroom-vroom. Where the road dives down and bends beside Thorpe Mandeville I knew exactly where to change down to third gear to boost Mazda out of the dip, revs raging, while avoiding both potholes before curving into three hundred yards of straight at high speed. Go on, Mazda, you can do it! I knew how late I could leave it to brake before twisting left and down.
After about seven miles I caught up with Terry's Ford, so I flashed my lights and indicators and hooted a lot.
Terry accelerated. He must have thought an impatient drunk driver was following him. Hmm, I must have drunk something while hosting Terry.
So next I flashed and hooted and overtook Terry. Indicating left, quickly I pulled into an open space which I knew would be there by the road while opening my window and frantically waving my arm.
Failing to understand the intentions of an evidently dangerous lunatic, Terry sped past me fast.
Quickly I pulled out and revved. After another mile of bends—no sign of oncoming cars lights, or badgers—I caught up with Terry again. By now the motorway was getting closer; this had to be my last attempt.
Straight stretch ahead—and vroom I overtook Terry again at about 80 miles per hour. I needed to be well ahead of him, and he might have slowed a bit now that the madman was past—for then I did what before I had only seen in films: I braked and turned my car sideways to block the road.
Terry stopped fifty yards back.
I got out, gesturing with his black bag.
As I strode towards him, I swear that he became smaller and smaller till somebody more like a Carpet Person was clutching the open window of the Ford.
"What do you want?" said a tiny voice. Evidently Terry totally failed to recognise me.
"You left your bag, Terry," I said.
"Oh," came the tiny voice.
I bundled the bag through the car window and little hands received it. "Thank you."
He still didn't recognise me.
When I mentioned this car chase to Terry a few years later, he denied that any such thing ever happened. Post-traumatic Stress, I suppose.
* * * * *
‘Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.’
Twenty-odd years ago I was browsing in my (now sadly
Amazonised to oblivion) local bookshop, searching for something to read to my
children at bedtime. I happened upon a neat box set trilogy called Truckers/Diggers/Wings.
That night I read my daughter and son chapter one of the
first book, went downstairs, and promptly read the rest of the novel in one
sitting, accompanied by the frequent rejoinder from my wife in the next room
‘What are you laughing at?’ The answer, of course, was Terry Pratchett’s
effortless genius in writing a novel that on one level was a rip-roaring
children’s adventure and on another was a wry and hilarious adult commentary on
the state of the world.
I saw Sir Terry at the Hay Literary Festival a few years
ago. He filled the main venue. It was clear that his cognition had slowed and that
he was working hard to maintain his concentration, but the whole room was full
of total admiration of the very fact that, under the circumstances, he was
there at all, any snooty concepts of him being a mere ‘genre’ author long since
dissolved.
I remember his 2010 Richard Dimbleby Lecture (delivered by
his ‘stunt Terry’, Tony Robinson) on the BBC, a humane, logical, impassioned
and essentially unanswerable plea for the availability of assisted dying to
those who might want the option. He has also been vigorously fearless in
putting the unglamorous topic of dementia into the public forum and keeping it
there.
When genius dies young (and believe me, modern medicine
means that for many of us, 66 is the new 46) there is always the thought ‘what
if?’ Now there’s something to mull over as we re-read his 70 plus collected
works.
Thanks for all the laughs Sir T.
‘The presence of those
seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who
think they’ve found it.’
* * * * *
My route into Discworld is linked inextricably to my best friend, which makes it all the more special for me. When we were growing up, I was always the reader whilst it’s fair to say Nick avoided books whenever possible. Then, in the mid-80s, he discovered Discworld and was drawn into it completely. In the early 90s, I finally gave in to his exhortations to “just try this one, you’ll love it” and read “Mort”, which I thoroughly enjoyed.I haven’t read a great deal of him since but Nick has and he was jealous when I told him Sir Terry was to be a Guest of Honour at the World Fantasy Convention in 2014. I went to his talk, which was very well attended (the auditorium was packed, people were standing around the sides) and the love in the room for the man was palpable. Unfortunately he wasn’t having the best of days but he was funny and engaging and I hope he realised just how much he meant to everyone in that room.
He once said “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away” and if that’s the case, Sir Terry Pratchett will live on for many years to come.
Mark West
* * * * *
If greatness can be measured by the number of people who grieve at your passing, then surely Terry Pratchett must qualify. I didn’t know Sir Terry, and only met him a few times, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to the great upwelling of loss being expressed on social media. My first encounter with him was at Worldcon in Glasgow, 2005, when he very graciously stopped in a corridor and signed a small pile of books I was carrying. He didn’t need to. There was an official signing slot at which such things were supposed to be done, but he did so without quibble and with apparent pleasure, joking and nattering as he wrote. Later that evening I met him again in the bar, where he continued to be in fine spirits.
This was before the illness. I only saw him once after he was diagnosed, at the SFX Weekender in 2010. He was sitting in the ‘pub’ bar, alone, though all the tables around him were occupied by fans who must have recognised him but were perhaps too over-awed to speak, which is a shame because Terry looked like someone who really wanted a chat. I did speak, though only in passing – I was due to be heading home and was trying to hunt down an author who had disappeared with signing sheets for a forthcoming anthology. I don’t think he recognised me but doubt that had anything to do with the illness; how could someone who meets so many people be expected to recall a brief encounter from years ago among so many thousands of similar? He seemed no different – yes I looked for signs, I’m only human – though of course he was. A fact that has been brought home so forcefully in the past twenty-four hours.
No, I didn’t know Sir Terry, but I miss him.
Ian Whates
* * * * *
This was before the illness. I only saw him once after he was diagnosed, at the SFX Weekender in 2010. He was sitting in the ‘pub’ bar, alone, though all the tables around him were occupied by fans who must have recognised him but were perhaps too over-awed to speak, which is a shame because Terry looked like someone who really wanted a chat. I did speak, though only in passing – I was due to be heading home and was trying to hunt down an author who had disappeared with signing sheets for a forthcoming anthology. I don’t think he recognised me but doubt that had anything to do with the illness; how could someone who meets so many people be expected to recall a brief encounter from years ago among so many thousands of similar? He seemed no different – yes I looked for signs, I’m only human – though of course he was. A fact that has been brought home so forcefully in the past twenty-four hours.
No, I didn’t know Sir Terry, but I miss him.
Ian Whates
* * * * *
Really I don't have the words to express how sad I feel. Terry Pratchett was Tolkien with a huge dash of Humour. I just hope Death teaches him to play lead guitar so he can strum his way up the stairway to heaven.
Nigel Edwards
* * * * *
I’m saddened by the death of Sir Terry Pratchett at the young age of 66. Probably one of the few people who actually deserve a knighthood in my opinion. Okay, I’ll be honest. I only ever read half of one of his books. I didn’t finish The Colour of Magic. I gave up on it not because it was a bad book but because I wasn’t in the mood for it. I was young, pretentious and wanted to read something dark and moody. Now I’m older and less cynical I’d probably love it. I’m really tempted by Wintersmith after having heard the fantastic concept album by Steeleye Span based on his work with a narration by the man himself.
Okay, so I haven’t read any of his books but Sir Terry has indirectly been responsible for some great conversations between myself and his fans. I feel I know the plots to his books better than any reader as Terry’s fans eulogise about the walk that Death takes across the desert. Conversations usually go like this.
Me: ‘Oh, you like terry Pratchett. You’d love Neil Gaiman and what about Michael Moorcock?’
Pratchett Fan: ‘No, but have you read Geroge RR Martin/Tolkien/CS Lewis etc’
These conversations usually take place in the dull reality of the work place and many an afternoon has been lightened by such conversations. For those moments alone, Sir Terry I thank you and I will get round to reading Wintersmith soon. Honest.
Paul Melhuish
* * * * *
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author of fantasy novels, best known for his Discworld series of 41 volumes. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and since his first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year HonoursNigel Edwards
* * * * *
I’m saddened by the death of Sir Terry Pratchett at the young age of 66. Probably one of the few people who actually deserve a knighthood in my opinion. Okay, I’ll be honest. I only ever read half of one of his books. I didn’t finish The Colour of Magic. I gave up on it not because it was a bad book but because I wasn’t in the mood for it. I was young, pretentious and wanted to read something dark and moody. Now I’m older and less cynical I’d probably love it. I’m really tempted by Wintersmith after having heard the fantastic concept album by Steeleye Span based on his work with a narration by the man himself.
Okay, so I haven’t read any of his books but Sir Terry has indirectly been responsible for some great conversations between myself and his fans. I feel I know the plots to his books better than any reader as Terry’s fans eulogise about the walk that Death takes across the desert. Conversations usually go like this.
Me: ‘Oh, you like terry Pratchett. You’d love Neil Gaiman and what about Michael Moorcock?’
Pratchett Fan: ‘No, but have you read Geroge RR Martin/Tolkien/CS Lewis etc’
These conversations usually take place in the dull reality of the work place and many an afternoon has been lightened by such conversations. For those moments alone, Sir Terry I thank you and I will get round to reading Wintersmith soon. Honest.
Paul Melhuish
* * * * *
Sir Terry died at his home from a severe chest infection with final complications from his Alzheimer's, according to his publisher. A sequence of tweets from his account written by his daughter Rhianna just after his death started with "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER." then "Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night." The third tweet was a link to an obituary notice, followed by the final tweet of his account, which simply read: "The End."
RIP Sir Terry Pratchett, thanks for it all
Monday, 24 March 2014
The Book That Made Me - Steve Longworth
In the fourth part of an ongoing series, NSFWG member Steve Longworth discusses "the book that made me"
* * * * *
I feel embarrassed to admit this, but I now find 'The Book That Made Me' to be almost unreadable.
I must have been about twelve or thirteen. My reading habits were undergoing a rapid evolution. I was moving on from being an avid devourer of DC and Marvel comics. I consumed Agatha Christie 'whodunnits' with gusto, reading as many as I could get my hands on, and sometimes even correctly guessing the murderer (by the way, if you have never read her 1926 masterpiece 'The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd' then treat yourself - a survey of 600 members of The Crime Writers Association concluded it was the finest example of the genre ever written).
In my enthusiasm I pressed Christie's work on my good friend Mike (who is now a Texas oilman, an interesting story in itself about a miner's son from Salford). He returned the favour by giving me a book to read, and changed my reading habits forever.
The book was 'Triplanetary' by EE 'Doc' Smith. It blew me away.
The story was first serialised in 'Amazing Stories' from 1934 and then reworked into the 'prequel' of Smith's 'Lensman' series of novels and published in book form in 1948.
The novel opens before our planet is even formed as an ancient race, the benign Arisians, observe the collision of two galaxies (one of them being our Milky Way) a process that gives rise to multitudinous planets in both galaxies. The story ends (and the entire Lensman series ends) hundreds (or possibly thousands) of years into our future.
During the galactic interpassage the malevolent Eddorians burst from a parallel universe into our reality. Thus begins an eons long struggle for control of both galaxies, with every major event in human history being part of a proxy struggle between both ancient civilisations.
The epic sweep of the story totally boggled my mind. I didn't know you could do that. This was 1971. I had previously thought that the misty abandoned quarry where they seemed to film most 'Dr Who' exteriors was the limit of the imagination. Then, in 1969, along came 'Star Trek' and we had our horizons expanded. But this was nothing compared to the limits (or absence of limits) to Smith's imagination. Faster than light travel, immortality, telepathy, mind-melding, avatars ('working projections') and space superweapons are just for starters. We also have the ultimate 'goodies' versus 'baddies' adventure story, romance, thrills and non-stop high tempo action.
I picked up the book a few years ago and... well, I had to put it down again. The style is very stilted. 'Pulp' seems the best word to describe it. The earlier part of the book, describing events in World Wars One and Two, are long, stodgy and mostly irrelevant and should have been vigorously edited. The characters are two dimensional. There are plot holes aplenty (the Arisians and Eddorians have to keep their existence secret from the human and other races whose destinies they are shaping, and I don't buy the reason why), and the morality in the story is simplistically 'White Hat' and 'Black Hat'.
And (whisper it softly) I am 45 years older than when I first picked up the book and (I hope) my critical faculties and tastes have evolved (though I'm not sure they have matured).
Having said all that, I was interested to hear Peter Hamilton at Eastercon a few years ago say that Smith's novels had been his introduction to SF . 'Doc' has been acknowledged as an influence by figures such as Robert Heinlein and George Lucas. Many of the tropes in the 'Golden Age' of pulp SF were invented or developed by Smith, and I think his legacy is secure.
'Triplanetary' is the book that hooked me. I then went on to devour Smith's other novels (including the equally epic 'Skylark series with its planet-sized spaceships and matter transmitters capable of moving worlds across the galaxy) and the works of Issac Asimov, Harry Harrison, James Blish and of course Arthur C. Clarke.
The book that reeled me in and made me a lifelong SF reader was published in 1975 and I read it when I was 17. If 'Triplanetary' blew me away then 'The Jonah Kit' by Ian Watson blew my mind; which is exactly what I think Ian set out to do.
(You can read more of Steve's thoughts on NSFWG Chairman Ian Watson's novel "The Jonah Kit" at his interview post which is on this link).
'QX' Lensmen!
* * * * *
I feel embarrassed to admit this, but I now find 'The Book That Made Me' to be almost unreadable.
I must have been about twelve or thirteen. My reading habits were undergoing a rapid evolution. I was moving on from being an avid devourer of DC and Marvel comics. I consumed Agatha Christie 'whodunnits' with gusto, reading as many as I could get my hands on, and sometimes even correctly guessing the murderer (by the way, if you have never read her 1926 masterpiece 'The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd' then treat yourself - a survey of 600 members of The Crime Writers Association concluded it was the finest example of the genre ever written).
In my enthusiasm I pressed Christie's work on my good friend Mike (who is now a Texas oilman, an interesting story in itself about a miner's son from Salford). He returned the favour by giving me a book to read, and changed my reading habits forever.
The book was 'Triplanetary' by EE 'Doc' Smith. It blew me away.
The story was first serialised in 'Amazing Stories' from 1934 and then reworked into the 'prequel' of Smith's 'Lensman' series of novels and published in book form in 1948.
The novel opens before our planet is even formed as an ancient race, the benign Arisians, observe the collision of two galaxies (one of them being our Milky Way) a process that gives rise to multitudinous planets in both galaxies. The story ends (and the entire Lensman series ends) hundreds (or possibly thousands) of years into our future.
During the galactic interpassage the malevolent Eddorians burst from a parallel universe into our reality. Thus begins an eons long struggle for control of both galaxies, with every major event in human history being part of a proxy struggle between both ancient civilisations.
The epic sweep of the story totally boggled my mind. I didn't know you could do that. This was 1971. I had previously thought that the misty abandoned quarry where they seemed to film most 'Dr Who' exteriors was the limit of the imagination. Then, in 1969, along came 'Star Trek' and we had our horizons expanded. But this was nothing compared to the limits (or absence of limits) to Smith's imagination. Faster than light travel, immortality, telepathy, mind-melding, avatars ('working projections') and space superweapons are just for starters. We also have the ultimate 'goodies' versus 'baddies' adventure story, romance, thrills and non-stop high tempo action.
I picked up the book a few years ago and... well, I had to put it down again. The style is very stilted. 'Pulp' seems the best word to describe it. The earlier part of the book, describing events in World Wars One and Two, are long, stodgy and mostly irrelevant and should have been vigorously edited. The characters are two dimensional. There are plot holes aplenty (the Arisians and Eddorians have to keep their existence secret from the human and other races whose destinies they are shaping, and I don't buy the reason why), and the morality in the story is simplistically 'White Hat' and 'Black Hat'.
And (whisper it softly) I am 45 years older than when I first picked up the book and (I hope) my critical faculties and tastes have evolved (though I'm not sure they have matured).
Having said all that, I was interested to hear Peter Hamilton at Eastercon a few years ago say that Smith's novels had been his introduction to SF . 'Doc' has been acknowledged as an influence by figures such as Robert Heinlein and George Lucas. Many of the tropes in the 'Golden Age' of pulp SF were invented or developed by Smith, and I think his legacy is secure.
'Triplanetary' is the book that hooked me. I then went on to devour Smith's other novels (including the equally epic 'Skylark series with its planet-sized spaceships and matter transmitters capable of moving worlds across the galaxy) and the works of Issac Asimov, Harry Harrison, James Blish and of course Arthur C. Clarke.
(You can read more of Steve's thoughts on NSFWG Chairman Ian Watson's novel "The Jonah Kit" at his interview post which is on this link).
'QX' Lensmen!
Monday, 6 January 2014
That was the Year that Was (a round-up by co-Chairman Ian Whates)
So we bid a fond farewell to 2013, a successful year for the NSFWG and its members in many regards.
Now resident in Spain, chairman-in-exile Ian Watson made a welcome return to the pages of Asimov’s in July when his story “Blair’s War” appeared there, to be followed by his poem “Catalogue Note by the Artist” in the December issue. Ian also saw stories published in French and Romanian and had an original piece feature in Daily Science Fiction, while his classic “The Very Slow Time Machine” was reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Stories. His greatest achievement of 2013, however, was undoubtedly to marry the lovely Cristina (clearly a brave woman).
Nor is Ian the only member of the group to have tied the knot. In May, members Donna Bond and Neil K Bond were married in a wonderfully relaxed steam-punk themed event at a Northampton hotel. A month later, Donna, who continues to edit books on a freelance basis for several publishing houses, took over as chair of the British Science Fiction Association from yours truly (clearly another brave soul) She also had a story featured in Daughters of Icarus, an anthology of new feminist SF and fantasy from Pink Narcissus Press.
Mark West has enjoyed one of his most successful years to date as a writer. In addition to editing an anthology, The Anatomy of Death, for Hersham Horror Books and co-editing "ill at ease 2" for Pen Man Press, Mark saw his short novel Conjure reissued by Greyhart Press and had no fewer than seven short stories appear in various anthologies, including “Jack In Irons” in The Bestiarum Vocabulum: 2 (Western Legends Publishing), “The Bureau Of Lost Children” in Ill at Ease 2 (PenMan Press), and “It Was A Dark And Stormy Night (tale for Emma)” in The Book Of Horrors (Spectral Press). In addition, Mark’s story “Fog on the Old Coast Road”, which appeared in 2012’s Hauntings (NewCon Press), gained honourable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Years Best Horror.
Another member to gain honourable mention from Ellen Datlow was Emma Coleman, with “Home”, her debut appearance in print, which featured in NewCon Press’ 2012 anthology Dark Currents. The story was also longlisted for a Bram Stoker Award. Emma has recently sold a story to PS Publishing for a future edition of Post Scripts, expected in 2014.
Demi-Monde: Fall, the fourth and final volume of Rod Rees’ ambitious and original series, appeared from Jo Fletcher books in August. Various instalments of the Demi-Monde series were also published in Germany, Turkey, Croatia and France. Not content with that, Rod followed the Demi-Monde up with the feisty dystopian short novel Invent-10n (Alchemy Press) in December.
Nigel Edwards’ debut novel, Badger’s Waddle, an anarchic and surreal take on life in a warped English village, appeared from Greyhart Press in May, while his parable-esque tale “The Last Star” closed the NewCon Press anthology Looking Landwards in October.
Andy West’s debut collection Engines of Life, published in July by Greyhart Press, includes a story that won the University of Central Lancaster’s SF prize. For much of the year, Andy has focussed on the climate change debate, producing several controversial blog posts on the subject.
Paul Melhuish’s story “Time Television” featured in Twelve (Horrified Press), an anthology of Gothic time travel stories, and he is currently working on his next novel.
Tim Taylor’s Greyhart Press continues to go from strength to strength, with ten new titles appearing in 2013, including three via new YA imprint The Repository of Imagination. The year’s highlight for Greyhart was hitting the #1 bestseller spot on the Amazon.com alternate history and time travel romance charts in June, while the second edition of Tim’s own guide to laying out books for Createspace became his first ever paperback to pass a thousand sales. When Tim added up all the editions of all books he had laid out for paperback or eBook during 2013, the total came to 227. No wonder he felt busy! Notable ventures included working with Peewee Hunt to bring out his tales of life aboard the Ark Royal in the 1950s, and completing the reissue of Jeff Noon’s back catalogue as eBooks.
I’m sure there’s another member of the group who is involved in publishing… Oh yes, that would be me, Ian Whates. In 2013 NewCon Press enjoyed our most prolific year to date, publishing a total of nine new titles, including debut collections from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Stan Nicholls, and Mercurio D. Rivera, and a first SF collection from Steve Rasnic Tem. Highlights included Chris Beckett’s The Peacock Cloak occupying #1 bestseller spot in Amazon UK’s science fiction short stories for both kindle and books, producing the Looking Landwards anthology to commemorate 75 years of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers, and compiling Legends: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell. The signed hardback of the latter (150 copies) sold out almost immediately, and the title continues to feature high in the kindle sales charts. Personal highlights included the publication of my second short story collection Growing Pains (PS Publishing) in March, having my novella “The Smallest of Things” appear across four consecutive issues of Aethernet (April to July), and seeing seven new short stories feature in various venues, including “Eros for Anabelle” in a January edition of the science journal Nature, “Default Reactions” in The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic in October, and “Without a Hitch” in the anthology End of the Road (Solaris) in December.
Nor have the other members of NSFWG been idle. After five years immersed in academic study, Heather Bradshaw has emerged with a doctorate and has begun to write her own brand of cutting edge SF once more, Steve Longworth continues to craft his unique style of short stories while wrestling with the demands of working as a GP in modern day Britain (a task often more surreal than anything he might write as ‘fiction’), and Susan Sinclair continues to develop the themes and narratives of various ongoing novel projects.
So, that was 2013. Watch out 2014: the Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group has you firmly in its sights!
Ian Whates
Co-Chairman NSFWG
January 1st 2014
Now resident in Spain, chairman-in-exile Ian Watson made a welcome return to the pages of Asimov’s in July when his story “Blair’s War” appeared there, to be followed by his poem “Catalogue Note by the Artist” in the December issue. Ian also saw stories published in French and Romanian and had an original piece feature in Daily Science Fiction, while his classic “The Very Slow Time Machine” was reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Time Travel Stories. His greatest achievement of 2013, however, was undoubtedly to marry the lovely Cristina (clearly a brave woman).
Nor is Ian the only member of the group to have tied the knot. In May, members Donna Bond and Neil K Bond were married in a wonderfully relaxed steam-punk themed event at a Northampton hotel. A month later, Donna, who continues to edit books on a freelance basis for several publishing houses, took over as chair of the British Science Fiction Association from yours truly (clearly another brave soul) She also had a story featured in Daughters of Icarus, an anthology of new feminist SF and fantasy from Pink Narcissus Press.
Mark West has enjoyed one of his most successful years to date as a writer. In addition to editing an anthology, The Anatomy of Death, for Hersham Horror Books and co-editing "ill at ease 2" for Pen Man Press, Mark saw his short novel Conjure reissued by Greyhart Press and had no fewer than seven short stories appear in various anthologies, including “Jack In Irons” in The Bestiarum Vocabulum: 2 (Western Legends Publishing), “The Bureau Of Lost Children” in Ill at Ease 2 (PenMan Press), and “It Was A Dark And Stormy Night (tale for Emma)” in The Book Of Horrors (Spectral Press). In addition, Mark’s story “Fog on the Old Coast Road”, which appeared in 2012’s Hauntings (NewCon Press), gained honourable mention in Ellen Datlow’s Years Best Horror.
Another member to gain honourable mention from Ellen Datlow was Emma Coleman, with “Home”, her debut appearance in print, which featured in NewCon Press’ 2012 anthology Dark Currents. The story was also longlisted for a Bram Stoker Award. Emma has recently sold a story to PS Publishing for a future edition of Post Scripts, expected in 2014.
Demi-Monde: Fall, the fourth and final volume of Rod Rees’ ambitious and original series, appeared from Jo Fletcher books in August. Various instalments of the Demi-Monde series were also published in Germany, Turkey, Croatia and France. Not content with that, Rod followed the Demi-Monde up with the feisty dystopian short novel Invent-10n (Alchemy Press) in December.
Nigel Edwards’ debut novel, Badger’s Waddle, an anarchic and surreal take on life in a warped English village, appeared from Greyhart Press in May, while his parable-esque tale “The Last Star” closed the NewCon Press anthology Looking Landwards in October.
Andy West’s debut collection Engines of Life, published in July by Greyhart Press, includes a story that won the University of Central Lancaster’s SF prize. For much of the year, Andy has focussed on the climate change debate, producing several controversial blog posts on the subject.
Paul Melhuish’s story “Time Television” featured in Twelve (Horrified Press), an anthology of Gothic time travel stories, and he is currently working on his next novel.
Tim Taylor’s Greyhart Press continues to go from strength to strength, with ten new titles appearing in 2013, including three via new YA imprint The Repository of Imagination. The year’s highlight for Greyhart was hitting the #1 bestseller spot on the Amazon.com alternate history and time travel romance charts in June, while the second edition of Tim’s own guide to laying out books for Createspace became his first ever paperback to pass a thousand sales. When Tim added up all the editions of all books he had laid out for paperback or eBook during 2013, the total came to 227. No wonder he felt busy! Notable ventures included working with Peewee Hunt to bring out his tales of life aboard the Ark Royal in the 1950s, and completing the reissue of Jeff Noon’s back catalogue as eBooks.
I’m sure there’s another member of the group who is involved in publishing… Oh yes, that would be me, Ian Whates. In 2013 NewCon Press enjoyed our most prolific year to date, publishing a total of nine new titles, including debut collections from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Stan Nicholls, and Mercurio D. Rivera, and a first SF collection from Steve Rasnic Tem. Highlights included Chris Beckett’s The Peacock Cloak occupying #1 bestseller spot in Amazon UK’s science fiction short stories for both kindle and books, producing the Looking Landwards anthology to commemorate 75 years of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers, and compiling Legends: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell. The signed hardback of the latter (150 copies) sold out almost immediately, and the title continues to feature high in the kindle sales charts. Personal highlights included the publication of my second short story collection Growing Pains (PS Publishing) in March, having my novella “The Smallest of Things” appear across four consecutive issues of Aethernet (April to July), and seeing seven new short stories feature in various venues, including “Eros for Anabelle” in a January edition of the science journal Nature, “Default Reactions” in The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic in October, and “Without a Hitch” in the anthology End of the Road (Solaris) in December.
Nor have the other members of NSFWG been idle. After five years immersed in academic study, Heather Bradshaw has emerged with a doctorate and has begun to write her own brand of cutting edge SF once more, Steve Longworth continues to craft his unique style of short stories while wrestling with the demands of working as a GP in modern day Britain (a task often more surreal than anything he might write as ‘fiction’), and Susan Sinclair continues to develop the themes and narratives of various ongoing novel projects.
So, that was 2013. Watch out 2014: the Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group has you firmly in its sights!
Ian Whates
Co-Chairman NSFWG
January 1st 2014
Monday, 16 September 2013
The interviews so far (the NSFWG catch-up service)
There's no new interview this week (though we are chasing down the missing members!) so instead here's a recap (with links) of the ones that we've already published.
Give them a try!
First up was NSFWG founder Ian Watson.
He was followed by Nigel Edwards.
Steve (Dr Steve) Longworth was third.
NSFWG co-chairman Ian Whates was next.
Paul Melhuish was fifth.
Mark West came up next.
Tim C. Taylor took the seventh spot.
Andy West appeared last week.
Give them a try!
First up was NSFWG founder Ian Watson.
He was followed by Nigel Edwards.
Steve (Dr Steve) Longworth was third.
NSFWG co-chairman Ian Whates was next.
Paul Melhuish was fifth.
Mark West came up next.
Tim C. Taylor took the seventh spot.
Andy West appeared last week.
Monday, 5 August 2013
Interviewed: NSFWG member Steve Longworth
In order to highlight and showcase the talents of the group members, each of us has completed the same interview. Hopefully these will be interesting and enlightening and will also include links to websites and books.
Third up is Steve Longworth.
What made you want to become a writer?
Not what, who.
I’ve been reading Ian Watson’s novels and short stories since I first came across ‘The Jonah Kit’ while browsing the SF section in WH Smith in Bolton in 1975 aged 17. Until then I had been reading mainly Isaac Asimov and EE ‘Doc’ Smith with a smattering of Harry Harrison and Arthur C. Clarke. My eye was caught by the ‘Winner of the British Science Fiction Award’ flash on the cover and I was intrigued by the blurb on the back so I bought Ian’s book and this changed my reading habits forever. I was blown away by his uncompromising intellectual style and content and have been hoovering up his novels and short story collections ever since.
We now move on to 2007 when I was on a flight back to the UK and reading Ian’s short story collection ‘The Great Escape’. As we came in to land I was half way through a story called ‘Tulips From Amsterdam’ a tale about coincidence. More specifically the story concerns a famous painting by the Dutch Master Rembrant van Rijn titled ‘The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’ which depicts the dissection of the corpse of the recently executed armed robber Aris Kindt (the painting contains a famous anatomical mistake which should be obvious to anybody who shares my day job). Anyway, I bookmarked the page and on arriving back home had to choose between finishing off the story and wading through the pile of mail on the doormat. I reluctantly decided on the latter, opened the latest copy of the British Medical Journal and found myself staring at a picture of ‘The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’. The painting was due to come to London on loan. What a coincidence! And doubly spooky that the story itself was all about coincidence! Fate? Karma? A message from the Universe? Too much booze on the flight home? Whatever, on a whim I googled Mr Watson and discovered that not only did he have a website but that this had a ‘Contact Ian Watson’ tab. Which I duly tabbed, and recounted the preceding tale. Expecting little more than a ‘Thanks for that and keep buying the books’ I was pleasantly surprised to receive a long, detailed and thoughtful reply, which leads on to the next question…
What was your first success?
I corresponded by e-mail with Mr. Watson and we ranged over various topics. I mentioned that I had what I thought was a great idea for a story but that I was never going to get around to writing it, so did he want it? ‘Go ahead and write it!’ came back the reply and what’s more ‘write it as a flash story and send it in to Henry Gee at ‘Nature Futures’ and tell him I told you to send it’. So I did. And Henry very nicely rejected it. But undeterred I picked up on a throwaway line Ian wrote about homeopathy in one of his e-mails. ‘Ah,’ I said, ‘I have a theory about that’. ‘Well turn it into a story,’ replied Mr. W and so I did. Ian very kindly pointed out where the story could be improved so I re-wrote it and sent it to Henry Gee who accepted it. And paid me for it! To be honest, I’d have paid him to have it published (I hope he’s not reading this). The story is called ‘Succussion’ and can be seen on the ‘Nature Futures’ website. My story ‘Memory Sticks’ made the same location in 2010.
What do you think the group does for you?
The group is the one thing I have that is completely outside medicine and is my lifeline to the real world (which might seem paradoxical for a group that discusses SF and Fantasy). I really appreciate being an equal amongst a group of talented, supportive, funny, generous, thoughtful, honest and convivial writers who have the integrity to tell you as kindly as they possibly can how you might improve.
What was your last piece of work?
‘Extraordinary Rendition’ in the ‘Further Conflicts’ anthology by NewCon Press is the last piece I had published.
What's coming up from you?
Various short stories. The first novel will have to wait for me to retire from the day job (4 years 9 months and counting).
Steve doesn't have a website - as he says, "For reasons related to the day job I don’t blog, twitter or Facebook so there is no website either. Probably in 4 years and 9 months…"
Third up is Steve Longworth.
What made you want to become a writer?
Not what, who.
I’ve been reading Ian Watson’s novels and short stories since I first came across ‘The Jonah Kit’ while browsing the SF section in WH Smith in Bolton in 1975 aged 17. Until then I had been reading mainly Isaac Asimov and EE ‘Doc’ Smith with a smattering of Harry Harrison and Arthur C. Clarke. My eye was caught by the ‘Winner of the British Science Fiction Award’ flash on the cover and I was intrigued by the blurb on the back so I bought Ian’s book and this changed my reading habits forever. I was blown away by his uncompromising intellectual style and content and have been hoovering up his novels and short story collections ever since.
We now move on to 2007 when I was on a flight back to the UK and reading Ian’s short story collection ‘The Great Escape’. As we came in to land I was half way through a story called ‘Tulips From Amsterdam’ a tale about coincidence. More specifically the story concerns a famous painting by the Dutch Master Rembrant van Rijn titled ‘The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’ which depicts the dissection of the corpse of the recently executed armed robber Aris Kindt (the painting contains a famous anatomical mistake which should be obvious to anybody who shares my day job). Anyway, I bookmarked the page and on arriving back home had to choose between finishing off the story and wading through the pile of mail on the doormat. I reluctantly decided on the latter, opened the latest copy of the British Medical Journal and found myself staring at a picture of ‘The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Nicolaes Tulp’. The painting was due to come to London on loan. What a coincidence! And doubly spooky that the story itself was all about coincidence! Fate? Karma? A message from the Universe? Too much booze on the flight home? Whatever, on a whim I googled Mr Watson and discovered that not only did he have a website but that this had a ‘Contact Ian Watson’ tab. Which I duly tabbed, and recounted the preceding tale. Expecting little more than a ‘Thanks for that and keep buying the books’ I was pleasantly surprised to receive a long, detailed and thoughtful reply, which leads on to the next question…
What was your first success?
I corresponded by e-mail with Mr. Watson and we ranged over various topics. I mentioned that I had what I thought was a great idea for a story but that I was never going to get around to writing it, so did he want it? ‘Go ahead and write it!’ came back the reply and what’s more ‘write it as a flash story and send it in to Henry Gee at ‘Nature Futures’ and tell him I told you to send it’. So I did. And Henry very nicely rejected it. But undeterred I picked up on a throwaway line Ian wrote about homeopathy in one of his e-mails. ‘Ah,’ I said, ‘I have a theory about that’. ‘Well turn it into a story,’ replied Mr. W and so I did. Ian very kindly pointed out where the story could be improved so I re-wrote it and sent it to Henry Gee who accepted it. And paid me for it! To be honest, I’d have paid him to have it published (I hope he’s not reading this). The story is called ‘Succussion’ and can be seen on the ‘Nature Futures’ website. My story ‘Memory Sticks’ made the same location in 2010.
What do you think the group does for you?
The group is the one thing I have that is completely outside medicine and is my lifeline to the real world (which might seem paradoxical for a group that discusses SF and Fantasy). I really appreciate being an equal amongst a group of talented, supportive, funny, generous, thoughtful, honest and convivial writers who have the integrity to tell you as kindly as they possibly can how you might improve.
What was your last piece of work?
‘Extraordinary Rendition’ in the ‘Further Conflicts’ anthology by NewCon Press is the last piece I had published.
What's coming up from you?
Various short stories. The first novel will have to wait for me to retire from the day job (4 years 9 months and counting).
Steve doesn't have a website - as he says, "For reasons related to the day job I don’t blog, twitter or Facebook so there is no website either. Probably in 4 years and 9 months…"
Thursday, 14 April 2011
"Further Conflicts", from NewCon Press
Edited by Ian Whates
To be launched in April at Illustrious: Eastercon 2011. This year’s convention is themed on military SF. Following the success of Conflicts, launched at last year’s Eastercon and NewCon Press’ single most successful title to date, it seemed churlish not to explore the theme further. The new anthology therefore takes some familiar elements from the first book and mixes in radically different ones, both in terms of contributors and approach. So we welcome back Andy Remic, Eric Brown and Gareth L Powell from Conflicts, the latter two providing stand-alone stories set in the same universe as their Conflicts stories. To these we add ten exciting new contributors, bringing you:
• A gritty view of a beleaguered army unit fighting a very alien war and mourning one of their own;
• The chilling fate of those crewing a Russian ice submarine in a dystopian world;
• A view inside the powder-keg environment of an alien prison installation;
• The experiences of a war artist in a disturbingly plausible future;
• A Welsh pub under siege in wholly unexpected fashion;
• A warrior returning home from galactic conflict only to face his greatest ever challenge;
• Ridgeway school, which must somehow survive attack by the dreaded Harvesters;
• A missionary doctor harbouring an alien fugitive against all advice and reason…
And much, much more…
1. Introduction – Ian Whates
2. The Wake – Dan Abnett
3. Unaccounted – Lauren Beukes
4. The War Artist – Tony Ballantyne
5. The Harvest – Kim Lakin-Smith
6. Brwydr Am Ryddid – Stephen Palmer
7. The New Ships – Gareth L Powell
8. The Soul of the Machine – Eric Brown
9. Occupation – Colin Harvey
10. Extraordinary Rendition – Steve Longworth
11. Yakker Snak – Andy Remic
12. The Legend of Sharrock – Philip Palmer
13. The Ice Submarine – Adam Roberts
14. Welcome Home, Jannisary – Tim C Taylor
15. About the Authors
Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 150 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all contributors.
Price:
Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 19.99
To be launched in April at Illustrious: Eastercon 2011. This year’s convention is themed on military SF. Following the success of Conflicts, launched at last year’s Eastercon and NewCon Press’ single most successful title to date, it seemed churlish not to explore the theme further. The new anthology therefore takes some familiar elements from the first book and mixes in radically different ones, both in terms of contributors and approach. So we welcome back Andy Remic, Eric Brown and Gareth L Powell from Conflicts, the latter two providing stand-alone stories set in the same universe as their Conflicts stories. To these we add ten exciting new contributors, bringing you:
• A gritty view of a beleaguered army unit fighting a very alien war and mourning one of their own;
• The chilling fate of those crewing a Russian ice submarine in a dystopian world;
• A view inside the powder-keg environment of an alien prison installation;
• The experiences of a war artist in a disturbingly plausible future;
• A Welsh pub under siege in wholly unexpected fashion;
• A warrior returning home from galactic conflict only to face his greatest ever challenge;
• Ridgeway school, which must somehow survive attack by the dreaded Harvesters;
• A missionary doctor harbouring an alien fugitive against all advice and reason…
And much, much more…
1. Introduction – Ian Whates
2. The Wake – Dan Abnett
3. Unaccounted – Lauren Beukes
4. The War Artist – Tony Ballantyne
5. The Harvest – Kim Lakin-Smith
6. Brwydr Am Ryddid – Stephen Palmer
7. The New Ships – Gareth L Powell
8. The Soul of the Machine – Eric Brown
9. Occupation – Colin Harvey
10. Extraordinary Rendition – Steve Longworth
11. Yakker Snak – Andy Remic
12. The Legend of Sharrock – Philip Palmer
13. The Ice Submarine – Adam Roberts
14. Welcome Home, Jannisary – Tim C Taylor
15. About the Authors
Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 150 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all contributors.
Price:
Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 19.99
New from NewCon Press (and featuring NSFWG members)
At the forthcoming EasterCon (22nd - 25th April 2011), NewCon Press is publishing two new collections.
Fables From The Fountain, edited by Ian Whates, contains all original stories (featuring many of today’s top genre writers) written as homage to Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart.
It features many of today’s top genre writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, James Lovegrove, Liz Williams, Adam Roberts, Eric Brown, Ian Watson, Peter Crowther, and David Langford
The Fountain is a traditional London pub situated in Holborn, just off Chancery Lane, where Michael, the landlord, serves excellent real ales and dodgy ploughman’s, ably assisted by barmaids Sally and Bogna. In the Paradise bar, a group of friends - scientists, writers and genre fans – meet regularly on a Tuesday night to swap anecdotes, reveal wondrous events from their past, tell tall tales, talk of classified invention and, maybe, just maybe, save the world…
1. Introduction – Peter Weston
2. No Smoke without Fire – Ian Whates
3. Transients – Stephen Baxter
4. Forever Blowing Bubbles – Ian Watson
5. On the Messdecks of Madness – Paul Graham Raven
6. The Story Bug – James Lovegrove
7. “And Weep Like Alexander” – Neil Gaiman
8. The Ghost in the Machine – Colin Bruce
9. The Hidden Depths of Bogna – Liz Williams
10. A Bird in Hand – Charles Stross
11. In Pursuit of the Chuchunaa – Eric Brown
12. The Cyberseeds – Steve Longworth
13. Feathers of the Dinosaur – Henry Gee
14. Book Wurms – Andy West
15. The Pocklington Poltergeist – David Langford
16. The Last Man in Space – Andrew J Wilson
17. A Multiplicity of Phaedra Lament – Peter Crowther
18. The Girl With the White Ant Tattoo – Tom Hunter
19. The 9,000,000,001st Name of God – Adam Roberts
20. About the Authors
2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Arthur C Clarke Award. This volume is produced in part to raise funds for the Award, which lost its sponsor last year due to the closure of Sir Arthur’s publishing company.
Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 200 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all the authors.
Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 29.99
http://newconpress.co.uk/news/fables-from-the-fountain-launch
Fables From The Fountain, edited by Ian Whates, contains all original stories (featuring many of today’s top genre writers) written as homage to Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart.
It features many of today’s top genre writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, James Lovegrove, Liz Williams, Adam Roberts, Eric Brown, Ian Watson, Peter Crowther, and David Langford
The Fountain is a traditional London pub situated in Holborn, just off Chancery Lane, where Michael, the landlord, serves excellent real ales and dodgy ploughman’s, ably assisted by barmaids Sally and Bogna. In the Paradise bar, a group of friends - scientists, writers and genre fans – meet regularly on a Tuesday night to swap anecdotes, reveal wondrous events from their past, tell tall tales, talk of classified invention and, maybe, just maybe, save the world…
1. Introduction – Peter Weston
2. No Smoke without Fire – Ian Whates
3. Transients – Stephen Baxter
4. Forever Blowing Bubbles – Ian Watson
5. On the Messdecks of Madness – Paul Graham Raven
6. The Story Bug – James Lovegrove
7. “And Weep Like Alexander” – Neil Gaiman
8. The Ghost in the Machine – Colin Bruce
9. The Hidden Depths of Bogna – Liz Williams
10. A Bird in Hand – Charles Stross
11. In Pursuit of the Chuchunaa – Eric Brown
12. The Cyberseeds – Steve Longworth
13. Feathers of the Dinosaur – Henry Gee
14. Book Wurms – Andy West
15. The Pocklington Poltergeist – David Langford
16. The Last Man in Space – Andrew J Wilson
17. A Multiplicity of Phaedra Lament – Peter Crowther
18. The Girl With the White Ant Tattoo – Tom Hunter
19. The 9,000,000,001st Name of God – Adam Roberts
20. About the Authors
2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Arthur C Clarke Award. This volume is produced in part to raise funds for the Award, which lost its sponsor last year due to the closure of Sir Arthur’s publishing company.
Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 200 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all the authors.
Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 29.99
http://newconpress.co.uk/news/fables-from-the-fountain-launch
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