Updates from my Publisher

Regular readers will know I have a great relationship with my publisher: unusual for author and Fantastic Books Publishing is something of a maverick and a man who knows the value of talent and honesty.
publisher to be friends, of course, but Dan Grubb of

Two bits of great news today and to present them, I'll simply copy the words from recent newsletters sent out by the publisher:

Stuart Aken’s final novel in his ‘A SearedSky’ series
Stuart’s trilogy has been very well received by epic fantasy fans and his attention to detail, meticulous planning and hand drawn world maps all combine to make this series something really special. The third in the series ‘Convergence’ will be available as an ebook soon and as a print-on-demand paperback shortly afterwards.

SA: Can't wait for it!

Fusion:

SA: This collection was formerly only available in digital form. now those who prefer to hold a book in their hands can also read it!

A collection of 25 stories of fantasy and science fiction from around the globe, each illustrated by digital artist Alice Taylor.

This collection has been compiled from the winners of the Fantastic Books Publishing International Charity Short Story Competition 2012 and features 2 stories from our professional contributors Danuta Reah and Stuart Aken.

10% of the proceeds of this book will be donated to the WCRF (World Cancer Research Fund – Registered Charity Number – 1000739) who do sterling work in the field of global cancer prevention.

SIGNED BY THE ARTIST!

This is a PRE-ORDER purchase. Orders placed on or before the 15th December will be delivered to you in time for the December holidays.

SA: To order your copy, click on this link.

Price: £7.99

AUTHORS:
Apeksha Harsh
Brad Greenwood
Celia Coyne
Danuta Reah
David K Paterson
Dawn Hudd
Denise Hayes
Drew Wagar
Joanna Vandenbring
John Hoggard
John-Paul Cleary
Jonny Rowland
Katy Huth Jones
Leonie Ewing
Natalie Kleinman
Peter Ford
Peter Holz
Polly Robinson
Rose Thurlbeck
Sarah Cuming
Stuart Aken
Thomas Pitts
Walt Pilcher

So, there you go. More good stuff for those who love to read. Enjoy.

After FantastiCon 2014, What Next?

As it’s relevant to what I’m doing, I thought I’d share the latest release of my publisher’s enewsletter here:

Dear Fantastic Subscriber,

This week we have been recovering from the high octane weekend that saw the first ever FantastiCon launched into the stratosphere. It was a cracking success and to say thanks to everyone  who made it happen would mean filling your inbox so instead we'll simply say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone involved. Plans are already afoot for FantastiCon 2015 and we'd love your input so please get in touch with your ideas by emailing; fantasticbookspublishing@gmail.com.

One of the ideas we have already locked in for next year is a cosplay competition that will net winners CASH PRIZES!

Now, it's the moment lots of you have been waiting for since we published the longlist for our short SF competition earlier this month. The final shortlist entries for the first pure science fiction Fantastic short story anthology are;

The Everything Equation by John Goh
Regen by Colin Ford
Nobel Savage by Thomas Pitts
Alice by David Styles
All in the Mind by John Hoggard
Two Reviews by Thomas Pitts
Striker Amok by Pierre Le Gue
Eternal by Shaun Gibson
Fastbreeder by Pierre Le Gue
Hope by David Styles
Indirect Harm by John Harper
Lisa Lives by Anthony M Olver
Manikin by Nici Lilley
Night Monsters by Pierre Le Gue
Private Show by David K Paterson
Starburst by Andrew Wright
The Moon a Balloon by Rose Thurlbeck
The Package by Aaron Miles
The House by John Hoggard
Three Second War by Darren Grey
If we start killing by Ulla Susimetsä

Dying Star by Marko Susimetsä
Congratulations everyone!

The judges have been wrestling with the longlist and, for the first time ever for one of our competitions, they have been unable to remove a single story from the longlist!

We will shortly start the process of editorial tennis with the authors and we hope to have the anthology released in ebook format by mid October this year.

Our next projects are building up steam and comprise a wonderful collection of poetry, prose and short stories by Boris Glikman, the third and final novel in Stuart Aken's 'A Seared Sky' series (the second book 'Partings' was officially launched as an ebook at FantastiCon and will be released very soon as a print paperback) and a debut fantasy trilogy titled 'Travels with the Red Friar' by Marty McMullen. More news of these projects will be incoming shortly.

In other news, now that our Elite: Dangerous books are all produced and out in the world, we will be starting the mammoth task of fulfilling everybody's Kickstarter pledge gifts including the production of special boxes for the books and the printing of silk screen printed faction flags for the special editions. These will be created over the coming weeks and everyone should have everything they pledged for well in time for the December holidays.

And finally, a huge thank you to all our friends and new followers who have signed up to this newsletter, followed us on Facebook and followed our Twitter feed, you are all Fantastic!

Just imagine,

Daniel and Gabi Grubb

Fantastic Books Publishing

And my involvement? Well, there’s the news about Partings, of course, but the publisher has also asked me to contribute a short story for the science fiction competition prize-winner’s anthology, as I did previously for their first, Fusion. So, watch this space.

Related articles

• A Seared Sky: Partings. Launch of Book 2 of the Trilogy
• FantastiCon was Fantastic - 2
• FantastiCon was Fantastic - 1
• A Seared Sky: Partings now Available!

A Seared Sky: Partings now Available!

Just a quick note to let you know that you can now acquire a copy of the second volume of my epic fantasy, Seared Sky. Partings is currently available only in digital form, but is due to be released in print form very shortly. Keep an eye on this blog for the announcement. Sorry for the delays, folks. Dan, my publisher, has been mega busy with both the convention, FantastiCon 2014 and with the distribution of a new line of scifi novels associated with the popular Elite computer game.


So, you can currently obtain the ebook via Fantastic Books Publishing using this link.

Shortly, I'll be able to give you a direct link to Amazon for the digital version, and in a couple of weeks I'll provide a link for the print version. Patience, my friends. All will be well!

Related articles

• A Seared Sky: Partings. Launch of Book 2 of the Trilogy
• How Was it for You?
• A Fantastic Convention: FantastiCon.
• FantastiCon was Fantastic - 1
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: J.S. Collyer

A Scary New Experience?

Dalek (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do you feel about new experiences? Scared? Excited? Curious? Eager? All or none of these?

On Saturday, less than a week away, I’ll be attending a convention for the first time. And not simply attending, but participating; signing books, answering questions and taking part in a live forum with other authors, LindaAcaster and J S Collyer. All new stuff for me.

Fantasticon, organised and run by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing, is a great event that takes place in Hull on 16^th August. A country boy at heart, I rarely visit the city of my birth, but this Saturday I’ll drive the 25 miles with eager anticipation. There is much going on:

Gamer? Elite Encounters’ Dave Hughes will be on hand. And there’ll be RPG and retro gaming. Oculus Rift mean anything to you? I’m in ignorance, at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll discover all about this on the day.

Dr Who fan? – John Leven and Simon Fisher-Becker will be giving a chat and answering questions. And there’ll be a Dalek (make sure you bring your sofa to hide behind!)

SciFi your thing? - New novels associated with the Elite game will be available, with writers there to sign them, and an audiobook exclusive with Christopher Jarvis.

Fantasy fan? Chat with alternative history/paranormal author Linda Acaster, who’ll be there with her books. J S Collyer will join the fantasy discussion and I’ll be there to chat and sign my own books in the A Seared Sky series – we’re launching book 2, Partings, at the convention, too.

There’ll be Cosplay, so plenty of fun outfits on display. Independent films, author and actor signings, music, R2D2 from Star Wars along with a speeder bike, a green screen for some super photo effects, comic books, and free soft drinks and biscuits and a raffle with some very unusual prizes.

What more could you want?

Now, of course, lots of you won’t make it to Hull. But there’ll be a Twitter #tag session during the evening, just search for #SciFiHour from 21:00 BST and you can join in. Also, there’ll be information and opportunities to interact on the Facebook site and various blogs after the event.

I’ll try to keep you all up to date with happenings before and after the day so you can enjoy some of the benefits of this fantastic day.

For those who can make it; see you there!

Related articles

• A Fantastic Convention: FantastiCon.
• FantastiCon in #Hull - 14 Days and Counting
• Doctor Who: 5 Reasons Why Daleks Still Matter