plugs for friends

Following on from the gratuitous plugging last time, I figured I should plug some stuff that my lovely friends have been doing in recent months. Turns out I've got a LOT of talented friends, and they've all been ridiculously busy... thank goodness I got book tokens for my birthday and Christmas, or my to-read list would be out of control by now.

IMAGE A DAY by Juan Moore
As part of the Island of Culture year here on the waterlogged Isle of Man, local artist and national treasure Juan's posting a picture every day on this new blog of his. There's already some fantastic stuff up there, and there'll be more going up every day. Honestly, I don't know where he finds the time, the talented bastard.

TILL SUNSET by David Woods
The debut feature by David Woods, who is lovely and talented and thoroughly deserves to have his film watched by everyone who owns a blu-ray player.

DEAD LINE by Chris Ewan
Following on from the fantastic success of Safe House, this is Chris Ewan's latest book, and it's super. Fast, fun, stuffed with great characters, this is the sort of writing that makes me very jealous indeed.

THE VAMPIRE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas and Matthew Baugh
A mash-up book with teeth! ... sorry. Ahem. This is a fab version of The Count of Monte Cristo, with added supernatural nastiness courtesy of Matthew Baugh. I'm not a massive fan of the mash-up genre, but this really works, likely because a) it takes itself perfectly seriously, unlike so many other examples of the genre, and b) the author has such a flare for melding the new text with the old that it's difficult in places to remember that the supernatural elements weren't present in the original.

LORDS OF NIGHT by Thom Brannan
Hmm, I think this might have been released in 2012 actually... oh dear, I fail again. Anyway, regardless, this is a grand post-apocalyptic romp, full of action and fun and shouting, and I highly recommend it. Also, look at that cover. Phwoar.

EX-HEROES by Peter Clines
(and also Ex-Patriots, Ex-Communication and (imminently) Ex-Purgatory...)
Really it's getting to the point where no one needs to plug Peter Clines' books anymore. He's like an unstoppable boulder of literary talent, crushing all treasure-seekers in his path. Or something. Anyway, the entire Ex series has been rereleased this past year (with the added bonus of awesome alternate covers for the UK), so now no one has any excuse not to be reading them. Zombies! Superheroes! Really now, what more do you need?

THE PALACE OF CURIOSITIES by Rosie Garland
Oh my gosh. Rosie Garland is arguably one of the most talented people on the planet - singer, performer, poet, author - and she's also gorgeous. I'd love to know what her third wish was. This book is gorgeous as well, and you should read it.

There, I think that covers most of the things I wanted to gush about... if I remember anything else I'll post an update. :)

pluggity-plug

Whilst casting a shifty eye over 2013 and wondering how exactly I lost yet another year, I remembered I've had a few short stories published this year, all of which I forgot to mention here. So, in the spirit of catching up:

TIMES OF TROUBLE
From the lovely bods at Permuted Press comes this shiny e-book anthology of time travel tales, including my story, Let Me Take You There. I am proper chuffed to be included in with so many fantastic stories by fantastic people. It's a fab collection, even if I do say so myself.

THE BESTIARIUM VOCABULUM
An A-Z of monsters, beasts and freaks, from a stellar cast of contributing authors. And also me. :) H for Helicoprion features two of my passions, caving and prehistoric sharks.

THE HORROR EXPRESS VOLUME 4: 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Likewise, I'm very chuffed that my story, Killers, has found its way into this anthology. The Horror Express has been putting out high quality fiction for... well, for ten years, like it says in the title. I was always disappointed in myself for not getting anything into the magazine, so inclusion in this anthology makes me very happy indeed.

I think that's all from 2013, although my memory is spectacular in its awfulness, so it's entirely possible I've forgotten a writing credit or two...