David Moody's Blog, page 76
June 25, 2013
Richard Matheson (1926 – 2013)
I’m sure by now you’ll have heard the very sad news of the death of Richard Matheson. He was a true giant of the genre who had a long and varied career. He certainly had a huge impact on me, but I don’t think I realised how great that impact actually was until I stopped and looked back at all the times I’d encountered his work over the last thirty years or so. I put together a brief piece about him for This is Horror, which you can find here.
Richard Matheson (1926 – 2013) is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
June 24, 2013
Forthcoming appearances
A quick update to let you know about some upcoming events.
THIS IS HORROR PRESENTS SIMMONS vs MOODY
First off, a reminder that this Saturday, June 29, Wayne Simmons and I will be at Esquires Coffee Bar in Coventry between 7pm and 9pm, reading, signing, answering questions and talking about horror and our writing in general. Tickets are £3, with £2 redeemable against book purchases on the night. For tickets, email Michael@ThisisHorror.co.uk or visit Waterstones Coventry. Copies of Autumn: The Human Condition will be available to pick up on the night. More information about the event can be found here at www.thisishorror.co.uk.
CELSIUS 232
Between July 31 and August 3, I’ll be a guest at Celsius in Avilés, Spain. Details can be found here. Very much looking forward to my first event in Spain!
SCARDIFF 2013
Scardiff is a new horror expo taking place in Cardiff on October 27. I’ll be there alongside a number of really exciting guests including Dominic Brunt and Bobby Rhodes (yes, the Bobby Rhodes of Demons fame!). Scardiff is the brainchild of Wayne Simmons, Fantasy Events, and Shock Horror Magazine. Reduced price advance tickets are now available, and all the information you need can be found right here.
HORROR IN THE EAST
And then it’s back to Lowestoft on November 8 – 9 for the second Horror in the East convention. Have a look at last year’s report to see what an excellent event it was, then make a note in your diaries to come and join us for this year’s convention. Very relaxed, hugely enjoyable, and all taking place in the town where Them or Us was set! More details can be found here.
Forthcoming appearances is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
June 21, 2013
They’re here…
…and they’re beautiful. It’s great to have AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION in print again.
The full delivery is expected from the printer early next week, and pre-ordered books will be dispatched by 28 June.
I need to make an apology to those people who’ve already pre-ordered the limited edition – it seems the confirmation emails didn’t go out as expected. I’ll get that sorted as a matter of urgency. If you’ve received a Paypal receipt, then we’ve got your order and your book is secure.
Limited editions are disappearing fast (huge thanks to everyone who’s already picked one up), but there are still some available and you can order one from www.infectedbooks.co.uk by clicking here.
The official release date is 1st July, but the book is already appearing online. You can order the paperback from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or The Book Depository, and the ebook is available from Amazon and Smashwords.
They’re here… is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
June 17, 2013
David Moody versus Wayne Simmons – Coventry 29 June
I’m really pleased to announce what promises to be a brilliant event – WAYNE SIMMONS and I are going head-to-head at Esquires Coffee Bar in Coventry, in an evening of readings, Q&As, anecdotes and whatever else we feel like talking about, all sponsored by our great friends at This is Horror and Waterstones Coventry. Tickets are just £3 (£2 can be redeemed off book purchases on the night) and can be purchased on the door on the night. To reserve a ticket, email: Michael@ThisIsHorror.co.uk.
Huge thanks to Tim Sparvero for designing the excellent poster.
I hope to see many of you there! Copies of the new edition of AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION - paperback and limited edition hardcover – will be available to purchase on the night.
David Moody versus Wayne Simmons – Coventry 29 June is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
June 11, 2013
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION – now available to order
I’m very pleased to announce that AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION is now available to order from Infected Books. Weighing in at a whopping 49 stories/part-stories and around 158,000 words, it’s a fitting end to the AUTUMN series and I hope you enjoy it. The official release date is 1st July, but you can secure a copy of the trade paperback or limited edition hardcover now.
Signed and numbered and strictly limited to just 500 copies, the book comes in a beautiful Craig Paton designed jacket. Books will ship by 28th June. It’s likely these will go fast, so if you want to get your hands on a copy, please order one sooner rather than later. Either visit this page or use these links:
UK hardcover orders (£20 + £2 p&p) – click here
European hardcover orders (£20 + £4 p&p) – click here
Rest of World hardcover orders (£20 + £6 p&p) – click here
TRADE PAPERBACK
The paperback edition will be available online at all the usual retailers from 1st July. You can order a signed copy now direct from Infected Books by visiting this page or using the following links:
UK paperback orders (£10 + £1 p&p) – click here
European paperback orders (£10 + £3 p&p) – click here
Rest of World paperback orders (£10 + £4 p&p) – click here
A WORD ABOUT EBOOKS…
DRM-free Kindle, Nook, iBook, and Kobo versions of the book will be available on 1st July (if not before). I’m trying something new with this release so you have as much choice/flexibility as possible. Basically, if you buy a print copy of the book, you’ll be entitled to download a complementary ebook version. Likewise, if you buy the ebook then decide you’d rather have had a paperback or hardcover, you’ll be able to buy one from Infected Books at a price discounted by the amount you paid for your original ebook. Sound good? There’s a little more about this scheme at this link.
I know this update has been a long time coming, and I apologise. Please check back in the coming days for more updates including a number of HUMAN CONDITION giveaways and competitions.
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION – now available to order is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
May 14, 2013
Power to the People
An odd title for a post, but I think it’ll make sense in the end. Bear with me. And bear with me also because this is likely to be a longer and more personal ramble than usual (though there’ll be a book-related announcement later, so it’s worth sticking with me to the bitter end).
I’ve been relatively quiet (for me) recently, and I’ve already explained why – I’m working on a number of different projects which I hope will see the light of day over the next year or so. I talked about a few of them recently.
When you’re not spending as much time online talking to people as you’d like, it’s easy to lose a little focus and to start to doubt anyone is still listening. I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about my career – how far I’ve come, how far I want to go, and how I intend on getting there. There’s no great plan or roadmap and there never has been. I just do what feels right at the time, and I hope people like it. It’s those people I want to talk about today. As you’re reading this, that means you!
A few weekends back I had a couple of great experiences which helped put a lot of things in perspective. The first took place over three nights in Wolverhampton. If I mention the band Marillion, I generally expect one of two usual reactions: many folk in the UK usually say ‘ah yes, Kayleigh!’, and many folk outside the UK usually say ‘What? Who?’
For those who don’t know, Marillion are a unique band who, for more than twenty-five years, have produced some exceptional music. I got into them in the early 1990’s and have slavishly lapped up every release as well as seeing them live almost thirty times. They might not be to your tastes, but give them a whirl. You can take a crash course here (click here if the widget below’s not working or, if you’re new to the band, visit this page and get a free CD sent your way):
But you’re here to read about my books and films etc. So why am I telling you about my musical tastes? Click the link and I’ll explain (and don’t forget that book announcement…)
In 1999, the year I went online, Marillion released Marillion.com. I was fascinated by the inner cover of the album, which was made up of a mass of fan-submitted passport photos. And having your web address as your album title? Well, I thought that was nothing short of genius. It occurred to me that this new-fangled Internet-thing might prove to be quite important… Fast forward a couple of years, and the band announced they were to start work on a new album. Working outside the restrictions of the traditional music industry (and pre-empting Kickstarter by about a decade) they asked fans to pay up front for the next record before a single note was recorded in return for a). getting a deluxe version of the CD and b). getting their names in the credits booklet. I was more than happy to part with my cash, and have done so whenever the opportunity has since arisen – if you have the campaign editions of Anoraknophobia, Marbles, Happiness is the Road or Sounds That Can’t Be Made, you’ll find my name in each of them.
I was blown away by the way the band was effectively cutting out the middle-man and talking directly to their listeners. It made me think I could do something similar with books, so I did. I applied the ‘Marillion approach’ to AUTUMN, and managed to shift half a million free books in the process. If I hadn’t done that, I doubt I’d be doing what I do today. I thanked the band in a subtle way in 2007 with my story ‘Grandma Kelly’ in 666: The Number of the Beast which name-checks each band member.
Fast-forward to now, and my love and admiration for Marillion has continued to grow. Last month I attended the three night UK convention in Wolverhampton where the band played to the most appreciative audience I’ve ever had the privilege to witness/be a part of. The two-way adoration was quite something. At the risk of sounding overly pretentious here, at several points half the audience (including me) and most of the band were in tears. It was remarkable to behold and, as I drove home, it struck me how important that kind of connection is to anyone working in the media right now. We live in a highly-connected world, and more than ever it’s crucial for people who make/write/record independently to keep in constant contact with their viewers/listeners/readers. It’s a peer-to-peer thing now, a community. It made me realise again how fortunate I am to have a decent-sized readership, and how important it is to a). keep growing that fan-base and b). keep you all happy!
I said at the beginning of this long, rambling post, that I had a couple of great experiences recently. The day after the Marillion convention I had the pleasure of meeting up with Jami Sroka, a longtime reader and a key member of Moody’s Survivors. Jami lives just outside Pittsburgh, and regularly sends me awesome George Romero and Night of the Living Dead related memorabilia. So what was she doing three and a half thousand miles from home in Coventry on a miserable Monday evening last month? I’ll tell you what she was doing – she was on a road trip. Jami spent two weeks in the UK, meeting up with other members of the Moody’s Survivors group: Edinburgh with Iain McKinnon, Lowestoft (Them or Us land!) with Emma Bunn and Jenny Jackson, London and Coventry with Clare Allington… It was humbling to think that the initial reason she’d travelled halfway around the world was because of my books and the people she’d met online through talking about them. That’s amazing. That kind of thing really puts things in perspective. It makes you realise that the stuff you write can genuinely affect people and have an impact on them in all kinds of ways.
Where am I going with all this waffle? I guess it boils down to this: I just wanted to say a public thank you to everyone who has read and who continues to read my books, and to assure you that though I might be uncomfortably quiet at the moment, there’s still much more to come. I wanted to say that I hugely value your support, even though I probably don’t say it regularly enough.
So, finally, we get to that book announcement. After the new edition of AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION is released (any day now), I’ll be working on another book alongside the current novel I’m writing, STRANGERS. By way of thanks I’m going to be serialising the next new book free online as I write it. My plan is this: finish the first draft, then publish the second draft online as it’s completed, two chapters per week, probably from early July. And the book in question? The oft-promised, long awaited, brand new version of STRAIGHT TO YOU.
Enough talk. Back to work. But let’s finish with a tune. Last word to Marillion. Here’s Go! – a beautiful song which was one of the inspirations for my forthcoming novel, 17 DAYS.
Power to the People is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
May 11, 2013
The Omega Man Project
I’m sure many of you have heard of Sean Page – best-selling author and head-honcho at the Ministry of Zombies. Sean’s a lovely guy who works tirelessly to educate the masses about the very real dangers of the impending zombie apocalypse. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions and I can say with real certainty that he’d make a vital member of your survival team when the shit hits the fan.
Cast your mind back a few years to this post, and my visit to the not-so secret nuclear bunker, also the site of the Last Survivors zombie experience.
So what do you get when you add Sean Page to the nuclear bunker? I’ll tell you – you get the Omega Man Project.
Starting tomorrow, Sean will seal himself into the lower levels of the bunker where he’ll remain in isolation for a week. His only contact with the rest of the world will be by way of a daily video/blog post at www.ministryofzombies.com. I urge you all to follow this brave hero as he attempts to recreate the aftereffects of an I AM LEGEND type viral apocalypse.
Click the link below for the full press release.
The Omega Man Returns
Ashford-born Sean T Page, author of Amazon best-sellers, The Official Zombie Handbook (UK) and War Against the Walking Dead will be isolating himself from the outside world in voluntary solitary confinement in an ex-cold war bunker in the UK to recreate an Armageddon type scenario for five days from 12 Mar 2013 – 17 May 2013. He will be the first author of a zombie survival book in the UK to give a first-hand understanding and day-by-day account of being a lone survivor, sealed in the bunker and totally isolated from the world.
Educated in Kent’s Norton Knatchbull School, Mr Page’s first best seller, The Official Zombie Handbook (UK) prepares survivors for a zombie apocalyptic onslaught and gives detailed survival techniques to last out the first 90-days. Mr Page will be utilising advice from his handbook in a realistic post-apocalyptic setting likened to the ‘I am Legend’ movie where a lone survivor of a viral outbreak lives out his life in a heavily fortified home. The bunker is spread across three floors of underground concrete levels and packed with Cold War equipment and even a small hospital.
His daily blog and video can be viewed on the Ministry of Zombie website www.ministryofzombies.com, Ministry of Zombies Facebook Page and on twitter @ZombiesMinistry.
The Omega Man Project is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
May 8, 2013
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION – cover reveal
I’ll just let the image do the talking. Here’s Craig Paton’s magnificent cover design for the new edition of AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION.
After my update last Friday, I’m hearing that the AUTUMN: AFTERMATH limited edition might be nearer to production than expected, so I’m holding off releasing any more details about either book just yet. I’d rather they were launched together, so folks can order both and benefit from reduced shipping costs etc.
Please add your name to the limited editions mailing list (click here) to be advised the moment orders open for these books. The hardcovers will be strictly limited in number, and I don’t want you to miss out.
I hope you like this new cover as much as I do. Another stunning piece of work from Craig. Stay tuned for more information in the coming days, including the announcement of the biggest competition I’ve yet put together – a fitting way to bring the AUTUMN series to a close.
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION – cover reveal is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
May 3, 2013
Missing in Action – an update
Yes, I’m still here and still alive. It’s been a couple of weeks so I thought I should update you and let you know what I’ve been up to (to prove I’ve actually been working). So here we go:
STRANGERS
I’m 15,000 words into the second draft of this brand new novel. A spate of brutal murders occur in and around a small town. The bodies of the dead – savagely mutilated, defiled – are piling up with terrifying rapidity. There’s no apparent motive, and no obvious connection between the killings, but they all started when Scott Griffiths and his family arrived in town…
AUTUMN: THE HUMAN CONDITION
Is written and edited, and is currently being formatted before going to print. The cover art (which is spectacular - I’ve added a glimpse below) and full ordering details should be announced next week. This book has become a labour of love. It’s a fitting end to the AUTUMN series and I’m insanely proud of all 150,000+ words of it.
AUTUMN: AFTERMATH
The UK hardcover being produced in conjunction with Gollancz has been delayed. Sincere apologies. I’ll provide a further update as soon as I know more.
17 DAYS
The book’s finished, but we’re still discussing what to do with it. More news as soon as I have it.
ISOLATION
We’ve a meeting arranged for next week to get ISOLATION moving towards the screen, and an update will follow in due course.
EVENTS
Watch this space for some cracking summer events in Coventry, Cardiff and Avilés, Spain which will be announced next week.
PREVIOUSLY UNANNOUNCED FREE ONLINE SERIALISED NOVEL…
…will be kicking off in early July. Again, more details coming very soon.
Have a good weekend!
Missing in Action – an update is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
April 22, 2013
Bizarre zombie-related stuff received in the post #3
This post is a belated thank you to my sister-in-law Martine.
I got a bit freaked out the other week when the postman delivered a parcel containing a knitted brain and what looked uncomfortably like a ransom note (see the photo to the right). No one was accepting responsibility. Now getting weird things in the post is par for the course in this job (remember this inflatable zombie, and this stunning sculpture of The Swimmer from Patrick Crilley?), but a knitted brain… now that’s a little sinister.
What was even more concerning was the subsequent series of packages I received the following week: knitted legs, guts, a rat, a head, a disembowelled torso, bloody bandages, tattered clothes, and arms, each accompanied by another note with a terrible, dismemberment-related one-liner (Is this doing your head in? This is costing me an arm and a leg… Can you stomach much more of this?… you get the idea).
Long story short – when I unwrapped the last parcel and put all the bits together, this little fellow appeared. A cracking knitted zombie, courtesy of Martine. So this is a huge public thank you to Martine who must have spent hour after hour knitting, then cutting out letters from newspapers to make the (slightly terrifying) accompanying notes. I was seriously disturbed!
Right, now I need to find something equally bizarre and horrific to send back. Any ideas?
Bizarre zombie-related stuff received in the post #3 is a post from: David Moody - author of TRUST and the HATER and AUTUMN books
