Sam Stone's Blog, page 18
March 4, 2012
This week I'll be at ... Waterstones Arndale Manchester
WATERSTONES, Arndale Centre, Manchester, 10th March 2012.
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 10th March 2012.
Address:Waterstones, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3AQ
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 10th March 2012.
Address:Waterstones, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3AQ
February 14, 2012
Robert Harkess - Guest Blog
Boxes
I spent a long time trying to figure out what I was going to say on this blog. I mean, Sam has been kind enough to let me use this space as part of my 'blog tour', and I wanted to do something a little more meaningful than just drop in a plug for my new book and throw a quick wave over my shoulder as I walked off into the distance.
In mid November I read a blog post by Marsha Moore on Fantasy Faction. It was the second part of a longer piece that was breaking down and defining subgroups of fantasy genres that Marsha referred to as 'Low Fantasy'. There were seven categories and three sub categories just in that article, and whilst I'm in no way suggesting Marsha was doing anything wrong, I must admit it shocked me.
Look, I know humans generally have a need to put things into neat boxes, but when I was in my twenties we made do with SF, Fantasy and Horror and that was good enough for anybody.
More seriously, it worries me a little that things are getting so fined-down now. OK, many people wont really give a fig if Harry Dresden is or isn't in the same sub-sub-genre as Simon R Green's 'Nightside' stories, but I hate the thought of someone thinking they only liked a certain sub-sub-genre, and subsequently missing out on a wealth of other material. It's like only eating one specific type of pizza.
It doesn't just affect readers. It matters to writers too. Publishers want the writer to be a 'brand'. 'RB Harkess, Young Adult author' is much more definitive than 'Joe Bloggs, who writes SF, Fantasy, a bit of horror and some urban fantasy'. You can see their point, and it makes it easier for the bookstores to know which shelf to put you on.
Problem is, I wouldn't want to just be writing one type of story for my whole career. That's one of the reasons I like writing for the Young Adult market; the lines are a little more blurred, the fences between the sub-genres a little lower. My first story - just published as an e-Book by Proxima and available from Amazon -
So what's my point – apart from plugging my wonderful new novel? I suppose, like Canute is supposed to have tried to turn the tide, I may be trying to argue against human nature, but I'm wondering if its time we stopped trying to slice things ever finer, subdividing ad absurdium. Or, to put it another way, perhaps I'm just suggesting we try to think outside the box.
(You can find out more about R B Harkess, including twitter and facebook addresses, on his blog at www.rbharkess.co.uk)
I spent a long time trying to figure out what I was going to say on this blog. I mean, Sam has been kind enough to let me use this space as part of my 'blog tour', and I wanted to do something a little more meaningful than just drop in a plug for my new book and throw a quick wave over my shoulder as I walked off into the distance.In mid November I read a blog post by Marsha Moore on Fantasy Faction. It was the second part of a longer piece that was breaking down and defining subgroups of fantasy genres that Marsha referred to as 'Low Fantasy'. There were seven categories and three sub categories just in that article, and whilst I'm in no way suggesting Marsha was doing anything wrong, I must admit it shocked me.
Look, I know humans generally have a need to put things into neat boxes, but when I was in my twenties we made do with SF, Fantasy and Horror and that was good enough for anybody.
More seriously, it worries me a little that things are getting so fined-down now. OK, many people wont really give a fig if Harry Dresden is or isn't in the same sub-sub-genre as Simon R Green's 'Nightside' stories, but I hate the thought of someone thinking they only liked a certain sub-sub-genre, and subsequently missing out on a wealth of other material. It's like only eating one specific type of pizza.
It doesn't just affect readers. It matters to writers too. Publishers want the writer to be a 'brand'. 'RB Harkess, Young Adult author' is much more definitive than 'Joe Bloggs, who writes SF, Fantasy, a bit of horror and some urban fantasy'. You can see their point, and it makes it easier for the bookstores to know which shelf to put you on.
Problem is, I wouldn't want to just be writing one type of story for my whole career. That's one of the reasons I like writing for the Young Adult market; the lines are a little more blurred, the fences between the sub-genres a little lower. My first story - just published as an e-Book by Proxima and available from Amazon -
So what's my point – apart from plugging my wonderful new novel? I suppose, like Canute is supposed to have tried to turn the tide, I may be trying to argue against human nature, but I'm wondering if its time we stopped trying to slice things ever finer, subdividing ad absurdium. Or, to put it another way, perhaps I'm just suggesting we try to think outside the box.
(You can find out more about R B Harkess, including twitter and facebook addresses, on his blog at www.rbharkess.co.uk)
February 11, 2012
SFX Weekender
Never having been to an SFX Weekender before, I arrived at the venue at around 2.30pm on Thursday 2nd February with a little anticipation. I live in North Wales and so the Pontins wasn't that far for me to go and I'd arranged to meet my publisher and my friends from the Victorian Steampunk Society there.
My first impression of the venue was that it was far nicer inside than the somewhat stark and bleak holiday camp exterior suggested. The large stage area was ideal for the main timetabled events, as was the screening area that hosted most of the panels. It was very dark in the dealer's room (or Bartertown as it was called) and this was an immediate concern for all of the dealers who were setting up. There was a lovely young lady helping with this called Terrie, who did her best to sort out as many of the problems as possible.
That night I had a small soiree back at my house and it was great to see some friends I hadn't seen for a while. Roy Gray, Rob and Debbie Harkess, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, Major Tinker and my publisher Terry Martin. We didn't party too late though as we all had to be up early the next day.
On Friday we arrived early but the action had already begun. The dealer's room was buzzing. I wasn't technically doing anything until 12 midday when I was programmed to sign at the Forbidden Planet stand but I wanted to be at our own table anyway.
By lunchtime we had sold five full sets of my Vampire Gene Series of novels and I headed over to the Forbidden Planet table ready to do my signing. It was great fun over there and I had some time to chat with the lovely Jon Harrison, putting the world to rights about publishing and signings and selling books.
At 1pm, a chap called Steve Shooter from Leeds Indie Radio arrived to interview me. The interview went well and Steve is great fun. In the middle of the recording Lady Elsie from the Victorian Steampunk Society brought me some lunch - fish and chips -and I happily munched my way through them during some of the recording as I was starving!
After a hellish journey from London (there was a serious derailment which effectively cut off Euston Station from the rest of the UK) author Raven Dane reached Prestatyn and Pontins. She found her way to our table in Bartertown, and Lady Elsie and I fetched her a drink from the chaos that was the restaurant and within minutes she was selling her own books.
There was a fantastic and positive vibe all weekend in Bartertown and it had been there from the Thursday onwards. People were having a great time, us included. It was fun to see the professional entertainers on their stilts, sporting costumes that were combinations of Alien and Transformers (I think!) along with various other guises of Steampunk angels and corsetted dancers.
At 5pm I was on the What is Steampunk? panel. Which I felt went very well. The discussion was moderated by lovely Jonathan Green, author of Pax Britannia. Panellists were Stephen Hunt, Raven Dane, Me, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, Lavie Tidhar and the wonderfully fun Robert Rankin. The discussion ranged from literature to fashion in its exploration of what Steampunk is and can be. The panellists even discussed the ethos of the current Steampunk movement and the fact that Jules Verne, by today's standards, could be considered Steampunk (he certainly was innovative for his time!).
After us, David J Howe (my partner, lover and best friend) was on the How to Get Published Panel. Moderated by Guy Haley, this panel also included Simon Spanton (Gollancz), Anne Clarke (Orbit) and newly published writer Anne Lyle.
Straight after David's panel, Bartertown was sealed off for the evening. By then we had met up with three old friends of David's: Gordon Roxburgh, Dominic May and Tony Jordan. The three of them joined Raven, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, David and I and we went off to our favourite local Indian Restaurant - Rozi's - for a fantastic meal.
Saturday came around very quickly. This was an interesting day as it didn't seem to be as busy in the dealer's room as Friday had been. I started the day with a panel at 11am What is Urban Fantasy? Moderated by Mark Charan Newton, the panellists were Benedict Jacka, Stacia Kane, Ben Aaronovitch, Paul Cornell and myself. Quite an impressive line-up I thought! This panel discussed what each of our perceptions of what Urban Fantasy was and it was a lot of fun.
Following the panel I got back to the table to find the queue for the 12 midday signing had already begun and I spent the next hour signing copies of The Vampire Gene series and selling Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings. By about 2pm we had completely sold out of Zombies, David's own collection Talespinning and Raven Dane's Cyrus Darian and the Technomicon.
The rest of the day went by in something of a blur because I was constantly being asked to sign books and photographs and chatted to many, many people.
At 3pm I was on the We're all Doomed! panel. Moderated by Guy Haley, this panel included the super Ken MacLeod, Paul McAuley, Gareth Powell, Simon Bestwick and little old me. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was somewhat intimidated by the esteemed company I was keeping, but the panel went extremely well and we had a lot of fun. As usual my obsession with zombie-proof toilets came into the conversation ...
After the panel, I returned to my table to find yet more people waiting for signatures. Which was very cool! A bit later, wanting to get out of the crowd and get a drink, David and I headed to the green room. Brian Blessed was sitting there on the sofa and so I introduced myself to him as he has recently just joined twitter and was following me and all of the other guests that were on the line-up list for the convention. Brian launched into a long story about his trials and tribulations of learning to use technology. He is such a character.
Because we had sold out of everything we had brought, aside from copies of Telos' new guide to the TV show Supernatural, we decided to pack up and go back home at 6pm to get ready for the SFX Awards ceremony later that evening. We had a quick snack, got changed and arrived back around 7.30pm. By 7.45pm David and I had wine (two enormous pint glasses - the wine was cheaper to buy by the bottle, but they wouldn't let you take the bottle with you!) and were sitting near the front of the main stage area waiting for the evening to start.
This was one of the funniest and most enjoyable award ceremonies I've ever been to. Made so, without doubt, by the marvellous Robert Rankin and his gorgeous wife Raygun. The evening opened with some of the lovely girls who had been on stilts all weekend doing a fantastic, upbeat dance number. Then Robert and Raygun were escorted through the audience by Darth Vader and his evil Storm Troopers, some of whom were covered in red bloodstains so had obviously been up to no good before the evening started. Robert was wearing a stunning Emperic Kimono and Raygun, sadly, had to carry his train. It was a magnificent entrance and not having been to the SFX Weekender before I didn't realise what a brilliant double act Robert and Raygun are.
The awards began, much humour ensued. To see the full results then click HERE. Some highlights of the video acceptances: Neil Gaiman - not only is he a genius but he also has a keen sense of humour. Is it me or does George RR Martin look like Captain Bird's Eye? Stan Lee - a legend. Complete legend. It was great to see Brian Aldiss receive the much deserved award for Outstanding Literary Contribution, and smashing that he was actually present. So many of the other winners could not attend for varying reasons.
The awards ended on a high note. A perfect end to a perfect day with Robert and Raygun performing a special version of 'A Perfect Day' - fortunately David captured this on video:
But that wasn't the end of it ... we then partied into the wee small hours. It was fabulous to spend some time again with producer and writer Phil Ford (Sarah Jane Adventures), who David and I know from the Doctor Who circuit and particularly from Gallifrey in Los Angeles. We'll be really sorry not to join him this year at Gallifrey. Phil had with him the truly adorable Anjli Mohindra, who plays Rani Chandra in Sarah Jane Adventures. We were kidnapped by them and taken to the pub ... forced to drink whisky! I was glad to spend time with another woman who enjoys whisky like I do! It was brilliant to catch up with Ken Macleod in the bar and have a chat with him. He is a really special, talented and very genuine person.
We stumbled into our beds about 2am on Sunday morning - the party was still going strong when we left - and David, Lady Elsie and I all felt like we didn't want to leave, but we were by then absolutely exhausted. Thus ended our very positive experience of the SFX Weekender.
And, being on my doorstep, I'll definitely be going again next year. See you there?
My first impression of the venue was that it was far nicer inside than the somewhat stark and bleak holiday camp exterior suggested. The large stage area was ideal for the main timetabled events, as was the screening area that hosted most of the panels. It was very dark in the dealer's room (or Bartertown as it was called) and this was an immediate concern for all of the dealers who were setting up. There was a lovely young lady helping with this called Terrie, who did her best to sort out as many of the problems as possible.That night I had a small soiree back at my house and it was great to see some friends I hadn't seen for a while. Roy Gray, Rob and Debbie Harkess, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, Major Tinker and my publisher Terry Martin. We didn't party too late though as we all had to be up early the next day.
On Friday we arrived early but the action had already begun. The dealer's room was buzzing. I wasn't technically doing anything until 12 midday when I was programmed to sign at the Forbidden Planet stand but I wanted to be at our own table anyway.
By lunchtime we had sold five full sets of my Vampire Gene Series of novels and I headed over to the Forbidden Planet table ready to do my signing. It was great fun over there and I had some time to chat with the lovely Jon Harrison, putting the world to rights about publishing and signings and selling books.
At 1pm, a chap called Steve Shooter from Leeds Indie Radio arrived to interview me. The interview went well and Steve is great fun. In the middle of the recording Lady Elsie from the Victorian Steampunk Society brought me some lunch - fish and chips -and I happily munched my way through them during some of the recording as I was starving!
After a hellish journey from London (there was a serious derailment which effectively cut off Euston Station from the rest of the UK) author Raven Dane reached Prestatyn and Pontins. She found her way to our table in Bartertown, and Lady Elsie and I fetched her a drink from the chaos that was the restaurant and within minutes she was selling her own books.
There was a fantastic and positive vibe all weekend in Bartertown and it had been there from the Thursday onwards. People were having a great time, us included. It was fun to see the professional entertainers on their stilts, sporting costumes that were combinations of Alien and Transformers (I think!) along with various other guises of Steampunk angels and corsetted dancers.At 5pm I was on the What is Steampunk? panel. Which I felt went very well. The discussion was moderated by lovely Jonathan Green, author of Pax Britannia. Panellists were Stephen Hunt, Raven Dane, Me, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, Lavie Tidhar and the wonderfully fun Robert Rankin. The discussion ranged from literature to fashion in its exploration of what Steampunk is and can be. The panellists even discussed the ethos of the current Steampunk movement and the fact that Jules Verne, by today's standards, could be considered Steampunk (he certainly was innovative for his time!).
After us, David J Howe (my partner, lover and best friend) was on the How to Get Published Panel. Moderated by Guy Haley, this panel also included Simon Spanton (Gollancz), Anne Clarke (Orbit) and newly published writer Anne Lyle.
Straight after David's panel, Bartertown was sealed off for the evening. By then we had met up with three old friends of David's: Gordon Roxburgh, Dominic May and Tony Jordan. The three of them joined Raven, Lady Elsie, Ian Crichton, David and I and we went off to our favourite local Indian Restaurant - Rozi's - for a fantastic meal.Saturday came around very quickly. This was an interesting day as it didn't seem to be as busy in the dealer's room as Friday had been. I started the day with a panel at 11am What is Urban Fantasy? Moderated by Mark Charan Newton, the panellists were Benedict Jacka, Stacia Kane, Ben Aaronovitch, Paul Cornell and myself. Quite an impressive line-up I thought! This panel discussed what each of our perceptions of what Urban Fantasy was and it was a lot of fun.
Following the panel I got back to the table to find the queue for the 12 midday signing had already begun and I spent the next hour signing copies of The Vampire Gene series and selling Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings. By about 2pm we had completely sold out of Zombies, David's own collection Talespinning and Raven Dane's Cyrus Darian and the Technomicon.
The rest of the day went by in something of a blur because I was constantly being asked to sign books and photographs and chatted to many, many people.
At 3pm I was on the We're all Doomed! panel. Moderated by Guy Haley, this panel included the super Ken MacLeod, Paul McAuley, Gareth Powell, Simon Bestwick and little old me. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was somewhat intimidated by the esteemed company I was keeping, but the panel went extremely well and we had a lot of fun. As usual my obsession with zombie-proof toilets came into the conversation ...
After the panel, I returned to my table to find yet more people waiting for signatures. Which was very cool! A bit later, wanting to get out of the crowd and get a drink, David and I headed to the green room. Brian Blessed was sitting there on the sofa and so I introduced myself to him as he has recently just joined twitter and was following me and all of the other guests that were on the line-up list for the convention. Brian launched into a long story about his trials and tribulations of learning to use technology. He is such a character.Because we had sold out of everything we had brought, aside from copies of Telos' new guide to the TV show Supernatural, we decided to pack up and go back home at 6pm to get ready for the SFX Awards ceremony later that evening. We had a quick snack, got changed and arrived back around 7.30pm. By 7.45pm David and I had wine (two enormous pint glasses - the wine was cheaper to buy by the bottle, but they wouldn't let you take the bottle with you!) and were sitting near the front of the main stage area waiting for the evening to start.
This was one of the funniest and most enjoyable award ceremonies I've ever been to. Made so, without doubt, by the marvellous Robert Rankin and his gorgeous wife Raygun. The evening opened with some of the lovely girls who had been on stilts all weekend doing a fantastic, upbeat dance number. Then Robert and Raygun were escorted through the audience by Darth Vader and his evil Storm Troopers, some of whom were covered in red bloodstains so had obviously been up to no good before the evening started. Robert was wearing a stunning Emperic Kimono and Raygun, sadly, had to carry his train. It was a magnificent entrance and not having been to the SFX Weekender before I didn't realise what a brilliant double act Robert and Raygun are.The awards began, much humour ensued. To see the full results then click HERE. Some highlights of the video acceptances: Neil Gaiman - not only is he a genius but he also has a keen sense of humour. Is it me or does George RR Martin look like Captain Bird's Eye? Stan Lee - a legend. Complete legend. It was great to see Brian Aldiss receive the much deserved award for Outstanding Literary Contribution, and smashing that he was actually present. So many of the other winners could not attend for varying reasons.
The awards ended on a high note. A perfect end to a perfect day with Robert and Raygun performing a special version of 'A Perfect Day' - fortunately David captured this on video:
But that wasn't the end of it ... we then partied into the wee small hours. It was fabulous to spend some time again with producer and writer Phil Ford (Sarah Jane Adventures), who David and I know from the Doctor Who circuit and particularly from Gallifrey in Los Angeles. We'll be really sorry not to join him this year at Gallifrey. Phil had with him the truly adorable Anjli Mohindra, who plays Rani Chandra in Sarah Jane Adventures. We were kidnapped by them and taken to the pub ... forced to drink whisky! I was glad to spend time with another woman who enjoys whisky like I do! It was brilliant to catch up with Ken Macleod in the bar and have a chat with him. He is a really special, talented and very genuine person.
We stumbled into our beds about 2am on Sunday morning - the party was still going strong when we left - and David, Lady Elsie and I all felt like we didn't want to leave, but we were by then absolutely exhausted. Thus ended our very positive experience of the SFX Weekender.And, being on my doorstep, I'll definitely be going again next year. See you there?
January 30, 2012
This weekend I'll be at ... SFX WEEKENDER
SFX Weekender 3 comes to Prestatyn this weekend and I'm delighted to be on their list of attending Guests with my partner David J Howe.
Also there, Anthony Head, Colin Baker, Sylvestor McCoy, Brian Blessed, and many more ...
For further details check out the line-up below.
My schedule so far includes the following :
Friday 12 midday Signing copies of 'Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings' at the Forbidden Planet table.
Friday 5pm 'How Do You Put the Punk Into Steampunk?' Panel
Saturday 11am 'What is Urban Fantasy?' Panel
Saturday 12 midday Signing copies of 'Vampire Gene Series' at the Murky Depths Table with Raven Dane and David J Howe
Saturday 3pm 'We're all doomed! Is the path to humanity's salvation revealed in science fiction?'Panel
I WILL ALSO BE GIVING AWAY FREE BADGES/SIGNED PHOTOS WITH EVERY BOOK PURCHASE.
The rest of the weekend you'll find me in the Dealer's room with Murky Depths and Telos or perhaps in the bar! See you there!
Time: ALL WEEKEND Date: 2nd-5th February Address: Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park,Central Beach, Barkby Avenue, Prestatyn, Denbigshire,North Wales, LL19 7LA
For more information visit: SFX Weekender 3.
Also there, Anthony Head, Colin Baker, Sylvestor McCoy, Brian Blessed, and many more ...
For further details check out the line-up below.
My schedule so far includes the following :
Friday 12 midday Signing copies of 'Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings' at the Forbidden Planet table.
Friday 5pm 'How Do You Put the Punk Into Steampunk?' Panel
Saturday 11am 'What is Urban Fantasy?' Panel
Saturday 12 midday Signing copies of 'Vampire Gene Series' at the Murky Depths Table with Raven Dane and David J Howe
Saturday 3pm 'We're all doomed! Is the path to humanity's salvation revealed in science fiction?'Panel
I WILL ALSO BE GIVING AWAY FREE BADGES/SIGNED PHOTOS WITH EVERY BOOK PURCHASE.
The rest of the weekend you'll find me in the Dealer's room with Murky Depths and Telos or perhaps in the bar! See you there!
Time: ALL WEEKEND Date: 2nd-5th February Address: Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park,Central Beach, Barkby Avenue, Prestatyn, Denbigshire,North Wales, LL19 7LA
For more information visit: SFX Weekender 3.
January 28, 2012
Hersham Books Five Story Anthology
Hersham Books have recently announced their line-up for their latest five Story Anthology provisionally titled 'Siblings'.
The line-up is :
Stuart Hughes, Sam Stone, Richard Farren Barber, Sara Jayne Townsend & Simon Kurt Unsworth.
For more information on this on other titles publsihed by Hersham please go HERE.
The line-up is :
Stuart Hughes, Sam Stone, Richard Farren Barber, Sara Jayne Townsend & Simon Kurt Unsworth.
For more information on this on other titles publsihed by Hersham please go HERE.
January 22, 2012
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
I have recently discovered yet another case of pirating of my books. This time 'Futile Flame' but thanks to the network of writer Jacqueline George I discovered the infringement and the way to deal with it.
It seems there is a law now The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) which allows the author to post a legal document that serves notice to the website and they have to remove the content immediately.
The guilty party this time was www.ebookr.com but they are upfront about the DMCA and thanks to erotic romance author Cari Silverwood, who provided me with the template of the DMCA to help me remove my books from the site, I now know how to go about this. I have therefore submitted the DMCA to Ebookr and I am expecting the books to be removed immediately.
If you are an author and have found your works illegally on any site then you can email me for the template and I'll point you in the right direction.
Email sam@sam-stone.com
It seems there is a law now The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) which allows the author to post a legal document that serves notice to the website and they have to remove the content immediately.
The guilty party this time was www.ebookr.com but they are upfront about the DMCA and thanks to erotic romance author Cari Silverwood, who provided me with the template of the DMCA to help me remove my books from the site, I now know how to go about this. I have therefore submitted the DMCA to Ebookr and I am expecting the books to be removed immediately.
If you are an author and have found your works illegally on any site then you can email me for the template and I'll point you in the right direction.
Email sam@sam-stone.com
January 17, 2012
Hammer Out Book of Ghosts
The Hammer Out Books of Ghost Stories is a collection of short stories published in aid of HAMMER OUT.
This fabulous new collection is available NOW from Fantom Films and all proceeds go to the charity Hammer Out
Including:Foreword by Tracey Childs
Immortal Monster by Sam Stone The Widow and the Deserter by Alex Barrett Sleeping Lions by Niall Boyce Orbyting by Jan Edwards The Noise from the Flat Upstairs by S.E. Branson Tower Song by Richard Howard Deadline by Paul W.T. Ballard The Attic Nursery by Raven Dane Chillers and Breathers by Sam Stone We Attract that which we Fear the Most by Louise Jameson Last Rites by Simon Guerrier
For Further information about the charity and to purchase copies please cheack out the Fantom Films website.
This fabulous new collection is available NOW from Fantom Films and all proceeds go to the charity Hammer Out
Including:Foreword by Tracey Childs
Immortal Monster by Sam Stone The Widow and the Deserter by Alex Barrett Sleeping Lions by Niall Boyce Orbyting by Jan Edwards The Noise from the Flat Upstairs by S.E. Branson Tower Song by Richard Howard Deadline by Paul W.T. Ballard The Attic Nursery by Raven Dane Chillers and Breathers by Sam Stone We Attract that which we Fear the Most by Louise Jameson Last Rites by Simon Guerrier
For Further information about the charity and to purchase copies please cheack out the Fantom Films website.
January 16, 2012
Appearances for 2012 so far ...
SFX WEEKENDER 3, Prestatyn, North Wales. 2nd-5th February 2011
Sam Stone and David J Howe are amongst the guests appearing at this event.
Time: ALL WEEKEND Date: 2nd-5th February Address: Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park,Central Beach, Barkby Avenue, Prestatyn, Denbigshire,North Wales, LL19 7LA
For more information visit: SFX WEEKENDERhttp://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/09/19/david-j-howe-and-sam-stone-at-the-sfx-weekender/
WATERSTONES, Wigan, 18th February 2012.
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 18th February 2012.
Address:Waterstones, 6 The Grand Arcade, Wigan, WN1 1BH
All purchases include a choice of signed photograph or badges.
GALAXYFEST 2012, Colorado Springs, USA, 24th-26th Feb 2012.
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing as International Author Guests of Honor with Kevin J Anderson, Frazer Hines and many more writer guests and celebrities.
Time: ALL Weekend. Panels, Interviews, Creative Writing Workshop.
Address: Antlers Hilton, 4 South Cascade, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-1695, USA.
WATERSTONES, Arndale Centre, Manchester, 10th March 2012.
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 10th March 2012.
Address:Waterstones, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3AQ
All purchases include a choice of signed photograph or badges.
WHITBY GOTHIC WEEKEND, Whitby, 27th-29th April 2012
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing at the Rifle Club, Whitby during the Gothic Weekend. Copies of all books will be available to purchase with free signed autographs.
Address : Rifle Club, West Cliff Sports Ground, Crescent Avenue, Whitby, North Yorkshire.
YO21 3EW.
Time: TBA
MCM EXPO, London, 25th-27th May 2012.
Sam Stone and David Howe will be author guests on The Victorian Steampunk Expedition Stand at MCM EXPO. Copies of all the books will be on sale with free autographs. Signed photos also available.
Address: ExCel Exhibition Centre, 1 Western Gateway London E16 1XL.
Time: TBA
MISCELLARIUM 2012, Sunderland, 11th-12th August 2012
Sam Stone and David J Howe join the line up of guests at the first ever Miscellarium Convention to take part in panels, talks, signings and readings.
To book and for further information: Miscellarium 2012
Address: Seaburn Centre, Sunderland, SR6 8AA,
Time: All Weekend.
BRITCON MN, 30th August to 2nd September 2012, Minnesota, USA
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing as Author Guests of Honor, Frazer Hines and many more writer guests and celebrities from the UK.
To book and for further information contact BRITCON
Time: ALL Weekend. Panels, Interviews, Creative Writing Workshop.
Address: Hilton Minneapolis Bloomington, 3900 American Blvd West, Bloomington, Minnesota, United States 55437
Sam Stone and David J Howe are amongst the guests appearing at this event.
Time: ALL WEEKEND Date: 2nd-5th February Address: Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park,Central Beach, Barkby Avenue, Prestatyn, Denbigshire,North Wales, LL19 7LA
For more information visit: SFX WEEKENDERhttp://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/09/19/david-j-howe-and-sam-stone-at-the-sfx-weekender/
WATERSTONES, Wigan, 18th February 2012.
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 18th February 2012.
Address:Waterstones, 6 The Grand Arcade, Wigan, WN1 1BH
All purchases include a choice of signed photograph or badges.
GALAXYFEST 2012, Colorado Springs, USA, 24th-26th Feb 2012.
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing as International Author Guests of Honor with Kevin J Anderson, Frazer Hines and many more writer guests and celebrities.
Time: ALL Weekend. Panels, Interviews, Creative Writing Workshop.
Address: Antlers Hilton, 4 South Cascade, Colorado Springs, CO 80903-1695, USA.
WATERSTONES, Arndale Centre, Manchester, 10th March 2012.
Sam Stone will be signing copies of her new book, Hateful Heart, Book 4 The Vampire Gene Series, at this very popular store. David J Howe will also be there with his new collection talespinning.
Time: 12-4pm Date: Saturday 10th March 2012.
Address:Waterstones, Arndale Centre, Manchester, M4 3AQ
All purchases include a choice of signed photograph or badges.
WHITBY GOTHIC WEEKEND, Whitby, 27th-29th April 2012
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing at the Rifle Club, Whitby during the Gothic Weekend. Copies of all books will be available to purchase with free signed autographs.
Address : Rifle Club, West Cliff Sports Ground, Crescent Avenue, Whitby, North Yorkshire.
YO21 3EW.
Time: TBA
MCM EXPO, London, 25th-27th May 2012.
Sam Stone and David Howe will be author guests on The Victorian Steampunk Expedition Stand at MCM EXPO. Copies of all the books will be on sale with free autographs. Signed photos also available.
Address: ExCel Exhibition Centre, 1 Western Gateway London E16 1XL.
Time: TBA
MISCELLARIUM 2012, Sunderland, 11th-12th August 2012
Sam Stone and David J Howe join the line up of guests at the first ever Miscellarium Convention to take part in panels, talks, signings and readings.
To book and for further information: Miscellarium 2012
Address: Seaburn Centre, Sunderland, SR6 8AA,
Time: All Weekend.
BRITCON MN, 30th August to 2nd September 2012, Minnesota, USA
Sam Stone and David J Howe will be appearing as Author Guests of Honor, Frazer Hines and many more writer guests and celebrities from the UK.
To book and for further information contact BRITCON
Time: ALL Weekend. Panels, Interviews, Creative Writing Workshop.
Address: Hilton Minneapolis Bloomington, 3900 American Blvd West, Bloomington, Minnesota, United States 55437
January 15, 2012
Miscellarium 2012
I'm very pleased to announce that I will be a guest at Miscellarium 2012 with my partner David J Howe. Other writer guests on the list so far are Paul Magrs and George Mann.
For further information of this exciting convention please following this link : Miscellarium 2012
More information and updates on this to follow.
For further information of this exciting convention please following this link : Miscellarium 2012
More information and updates on this to follow.
January 10, 2012
Authorhouse: Abusing the rights of authors
Just before Christmas I learnt that a self-publishing company called Authorhouse were infringing the copyright of my first novel.
The novel was originally published with them in January 2007 as Gabriele Caccini however I believe that the contract I signed meant that I retained all rights and only had to give them a month's notice in order to remove the book from sale.
Almost five years later I am still fighting that battle.
Authorhouse charge extortionate amounts of money to provide what they claim is a professional service to allow authors to publish and promote their own books. Knowing nothing of the industry at that time I fell foul of their advertising and hype and chose to go down the self-publishing route with them. I won't go into this process except to say that it was very, very expensive and the serviceI received was never as good as they promised it would be.
Fortunately though, in 2008, The House of Murky Depths took up the Vampire Gene series and my self-publishing days were over. All should have been fine except that Authorhouse continued to sell the book despite my requests that they cease. How do I know? Well, they sent me royalties.
You might think that at this time I would have nothing to complain about - I was receiving the royalties after all - but I realised by then that Authorhouse was taking a massive cut of the income whereas I, the person who had paid for everything in the first place and taken all the risks, was earning a measly 86 pence a book. They were charging £13 a copy, so that's a royalty of around 6.5% of the cover price. I went to their website, only to learn that my book was still active, despite my telling them to remove it. The book was still available through Amazon and other websites and after many letters, as well as phone calls to their head office in the USA, Authorhouse eventually agreed to remove the book from sale.
Authorhouse operates as a print on demand (POD) service. There was no stock. All books ordered were printed and sent as they were ordered. So it was clear to me that this would mean that NO MORE books would be printed or sold because I had given them notice in early 2008 that they were not allowed to sell the book from July 2008 onwards.
By late 2009 however the book was still being sold, and I was still getting royalty statements and cheques from them for one or two copies a time.
When I asked them why the book was still showing as available on Amazon, the excuse they gave me was that they had no control what Amazon offered. And, they said, Amazon probably had stock of the book. Well - as I said earlier - I knew this was probably untrue as the book was POD only.
I let it go though because finally the royalty cheques stopped coming and the Authorhouse website now said the book was unavailable.
You can imagine my shock when I logged into my Amazon account only to be offered the kindle version of my own book. Authorhouse - no longer under any contract with me - had taken it upon themselves to create an ebook.
Since then, and after phoning them several times with absolutely no response, I resorted to going straight to Amazon with the complaint.
This is where my tale takes a happy turn. Amazon have just confirmed that the listing for Gabriele Caccini will be removed from their site. That they respect the intellectual property of authors and that the information I provided has proved to them that this is in fact an infringement of my rights as the author.
So, the moral of this tale is ...
Self-publishing is never a good idea - but a worse one if you get involved with a company like Authorhouse who don't respect your rights and will continue to sell your works even when you instruct them not to.
Contact Amazon if you do have an issue and make sure you provide all the evidence you can to prove you are right. But ultimately I'd recommend staying away from self-publishing companies who charge high prices and make promises that they can't keep. There is a 'rule' that in publishing - and by that I mean 'proper' publishing - the money only goes in one direction ... TO THE AUTHOR. Remember that only reputable publishers can get your books in bookstores and stocked by distributors.
The novel was originally published with them in January 2007 as Gabriele Caccini however I believe that the contract I signed meant that I retained all rights and only had to give them a month's notice in order to remove the book from sale.
Almost five years later I am still fighting that battle.
Authorhouse charge extortionate amounts of money to provide what they claim is a professional service to allow authors to publish and promote their own books. Knowing nothing of the industry at that time I fell foul of their advertising and hype and chose to go down the self-publishing route with them. I won't go into this process except to say that it was very, very expensive and the serviceI received was never as good as they promised it would be.
Fortunately though, in 2008, The House of Murky Depths took up the Vampire Gene series and my self-publishing days were over. All should have been fine except that Authorhouse continued to sell the book despite my requests that they cease. How do I know? Well, they sent me royalties.
You might think that at this time I would have nothing to complain about - I was receiving the royalties after all - but I realised by then that Authorhouse was taking a massive cut of the income whereas I, the person who had paid for everything in the first place and taken all the risks, was earning a measly 86 pence a book. They were charging £13 a copy, so that's a royalty of around 6.5% of the cover price. I went to their website, only to learn that my book was still active, despite my telling them to remove it. The book was still available through Amazon and other websites and after many letters, as well as phone calls to their head office in the USA, Authorhouse eventually agreed to remove the book from sale.
Authorhouse operates as a print on demand (POD) service. There was no stock. All books ordered were printed and sent as they were ordered. So it was clear to me that this would mean that NO MORE books would be printed or sold because I had given them notice in early 2008 that they were not allowed to sell the book from July 2008 onwards.
By late 2009 however the book was still being sold, and I was still getting royalty statements and cheques from them for one or two copies a time.
When I asked them why the book was still showing as available on Amazon, the excuse they gave me was that they had no control what Amazon offered. And, they said, Amazon probably had stock of the book. Well - as I said earlier - I knew this was probably untrue as the book was POD only.
I let it go though because finally the royalty cheques stopped coming and the Authorhouse website now said the book was unavailable.
You can imagine my shock when I logged into my Amazon account only to be offered the kindle version of my own book. Authorhouse - no longer under any contract with me - had taken it upon themselves to create an ebook.
Since then, and after phoning them several times with absolutely no response, I resorted to going straight to Amazon with the complaint.
This is where my tale takes a happy turn. Amazon have just confirmed that the listing for Gabriele Caccini will be removed from their site. That they respect the intellectual property of authors and that the information I provided has proved to them that this is in fact an infringement of my rights as the author.
So, the moral of this tale is ...
Self-publishing is never a good idea - but a worse one if you get involved with a company like Authorhouse who don't respect your rights and will continue to sell your works even when you instruct them not to.
Contact Amazon if you do have an issue and make sure you provide all the evidence you can to prove you are right. But ultimately I'd recommend staying away from self-publishing companies who charge high prices and make promises that they can't keep. There is a 'rule' that in publishing - and by that I mean 'proper' publishing - the money only goes in one direction ... TO THE AUTHOR. Remember that only reputable publishers can get your books in bookstores and stocked by distributors.
