Jonathan Green's Blog, page 122

Tie-in Tuesday: Shakespeare Week - Beware the Ides of March!

Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu ties together two of the biggest franchises I have ever worked on, and I am fortunate to have some rather big names working on it with me.

The completed tales that will be appearing inside the anthology include...Something Rotten, by Adrian TchaikovskyExit, Pursued By...?, by James Lovegrove#Tempest, by Jan SiegelA Tiger's Heart, A Player's Hide, by Josh ReynoldsStar Crossed Lovers, by Jonathan OliverA Madness Most Discreet, by Michael CarrollSomething Wicked This Way Comes, by Graham McNeillOnce More Unto the Breach, by C L WernerA Reckoning, by Guy Haley
On another note, did you know that the Ides of March also mark the anniversary of the death of H P Lovecraft? I tell you, you couldn't make it up...

Tie-in Tuesday: Shakespeare Week

Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu ties together two of the biggest franchises I have ever worked on, and I am fortunate to have some rather big names working on it with me.

The completed tales that will be appearing inside the anthology include...Something Rotten, by Adrian TchaikovskyExit, Pursued By...?, by James Lovegrove#Tempest, by Jan SiegelA Tiger's Heart, A Player's Hide, by Josh ReynoldsStar Crossed Lovers, by Jonathan OliverA Madness Most Discreet, by Michael CarrollSomething Wicked This Way Comes, by Graham McNeillOnce More Unto the Breach, by C L WernerA Reckoning, by Guy Haley

Thought for the Day - Shakespeare Week

In case you didn't already know, this week is Shakespeare Week . In honour of this my blog will have a decidedly Shakespearean theme this week, starting with today's Thought for the Day ...

“To die, to sleep –To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there's the rub,For in this sleep of death what dreams may come...”(William Shakespeare – Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1)
“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”(H P Lovecraft – The Call of Cthulhu)

Shakespeare Sunday: Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu cover reveal!

Covers are a tricky business. Despite the old adage, people do judge books by their covers all the time. And with somewhere in the region of 185,000 new books being published in the UK each year, you have to do something to try to make your book stand out from all the others on the bookshelves.

For one thing, a book's cover design needs to tell you something about the tone of its content, so as to attract the right kind of reader, who might actually buy the tome having picked it up for a closer look. You also need to give potential readers as many visual clues as possible so that, even if they can't read the title from across the bookshop, they see something which might lure them in closer. And, with that in mind, a clear central image is a must too. (A few well-known genre names don't hurt either.)

All of these considerations went into the mix when we set about designing the cover for Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu . I like to think we have succeeded in what we set out to do, but only time (and book sales) will tell...


 Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu will be published later this year by Snowbooks.

Merchandise for Writers

On Monday I shall be taking part in a workshop at the British Library, entitled 'Merchandise for Writers'. Here's more information from the British Library website:

If you’re an author and you think that having your own merchandise will have to wait till you’re JK Rowling, then think again. There are good reasons why you should develop your own merchandise and this workshop will help you do just that. 
What this workshop will cover: 
5 things merchandise can do for you as an authorThe difference between products and merchandiseCase studies – from JK Rowling to part-time authorsThe new product development process: 6 steps to avoid mistakesPlanning ahead – writing merchandise into your books We’ll also amuse ourselves with some truly terrible examples of author merchandise, practise finding product ideas by working on some imaginary book titles and look at how to write a business plan for your products (and yourself as a writer). You’ll take away lots of ideas for your own merchandise, a list of recommended reading and a business plan template. This workshop is ideal for authors at all stages – from just getting to started to full-timers.  Fiction and non-fiction both welcome! This workshop will be presented by Melissa Addey, the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library’s Business & IP Centre. Melissa has over 15 years business experience developing new products and mentoring entrepreneurs, as well as being an author of fiction and non-fiction.  With guest speaker Shaun Levin, author of Writing Maps and author Jonathan Green.
Proceedings start at 10.00am and, best of all, the workshop is provided free of charge as part of the British Library Business & IP Centre’s Artist in Residence programme, generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

So, if you're free, why not pop along?

International Women's Day: Alice the Adventurer

Happy International Women's Day!

When I was writing Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland someone asked me whether I realised that by featuring Alice as the protagonist I was enfranchising a whole generation of pre-teen girls. To be honest, I hadn't. It hadn't been a conscious decision. But then I have a pre-teen girl all of my very own now, so subconsciously something must have rubbed off.

Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland  also passes the Bechdel test, which, in case you were unaware, asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.

This one was quite easy, partly because my book took its lead from Carroll's classic, and partly because it was important to me that Alice wasn't sexualised in any way. In the book she is eleven years old, and so she behaves as an eleven year-old would (if the eleven year-old in question goes around wielding a massive two-handed sword, of course).

You can pick up your copy of  Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland  and the Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland Colouring Book here.

Thought for the Day

"The secret of great writing is rewriting."
~ Warren Adler, American author

Gamebook Friday: SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK

Last Saturday, BBC Radio 4 broadcast SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK , a documentary all about the history of interactive fiction. (You can listen to a recording of it here.)

As the title might suggest, Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks were an important part of the piece, and this in turn lead to me visiting the Radio 4 studios to be interviewed by presenter Naomi Alderman about the books, how I came to write for the series, and even what I'm working on now.

However, this being radio, a half-hour long interview with me was edited down to about two minutes of the actual documentary. But this being a documentary about interactive fiction, producer Alex Mansfield has put together an interactive audio documentary adjunct. There are some rather special treats hidden within it, amongst them an extended extract of my interview.

To listen to it, simply follow this link and then click 'red things', click '1', click 'restricting your options', and then click 'Fighting Fantasy gamebooks'.

Enjoy!

World Book Day 2016

In case it had slipped your mind (like it had mine) today is World Book Day , which has got me thinking about which books of my will see the light of day this year.


Here's what came out that I was involved in last year...

My 2015 publications.
As you will already know if you read this blog post earlier in the year, this time last year I didn't even know I was going to write Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, which, after YOU ARE THE HERO, is my best and most reviewed title that I was solely responsible for. And it spawned a colouring book too, which the Americans love! 

At the time of writing, I definitely have three books coming out. The first is a re-issue of sorts - Doctor Who: Terrible Lizards - and the second is another Doctor Who title, but a new one this time - Choose the Future: Night of the Kraken.

And then there's Robin of Sherwood: The Knights of the Apocalypse ...

And Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu ...


Hopefully there will also be a sort-of-follow-up to Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, which I have finally decided will be called The Wicked Wizard of Oz , but other than that, who knows?

Steampunk Thursday: Through the Looking Glass

I can't quite believe it's already March - where has the time gone? - which means that the convention circuit is starting to warm up again.

Although I was at London Super ComicCon a couple of weeks ago, I was attending as a punter rather than a guest. But on Easter Saturday, 26th March 2016, I will be a guest at Through the Looking Glass , a uniquely steampunk event, being held at the Winter Gardens in Eastbourne.


I will be selling my Pax Britannia books as well as my new Alice-themed adventure gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland .

So, watch this space for more details...