Jonathan Green's Blog, page 123

Dragons, look you!

In celebration of St David's Day today, and Google's doodle of the day, if you like your fiction to feature firedrakes, then you should check out these stories of mine.

1       Fighting Fantasy: Stormslayer (2009)1     Warlock’s Bounty: Revenge of the Sorcerer (2012)1       Black Library Gamebook: Shadows over Sylvania (2013)1       Fighting Fantasy: YouAre The Hero – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks (2014)1       Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland (2015)

Tie-in Tuesday: SFFWorld Author Roundtable

As you might have guessed from the title of this blog, I am taking part in SFFWorld's latest Author Roundtable.

Starting from today, Tuesday 1st March 2016, and continuing for three to four days, Bryan Thomas Schmidt , David Conyers , Jennifer Brozek and myself will be answering questions put to us by SFFWorld forum members, staff, and each other.

So, as you can see, the conversation really could go anywhere. Indeed, this being Tie-in Tuesday, it's quite possible that my tie-in fiction will end up being discussed.

If you would like to take part you will need to register an account at http://www.sffworld.com/forum

I will post the link to join in the discussion below, when I have it myself.

Maybe I'll see you there...

Thought for the Day

"If you don't have conflict or a challenge, you don't have a story." 
~ Tom Kellner

Shakespeare Sunday: Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu, partial table of contents

Readers anxiously awaiting the arrival of Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu in bookstores later this year will be pleased to hear that I have already received eight out of the fifteen stories that will be appearing within the pages of the anthology, along with the bonus short story that will be going out to backers. The majority of those stories are at the revision stage, or have already been passed as final, which is not bad considering that the deadline for the delivery of the stories isn't until the end of the month.

The completed tales that will be appearing inside the anthology include...

Something Rottenby Adrian Tchaikovsky
Exit, Pursued By...?by James Lovegrove
#Tempestby Jan Siegel
A Tiger's Heart, A Player's Hideby Josh Reynolds
Star Crossed Loversby Jonathan Oliver
A Madness Most Discreetby Michael Carroll
Something Wicked This Way Comesby Graham McNeill
All future potential BFS Award winners, I'm sure you'll agree. And if you don't, Cthulhu will be having words with you...

... probably along the lines of ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

Short Story Saturday: The British Fantasy Awards 2016

Just to let you know that voting for the British Fantasy Awards closes at the end of the month, which is Monday. You can see the suggestions list of eligible titles here, and if you peruse that list you'll notice that both my short stories anthologies SHARKPUNK and GAME OVER are there in the Best Anthology category, while the short stories that appear within in them are in the Best Short Story category.

You are eligible to vote what makes it through the the shortlist if you're
a) a BFS member
b) attended FantasyCon 2015
c) are attending FantasyCon 2016.

But after that, it's over to the juries; if they decide there's been an egregious omission they'll add it to the list, then deliberate (as happened with YOU ARE THE HERO last year).

If you're eligible, please vote if you can. Not necessarily for any of the above (although that would be nice) but just to make sure you have your say. As Simon Bestwick, whose story The Face of the Deep from GAME OVER is eligible in the Best Short Story category, says, "Take part. The more people do, the fairer the selection process will be, and the more meaningful the award."

Happy 39th Birthday, 2000AD!

Today, 2000AD is a grand 39 years-old! I those almost four decades, it has become a mainstay of British comics, and a pop culture icon. I have also been fortunate enough to have been published in the comic, just once, before Christmas last year.

I wasn't a comic that I had written, but it was a story featuring cultural icon Judge Dredd himself. That's right - I've written for 2000AD before, and I've written comics before, but I have never had a comic published inside the pages of 2000AD .

Despite being 44 years-old myself, that is still a writing achievement I would like to unlock. And who knows, maybe 2016 could be the year it happens.


The one time I have actually been published within the pages of 2000AD was in last year's bumper Christmas issue.
But for the time being, Happy Birthday, 2000AD ! And to celebrate, why not head over to the 2000AD online shop and grab yourself a birthday bargain? (I'm after the Aquila graphic novel, myself.)

Gamebook Friday: SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK

Just a quick reminder, for all you gamebook fans out there, that you should tune in to Radio 4 at 8.00pm on Saturday and listen to the following...

SKILL, STAMINA and LUCKArchive on 4In 1982, a publishing phenomenon began with the first appearance of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. It would be the first of a series that would sell some 17 million copies in 30 different languages. Which (JK Rowling notwithstanding) might sound unlikely for a set of children's books involving wizards, goblins and elves.What was it that set them apart? They were part of a much wider literary innovation known as interactive fiction. You don't merely read them, page by page, cover to cover. You were asked to make decisions all the way along about what would happen next, where you would go, who you would even fight, which page to turn to. And you often had to keep a notebook and pair of dice close to hand while doing so. You might fail along the way and have to start again (or more likely you'd keep your finger in the previous page until you were satisfied you'd made the right choice). Essentially, they were puzzle books.This sort of text based adventure would make its way very quickly into the digital realm as a very important early genre of computer game.Naomi Alderman charts the rise and rise of the interactive story, from its beginnings in obscure avant-garde French literary groups through to the virtual worlds of modern video games, and the cult literary form today of Interactive Fiction.

Thought for the Day

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest fear is fear of the unknown."
~ H P Lovecraft

Shakespeare Sunday: London Super Comic Convention 2016

Yesterday I attended the London Super Comic Con , held at London's Excel Centre. Whilst I was there I met up with a number of people who will be of interest to fans of Fighting Fantasy, 2000AD or even Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu .

Andi Ewington, the mastermind behind the comic book prequel to Ian Livingstone's Freeway Fighter was there, along with his self-published comic Overrun ...


Ian Edginton, renowned 2000AD comic scribe and Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu contributor, was also there, promoting the fantastic  Brass Sun: The Wheel of Worlds graphic novel...


Brian Bolland, famed 2000AD artist and the man behind the cover of Steve Jackson's Appointment with F.E.A.R. was there...


And I also ran into Gavin Mitchell , who is pencilling, inking, colouring and lettering Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars all by himself...


Who drew me this...


You can see more photos of my day here.

Gamebook Friday: Odds and Sods

A few things to post about today, and all of them somehow gamebook-related.

Last week I went here...


And did this...


For this.

I have also recently joined the International Wizard of Oz Club...



And I also set up this Facebook group to start to spread the word about the forthcoming comic book prequel to Ian Livingstone's 1985 Fighting Fantasy gamebook Freeway Fighter...