Jonathan Green's Blog, page 151
March 12, 2015
Sir Terry Pratchett - 1948-2015
I first discovered Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels in the late '80s when a friend of mine lent me a copy of Mort, saying, "Terry Pratchett could have been as famous as Douglas Adams."In 1994 I joined the queue in WHSmith, Nottingham, to meet my idol and have my brand new hardback copy of Interesting Times signed. To cut a slightly longer story short, our meeting wasn't all I had hoped it might be and I was left mulling over the old adage, 'Never meet your heroes'. The experience certainly influenced how I interact with my own fans today, but the man remained an inspiration (even if I didn't dare speak to him in 2010 when we both attended the launch of SFX's Summer of Reading - because of what had happened 16 years previously), and it certainly didn't stop me from looking forward to every new Discworld release.
Of course, he wasn't only an inspiration to readers and writers. When he was diagnosed with his 'embuggerance', as he referred to the Alzheimer's, he became an inspiration to fellow sufferers and their families. And as a consequence he also ended up championing the assisted dying cause.
66 is no age, and it is certainly far too soon to lose our very own modern day Dickens. My thoughts are with his family at this time, but also with the rest of us, his readers, who won't get to enjoy another new book by our greatest comic writer, after The Shepherd's Crown is published later this year.
This book has sat on my 'To Read' pile for too long...
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... so in memory of a great writer and an inspiration to thousands, including myself, tonight I shall start reading Raising Steam.
I don't normally feel the need to comment on the passing of public figures, but in the case of Sir Terry Pratchett, I'll make an exception. His passing earlier today has also brought to mind another old adage I used to live by, and need to remind myself of again, 'Carpe Diem'. Or to put it in the words of Sir Terry himself, "So much universe, and so little time."
Sir Terry Pratchett - 1948-2015
March 9, 2015
March 7, 2015
Short Story Saturday: Sharkpunk Saturday - Kit Cox
I know, I know... First Zombie Zunday and now Sharkpunk Saturday... Whatever next?
Well, the thing is (in case you haven't already heard), in May SHARKPUNK , an anthology of killer shark stories, will be published by Snowbooks.
Sharks – the ultimate predators, masters of their watery domain, a world that is entirely alien and inhospitable to man. So many aspects of the shark are associated with humankind’s most primal fears. The tell-tale dorsal fin slicing through the water, the dead eyed-stare, the gaping jaws full to unforgiving teeth, the remorseless drive to kill and feed…
Inspired by such classic pulp movies as Jaws and Deep Blue Sea – as well as such ludicrous delights as Sharknado and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus – the stories contained within are rip-roaring page-turners and slow-build chillers that celebrate all things savage, pulp and selachian.
Covering the whole range of speculative fiction genres, from horror and Steampunk, through to SF and WTF, these are stories with bite!
As part of the build-up to the book's release, I am going to be posting interviews with some of those authors who have contributed to SHARKPUNK and I'm going to start today with, appropriately enough, the author who completed his short story first - Mr Kit Cox!
Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks?
Kit Cox: A perceived fear keeps fascination levels up. Until you realise the shark is actually quite unlikely to attack you think about them in every strange stretch of water. If however you go beyond that fear of the fantasy killer shark you find possibly one of the most interesting fish in the sea.
SP: What was the inspiration behind your story 'Ambergris'?
KC: Ambergris comes from the continuing adventures of my character Major Jack Union. A monster hunter for Queen Victoria who keeps the fact monsters exist out of the public attention. I always wanted to do a Moby Dick kind of story for Jack but the original is so good it's hard to top, then I saw a programme about Victorian whaling and the problems they faced with sharks feeding off the carcasses and I realised that was my angle. I couldn't just have a shark I had to have a monster and the easiest way to do that was to take the shark back to its primeval heritage.
SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story?
KC: I always want to get a historical message across in my stories, something factual that will make people want to look up the real history of something or someone. In a short tale like Ambergris I didn't have a lot of space to get a fact in. The boat that Jack hunts from is therefore a real vessel of the British Navy of the Victoria era and although it appears fully factual under the correct name in my story it has been featured in a story before as the ill fated Iron clad "Thunderchild" that brings down a Martian War machine. I even have a connection as my great great grandfather was one of the riveters that put her together.
SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be?
KC: My favourite shark is the Great White, for all the cliché reasons. I ate in a restaurant next to a shark aquarium, in the states and the Great White was by the glass the entire time and it is a beautiful fish.
SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)?
KC: I have many. In movies it has to be Jaws but in comics it is HookJaw, a rip-off of Jaws but with a harpoon through his lower jaw, it came from Action Comics and I loved it. However, honourable mentions have to go to the rubber shark that attacks Adam West's Batman and gets hit with shark repellent spray and the many sharks of James Bond villains, over the years.
SP: Apart from your story in SHARKPUNK , what's coming next from Kit Cox?
KC: Well I currently have a trilogy on the go "The Adventures of Benjamin Gaul". With only one part out "The Monster Hunter" and the rest coming out over the next couple of years, I am very proud of it. The story of a young mixed race boy, growing up in a Victorian world, and discovering monsters are real and prey on the unwary. This will be followed by my Cold War story - 1965 spies dealing with the encroaching world of dark Celtic faeries.
Thanks, Kit!
Kit Cox, and his alter ego Major Jack Union, create stories in an alternate history where monsters really do hide in the shadows. Kit writes in his Victorian-inspired study, surrounded by monster relics and jet packs.
An illustrator who wanted more than a thousand words, his pictures supposedly spoke, to tell his stories, Kit turned to the stage, acting and writing.
He owns a retro space suit, Le Matt Revolver and is fully prepared for the Zombie apocalypse. Umbrellas are his natural enemy.
Well, the thing is (in case you haven't already heard), in May SHARKPUNK , an anthology of killer shark stories, will be published by Snowbooks.
Sharks – the ultimate predators, masters of their watery domain, a world that is entirely alien and inhospitable to man. So many aspects of the shark are associated with humankind’s most primal fears. The tell-tale dorsal fin slicing through the water, the dead eyed-stare, the gaping jaws full to unforgiving teeth, the remorseless drive to kill and feed… Inspired by such classic pulp movies as Jaws and Deep Blue Sea – as well as such ludicrous delights as Sharknado and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus – the stories contained within are rip-roaring page-turners and slow-build chillers that celebrate all things savage, pulp and selachian.
Covering the whole range of speculative fiction genres, from horror and Steampunk, through to SF and WTF, these are stories with bite!
As part of the build-up to the book's release, I am going to be posting interviews with some of those authors who have contributed to SHARKPUNK and I'm going to start today with, appropriately enough, the author who completed his short story first - Mr Kit Cox!
Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks?
Kit Cox: A perceived fear keeps fascination levels up. Until you realise the shark is actually quite unlikely to attack you think about them in every strange stretch of water. If however you go beyond that fear of the fantasy killer shark you find possibly one of the most interesting fish in the sea.
SP: What was the inspiration behind your story 'Ambergris'?
KC: Ambergris comes from the continuing adventures of my character Major Jack Union. A monster hunter for Queen Victoria who keeps the fact monsters exist out of the public attention. I always wanted to do a Moby Dick kind of story for Jack but the original is so good it's hard to top, then I saw a programme about Victorian whaling and the problems they faced with sharks feeding off the carcasses and I realised that was my angle. I couldn't just have a shark I had to have a monster and the easiest way to do that was to take the shark back to its primeval heritage.
SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story?
KC: I always want to get a historical message across in my stories, something factual that will make people want to look up the real history of something or someone. In a short tale like Ambergris I didn't have a lot of space to get a fact in. The boat that Jack hunts from is therefore a real vessel of the British Navy of the Victoria era and although it appears fully factual under the correct name in my story it has been featured in a story before as the ill fated Iron clad "Thunderchild" that brings down a Martian War machine. I even have a connection as my great great grandfather was one of the riveters that put her together.
SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be?
KC: My favourite shark is the Great White, for all the cliché reasons. I ate in a restaurant next to a shark aquarium, in the states and the Great White was by the glass the entire time and it is a beautiful fish.
SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)?
KC: I have many. In movies it has to be Jaws but in comics it is HookJaw, a rip-off of Jaws but with a harpoon through his lower jaw, it came from Action Comics and I loved it. However, honourable mentions have to go to the rubber shark that attacks Adam West's Batman and gets hit with shark repellent spray and the many sharks of James Bond villains, over the years.
SP: Apart from your story in SHARKPUNK , what's coming next from Kit Cox?
KC: Well I currently have a trilogy on the go "The Adventures of Benjamin Gaul". With only one part out "The Monster Hunter" and the rest coming out over the next couple of years, I am very proud of it. The story of a young mixed race boy, growing up in a Victorian world, and discovering monsters are real and prey on the unwary. This will be followed by my Cold War story - 1965 spies dealing with the encroaching world of dark Celtic faeries.
Thanks, Kit!
Kit Cox, and his alter ego Major Jack Union, create stories in an alternate history where monsters really do hide in the shadows. Kit writes in his Victorian-inspired study, surrounded by monster relics and jet packs. An illustrator who wanted more than a thousand words, his pictures supposedly spoke, to tell his stories, Kit turned to the stage, acting and writing.
He owns a retro space suit, Le Matt Revolver and is fully prepared for the Zombie apocalypse. Umbrellas are his natural enemy.
March 6, 2015
Gamebook Friday: I am a Fire Demon, a twisted Fire Demon!
The
Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars
graphic novel Kickstarter has got off to a fantastic start raising over £5,000 in less than two days.In case you not already aware of the fact, some of the rewards feature signed copies of YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks , notably the Fire Demon rewards, although the Warlock and Dragon level rewards also come with a copy.
So, if you don't yet own a copy of YOU ARE THE HERO yet, then why not pledge your support for Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars today?
March 5, 2015
World Book Day 2015
Today is World Book Day, and this being 2015, you can now purchase many of my books through Google Play, to read on the Android device of your choice.Latest additional to Google Play is YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks , but you'll also find my Pax Britannia Steampunk novels on there, and my Nazi Zombie Army story Götterdämmerung.
Simply follow this link to find out more.
March 4, 2015
On Stranger Tides - SFX #259 Book Club
Today sees the release of SFX magazine issue #259, which just happens to include, as this month's Book Club feature, my review of Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides - the book that influenced the creation of my own Fighting Fantasy adventure
Bloodbones
more than any other.
March 3, 2015
Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars
Today's the day that Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars launches on Kickstarter.
If you're a fan of Fighting Fantasy, or a fan of YOU ARE THE HERO , then you are going to want to be a part of this exciting new project.
The purpose of the project is to fund production of the official graphic novel adaptation of Steve Jackson's Fighting Fantasy novel, The Trolltooth Wars*. It is being adapted and written by P J Montgomery, with illustrator Gavin Mitchell on art duties.
Here is just some of the artwork that has already been produced to date.
To get on board, search for Steve Jackson's The Trolltooth Wars on Kickstarter, check out the amazing rewards the team have put together, and pledge your support.
* There's a whole chapter on the Fighting Fantasy novels, including The Trolltooth Wars, in YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, funnily enough.
March 2, 2015
Thought for the Day
"It's a problem when somebody writes a great book and they're not a great person."
~ Will Self on Lewis Carroll
~ Will Self on Lewis Carroll
March 1, 2015
Zombie Zunday: Man smashes storefront windows to escape ‘flesh-eating zombies’
A drunken Brooklyn man said he was trying to escape flesh-eating zombies in Williamsburg when he shattered storefront windows at a shopping centre, according to police sources.
To read more about this story, click here.
To read more about this story, click here.
Dechoxing for the British Heart Foundation
I'm joining the likes of Kim Marsh, and thousands of others, by challenging myself to a DECHOX and giving up chocolate for March to raise money for lifesaving heart research.In November 2001 my father passed away as the result of a sudden and massive heart attack. The following year my sister-in-law ran the London Marathon, raising money for the British Heart Foundation and, quite frankly, it's about time I did something big in the hope of helping to make a big difference for the charity too.
As anyone who knows me will realise (especially people who've sat beside me in the dealers' room at a convention), giving up chocolate in all its forms is going to be no mean feat. That said, the benefits could be huge - I might lose some weight, for a start. But it's not going to be easy, and that's where you come in.
Please consider sponsoring me. Any donation is most welcome, no matter how small (or how large for that matter). You can do so very simply here, through my JustGiving page.I'll finish by letting you check out the advert for the campaign, which, bizarrely, featuring my godson as Terry, a very well-spoken policeman. (And yes, I believe he is available to work on new projects.)
