David A. Riley's Blog, page 77

Book Reviews - Weirdbook

We now have a team of experienced reviewers for Weirdbook - and offers of books for review are starting to come in.

Any publishers or writers who would like to submit books to us for review please contact me at rileybooks@ntlworld.com

To send in review copies write to Weirdbook, c/o 130 Union Road, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, BB5 3DR, United Kingdom. 

Book Reviewers Wanted for Weirdbook

We're interested in including book reviews in Weirdbook Magazine . For that end would anyone who either already does book reviews or would like to try their hand at it please contact me.

Also, publishers who would like to offer their books for review let me know what books you have recently issued or will be issuing in the near future, and contact me too:

David A. Riley, Senior Editor, Weirdbook on rileybooks@ntlworld.com or via facebook.

At the moment all we can offer reviewers is obviously a copy of the book they'll be reviewing, the satisfaction of seeing their review in print, and a contributor's copy of the magazine. 

Advert for Parallel Universe Publications

As part of my work with Weirdbook I have had to take a hand in designing an ad for one of our clients. This gave me the idea for doing one for Parallel Universe Publications. This is the colour version. Anyone interested in advertising in Weirdbook please follow this link. We have some very good, very low rates for anyone booking ads in the magazine early.

Dead Water by David A. Sutton and Leinster Gardens by Jan Edwards, Alchemy Press

Two lovely looking books arrived in the post today from The Alchemy Press: Dead Water and Other Weird Tales by David Sutton and Leinster Gardens and Other Subtleties by Jan Edwards. I did the introduction for Dead Water, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to review that, but I do intend to read and review Leinster Gardens.

Kitchen Sink Gothic - Table of Contents so far

1964 by Franklin Marsh
Derek and the Sun-Spots by Andrew Darlington
Daddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon
Black Sheep by Gary Fry
Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones
Waiting by Kate Farrell
Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black
The Mutant's Cry by David A. Sutton
The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne
Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch
Late Shift by Adrian Cole
Sweetheart by Selene MacLeod





               

Room at the Top, Zombies and Kitchen Sink Gothic

In between reading submissions for Kitchen Sink Gothic I've also been rereading a number of key kitchen sink novels. Imagine my surprise to come across this opening paragraph from one of the most famous:

I came to Warley on a wet September morning with the sky the grey of Guiseley sandstone. I was alone in the compartment. I remember saying to myself: "No more zombies, Joe, no more zombies".

It's not the last reference to zombies either which, in John Braine's novel, Room at the Top, long before George Romero used them as a metaphor for consumerism, are referenced by Joe Lampton for the kind of people he utterly despises. Curiously, it was John Braine's second and far less well known novel, The Vodi, recently reprinted by Valancourt Books that I was given the inspiration for Kitchen Sink Gothic.

Luke Spooner Interview

The artist, Luke Spooner, who created the brilliantly evocative cover for my latest short story collection from Hazardous Press, Their Cramped Dark World and Other Tales, has an insightful interview in Freeze Frame Fiction.

"Our next interview is with our artist, Luke Spooner. His work has appeared in all of our volumes so far. Luke creates art under two names: Carrion House for his darker work, and Hoodwink House for children’s books. He believes that the job of putting someone else’s words into a visual form, to accompany and support their text, is a massive responsibility as well as being something he truly treasures. Find out more at his website, carrionhouse.com, or on his Facebook page." To read the interview click here.

Weirdbook 31 - the cover for our first issue

We are very pleased to be able to reveal the cover for issue 31, the first of the new Weirdbooks. It's the work of Stephen Fabian, whose art often featured on earlier copies of the magazine.

Their Cramped Dark World and Other Tales now available

Their Cramped Dark World and Other Tales is now available both as a paperback and ebook.

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

Weirdbook - Updates

Plans by Douglas Draa and I to restart Weirdbook are gathering pace. We have already made our first acceptances and can announce that the cover of our first issue will be by none other than Stephen Fabian, whose fantastic artwork adorned many covers of previous issues.

For writers eager to send in work to us, submission details have now been posted online on our Weirdbook website - and elsewhere.

Our aim is to have issue 31 (the first of the new run) available by the end of August this year.

In the meantime you can check out previous issues of Weirdbook by clicking onto our Weirdbook Index Page. Back issues can be bought here.