Cate Gardner's Blog, page 36

Then there were nine...

Check out my contributor copies of Nowhere Hall. Ten beautiful copies all for me. Okay, we're down to nine now because my mum snatched the first copy and well... so she should. And I doubt I'll have nine copies for long but I do for now... So that means there are 100 signed and numbered editions out in the wild, my ten and I know a handful of promo copies have made there way to secret locations. That makes me incredibly happy (and possibly incredibly sad). Simon Marshall Jones has done a fabulous job and if you have a copy (or if one is on its way to you) you'll know how superb the quality is.

In other Nowhere Hall news. Three more reviews have appeared online...

The first from Jim McLeod... This is an extremely layered and complex story, that keeps the readers interest, with the use of some extremely good writing... You can read the rest of the review over at the Ginger Nuts of Horror site. While over at Dark Musings, Anthony Watson said... It's a beautifully written piece and absolutely maintains the high standards already set by Spectral Press's previous publications. And finally, Walt Hicks of Page Horrific... If you're looking for a dark funhouse ride through the fragile human psyche, led by a talented and impressive tour guide, NOWHERE HALL is your ticket.


Now I feel like I should wash my mouth out with soap or something because the above seems all look at me, look at me, so apologies for that. I shall shush now. Or maybe I'll just scream rather loudly one more time...

In other news... You may have heard me mention how awesome Robert Shearman's stories are, well you can read some (eventually 100 of them) for free over at his One Hundred Stories blog. 

Rain, Birds and Words.

A fan of productive procrastination (try saying that when you're drunk or, in my case, when you're sober) I spent far too long this morning making a spreadsheet of how many words per day of Grim Glass Vein I would need to write if I want a complete draft by mid September. Not that I have any particular reason for picking September other than it's next month and I'd like to have edited drafts of both Grim and Ghosts by year end so that next year I can reconsider the whole search for an agent thing that I've been conveniently ignoring.

Then I spent the following hour looking at writing desks online and decided that this coming weekend I'd gut my office and rebuild it.

Now I need to construct another spreadsheet. Although actually writing some words might be a more fortuitous plan.

Spent yesterday at the new Museum of Liverpool with the wee ones. Above is a rather rainy view from the second floor window and to the right is an iconic Liver Bird. We are rather fond of them in Liverpool and it's said if they ever fly away that Liverpool would fall into the sea. We're dooooooooomed. Or maybe not because they're all made of solid rather than beating things.

I guess I should write now or look at desk accessories...

Maybe I'll make a new spreadsheet.

Something Wicked

My zombie short story Six Feet Above has been accepted for online publication in a future issue of South African magazine Something Wicked .

This has definitely been a good week, month, heck I'm quite enjoying the year.

On a different track... I find it ironic that Google Chrome thinks the word online is a misspelling.

Passing through... The Vestibule

Did you know that before Dante made it into Hell proper he had to pass through the vestibule, a nowhere place? And, did you know that uncommitted souls lie on the banks of the river Acheron? And did you know that my niece starts almost every sentence with 'and did you know?'


Well now you do. Or perhaps, you already did.

In other Nowhere Hall news, the chapbook has been printed and copies are either in the mail or due to go out in the mail. If you bought it (thank you) then the chapbook should be with you shortly and if you ordered a copy via me I'll email you when my copies arrive and send one scurrying on its way to you. Another (fabulous) review has appeared online, this time by Colum McKnight of Dreadful Tales.

Gardner obviously takes her time crafting these images and emotions... A whirlwind of greatness is contained with the pages of yet another brilliant Spectral Press release.


You can read the rest of the review here.

And as it's Wednesday, I should mention my WIP. It's draft number 745 of Grim Glass Vein. I've fallen back in love with the story. I guess we just needed a break.

This may all be a dream...

The signature sheets for 'Barbed Wire Hearts' (Delirium Books, Nov 2011) arrived today, and the signature sheets for 'Nowhere Hall' (Spectral Press, any day now) should arrive tomorrow. I've pinched myself a dozen times. I'm sure it's a misprint or I'm trapped in a dream or some other such nonsense. This isn't real life.

In other news. Two more reviews of Nowhere Hall have appeared on the web...

Brilliant! I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like this before. It is original, thought provoking, and makes me crave her upcoming Delirium Books release... It is a layered and tightly woven chapbook that has more depth than many novellas I've read this year. You can read the full review by Jassen Bailey at The Crow's Caw.

Nowhere Hall struck me as a very intimate tale. The writer exposes Ron's emotional core, his inner most thoughts and feelings are laid bare...Spectral Press has delivered another classic tale. You can read the full review by Pablo Cheescake  at The Eloquent Page.

Thank you to both Jassen and Pablo for reading my wee story.

My short story 'His Name Carved on Empty Space' was due to be published at Every Day Fiction today but the site is moving servers so the story will (I believe) now be appearing in September, which is probably a good thing as I don't think I can take any more awesomeness today. Heck, I even got a free smellies set in work today.

Seriously, pinch me.

Other Folk

While I was away, awesome people had awesome news...

K.V. Taylor's debut novel Scripped, an Appalachian Faerie Tale, is available to pre-order from Belfire Press.
"In an attempt to escape constant arguing, Jonah Gray wanders away from the family cabin deep in the West Virginia wilderness. But he wanders too far, over the borders to a Faerie land that could only exist in Appalachia.

Faerie-napping, cold knives, underground oppressors, horror stories, and unwilling affections threaten to suck him forever into their desolate Company Town. If they do, he'll lose himself in every way possible.

You might escape the fae, but you can never go home. Not really."







Jason Sanford's short story collection, Never Never Stories, is available from Spotlight Publishing. Jason is a fantastic and fantastical story teller (and he also runs the storySouth Million Writers Award). I'm one story into the collection (buried ships and secrets and clouds) and am also looking forward to the continuation of his Plague Birds world in an upcoming issue of Interzone.











Issue 4 of Shock Totem has been released and this time it features fiction by Lee Thompson, Jaelithe Ingold, A.C. Wise, Weston Ochse, and others.

You can purchase it at Amazon or find out more at the Shock Totem website.









K.C. Shaw's The Taste of Magic has been released as an ebook from Etopia Press.

"Analefa Miradwen has spent the last ten years avoiding vampires. She knows her blood is a delicacy, but she doesn't want to share. Not after the last time, which nearly left her dead.

When the vampire mage Magnus begins stalking her, Ana turns to the King's Enforcer for help. Vincent Ondarr has the manpower and the magic-power to keep her safe. According to him, Ana's blood doesn't just taste good, it enhances a mage's magic.

The trouble is, Vincent's a vampire mage too. If Ana wants to keep her blood to herself, she'll have to figure out which one of them she can trust. And what exactly Magnus wants from her..."

For Review

Nowhere Hall is going to the printers this week and Simon Marshall Jones (Spectral Press publisher and editor) is offering PDF copies to reviewers. If you're interested in a copy, contact Simon at spectralpress(at)gmail(dot)com with details of your blog or review site. And if you do take him up on the offer, thank you.

David Hebblethwaite has reviewed Nowhere Hall. You can read it here...

In other Spectral Press news, head over to the website and check out Neil William's cover art for Paul Finch's chapbook King Death. It is a beautiful thing.

Sunbathing on Battlements

It's time to get back on my hamster wheel and be a productive little critter for the next twelve months, or until Christmas. Christmas sounds good. Actually, Christmas sounds awful--cold and too much food and dark nights. If only it could be summer forever.
I've had a fantastic break from work, been to lovely and sunny places - I ♥ Wales - actually that statement isn't news as I've always loved Wales, but this year the sun shined and actually burnt. Burn is not good, especially when you're at an age were you should know better than to turn lobster red in the sun. Thankfully, the kids returned home pasty. My niece rubbed so much suntan lotion into her skin she was like a slippery eel.
We played in the sea, someone got pooped on by a loose-bowelled seagull, I won a big fluffy chimpanzee and a slightly-less fluffy dog and lost a fair few pounds in the process (the jangling kind), I griped about the price of candy floss (cotton candy) - £2.50 - what!!!! But thankfully, the candy floss on this side of the border was cheaper so I did have a bag or two in almost as sunny England.

I read, read, and read some more. Nearly a hundred short stories (Interzone, Black Static, The Zombie Feed, Never Again, Spook City, BFS Journal, Postscripts), devoured a graphic novel (Anya's Ghost) novellas (Unearthed, The Door to Lost Pages, No Traveller Returns) and novels (Water for Elephants, The Robe of Skulls), meaning I've made a dent in my to read pile. Albeit a tiny dent.

Writing-wise, I edited and edited and edited In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair, I completed a new short story Disregarding Rabbit Holes, started work on another short that is as yet untitled, and cut some words from the unfinished second draft of my novel The Ghosts of Folding Time and started layering in extra spookiness and removing a giant robot. And my story, His Name Carved on Empty Space, was accepted by Every Day Fiction (and will be published this Wednesday). There was Theatre and Nowhere Hall and Barbed Wire Hearts news, one of which involved the posting of signature sheets which I am eagerly awaiting delivery of.

If I owe you an email, I will get back to you very, very soon. My inbox is awash with goodness. Now to twitter... I mean, put my head down and write.

Elsewhere

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I am on holiday. Nowhere exotic or even far or even anywhere (except in my imagination). Books will be read. Short stories will be devoured. My office may be de-cluttered or re-cluttered and possibly ripped apart or left just as it is. There will be candyfloss (even if I have to buy it from the van that occasionally rolls into the estate) and ice cream, maybe some Edinburgh Rock. There will hopefully (rain allowing) be beaches and arcades and arms full of stupid soft toys from those grabby things that will end up in the kids toy box and possibly dissected. There may be museums or I might just brush the dust off my shoulders and pretend I'm an exhibit from the late 1980s sitting in a deckchair beside a sign that reads, Here There Be Weeds. And there will be writing, or planning, or both.

I shall see you all about the 7th or 8th of August. I'm actually looking forward to being unplugged, but I shall miss you all. Now it's time to sever my wireless box (this could take several hours).

The Results

Thank you to everyone who entered my Nowhere Hall competition (and who bought the book). The winners are as follows:

Competition One:
A Spectral Press chapbook subscription goes to Katie Stubbs.

Competition Two:
Number one of my limited edition chapbook Nowhere Hall goes to Ray Cluley.