Mark West's Blog, page 72

Silent Voices, by Gary McMahon - an early review

My friend Gary McMahon is just about to have his next Concrete Grove novel - "Silent Voices" - published by Solaris Books. I'm making a trailer for him, so he sent over his final draft to read through. It's epic, a truly amazing piece of work and I can't wait to do the trailer - there are so many images and sounds I could include, the hardest part is figuring out what to leave out.

Since I

My Grampy's wartime diaries...

Something that I've found myself doing over the years is critiquing friends work - I must be quite good at it, because Sue Moorcroft and Gary McMahon keep coming back - and I enjoy it a lot. I get to read new work in flux, sometimes my suggestions get taken up and I often get a nod in the acknowledgements (always nice).

On Monday, my Dad asked me for a favour. He's spent the last couple of

Insight to "In The Rain With The Dead"

Dude & I went into Waterstones on Sunday and he picked up a copy of my book. He read the acknowledgements (where he gets a mention) then said "I can't read this, it's too long for me."

"It's too gory as well," I said, "plus there's a lot of swearing in it."

He looked at me, open-mouthed, then said quietly, "You put swears in your story? Oh Dad, that's naughty…"

"Fog On The Old Coast Road"

Woo hoo, I've just had news of my second acceptance of the year (which will appear in a limited edition hardback from NewCon Press at Fantasycon), that I'm really chuffed about. Even better, I'll be doing a reading of it which will be filmed by those good folk at Unbound, a Leicester based group run by Adele Wearing.

My story is called "Fog On The Old Coast Road" and follows the misadventures

Coming September 2012

Johnny Fields makes his debut...

Tonight, I am attending the February "We Are Most Amused" comedy night, held at the Victoria Inn, Poole Street in Northampton. I've been a few times now - it's hosted and run by my friends Donna Scott and Neil Bond - and it's a good laugh, with comedians trying out new material to a crowd who get in for free.

However, this evening's show is a bit more special as my friend Johnny Fields is

Sleazy times are a-coming...

When it comes to horror, I'm willing to embrace most of the sub-genres and enjoy them for what they offer. Sometimes I like a good ghost story, sometimes I like a good action-led piece, sometimes (looking at you, Gary McMahon) I like them bleak and sometimes I like them old-school, with lashings of sex and violence. I began reading horror in the mid-80s, when gore was good and over the past few

This is wonderful...

It combines my deep appreciation of the father/son bond and Stormtroopers. How can this not be a win-win situation?

(I didn't take this picture, but found it on Facebook via tor.com)

Guest post by Cate Gardner

(I don't usually have blog tours coming through here but, for the first time ever, I've made an exception for the lovely and hugely talented Cate Gardner. Support her work, folks, you won't be disappointed).

"The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Diary of a Horsewoman"


Thank you to Mark for allowing me to invade his blog so that I can celebrate the release of my book, Theatre of Curious Acts.

First acceptance of 2012...

...came today, from Ross Warren and Anthony Watson at Dark Minds press, for their "Darker Minds" anthology.

My story "Looking At Me, Seeing You" will be sharing space with some excellent names and I can't wait to see the book.