Kneel Downe's Blog: For Who Howls the Wolf?, page 4

Announcement

Today is full of sadness. 
Unfortunately the VirulentBlurb and Kneel will no longer be working together on new releases with Spectral Press. Spectral Press and its founder Simon Marshall-Jones have fallen upon some difficult times and we can only thank them for the opportunity they gave VirulentBlurb and wish Simon well as he aims to recover his health.

There are still great things to be published from the VirulentBlurb universe but obviously the team are now having to take time to come up with best way to go forward in this new situation so we ask for patience whilst we get busy in the background.

Anyone who pre-ordered Virellas through Spectral Press is advised to contact info@garycompton.co.uk in regard to their financial contribution. It's unfortunate that Kneel and the VirulentBlurb team have no control in this area, no influence over communications with Spectral Press and has no way to refund or advise on any money spent with Spectral Press but hope any fans affected will show both the compassion and patience required which we are pretty certain you all you will.

The VirulentBlurb will be back soon with some exciting announcements in the very near future. In the meantime join The Infected to find out about our plans for BlurbDay (30th January) before anyone else does.

Love to all X

For anyone interested - here is the link to the official statement on Facebook from Spectral Press - https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1049551301741950&id=163305013699921

The Last Great Rock God

For Lemmy...Out here at the edge.
Out here in the blackness of space it's hard to know where the bass ends and the voice begins...

Here on the bridge of the last great Kilminster class ships.
Engines pounding with the endless thrum of bass lines.

Perpetual feedback.
Too fast to live.
Too old to die.

We search space for the thing we lost.
The spirit.
The hope.
The core of Rock.

We lost the younger crew years ago.
Victims of Ego and Caricature.
Half of our older members succumbed to White Line Fever.

So few of us left now.
So very few.

There was a time when Gods strode the Earth.

There was a time, an age, of song.

Searching.
We need it back.

And the irony?

Heh....the irony.

As age creeps and wracks what remains of this body I suddenly realize.

We left it on Earth.

We left it at home.

We left it in the old man's glass at the bar.
In the cracked leather.
In the trenches of world war one.
The skies of world war two.

In the chrome.
The oil.
The steel.

In the sweet memories.

The sweaty anticipation of youth.

In the lump in the throat of the 14 year old hearing 'that intro' for the first time ever.
Thinking...

I want to play like that...

In the raised middle finger that screams

"Fuck you. Fuck your conventions. It's my life.
It's my way or No way at All."

The Spirit we searched for is here...

It was all along.

In us.

Let us do it justice.

Sleep well Big Guy.

Thank you.

2016 Calendar Now Available

The 2016 VirulentBlurb Calendar is now available... and it may be the last one...
For this year's calendar (only available until the end of January 2016) VirulentBlurb artist Susan Omand has tweaked some of her illustrations from the FairyBlurbs book, An Owl's Tale. Is your favourite here? From spiders to owls to the end of time, ladybirds are full of secrets...

Because of the new book deal with Spectral Press, there may not be another Omand Original illustrated book so this may be the last VirulentBlurb calendar.  What more excuse do you need? For under £15 you can have 12 Omand Original illustration prints to keep as a reminder of An Owl's Tale - bargain!

Have a flip through the preview to see all the pictures.

NeverKnown

On the rocky shores of NeverKnown.
A rusted steel forgotten bone.
A memory of a life long spent.
A clue to where the elders went...

Their backs were turned on blood and flesh.
They longed for metal wires and mesh.
The Sages said that all must die.
Praying to a burning sky
Neath screaming Sun and broken Moon.
The fractured song of AutoTune.
An Ancient wisdom now disgraced.
The body parts were all replaced.
Oil pumped instead of blood.
Logic superseded good.
Function came to fill the whole.
A crystal orb to hold the soul.
The ages passed.
The skies grew calm.
Our metal Elders safe from harm.
Calculating every cost.
Unaware of that they lost.
Children built in sterile sheds.
Ornate limbs and sculptured heads.
An empire now to rule the earth.
They wondered at the future's worth.
But if nothing dies then nothing lives.
Nothing breaks and nothing gives.
Without pain then nothing screams.
Nothing hopes.
Nothing dreams
Nothing loves and nothing hates.
Nothing to investigate.
No need to move, to talk to think.
No need to laugh nor eat nor drink.
Time was just an endless road.
The only choice was sweet corrode.
Covered now in drifting dust.
The empire of forgotten Rust.
On the rocky shores of NeverKnown.
A rusted steel forgotten bone.
A warning or a family tree?
I give the bone back to the sea....

Words by Kneel Downe August 2015

Music Clip - Amorous Cello by Rick Dickert provided by freesoundtrackmusic.com

rEvolution SF and the VirulentBlurb: Virellas

“The countdown to FRACTURE DAY has begun...”
rEvolution SF, the new SF imprint from Spectral Press, are proud to present the newest production from Kneel Downe, Galactic Overlord of the VirulentBlurb Universe...
A Virella is a novella or short story shot through the stained, cracked, and distorted prism of kNEEL Downe’s psychotronic imagination. Each one tells a story from every reality and dimension of the ‘Blurb, and every one contains clues and explanations of what has already happened and what is yet to come.

‘BLURB.
Fifty years ago a conflict was waged so vast that it broke the sky and shattered the world. Now all that remains is a single City, a City surrounded by a few square hundred miles of wasteland. It’s a dangerous place, populated by human/animal splices, strange technology, and the wonder drug ReGen.

No sun shines in the sky here... instead, there’s just the Moon, the constellation Orion, and the Endless night from which dust constantly falls.

And yet...

And yet there IS more... for the damage done here is spreading. The wound is infecting the countless mirror realities, the timeless fluidity of the VEIL and even the Mythical poetic world of the EVERLANDS where Amelia sings her songs.

If the wound is not healed soon it will destroy the ALL.

VIRULENTBLURB: VIRELLAS will contain a number of tales:

EMILY.
England, 1974 - Glam Rock rules the airwaves. The summer is in full bloom but the girl with the mousey hair is troubled. Why is there a spaceman in her wardrobe and a wolf under her bed? Who is the mysterious STARMAN who whispers to her at night through the old radio, teaching her the songs? ALL the songs. And who is the girl in the mirror, the one with bright red hair and purple eyes? The girl who says her name is Amelia?

QUANTUM. Captain Sirius Quantum is in charge of the SS Shardsong, the last of the great VEILSHIPS, cast adrift for a thousand years, and maintained by a crew who cannot remember who they were before coming aboard. All they know is that they are searching for something important, something that can change all creation. But they are not alone: a darkness is chasing them. A hungry darkness. And why, when he tries to sleep, is Sirius haunted by a single phrase - the EVERLANDS?

DELIVERANCE. Hidden deep within the city in solitary confinement inside THE COPPER CASCADE holding facility sits the greatest of this world’s super beings. He is remembering the Purge, when they came for his kind, as well as the days before and after THE FALL. He alone knows how his kindred came to be born, how the world was broken, and just what is yet to come. A storm is coming - a great storm.

GESTALT. Within the timeless fluidity of the VEIL the FIVE WHO WOULD BE FLESH are searching for the reality that broke the ALL. Eradicating each timeline one by one, and rewriting history. But there is a traitor in their midst - one of them is beginning to question if mankind truly deserves to be exterminated.

LOBO.
Another day, another drink and another case for DETECTIVE KURT LOBO the WOLF-SPLICED cop. Just who or what is the BONE EATER and why does the case foreshadow worse things to come? If there's one thing Kurt hates more than technology and poets it's an unsolved case.

PHOBOS. PHOBOS has been known by many names: THE KING OF THE RUINED CROWN, THE DARK ONE, THE MIRROR LORD, amongst many others. He has been trapped for eternity in reflective glass. But all mirrors are linked and PHOBOS has been to the very end of the ALL. He has even seen how it ends. Now he is trying to save humanity and mould history to his own ends. Tell me, can there ever be sympathy for the Devil?

VIOLET. For the last eighty years VIOLET SUICIDE’S MODSHOP has been the place to get your ANIMAL SPLICE, your LIVING INK TATTOO or your JACKPORTS of any size and material. However, Violet has a secret, hidden safely for decades in her basement. Now it's time for them to come back for it. Knock, knock, Violet. Someone’s at the door.

JOSHUA. Joshua Knight is credited as being the father of the New Age. DEADBOXES, DREAMCAGES, NEEDLEMASKS and NOONIAN SPHERES all bear his mark. The wonder drug REGEN and advanced DROID intelligence were created with his estranged wife. And of course, The VEIL... that cursed, immersive, alternate reality. On the morning of THE FALL Joshua went missing. He has remained missing for fifty years.

All these stories, and possibly more, will be featured in VIRULENTBLURB: VIRELLAS.

About the Author.

Kneel Downe has been a journalist, covering music, games and science fiction. He has run countless shops, been a chef, a traveller and a failed rock star (don't tell him that last part).

In 2012 he began to chronicle and share the events of the VirulentBlurb Universe in a style that has been described as “what happens when you put Michael Moorcock, Jeff Noon, P K Dick and Rock Music into a blender.”

He currently lives in the middle of KnoWhere with his favourite human, a dog called Billy Joe, the renegade budgies Alice and Lemmy and a stray cat called Katrina.

He shares his house with over 200 Daleks of varying size and “makes stuff up” and tells lies for money.

You can find him at @kneeldowne on Twitter.

And yes... it is his real name.

The VirulentBlurb began as a Twitter experiment to create a whole living, breathing universe delineated by Tweets alone. Now, three years later, it has spawned six books and an audio book. These days it utilises all manner of media: Tweets, scripts and more traditional forms of writing. It has garnered much critical acclaim and has a very loyal (and growing) fanbase.

Welcome to THE VIRULENTBLURB... please clean your JackPort thoroughly before immersion.

Images - Spectral Press and VirulentBlurb

*** PREORDER THE BOOK NOW *** from https://spectralpress.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/rsf-virulentblurbs/

Jeff Noon Announces His New Book - Mappalujo

I'm very excited to find out that good friend of the Blurb, Jeff Noon has a new book coming out next year. Here's all the details...
The new science fiction imprint of award-winning Spectral Press, rEvolution SF, is proud to present the first title in its roster from none other than SF luminary Jeff Noon (whose 1993 novel Vurt announced a major new talent to the field), written in collaboration with Steve Beard. As well as being an exciting and visionary novel, Mappalujo also sets the tone and lays out the ambitions of the new imprint with a bold statement of high imagination. The novel will be available in all formats: limited signed hardback (75 only), unlimited paperback and unlimited eBook. It is currently on preorder from the Spectral Press website (details below).

Mappalujo is a shared dream set in the twilight realm of Lujo, a city dominated by the surreal cartoons and artificially bred toy creatures of the Zeno Entertainment Company. Since the company’s founder died in mysterious circumstances, Zeno’s visions have become darker and even more sinister. An identity-altering drug is leaking onto the streets. For a few brilliant, flickering moments users are transformed into famous or infamous celebrities, only to find that the other side of fame lies in the gutter, or in death.

The novel follows a lowly salesman, an information gatherer, a private detective and a teenage psychic. Four stories, four people – each of them connected to the bizarre fate of Zeno, its bitter heir, and a hostile faery spirit named Mama Lujo.

Here is one city’s epic tale told in seventy-five chapters, each influenced by a different iconic figure. From Lewis Carroll to Patti Smith, from Sigmund Freud to Raymond Chandler and Sophie Calle – the ghosts haunting the streets of Lujo are all conjured from the collective unconscious of the modern media age.

Mappalujo is baroque science fiction, tumbling with ideas and images, exuberant to the extreme. It documents a world only a few metres and a few minutes away from our own – yet stranger by far.

About the authors

Jeff Noon was born in Manchester, England in 1957. He trained in the visual arts and drama and was active on the post-punk music scene before becoming a playwright. His play Woundings won a Mobil prize and was performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. His novels include Vurt (Arthur C. Clarke Award winner), Pollen, Automated Alice, Nymphomation, Needle in the Groove, Cobralingus and Falling Out Of Cars, Channel SK1N, and a collection of fifty avant-pulp stories called Pixel Juice. He also writes microfictional 'spores' via @jeffnoon on Twitter, and on Facebook. He lives in Brighton, on the south coast of England. More information can be found at jeffnoon.weebly.com.

Steve Beard was born in the South-East of England in 1961. He is the author of the weird science fiction novels Digital Leatherette and Meat Puppet Cabaret. He lives in Brighton.

Image - John Oakey

Mappalujo is available for pre-order from : http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/

Get 10% off The JackPort Killer on Spokenworld Audio

There's a really good deal on at Spokenworld just now, so Steve Taylor-Bryant wanted to remind you why you should use the discount to buy The JackPort Killer...

"The JackPort Killer is the first in a series of Detective Kurt Lobo's case files. Those who have followed Kneel's work from the beginning already know Lobo, for those new to character he is a Wolf-Spliced Detective who has seen such despair and debauchery. The JackPort Killer story takes place 12 months before the events in VirulentBlurb: Fractures and starts as a personal narrative, a voice over if you will. After our successful Indiegogo campaign #FILLtheVOID, we now know what that voice sounds like, thanks to the recording wizardry of Spokenworld Audio and the vocal talents of Greg Patmore.  But back to the story...
A young deer-splice is killed and left ritually displayed, a message daubed in blood on her fur for Detective Kurt Lobo. This particular serial killer has a personal interest in Lobo and we are off into Kneel's broken neon city on the hunt.
Kneel keeps Lobo and his associates at the forefront as you would want from a Lobo book but manages to include classic characters along the journey, which not only makes for an exciting narrative but ties the Universe together nicely. Dark Deliverance, Pluto Boy et al make a welcome appearance from the Copper Cascade Asylum and one particular scene between Dark and Lobo has a "Silence of the Lambs ramped up to 11" feel about it.
Who is Lobo's neighbour Emily? What exactly were Lobo's coma dreams about? All questions for you to find an answer to.  Kneel keeps his cultural references and exquisite naming of items fresh and the likes of Noonian Spheres, DeadBoxes, VizShades etc are all becoming a second language to me now.
Towards the end and the violent confrontation with The JackPort Killer we are treated to Lyca, Lobo's brother, and The Bad Poet, a nemesis for another time surely, but of great help to Lobo in this case file.

The expectation level amongst Kneel's growing army of fans was high for a Lobo solo outing and Kneel delivers. This is a 1930's noir detective tale told against a Blade Runner backdrop, this is essential crime storytelling mixed with dark and clever science fiction. This is the bar set high!"
You can get 10% off EVERYTHING on Spokenworld Audio by using the discount code HELPINGHAND2015 at the checkout 
AND
FOR THIS WEEK ONLY, if you buy The JackPort Killer on audiobook direct from Spokenworld and let us know, we'll enter you into a draw to WIN a signed copy of the paperback as well!

An Owl's Tale - the FairyBlurbs are out now!

Hot off the presses, we bring you news of the new book...
The VirulentBlurb today releases author Kneel Downe's 6th book, a book of Fairy tales, or rather, FairyBlurbs. An Owl's Tale returns the reader to a time of traveller's tales and campfire storytelling as Amelia and her companion Owl head east to begin the quest detailed in the book Amelia's Song. The tales told here stand alone and yet fit characters and stories told before and yet to come in Kneel's own unique style. They are a mix of the classical, the contemporary and the not yet invented and are as reminiscent of Carroll and Grimm as they are as new as Noon and Martin. Fairy tales and sagas that are as future proof as they are familiar.

Kneel writes like no other and constantly pushes the boundaries of what is achievable with words. With the VirulentBlurb, he has created an entire universe that ties together every project he does, no matter how unlikely the link may seem at first.

As you know, "Ladybirds are full of secrets" and this collection is a Ladybird spliced with that unique Kneel Downe twist.

Want to read a story from the book?  Have a look here.

With a cover and illustrations by Susan Omand, An Owl's Tale, FairyBlurbs by Kneel Downe is available in paperback on Lulu now, with a Kindle version due next weekend.
Image - VirulentBlurb.

Of FairyBlurbs and Virellas

Good Day Blurbians...Time for an update on this year's publishing schedule...
As we speak the next book AN OWL'S TALE is being stitched together with the usual wonderful artwork by Susan Omand. Exact release date is unclear but let's just say...Imminent...

I was going to tell you just why it may be the most important Blurb Book yet but then I thought Nah...Let's give you the Introduction instead...and so I shall.


ONCE UPON AN INTRODUCTION...

Write a Fairytale book they said...

Now...I love Fairytales and Creation Myths, they give you such a fantastical sandpit to play in. Anything can happen as long as it has some kind of internal adhesion to its own rules.

So yes, Hell yes...I jumped at the chance.

And then...

And then, as is usual with my work, the wider VirulentBlurb Universe began to creep in.

So, I thought, what if I was to use these seemingly unconnected tales to tell the origins and secrets of many of that universe's most popular and important characters?(For, as all my readers know, everything that happens in The Everlands is echoed throughout every dimension and reality of The Blurb)

What if I was to let Secrets slip? What if I could provide hints and clues as to what it was that was actually happening in the ongoing story?

What if I could throw in the odd Red Herring?

And so here it is...perhaps the most important VirulentBlurb book so far. I hope that those new to my work find the individual stories enjoyable on their own merits...

And I hope that the true enthusiastic Blurbian discovers many shiny, glittering shards of Was and Was Not.

Oh...and one more thing, despite featuring heavily in this book it is not the Second Amelia book...That will be called AMELIA'S DANCE (and if you read right to the very end of endings you may just discover something of a treat)

No...This is OWL'S TALE...

Be prepared.

It may be tragic.

Now, I fear I must leave you. The Dust is heavy tonight and a certain Wolf has words for me.

As always, please Enjoy and thank you so much for Gazing...

KNEEL DOWNE. March 2015. High on FeedBack Ridge.

(for true Blurb Historians, these events take place when Amelia first fell between the Worlds and Owl was taking her towards the East)

So, there you go...

As soon as the book is out there we shall then push the next project into gear because, Sweet Blurbians, 2015 is the year of The Virella...

"What's a Virella?" I hear you say.

Well...a VIRELLA is a Novella of differing size and style...all tied into the Blurb Universe...all revealing background information, Secrets, Answers and yes...more questions.

There will be 5 in total...one released each 2 months. The titles (in no particular order) are:

EMILY.

QUANTUM.

PHOBOS.

DELIVERANCE.

GESTALT.

But that's not all...after the first five have been released they will be gathered together into one book: VIRULENTBLURB:VIRELLAS, along with at least three unreleased extra stories.

Wait...there's more...because if you are one of The INFECTED (And if you're not, why not? It's totally free y'know) you will, at some point, receive an EXCLUSIVE Virella entitled: VIOLET (Everyone else will have to wait for the collected edition)

There you go...much to look forward to...

And I haven't even mentioned THE BONE EATER...SPORADIC TOO:INFECTIONS or the secret Blurb book that is being created behind the scenes...

Oh...and time permitting I will be publishing various short stories on this very site.

As usual feedback and thoughts are more than welcome. Thanks for your continued support...I couldn't wish for a nicer bunch of Splices.

BTW...regarding the post before this...if any of you have some spare change, PLEASE help Young Master Harris fund his rather splendid novel...

A fine writer and a fine man.



FURTHER TRANSMISSIONS WILL FOLLOW.

Are you ready? Let's take it From the Top!

Friend of the Blurb steven harris is releasing his debut full-length novel and funding the publication through Kickstarter now.  Find out more from the man himself...
Through a subtle fusion of realistic and reflexive storytelling, the debut novel from multi-genre short story writer, journalist, academic and musician steven harris tells a tale of regret, reunion, rock and roll, and a flame-haired man in a coma. When Dharma J, lead singer of late 80s chart-toppers Ghost Wasps, ends up in a vegetative state after a car crash, former Ghost Wasps guitarist and founding member Alan ‘Skip’ Skipton is drawn back into the company of people he hasn’t spoken to for a quarter of a century: the comatose singer, and his first love Suzy Bartlett – aka Anna Phylactic, the band’s bass player. Alternating between the present day and the band’s formative years, From the Top opens up long-unacknowledged moments in the lives of Skip and Suzy, while the shadowy unconscious presence of the red-headed singer looms from his hospital bed.

Who is steven harris?

I write. It’s how the world makes sense to me. Stories and reflections are my superpower. I don’t wear a cape or tights with underpants over the top of them. I’ll write anything: reviews, previews, academic pieces on literature and cultural history, poetry, prose, songs, shopping lists. Like I said, I write.

In the past I have published two anthologies of short stories – Fiction Burns and New Visions – but, like most writers, have always felt I have a novel in me.

From The Top is fiction yet draws on personal experiences from my teens and twenties when I was a semi-professional and professional musician.

Why are you crowd funding the novel?

It is my intention to publish a short print run which works out more expensive per unit than a large run. So crowd funding makes the most sense as those who pledge are guaranteed a copy of the novel. Kickstarter is the site preferred by most of those I know who have set up creative projects requiring crowd funding so, having checked out a few alternatives and found them slightly less straightforward in terms of initial setting up, I went with Kickstarter too.

Will there be a bigger print run of the novel in the future?

Not via crowd funding, no. There is always the possibility that a publisher might want to take the novel on and widen the potential market but right now I’m quite happy producing a fairly rare artefact in this more intimate way.

Will there be an electronic version of the novel in the future?

Quite probably but not until the end of 2015 at the earliest. EBooks are great but I know there are many out there who are similarly enthralled by 3D books that can be held in the hand. EBooks simply cannot compete with ‘new book’ smell. Or, indeed, ‘old book’ smell. I love the smell of paper and print in the morning. Afternoon. Evening. Night time.

What next for steven harris?

Music. I’ve been working on an album for about two years. It’s some way off in terms of completion but I’m in no hurry. When it’s finished I may consider crowd funding a limited CD run but that’s a decision to be made at the time. In the meantime I shall continue writing articles for sites such as Vent Spleen, occasionally writing football related stuff for This Is Anfield, writing poems and chronicling the wonderful and the mundane of everyday life in my blog which can be found at www.theplanetharris.wordpress.com

To find out more about From The Top or to pledge funding for the project please visit

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1201347154/from-the-top
Image courtesy of steve harris.