The House of Canted Steps by Gary Fry

You can watch a YouTube video promoting Gary Fry's new book, The House of Canted Steps here. The book is due from PS Publishing, with a launch scheduled for FantasyCon 2010. Those not attending the convention can order online. A tray-cased edition will also be available.

Mail on Sunday competition

The Mail on Sunday is running a novel competition. All you need to do is to write the opening of a novel (50-150 words) introducing the word 'set'. "It could be a set expression, a set to, setting off; you could use it as an adjective, noun or verb." The prize is £400 in book tokens and a place on an Arvon writing course. Send your entry to arrive no later than 29 October to The Mail on Sunday Novel Competition, PO Box 150, Rochester, Kent, ME1 9AG. Further information here.

New signing at Angry Robot

Angry Robot has signed new British science fiction author Guy Haley for two books in his Richards and Klein series. The first book in the series will be published by Angry Robot in autumn 2011, in both the UK and USA. The deal includes worldwide physical and eBook rights.

In Reality 36, readers are introduced to investigators Richards and Klein – the Holmes and Watson of the 22nd Century. Except that Richards is a highly advanced artificial intelligence,
and Klein his German ex-military cyborg partner. Their first case takes them into the renegade digital realm known as Reality 36 and through the Great Firewall of China in search of a missing Artificial Intelligence Rights activist.

More press releases can be found here.

Incwriters: network for writers, publishers, etc

Incwriters (International Network & Community of Writers Society) was founded in 2004 by Andrew Oldham, William Park, Bixby Monk and Ian Parks, created initially as Inc. in 2002-2003, it has grown into the one stop website for promoters, agents, publishers, readers and writers. Incwriters creates networks, protects literature (of all genres), promotes writing, publishing and reading. Incwriters promotes individuals and organisations not involved in vanity publishing. Incwriters is actively involved in visiting venues and festivals providing talks, workshops and panels discussions. Incwriters Patrons are the novelist Janice Galloway, and the poets, Esther Morgan and Clare Pollard. Visit the Incwriters blog for further information.

The King of Elves by Philip K Dick

This just received from Subterranean Press, exciting news for Dick fans:

"More than two decades ago, another small press issued The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick in a hardcover edition limited to only 500 sets. Earlier this year, the Dick estate approached us to see if we'd issue them in hardcover again, with a uniform set of dust jackets by Bill Sienkiewicz, two stories that weren't in the previous collected set, as well as additional story notes.

We enthusiastically said yes, and The King of the Elves is the first volume of our set, due in December. As our description notes: The King of the Elves is the opening installment of a uniform, five-volume edition of The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, expanded from the previous Collected Stories set to incorporate new story notes, and two added tales, one previously unpublished, and one uncollected. This generous collection contains 22 stories and novellas including Dick's first published story, "Beyond Lies the Wub," together with such landmark tales as "The Preserving Machine," in which an attempt to preserve our fragile cultural heritage takes an unexpected turn, "The Variable Man," a brilliantly imagined novella encompassing war, time travel, and the varied uses of technology, and the title story, in which Shadrach Jones, owner of a dilapidated gas station in Colorado, stumbles into an ongoing war between trolls and elves, and encounters a fantastic - and utterly unexpected - destiny. Like the best of Dick's novels, these stories offer a wide variety of narrative and intellectual pleasures, and provide an ideal introduction to one of the singular imaginations of the modern era."

Ordering and price details can be found on the Sub Press website.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. Virago £7.99

Reviewed by Jan Edwards

WW2 has just ended and like many of its ilk Hundreds Hall in Warwickshire is spiralling into decay, as is the society that had supported it in bygone times. Dr Faraday is called to an emergency at the Hall. He is curious about the place since his mother had been a maid there between the wars. He had once sat in the kitchen as a small boy eating left-over jellies from a village celebration; and he had stood in reverence as a teenager at the funeral of the owners’ then only child, victim of the diphtheria epidemics that ravaged Britain at that time.

Taxes, changing laws and the general decline of the gentleman farmer’s lot had brought the Ayres’ and Hundreds to their knees despite all Roddie Ayres could do – injured RAF ace and now, at age 24, the reluctant owner of Hundreds. So when Dr Faraday arrives he is shocked by its condition. As Faraday is drawn into the family’s activities he becomes aware of other factors. Is there an insipient streak of insanity running through that family? Or is it the Hundreds, or something in it, that is causing one disaster after another?

Essentially, this is a romance between Faraday and Caroline Ayres; between Mrs Ayres and the memory of her eldest daughter who died so long ago; between all of the Ayres family and Hundreds itself. And with that love comes the hate, and the class and gender prejudices.

Beautifully written as one expects from a book shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. But slow; very slow. I reached page 240 (out of 499) before very much at all has happened. Yes, it is a page turner that sucks you into Hundreds’ claustrophobic world so that you are compelled to read on. But it was also an effort not to turn to the last chapter to get to the end of the novel.

The house and the family are stock Gothic in many ways, albeit well drawn, and the paranormal elements (or psychological – depending on how you read it) are well researched. But I suspect that most readers of Gothic or horror or paranormal fiction will find that part of it quite tame. There is a lot of telling rather than showing which defuses much of the tension. And there is a first person narrator in Faraday who does far too good a job at debunking any theory that dares be ‘unscientific’.

If this is a ‘paranormal romance’ the emphasis is definitely on the romance. As for the paranormal element: the cover puffs call The Little Stranger ‘chilling’ and ‘unnerving’ and the reader is told to ‘sleep with the light on’. Really? These reviewers apparently led very sheltered lives.

Verdict: a beautifully written book that comments on the social and, to some extent, the political history of those post war years, and a book that I found very curiously satisfying in its conclusion.

New Media Writing Prize

Last call for entries!

Poole Literary Festival in partnership with the Media School at Bournemouth University has established a prize for new media writing. The prize creates an exciting opportunity for writers working with new media to showcase their skills, provoke discussion and raise awareness of new media writing and the future of the written word. The competition deadline is approaching rapidly, with a cut-off point of midday on 15 September.

There are two awards, one for Best New Media Writing and one for Best Student New Media Writing. Prizes will be awarded at a prestigious Awards Ceremony on 31 October 2010. Information about the competition is available here.

Who can enter? Anyone can! Whether you’re a student, a professional, an artist, a writer, a Flash designer, or an enthusiast, the competition is open to all. It’s also an international competition, open to all outside the UK. For competition rules click here.

Each entry should be submitted by email to prize@poolelitfest.com by midday on 15 September, 2010.

Fantasycon 2010

Fantasycon 2010 is nearly here!

Death's Master by Tanith Lee

"The soul is a magician. Only living flesh hampers it." -- from Death's Master

I've just discovered that Death's Master, winner of the British Fantasy Society's August Derleth Fantasy Award, is to be reprinted next month by Norilana Books at £12 for the PB and £20 for the HB editions (go here for further information). This is good news, indeed. Death's Master is the second in the Tales from the Flat Earth series, "which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales."

Norilana adds: "Long time ago when the Earth was Flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle.

Uhlume, Lord of Death, second of the Lords of Darkness, King of Shadow and Pallor, makes an unusual bargain which sets in motion an intricate sequence of events that entangle men and gods, queens and kings, sorcerers and witches, and lowly wanderers. When the secret to immortality falls into human hands, dark magic and wickedness are unleashed, testing the bounds of mortal love and sanity, and questioning the nature and purpose of life itself.

Note: These are the definitive editions, revised and formatted as the author originally intended, containing a new original introduction by Tanith Lee, and a unique previously unpublished interior illustration. The cover image is a design by Tanith Lee's husband and artist John Kaiine, incorporating her own artwork in the center frame, which makes it a fan and collector's delight."

Further excellent news: Tanith Lee's The Birthgrave is due out on 1 November. I remember devouring these novels when they were first published.

Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen

Zombies seem to be livening up publishing just now. Coming soon from Orbit: Married With Zombies by Jesse Petersen. This is the first in a series; volume two is due in January 2011. Discover more on Petersen's website.

"Meet Sarah and David: Once upon a time they met and fell in love. But now they’re on the verge of divorce and going to couples’ counselling. On a routine trip to their counsellor they notice a few odd things -– the lack of cars on the highway, the missing security guard, and the fact that their counsellor, Dr. Kelly, is ripping out her previous client’s throat.

Meet the Zombies: Now, Sarah and David are fighting for survival in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. But, just because there are zombies, doesn’t mean your other problems go away. If the zombies don’t eat their brains, they might just kill each other.

Married With Zombies is a heart-warming tale of terror set during the time of the zombie uprising."