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Category Archive: PS Author News
Matthew Hughes - writing workshop in Ripon
Posted by Paul Raven on July 31st, 2008 at 9:45
Attention, aspiring writers! How would you like to spend three hours in the company of a talented and renowned science fiction author, and have them run you through some of the tricks of the trade?
Yeah, me too. Unfortunately I live too far from Ripon, North Yorkshire, which is where Matthew Hughes will be sharing his writerly wisdom:
I'm doing a three-hour writers workshop for the Ripon Branch of the North Yorkshire County Library at 10 a.m., 18th August. I'll be talking about elementary story mechanics, i.e., how stories work and how the pieces fit together, and the ins and outs of writing scenes, i.e., the dreaded "show, don't tell."
For more information, contact team leader Karen Thornton at 01765 604799. The general email address for the library is: ripon[dot]library[at]northyorks[dot]gov[dot]uk
If you're located in (or even just conveniently passing through) the north of England, why not drop in and pick up some tips from the top? After all, no less a luminary than Robert Sawyer described Matthew Hughes as "sf's best-kept secret", which is a weighty accolade.
If you can't make it to Ripon for whatever reason, you can at least console yourself by pre-ordering a copy of Template, Hughes' imminent science fiction novel from PS Publishing. Click on through to the Store:
- Template (slipcased hardcover) - £50.00 ($100.00 approx.) 200 copies
- Template (hardcover) - £20.00 ($40.00 approx.) 500 copies
Keynote address by Ray Bradbury
Posted by Paul Raven on July 21st, 2008 at 8:56
If you've ever wondered how much-loved elder statesman of genre fiction Ray Bradbury approaches his life and his writing, then the following video should be of great interest to you. It's footage of Bradbury's keynote address titled "Telling the Truth", delivered at The Sixth Annual Writer's Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University.
We can thank Ed Ashby and the SF Signal gang for spotting that one for us. Don't forget we've got a whole bunch of Ray Bradbury specials in the pipeline here at PS, as well as numerous titles either featuring Bradbury or exclusively by him...
... far too many to list here, in fact. So I'll just direct you to a search of the PS Publishing catalogue using the search terms "Ray Bradbury". Enjoy!
Jay Lake interviewed at Fantasy Book Critic
Posted by Paul Raven on June 25th, 2008 at 9:19
The ceaseless flow of reviews and interviews from Fantasy Book Critic continues apace. Here's an interview with hirsute and prolific short fiction maestro Jay Lake, who fondly remembers his appearance in the first issue of Postscripts:
"Picking a favorite short story is a bit like picking a favorite child. Nonetheless, as I mentioned above, I'd have to say that "American, Such as She Is" is probably my strongest work to date in short fiction. As for being a part of things, my proudest moment was being included in Postscripts issue 1, alongside Brian Aldiss, Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Gene Wolfe and a handful of other big names. Getting the signature sheets in the mail for the limited edition back in the spring of 2004 was the moment when I realized I was a real writer."
How fast things move - four years since that appearance in Postscripts, and Jay Lake is well on his way to becoming one of those big names in his own right!
Jay also has a story in the forthcoming fifteenth issue of Postscripts, alongside an awesome line-up of other contributors - pre-order your copy now:
- Postscripts #15 (multi-autograph slipcased hardcover) - £75 (US$150 approx) - 100 copies only
- Postscripts #15 (signed hardcover) - £30 (US$60 approx) - 300 copies only
- Postscripts #15 (hardcover) - £15 (US$30 approx) - 200 copies only
And I'll just take this opportunity to say how glad I was that Jay Lake's recent brush with cancer was solved successfully; I've never met the man, but I've followed his blogging for quite a while and it paints a picture of a thoroughly decent bloke. Good luck and good health, Jay!
Extensive interview with Conrad Williams
Posted by Paul Raven on June 6th, 2008 at 7:23
Just a quickie for Friday - Fantasy Book Critic has a lengthy internet-chinwag with renowned horror author Conrad Williams, whose PS Publishing novella The Scalding Rooms is on the Shirley Jackson Awards shortlist this year. Williams has a healthy lack of false modesty on the issue of awards, it seems:
"I’m lucky to have won a few gongs and they mean more to me than they probably should, but I can’t help it. I see it as a vindication of what I’m trying to do. They are enormously encouraging things. And of course, it looks good on a book. The British Fantasy Society award was special because it was my first, voted for by my peers. And the International Horror Guild means a lot to me because it was juried, and because I beat Stephen King, a massive influence on me when I was starting out, in order to win it."
There aren't many folk who can say they've beaten Stephen King on his own turf! Let's hope Conrad Williams adds another ornament to the mantelpiece when the Shirley Jackson Awards are announced.
In the meantime, there are a last final few copies of Williams' The Scalding Rooms in the warehouse - click through now before they get away!
- The Scalding Rooms - jacketed hardcover - £25.00 ($50.00 approx.) - nearly sold out!
- The Scalding Rooms - hardcover - £10.00 ($20.00 approx.) - nearly sold out!
[Hat tip 'n' mad props to Ed Ashby - cheers, Ed!]
Matthew Hughes live appearance, plus Template reviews
Posted by Paul Raven on June 2nd, 2008 at 7:16
You can hardly click a link on the web at the moment without bumping into Matthew Hughes, or so it seems. In addition to Matthew being profiled by John Joseph Adams at SciFi Wire, numerous reviews of Template have materialised.
SF Revu seemed particularly impressed by Template, summing up by saying:
"The balance between the theme and event is finely tuned by Hughes throughout and his setting, so well defined already in his published works, provides an endlessly fascinating backdrop."
Meanwhile, there's a round-up of "unprofessional" fan reviews of Template, as well - which are just as important to writers (and publishers!) as the more formal work of career reviewers. A few notable snippets:
You might bump into Matthew Hughes beyond the internet, as well - if you happen to be in the Yorkshire region, that is. Here's a message from the man himself:
"I'll be doing a reading and giving a talk on what life is like for a struggling-but-cheerful sf author. The event is at the Harrogate branch of the North Yorkshire County Library, on Victoria Avenue in Harrogate, on Thursday, June 12, from 7:30 p.m.
There will be light refreshments and a complementary glass of wine. Tickets cost £2. For more information, phone 0845 0349520. They want me to do another one in Ripon sometime later, but no date has been set."
If you're in the right area, why not pop along? In addition to supporting a great author, you'll be supporting the public library service, too - and as a former employee thereof, I can assure you that thanks to government incompetence at local and national levels, the public library service needs all the support it can get! Use 'em or lose 'em, folks.
Unfortunately, you're very unlikely to find a copy of Template at your local library. You can secure one by clicking the links below, though:
- Template - slipcased hardcover - £50.00 ($100.00 approx.) 200 copies
- Template - hardcover - £20.00 ($40.00 approx.) 500 copies
Robert T Jeschonek’s ‘Fear of Rain’ at Podcastle
Posted by Paul Raven on May 20th, 2008 at 5:57
Great news for fans of fiction in audio form; Robert T Jeschonek's story "Fear of Rain", as featured in Postscripts #8, was released last week as a free-to-listen podcast from PodCastle.
PodCastle is the newest member of the ever-expanding Escape Pod stable, and is devoted specially to fantasy stories. Escape Pod itself concentrates on sf, and PseudoPod on horror, and they use great readers and high production values all through - this is no amateur operation, folks.
Plus they're a paying market for new and reprinted fiction in all three genres - so by listening for free you're supporting great writers. That's a win-win situation right there - so plug in your mp3 player and get downloading!
By the way, Robert T Jeschonek is the next author to have the PS Showcase spotlight fall upon him in the form of the fantastically-titled collection Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal, due out some time in high summer this year. With an introduction by none other than Mike Resnick, it promises to become quite the collector's item - so click through below to pre-order your copy ahead of the stampede:
- Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal - jacketed hardcover, £25 [$50 approx] - 100 copies only
- Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal - hardcover, £25 [$50 approx] - 300 copies only
There are also a last few issues of Postscripts #8 lurking about in the PS warehouse - the perfect accompaniment to tide you over until Mad Scientist Meets Cannibal rolls off the press :
- Postscripts #8 hardcover - £25 [$50 approx]
- Postscripts #8 paperback - £6 [$12 approx.]
[Tip o' the hat to Ed Ashby for the PodCastle tip-off]
Jack Dann’s ‘Rings Around the Moon’ shortlisted for 2008 Darrell Award
Posted by Darren on March 12th, 2008 at 10:26
The Darrell Awards are given annually by the Mid-South Science Fiction & Fantasy Association (MSSFFA) for the Best Midsouth SF/F/H fiction in Short Story, Novella, Novel and Other Media categories.
This year, Jack Dann has been shortlisted in the Best novella category for Rings Around the Moon, which we published last year in our Promised Land collection.
This year's winners will be presented at Midsouthcon on Saturday, March 29, 2008. Good luck, Jack!
Download Jeff VanderMeer’s ‘The Situation’, FREE, from Wired.com
Posted by Darren on March 5th, 2008 at 9:39
Canadian journalist Brad Moon has interviewed Jeff and Ann VanderMeer for Wired.com's GeekDad blog and to mark the occasion, we've supplied a pdf copy of Jeff's forthcoming chapbook / novelette, The Situation and made it available as a free download from the blog.wired.com/geekdad article.
That's right folks, if you'd like to try before you buy, simply head on over and grab the pdf, then put the printer on or transfer the file to your e-reader of choice. Once you're done, high-tail it over to the PS Webstore to place your pre-order; the book should be back from the printers and shipping at the end of the third week in March.
Quick word to the wise: we're only printing 200 copies of the signed, numbered, jacketed hardcover edition and around a hundred of those are already accounted for by pre-order customers, so you may have to be quick to secure your copy.
‘Postscripts’ writers achieve double Stoker Award nomination
Posted by Darren on February 29th, 2008 at 18:08
We're delighted to announce that two pieces of Postscripts-published fiction have been nominated for the Horror Writer Association's prestigious Stoker Awards for 2007.
The two nominated works are:
- 'Almost the Last Story by Almost the Last Man' by Scott Edelman - nominated for superior achievement in long fiction - first published in Postscripts #12
- 'Closet Dreams' by Lisa Tuttle - nominated for superior achievement in short fiction - first published in Postscripts #10
Congratulations to both Scott and Lisa on their nominations, and fingers very firmly crossed for the announcement of the winners, which will happen at the World Horror Convention, over the weekend of March 27th - 30th at the Radisson Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Zoran Zivkovic’s ‘The Teashop’ picked for ‘Fantasy: Best of the Year 2008′
Posted by Darren on February 26th, 2008 at 15:22
'The Teashop' by Zoran Zivkovic, which features in our 2007 double-novella Twelve Collections and The Teashop, has been picked by Rich Horton for the 2008 edition of his Fantasy: The Best of the Year anthology.
The full line-up for the anthology is featured over on SFSignal.com. Congratulations to Zoran on his achievement!
Jeff VanderMeer podcast interview available from Adventures in Scifi Publishing
Posted by Darren on February 26th, 2008 at 14:47
Jeff VanderMeer, author of our forthcoming chapbook / novelette The Situation has been interviewed by Singularity Audio's Shaun Farrell and Sam Wynns for the latest episode of their Adventures in Scifi Publishing podcast; talking about his work, The Situation, office life and politics.
The show is available as a direct MP3 download from the site, or via iTunes subscription.
Tim Lebbon wins Black Quill plaudit for ‘Discovering Ghosts’
Posted by Darren on February 6th, 2008 at 13:21
Horror fiction webzine Dark Scribe recently announced the results of their inaugural Black Quill Awards.
One of the winners was Tim Lebbon, who took the 'Best Dark Scribble (Editor's Choice)' award for his incredibly powerful and cathartic story, 'Discovering Ghosts', which was first published in Postscripts #10.
Many congrats to Tim!
Jeff VanderMeer’s Ministry of Whimsy Press to relaunch
Posted by Darren on November 1st, 2007 at 16:54
Here's one that we didn't quite get time to mention when the word first went out in mid October: Jeff VanderMeer (The Situation) has announced the New Year rebirth of the Ministry of Whimsy Press:
"Effective January 1, 2008, Jeff VanderMeer’s Ministry of Whimsy Press will come out of hibernation as an imprint of Wyrm Publishing. VanderMeer will work as a creative consultant and publicist for the Ministry’s books.
"In its previous incarnations, the Ministry published the Philip K. Dick Award-winning Troika by Stepan Chapman, as well as the landmark Leviathan fiction anthologies. The Ministry was a World Fantasy Award finalist in 1998 and VanderMeer won a World Fantasy Award in 2003 for co-editing Leviathan 3, also a Philip K. Dick Award finalist.
Future projects for the Ministry will include Last Drink Bird Head, an anthology of flash fiction in support of literacy projects that features contributions from Gene Wolfe, Peter Straub, Tanith Lee, Stephen R. Donaldson, Rikki Ducornet, Caitlin Kiernan, Michael Swanwick, and many more. Through Wyrm Publishing, the Ministry will release two to three books a year, with the Leviathan series set to return in 2009. The Ministry is not currently soliciting book projects.
Wyrm Publishing was established by Neil Clarke earlier this year, and will soon publish books by Charles Stross, Gene Wolfe, and Tobias Buckell, in addition to the ongoing publication of Clarkesworld Magazine and its annual Realms anthology. For more information on Wyrm Publishing, visit their web site: www.wyrmpublishing.com.
John Berlyne’s ‘Works of Tim Powers’ website relaunches
Posted by Darren on October 26th, 2007 at 15:54
If you're a Tim Powers reader or fan then you'll no doubt be interested to hear that John Berylne's official Powers website www.TheWorksofTimPowers.com has just been given a substantial makeover and relaunched as a Wordpress-driven blog, which John promises to keep up-to-date with all the latest news and developments of interest to Powers fans.
As many of our long-time customers and e-bulletin subscribers will know, we've been working with John for some time now on an incredibly detailed, utterly comprehensive cornucopia of Powers delights called Secret Histories (with a tag-line that varies from time to time).
John has added a Secret Histories section to the new Powers site, where he details the twists and turns of the project to-date and reveals the eventual publication date that we're all now aiming for: April 2009, to coincide with Powers' first visit to the UK as Guest of Honour at the 2009 Eastercon in Bradford.
More than that we're unable to confirm quite yet, but as soon as we've finalised the relevant detail we'll be adding Secret Histories to the catalogue - along with shots of some of the interior pages to give you an idea of the sheer volume of work that's gone into this incredible project - at which point we're anticipating a record-speed pre-order take-up... watch this space for further announcements!
Joe Hill interviewed by SeaCoastOnline.com
Posted by Darren on October 9th, 2007 at 11:36
There's a good, mid-length interview with rising star Joe Hill over at www.seacoastonline.com, (The Source for Seacoast NH and Southeast ME).
The interviewer leads with some fairly predictable questions about the writer's 'secret' identity - which we here at PS did our very best to keep under wraps throughout the publication of Joe's debut collection 20th Century Ghosts - and then moves on to talk to Joe about the forthcoming US re-issue of 20th Century Ghosts, the Neil Jordan movie version of Joe's debut novel Heart-Shaped Box and Joe's current comics project:
"I'm writing Locke and Key ... It's a straight up comic book about three children who after tragedy move to a vast New England mansion. They discover there secret doors ... Eventually the first six issues will be collected into a trade paperback graphic novel."
Zoran Zivkovic made Professor at Belgrade University
Posted by Darren on October 6th, 2007 at 17:04
PS Author Zoran Zivkovic sent us the following press release:
The Serbian novelist Zoran Zivkovic has been made a professor in the Faculty of Philology at Belgrade University, where he will teach Creative Writing.
Zivkovic is the author of many critically-acclaimed fictions, including Time Gifts, Impossible Encounters, Seven Touches of Music, The Library and Steps Through the Mist [all of which we published in the single-volume collection Impossible Stories].
His most recent novel, The Last Book [which we'll be publishing next year], sold out its 20,000-copy first print run within days of release in his native Serbia. His novel The Bridge [another 2008 PS publication] was the winner of the 2006 Isidora Sekulic Award, named after one of the greatest Serbian female writers and essayists of the 20th century, a major mainstream literary prize. The Bridge was previously shortlisted for the NIN Award – Serbia's major literary award.
Zoran Zivkovic said: "I am delighted I'll have an opportunity to transfer my writer's experience to talented students. I am certain we could all benefit from my teaching."
Hearty congratulations to Zoran from everyone here at PS!
Paul Witcover posts sample from ‘Everland and Other Stories’
Posted by Darren on September 28th, 2007 at 12:32
We'll be publishing Paul Witcover's short fiction collection Everland and Other Stories towards the end of next year.
To help whet your appetite, Paul has posted one of the stories from the collection, 'After Ivy', over on the Inferior 4+1 LiveJournal blog, to which he is a regular contributor.
Zoran Živković wins 2007 Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa award
Posted by Darren on September 4th, 2007 at 15:30
PS author Zoran Živković has been in touch to let us know that he has been named the winner of the 2007 Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa Award for life achievement in literature. The award was presented at a ceremony in the Montenegrin city of Budva on August 29th this year and everyone here at PS would like to send him our heartiest congratulations!
Zoran tells us: "The award, named after one of the greatest Montenegrin writer of the 19th century, is a major mainstream literary prize that also includes 1,000 euros in prize money."
The photos below were taken by Slaven Vilus and are used here with his kind permission. The first shot shows Zoran receiving his award from award jury member Professor Bozena Jelusic, and in the second he's catching a few well-earned rays down at the Budva marina...
PS is proud to be the UK publisher of the following titles by Zoran Živković:
- Impossible Stories
- Twelve Collections and the Teashop
- The Last Book (forthcoming, 2008)
- The Bridge (forthcoming, 2008)
- The Book, The Writer, The Reader (forthcoming, 2008)
His short fiction has also appeared in various issues of our Postscripts magazine and we'll be publishing his new novel The Last Book towards the end of the year. We also have some more Živković news to announce in the near future...
Charles de Lint reviews ‘Hereafter and After’ by Richard Parks
Posted by Darren on September 3rd, 2007 at 13:17
Richard Parks dropped us an email to let us know that no less a luminary than World Fantasy Award winning author Charles de Lint has reviewed two of Richard's titles, including our own Hereafter and After, in the August 2007 edition of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.
Here's a short extract from the review:
"[In Hereafter and After] we meet recently deceased Jake Hallman who, after getting hit by a garbage truck, awakes to find himself in the afterlife on something called the Golden Road. An angel comes to escort him to Heaven, but Hallman has questions, which leads him to have an 'insight', which makes him that rare being in the afterlife: a dead person who is capable of change. The dead aren't supposed to change after their death; those who do become free souls.
"And that leads Hallman on a stranger journey through the afterlifes of all sorts of myths with only the company of an equally bewildered ex-Valkyrie named Freya for company. All of this allows Parks to poke gentle fun and make some serious commentary on our belief systems, and it gives us a terrific read."
You can read the full review over at the F&SF website, in which Charles de Lint also covers Richard's collection Worshipping Small Gods.
Finished Cover: ‘Dead Earth: The Green Dawn’ by Mark Justice & David T. Wilbanks
Posted by Darren on August 16th, 2007 at 14:11
Another fantastic finalised cover-design for you to feast your eyes on, folks. This time it's the gruesomely eye-catching (and, quite possibly, stomach-churning) Glenn Chadbourne artwork for our forthcoming Mark Justice and David T. Wilbanks zombie apocalypse novella Dead Earth: The Green Dawn. Design-work on this one is by Vincent Chong.
And in other Justice-related news, Mark dropped us a line last week to say that the latest edition of his Pod of Horror podcast is available now from www.horrorworld.org, featuring pieces by or with Tim Lebbon, Michael Arnzen and Scott Bradley.
Keith Brooke’s Great North Run in aid of The Big Issue Foundation
Posted by Darren on August 16th, 2007 at 12:00
Author, web-publisher, PS anthology editor (Infinity Plus One, Infinity Plus Two) and all-round good bloke Keith Brooke is taking part in this year's Great North Run on September 30th, to raise money for the Big Issue Foundation who work to empower the homeless and disadvantaged across the UK.
Keith has already surpassed his (quite modest!) sponsorship target but is still taking donations via www.justgiving.com if you want to show him a bit of extra financial encouragement.
Mark Justice reading at Horrorfind Weekend, August 10th
Posted by Darren on July 30th, 2007 at 11:32
Another quick update from Mark Justice, co-author (with David T. Wilbanks) of our fothcoming novella Dead Earth: The Green Dawn. He tells us that he will be reading at the 2007 Horrorfind Weekend in Baltimore, MD.
Mark says: "I will be appearing with Erik Tomblin on Friday, August 10, at 6:00 P.M. in Salon F of the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn.
"I'll be reading 'The Losers vs. Beelphegor' from The Horror Library Volume II. I'll also be selling a limited number of copies of Deadneck Hootenanny, my recent humorous hillbilly horror novella from Novello Publishers."
New Pod of Horror from Mark Justice
Posted by Darren on July 24th, 2007 at 13:56
PS author Mark Justice, one half of the writing team behind our forthcoming zombiepocalpyse novella Dead Earth: The Green Dawn has been in touch to let us know that his podcast show, Pod of Horror "...is back and more popular than Michael Vick at a Humane Society Bake Sale. We have a plethora of guests on PoH #36, including:
- Stoker Award-winning Elizabeth Massie
- Dark Fantasy author David Niall Wilson
- Nathan Baesel and Angela Goethals, stars of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
"Plus, we bring you horror’s premiere news source, 'The Call of Kalanta', and new prizes and a new clue in 'The Tomb of Trivia'!"
Pod of Horror is produced and hosted by Mark Justice. Download it at I-Tunes or direct to your desktop at: www.horrorworld.org/poh.htm and be sure to drop by the Justice & Wilbanks message board at: horrorworld.org as well.
Chris Roberson scores six Year’s Best SF mentions
Posted by Darren on July 17th, 2007 at 10:35
PS author Chris Roberson says on his blog that he's (quite rightly) chuffed to bits to have received no fewer than six honourable mentions in the 24th volume of Gardner Dozois' Years Best Science Fiction anthology series, including one for his PS-published novella, The Voyage of Night Shining White.
Well done, Chris!
Steve Aylett reading, London, July 22nd
Posted by Darren on July 9th, 2007 at 10:16
PS Author Steve Aylett (Fain the Sorcerer) tells us he'll be "doing a reading / performance on July 22nd at stand-up venue the Troy Club - CROBAR, 17 Manette Street, London W1D 4AS [Google Maps], just next to Foyles Bookstore - which starts around 7.30pm.
"Other performers are Toby Hadoke, Liam Mullone, Eric's Tales Of The Sea. MC is Andrew O'Neill (Saxondale etc)."