Tuesday 19 April 2011

Ian Whates interviewed by Keith Brooke

Ian Whates, group leader and very busy man, is interviewed by Keith Brooke over at his site.  Some good questions and we find out about Ian's working day and how he got his start on the writing ladder.

http://keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/ian-whates-interviewed/

Thursday 14 April 2011

"Further Conflicts", from NewCon Press

Edited by Ian Whates

To be launched in April at Illustrious: Eastercon 2011. This year’s convention is themed on military SF. Following the success of Conflicts, launched at last year’s Eastercon and NewCon Press’ single most successful title to date, it seemed churlish not to explore the theme further. The new anthology therefore takes some familiar elements from the first book and mixes in radically different ones, both in terms of contributors and approach. So we welcome back Andy Remic, Eric Brown and Gareth L Powell from Conflicts, the latter two providing stand-alone stories set in the same universe as their Conflicts stories. To these we add ten exciting new contributors, bringing you:

• A gritty view of a beleaguered army unit fighting a very alien war and mourning one of their own;
• The chilling fate of those crewing a Russian ice submarine in a dystopian world;
• A view inside the powder-keg environment of an alien prison installation;
• The experiences of a war artist in a disturbingly plausible future;
• A Welsh pub under siege in wholly unexpected fashion;
• A warrior returning home from galactic conflict only to face his greatest ever challenge;
• Ridgeway school, which must somehow survive attack by the dreaded Harvesters;
• A missionary doctor harbouring an alien fugitive against all advice and reason…

And much, much more…

1. Introduction – Ian Whates
2. The Wake – Dan Abnett
3. Unaccounted – Lauren Beukes
4. The War Artist – Tony Ballantyne
5. The Harvest – Kim Lakin-Smith
6. Brwydr Am Ryddid – Stephen Palmer
7. The New Ships – Gareth L Powell
8. The Soul of the Machine – Eric Brown
9. Occupation – Colin Harvey
10. Extraordinary Rendition – Steve Longworth
11. Yakker Snak – Andy Remic
12. The Legend of Sharrock – Philip Palmer
13. The Ice Submarine – Adam Roberts
14. Welcome Home, Jannisary – Tim C Taylor
15. About the Authors

Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 150 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all contributors.

Price:
Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 19.99

New from NewCon Press (and featuring NSFWG members)

At the forthcoming EasterCon (22nd - 25th April 2011), NewCon Press is publishing two new collections.

Fables From The Fountain, edited by Ian Whates, contains all original stories (featuring many of today’s top genre writers) written as homage to Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart.

It features many of today’s top genre writers, including Neil Gaiman, Charles Stross, Stephen Baxter, James Lovegrove, Liz Williams, Adam Roberts, Eric Brown, Ian Watson, Peter Crowther, and David Langford

The Fountain is a traditional London pub situated in Holborn, just off Chancery Lane, where Michael, the landlord, serves excellent real ales and dodgy ploughman’s, ably assisted by barmaids Sally and Bogna. In the Paradise bar, a group of friends - scientists, writers and genre fans – meet regularly on a Tuesday night to swap anecdotes, reveal wondrous events from their past, tell tall tales, talk of classified invention and, maybe, just maybe, save the world…

1. Introduction – Peter Weston
2. No Smoke without Fire – Ian Whates
3. Transients – Stephen Baxter
4. Forever Blowing Bubbles – Ian Watson
5. On the Messdecks of Madness – Paul Graham Raven
6. The Story Bug – James Lovegrove
7. “And Weep Like Alexander” – Neil Gaiman
8. The Ghost in the Machine – Colin Bruce
9. The Hidden Depths of Bogna – Liz Williams
10. A Bird in Hand – Charles Stross
11. In Pursuit of the Chuchunaa – Eric Brown
12. The Cyberseeds – Steve Longworth
13. Feathers of the Dinosaur – Henry Gee
14. Book Wurms – Andy West
15. The Pocklington Poltergeist – David Langford
16. The Last Man in Space – Andrew J Wilson
17. A Multiplicity of Phaedra Lament – Peter Crowther
18. The Girl With the White Ant Tattoo – Tom Hunter
19. The 9,000,000,001st Name of God – Adam Roberts
20. About the Authors

2011 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Arthur C Clarke Award. This volume is produced in part to raise funds for the Award, which lost its sponsor last year due to the closure of Sir Arthur’s publishing company.

Available as an A5 paperback plus:
Dust-jacketed hardback, limited to just 200 copies, each individually numbered and signed by all the authors.

Paperback: 9.99
Signed Limited Hardback 29.99

http://newconpress.co.uk/news/fables-from-the-fountain-launch

Tuesday 12 April 2011

British Fantasy Society longlist nominations - 2011

The longlist of nominations for the British Fantasy Society Awards were published yesterday and, in one way or another, the Northampton SF Writers Group was represented.

Ian Whates’ novel, ‘City Of Dreams And Nightmares’ (Angry Robot) is up for Best Novel

Mark West’s story ‘The City In The Rain’ appears in the nominated anthology “Where The Heart Is” (edited by Gary Fry for Gray Friar Press)

Two NewCon Press anthologies had stories nominated -
‘Fool’s Gold’ by Sam Stone, which appeared in “The Bitten Word”
‘Harmony In My Head’ by Rosanne Rabinowitz, which appeared in “Conflicts”

In addition - and I know he’s not a member of the group, but he’s been very supportive of it in the past and he’s a genuinely nice man - Alan Moore shared a nomination for BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/COMIC - Neonomicon – Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows – Avatar

The full long-list can be found here and good luck to those nominated

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dEhyMFVVZ3JzTUh4S0JKM2JxYzdQY3c6MQ#gid=0

Sunday 10 April 2011

Mark West interviewed at Ginger Nuts Of Horror

NSFWG member Mark West has been interviewed over at the Ginger Nuts Of Horror website, ranging from the start of his writing, right through to "Conjure" and his artwork for the Alt-Dead anthology.

The interview can be read here - http://thegingernutcase.blogspot.com/2011/04/mark-west-interview.html