Christmas Prize Draw

As the first flurries of snow drift upon the shores of this country, it puts me in the Christmas spirit, which is of course a time for giving. Therefore, to celebrate, I will be posting a simple question through my newsletter, and everyone who answers correctly will be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of my novel, Evilution. The question will be emailed on Thursday, December 1st, and the draw will take place on Sunday, December 11th. There will be two copies available, so if you want the chance to win one of them, and you aren’t already signed up, do it now, and good luck.

Click here

Tasty snacks

At first sight, this picture looks like a macabre slaughterhouse; mangled body parts strewn about a room; arms, legs and heads resting on shelves and dangling from meat hooks - but it might surprise you to know that it's actually bread sculptures made by Kittiwat Unarrom, a 28-year-old art student.

Using anatomy books and his vivid memories from visits to forensics museums help him to create this edible art.

He says, “When people see the bread, they don’t want to eat it. But when they taste it, it’s just normal bread. The lesson is ‘don’t judge just by outer appearances.’”

Flash Mind Reader

The flash mind reader seems to have been puzzling a lot of people. Anyone who wants to know how it works, click the reply to this message and I'll tell you. But like many tricks, sometimes you're better of just not knowing so the magic never dies.

Scrapbook snippet

Here's one for the scrapbook: A four-year-old girl was stopped from taking her teeth home from hospital for the tooth fairy because doctors classed them as "body parts". Kimberley Cumming's mother Lorraine was told the teeth had to be disposed of by Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Mrs Cumming had explained the tooth fairy story to make her daughter less anxious about the procedure, during which four teeth were taken out.

Kimberley had made a special box and was upset about not getting her teeth.

The girl, from Inverness, had gone in to have one tooth out but the dental surgeon removed three others to stop the rot from spreading.

But doctors said the teeth were now classed as body parts and had to be disposed of by the hospital.

Website redesigned and a FREE serialised novel

To celebrate the launch of my redesigned website, and to showcase my work, I'm offering a FREE serialised copy my novel Dark Seduction to anyone who signs up to the newsletter. The first chapter will be emailed out on Halloween, and the other chapters will follow around every one to two weeks. Previous chapters will be available in the archives for those who sign up later. Go on, I know you want to. ;-)Feel free to post any comments about the story here on my blog.

Website redesign underway

I'm just starting to redesign my website, and hopefully when it's up and running, I'll have some freebies to give away to celebrate its launch. Watch this space.

2 for 1 offer

Just a quick mention that until Xmas, whenever someone orders an Invisible College Press book via the ICP site, they'll receive a 2nd ICP book of the publisher's choice thrown in for free. So fill up them sacks, because Santa's sled won't deliver after Christmas. And remember, postage in the US and Canada is free for books ordered from the site.

Update

I've just received word from Darren Smith, the editor of Tales from the Transdimensional Horror Express, a magazine for which I am helping write the back story. The magazine was initially a dual language magazine, printed in German and English, but now it's going to be all in English. I am currently plotting the back story out, and it should be an interesting development. On the novel front, I'm still typing away on Fangtooth. When that's finished, I'm not short of ideas. I've got a novel to rewrite that I wrote a few years ago, another idea partially mapped out that I'm really excited about (not that I'm not excited about all my ideas, but some spark the imagination more than others), and another story that needs developing. All I need now is for my agent to secure a publisher.

I'll be away at the coast for the next week, so hopefully I'll have even more ideas upon my return.

Latest news

I've been a bit slack posting lately as I've been busy working on my new novel, Fangtooth (and you all thought I'd abandoned it;-)). It's going great at the moment. I got a little sidetracked with work and suchlike, but things are now back on track. In other news, I've been interviewed for Gold Dust Magazine, which will appear in print at some point in the not too distant future.

The Echo

I was emailed by Chuck Gutierrez, webmaster for the new film, The Echo (Sigaw), and in the wake of the other Asian films, thought it sounded interesting enough to mention it here. This is a Filipino ghost movie directed by Yam Laranas. It’s about a haunted apartment building that exists both in the present and the past.

To escape his overbearing mother, Marvin (Richard Gutierrez), moves into a cheap apartment building, and is helped in decorating it by his girlfriend, Pinky. Initially, the unit Marvin has moved into appears like any ordinary apartment building -- there are occasional spats between a couple, Anna and Bert (Jomari Yllano), down the hallway -- but paying them no heed, his life continues. Then things start getting worse, and he moves back home for a few days until he can figure out his next plan of action.

In his absence, Pinky visits his unit unaware that he is no longer there. She falls victim to the abusive element within the building and Marvin can take no more. He goes back in for one final battle with the evil memories that have taken hold of the house.

Autograph_Collectors

Inspired by all the autograph requests I've been receiving, I've written a quick, quirky short story in the form of message posts, which I've put on my website for anyone who wants to read it. Autograph_Collectors

For the right price, you can be a character in a King novel.

Some people might be interested to know that there is an auction on Ebay involving Stephen King: If you’ve ever wanted to be a character in a Stephen King novel, here’s your chance! From September 1-25, 2005, Auction Cause will be conducting an auction through eBay Giving Works in which 17 authors are auctioning the opportunity to be a character in an upcoming novel, with the proceeds being donated to the First Amendment Project, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition. The auction for the Stephen King character will be from September 8th-18th.

The latest bid stands at: US $11,100.00, so it's only for those with a large wallet or purse.

Sin-Jin Smyth

For anyone who remembers The Cult, it's been announced that BILLY DUFFY will contribute original guitar work to the Score of Sin-Jin Smyth. To show my age, I remember when The Cult were Southern Death Cult, one of my favourite bands of the time along with Theatre of Hate (which Duffy also played in) and Bauhaus. Those were the days ...

The film (Written and Directed by Ethan Dettenmaier)--- follows two federal marshals who man an isolated Federal Outpost in the American Midwest. One night they receive an emergency message (over Halloween weekend) to blitz across the border into the Kansas Badlands (moments after a tornado warning) for the midnight prisoner transfer of a man with no identity (and set against a Kansas legend about a Midnight appearance of the Devil every Halloween in a quiet, local cemetery).

Dark Discoveries

I received my contributor copy of Dark Discoveries today. I've had a quick glimpse through, and it seems like a magazine that's well worth purchasing. The contents include interviews with Brian Keene, Craig Spector, Michael Laimo, Michael Arnzen, and Shane Ryan Staley. Fiction by Michael Laimo, Steve Vernon, Paul Finch,Josh Rountree and yours truly.

Photograph requests

I've been receiving a number of emails asking for signed photographs of me. While I know I'm good looking ;-), I'm confused. As a small press author who has yet to achieve greatness, I'm wondering why all the sudden requests have started to arrive. Is there something I don't know? Have I suddenly become desirable? (in the photographic sense). Being a small press author, I don't have signed photos as there’s no demand for them (sits here wondering whether people just want something to throw darts at). If anyone knows why there's the sudden interest, please let me know.

Amazon Shorts

I noticed that Amazon are starting something new by offering short stories from their main page for 49 cents a pop. They list the benefits as:

*Access a powerful marketing tool to promote an author's backlist in a new and meaningful way
*Create an author profile page with biography, photo, and complete backlist
*Maintain author's visibility between published projects
*Establish a more direct and frequent communication with readers
*Introduce readers to unfamiliar writers
*Provide a new outlet to sell short fiction and nonfiction

In short, Amazon Shorts are never-before-seen short works from a wide variety of well-known authors, available only on Amazon.com. I have emailed my interest in the program and received an automatic response that says they'll be in contact in a few days. I imagine they will be selective with their authors, but it's worth a try.

Porn can make you go blind

I've been away on a course all week, and will be away again next week, but upon my return I did find this interesting article in New Scientist:

Researchers have finally found evidence that erotic images make you go blind. The effect is temporary and lasts just a moment, but the research has added to road-safety campaigners’ calls to ban sexy billboard-advertising near busy roads, in the hope of preventing accidents.

The new study by US psychologists found that people shown erotic or gory images frequently fail to process images they see immediately afterwards. And the researchers say some personality types appear to be affected more than others by the phenomenon, known as “emotion-induced blindness”.

So that means I'll have to stop reading top rack magazines while driving;-)

On other news, I'm keeping a watchful eye out for Sin-Jin Smyth which is filming at the moment. The story concerns a pair of federal marshals (played by Jason Hildebrandt and Richard Tyson, both from BLACK HAWK DOWN) who arrive in a town called Shin Bone on November 2 (the Day of the Dead) to transport a prisoner with no past and no identity ... he is known only as Sin-Jin Smyth.

On my own news front, my agent is hard at work trying to sell my novel The Kult, so watch this space ...

Daily Grammar

A useful online site for those who want to learn about grammar is Daily Grammar. They no longer send out daily grammar tips, but they are all available online to read.

Google Earth

For those who have never seen it, and those with the necessary computer specs, check out Google Earth, a 3D interface to the planet.

Online radio drama

I've discovered a good online source of listening material from BBC 7. Called 7th Dimension, you can listen to radio plays such as 'Doctor Who', Terry Pratchett's 'Guards! Guards!' and a whole host of other sci-fi programs. There's also a section for drama, crime and thrillers and bestsellers to listen to, and if you miss a show, each broadcast is saved for 7 days.