Abaddon Wins "This Is Horror" Award 2011!

Wha-hey!

So, wotcher all. I'm not sure if you're aware of the sterling work that This Is Horror does, promoting and discussing the horror genre? If not, go and check out their site; it's crammed with interviews, reviews, features and all sorts of good stuff.

At any rate, they have recently launched a new award for the horror genre, the annual This Is Horror Award, which enjoyed an enormous response and looks set to become something pretty exciting in the years ahead.

And just to show what great taste they have, they have awarded us - Solaris Books and Abaddon Books, Rebellion's sister fiction imprints - their inaugural Publisher of the Year Award!

We're thrilled, naturally. Jon, our Editor-in-Chief, says, “What a lovely way to start the New Year! I’m so pleased that Abaddon and Solaris have made their mark on the horror genre, because horror has always been my first love, ever since I discovered Ramsey Campbell at the age of 11. It’s been a real pleasure to work with This is Horror over 2011 and to be recognised by Michael and the team in this way means a great deal to us.”

To top it off, they've also given one of Solaris's books, Gary McMahon's The Concrete Grove, the Novel of the Year Award. Abaddon fans will recognise Gary as the author of the unsettling Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts. We're massively chuffed for Gary; this is an amazing book, and the start of what's promising (having just finished the copy-edit on Silent Voices myself) to be an extraordinary series.

Gary says, “I’m delighted to have my book named as Novel of the Year. The Concrete Grove is a very personal novel and it’s gratifying to receive any kind of recognition for my work.”

So we're just popping open the champers in our office, here, and will pop up a photo of the certificate. Huge congratulations to Angry Robot, the runner-up Publisher of the Year, to BC Furtney, whose Scarla was the  runner-up Novel of the Year, and to all the other winners and runners-up.

Cracking.

Alt.Fiction this Saturday!

Tomorrow David and I will be heading off to Derby for one of the best alternative literary festivals around, Alt.Fiction!

Not only will you be able to meet the editors (us!), but Pat Kelleher, the author of the No Man's World series, will be on several panels, and reading from his newest book on the Sunday.

Gary McMahon, author of The Concrete Grove (Solaris) and Hungry Hearts (Abaddon) will also be there, as will Paul Kane, author of the Arrowhead trilogy and Paul Finch of Stronghold fame.

From Solaris we will have science fiction author Ian Whates and acclaimed fantasy novelist Juliet E. McKenna doing the rounds!

Check out the Alt.Fiction website for ticket details, you can turn up for the Saturday, the Sunday or the whole weekend. View the programme for full details of all the sci-fi, fantasy and horror-themed events on offer.

-

Manchester Signing

MANCHESTER DEANSGATE

A Super SF/Fantasy Weekender
Gary McMahon, Pat Kelleher, Mike Wild, Conrad Williams and Ian Whates
Saturday, 21 May 2011, 2PM - 5PM

Waterstones asks "Can Manchester contain this amount of SF and Fantasy talent?" It's an SFF and horror invasion as authors Gary McMahon, Mike Wild, Pat Kelleher, Ian Whates and Conrad Williams take over Manchester's Deangate Waterstones for an afternoon of signings and discussion.


Arrive early, at 1pm, and you'll get to see another great SF signing, the 'Deansgate Doctor Who Forum'. Waterstones says 'Join Terry Nation expert Alywn Turner, Doctor Who Big Finish audio play and Dead Ringers maestro Nev Fountain and that walking encyclopaedia of all things Gallifrey, David J. Howe, for a discussion-filled odyssey into all things Doctor Who.'

Further details can be found at the Waterstones Manchester Deansgate website, or at this number: 0161 839 1248.

______________

Also, check out this interview with Gary MacMahon at horror and dark fiction site The Black Abyss.
______________

-

Hungry Hearts Reviews

Hi all,

If you liked "Hungry Christmas," you'd probably like Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts. It's, like, the same character, by the same author, in the same setting. But if that argument didn't just knock your novelty reindeer-and-holly socks the hell off your feet, you probably want to check out this review that appeared right after I posted the story (Eerie, huh? I mean, for real; nobody told me this was coming out.):

Peter Tennant of TTA Press's Black Static has chosen Gary McMahon as the featured author in his Case Notes column in the latest issue, Black Static #14. He reviews Hungry Hearts and one of Gary's other books, Different Skins, gives you a bibliography of Gary's work, and just generally has a bit of a chat about Gary's writing and his thoughts on it. All great stuff. Buy their magazine now. Do it.

I mean it. Stop reading. Do it.

Peter also blogs on the TTA site for Interzone magazine, where he's running a genre-fiction "Advent Calendar" blog, posting links nominated by readers on the TTA forum. And today's entry is none other than "Hungry Christmas." Many thanks for the shout out, Peter.

While we're lovin' it, here's another review by Paul Smith of the British Fantasy Society. It's a little older, but I don't think I've already posted it to the blog (please excuse if I have).

Cheers,

David

"A Very Abaddon Christmas" Part 1: Hungry Christmas

Hi all,

Okay, here it is. I know you're all as excited as me about this, so without further ado, I am please and proud to present to you the first installment in our December 2009 guest-blogging event, A Very Abaddon Christmas...

Hungry Christmas

A Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts story

by Gary McMahon

It’s been said that your life flashes before your eyes in the moment of death, depicting scenes dragged up from the vault of memory. As his undead wife ripped out his heart and ate it, Rick Nutman’s mind flicked briefly to something different: a Christmas that might have been...

  He’d only entered the shopping centre in search of supplies, foolishly thinking that he might find a turkey hidden away in the freezer department of HumSave, or some dried-up Christmas pud left forgotten on an otherwise empty shelf in M&S.
  What he didn’t expect was Santa.
  The large figure in red was plodding around the ornamental fountain in the foyer, swaying from side to side like he was drunk. But he wasn’t drunk; he was dead.
  Dead Santa.
  Rick took out the Glock pistol and slowly made his way across the foyer, crouching behind the wide support pillars. He’d never believed in Santa, even as a child, and he wasn’t about to start believing in the fat fool now...
  Dead Santa’s beard was red, covered in blood, and his face was white as snow. He caught sight of Rick and began to stumble towards him, still carrying his sack of presents. The dead fat man splashed through the fountain, his baggy red trousers loose and soggy, and opened his mouth to reveal jagged, broken teeth and a throat some joker had stuffed with silver tinsel.
  Rick shot him in the mouth, blowing a hole through the middle of his gore-soaked beard. Dead Santa’s face collapsed inward, deflating like a punctured plastic Christmas bauble.
  The sack fell from Dead Santa’s grasp, spilling its contents. Gifts and cards and tacky tree decorations spread out around his fallen body.
  Rick walked over and picked up a toy gun. He smiled. Pulled the trigger.
  Click!
  Then he went back outside to the jeep, mumbling under his breath: “Fuck you and the reindeer you rode in on...”

Another Review...

Hi all,

One more from Tim: this review of Gary McMahon's Tomes of the Dead: Hungry Hearts.

Cheers,

David