The Arthur C Clarke Awards!

Hey yo,

So I went to the Arthur C. Clarke Award in Picadilly last night. We weren't in the running - this time - but we'd been invited, so it'd be rude not to accept.

And a good time was had by all. The ceremony was short and sweet, which is nice. Lauren Beukes' Zoo City won, which I think was richly deserved. And I wandered over to the after-party at the Picadilly Institute right after, where some kind of drinks were enjoyed and I caught up with people, or as it may be, met people I had previously only spoken to on the interweb.

Pictures were a hard ask, in the darkness of the bar, and I wasn't sure I was allowed pictures of the ceremony (I got in quite late and couldn't ask), so you've just got a couple here.


The venue was the Apollo Cinema at Picadilly. It was interesting actually sitting in a cinema for an awards ceremony. Felt a little odd.


Here's proof I was at Picadilly. 'Cause, you know, there's no way I could have just pulled this shot off the net or something.


The remarkable Dave Monteith of Geek Syndicate fame, interviewing the equally remarkable Tom Hunter, the compere of the award, for the podcast.


Believe it or not, this is Lauren. I did say it was dark.


Our own Scott Andrews, who had discovered it was a free bar shortly before this shot.

So, good time had by all. Congratulations to Lauren on her award!

David

Pax Britannia: who says democracy doesn’t work?

While first-past-the-post may or may not be done away with in modern Britain, in the steampunk world of Pax Britannia it’s still very much alive – and author Jon Green is giving you the chance to have your vote on his nightmarish vision of an alternate Blighty!

Jon is searching for a motto for the terrifying troops of the Frankenstein Corps from his new Ulysses Quicksilver book, Anno Frankenstein, due out in May.

Having previously run a mini-competition to choose a motto for the Corps, Jon has whittled a shortlist out of the suggestions and is giving you a week to vote for the one you like best – and you could win a very unique prize most befitting a tale of stitched-together soldiery!

Pop along to his blog and vote now!

News from your Editor in Chief

So yes... sorry for my lack of postings of late. Last few months have been somewhat hectic what with becoming a daddy with the birth of our daughter Maia, and then being buried in copy-editing for weeks on end on my return to the Solaris/Abaddon towers.

But news! I have news and things!

This weekend I shall be at World Horror Con in Austin, Texas. I shall be in attendance from Friday morning, through to Sunday. On Friday afternoon between 1-3pm, I will be listening to pitches and on Saturday at 10am I will be on a panel about what editors want. I shall be traveling with Mr Gary McMahon author of the brilliant forthcoming Concrete Grove for Solaris, so come seek us out and lavish on us praise and beer.

In other news, I'm delighted to be welcoming back Paul Finch to the Abaddon stable, with a book in the Malory's Knights of Albion series to be published in 2012. Paul is a prolific gent at the moment, hard at work on not only novels but Doctor Who audios and film scripts.

And that's all from me for now. Until next time...

Happy reading.

The hunt is on for knights in shining armour!

Are you chivalrous enough to be a Knight of the New Round Table – and win the chance to be a real knight for the day?

To celebrate the release of the new Knights of Albion series of Arthurian adventure, Abaddon Books is on the hunt for ‘knights in shining armour’ to sit on a 21st Century King Arthur’s Round Table – and they could win the chance to be a real knight for a day.

As part of the hunt, a real knight in shining armour ventured out onto the streets of London – and caused a few stares – as he searched for chivalrous candidates, even managing to do a little wooing of his own!

Whether it’s rescuing a princess from a dragon or just opening doors for your beloved, wannabe Sir Galahads can tell us why they should earn a place at Arthur’s side by going to http://www.abaddonbooks.com/knight_for_a_day

The most chivalrous are in with a chance to win an exclusive day of training from experts at a specialist jousting facility where they’ll undertake the essential training that no aspiring knight would be without – from swordplay to donning armour. The day will be crowned with a thrilling live demonstration of jousting.

The Knights of Albion is an exciting new series based on the ‘rediscovered’ second book by Thomas Malory, author of the Le Morte d'Arthur. The first in the series, The Black Chalice, follows wannabe knight Alymere, who discovers the foul Devil’s Bible – said to have been written in one night by an insane hermit – which leads him to seek the unholy anti-Grail know as the Black Chalice.


About the Series
‘Uncovered’ in the parish church of St. Barbara and St. Christopher in the summer of 2006, the Salisbury Manuscript (British Library Add. MS 1138) is the only extant copy of Sir Thomas Malory’s The Seconde Boke of kyng Arthur and also His noble Knyghts, apparently written at Thomas Caxton’s request after Malory’s release from gaol. Deep controversy surrounds the book, which is claimed by some to be a contemporary forgery, possibly written by Caxton himself. In March 2010, Rebellion Publishing announced that it had secured exclusive rights to publish the modernisations of the stories...

Abaddon’s eighth shared world, Malory’s Knights of Albion will regale our readers with totally original stories set in King Arthur’s time, exploring the stories of the less well-known knights – like loyal Sir Alymere – or telling previously-unknown events from the lives of beloved characters close to Britain’s greatest king.
With courage and courtesy close to its heart, the series promises to deliver the best of heroic, chivalric adventure, often with a dark or surprising twist.

About the Author
Steven Savile has written almost thirty novels and short story collections, including The Hollow Earth, Temple: Incarnations, Laughing Boy’s Shadow, Houdini’s Last Illusion, Angel Road, and the graphic novel Fragrance of You (with artist Robert Sammelin). He was a runner up in the 2000 British Fantasy Awards, a winner of a 2002 Writers of the Future Award, and nominated twice for the Scribe Award, in 2006 (for best novel adaptation) and the 2008 (for best young adult novel). www.stevensavile.com

Pornokitsch Gives You... Anno Mortis!

Hey all,

As you probably remember, the fine folk at Pornokitsch.com have spent all week bringing you the best, worst and most interesting of Romeiana... Romana?... Romanesque?... stuff about Romans, in their week-long feature, "V Days of Rome."

It's gone brilliantly well, as near as I can tell, with loads of blogposts, reviews, an enormous interview with Sophia McDougall, and competitions and giveaways on their Facebook page. So very well done, Anne and Jared. It's been a blast.

Anyway, today they have a spate of Anno Mortis-related shenanigans! There's the downloadable free sample already mentioned (it's Chapter Sixteen, by the way, with all the zombies and zombie tigers and chariots and stuff), a review of the book (actually, kind of a re-review, since as Jared points out it was one of the first books they reviewed, back in the day), and until midnight tonight you can win a signed first edition of the book on their Facebook page by answering the question, "What caused the fall of Rome?"

Check their shiznit izout.

The book comes together in a complex mash-up of classical mythologies that, in my case, really did benefit from a re-read. If the "what" (zombies) is unveiled early in Anno Mortis and the "how" (evil bugs) soon follows, the "why" is kept a tight secret until the final pages. There are a lot of players involved, both mortal and immortal, and it takes an explosive chain of conclusions to reveal them all. Needless to say, the stakes are not only much higher than just Rome, but also more personal. What a god wants, the whole world may have to give.

To freely lift from my own original conclusion: "All said and done, Anno Mortis is a massively entertaining - and oddly educational - romp. From sieges to orgies; tigers to chariot races; it pulls out all the stops in providing unceasing fun." And as a footnote, Anno Mortis isn't just another chapter in a passing fad. Good pulp is timeless, and this pulp is very, very good indeed.

Schweet.

David

Pornokitsch's "V Days of Rome"

Salve all,

I don't know if you already follow the good men and women (or, alright, the good man and woman; it's a modest outfit) at Pornokitsch.com? It's a kind of nerd-culture, reviews, interviews and general geek crap site, with an unhealthy fixation on low-fi sixties pulp romances and a recurring feature on crappy eighties fantasy and horror movies. It's also Jared Shurin and Anne Perry, who are wonderful people and deserve your endorsement.

At any rate, they are currently running a feature called V Days of Rome all this week, which will emphasise all things Roman, including reviews of gladiator movies and of Roman historical (or alt-historical) fiction novels, interviews and guest-blogs from authors involved in Roman-themed projects, free downloadable content, and giveaways of signed books all week long.

And we're involved! If you get on there now, you can download a free sample chapter of one of the climactic scenes from Rebecca Levene's Tomes of the Dead: Anno Mortis, and they assure us they will be reviewing the book later in the week, and giving a signed copy away on their Facebook page.

And they've just posted up Masques & Lies, a totally new and exclusive Pax Britannia story by yours truly. This has never appeared in press, even in the bonus story in the back; it's there for you, now, in support of Pornokitsch.

So go and check it out, and keep checking it out all week as they update with new and awesome content and competitions.

Awesome.

David

Wanted: Real-Life Monsters!

Hey all,

Right, we’re setting aside our scepticism for a moment. As a rule, we’re pretty secular, rational, twenty-first century people, here at Abaddon Towers – as I think you have to be, to publish books about zombies, aliens, and steam-powered robots – but there are enough people out there who are convinced about the existence of the supernatural in this world, or even that they are supernatural creatures themselves, that it’s got to be worth suspending your doubts and taking a plunge.

Which is why we’re looking for real-life monsters to write books for us. If you are a genuine Haitian zombie, or a vampire hunting among the social elite of Paris, and you think you can write a book, then get in touch with us!

We appreciate that the inhuman, posthuman and superhuman communities are traditionally very reluctant to come out and make themselves known, and we can promise total anonymity. But we do need all our writers for this project to definitely be supernatural beings, and may ask you to (discreetly) provide proof. We also recognise that these communities are small, so it may be that the number of monsters interested in writing a book – and able to do so with flair and confidence – may be small, but if you’re out there, we want you.

What we need from you is a pitch, including a chapter breakdown and writing sample, for our latest project, which we haven’t given a title yet, but which we’re tentatively calling “Ultranormal Romance” (or “Urban Mundanity”). Some ideas we’re knocking around at the moment include a series of books set in a world in which accountants have risen up and destroyed civilisation; a love story between a normal girl from the big city and a tortured dentist on the run from his own kind; and an alternate history in which Gordon Brown is still the Prime Minister. These are rough guidelines only; if you have a similar pitch in mind, get in touch and we can workshop it.

So get in touch, and your name might be on the cover of one our most exciting new series in 2012!

Special Freebie Feature: Anno Frankenstein Wallpapers!

Hey all,

As we've previously mentioned, the design for the upcoming seventh Ulysses Quicksilver book, Jonathan Green's Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein, features an ass-kicking piece of internal art for the section headers: a grotesque, steampunky, "vitruvian frankenstein."

And if you were paying attention, you'd also remember that we promised you a wallpaper based on the image, lovingly rendered on a parchment-effect background, to be made available closer to the release date.

Well, it's closer, and here it is!

Hand-drawn, rendered and digitally en-parchmented by our very own Pye Parr, the Pax Britannia Vitruvian Frankenstein Parchment Wallpaper is now available for download in a variety of sizes. Choose from the below:

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (800 x 600)

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (1024 x 768)

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (1280 x 960)

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (1600 x 1200)

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (1920 x 1080)

Vitruvian Frankenstein Wallpaper (1920 x 1200)

Outstanding!

(And why not add to your fine book and handsome desktop a signed promotional Anno Frankenstein poster, now available in the Genre for Japan charity auction?)

David

Paul Kane Signing at Waterstones!

Wotcher all!

Just a quickie to remind you that Paul Kane, the author of the Hooded Man books in The Afterblight Chronicles (including the latest, Arrowland, pictured) will be signing copies of his books and generally being accessible to the public on:

Saturday 2nd April
1pm

...which is this very weekend!

He will be at the fine Waterstones in Sheffield, at:

24-26 Orchard Square
Sheffield
South Yorkshire
S1 2FB

Be sure and drop in to give him some love.

_________________________________________

And for a little more Hooded Man love, download this free promotional comic strip adaptation of the opening of the first book, Arrowhead...

...and for a little more Paul Kane love, do drop by his and Marie's Genre for Japan auction for a chance at picking up some signed copies of his rarer works.

_________________________________________

Awesome.

David

Genre for Japan: Git Chore Bids In!

Hi all,

Well, if you've been looking out at blogland and Tweetland this past week or so, you're no doubt aware of Genre for Japan, the charitable auction being organised by Amanda Rutter, Lou Morgan, Alasdair Stuart, Ro Smith, and our very own Jenni Hill.

So naturally Jenni's rattled the bars on some of our authors' cages, and they've been absolute stars.

If you haven't already, you need to go on the auction's Item Index right now (you'll also note a "categories" box on the right, near the top of the page, if you're looking for something specific, like *ahem* "Abaddon Books") and place some bids - bidding is only open until Sunday, so you'll miss out if you leave it too long - but I would be remiss if I didn't urge you to consider some of our chaps' lots:

Mike Wild, author of the Kali Hooper books in the Twilight of Kerberos series, has put up signed copies of the four books currently out (including The Trials of Trass Kathra, which is only just out on the shelves now). The winner of the lot will also be commemmorated in a dedication to the upcoming fifth book.

Scott Andrews, author of the St. Marks' School trilogy in The Afterblight Chronicles, has also put up a signed set, along with a named character in his next book.

Jonathan Green, author of the Ulysses Quicksilver books in the Pax Britannia series, is offering a named part in his upcoming Quicksilver book, Time's Arrow. He's also offering, in a separate lot, a signed promotional Anno Frankenstein poster, signed by both himself and the designer, Pye Parr.

Not to be outdone, Al Ewing, author of the El Sombra books in the Pax Britannia series, is offering not one, but two named (speaking) parts in the third El Sombra book, Pax Omega.

They're not actually Abaddon books, but Paul Kane, author of the Hooded Man books in The Afterblight Chronicles, is offering signed copies of three of his celebrated horror books.

And Chuck Wendig, author of the upcoming Tomes of the Dead: Double Dead, is offering up both an e-book of his self-published collection, Irregular Creatures, and a detailed critique of a short work.

Finally, Jon, Jenni and I are all offering our editorial services to writers who want to know how to add some polish to their stories and (hopefully) render them more publishable. This is an outstanding opportunity if you're still unpublished and hoping to "break in."

So. Not that we're competitive or anything - obviously any money raised on any lot is brilliant - but if you could see your way clear to bidding on some of these lots, that'd be champion.

(And go look at Solaris Books's contribution, as well!)

Awesome.

David

Black Chalice Out Now!

Steven Savile's in good company, between George R. R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss and... Ron Hubbard? Guess you can't win 'em all.

We've been sent this photograph this morning, taken in Barnes and Noble, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because The Black Chalice is out now in North America and all over the world! You can find it in the fantasy section in your local bookshop or for sale online, and the ebook will be coming out very soon!

Son of a knight and aspirant to the Round Table, Alymere yearns to take his place in the world, and for a quest to prove his worth. He comes across the foul Devil's Bible – written in a single night by an insane hermit – which leads and drives him to seek the unholy Black Chalice. On his quest he will face, and overcome, dire obstacles and cunning enemies, becoming a knight of renown; but the ultimate threat is to his very soul.
Malory’s Knights of Albion: The Black Chalice is the start of an exciting new fantasy series of never-before-seen Arthurian adventures.

-

Back Up On iTunes!

Hi all,

The much-anticipated (seriously; for, like, six months) return of the Abaddon & Solaris Books Podcast to the iTunes Store is finally here!

Find it here on iTunes, or go to the Store and search for "Abaddon and Solaris."

If you were already subcribed previously, you'll need to resubscribe.

You can also just go here to look at the feed direct, or to subscribe using an RSS application, like Outlook.

Cheers,

David

Gods of Manhattan Book Giveaway!

Wotcher all,

Graeme Flory over at Graeme's Fantasy Book Review is giving away some copies of Al Ewing's Pax Britannia: Gods of Manhattan. All you have to do to take part is tell him you're interested. Head on over to his blog to enter the comp!

Check It Out Here!

Cheers,

David

Podcast Episodes You Need To Catch Up On

Hey all,

So now that I've explained why you haven't heard anything from the Podcast for a bit, here's a little bit of an update on the 'casts you will have missed if you weren't already subscribed to us on iTunes.

Buckle your seatbelts...


Podcast #7: To the End of the Line

In the run up to the publication of Solaris Books' anthology of underground-travel-themed horror, The End of the Line, Editor-in-Chief Jon Oliver (who also edited the anthology) invited contributors Pat Cadigan and Adam LG Nevill to join him in the studio and talk about the book and their ideas on horror.


We also went to the pub with them later.


Podcast #8: A Year in Publishing

Editor-in-Chief Jon Oliver, Junior Editor Jenni Hill, and Desk Editor yours truly tuck ourselves away in the studio to look back on 2010 and ahead to 2011.


Podcast #9: The Welcoming Party

A time of welcomings. We welcome our generally mic-shy Account Manager Ben into the booth, we welcome our new PR Coordinator Michael Molcher to the company, and we welcome Jon and Ali's new baby Maia Oliver into the world.

Left to Right: Me, Ben Smith, Jenni Hill and Michael Molcher.

If these images and words intrigue you and you haven't already heard them,

Go and Listen Now

Cheers,

David

The Abaddon & Solaris Books Podcast (Update)

Hi all,

You may have been wondering what's been going on with the podcast for about six months, and you would be right to do so.

The reason we haven't announced any new podcasts is because, while we have been recording them and posting them, they haven't been going up on the iTunes Store, and that's the main link we use to direct people to the 'cast.

The reason for that is that the automated systems at iTunes got the link mixed up, somehow, and the tech support at Apple has been unable to resolve the issue for us (this isn't necessarily a criticism of Apple, you understand; it seems to have been an odd problem). We could have just posted the RSS link directly, of course, but the solution always seemed to be one more step away, so we wanted to leave it until we had the problem fixed.

Of course, weeks turned into months, with no result, so we should have just gone ahead. Apologies to those of you who look out for these posts to listen to the 'cast.

If you've been subscribed, you should have received the last two 'casts, so I hope you enjoyed them. The old link has been cancelled now, in the final (at the end of a loooong process) attempt to fix the problem, so now you'll all have to use the new RSS feed directly until the new link goes up in iTunes.

Which, I'm glad to say, should be a week or so away now! We've finally solved the problem (basically we gave up on the old podcast and started a totally new one; something else we should have just done right at the start) and the new 'cast should be available on iTunes shortly. I'll be sure and post about it when we do.

Until then, then, here is the

New RSS Feed for
The Abaddon and Solaris Books Podcast!

You can listen to the latest episodes directly here, and the new iTunes link will be posted soonish.

Keep reading for the run-down on the most recent episodes...

David

Reviewspammerification

Hey all,

Another quick round of reviews, not for any one title:

First off, Kerl at Un:Bound has offered up an enthusiastic review of Mike Wild's Twilight of Kerberos: The Engines of the Apocalypse:

With a full complement of bad, bad jokes, magic, intrigue, redemption and a smidge of drunken dimension hopping, the book remains a bouncy if slightly quirky read from end to end.

Secondly, Kerl seemed to like Paul Finch's Tomes of the Dead: Stronghold even more:

For a book where it’s hard to decide if there are “good guys” and if so, who they are, Tomes of the Dead: Stronghold is some good old zombie smushin’ read, with some of the most interesting ideas for use for the brainless dead I’ve seen in a while combined with some interesting little historical details that have obviously been well researched before publishing.

Thirdly, Greenspan at the Midwest Book Review was very impressed by Jon Green's Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus:

A riveting read of three novels that should definitely prove quite fascinating, The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus is a volume that will prove very hard to put down and very highly recommended.

Finally, George Wilhite at The Horror Review has clearly enjoyed our very newest zombie book, Toby Venables' Tomes of the Dead: Viking Dead, which has only just come back from the printers!

Fans of both horror and fantasy will enjoy this novel. It evokes the historical period well and has a nice fast pace. There is a very original twist in the final chapter explaining the origin of the draugr and at least two other nice twists I did not see coming.

So give them blogs some love and check 'em out.

Cheers,

David

Review Backlog: Gods of Manhattan

Hi all,

As I've just explained over at the Solaris blog, Jenni and I have been so busy - since, basically, the start of November - with our editing and proofing, that we've only really been able to occasionally jump on the blog. I know Jenni's been slightly more helpful than me at keeping you updated; I've been rubbish.

Anyway, inevitably, my "reviews" email folder has been spilling over in this time, with reviews and stuff we've found on the internet, and since I know you're faintly ambivalent always thrilled to hear about reviews, I've decided to try and catch up with them a bit - not in order, but grouped by title.

Second update: Al Ewing's Gods of Manhattan. All of the Pax Britannia books are a whole bunch of fun, and this is no exception. Pretty much everone who's read this book has loved it.

Here are some of the people who have...

SF Site's Nathan Brazil was "in luck" when he received the book, writing:

"The story is a curious coupling of the straightforward and the subtly devious, playing with archetypes and sometimes using them like blunt instruments, but also blending in conceptual complexities and cunning plot twists. Most of all, Gods of Manhattan is a book in which the characters are written in such a way as to make the reader feel as if one has always known them."

I get the feeling it wasn't entirely Total Sci-Fi Online's Brigid Cherry's cup of tea, but she still obviously felt it was well done:

"This is real pulp material, the stuff of brooding humour, gritty violence and all-out action, with rugged (super)heroes and sarky dames."

Emotionally Fourteen's Brad Harmer evidently thought it was a hoot:

"The action scenes are fantastically well written, and you can actually feel each and every impact as it strikes home. If this was a comic, it would be written and drawn by Mike Mignola. It plays into the conventions of the superhero story, without ever being hampered by them."

Finally, Graeme Flory of Graeme's Fantasy Book Review gave it an extraordinary 9 and three quarters out of ten:

"I can’t emphasise enough how much fun I had with Gods of Manhattan, a read with no pretensions other than to give its reader a ride like never before. Not only does it succeed but it does so in some style."

So lots of good responses there. What are you waiting for? Go and buy it!

David

Steampunk at Waterstones and the Vitruvian Fankenstein...

Wotcher all,

We're all pretty excited here at Abaddon Towers, as we're just sending Jon Green's seventh Ulysses Quicksilver adventure, Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein, to the printers. That means it's now only a matter of weeks away from hitting the shelves!

In Anno Frankenstein, dandy and adventurer Ulysses finds himself thrust back in time to the Second Great European War, to combat the horrific super-soldiers of Germany's top-secret Frankenstein Corps. Among other terrors, he will fight with - or alongside - werewolves, vampires, the extraordinary Edward Hyde, the beautiful agents of the Monstrous Regiment, and his own father, Hercules.

Quicksilver's (now, I suppose, "the Quicksilvers'") adventures are continuing to make a stir out there in the steampunkophile world, as evidenced at Waterstones's flagship store in Picadilly, which has put up this Steampunk promotional display.

Note particularly that we make two appearances on the shelf, which we share with some extremely good company - something that, otherwise, only China Mieville seems to have achieved:



This is what Waterstones's "Dave" has to say about the Quicksilver Omnibus:


"That's always good news, surely?" We certainly like to think so, Dave.

Anyway, the very last thing we put together for the book was a kind of "Vitruvian Frankenstein," named in honour of da Vinci's most famous sketch, to put in the section headers (to understand why, buy and read the book...). Our brilliant artist and designer Pye Parr drew it for us, and we thought we'd share it with you:



Just to get your juices flowing even more, be aware that this will be available as a free downloadable desktop, on a lovely old-paper background, a little closer to the launch date. Keep your eyes on the blog!

Cheers,

David

Scrolls Interviews

Scrolls is one of the finest literary podcasts around, so imagine how pleased we were when Dion Winton-Polak, creator of Scrolls, interviewed not one, but two of our Abaddon authors when we met him at the SFX Weekender.

The podcast has now gone up, with interviews from post-apocalyptic author Scott Andrews and steampunk author Jonathan Green from Abaddon, NYT-bestselling author James Lovegrove, sci-fi author Andy Remic from Solaris and also fantasy authors Joe Abercrombie and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Scrolls: Author Interviews

Dion says: "Authors by and large get very little direct feedback from their readers, so make their day and show them your love (and if you’ve enjoyed this episode of Scrolls, for goodness sake let them know that as well. It will increase the likelihood of them letting the bald-nutter-with-the-tiny-microphone interview them again in future.)"

You can contact Scrolls by tweeting @scrollscast, or e-mailing them on scrolls@hotmail.co.uk. Scrolls is now hosted by the dashing chaps of Geek Syndicate.

-

Photoblog - The SFX Weekender

So, finally posting some of the great photos we got from the SFX Weekender! Okay, so you had to wait, but do you remember the days when you had to wait at least a week for your holiday snaps? Well, pretend this is like that, alright?

The SFX Weekender saw a great turn-out from the authors of Abaddon Books!

We had Al Ewing, Jonathan Green and Scott Andrews with us for the weekend, signing books, selling books, scaring away loyal fans, singing karaoke, (because as we all know, Abaddon has a fine history of karaoke) and generally helping us spread the Abaddon message to more and more people. What is the Abaddon message, you say? We think it's MORE ZOMBIES. But send us your alternative suggestions...

Scott Andrews wears his Serious Author Face while signing books.

Jonathan Green meets his biggest fan! This guy had all of Jon's science fiction and fantasy books, even ones Jon didn't have copies of himself!

Al Ewing scares away the children. Whe people talk about the New Weird, they're talking about this man.

Al Ewing and Jonathan Green were on a panel, 'Dual Britannia' with the illustrious Bryan Talbot, China Miéville and Kate Griffin, about creating alternate Englands. It was a great panel, and we had a ton of people rush up to the dealer's room afterwards to check out their books!

The Abaddon Pub Hour was a great hit - where fans and authors alike sat down, with drinks, to talk about how to create pulp fiction novels, and to have a laugh brainstorming silly ideas for new pulp novels. You could hear people inside giggling and shouting their ideas even from outside the bar!

The most popular idea turned out to be full of bad puns, enter Mortal Wombat, a world where the time-travelling Dr. Hoof fights evil wombats... or something. David's chart might explain it better than I can.

So, a great time was had by all, thanks to all the authors and to all the fans who made time to meet us to tell us how much they love Abaddon! We love you guys too.

-

Empire of Salt up for the Bram Stoker!

Hi all,

This is properly cool. Like, "Holy f***ing c**p this is cool!" cool.

Weston Ochse's redneck-zombie-filled opus, the extraordinary Empire of Salt, has made it onto the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel!

If you're not sure what that is, the Preliminary Ballot is essentially the long-list. Members of the Horror Writers' Association vote on the preliminaries to produce the shortlist, from which the eventual winner will be selected. Making it onto the shortlist means that Ochse goes to the awards ceremony to sit, fingers and toes crossed, and see if he'll be recognised with the most prestigious award in horror writing.

And it's not a long long-list either. The final ballot will, if I recall correctly, consist of five books; the preliminary ballot only has eleven. This is essentially the HWA's recognition that Empire is one of the eleven best horror novels of 2010.

Hell of an achievement, even if it doesn't go any further. And, you know, it might. You can even help; do you know anyone in the HWA? Bother them! Leave copies of Empire lying around significantly when they come to visit. Frequently remind them of how cool a book it is. Mention how, maybe, you'd like to bear Weston's child, if the option were there. That sort of thing.

So, anyway, awesome news. Well done, Weston. We're dead chuffed for you.

Cheers,

David

New PR contact for Rebellion and Abaddon Books

Computer game developer and book publisher Rebellion has appointed Michael Molcher as its new PR coordinator.

One of the largest independent games development studios in Europe, Rebellion also publishes the legendary British comic book 2000 AD, as well as the critically-acclaimed science-fiction and fantasy book imprints, Solaris and Abaddon Books.

Michael's role will be to coordinate the PR across the Rebellion group, supporting the developers and editors to maximise awareness of the firm's new and existing products.

He will be working with industry and fan contacts to boost awareness of the firm's fantastic brands, as well as establishing a greater presence in markets in both the UK and abroad.

He joins the innovative games developer and publishing house in Oxford after five years as a press officer for the second largest local authority in England, Leeds City Council, following a career as a local journalist in Rochdale and Harrogate.

For the past five years, he has also been a feature writer for 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine, for which he has interviewed some of the biggest names in British comics such as Carlos Ezquerra, Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons.

Jason Kingsley, CO of Rebellion, said:
“I'm delighted to have Michael on board at Rebellion, he'll be working closely with our fantastic creative teams to bring our games, books and comics to audiences both at home in the UK or abroad.
“Whether on the games front or in the pages of 2000 AD and our book imprints, 2011 is promising to be a great year for Rebellion.“

Michael said:
“I've been reading 2000 AD since I was 11 and was a science-fiction fan well before that, so to now be part of the team at Rebellion is really exciting.
“It's shaping up to be a fantastic year ahead for Rebellion – with everything from the new Dredd movie to great titles from Abaddon Books and new releases for Solaris from debut and New York Times Best Selling authors.
“Bringing these to new and existing audiences alike is going to be both thrilling and challenging.”

For press releases, review copies and interview requests,

please e-mail Michael Molcher or call 01865 797 016

www.rebellion.co.uk

www.2000ADonline.com

www.abaddonbooks.com

www.solarisbooks.com

SFX Weekender Here We Come!

Wotcher all,

We're just about packed and ready to head off to the SFX Weekender, where we hope to see a bunch of you chaps and chapesses for chats, signings, buying our books, buying us beer, and good times.

Couple of highlights we need to let you know about:

- Al Ewing's on a panel at 4pm on Friday about horror in the 21st Century in the cinema room.

- Al's back with Jon Green at 11.45 on Saturday to talk about Alternative Londons (in particular, their experiences with the Pax Britannia series...)

- Al, Jon, Rebecca Levene, Scott Andrews and anyone else we can grab while we're there will be in the pub at 2pm on Saturday for the "Abaddon Pub Hour," when you'll get a chance to talk to your Abaddon authors, get books signed, and ask questions that have been on your minds the whole time you've been reading our stuff.

Finally, Jenni and I (and Ben, for some of the time) will be at the Abaddon traders' stall both days, and will be more than happy to chat with people and generally get our groove on. You'll also probably find Al, Jon, Bex, Scott and others hanging around our stall at one time or another, and we'll have signed copies of our books on sale and stuff like that.

We'll also be blogging, tweeting and vlogging all weekend (I know, I know, I said I was going to do those three vlogs in January; it's been a busier month than I expected), and bothering people in the bar in the evenings.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

David

News from the pit of Abaddon

Good morning/afternoon/evening to you all

It is I again, your evil overlord/commissioning editor, here with new and exciting news.

First things first, I'm delighted to welcome back two writers to the Abaddon fold. The first is that beardy man wonder that is Al Ewing. Mr Al Ewing - who knows no fear, channels mighty forces through his pen and laughs in the face of death - will be returning to the Pax Britannia universe with Pax Britannia: Pax Omega. If you thought Al's previous novels were wide-ranging in scope, mental as a box of kittens and terrifyingly inventive - you 'aint seen nothing yet. Pax Omega takes us all the way to year one million, showing us wondrous sights along the way.

Next up, is Weston Ochse, our American brother in genre. Weston did a brilliant job for us with Tomes of The Dead: Empire of Salt, so it's a delight to welcome him back with an Afterblight Chronicles title. We're still working on the actual title of the novel, but if you know Weston, you know that you're in for a roller-coaster action ride delivered with Weston's usual wit and eye for character.

See, told you the news was exciting didn't I? Anyway, more soon from us.

Happy reading

Simon Bestwick's Tide of Souls ebook

Simon Bestwick, author of Abaddon's Tide of Souls, has been interviewed by fellow zombie author Wayne Simmons at his blog.

Which reminds us, Simon's zombie thriller Tide of Souls has recently become available to buy as a kindle ebook, on amazon.com, and amazon.co.uk.

IT’S NOT JUST THE WATERS RISING...

Flash floods devastate Britain. But the terror is just starting, as an army of the living dead emerge from the waters to hunt down the survivors. For Katja, after a year held captive by a brutal vice ring, it’s a constant fi ght to stay alive, but also a chance to win her freedom.
McTarn, an ex-soldier haunted by his past, is press-ganged into a mission to retrieve a scientist from an isolated village. When floods cut them off, he has to fight both the walking dead and his own demons to protect his men.
Stiles is the man they sent McTarn to fetch. Although apparently insane, he may be McTarn and Katja’s only chance to halt the legions of the dead closing in on their refuge in the bleak Lancashire hills. And if they fail, death will be the least they have to suffer…

“Simon Bestwick writes as if words were his – and our – only possible means of salvation.” – Joel Lane

“Simon Bestwick’s work is invested with the kind of emotional integrity that’s all too rare in fiction. His writing bears the indelible mark of quality.”
– Conrad Williams

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Al Ewing Interview (Not By Us)!

Hey all,

Al barely gets the time to breathe between being interviewed these days. Seems Ed Kaye, over at Hypergeek in Canada, has interviewed everyone's favourite bearded lumberjack-slash-serial-killer.

Here it is!

Al's on top form. "I need to grab you by the heart first, the balls second, the mind third and any other body parts are gravy."

Cheers for tweeting us the link, Ed.

David

The Kitschies

Good afternoon Abaddonians

We've just received some great news from our friends over at Pornokitsch that Scott Andrew's third Afterblight Chronicles novel, Children's Crusade, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Kitschsie award. As you can see, it's in very good company, featuring alongside the likes of China Mieville and Lauren Beukes.

Obviously we have everything crossed for Mr Andrews to be the winner. In the meantime, why not check out Scott's brilliant Afterblight trilogy? You will not be disappointed:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and best wishes from all at Abaddon Books for 2011!

So you can see all the great books we've got coming up in 2011, we've uploaded the Solaris and Abaddon 2011 UK catalogue for you. Download the pdf here!




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Final Vlog of the Year!

Hi all,

Merry Christmas!



That is all.

David

A Very Zombie Holiday

Hey yo,

A bunch of whacky kids called Team Unicorn has created this helpful instructional video for how to deal with a Zombie Apocalypse during the holiday season:



The things you find on YouTube, huh?

David