Some Recent Press Releases

Okay, a quick post today, gathering together some of the press releases I've recently been sent (you might well have seen these elsewhere!)

First up is from Simon at Spectral Press:

SPECTRAL PRESS Volume 1: WHAT THEY HEAR IN THE DARK – Gary McMahon

“An absence is more terrifying than a presence…

Rob and Becky bought the old place after the death of their son, to repair and renovate – to patch things up and make the building habitable.

They both knew that they were trying to fix more than the house, but the cracks in their marriage could not be papered over.

Then they found the Quiet Room.”

“Gary McMahon’s horror is heartfelt...” –Tim Lebbon

22pg A5 print booklet with card covers, signed and numbered, 100 only – published January 2011.

Available from the publishers - Spectral Press, 5 Serjeants Green, Neath Hill, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK14 6HA, UK for £3 (plus 50p P+P) either through Paypal (spectralpress@gmail.com) or cheque (made payable to ‘Simon Marshall-Jones’) to the address above. Subscriptions for 2011 issues (3) available for £10 – payment details as above. US/RoW please email for prices to your countries...

Web: spectralpress.wordpress.com

Email: spectralpress@gmail.com

I have already purchased mine and am looking forward to receiving this in January!

Secondly, I have news from H&H Books, a new eBook publishing company:

H&H Books is a new eBook publishing company, specialising in science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction.

The brainchild of writer Scott Harrison, and editor Lee Harris, H&H is a non-profit organisation, and will publish works to benefit a number of charitable causes.

The company’s first project is an anthology of flash fiction, entitled Voices from the Past. Over twenty authors have already pledged their support, including Alastair Reynolds, Paul Magrs, Jasper Fforde and Paul Cornell.

The anthology – which will be edited by Harrison and Harris – will be sold for just 59p/$0.99 through all major eBook outlets, with 100% of proceeds benefiting Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

Scott Harrison commented: “Flash fiction is ideally suited to the electronic format, and with over 20 stories for less than the cost of a can of cola, it’s also a fantastic way to donate to an extremely worthy cause.”

Voices from the Past will be published in April 2011 to coincide with the Illustrious SF convention in the UK.

 This sounds like an absolutely wonderful endeavour and I wish Messrs H & H the very best of luck!

Lastly, more news from that Mr Harrison chap - this time alongside the irrepressible Johnny Mains:

The two chaps are co-authoring a novel called Whitby, aiming to take the Dracula legend and expand upon it. Check out the blurb below:

Whitby, North Yorkshire. 1936.

It has been nearly 40 years since journalist Raymond Peakes wrote his original piece on the great storm and the arrival of the Russian schooner ‘Demeter’ to the small fishing village in the dead of night. And now, all Peakes wants to do is forget the past and move on. But the dead just won’t stay buried.

Once more, Raymond Peakes is forced to face the past; to recount his tale of strange happenings and blackest deeds

A tale that began with the arrival of the Demeter.

Believing the ship to be cursed, the superstitious locals want it burned, before it can be sailed back to Varna. But a mysterious group calling themselves the Low Hall Brethren have other plans, staking claim to several items found on board.

As illness and death stalk the sleepy little town, Peakes begins to investigate claims of the dead walking the streets at night, unaware of the monster that has been praying upon the community, in order to slake his thirst for blood.

Count Dracula.

Halted in his seduction of Lucy Westenra by her friend Mina Harker, Dracula has turned his attention upon the inhabitants of Whitby, infecting the town with the ancient curse of the undead.

As the community descends into hysteria, the church wants Whitby destroyed, purifying the evil with fire. The town’s only hope is for Peake to join forces with the shadowy Clerec Robueter, leader of the Low Hall Brethren, the only person who seems to know exactly what is going on and, more importantly, how this nightmare can be stopped.

Intriguing, non? Once again, I wish them all the best (and secretly wonder how Scott Harrison *ever* sleeps!)

Happy reading!