*For Contractual Reasons Certain Edits Have Been Made

New Author

2012-01-10T08:09:00.003Z

Unfortunately, due to a punishing work schedule and being inexplicably ambushed by a glut of New Year deadlines, Tanith Lee has had to pull out of the Resurrection Engines anthology.

Obviously it’s a great disappointment not only to myself and Snowbooks, but also to Tanith herself, who was very excited by the project and was looking forward enormously to writing a story for the anthology.

The good news, however, is that we are very excited and privileged to welcome Steampunk novelist Alan K. Baker aboard instead, who will now be contributing a story to the anthology.

Alan is the author of the Blackwood and Harrington Mystery novels The Martian Ambassador and The Feaster From The Stars.

You will be happy to know that all other writers for the anthology remain unchanged, and are listed below.

Brian Herbert & Bruce Taylor
Philip Palmer
Lavie Tidhar
Adam Roberts
George Mann
Juliet E. McKenna
Alan K. Baker
Alison Littlewood
Simon Bucher-Jones
Scott Harrison
Rachel E. Pollock
Roland Moore
Jim Mortimore
Cavan Scott
Kim Lakin-Smith
Paul Magrs

Resurrection Engines: 16 Tales of Extraordinary Scientific Roomance with be published 1st June in hardback.

The Madness From The Sea - Sneak Peek

2012-01-06T14:04:00.008Z

Hot on the heals of the recent front cover unveiling for the comic book Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology, I can now bring you a sneak peek of my story The Madness From The Sea, thanks to the kind permission of editor Stacey Whittle.

Last autumn artist Lee Grice and I enthusiastically began work on a short horror piece for the anthology, which was enormous fun to do. It took a couple of weeks to write the script then I passed it along to Lee so he could start work on pencilling the piece.

Here we have two panels from the story, one from the first page and one from the fifth and final page. Please note although these are the finished pieces of artwork they have not yet been lettered.

The title panel from Page 1

Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology will feature nine five-page short stories from various writers and artists such as Sara Dunkerton, Rich McAuliffe, Matt Gibbs, Alice Duke and Daniel Clifford.

Panel from Page 5 showing...well, you'll have to wait and see what this is all about!

The book will be published in February and launched at the forthcoming Cardiff Comic Expo. To keep updated with more news on the book and the comic world visit Stacey's blog - Whittle Waffle.

Artwork by Lee Grice

Comic Book Anthology Cover

2012-01-04T16:18:00.002Z

Over on her blog site, editor Stacey Whittles has finally unveiled the cover for the forthcoming comic book collection Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology, and it’s an absolute beauty.

I’m absolutely delighted to have a story in this wonderful book, which will contain 9 very short comic book stories (each only 5 pages long). My story is an odd little horror tale set in a small coastal fishing village in the closing years of Queen Victoria’s reign, called The Madness From The Sea, drawn by the wonderful Lee Grice.

The anthology will be released this February at the Cardiff Comic Expo.

New Year

2012-01-03T12:31:00.007Z

2011 has been a good year for me both professionally and personally, and it looks like 2012 will be even better.

Most importantly (and most excitingly) we have finally set a date for our wedding, and preparations are well underway. On October 20th, just 9 months time, my fiancée, Linzi, will become Mrs Harrison.

Professionally, in the past twelve months, I’ve had a handful of short stories published in some very exciting anthologies - some in gorgeous hardback, others in eBook or audiobook form, I’ve been commissioned to write a novel for a new, exciting SF range, as well as an audio play and a number of stories to be written for a diverse range of genre publications.

I have gotten to know and befriend some very talented and generous people, many of which I admire professionally - I have been fortunate enough to work with most of them and it has been an absolute pleasure. As a writer I have learned a great deal about my craft from some very perspicacious editors, who, with their kind words, comments and suggestions, have improved every successive piece I have written and submitted over the past year, making me a better writer now than I have ever been.

Over the past few weeks I have decided upon a number of ‘rules’ I intend to implement in the opening weeks of 2012 – not so much New Year’s Resolutions as Professional Resolutions.

- To work damned hard, harder than I have ever worked before. My days will be taken up with writing, editing, redrafting - constantly and repeatedly.
- To keep my blog updated regularly with news, views and reviews.
- To write at least one piece of flash fiction per month and post it on my new fiction site.
- To be much firmer in my role as editor; namely no longer tolerating any discourtesy, rude or inappropriate correspondence.
- To get out to as many conventions, launches and readings as I possibly can.
- To have as much fun in my job as is humanly possible!

Here’s a brief overview of my writing and editing projects coming in 2012:

WRITING:
Novel – Which will be officially announced in the next couple of weeks!!
Short Story #1 – ‘Shadow Theory’ to be published in an SF anthology.
Short Story #2 – ‘Marley’s Ghost’ to be published in a ghost anthology
Short Story #3 – ‘Untitled Steampunk Story’ to be published in Resurrection Engines: 16 Extraordinary Tales of Scientific Romance.
Short Story #4 – ‘Hidden Track’ to be published in Thirteen audio anthology
Short Story #5 – ‘Untitled SF Story’ to be published in The End audio anthology
Comic Book Story – 'The Madness From The Sea' to be published in Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology in February
Audio Play – to be released on CD in late 2012 / early 2013
Novel - 'Whitby' co-written with writer/editor Johnny Mains (still in progress)

EDITOR:
Modern Masters of Audio – first audiobook released in March / April
Steampunk Anthology – to be published by Snowbooks on 1st June
Modern Masters of Audio – second audiobook to be released later in 2012

A Happy New Year to everyone!!

Advent Fact

2011-12-24T07:53:00.004Z

Christmas Eve is celebrated in a variety of different ways around the world, depending upon which country you are in…

In Ethiopia Christmas Eve is called Ganna and is actually celebrated on January 6th when a procession of Christian priests carrying colourfully decorated umbrellas parade through the town streets. The parade ends at the local churches where mass is held.

The Philippines has the distinction of being the country with the world’s longest Christmas celebrations, which often begin as early as September 1st. The nine-day masses begin on December 16th in their traditional Spanish, ending on Christmas Eve, which is traditionally declared a non-working day along with December 28th (Niños Inocentes), December 30th (known as Rizal Day after the execution of Jose Rizal in 1896), December 31st (New Years Day) and Epiphany (the first Sunday of January).

For those in the Czech Republic and Slovakia Christmas Eve is known as Generous Day, or Štědrý den in their own langauge, and is the day when gifts are given in the evening, said to have been delivered to the houses by Ježíšek (Baby Jesus). December 24th is traditionally a time of fasting for both the adults and the children, with feasting reserved for 25th and 26th of December.

The tradition of gift giving on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day in Germany first began in the 16th Century, during the reformation, when Martin Luther suggested that the emphasis of Christmas should be on Christ’s birth. The gifts are delivered by Weihnachtsmann (the Christmas Man) and Christmas trees are put up and decorated first thing in the morning.

However, in my house, Christmas Eve is traditionally celebrated by opening big tins of Quality Streets and Celebrations, and sitting down to watch Santa Claus: The Movie and Morecambe & Wise specials with a mince pie and a glass of something festive!

"Merry Christmas"

Advent Fact

2011-12-23T07:52:00.004Z

Over the years the use of the word 'Xmas' has often caused anger and annoyance amongst people, many considering it a lazy or disrespectful term, a secular attempt to remove the religious element from the Christmas tradition. But the word is, in fact, hundreds of years old, with the 'X' deriving from Χριστος, the Greek word for Christ, often abbreviated as XP or Xt.

Variations on the name 'Christ' have been noted as far back as 1021AD, while derivations of the word 'Xmas', can be traced back to at least 1485.

Advent Fact

2011-12-22T11:32:00.003Z

The term Mistletoe is believed to derive from the old Anglo-Saxon words Mistal and Tan, which roughly translates as 'dung twig'; it's scientific name, however, 'Phoradendron' means 'Thief of the Tree'.

Although not strictly classified as a parasitical plant it does actually come very close to being one. Its seeds are very sticky and attach themselves to the fur and beaks of animals in order to travel great distances. Once they have fallen near a host tree, they sink their roots into the ground and steal all of the nutrients for itself.

Advent Fact

2011-12-21T09:20:00.004Z

There are many variations on the Father Christmas figure that appear around the world, here are just a few:

In France there is Pere Noel who, along with Pere Fouchette (a sort of Anti-Santa), visits all the homes leaving presents for the children who have been good, and switches (a flexible wooden rod used in corporal punishment) for the parents of the children who have been bad.

In China there is Dun Che Lao Ren, or Old Man Christmas, who brings presents to all the people in celebration of Sheng Dan Jieh (roughly translated - Holy Birth).

In Italy Le Befana a friendly witch who visits children's homes on January 5th, climbing down the chimney holding either a bell or a cane. For the waiting children the bell indicates that they have been good and will receive presents, the cane, however, means the child has been bad and will receive only a lump of coal.

In Russia Ded Moraz (Grandfather Frost or Father Frost) delivers presents to the children on New Year's Eve. In appearance Ded Moraz looks strikingly similar to Father Christmas but does not live at the North Pole, instead he resides at Veliky Ustyug a town in the northeast of Vologda, Russia, where the Sukhona and Yug Rivers meet.

Advent Facts

2011-12-20T11:22:00.004Z

In the 19th Century it was considered unlucky to cut a Christmas cake before dawn on 24th December (back then it was traditionally only eaten on Christmas Eve).

It was, however, consider unlucky to cut a mince pie with a knife, regardless of the day. The origins of the mince pie can be traced back to the 13th century when returning crusaders brought back recipes containing fruit and spices back from the Middle East.

Over the years the mince pie has been known under many names, such as Shrid Pie, Christmas Pie and bizarrely even Mutton Pie.

Advent Fact

2011-12-16T09:14:00.006Z

Popularly known as Santa's Ninth Reindeer, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was originally created in 1939 by a copy-writer named Robert L. May in a poem for his employer, retailer Montgomery Ward, as part of their Christmas promotional drive.

The poem, entitled simply Ruldolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, which was written to the meter of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' (see December 8th entry) was published in its own booklet and given away in store (up until that point the retailer bought colouring books to give away at Christmas, but decided to save money by creating their own giveaway book). For that first year of publication over 2.4 million copies of the booklet were given away to customers.

Ten years later Johnny Marks - the brother-in-law of Rudolph creator Robert L. May - adapted the poem as a hit song, which remains as popular today.

Advent Fact

2011-12-15T08:53:00.004Z

The Christmas tree that stands in Trafalgar Square every Christmas is actually a gift from Norway given annually since 1947, as a token of appreciation for the friendship and support the British gave to the Norwegian people during the hostilities of World War II (also throughout the war the country's government, along with Prince Olav, lived in exile in London).

In late Autumn the Lord Major of Westminster traditionally visits Oslo and helps in the felling of the tree, after which the Major of Oslo travels to London to perform the lighting of the tree at the Christmas ceremony.

Advent Fact

2011-12-14T08:17:00.004Z

The modern day figure of Father Christmas is based on Fourth Century Greek bishop Saint Nicholas (also known as Nikolaos of Myra), the only son of wealthy Christian parents, who became one of the youngest bishops at the age of 17.

There are many stories and legends surrounding the life of Nicholas, one being that he would often be seen dressed in his red and white bishop's robes, riding on a donkey and handing out gifts to children and the needy.

December 6th is St Nicholas Day, a festival for children in many countries in Europe (19th December in most Orthodox countries). The night before the festival, children leave their shoes by the fireplace or outside the bedroom door in the hope of a visit from the great saint, and that they will find them filled with presents the next morning.

Advent Fact

2011-12-13T10:44:00.002Z

The Christmas cracker was invented in 1847 by Thomas J. Smith, a sweet maker who was attempting to boost the poor sales of his 'bon bon' sweets.

After the idea of putting mottos in the wrappers of his sweets failed to catch on, Smith devised the cracker which would contain a motto, a paper hat and one of his own sweets. The sweet maker got the idea for the 'crack' that the cracker would make when pulled from the crackle of his own log fire. The sweet was, of course, very soon replaced by a small gift.

'Thirteen' Horror Anthology

2011-12-12T12:52:00.006Z

In a rare lull between various writing projects, the stories for the new audio horror anthology Thirteen have now been completed and delivered into the hands of producer / director Neil Gardner.

The anthology, which was first announced earlier this year, will hark back to those wonderful old horror LPs of the 1970s and 80s, and feature audio readings of brand new stories from some of the most respected names writing in the horror genre, including Stephen Gallagher, Kim Newman and Kaaron Warren.

The full TOC for the anthology is:

Edited by Scott Harrison

Side A:
01 – Dead Space by George Mann
02 – A Girl, Sitting by Mark Morris
03 – Finding The Path by Kaaron Warren
04 – The Hairstyle Of The Devil by Martin Day
05 – Down by Gary McMahon
06 – Tabula Rasa by Alasdair Stuart

Side B:
07 – Half Life by Dan Abnett
08 – With Her In Spirit by Stephen Gallagher
09 – Visions by Cavan Scott
10 – One Hit Wanda by Kim Newman
11 – A Glass Of Water by Mark Wright
12 – Ghost Pit by Simon Clark
13 – I Wish by Johnny Mains
(14) – Hidden Track by Scott Harrison

Recording should begin on the anthology early in the New Year, and will be available as an MP3 download first, with a physical CD pencilled in for release later.

Further information, including confirmation of who will be reading the stories, will be added on this blog as soon as the information becomes available.

Advent Facts

2011-12-12T08:39:00.002Z

December 26th is actually called St Stephen’s Day, and has only recently become referred to as Boxing Day in the past few hundred years. Although it remains unclear as to how it acquired this name, one theory has it that it is due to tradesmen in the UK collecting their ‘Christmas boxes’ (money or presents) from their customers on the first day after Christmas, while another theory believes it may have come from the lords and ladies of England who would traditionally give gifts wrapped up in boxes to their servants on December 26th.

In 1647 the English Parliament, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, made the celebrating of Christmas illegal by law. This has never actually been repealed so technically it is still illegal to eat mince pies and Christmas pud!

Early depictions of Father Christmas’ often portrayed him in a variety of different coloured costumes, depending on which country you were in. From the 1920s onwards it was agreed that the colour of his costume should be red. Contrary to popular misconception, this had absolutely nothing to do with Coca Cola Company.

Advent Fact & Story

2011-12-09T09:43:00.003Z

The Twelve Days of Christmas refers to the period known as Christmastide (also known as Twelvetide) beginning on Christmas Day and concluding with Epiphany on January 5th, a point that commemorates, in the Western Christian calendar, the visitation of the Magi to the baby Jesus, or the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River in the Eastern Christian calendar – although both ‘acts’ are seen as Christ’s manifestation as the Son of God to the world.

Nowadays, the Twelfth Day of Christmas is viewed as the official end of the Christmas festivities and the day on which both Christmas decorations and tree are taken down.

From January I intend to post regular pieces of flash fiction (1000 words or less) on a sister blog site every week. So, as a prelude to this…

In December of last year my festive flash fiction story The Wintermachine was published in Dark Fiction’s wonderful Christmas anthology 'Twelve Days', a collection based around the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was released as an eBook and as an Audiobook, and both can still be downloaded from Dark Fiction’s website HERE.

For my story (a Steampunk / Supernatural tale set in an alternate blitz-torn London around Christmas of 1940) I chose the Ninth Day of Christmas – Nine Ladies Dancing, and gave it a little twist.

OK, so I know that the Ninth Day of Christmas is actually January 2nd, but as this Advent blog only goes up to Christmas Eve, I thought I’d post this on December 9th instead. For those that missed it, here’s the audio reading of my story, it’s only 8mins 30secs long.

The Wintermachine
(Read by Kim Laikin-Smith)

Advent Fact

2011-12-08T09:52:00.003Z

Clement Clark Moore’s 1823 children’s poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (better known under the titles Twas The Night Before Christmas and The Night Before Christmas) is largely responsible for the creation of the modern iconic image of Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) that we recognise today, not just in the US but across the entire world.

Moore’s poem not only was the first to explain the job of Father Christmas (entering family homes via the chimney on Christmas Eve, in order to deliver presents) but went on to describe in detail his physical appearance, the now traditional costume, his reindeers and their names, and the fact that he rides a magical sleigh that flies through the night air.

However, controversy rages to this day over the authorship of the poem (which was originally published anonymously in the New York Sentinal) with many scholars believing it to be the work of Major Henry Livingston Jr., a distant relation of Moore’s wife, rather than Moore himself.

Advent Fact

2011-12-07T09:07:00.001Z

The word ‘Advent’ comes from the Latin ‘Adventus’ meaning ‘Coming’ or ‘Arrival’, and was established in the Sixth Century by Pope Gregory.

For the Orthodox Church, Advent (also known as ‘Winter Lent’, ‘Nativity Fast’ or ‘St. Phillip’s Fast’) begins 40 days before Christmas, during which time such things as alcohol, fish, meat and dairy products are slowly cut out of their daily intake, along with popular entertainment such as television. Orthodox Christians believe that Advent is a time for peace and quiet reflection, leading up to the celebrations of Christmas.

Before the establishment of the Christian Advent, Romans commonly used the term ‘Adventus’ to refer to the celebrated coming of the Roman Emperor.

Advent Fact

2011-12-06T09:34:00.003Z

The first commercial Christmas card was originally conceived in Italy in 1843 by John Calcott Horsley at the behest of English civil servant and inventor Sir Henry Cole, who wished to raise awareness of the terrible and desolate living conditions of the poor, and encourage people to help those less fortunate than themselves.

The first cards depicted a happy family drinking wine with the now familiar phrase "A Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year To You" (see below). Although they initially proved controversial they were, however, an immediate success, selling a total of 2,050 cards at a shilling each.

Advent Facts

2011-12-05T11:09:00.007Z

The Royal Christmas Day Speech began 79 years ago with King George V who addressed the nation via radio. It was Queen Elizabeth II, back in 1957, whose Christmas message was the first to be televised.

The word ‘Christmas’ derives from the old English ‘Cristes Maesse’ meaning ‘Mass of Christ’.

The tradition of using an evergreen tree to celebrate the Winter season actually began before the dates given by the Christian calendar for the birth of Christ.

If you were to receive all the gifts listed in the lyrics of the popular Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ you would be the recipient of a whopping 364 presents.

Advent Fact

2011-12-01T10:40:00.003Z

Between the years of 1840 and 1945, the glassmaking German town of Lauscha (a word which translates as ‘eaves-dropper’) in the mountains of Nuremberg, supplied the entire globe with glass tree baubles for over 100 consecutive Christmases almost single-handedly.

The local glassmakers of the town conceived the idea of making glass decorations to hang on the Christmas tree (replacing the then traditional fruit and candy), resulting in almost every house in the town being converted into a little glassmaking factory to meet rising demands.

New Steampunk Anthology

2011-11-29T13:02:00.011Z

I’m incredibly thrilled and delighted to announce a new Steampunk anthology I am currently editing and writing for, featuring sixteen brand new stories from some of the most exciting and critically acclaimed writers working in the genres of SF, Fantasy & Steampunk today, scheduled to be published on 1st June 2012 by UK publishers Snowbooks.

The anthology will feature writers such as Brian Herbert, co-writer of the Dune sequels and Fantasy & Horror legend Tanith Lee, contributing Steampunk stories that will reimagine some of our most beloved classic works of fiction; such as Sherlock Holmes, Carnacki, H. Rider Haggard, Jekyll & Hyde and White Fang.

What would these timeless, classic stories be like if they had been written in an alternate reality to ours; a reality where Ebenezer Scrooge is taken to an alternate Steampunk Christmas that never happened by the Ghost of Christmas Sideways, or Robin Hood fights in the Holy Land against the forces of darkness in the fourth steam-powered Crusades?

The full line-up is;

Resurrection Engines:
16 Extraordinary Tales of Scientifc Romance

01 - Philip Palmer
02 - Brian Herbert & Bruce Taylor
03 - Adam Roberts
04 - Tanith Lee & John Kaiine
05 - Lavie Tidhar
06 - Juliet E. McKenna
07 - George Mann
08 - Kim Laikin-Smith
09 - Roland Moore
10 - Scott Harrison
11 – Jim Mortimore
12 – Alison Littlewood
13 – Paul Magrs
14 – Simon Bucher-Jones
15 – Cavan Scott
16 - Rachel E. Pollock

Edited by Scott Harrison

More details of titles and cover designs will be added as we get nearer to publication date. Meanwhile, for more information on other books published by Snowbooks, you can visit there website by clicking the link – http://www.snowbooks.co.uk/

-- Coming Soon – future projects for 2012! --

Novel – A TV tie-in novel to be published in mid-to-late 2012.

The Madness From Beyond The Sea – my short comic book story with artwork by Lee Grice will be appearing in the comic book anthology Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology, edited by Stacey Whittle, to be published some time at the beginning of next year.

A Romance In Electronic Parts

2011-11-15T16:38:00.004Z

It's just come to my attention that the Obverse Books' anthology, Faction Paradox: A Romance In Twelve Parts, is now available as an eBook.

I know that many people have asked me over the past few months if the book will be available in the electronic format - well, now it is, and you can download it immediately from their website for a mere six hundred and ninety-nine copper coins of the realm.

That's £6.99 to you and me. Bargain!

I've also been meaning to post the links to some of the wonderful reviews that the collection has been garnering, from various writers, reviewers and book aficionados; including the hugely talented author Simon A. Forward.

Here are a few links. I shall try and add more as they come to my attention:

Daniel Tessier - http://danieltessier.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-faction-paradox-romance-in.html

Simon A. Forward - http://prefectjournal.blogspot.com/2011/07/factions-got-talent.html

Andrew Hickey - http://andrewhickey.info/2011/06/09/faction-paradox-a-romance-in-twelve-parts/

Re-Watching The Fifth Doctor - The Visitation

2011-08-22T12:35:00.016+01:00

A 37 year old man and an 8 year old boy set out on a viewing journey 29 years apart...

August 2011. I love The Visitation. Always have. Always will. Not only is it my favourite Fifth Doctor story, but it is on one of my favourite Doctor Who stories, full stop. The reasons why are many: It’s a cracking story, it has a lovely historical setting (as we all know, Auntie Beeb have the knack when it comes to historical dramas), it has a good, solid alien monster, an android dressed as death, Michael Robbins’ wonderfully fruity performance, the death of the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor being responsible for the Great Fire of London…

But above all, the character of the Fifth Doctor is at his very best in this story.

Here we see a much gruffer, edgier character than the one he would eventually become by the end of his first season. Short tempered, sulky and sarcastic, this is the closest we get to the ‘old man in a young man’s body’ we were promised at the beginning - with definite shades of the Hartnell Doctor sprinkled throughout.

Of all the Fifth Doctor stories, The Visitation is the one that has stuck with me the most, thanks, in no small part, to Alan Road’s marvellous book Doctor Who: The Making of a Television Series, released the same year, which uses this story as an example of how a typical Doctor Who story is made. As a Doctor Who fan this was my bible growing up and I must have read it from cover to cover a hundred times. Luckily it’s still in good shape and remains a valuable and much loved part of my book collection to this day.

February 1982. This is really exciting. This is the first time the Doctor has gone back in time for years and years^*1. Usually he goes to alien planets or fights monsters in the present day or lands on spaceships in the future. It’s great to think that the TARDIS landed on Earth hundreds of years ago and had exiting adventures long before I was born.

I love the Terileptils too, they’re just like how proper alien monsters are supposed to look - big, green and scaly. They remind me of the Marshmen^*2 - I loved them too!

I play Doctor Who with my best friend Shaun Cowley every dinnertime at my house; I’m the Doctor and Shaun is Adric and we use my mum’s laundry basket as the TARDIS console – the tall basket with the pointy lid that ends in a handle that looks like the time rotor.

I sometimes play it in the school playground too with a load of my friends. Down on the tarmaced yard that has the while lines marked out on it, we pretend that these are the room layouts for the TARDIS. There are 6 boxes marked out altogether. The Console Room, Adric’s room, Nyssa & Tegan’s room, the Zero room, the Cloister room and the Boot Cupboard.

Sometimes I take my Doctor Who book to school, the one that shows how they make the Terileptil story and show the teacher. She likes Doctor Who as well.

In the Mighty 200 poll in Doctor Who Magazine in 2009 The Visitation charted at a quite respectable No.77, placing it the 6^th most popular Fifth Doctor story after Caves of Androzani, Earthshock, The Five Doctors, Kinda and Enlightenment. Not a bad sprinkling of stories to be beaten by (although, having said this, it was also beaten by the Second Doctor story Fury From The Deep, a story that no longer exists AT ALL in the BBC archives. I’ve always been baffled by how something no longer available to watch can score higher than something that is. But, that’s Doctor Who fans for you!). My affection for this story is so strong that, if I were ever invited onto Desert Island Who (should it ever be invented one day), this would be my choice for the Fifth Doctor entry.^*3

Footnotes:

- 1: Last time was Horror Of Fang Rock back in 1977. Stories like Androids Of Tara or State Of Decay don't count, as they're set on alien planets.

- 2: Full Circle again. It was one story that really left a lasting impression on me. Plus, around this time, I had it on story discs for the View-Master.

- 3: If you're interested the others are; The Daleks, The War Games, The Mind Of Evil, The Talons Of Weng-Chiang or Logopolis (I'm undecided), The Trial Of A Time Lord (I love it, so there!!), Curse Of Fenric, Bad Wolf/Parting Of The Ways, Stolen Earth/Journey's End and Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.

Dark Fiction's Voices Audiobook

2011-08-16T11:11:00.011+01:00

Dark Fiction Magazine’s latest audiobook is a wonderful little collection that features brand new audio readings of short stories taken from the recent charity eBook anthology Voices From The Past (edited by myself and Lee Harris.)

The audiobook contains my grisly little Steampunk tale set in the blitz-torn London of an alternate World War II, along with three other wonderfully macabre stories by three very talented writers.

The full line-up is;

Another Kind of Lightning by Alasdair Stuart

Twisted by Lee Harris

The Chaos Exhibition by Scott Harrison

A Map of Lychford by Paul Cornell

This mini Voices audiobook can be downloaded now for free via the iTunes Store or at the Dark Fiction website - http://www.darkfictionmagazine.co.uk/episode/issue-8-voices-from-the-past/

The Voices From The Past short story eBook anthology, which contains nearly 30 brand new short stories from some of the most exciting genres writers around today, is still available to buy for only 99p either at;

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Voices-Past-anthology-ebook/dp/B004ZH80RY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313490048&sr=8-1

Or at H&H Books website – http://www.hhbooks.org/

All proceeds go to the Great Ormond Street Hospital children’s charity.

Re-Watching The 5th Doctor - Kinda

2011-07-25T16:36:00.006+01:00

A 37 year old man and an 8 year old boy set out on a journey 29 years apart...

July 2011. Whoever would have thought while watching those embarrassing low-budget ‘pantomimes’ that littered Season Seventeen like a minefield back in 1979, that just two and a half years later the programme would be gloriously transformed, and we’d be treated to such sumptuous, intelligent, and powerful stories such as Kinda?

Just about everyone loves Kinda; fans, critics, the cast and crew - hell, even Eric Saward likes it, so it has to be good, right?

As I slip the DVD into the machine I suddenly realise I’ve always had strangely mixed feelings about this story, which dates back to its original transmission. Back then my 8 year old self had a very tough decision to make, deciding between two of my most favourite things in the whole world. And it all started the day I missed an episode of Doctor Who…

February 1982. I am so upset. I missed the first episode of the new Doctor Who story and now I wish I hadn‘t. Yesterday my mum told me that I really couldn’t miss any more cub scout meetings, as I’d already skipped the last four weeks, so I should really start going again, that or give up cubs altogether.

It was a really difficult decision to make - I love going to cubs, but going means missing Doctor Who. I really didn’t know what to do, so I asked my mum and she said that I should try giving cubs a go, and she’ll watch Doctor Who and tell me all about it when I get home, in time for today’s episode. That way I can still go to cubs and watch the programme on Tuesdays.

So I went to cubs, but all the time I was thinking about Doctor Who and how I was missing it.

When I got home I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of my mum’s chair and she told me all about it; how the TARDIS landed on this planet that was all green, with trees and grass and big plants, and there were these men, army men she thought they were, who didn’t want to be there and were really unhappy, then Tegan fell asleep and woke up in a room that was completely black where she met these strange people who had snakes on their arms and wouldn’t let Tegan wake up, not until she let them ‘borrow’ her body, and the Doctor and Adric became prisoners of the army men in their base, and it ended with one of the men pointing a gun at the Doctor and threatening to shoot him.

The episode sounded good. Really good. Really really good. And now I’m really upset that I missed it. I hope they repeat the story again later in the year, or I’ll never get to see that episode again, ever.

Missing Doctor Who has helped me decide. I’m going to give up going to cubs. When I’m at the meetings all I do is think about Doctor Who and get upset when I realise I’ve missed it. I never think of cubs when I’m watching Doctor Who, and I’m never sorry that I’ve missed a meeting afterwards. Sometimes I wonder what the other boys have been getting up to, but I’m never sad afterwards, not like I was yesterday.

I told my mum that I was going to give up cubs. She was very sad but said if that was want I wanted to do, then it was up to me.

Now I’m happy, because I’ll never miss another episode of Doctor Who again.

Luckily, I find that today I’m just about able to get past those traumatic events of nearly 30 years ago, and enjoy Kinda for what it is, an imaginative, intelligent and thoroughly engaging piece of SF telly, that works remarkably well despite it being completely studio-bound. Doctor Who has been a little hit-and-miss with its realisation of alien paradise planets in the past; Planet of Evil’s wonderful filmic jungle and Planet of the Daleks’ somewhat disappointing alien landscape being just two examples at opposite ends of the success scale. But the landscape of Deva Loka is realised surprising well, and by the end of episode 1 the audience has just about managed to forget that two floors above that alien planet the latest series of The Two Ronnies is being filmed.

Kinda continues a run of consistently high quality stories, that is only broken by…well, I’m not saying for now, but we’ll get there soon - making Season 19 my favourite in classic Who’s 26 year run (with Seasons 7, 12, 14 and 23, just a gnat’s whisker behind it).

Oh, and…I didn’t miss a single episode of Doctor Who again for 5 whole years, when, in 1987, I wasn’t aware that Doctor Who was back on our tellys, and I ended up missing episode 1 of Time & The Rani.

I was very annoyed.

Re-Watching The 5th Doctor - Four To Doomsday

2011-07-14T09:45:00.009+01:00

A 37 year old man and an 8 year old boy set out on a journey 29 years apart...

July 2011. Four To Doomsday is a story that I’ve always had a problem with…well, as an adult at any rate. It’s not so much that there is no real story (or rather a lack of any real explanation as to why Monarch is doing the things he’s doing, such as; spending the last 35,000 years travelling backwards and forwards between Earth and Urbanka and picking up humans from various time periods, or why he’s going to all this trouble just to wipe out the population of Earth and replace it with an android population, or why, half way through the story, it’s suddenly revealed that he has a desire to travel back in time to the Big Bang where he is convinced he’ll meet himself), nor is it that the companions insist on behaving throughout the story like a bunch of unpleasant, recalcitrant children, constantly bickering and fighting amongst themselves (literally, at one point, when Tegan and Adric tussle over the TARDIS key), it’s not even that Tegan suddenly acts completely out of character in Parts Three and Four and, after panicking and running off to the TARDIS, totally abandons her friends to their own fates (in this case either robotisation or beheading) without a seconds thought, in an attempt to escape the spaceship and get back to Earth.

No. What I have a problem with in this story is the character of the Doctor himself.

OK, so this was the first of the Fifth Doctor stories to go before the cameras and, as such, certain allowances have to be made. The actor needs to become comfortable with the role, ease himself into the show, and discover his place. But even with this in mind, sometimes in the first two episodes he comes across more like the Fourth Doctor than the Fifth, and, as such, it can be a little difficult to watch in places (particularly noteworthy offenders being, the Doctor’s exaggerated hand gestures when appreciating the Urbankan technology at the beginning of Part One, or referring to a particular character as “Our friend Percy Persuasion over there”, or even the petulant thumbing of the ears at Monarch in a childishly “ner ner ner ner ner!” way). It’s not until the beginning of Part Three when the character of the Fifth Doctor appears properly, seemingly from nowhere, metaphorically panting with exhaustion, bent double with his hands resting on his knees and apologising to everyone for turning up late and asking what he’s missed.

From then on the adult me likes this story very much.

The picture begins to blur and wobble, someone drags a finger through the strings of a harp, again and again…

January 1982. I love this story. It’s brilliant and exciting and set on board a huge spaceship, just like proper science fiction is supposed to be, just like my favourite film The Empire Strikes Back^*1. And there’s a brilliant alien who looks like a frog and a really cool looking man and a pretty lady. I think this new Doctor is the best one ever and Adric, Nyssa and Tegan are my favourite companions - even better than Romana and K9.

Doctor Who just keeps getting better and better. Last year was great with loads of monsters who came out of a swamp and tried to eat you^*2, and there was vampires^*3and the Doctor went all spiky^*4, but this year we’ve seen loads of rooms inside the TARDIS and the Master has tried to kill the Doctor twice and we’ve had big spaceships and the Doctor floating around in space and robots that look like foreign men and the Doctor saving the entire Earth from the frogman.

I turn to my mum. It’s cold and dark outside and the house still smells of the tea she cooked for us an hour ago. There’s only me and my mum and my dad watching Doctor Who. My brother is at cubs (where I should be) and my sister is round her friends house.

“I like him.” I say. “He’s my favourite Doctor.”

“Yes.” She replies. “He is very good, isn’t he.”

We smile at each other. I can’t wait for next week’s adventure.

Unfortunately Four To Doomsday is an oft forgotten adventure. It’s not that its bad, the script is actually quite good (if you ignore the distinct lack of plot); it’s not that its poorly realised (space-walk aside, it boasts some very impressive sets, and Monarch looks great); it’s not even that the acting is below standard (everyone involved is doing a fine job, thrusting themselves into their parts with great gusto). No, the problem is that Four To Doomsday just isn’t particularly memorable - which is an enormous shame, as it happens to be great fun. It just happens to be sitting in a season surrounded by some of the best stories Doctor Who has ever produced.

But there’s even greater excitement ahead, and one or two shocks too. For both the adult and the child, Doctor Who is about to reach dizzying new heights.

Footnotes:

- 1: Back then I'd only seen The Empire Strikes Back on it's original theatrical release. I saw Return of the Jedi in cinemas in 1983, but didn't get around to watching Star Wars until a year or two later.

- 2: Full Circle - although the Marshmen weren't trying to 'eat people'.

- 3: State of Decay

- 4: Meglos - although the Doctor never 'went all spiky', this was Meglos disguised as the Doctor.

Re-Watching The 5th Doctor - Castrovalva

2011-07-13T15:12:00.010+01:00

It is July 2011. I am 37 years old and I’m about to sit down and re-watch my favourite programme. It’s my favourite era too, where it suddenly became strange and dangerous, no longer the comfy pantomime it had become under producer Graham Williams, and only the second year of its exciting ‘reboot’, bathed in the warm glow of childish nostalgia.

I slip the DVD in and…

It is January 1982. I am 8 years old and this is the first time that my favourite programme has gone all strange and scary. I am confused and a little frightened. I’m not big enough to remember when Tom Baker took over from that white haired man. My first memory is of sitting in my Auntie June’s house when I was littler at teatime on a Saturday watching Part Four of Robots of Death. That was a great story, full of deadly robots and people in fancy costumes and Leela’s voice sounding funny, all squeaky because of the gas. The Fourth Doctor was my Doctor, I don’t want him to go. Don’t want anyone else being the Doctor.

“That’s not the Doctor!” I say, turning to my mum as Logopolis ends and that man who plays the vet sits up in the Doctor’s clothes. “I don’t want to watch this anymore.” But I don‘t mean it. Not really.

I see the trailer for Part One of Castrovalva and I’m all excited again. I can’t wait for the new series to begin.

But I’m worried too. You see, since Doctor Who finished I’ve joined the cub scouts, and the meetings are on Monday evenings, that‘s the same day as the new series of Doctor Who.

I’ve decided to not go to cubs, not while Doctor who is on. I don’t want to miss it. I’ve missed four weeks of cubs already and now my mum is saying that I have to choose - Doctor Who or cubs?

It's so difficult. I love them both. Which one do I choose?

As a child I warmed to this new Fifth Doctor immediately and, before the closing credits of Part One had even begun to roll, I was proclaiming him to be my most favourite Doctor ever…a position he’s held to this day, some 29 years later. I still love Castrovalva, more so with each and every viewing, it’s my second favourite Fifth Doctor story after The Visitation.

As we settle down to watch it for the 400^th time, my fiancée sums up my feelings about the story perfectly. She says “I was going to ask you if you were in the mood to watch Castrovalva tonight, but that’s a silly question. You’re always in the mood to watch Castrovalva."

Oh yes!

Oh, and…in the end I chose Doctor Who over the cubs, but not before missing an entire episode of...well, we’ll come to that all in good time.

Needless to say I was devastated, and vowed never to miss another episode again.

The 'To Read' Pile

2011-07-11T15:30:00.010+01:00

Sometimes it truly frightens me how much my ‘To Read’ pile is growing out of control nowadays. True, when I look at that teetering pile of books sitting on my bookshelves I also get a rush of excitement thinking about the time when I’ll finally get around to diving into them, but it’s usually mixed with a healthy dose of frustration too, frustration that I’m not managing my time well enough at the moment to put aside enough time for reading.

I’ve still not even finished reading Johnny Mains’ short story collection With Deepest Sympathy yet, and I promised him I would months ago. I’m even embarrassed to say that I’ve not gotten around to reading the other stories in the Faction Paradox anthology I was published in recently

So, from now on, it’s time to pull my finger out and schedule some quality reading time into each and every day, after all, I have some wonderful reading material waiting for me - mostly in the SF genre, oddly.

I’m particularly excited by Philip Palmer’s latest SF novel Hellship, Tim Lebbon’s fantasy epic Echo City, Charles Stross’ Rule 34 and James S. A. Corey’s debut space opera Leviathan Wakes, book 1 in The Expanse series, which all sound like books that were aimed directly at me. I’m also about to plunge headlong into the world of Warhammer for the first time in my life (shocking, I know) with the latest in Gav Thorpe’s Path of the Eldar series, Path of the Seer, not to mention his first non-Black Library novel The Crown of the Blood. I had the good fortune to spend an unhealthy amount of time drinking, eating and chatting with Gav at the recent Alt.Fiction weekend and was delighted to find him a thoroughly nice bloke. As we swapped email addresses I vowed then and there to dig out a few of his books and give them a bit of a read.

I still have two beautiful short story collections from Obverse Books to make my way through - Book of Ghosts and Iris: Abroad - as well as Paul Magrs’ latest Iris Wildthyme novel Enter Wildthyme, which have been sitting patiently on my shelf now for a number of weeks. The former two are littered with some of the most exciting and talented writers working in the SF, fantasy and horror genres at the moment, while Paul Magrs is a comedy novelist on a par with P.G Wodehouse, Tom Sharp and David Nobbs, and whose Brenda & Effie books should, by rights, be more popular, respected and widely read than any of Pratchett’s Discworld novels .

Jeff Somers keeps ‘em coming with his very Blade Runner-esque Avery Cates novels (The Final Evolution is his fifth book now, and they are still lots of fun) as does Jim Butcher, who has reached the staggering thirteenth volume in his Dresden Files saga. To be honest with you, I’m not really into novels that are set on a parallel Earth where magic, vampires, werewolves and zombies (yawn) live furry cheek by rotting jowl in uneasy co-existence, but his latest hardback, Ghost Story, sounds rather good, so I’ll be giving him a go.

But I’m probably most excited by Kevin J. Anderson’s recent Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, The Edge of the World, The Map of All Things and The Key to Creation, which not only sound great but have some of the most fabulous covers I’ve ever seen.

I’ll try and sprinkle a few reviews on this blog as I make my way through the pile.

Comic Book Anthology

2011-07-06T10:11:00.009+01:00

Back in April Stacey Whittle (one half of Small Press Big Mouth ) began accepting pitches from writers and artists for a new comic book anthology she was putting together based on folklore and fairytale.

Over the last couple of days a few, tantalising details have finally been released on official blogs, and a title for the collection has now been announced: Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology.

The collection will include my script The Madness From The Sea, a strange, grizzly little horror tale set in a small coastal town in the late 1800s, with artwork by the brilliant artist Lee Grice. Here’s the list of contributors in full:

Into The Woods: A Fairytale Anthology
edited by Stacey Whittle

1 - Matt Gibbs and Alice Duke

2 - Alexi Conman and Dunk Nimmo

3 - Nick Papaconstantinou and Bevis Musson

4 - Richard McAuliffe and Sara Dunkerton

5 - Scott Harrison and Lee Grice

6 - Daniel Clifford and David Wynne

7 - Lee Robson and Simon Wyatt

8 - Ollie Masters and Valia Kapadai

9 - Stuart Tipple

The collection will be released in paperback later this year, and we all have our fingers crossed that it'll be out in time for Thought Bubble 2011 comic con in November. Obviously I will give you more details, plus a teaser of the artwork for my story, as soon as I can.

Visit Stacey's blog here.

Alt.Fiction and Other Stories

2011-06-29T14:41:00.012+01:00

So, last weekend saw me back in my old stomping ground of Derby at Alt.Fiction after a year or so absence, and what a great weekend it was too.

Granted, a lot of my time was spent in the QUAD’s fantastic café-bar drinking and chatting, and not going to enough of the panels, but made some wonderful new friends in the process, as well as shooting the breeze with some old ‘uns too.

During the course of the weekend I managed to catch up and chat with many friends and colleagues, so I’d like to give a big shout out to Gav Thorpe, Dan Abnett, Juliet E. McKenna, Paul Finch, Graham McNeill, Jay Eales, Mike Shevdon, Simon Clark, Gary McMahon, Guy Haley, David Thomas Moore, Ian Whates, Lee Harris, Emma Jane Davies, Del & Kim Lakin-Smith, Vincent Holland-Keen, Paul Cornell, Adam Christopher, Christopher Barker and Ian McKenna - all of whom imparted much wisdom, talked much rubbish (fluently) and made the two days fly by.

In writing news;

I’m currently working on a horror comic book script for a comic book anthology to be published in paperback later this year by Stacey Whittle, one half of the fantastic Small Press Big Mouth. The anthology will feature a collection of eerie stories inspired by folklore and fairytales from some very exciting writers and artists. My story will be titled The Madness From The Sea with artwork by the enormously talented Lee Grice. I will give you more information and link to all details as soon as I have them.

As the Faction Paradox anthology A Romance in Twelve Parts has been out for a month now, reviews are starting to spring up all over the interweb. All of them except one (which we’ll come to in a minute) have been very kind and enthusiastic about the book - one reviewer even cited it as “my favourite book so far this year”. However, Emily Carter (who is none other than Lawrence Miles’ agent) didn't like the book at all, saying all the stories were ‘boring’ - all except Phil Purser-Hallard’s A Hundred Words From A Civil War, which we all contributed a drabble to (mine is Drabble No. XXXV, for all those with a copy of the book), which Emily loved!

I first became aware of Emily’s ‘review’ when I unexpectedly bumped into fellow contributor Jay Eales at Alt.Fiction who showed me the review on his phone. We then spent the better part of 20 minutes scratching our heads and hooting with laughter. Phil recently put the link to the review (which seems to be on a forum) on his blog - so here’s the link if you’d like to read it, it’s very, very funny! (FYI, the character in my story doesn’t get ‘disembowelled’ just stabbed a number of times.)

http://nitcentral.philfarrand.com/discus/messages/1135/29446.html?1307896374

To round things up, work on my Steampunk novel ‘Dark Engine’ continues while fitting in a number of short stories, novellas and editing work.

My latest editing project is a Steampunk anthology which looks to classic works of fiction as it’s inspiration. The book will contain sixteen short stories from writers including Brian Herbert, Tanith Lee and myself, and will be released by Snowbooks in 2012.

Review - http://factionparadox.yuku.com/reply/7927/Crappy-70s-paperbacks--airbrushed-spaceships--cover-reviews#reply-7927

Small Press Big Mouth's site - http://smallpressbigmouth.blogspot.com/

Voices From The Past short story anthology

2011-04-28T14:08:00.005+01:00

This month sees the release of Voices From The Past, one of the most exciting collections of short genre fiction you’re ever likely to get your grubby little mits on! The anthology contains some fantastic names, including bestselling authors, award-winning novelists and writers of some of the best British television in the past 30 years!

Edited by myself and Lee Harris (of Angry Robot Books) this eBook anthology contains new fiction from some of the best Horror, SF, Fantasy and Steampunk authors writing today, who all kindly gave up their free time to contribute a short story for a very worthy cause, the Great Ormond Street Hospital children‘s charity.

Perhaps most exciting of all is that the anthology features brand new stories from Alastair Reynolds’ Revelation Space universe, Paul Magrs’ Brenda & Effie mysteries and George Mann’s investigating duo Newbury & Hobbes.

Although available to download from 30th April from many major online retailers, you will be able to pre-order the book at the H&H Books website from this evening, priced only 99p in the UK and $1.59 in the US.

Here’s a full list of the authors and their stories:
　
Another Kind of Lightning by Alasdair Stewart
Ascension Day by Alastair Reynolds
The Lab Gang by Andrew Smith
Master of the Game by Bill Willingham
Just Do It by Cavan Scott
The Maharajah’s Star by George Mann
Dr Wormhole by J. Robert King
He Loves Me Not by Jacqueline Rayner
The Screams Next Door by Jason Arnopp
Shuttle by Jasper Fforde
George V by Johnny Mains
Success by Joseph Lidster
The Wisdom of the Ages by Juliet E. McKenna
A Pot To Piss In by Kaaron Warren
Twisted by Lee Harris
Beauty Will Come by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mustn’t Grumble by Maura McHugh
Receipt of Fern Seed by Maurice Broaddus
750,000 of Your Friends Like This by Mur Lafferty
A Map of Lychford by Paul Cornell
The Curious Package by Paul Magrs
The Runt by Robert Shearman
The Chaos Exhibition by Scott Harrison
The Victim by Scott Sigler
On The Road Again by Stuart Douglas
Never Go Back by Susan Murray
In Leon’s Room by Tom Fletcher
The God Confusion by Toby Hadoke

To order your copy of this great collection and do your bit for a very worthy cause, please visit the H&H Books website - http://www.hhbooks.org/

Faction Paradox: A Romance In Twelve Parts

2011-04-01T09:44:00.005+01:00

Those splendid chaps over at Obverse Books have recently announced the publication date of their first Faction Paradox short story collection - 31st May 2011.

Their website now displays the stunning artwork for the front cover of the hardback book, seen here on the left (though still unfinished, without title and editors credit) with a full list of writers and story titles.

As well as a story from myself, the anthology (the first ever FP short story collection) boasts some pretty impressive writers - many of whom have written novels, short stories and audio plays for BBC Books, Telos Publishing, Big Finish and BBC Radio4:

FACTION PARADOX: A Romance in Twelve Parts

Edited by Stuart Douglas and Lawrence Miles

Alchemy - James Milton
Library Pictures - Stuart Douglas
Storyteller - Matt Kimpton Gramps - Jon Dennis
Mightier than the Sword - Jay Eales
The Story of the Peace - Ian Potter
Print the Legend - Daniel O'Mahony
Nothing Lasts Forever - David N Smith and Violet Addison
Holding Pattern - Scott Harrison
Now or thereabouts - Blair Bidmead
Tonton Macoute - Dave Hoskin
A Hundred Words from a Civil War - Philip Purser-Hallard

You can pre-order your copy of the book either at the Obverse website:

Twenty-Fourth Day of Advent : Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T12:40:00.004Z

- December 24th : Christmas Eve -

When Charles Dickens’ classic yuletide tale, A Christmas Carol, was first published in 1843 there was a feeling throughout Great Britain that the moral fibre of society was slowly disintegrating. Not only this but Christmastime itself was already becoming immensely unpopular and, as a consequence, was beginning to die out, particularly in Britain.

Queen Victoria had only been on the throne for six years and her husband, Prince Albert, had already begun to introduce new elements into the celebration of Christmas from his homeland of Germany (most famously the Christmas tree and the Christmas card). The consequences of this, along with the timely publication of Dickens’ first Christmas Book, had a considerable impact upon the way Victorian society began to perceive this ancient Christian festival.

It has often been said that Charles Dickens’ set of five Christmas Books, A Christmas Carol in particular, had an enormous influence on the sudden resurrection in the popularity of Christmas in the mid-1800s, and there’s no doubt it is still one of the most treasured and beloved works of literary fiction, either a Christmas or anyother time of the year.

I’ve said this before somewhere on this blog, but - I read this novel every year in the run up to Christmas; starting on December 20th, with one chapter a day, finishing on Christmas Eve. Have done for the past two decades. It’s as much a part of the Christmas tradition for me as turkey and stuffing!

Some people dismiss the novel as an unimportant bit of Christmas fluff - many basing their spurious judgments on the many adaptations they’ve watched over the years, many varying wildly in quality. But this is simply not true. Although it has a very warm and shining message at its very core, A Christmas Carol can be at times a frighteningly dark and brooding read. Remember this is a ‘ghost story’ after all.

The novel’s grimmest moments come, perhaps, at the conclusion of the Third Stave, as the first chimes of midnight have begun to toll and the Ghost of Christmas Present is about depart.

“"Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask," said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe, "but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?"
"It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it," was the Spirit's sorrowful reply. "Look here."
From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.
"Oh, Man, look here! Look, look, down here!" exclaimed the Ghost.
They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.
"Spirit, are they yours?" Scrooge could say no more.
"They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!" cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. "Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end." “

An article posted on Shimmerzine recently talked, amongst other things, about the importance of a cracking, attention-grabbing first line; something that A Christmas Carol has by the bucketful. Striking a particularly spooky note, which sets up the mood of the novel beautifully.

“Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.”

Dickens’ classic has been adapted for stage dozens of times over the years (including my own version that is currently running in the US in three separate productions) and, inevitably, has seen many film and TV versions. Some of the best being:

- Old Scrooge (Film - 1913)
- Scrooge (Film - 1951)
- Scrooge (BBC Radio - 1951)
- A Christmas Carol (BBC Radio - 1953)
- A Christmas Carol (Richard Williams short animated - 1971)
- A Christmas Carol (BBC TV - 1977)
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Disney animated - 1983)
- A Christmas Carol (Film - 1984)
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (Film - 1992)

If you haven’t read the novel yet (maybe you’ve been put off reading it because you’ve seen so many adaptations) I strongly advise that you get your hands on a copy. You don’t *have* to read it at Christmas (it’s such a powerfully accessible novel it can be read any time of the year) but it’s definitely more of a potent read during the festive period. So, next time you’re “keeping Christmas in your own way” try keeping it with a copy of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol close at hand.

And that brings an end to my Christmas Advent Blog Countdown. All that remains to say is may your have a very Merry Christmas, whatever personal beliefs you may have, and I hope to see you all again on the other side of the festive season…probably a few pounds heavier!

And so, “As Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Everyone!”

Twenty-Third Day of Advent

2010-12-23T15:43:00.002Z

- December 23rd -

One of the greatest things about Christmas is, undoubtedly, the classic animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ timeless illustrated book The Snowman.

It’s been shown every single year at Christmastime since it’s original broadcast on Channel 4 back in 1982, and has embedded itself into the modern Christmas culture here in Great Britain. In fact, in a recent list compiled by UKTV G.O.L.D it was voted the 4th Greatest TV Christmas Moment of all time.

Christmas without The Snowman is unthinkable. For me it is the second greatest piece of festive film/TV/literature ever created.

There was always a place for this slice of animated magic in our family Christmas celebrations - usually just after all sitting down to Christmas dinner; the washing up done and all the plates of left-over food sitting in the fridge covered in layers of cling film.

Now, nicely full, with a glass of something appropriate in one hand, and the obligatory ill-fitting paper hat cocked jauntily on the top of our heads, the family would all be sitting down to watch Raymond Briggs’ greatest contribution to Christmas.

It’s difficult to describe what this 26 minute animated short really means. I was 9 years old when it was first shown, and I’m 37 now. It’s been in my life so long now that it’s impossible to recall it ever not being there!

Over the years it’s become a mandatory part of my Christmas celebrations (usually around 3.30pm), along with Briggs’ companion piece Father Christmas, which appeared 9 years later.

For a while Father Christmas was shown on the morning of Christmas Eve, while The Snowman continued to occupy the coveted Christmas Day slot. But now, somewhat frustratingly, things have been shifted around, with The Snowman being shown on Christmas Eve for the past 3 years, and Father Christmas being dropped from the schedules altogether.

So far The Snowman has had three short pre-title introduction films; the original Raymond Briggs intro from 1982, the alternate David Bowie version originally created for transmission in the US from 1983 and 20th anniversary Father Christmas introduction voiced by Mel Smith, still used to this day.

The Snowman intro from 1983

Twenty-Second Day of Advent

2010-12-22T17:32:00.003Z

- December 22nd -

Five things that people say about Christmas that I really hate…

Christmas isn’t the same anymore - What they really mean is that they’ve become so cynical and joyless that they find it extremely difficult to have fun anymore, and blaming Christmas is much easier than actually having to face their own shortcomings.

Christmas is too commercial nowadays - What utter nonsense. How can the way you choose to celebrate a holiday be *too* anything, unless you want it to be? What they’re doing out there in the high street has absolutely no bearing (or shouldn’t have any bearing) on what’s going on inside your own home come the 25th of December. For heaven’s sake you have a mind inside your head, and your own free will; if you don’t like how the big chain stores are marketing their own particular brand of the festive season then ignore it. Walk on by. If you don’t like all the Christmas adverts on television, watch the two BBC channels, or switch off.

Christmas is only really for the kids - From where I’m sitting Christmas is about many things; meeting up with friends for drinks, having family round, eating until you’re fit to bursting, exchanging and receiving presents, watching Christmas telly, throwing huge parties - the list is practically endless and by no means ‘just for kids’. I mean, apart from the presents, the Father Christmas myth and the being off school for a couple of weeks, Christmas very definitely isn’t ‘just for kids’. Again, it’s linked to certain adults inability (or rather a feeling of acute self-consciousness) when it comes to actually having some fun or not taking things so damned seriously for a few days.

I don’t enjoy Christmas because I can’t do what I want to - Again, utter nonsense. A lot of people feel like they’re ‘trapped’ into set patterns or ‘traditions’ when it comes to Christmas (seeing friends and family, having to cook all the food and wash up afterwards, etc), but this just isn’t so. I’m a great believer in Dickens’ sentiment about ‘keeping Christmas in your own way’. Do the things that will make you happy at Christmas, rather than what you think will make other people happy. If you don’t want people around on Christmas Day, then tell them so. In most cases they’ll actually be fine with it! If you don’t want to cook, then buy in ready made food - or prepare the food in the days running up to Christmas. You’ll be surprised at how many other people will be happy to break their traditions too.

Christmas has lost its meaning now, its only about the shops making a profit - Reality check for you…it has *always* been about making profit, even a hundred years ago! But even if it is, what difference does it make? As I said above, what they’re doing out there on the high street doesn’t *have* to effect your own Christmas. OK, so a lot of parents feel pressured into buying lots of big expensive toys for their children but this isn’t the fault of the retailers, but more a problem with society. Turning our frustrations upon the shops because we feel compelled to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ is a waste of both time and effort. Again it’s a case of certain individuals blaming innocent parties in order to ignore our own shortcomings.

Here endeth the Christmas rant.

Twenty-First Day of Advent

2010-12-21T15:50:00.006Z

- December 21st -

Today is important for three reasons.

One, it is the Winter Solstice, the point when the Earth’s axial tilt is furthest away from the sun and, more importantly, is the first day of Winter.

Two, it is National Short Story Day, a UK-wide celebration of prose in its shortest form.

Three, today sees the release of Dark Fiction’s wintry short fiction anthology Twelve Days; a wonderful little collection designed to celebrate both of the above events as well as taking full advantage of Christmas being only four short days away.

As has already been mentioned elsewhere on this blog, the writers were asked to take one of the lines from the tradition Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas as the starting point for their piece of short fiction, with the proviso that the story have a ‘ghostly theme’.

For my story, The Wintermachine (a Steampunk tale set in an alternate 1940 blitz-torn London), I took the line ‘Nine Ladies Dancing’ as the springboard for a tale of an ancient stone circle that is much more than it seems. The stone circle is, partly, based upon the large blocks of stone that encompass the beautiful village of Avebury in Wiltshire, a place where I love to visit at least once a year.

I’m thrilled to be a part of this collection, which also features such superb writers as Jennifer Williams and Allison Littlewood. There’s nothing quite like a nice chilling story for Christmas and there’s twelve absolute crackers in this collection. So close the curtains, turn up the fire, curl up in your favourite chair with the lights down low, and enjoy 76 minutes of spooky fiction from some very talented authors.

Twelve Days is currently available as an audiobook to download for free either on iTunes or at Dark Fiction’s website : http://www.darkfictionmagazine.co.uk/episode/twelve-days-anthology/

It will be available soon as an eBook.

Twentieth Day of Advent

2010-12-20T17:39:00.002Z

- December 20th -

The Doctor Who Christmas Special is the new Morecambe & Wise Christmas extravaganza, or The Two Ronnie’s Christmas Show.

Every Christmas Day since 2005 it’s the show that everyone clears the decks for in order to sit down and watch it as a family.

Of course, the big difference between Doctor Who and those two programmes from yesteryear is the viewing figures.

While Doctor Who (quite rightly) pulls in an average of 12.5 million viewers at Christmas this is nothing compared to the 20+ million that Messrs Corbett and Barker, or Eric & Ernie were commanding some twenty years ago.

And yet, around 13 million is still a very respectable figure, when you take into account the sudden increase in terrestrial and digital channels that have become available to us over those past two decades.

For, what is a science fiction show (a genre that is not universally loved, even looked down on in many literary circles) that’s a very healthy figure indeed. Add to that, the fact that Doctor Who has been the second most watched programme for the Christmas week for three years in a row (beaten only by one-off specials that aren’t on during the rest of the year, like Wallace & Gromit or The Royle Family.)

Impressive, no?

Yes! Damned impressive. And, what’s more, it has become a Christmas tradition. So much so, that the Eastenders Christmas episode incorporated an entire family celebration stopping in order to sit down and watch the Doctor Who Christmas special, something that only really happens in programmes for the Queen’s speech!

Doctor Who is now as festive and seasonal as kissing under the mistletoe or playing charades. And I’m pretty sure, in twenty years from now, they’ll be nostalgic ‘top 50’ programmes being broadcast at Christmas that’ll include Doctor Who as one of those considered most Christmassy.

Right Behind Morecambe & Wise, The Two Ronnies, Only Fools and Horses and Her Madge’s Commonwealth Address!

Nineteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-19T13:15:00.004Z

- December 19th -

We had a routine in our house at Christmas, which ran over the three festive days.

Christmas Eve would usually be spent waiting for my Dad to come home early from work while we helped my Mum with the last bit of preparation for the following day (baking mince pies, getting the vegetables peeled and chopped, things like that). After my Dad got home we’d all go upstairs and get ourselves washed and changed and then we’d meet up with relatives at one restaurant or another for a three course Christmas meal.

I used to adore those times, sitting in a lovely restaurant, bedecked with wonderful trees and garlands, listening to the Christmas music being piped in through the speakers, with everyone around me just enjoying deliciously cooked food and the joys of the festive season.

It’s a tradition I still keep up today, with my fiancée, and various friends and family - though very rarely on Christmas Eve now, usually around the 22nd or so.

Christmas Day would see my brother, my sister and myself scurrying downstairs at the crack of dawn, and into the living room to find three huge piles of presents sitting on the living room floor. We would dart over, checking the tags on each pile, until we found the pile which was ours, and then begin tearing into them.

I remember quite vividly the year I got a bike as my big present (around 1982). It was a Raleigh ‘Strika’. Silver, it was, with black grips on the handlebars, a guard along it's chain and the name written along its crossbar in exciting colours. It didn’t have a kick-stand on it though, like my brothers (my brother’s was a big boy bike, a Grifter), but that was OK, because my Dad fitted one a few months later, so I could stand it up when I got off it, and didn’t have to lie it on the floor (which I hated).

I was so excited to have that Strika and just wanted to get out there and ride it all day long. But it had been snowing all night and now it was white over outside so I had to wait.

That was the first time I have experienced a White Christmas in my whole life - the second time was last year!

Around lunchtime, after we’d had a good play with our presents we’d go off to my Nanna and Grandad’s where there’d be lots more family members waiting, and more presents, and a lovely Christmas dinner.

Boxing Day would mean a trip to my Aunty Marge and Uncle Jack’s (regular readers of my blog will remember that they are the ones who had the little caravan in Bridlington that was full of books, every shelf and surface and nook and cranny, filled with books! - see entry June 23rd for that story -) where we’d spend the day with relatives we hadn’t seen since last Boxing Day, and we’d watch the big film on the television and play parlour games and have a delicious buffet.

I still remember the Christmas when my Mum told us that they’d decided we wouldn’t be doing this any more. That they wanted a quite Christmas instead, without the hassle of driving out to see family and spending Christmas away from the home.

It was never the same again. But now I’m grown up and planning my own Christmases I always make sure that we have a few days away with the family. One year we spend Boxing Day with my fiancée’s family and New Year with mine, the next year it’s the other way around.

That’s how I grew up with Christmas, and that’s how it should be.

A Raleigh 'Strika' like the one I had for Christmas 1982

Eighteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-18T15:36:00.006Z

- December 18th -

Todays Advent blog post is by Angry Robot editor and fellow co-editor on the forthcoming short fiction anthology 'Voices From The Past' Lee Harris, recalling his childhood Christmases back in his Welsh homeland.

I remember Christmases as a child quite vividly. I have a brother and sister, and when we were allowed into our front living room, we would find our presents in piles on the furniture. My brother's would be on one armchair, my sister's on another. As I was the youngest, mine tended to take up more space, and so the sofa was where I'd find mine. Quite right, too.
I can remember one year, waking up mere hours after going to bed, when the rest of the family were still downstairs watching late night TV. My cries of "Has he been, yet?" answered with cries of "Not yet - go back to bed."

On Christmas morning we weren't allowed downstairs on our own - we had to wait until the whole family was up and ready to descend. One time I woke particularly early - probably 5 or 6am - and snuck down to the living room. The excitement was too much and I couldn't wait, so I carefully opened every one of my presents - slowly peeling back enough sticky tape so I could glance inside, and then reseal, before heading back upstairs. When I came down later, with everyone else, I had to feign surprise (though the delight was still genuine). I was always a performer, even at an early age - it was no surprise that I eventually became an actor.

I never received anything from Father Christmas - all my gifts were from family. I suppose I saw Father Christmas (always this, never Santa) as more of a delivery man, than someone who gave gifts. Every year I'd receive a selection box and a £10 note from Aunty Pat and Uncle Tommy, and every year I'd be astonished that they gave it again - over 30 years ago, £10 for a young boy was a lot of money! (Hell - I wouldn't turn my nose up at it, even now!)

Most of my memories as a young child are from family holidays, birthdays and Christmas, but it's the Christmas ones that really stick.

I'm a Dad, now, and I probably enjoy Christmas more than ever. It's still a time for surprise and delight, but watching my 6 yr-old and 3 yr-old as they unwrap their gifts, is worth more than a hundred selection boxes - with or without the enclosed £10!

And I hope that when they're grown up, they'll look back on their Christmas memories with as much fondness.

Merry Christmas, everyone. And for those of you who don't celebrate this particular holiday, I hope you'll have just as pleasant a time.

A big thank you to Lee for taking time out on a very dull train journey to write this for me.

Seventeenth Day of Advent

2010-12-17T11:59:00.004Z

- December 17th -

Today's Advent blog is all about those golden Aussie Christmases of yesteryear by award-winning novelist Kaaron Warren, plus a special guest appearance from her Mum!

My childhood memories of Christmas revolve around lunch at my grandmother’s house. She had a tiny place, so the backyard was the only option when all the cousins showed up. She had a lot of old stuff back there. It was a place full of adventure. A huge wagon wheel that we climbed on till it rotted. A meat safe, that no longer held meat but still had the scent of old lamb. And a fantastic shed, full of junk and treasures and my grandfather’s secret part, where the men went to drink his homemade rocket juice. My dad told me not long ago this was cheap port mixed with cheap brandy. The men would be summoned up the back there during the day. There was an old mat on the floor, and an old dog, and my old granddad. The times I snuck around to see what they were doing (all the cousins following along) you could see the heat haze shimmering out of the door.

We always got the same gift from my grandparents. A little something, because there were ten of us. The one I remember best was the little skeleton chomping teeth. Those ones you wind up and chomp chomp chomp, chomp chomp until the adults screamed with irritation. Or it could have been the rocket juice setting them off.

For us, Aussie Christmas was about the dessert. Pavlova, plum pudding with coins stuck in, lots of lollies, soft drink; it was a sugar frenzy, and my cousins and I would often end up running around the shed at the back, shouting. We’d be in the swimmers we’d all been given by Santa Claus (Aussie kids get new swimmers every year) , and someone would set off the sprinkler to cool us all off. Then we’d be soggy, and muddy, and full of sugar, and we’d show off our Christmas presents. There’d be tears at hometime, because we didn’t want it to be over. I never wanted the day to end; I still remember how sad I felt when the day cooled, because it meant it was almost over.

This is Kaaron’s mum. Just a little adjustment to the rocket juice recipe. Not only brandy and port, but peppermint essence was an essential ingredient and a nice little bottle of cheapish red wine.

*Thanks to Kaaron and her Mum for taking the time to write this fab blog post

Sixteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-16T11:37:00.011Z

- December 16th -

So far, over the course of these Advent blogs, I’ve talked a lot about my family Christmases as I grew up in the Midlands, and all the things associated with Christmas-time that have meant a lot to me.

But what about other people?

I’m always fascinated by the experiences and memories of other people when it comes to subjects close to my heart; how they differ from my own, or even how closely they mirror them.

So, I’ve asked a few of my friends to write a little about some of their own Christmases as a child, and I will be posting the results intermittently on here between now and Christmas Eve.

First up is author and scriptwriter Paul Magrs on the delights of a certain well stocked high street shop around the festive time.

Smiths at Christmas
　

Christmas meant book vouchers and various items that needed to be taken back to M+S to be exchanged whether for reasons of size or taste. While Mam queued in Marksies there was WH Smiths in Darlington to explore and ransack. Smiths in the 80s was all bright citrus orange in decor, somehow magical with newsprint and the scent of shiny magazines and it was all quite different to how it is now. It had a large, lavish record department with vinyl in polythene covers, a vast selection of heart-stoppingly delectable, pristine stationery, drawing and writing books and, at the top of a wide staircase which I always for some reason had to run up – it had a vast book section.

Book vouchers were always one of the best kinds of presents because they represented not just choosing just what you wanted, but they somehow stood for time. A whole wodge of unspent, luxurious, book-wallowing time somehow stored up within the card and inside the monopoly-type money of the foily, swirly, brightly-coloured voucher itself.

The best thing I remember finding in Smiths immediately after Christmas – when we’d dash out for shopping because we’d ran out of milk and bread and were going stir crazy, all of us cooped up in the house – was a set of ‘Children’s Classics’ paperbacks from America. They came in Selection Box type package, with crinkly cellophane windows – and there were six paperback classics – Alice, Oz, Journey to the Centre of the World, the Prince and the Pauper, A Christmas Carol, Robin Hood… With tiny print and pulpy paper, with lurid painted covers. Airmont, the publisher was, and the whole set cost, I think £1.99 and when I was nine it seemed like the best bargain ever. I particularly liked the list in the back of all the classics in the world: all mine to make my way through...

This point in time was also about Annuals reduced to half price. I still buy the Beano Annual when it comes down in price. I liked it best when it was printed on really thick paper, in black and white, pink and red. The Beezer was always a favourite too, and Cheeky – which is a comic no one but I seems to remember.

From somewhere on the internet I’ve nicked someone’s snap of a crumpled paper bag from Smiths. I hope they don’t mind. But it’s ridiculous how nostalgic I can feel about an old paper bag!

Thanks to Paul Magrs for taking the time to write this lovely post!

Fifteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-15T17:21:00.004Z

- December 15th -

It's always slightly bizarre when something you love, which has absolutely nothing to do with the festive season, suddenly and inexplicably releases a Christmas collection, edition or special.

For example, it’s no secret that I am rather partial to a certain British science fiction serial that’s been running, off and on, for nearly 50 years, and over the years several publishing houses have released new adventures in book form.

But in December 2008, Big Finish released one of their Short Trips anthologies which took as it’s theme ‘Christmas Around The World’.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful little collection with some great stories by authors such as James Moran, Andrew Cartmel, Kate Orman, Jason Arnopp, Simon Guerrier and Rebecca Levene, but as themes for Doctor Who short stories go, it’s as way out and unexpected as ‘Short Trips: The Best Walks Around Britain’*.

Similarly, in the late 80s, groups such as New Kids on the Block were releasing their own Christmas themed album (alarmingly recorded in just a single day in a hotel room - I kid you not!), while the ZX Spectrum offered games such as ‘Merry Xmas Santa‘, which involved the player guiding Santa Claus successfully over a series of snow covered roof-tops, dodging snowballs, in order to deliver his presents safely down chimneys.

Way back in the 1960s, groovy funky spy show The Avengers offered up their one and only foray into the Christmas market with the suitably seasonal episode ‘Too Many Christmas Trees’. It’s actually a wonderful little episode, which deals with telepathy, mind control and a Christmas party that takes place in the house of a man obsessed by the works of Charles Dickens, but could so easily have fallen into the ‘curiosity from the past’ category.

It’s a fine line that some Christmas ‘editions’ tread, wavering dangerously between ‘wonderfully festive little gem’ and ‘odd bit of Christmas tat’. As with many things, it really depends upon whether they have a genuinely interesting and relevant seasonal story to tell, or they’re just jumping on the Christmas bandwagon in order to make a quick buck.

Let’s hope that most of us are still smart enough to tell the difference.

* Thankfully this anthology does not exist

Fourteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-14T17:51:00.002Z

- December 14th -

Great Christmas films, I mean truly great Christmas films, can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

We all have our favourites, the ones that warm the cockles of our hearts, and have been warming them for many a Christmastide. The ones that we love to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon on the run-up to the festive time, or on a cold Boxing Day night, if there’s nothing else on.

But the ones we hold dear to our hearts aren’t necessarily the ones that are critical or even commercial successes - in fact, we are probably the only ones that actually like them, truth be told. Every one else thinks they’re rubbish!

My mother, for example, loves the film Scrooged - that odd, Bill Murray vehicle that purports to be a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. Personally, I can’t really stand it. But I love the fact that my mother likes it so much. It’s something that she adores watching every Christmas - and coming from someone who really detests Christmas, that’s saying something.

It’s A Wonderful Life is another favourite. A film that just about everyone loves.

I wouldn’t say I ‘love’ it (it’s a great film, don’t get me wrong) it’s just always sat a little uneasily with me - in the Christmas film stakes, that is. For a film that is held up as the ‘Ultimate Christmas Film’ there’s surprising little of any actual Christmassyness in it. Only about a third of the film is actually set at Christmas.

Personally, my festive viewing usually comprises of such seasonal cheer as Scrooge (the Alastair Sim version), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street (the 1947 version) and a certain Muppet retelling of a Charles Dickens classic (hey, it’s wonderful, and you know it!!)

And that’s before we even get to the ‘non-Christmassy’ Christmas films - The Man Who Would Be King, The Great Escape, Great Expectations (David Lean version) or anything by the Hammer Films or the Carry On team!

Yes, you can count the number of truly great Christmas films on the fingers of one hand, but the Christmas films we love, that we hold dear, and that warm our cockles each and every year since we were young…there are loads of ‘em.

And we should be thankful for it!

Thirteenth Day of Advent

2010-12-13T19:02:00.004Z

- December 13th -

There has been much puzzlement and confusion over the years when we come to sing that well known, and greatly loved, Christmas ditty: The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Recently, I was asked by those lovely, fluffy folk from Dark Fiction Magazine to take one of the ‘Days’ from this song as the starting point for my short fiction piece ‘The Wintermachine’ - which will be appearing in their forthcoming short story anthology ‘Twelve Days’, published on the 21st December as an eBook and audio book.

I’m grateful that they supplied the correct twelve days as they appear in the song because, I’m ashamed to admit, I would never have been able to tell you in what order they were supposed to come.

But, then I thought…how many of us actually would?

Come on, be honest, without hopping onto Google and taking a crafty peak, could you actually name all the twelve days of Christmas in order without making a mistake?

Go on, try it.

We’ll wait for you…

You see. It’s bloody difficult isn’t it. Most of us can get to ‘Five Gold Rings’ and then it all starts to go a bit wonky.

Surprising really as the song is such a popular one at Christmas time. Particularly amongst those who get a bit Brahms & Lizst at the work’s Christmas do (for more on the office party, see the entry for Eighth Day of Advent), and always sing the Five Gold Rings part at an annoying volume!

So, for all those who had trouble naming them all in order earlier (hey, there’s no embarrassment in not knowing, I was one of you too, until a few weeks ago!) here is the full list of the Twelve Days of Christmas, in order.

All together now; one, two, a one two three four…

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
A Partridge in a Pear Tree.
Two Turtle Doves
Three French Hens
Four Colly Birds
Five Gold Rings
Six Geese-a-Laying
Seven Swans-a-Swimming
Eight Maids-a-Milking
Nine Ladies Dancing
Ten Lords-a-Leaping
Eleven Pipers Piping
Twelve Drummers Drumming

Twelfth Day of Advent

2010-12-12T13:48:00.004Z

- December 12th -

When I was a nipper in the late 70s/early 80s everyone had their tellys tuned into The Two Ronnies Christmas Show on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day. No question. It was the law. Or something.

You have to remember that if you missed a programme back then, you damn well missed it. It might be repeated, once the following year, if you were lucky. But if not then, tough. You missed it.

I know this is a rather difficult concept for us to get our heads around nowadays - in a time of iPlayers, repeats on Digital channels, and a full DVD release mere weeks after it’s broadcast - but back then British TV was much more ephemeral - transmitted once, perhaps twice, then over and done with, gone!

Like that other classic double act, Morecambe & Wise, The Two Ronnies was mandatory, festive television viewing, often commanding viewing figures of over 20 million people.

The Two Ronnies ran for 16 years - 1971-87 - and, although all but one of those years would see a full series broadcast, it was always to the Christmas Special that both critic and viewing attention alike would be focused.

The flagship of the Christmas schedules (much the same way as Doctor Who is currently) all the stops would be pulled out for the making and screening of this one-off bonanza - often with a greatly increased budget that would finance a somewhat cinematic-looking short film, that would appear near the end of the episode.

I used to love watching these specials when I was a kid, and do you know what, I still do!

Time has not diminished the impact of The Two Ronnies, either as a comedy double act or as a wonderfully entertaining, comedy sketch show. And you can still find it tucked in the Christmas schedules somewhere, even in this day and age - which I think says something about the timeless appeal and affection the British public have for these masters of comedy.

And this year is no exception, with BBC2 holding a Two Ronnies evening on December 23rd, featuring their Christmas Show from 1982, along with various documentaries and never-before-seen footage of these masters at work!

Proving that The Two Ronnies are an essential part of Christmas telly now as they ever were.

The Two Ronnies - Christmas Show

Eleventh Day of Advent

2010-12-11T17:15:00.002Z

- December 11th -

A friend of mine introduced me to Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaarder’s wonderful book The Christmas Mystery about ten years ago.

As each chapter of the book is a Day of Advent, my friend would traditionally read the book a chapter a night before going to sleep, allowing the story to unfold piece by mysterious piece throughout the course of almost a month.

Naturally, I was intrigued by what my friend told me about this book so, within a matter of days, I had popped down to my local Waterstones bookshop and purchased myself a copy of Gaarder’s novel for myself.

It was late November as I walked back from the bookshop, and as the novel begins on November 30th I decided to follow my friend’s example and read it one chapter a night, finishing up the book on Christmas Eve.

Joachim, a young boy, buys an advent calendar that turns out to contain something far more special than pieces of festive shaped chocolate. For behind each tiny door Joachim finds a piece of paper that tells the story of Elisabet Hansen, a girl who chases a toy lamb out of department store and across the country, encountering on her way, an angel, a cherub, a couple of shepherds and a King of the Orient!

The Christmas Mystery is such a magical little story, told through the eyes of a young boy, who slowly becomes enthralled by the mysterious Elisabet’s fantastic story.

Sadly, whenever I have re-read this book I have never gotten around to reading it one day at a time over the Advent period again, but instead find myself cramming in several chapters at a time to get it finished before Christmas.

I urge anyone who hasn’t read this marvellous book to do so, but preferably at Christmas Time, and one chapter a day starting from November 30th. And, like Joachim, a wonderful little Christmas mystery will unfold before your eyes.

Tenth Day of Advent

2010-12-10T17:59:00.007Z

- December 10th -

Sadly I didn’t discover Clement Clarke Moore’s wonderful Christmas poem The Night Before Christmas (or A Visit From St. Nicholas) until I was in my twenties.

I bought an illustrated copy from a local bookshop while I was at university, and, after reading it for the first time that Christmas Eve, immediately wished I’d had this read to me as a child. It’s such a beautiful little poem, set at midnight on Christmas Eve, as Jolly Old St. Nicholas drops in on a quite little suburban house in America, to leave presents under the tree for the family.

Moore’s poem is, perhaps, the single most important contributor to the Christmas myth since the story of the Nativity. It is here that we get our first detailed description of Father Christmas, a description that has become the blue print for how we imagine the character to this day.

First published in 1823, the author actually borrowed the conception of Father Christmas from fellow writer and good friend Washington Irving (author of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) yet Moore stamped his own mark upon the legendary character by having him deliver his presents to the family on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas Day, as was traditional up to that point.

The Night Before Christmas is a poem that demands to be read aloud; in the evening, in front of a roaring fire, preferably, while the snow falls gently outside and all the family gather around you on the sofa.

Like Charles Dickens’ novel A Christmas Carol, I read this every Christmas Eve, either to myself, or aloud to whoever wants to hear it. One day I hope to read it to my own children, preferably in front of that roaring fire.

There’s only two things that are more Christmassy than Moore’s poem…but to find out what those are you’ll have to wait and see.

Ninth Day of Advent

2010-12-09T17:44:00.006Z

- December 9th -

Today's Christmas moment comes from the most unlikely source; Monty Python's Meaning of Life. A film that has virtually nothing to do with the festive season, yet has one of the greatest Christmas song and dance routines you'll ever see.

Famously a highly controversial film (still banned in countries like Malaysia, Bhutan and, for many years, Ireland and New Zeland) Meaning of Life is usually most Monty Python fan's least favourite film, but I have to admit it's probably my favourite of the three (or four, if you want to count And Now For Something Completely Different).

One of it's greatest moments is right at the end when, at the end of the penultimate sketch, all the characters die and we follow them up to Heaven - only to find out that it's Christmas (but then, it's Christmas every day in Heaven).

All the recognisable tropes are present in the song and dance; the Nativity, angels, people in Father Christmas outfits, consumerism and...erm...Quasimodo.

Christmas In Heaven - Monty Python's Meaning Of Life

Eighth Day of Advent

2010-12-08T17:19:00.004Z

- December 8th -

The work’s Christmas party. Does anyone actually enjoy them?

There’s an age old myth - usually perpetuated by early 80s sitcoms, or aging uncles - that the work’s Christmas party is a hotbed of sin, vice and naughty goings on…usually in the office supply cupboard.

But let’s be honest here; hands up who’s actually gotten up to anything they shouldn’t at a work’s festive do?

Most of the parties I’ve been to that involve work colleagues usually involve a sit down meal, some cheerful banter, followed by a few drinks at a nearby boozer, then home to the missus.

Oh yeah, and we’re all supposed to photocopy our arses at these shindigs, and all. I mean, if that’s what everyone really did at the office party then no one would have any time for the actual drinking and debauchery bit, they’d be too busy joining a very long queue that stretched from the fire exit all the way up to the photocopier!

Let’s face it, it’s to the Christmas specials of Terry & June, The Two Ronnies and On the Buses that we must look, if we want to see where these mythical images of randy males chasing a female work colleague that they’ve fancied for ages down the corridor with a sprig of mistletoe really started.

For most of us, a work’s knees-up is a slightly disappointing and tedious affair, usually involving soggy sausage rolls and trying to avoid talking to that bloke from accounts who you don’t really like but can’t quite say why.

If only they were more like the ones we see on Terry & June; wouldn’t life be much more exciting! Staggering out of the supplies cupboard with that blonde from reception, your paper hat all crooked, your tie slightly undone and red lipstick marks all over your cheeks. Shouting “Whay hey!” as you goose that woman from the typing pool on your way to the buffet.

It’d be great. It really would. But sadly it’s just not real. Now relegated (since the sad death of proper sitcoms) to the pages of Viz, who use it in a purely ironic way.

If anyone actually goes to those sorts of parties I’d love an invite. I’ve got my own paper hat and tie, and have been known, on the odd occasion, to shout “Whay hey!” in an annoyingly loud and chauvinistic way.

And I’ve seen all the Christmas episodes of Terry & June, The Two Ronnies and On the Buses, so, you see, I am qualified!

Seventh Day of Advent

2010-12-07T16:59:00.003Z

- December 7th -

One of the greatest contributions that Doctor Who has made to the festive season is, without doubt, the wonderful Murray Gold-penned ‘Song For Ten’.

In the commentary to The Christmas Invasion, writer Russell T. Davies states that his brief to Murray Gold was that he wanted something that sounded as though it belonged on Phil Spector’s Christmas album.

It’s placement in the actual episode is spot on, with the main thrust of the story neatly wrapped up and the commencement of Christmas festivities in the Tyler household seriously getting into full swing.

The Tenth Doctor is ’born’ to this track; to the song’s opening strains he chooses his outfit in the TARDIS wardrobe, and it’s here that both Rose Tyler and the audience really see this new incarnation for the first time.

It’s a wonderfully magical moment, and inter-cut with the characters sitting down to Christmas dinner, pulling crackers, wearing paper hats, and the like, it’s the first truly Christmassy moment in Doctor Who since The Daleks’ Masterplan episode The Feast of Steven back in 1965.

Without doubt one of the main contenders for Greatest Moment of all time in Doctor Who along with Most Christmassy Moment in Doctor Who, to boot.

Should be compulsive viewing in the run-up to Christmas…not just that bit, but the whole episode!

There are two version of this song - one is the original broadcast version (the best version in my opinion), the other is the longer album version, rerecorded with vocals by The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon.

Song For Ten - Original Broadcast Version

Sixth Day of Advent

2010-12-06T15:43:00.007Z

- December 6th -

For me the Christmas of 1991 was one tinged with sadness. Not because of some family tragedy or being stuck away from home all alone unable to get back to the warm bosom of my loved ones, but because this was the first Christmas that we didn’t have to buy both the Radio Times and the TV Times together.

Thanks to the deregulation of television listings the Radio Times was now allowed to carry listing for ITV and Channel 4, and TV Times was allowed to include BBC 1 and 2’s television scheduling.

It was so disappointing. Like tearing off a little strip of my own personal traditional Christmas celebrations, depriving me of something I’d loved and cherished since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

Yes, it’s silly - I’m well aware of that, thank you - but it was something I truly enjoyed…spreading open two bumper Christmas issues of TV listing magazines and going through them both with a luminous marker-pen, circling all the wonderful Christmas telly I intended to watch.

I know I still can, and do (my magazine of choice is the Radio Times, much classier than the TV Times, whose garish pages are set out like a cheap 30p listings mag) but even after 19 years it still seems wrong to have only one TV listings magazine in the house at Christmas. Even now it feels like there’s still a huge TV Times-shaped hole on the coffee table for the entirety of that festive fortnight.

Although Radio Times continues to have the more traditional, elegant Christmas covers (except for some reason this years has Wallace & Gromit on again, despite there being no new episode on and they were on the cover just two Christmases ago) I still remember some of the TV Times covers of old with great fondness; the Minder cover from 1988 with Arthur and Terry in Father Christmas outfit, Bet Lynch and Hilda Ogden in a tinsel adorned Rovers Return from 1987, even that odd one that had Superman, Russ Abbott, the Muppets and David Frost all peering out of the door of a cottage onto a snow scene.

Even though I still look forward to the time every year when the bumper two-week Christmas issue of the Radio Times is released, and I can sit down on the settee by the Christmas tree, slowly making may way through the magazine towards the 25th of December, marking off all the festive programmes I’m intending to watch or record, I always spare a thought for when it used to be the three of us, and all the fun we used to have together.

But it’s only the two of us now, and despite all the fun and excitement the Radio Times gives me every Christmas, I’ll always miss the TV Times.

And, you know what…I think I always will.

Fifth Day of Advent

2010-12-05T16:56:00.003Z

- December 5th -

When I was a little kiddie, The Christmas Raccoons cartoon was always on, every single year, without fail.

In fact, back in the early 80s The Christmas Raccoons was synonymous with Christmas every bit as much as the Queen’s speech, The Snowman or The Wizard of Oz.

The odd thing was that although this was the first of four specials, which would later spin off into a 60 episode series that ran from 1985-92, I never actually saw any episode other than this Christmas special. Not one.

The cartoon itself is a very strange thing to behold, much like many of the speedily produced cartoon shows to emerge from Canada and the U.S between 1960-90s. I haven’t sat down and watched this cartoon properly in such a long time, but the bits I do see from time to time have that sinister, slightly off-kilter animation and somewhat creepy voice characterisations - much like watching episodes of The Flintstones nowadays. There’s something quite ‘wrong’ about them, something that you can‘t quite put your finger on.

The story takes place in Evergreen Forest, a place that is located “slightly a ways North”, and concerns the cruel business tactics of lumber tycoon Cyril Sneer and his son Cedric - strange, bent-nosed creatures - who are terrorising the forest where the raccoons of the title live, leaving them cold and homeless in the run-up to Christmas. Teaming up with two children and the animals of the woods, they set about trying to save their forest from total destruction at the hands of Sneer’s lumber company.

I won’t lie to you, I used to love this as a kid, and Christmas wasn’t Christmas until it’d been shown on ITV. Nowadays, I find it just plain freaky, and much of the charm that it had when I was a child is lost on me now.

Perhpas not unsurprisingly, the cartoon itself has vanished into relative obscurity, having not been broadcast on terrestrial television for a good twenty years. It’s probably for the best, however, as it isn’t really the classic cartoon that I seemed to remember it being from my childhood. Which is a pity, I suppose.

And I still don’t know what animals Cyril Sneer and his son Cedric are supposed to be. If anyone happens to know could they let me know, please. Cheers.

The Christmas Raccoons - 1980

Fourth Day of Advent

2010-12-04T19:01:00.006Z

- December 4th -

Today’s Advent blog is a little later than usual, but for a very good reason. You see, today I want to talk briefly about Christmas trees. The reason being that my tree was delivered today and I’ve been spending the most part of today decorating it, as well as putting up the rest of the Christmas decorations around the house.

It’s hard to believe that the tradition of decorating a tree and displaying it in the home as the centre piece of the Christmas dressings isn’t even two hundred years old yet.

Although the custom can be traced back as far as Estonia in the Fifteenth Century, it took a while to catch on in other parts of the world. By the early 1700s it had spread across Central Europe until, by the early Nineteenth Century, had made it as far a field as Russia and Canada.

It’s a well known fact that the Christmas tree really took off with the British public after Queen Victoria’s marriage to Prince Albert, but the tradition was actually introduced into Britain nearly half a century earlier by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen to George III.

When I was a child in the late 70s early 80s I seem to remember that our tree was very much of it’s time. It was quite small, roughly about 3 foot or so, and the branches were made of silver tinsel. We’d sit it on the sideboard where the top of the tree would come to just above our heads. Sounds bad now, I’ll grant you, but I actually used to love that tree as a kid, and the thought of decorating it every Christmas was one of the highlights of the year for me.

As I got older my Mum and Dad bought a bigger one. Still artificial, but this one was six foot tall, and green. It actually looked like a real tree from a distance. This was the mid-to-late 80s, you have to understand, when fake trees that didn’t look like trees at all were out, and fake trees that looked like real trees were in. My Mum would never allow us to have a real tree, would never allow one near the house let alone in it. She hated the thought of the pine needles getting all over the floor. Still does.

Since I’ve been with my fiancée, however, I’ve been introduced to the advantages of having a real tree in the house. They’re so beautiful I’d never go back to fake trees now; not even fake trees that look like real trees from a distance.

A nicely decorated one, with baubles and bows, garlands and lights, look almost Victorian; particularly if you place all your Christmas present around the bottom of the tree, as we do. And you know what, we’ve never had any problems with the pine needles, like my Mum has always feared. As long as you keep the base-stand full of water the pine needles stay where they are.

I’ve told my Mum this, but she still won’t have one in the house. She’s got a fake one that looks real, but it’s only small and sits on the sideboard in the living room. The top of it comes to just above their heads.

Dark Fiction's Twelve Days Anthology

2010-12-03T18:04:00.007Z

Dark Fiction Magazine have announced today the line up for their forthcoming Twelve Days Anthology, a collection of short spooky tales for Christmas.

My Steampunk short story The Wintermachine will be one of the twelve to feature in the collection, which is set for a Winter Solstice release - December 21st, 2010.

Each short story has taken one of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' as it's starting point to tell a short tale of spookiness and sinister goings on, all within the Steampunk, Sci-Fi and Horror genres.

The twelve stories are:

It’s Just A Game – Neil Benyon

The Wintermachine – Scott Harrison

True Love – David Hartley
Seven Swans – Chris Lewis
The Fifth Day – Alison Littlewood
Just One Night – Terry Martin

Seven Swans-a-Swimming – Martin McGrath
Five Gold Rings – Peter Morrison

Ten Lords-a-Leaping – Kev Rooney

Milk – Jennifer Williams

Nine Ladies Dancing – Marc Williams
Ten Lords-a-Leaping – Stuart Young

The anthology will be available as an audio collection via iTunes and the Dark Fiction Magazine website, and simultaniously published as a free eBook.

For more information visit Dark Fiction's website at http://www.darkfictionmagazine.co.uk/blog/twelve-days-anthology-the-winning-stories/

Third Day of Advent

2010-12-03T12:56:00.006Z

- December 3rd -

You know it really is Christmas when the Christmas idents appear on the telly.

There’s something wonderfully special and a little bit magical about them. It’s almost like the TV channels have put their Christmas decorations up too and are all ready to celebrate Christmas like the rest of us.

There was a time - around the late 70s / early 80s - when a first glimpse of the BBC’s latest Christmas ident was one of the most exciting and much anticipated events for a tiny wee laddy such as myself…that and running into the living room early on Christmas morning to find a huge pile of festively wrapped presents sitting in the middle of the carpet, of course.

Yes, we’ve had some good ‘uns of late, such as the Tenth Doctor and the TARDIS being pulled through the air like a sleigh by reindeer, and Wallace and Gromit out sledging in the snow, but they're not a patch on the ones they had when I was a nipper.

Before the inevitable introduction of computer generated Christmassy idents and continuity links the television stations had to rely on nifty model work standing on gently revolving turntables. Very dated now but it all looked incredibly festive at the time.

The BBC were the best, of course. Mind you, they didn’t have much competition. Back in the 70s and 80s the ITV channel had many more independent broadcasters (many of which either went bust or merged with other companies in the early 90s), and many of them didn’t really bother creating their own Christmas idents.

But even back then the BBC took the trouble to create a separate ident for both BBC1 and BBC2. There was even a time (in the very early 80s) when they would even go so far as to create different ‘versions’ of each ident, to depict the time of day. For example, in the 1980 ident, two versions of the model were presented throughout the day - in the morning a scene showing skaters on a frozen lake in daylight could be seen before each programme, in the evening viewers saw the same scene but under a starlit sky with accompanying ominous snow clouds!

It’s still exciting when the TV channels unveil their new ident each Christmas (although, for some unfathomable reason, BBC1 had the exact same ident for both 2006 and 2007) and it makes Christmas time all the more sparkly and…well, Christmassy…but they’ve never quite topped the success of those old, gently rotating models of the 70s and 80s.

Hopefully, one day, we might go all retro with the Christmas ident, like we do with music and fashion ever damn year, and we’ll once again see the lovely spinney model at Christmas…well, a CGI version of it, at any rate!

BBC Christmas Idents - 1975-89

Second Day of Advent

2010-12-02T12:22:00.009Z

- December 2nd -

Thinking about it, it’s probably Christmas music (along with Christmas adverts) being played before December that annoys the general public the most.

You usually can’t move for miserable, moaning old gits in Marks & Spencer’s complaining that “It’s only October and already they’re ramming Christmas down our throats.” *moan moan moan moan*

And breathe…

OK, so let’s not get me onto the subject of people moaning about Christmas or I’ll be writing this thing all day. Trust me.

However, having said this, as long as it’s December, nothing gets people in the Christmas spirit, or in a jocular mood, faster or more efficiently than Christmas music - be it carols, crooners or Wham‘s ‘Last Christmas‘!

Traditionally I start listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree and putting up the Christmas decorations - at this point it’s usually the entirety of the Andy Williams Christmas Album, which, on CD, is a whopping 20 tracks long!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams

I grew up listening to my Dad’s old vinyl copy of this album from his record collection, although this version (the original 1963 release) had only 12 tracks. Back then listening to this album meant that Christmas had officially started, and it was one of the first CDs I bought when I finally moved away from home and started organising my own Christmases.

Oddly, this was the only Christmas album my father owned (he now owns two as I bought him Enya’s brilliant '…And Winter Came' two years ago) so the rest of the Christmas play list was up to me, and over the years I built up a rather respectable library of Christmas CDs.

A Coventry Carol - Choir of St. George's Chapel

As I grew up I started to become increasingly fond of the traditional Christmas carol; not only those well known, yet wonderful, favourites such as We Three Kings, God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen or The First Noel, but others that seldom make it onto commercially popular albums. My favourite of these not-so-well-known carols is The Coventry Carol, which is one of the most beautiful things you will ever hear. I once spent several hours listening to this carol on a continuous loop as I sat writing pages and pages of A Christmas Carol script. Others, such as Masters In This Hall and Love Divine, I was fortunate enough to stumbled across on the same CD of the Choir of St. Gerorge’s Chapel, which is probably the finest carols CD to have in your collection.

The great thing about Christmas music is that there’s so much of it that there’s invariably something for everyone…unless you’re a miserable, moaning old git in Marks & Spencer’s. For the traditionalist there’s carols, for the connoisseur theirs Christmas symphonies for the groovy people there’s the crooners, and for the average Joe Public there’s Christmas Chart music.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas - Dean Martin

Which is why I’ve chosen four tracks for Day 2 of Advent: one from each of the above three categories and one from the Andy Williams Christmas Album, purely because it’s the best Christmas album ever released!

Another Rock & Roll Christmas - Gary Glitter

First Day of Advent

2010-11-30T22:54:00.006Z

- December 1st -

In 1969, while the Carry On film series was at the height of its popularity, Thames Television invited Carry On creators Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas to bring their comedy franchise to British TV screens for the first of what they hoped would eventually become a Christmas viewing tradition.

Although only four would be recorded and screened over the following five years (1969-73) they would all prove immensely popular with the British public, pulling in an audience of between 17 - 20 million viewers (with the 1969 special even being the most-watched programme of the entire Christmas week).

I first discovered these Carry On Christmas specials when a couple of them eventually found there way onto VHS in the mid 1990s. Although I’ve always been a huge fan of the Carry On film series since I was a child I’d never actually seen any of the TV Christmas specials as none of them had been repeated on British television until after the videos were released.

Cinema Club released both the 1972 (Carry On Stuffing) and 1973 (Carry On Christmas) specials in their budget range in late 1996, completely ignoring the first two entries in the series. I only managed to add the 1969 special to my collection when it was repeated on BBC2 in the late 90s and I was able to record it.

As with Eric & Ernie, or Messrs Corbett & Barker, the Carry On Christmas specials have become an essential part of my traditional comedy festive viewing, and since the entire collection were released on DVD in 2005 I have now managed to add the ’missing’ 1970 special to that list.

It’s always difficult choosing a single favourite moment from a series or collection that you love, particularly when there’s so much to choose from; not to mention the fact that one of the specials is based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and guest stars Frankie Howerd - probably the finest solo comedian Britain has ever produced.

Yet, despite this, the clip I have chosen is without doubt my favourite sketch of the lot - probably the single best thing the Carry On team has ever produced.

It’s Christmas Eve 1917 on the front line and as the snow falls silently onto the British trenches a sudden and unexpected truce falls between the British and German soldiers…

Carry On Christmas (1973)

Countdown to Christmas

2010-11-29T15:22:00.004Z

In just two short days it will be December and the countdown to Christmas will begin in earnest. And I shall be celebrating such by counting down the days of Advent on this here blog!

Every day from December 1st up to and including Christmas Day I shall be sharing with you some of my own personal favourite Christmas moments from literature, film, music and television.

To get us in the mood I thought I'd get the ball rolling with a (very) brief look at what this business of Advent is all about.

A Brief History of Advent

Taken from the Latin word Adventus, meaning “Coming” (itself a translation from the Greek Parousia, meaning “official visit” or “arrival” - more commonly used in reference to the Second Coming of Christ) and marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

The actual focus of Advent has shifted somewhat over the last two thousand years. It began life as the Western Christian Church’s preparation for the Epiphany (various key events in Christ’s life, such as the coming of the Magi [wise men], baptism, performing of miracles, etc) as far back as 300AD, but less than three hundred years later had shifted focus to become more about anticipating Christ’s Second Coming.

It wasn’t until a further 1000 years after that that the more popular and well known tradition of expectation and preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ was finally added (arguably what Advent is solely known for in the present day, largely due to its increasing popularity as a secular celebration).

The original six week duration of Advent had been shortened to four weeks sometime in the 9th Century by the then Pope St Nicholas, although it wouldn’t be for another 1000 years (some time in the 19th Century) that the Advent Calendar would find its way into the myths and traditions of the season.

The original idea for the Advent Calendar came from German Lutherans who, starting on December 1st, would mark their doors every day with a line of chalk. This inevitably lead to other, more elaborate, forms such as the Advent Clock - the lighting of twenty-four candles in sequential order (with each candle usually appropriately numbered).

Although the first recorded case of an Advent Calendar as we know it today being used was as far back as the mid 19th Century, it wouldn’t reach popularity until after 1903 when the first printed versions began to be produced.

And the love for the humble Advent Calendar hasn’t waned since…apart from during the Second World War when the need to conserve paper for the war effort saw the tradition die out…

…until Hitler’s defeat, at any rate.

Happy Birthday Doctor Who

2010-11-23T14:20:00.005Z

On a cold, dark Saturday evening at 5:16pm in 1963, the screening of Doctor Who’s first ever episode was somewhat overshadowed by the assassination of U.S president John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas the evening before.

Because of this, coupled with a series of blackouts across the country, it was decided to repeat the first episode again the following week immediately prior to the transmission of episode 2. Ratings were good, pulling in an average of 6 million viewers.

But what began as a modest little family Science Fiction show would explode into a national phenomena some four weeks later with the arrival of the Daleks. Audience figures virtually doubled overnight and now, 47 years later, Doctor Who still occupies that coveted Saturday Tea-Time slot, and is more popular than it ever was.

And as we move ever closer to the programme’s Fiftieth Anniversary, Doctor Who is enjoying it’s second Golden Age, in the hands of Matt Smith and Steven Moffat.

How it all began - An Unearthly Child, Episode 1

Every year my fiancee and I celebrate the programme's birthday by sitting down to an episodic marathon based around a particular theme. Last year, for example, we watched one episode per 'classic villain' (Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans, Ice Warriors and The Master), while the year before we watched one episode for each of the (then) 10 incarnations of the Doctors.

This year we have chosen six of our favourite companions, and the evenings viewing will consist of :-

Ian & Barbara - The Romans, episode 1

Jamie - Evil Of the Daleks, episode 2

Jo Grant - Curse Of Peladon, episode 1

Sarah Jane Smith - Death To The Daleks, episode 1

Leela - The Horror Of Fang Rock, episode 4

Peri - The Trial Of A Time Lord, episode 4

And amongst all these birthday celebrations the BBC has also released the first full-length trailer for the 2010 Christmas special - A Christmas Carol

So, Happy Birthday Doctor Who. 47 years old today and looking as good as ever. And roll on December 25th for what looks like a fantastic brand new episode!

The Idaho Statesman Newspaper Article

2010-11-21T13:25:00.006Z

After Knock 'Em Dead's opening performance on Friday kicked off their run in style their production was covered in the entertainment section of their local newspaper, The Idaho Statesman.

The link to the online edition of the newspaper recently plopped into my inbox. Not only does it give the theatre company a much needed shout-out but it also, rather kindly, gives me a nice little name-check.

Thanks to Mary McGreaham, not only for keeping me updated on how the production is coming along, but also for printing up my message to the cast and crew and posting it in their dressing room for all to read.

"Holiday entertainment around the Treasure Valley
Area theaters deck their stages with fun.
By Dana Oland

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” like the ghosts in “A Christmas Carol,” Charles Dickens’ eternal Victorian tale of the miserly Scrooge, whose icy heart is melted by three visiting ghosts who help him redeem his loveless life.
It’s a story that never misses its mark, and as a play it’s popular holiday fare. Though there is no standing traditional production in Boise, one of the area theater companies usually puts it on during the season.
Last year, a touring production came through. This year, it’s Knock ’em Dead Dinner Theatre rattling Marley’s chains.
Director Mary McGreaham chose Scott Harrison’s 2003 theatrical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” at Knock ’em Dead. It opens this weekend.
This is the first time KED has produced the show. Because the company’s usual fare is musicals, expect this straight play to be peppered with caroling, fiddlers and other musical elements, she says.

It plays Thursdays through Saturdays Nov. 19 through Dec. 18.

Read the entire article at http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/11/19/1423688/holiday-entertainment-around-the.html

Actor Ben Clegg as Ebenezer Scrooge

Christmas Has Begun

2010-11-19T10:18:00.002Z

Tonight is the opening performance of my play in the U.S, and I couldn't be more excited. Curtain up is at 8:00pm in Boise, Idaho which will be 3:00am in the UK.

I'm so disappointed that I can't be there to watch it live, but they are videoing one of the performances for me and hopefully sometime before Christmas I will recieve a copy of the DVD in the post - which will be a wonderful Christmas treat.

If you live in the U.S and you still want to catch the play it's still not too late as it will be running until December 18th.

For tickets either visit their website at : http://www.kedproductions.org/ or visit or call the theatre itself at:

415 East ParkCentre Boulevard, ParkCentre Mall, Ste. 110, Boise
Tel : (208) 385-0021

If anyone is planning on going please can they drop me a line and let me know how the evening went.

On a related subject, as of December 1st I shall be counting down the days of Advent by posting an entry every day up to, and including, Christmas Day, sharing with you some of my favourite Christmas moments from literature, TV, music and the movies. So please make sure you visit my blog every day.

Knock 'Em Dead's A Christmas Carol Flyer

2010-11-07T17:40:00.008Z

This piece of beautiful promotional artwork plopped into my email inbox recently, sent to me by Idaho-based theatre company Knock 'Em Dead. This wonderfully Victorian looking flyer is their first piece of production literature, and provides all the essential information you'll need to plan a fantastic night out with their forthcoming production of my stage play this Christmas; dates, ticket prices, theatre contact details and curtain-up times.

Perfomances begin in just twelve days time on 19th November, so get booking those tickets now!

The illustration used in the flyer is suitably evocative of the original John Leech plates seen in all the illustrated editions of Dicken's classic novel. They've even given me a wonderful name-check in the descriptive blurb to the right of the illustration, which massages my writer's vanity enormously.

Naturally I can't wait to see what the poster artwork will look like. Hopefully I won't have long to wait.

Poster for Eden Troupe's Production of A Christmas Carol

2010-10-20T17:24:00.007+01:00

Virginia-based theatre company Eden Troupe have sent me the first piece of brilliant promotional artwork for their forthcoming production of my stage play A Christmas Carol. I love this poster, it is absolutely stunning, very spooky and evocative, and more importantly, very very Christmassy!

I can't wait to see the rest of the promotional literature now. Rest assured I will be putting them straight up on here as soon as I get them.

The Ten Best Books Of All Time (part 2 of 2)

2010-10-18T13:42:00.010+01:00

Choosing your ten favourite books of all time doesn’t make allowances for all those marvellous ‘series’ of books out there; the over-reaching arcs that play out their entire stories in trilogies, heptalogies, or even on-going series that have been running for decades.

Sometimes it’s difficult to single out a specific title or novel within a cycle of books as being the best simply because to remove it from the context of the series would diminish it’s impact and render it virtually impotent (However, having said this, one of the titles found in the second part of my Top Ten Books list below is the first in an original cycle of six novels - a cycle which has now expanded into double figures in recent years).

Over the years I’ve been an avid reader of many ‘cycle’ or on-going book sagas, here are some of the best; Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, Robert Rankin’s Brentford trilogy (now 9 books long!), Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, Jeff Somers’ Avery Cates series, David Nobbs’ Henry Pratt & Reggie Perrin sagas, Peter F. Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, Paul Magrs’ Brenda & Effie mysteries, Alastair Reynold’s Revelation Space sequence and Whitley Strieber’s Communion saga.

However, one of the self imposed rules to my Top Ten was that I was not allowed to nominate an entire series as one choice. For example, I was not allowed to put Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series into my list, but could, if I wanted to, choose a single title from that range (it would have been Hogfather, if I had to choose one, that being my favourite Discworld novel).

So, here’s the second half of my Ten Best Books of All Time :

06 - Dune - Frank Herbert
It took me a good many years to finally get around to reading this classic SF novel. Often labelled as a ‘heavy’ or ‘laborious’ read, Herbert’s Hugo Award winning 1965 novel of politics, religion, ecology and the fight for control over the life-expanding ‘spice’ rich planet of Arrakis (nick-named Dune) is one of the most refreshingly original and exciting pieces of science fiction I’ve ever read. It was the opening book in the first of the two Dune trilogies (the other titles being Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune). His son, Brian Herbert, along with co-writer Kevin J. Anderson, has gone on to write a total of 10 prequels and sequels to the original series.

Despite the fact that it took me a while to read the book I’ve been a huge fan of the 1984 David Lynch film for the past twenty-six years, being one of my Ten Favourite SF Films of all time. Not a popular choice, I know, with most people preferring the John Harrison 4hour+ miniseries in 2000.

07 - Glue - Irvine Welsh
Welsh is one of the most original, shocking and all-round entertaining novelists writing today, and quite possibly the greatest British writer of the past forty years. I bought and read this book for the first time while spending several weeks up in Edinburgh, the city where the novel is set, and had the advantage of being able to walk the very streets that were being named in the story.

Following the highs and lows of four Edinburgh/Leith born wide-boys growing up in Britain between the late 70s - early 2000s, and, along with his novels Trainspotting and Porno goes to make up an unofficial trilogy.

08 - ‘Salem’s Lot - Stephen King
One of the scariest books I’ve ever read. It absolutely terrified me when I first took it out of the local mobile library, way back in the mid-80s. The book was collected together with Carrie and The Shining in a St. Michaels hardback, and I read it alone over a handful of bitingly cold winter evenings up in my bedroom after school. Although I read all three of the novels in the collection ‘Salem’s Lot stood out as the greatest of them all, and still is.

For me this 1975 novel marks the beginning of author Stephen King’s Golden Age; seeing a run of over twenty truly top-notch novels, short story collections, short novel collections, novelettes, and fantasy novels ending with The Dark Half fourteen years later in 1989.

The fifth book in his Dark Tower cycle, Wolves of the Calla, acts as a sequel of sorts, in so much as we catch up with the character of Father Donald Callahan, learning what has happened to him since we last saw him catching a Greyhound bus in the latter half of ‘Salem’s Lot.
　
09 - The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
Along with his novels The Time Machine and The Invisible Man, Well’s tale of alien invasion and conflict between the planets makes up three of the best SF novels ever written. Often categorised as ‘scientific romance’ the book can be interpreted as the author’s views and opinions on British imperialism and the legacy of the Victorian era.

Scenes of the massive tripod war machines striding across the English countryside, dispensing death and destruction to all that they meet are some of the most strikingly evocative pieces of fiction you will ever read. As with A Christmas Carol and Dracula, War of the Worlds is a story that many have seen film adaptations of but never actually read the novel.

Hugely influential to John Christopher’s fantastic Tripods children’s novel series; The White Mountains, The City of Gold & Lead, The Pool of Fire and it’s prequel When the Tripods Came.

10 - The Story of Britain - Roy Strong
The only non-fiction book in the list. Author, broadcaster and former Director of the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, Sir Roy Strong tells the complete story of this Island, from 320BC (when Britain enters recorded history) up to present day.

Beautifully illustrated throughout with portraits, paintings, documentation, photographs and even tapestries, along with Christopher Lee’s This Sceptred Isle, this is one of the most important and stunningly crafted history books ever produced. Fist released in 1998 and, in my opinion, never bettered.

TheTen Best Books of All Time (part 1 of 2)

2010-10-06T13:06:00.013+01:00

Recently, for a bit of fun, a friend and fellow writer and editor invited me and several others on Facebook to compose a list of the top 15 books that will always stick with you. After thinking about this for twenty-four hours I managed to construct a list of books that (although not necessarily what I’d consider my all time favourites) are the most memorable for one reason or another.

Actually compiling this list was quite difficult, to say the least. There are many reasons why a particular book will “always stick with you”, even if the book itself is not necessarily considered a ‘classic’ or of literary merit or even one of the best in its genre. Some books speak to you on an emotional level, striking a particular chord at a time in your life when you are vulnerable or grieving, or in a highly receptive or happy state of mind.

And some of those titles can often take you by surprise.

Once, many years ago, when I was at a particular low point in my life I found myself taking comfort in a vast array of fictional titles, ranging from TV Tie-Ins, comedy, cheap horror, even novelisations. Some of which stuck with me.

Some of the books I chose for this list were in there because they were the first exposure I had to a particular genre (Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart being an example, as it was the first novel I had read by an African author), others such as Thomas Hardy’s tale of the awkward Jude in Jude the Obscure were there because they left a lasting impression on an equally awkward teenager who was reading it in school.

So, after I’d written and posted it (and left a note saying that I could have written a list of the top 50 books that have ‘stuck with me’) it then started me thinking about other lists - particularly my the Ten Favourite Books of All Time.

I remember way back in the first year of college that myself and two friends decided to go away and compile a list of the 10 greatest books we’d ever read. This started me thinking about how that list might have changed some eighteen-odd years later.

Here, then, is my Ten Best Books of All Time (2010 Remix):
　
01 - A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol is, without doubt, the greatest single piece of literature ever written in any language. In the world. Ever. This is not up for debate, it’s a fact! If you don’t agree, then you’re wrong. Many people have only seen a film or TV adaptation of this and never actually gotten around to reading the book itself, which is a great shame as - apart from a couple of good versions - none of them have even come close to capturing the true darkness, despair and tragedy of the novel, as well as the bright, shining core of hope and warmth that sits at the very heart of the story.

I have this ritual when it comes to reading the book, which I’ve been following every Christmas for the past two decades - I read it over the course of five days, one chapter a night, starting on December 20th and finishing on Christmas Eve. For me it’s as traditional as putting up a tree, eating mince pies, or wearing colourful paper hats from out of a cracker.

　
02 - A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burguess
It took me a while to get round to reading A Clockwork Orange. My friend had a copy that he always used to carry around with him while we were at college, and at regular intervals would produce it from his bag and inform whoever was listening that this was one book that we all really should read. After glancing down the first couple of pages I would always hand the book back to him with a shake of the head. “No thanks, I don’t think I’ll bother.“ I’d say. You see, I was always put off by the language of the piece, written as it is in the fictional future street-parley of ‘Nadsat’. The fact that the book contains no glossary at the back for you to look up what a word means always struck me as ridiculous, and so, for many months, I refused to pick the book up.

I now have a small bet with friends who are undecided about whether to read it or not : “Read the first 7 pages. If you haven‘t go the hang of Nadsat by then and don‘t want to carry on, then simply stop reading and give it back.” Not one single person has ever stopped reading it! And all have loved it!

As with A Christmas Carol, thanks to it’s long overdue release on DVD, most people have only seen Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of the book. Despite it being one of the greatest films ever made, it still falls somewhat short of capturing the full terror and stark brutality of the 1962 novel.
　

03 - The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving
The fact that this novel is, after all these years, occupying a spot in my Ten Favourite Books still amazes me. I went through a phase, in the very late 80s / early 90s, of reading what is considered by many as great ‘literary works’ - among which were the novels of Joseph Heller, Don DeLillo and John Irving. Yet, although many cite Heller’s wonderful Catch 22 as the greatest of the bunch, it would always be Irvings tale of awkwardness, incest, homosexuality, death and a girl in a bear costume that would stand head and shoulders above the rest for me.

It went on to spawn a rather unsuccessful but entertaining film adaptation starring a dreadfully miscast Rob Lowe. The film version of Irvings previous novel The World According To Garp was much much better!

04 - London - Edward Rutherfurd
Many people are put off reading this fantastic novel by its sheer volume of pages (1000 +) or that they’ve read his earlier work, Sarum, which is equally as page heavy and fear that they’d just be ploughing through an identical book. This is a pity as neither of those fears are true. It’s true that a modicum of commitment is needed when approaching a book of such length but the same can be said of reading Peter F. Hamilton, Leo Tolstoy or even Stephen King. One of the greatest historical novels you will ever read, whether you live in London or not (and I don’t).

05 - Dracula - Bram Stoker
I first read this novel while holidaying in Whitby and, although only 50 of it's 400 + pages are set in the small fishing port, it sure helps add to the atmosphere of the book as a whole. Along with A Christmas Carol this is probably the book I have read most since I first discovered it over twenty years ago.

It still remains one of the most frightening, grisly works of horror fiction ever written and has spawned some of the most varied, interesting, unique and (sometimes) downright bizarre sequels and spin-offs of any other novel in literary history. Some of the best being Mina by Marie Kiraly, Anno Dracula by Kim Newman, Dracula the Undead by Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.
　
　
To Be Continued….

The Terrible Zodin Free Fanzine

2010-10-04T12:31:00.004+01:00

Issue number 8 of the fantastic free Doctor Who fanzine The Terrible Zodin is available to download now over on its website. At a massive 104 pages this new issue sets out to extensively cover the Wilderness Years of the programme (1990 - 2003). As well as featuring interviews with Who writers Paul Cornell and Lance Parkin it also includes an exhaustive multi-authored article covering Virgin Book’s entire New Adventures novel range.

The article features a piece on Ben Aaronovitch’s novel Transit, written by me. It was enormous fun to write, and it gave me the excuse to re-read the novel for the first time in fifteen years!

You can download it here : http://doctorwhottz.blogspot.com/

A Christmas Carol Performance Dates

2010-09-27T16:14:00.012+01:00

Detail have now been finalised and I am delighted to reveal that the third U.S theatre company to be producing my stage play of A Christmas Carol this year will be The Slightly Off Centre Players, based in Maine, New England, who will be bringing the production to the Centre Theatre in Dover Foxcroft, Maine. There will be a total of six performances, over the months of November and December 2010 incorporating the following dates:

Friday November 26th
Saturday November 27th
Sunday November 28th
Friday December 3rd
and two (2) performances on Saturday December 4th

Ticket prices: $12 in advance, $15 at the door, $10 for company members, children 12yo and under get in free.

Click here for more details
　
Dates have also been confirmed for Virginia based Eden Troupe theatre company’s production of the play with evening performances at the famous Patrick Henry College on:

Wednesday December 1st
Thursday December 2nd
Friday December 3rd
and Sunday December 5th

Click here for more details
　
I’m still awaiting final confirmation of performance details for the Idaho theatre company Knock ‘Em Dead , although the run will last for fourteen performances opening on the night of November 19th.

Click here for more details

Please click on the above website links if you would like to book tickets or to find out more information on ticket prices, performance times and theatre locations.

The Best of British

2010-09-23T09:08:00.005+01:00

As it was my birthday last Saturday (and coincidentally, my fiancée’s two days later!) my folks decided to pop over for the weekend to join in with the joint festivities. We all had a great time having a day by the seaside as well as a wonderful big Sunday lunch at a beautiful little nearby carvery. Thanks to the kind generosity of friends and family we now have a rather impressive pile of brand new viewing added to our DVD and Blu-ray ‘To Watch’ pile.

It’s almost impossible to jump online and not read something fantastic about the classic 1976 BBC historical drama series I, Claudius. Cited by many writers and actors as probably the best piece of television ever produced, the cast list reads as a who’s who of the greatest British actors of our time. It rather shames me to admit that it’s taken me this long to get around to getting my hands on a copy. I’ve actually been meaning to watch it for ages now, as I’ve been steadily expanding my collection of classic British serials on DVD over the past couple of years; so far I’ve made my way through Brideshead Revisited, Jewel in the Crown, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Elizabeth R, Chronicles of Narnia, The Box of Delights, Beasts and Edge of Darkness.

In two years time it’ll be two whole decades since one of Britain’s funniest physical comedians died, the legendary Benny Hill. Sadly Hill was a casualty of that witch-hunt-esque PC quagmire of the late 80s / early 90s, where alarmist do-gooders were instrumental in both ‘banning’ and censoring various comedians, films and TV shows from British television for nearly half a decade. All content considered sexist, racist, violent or harmful to the morals of the viewing audience were removed, meaning that shows such as Minder, The Professionals and The Sweeney were heavily censored, whereas the Carry On films and comedians such as Benny Hill were refused air-time altogether.

Thankfully all his Thames shows from 1969 to 1989 are finally being released uncut onto DVD. Benny Hill never actually put together proper six or eight episode series, but rather focused on producing three or four 50-minute ‘annuals’ that would be televised intermittently throughout the year - similar to the run of Doctor Who specials in 2009. The 1970-79 Annuals box set collects together all thirty-three of his seventies shows along with his two shows from 1969 and a 25-minute TV play from late 1970 that Hill variously wrote, co-directed and starred in.

As a fan of John Wyndhams 50s apocalyptic novel I adore the BBC’s 1981 adaptation of The Day of the Triffids. I was just turning 8 years old when I first saw this series and I remember being a little freaked out by the eerie opening credits*. It’s odd, but I have a very strong memory of sitting down to watch it on a Saturday tea-time while at my nana and granddad’s, which is impossible as any fan will tell you it was shown on a Thursday at 8.30pm (or Wednesday at 7.40pm on the 1984 repeats). But the memory is there and even though I know it’s wrong I still swear blind that that is when I first watched it.

I was lucky enough in the mid-90s to have a friend with cable TV and was able to get them to record it for me off UK Gold, and so I‘ve been able to watch this wonderful series as and when I want. I still have the old TDK 180 VHS tape with it on, although for reasons I’ve never understood this version was the 3 x 52-minute episode version that was sold overseas, rather than the 6 x 26-minute version originally broadcast in the UK and released on DVD.

So that, along with Sarah Jane Adventures and various films and comedy series, is our viewing pretty much sorted for the next couple of months. We’ve still got birthday money left over, or course, so more DVDS and Blu-rays will be added to the pile over the coming weeks…and I’ve just discovered a fantastic new online store called UKDVDSOnline which sells nothing but “Classic TV and Film”!
　
　
*All those who have read my previous blog entries may have noticed a slight pattern forming when it comes to late 70s / early 80s opening credits and my nerves!

Blog Title Change

2010-09-17T09:14:00.003+01:00

You may have noticed that I've changed the title of my blog, the reason being that I've been noticing over the past few weeks that there are quite a few blogs out there in interweb-land that are called simply "A Writer's Blog", so I thought it would be a good time to change it to something a little more unique.

The new title comes from one of my all time pet hates - that incongruous little sentence you often see at the bottom of DVD releases (usually sit-coms, almost always British) which means that the programme you are about to watch has been hacked to bits and guaranteed to have you shouting "Hold on, there's a whole five minute chunk chopped out there!" at the television screen every ten minutes and will have you pining for that old taped-off-the-telly video copy you used to watch to death when you were younger! Only Fools & Horses, Hi-De-Hi, Steptoe & Son Christmas Special, Funland, Til Death Us do Part, Oh Doctor Beeching, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Revelation of the Daleks, I'm looking in your direction!!

...and breathe.

Harrison's House of Horror

2010-09-03T13:51:00.007+01:00

For as long as I can remember I’ve had a love/hate relationship with Horror.

One of my earliest memories of being effected by horror was some time back in early 1980 with the original UK transmission of the Stephen King mini series ‘Salem’s Lot. As I was unwilling to go upstairs to bed on my own, and equally unwilling to sit and watch a scary programme about vampires (I was only 6 years old, remember) my mother hit up on an ingenious little plan. I would lie on the sofa, facing away from the TV, while my mother, my brother and my sister all sat along the length of the sofa (literally on the edge of their seats!) forming a human shield - an impenetrable wall of backs that would act as a defence against the terrifying images.

So, my family employed this method, over two consecutive nights, for 90 minutes a time. But it didn’t really work.

You see, I was an inquisitive little 6 year old boy, and, try as I might, I was unable to ignore the sounds of violence and terror that were ringing out of the family television set, a mere 8 foot away. And, inevitably, I peeped around my mother’s shoulders and I saw things that were guaranteed to keep me awake for at least the next month.

Back then I hated horror. Hated it. It truly scared the bejesus out of me. It seems silly now but the terror I felt every Tuesday at 8pm when the beginning credits to Thames Television’s anthology series Armchair Thriller would begin was almost unbearable. The programme itself never frightened me (it wasn’t strictly ‘horror’ but many of the stories did incorporate supernatural elements) only the opening credits. It was that vague human shadow and the sudden movement of it’s shadowy hands coupled with the crash-zoom at the end that really went to work on me. Those titles were only 20 seconds long, but to a four year old with an over-active imagination, it can seem like 20 minutes.

It was somewhere around the mid-80s that my fear of the horror genre slowly began to give way to morbid fascination - thanks, in no small part, to my mother’s impressive book collection. Here I had my first taste of the true horror masters, as well as new up and coming authors; Dracula by Bram Stoker, Gateway to Hell by Dennis Wheatley, The Survivor by James Herbert, Deathday by Shaun Hutson, Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews, Ghost Story by Peter Straub and horror anthologies such as the 24th Pan Book of Horror Stories and Roald Dahl‘s Tales of the Unexpected.

From the local mobile library I’d managed to find one of those famous St. Michaels hardback compilations, this time collecting together Stephen King’s first three published novels; Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot and The Shining. Although I read all three of them it was ‘Salem’s Lot that made the greatest impact. Perhaps it was due to my experiences of (not) watching the mini series when I was six, but I found the novel absolutely terrifying and it immediately became one of my favourite books (and still is to this day!)

Around the same time my sister would frequently come home in the evenings from the local Youth Club with tantalising tales of how she had seen a group of teenagers in the Club’s television room watching pirate copies of banned films like The Evil Dead, The Exorcist or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. I was usually both shocked and intrigued by these tiny scraps of local scandal. ‘How I’d love to watch those films too,’ I thought, ‘But so glad that I’m not,’ I would invariably add. For me watching or reading horror was like driving slowly past a bad car accident; not wanting to look at such a deeply upsetting scene, but not being able to tear my eyes away.

By the end of the 1980s horror was no longer having the same effect on me that it once did. In fact, the only book that had any real impact on me at all was Domain, the final instalment in James Herberts ‘Rats Trilogy’. Oddly, this had nothing to do with the actual rats themselves but the fact that it was set against the backdrop of nuclear war.

The threat of nuclear armageddon was the popular bogeyman of the era, its dark shadowy menace was cast over many a school playground conversation. With a new escalation in the Cold War following Ronald Reagan’s reversal from the policies of détente and his introduction of the ‘Star Wars’ defence initiative a brand new strain began to emerge within the horror genre. Stories that dealt with the true horror of a nuclear aftermath became popular, and very soon saw the arrival of such films as When The Wind Blows and TV programmes like Threads and The Day After.

For me it was an area of horror that I’d quickly decided that I didn’t like and, while everyone was in class one morning at school watching Barry Hines’ Sheffield based film Threads, I was allowed to sit in an adjoining room reading my copy of Stephen King’s Christine.

I remember being on a camping holiday in 1988 with my mum, dad and best friend at the time, sitting in the bedroom section of the trailer tent at 11 o’clock at night reading Domain, while my friend read his copy of Herbert’s Sepulchre, both of us absolutely terrified! One of the last books to truly scare the pants off me.

The only book that’s had a similar effect on me since is Whitley Strieber’s Communion. A supposedly ‘true’ account of the author’s abduction by alien beings and its personal impact upon his life and mental state. It’s not that I necessarily believe in the existence of aliens, more that I read it at 1am, alone, in a tiny one room attic flat, while I was living in York. At one point I’m sure I was sweating pure adrenalin.

Roughly around this time, while I was working as writer-in-residence with The Dreaming Theatre Company, I was down in Brighton with Lee Harris (he of Angry Robot fame) spending the weekend schmoozing, and generally getting drunk with, author Robert Rankin. We had optioned The Antipope, the first novel in his Brentford series, and had travelled down to sort out the details. After the pair of us had staggered back to our hotel at the end of the night we decided to stay up a bit longer, drinking cans of Coke and watching an episode of the early 80s anthology series Hammer House of Horror, that we’d brought with us on DVD.

The episode we chose was Children of the Full Moon, starring the late, great Diana Dors. Lee was unimpressed, to say the least (which struck me as slightly odd, as it was his DVD that we were watching), but I loved it. But this reaction didn’t surprise me in the least (neither his nor mine).

For me, this was exactly the sort of thing I’d grown up watching and reading. It had frightened me in the early years of my life, and delighted and entertained me as I’d moved into adulthood. You see, things like Hammer House of Horror were the television equivalent of that Pan Book of Horror Stories I’d read as a nipper, and contained many supernatural / occult elements that I’d so lovingly adored in the novels of Dennis Wheatley, H.P Lovecraft and Ramsey Campbell. Programmes such as this, and Tales of the Unexpected, are a visual master class in understanding the essential tropes of 70s & 80s horror.

I still love watching and reading horror, although it doesn’t really scare me anymore. But there’s nothing quite like snuggling up in your favourite chair while sticking an old horror anthology series in the DVD player, or plunging into a good, well written horror novel or collection, with the fire on full and the curtains closed against a dark and drizzly night.

And occasionally, just occasionally, I find the odd novel or story that will still give me a sleepless night!

The Obligatory Doctor Who Post

2010-08-19T19:07:00.017+01:00

I miss proper Doctor Who books.

I’m not talking about the old Target novelisations. Nope. They were of an era, a brief slice of delicious nostalgia; a chunk of my childhood that has been irrevocably cast adrift, something that I could never recapture, no matter how hard I tried.

No, I’m talking about the New / Missing adventures; those wonderful monthly novels that lit the dark and lonely wilderness that was the 1990s - early 2000s with their ceaseless munificence.

Back then, in the wasteland that has now become known as the ‘sixteen year hiatus‘, my friends and I savoured each and every release. After we had read them we’d sit out on the little wooden bench in my friend’s front garden, listening to the steady trickle of the water in his goldfish pond, and discuss the book at great length. We’re talking ‘93 - ‘94 here, a time when we were all about to disappear off to university, so the time was precious to us and we met up at every available opportunity.

Thinking back it seems like it was always summer on those evenings in my friend's garden; the sun always seemed to be setting and bugs would always be buzzing lazily about their buggy business as we talked excitedly about the book we had just read - maybe comparing it to those that had gone before, perhaps anticipating what might be coming next.

To anyone too young to remember those times, or those people who only jumped onboard the Whovian Express with the new series in 2005, it’s hard to imagine that back then Doctor Who was considered a joke, a series that was past its prime, and to everyone involved it was dead and buried. BBC Worldwide was releasing stories sporadically on home video, but even this was little comfort to Who fandom (remember, this was a time when even Doctor Who Magazine was warning us not to get our hopes up, as it was highly unlikely that all the remaining episodes would be released on video!)

So, for me and my friends these monthly fixes of Who-relatedness were a God-send, a life-saver, twelve mini-events that lit the way through those dark and terrible times like flaming torches along a spider-webbed strewn, ancient stone corridor.

We delighted at the return of old favourites and thrilled in the introduction of new and exotic foes. An earlier incarnation of the Master appeared in David A. McIntee’s cold war thriller First Frontier, while the Cybermen returned to their snowy roots in David Banks’ Antarctic adventure Iceberg. Gareth Roberts introduced us to the reptilian Chelonians (twice) while Gary Russell and the late, great Craig Hinton kept us up to date with the evil machinations of everyone’s favourite Martians, the Ice Warriors. Unfortunately we also had Dave Stone, taking the piss and ruining it for everyone else with his ’I seem to be embarrassed to be involved in this so I’m not going to take anything seriously’ style of writing - so, every silver-lining.

Who can forget the sheer genius that was Ben Aaronovitch’s Transit? A novel so good that, not only was it the best book in the entire Virgin range, but it was a sure-fire contender for best Doctor Who book ever! It was at the time, you may recall, a book so controversial that it split the fan community straight down the middle into those that loved it and those that hated it. You might say it was the novel equivalent of Marmite!

When Virgin lost the rights to the Doctor Who range in 1997, there was much consternation within the fan community as to the continued quality of the novels. Surely, we all thought (seemingly as one giant hive-mind), BBC Books couldn’t continue the high standards that Virgin had maintained so diligently throughout their six year reign.

Ok, so we were wrong - every last one of us. You see, the BBC had a secret weapon up their sleeves…actually they had several. Most notably Lawrence Miles, Mark Morris and Paul Magrs.

You can say what you like about Mr Miles (actually, you probably could, and he wouldn’t bat an eyelid) but there is absolutely no doubt that he is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WRITER ever to work on the Doctor Who novel range (sorry about the capital letters there, but they were necessary, dammit!). Each and every novel he has produced have been vital to the range as a whole - his War In Heaven arc was, arguably, the single most exciting, original and important addition to the Doctor Who mythos since Terry Nation and Raymond Cusick created the Daleks back in 1963.

So, not only were we getting 70% of the writers who’d contributed to the previous range, but editors Ben Dunn, Jac Rayner and Justin Richards were bringing in other immensely talented writers who were taking the series into new and exciting areas; The Bodysnatchers by Mark Morris, The Scarlet Empress by Paul Magrs, Matrix by Mike Tucker & Robert Perry and Relative Dementias by Mark Michalowski being amongst the best titles by new Who authors.

With marvellous story arcs, and a brand new direction we thought the range would run and run for ever and ever. But it didn’t.

They were good times. Golden times. And I miss them like crazy. Whether brand new adventures for the latest incarnation of the Doctor, or unseen stories with our favourite ‘past model’, the anticipation of a brand new full-length book was a thing of wonder, and probably something that we‘ll never see the like of again.

Sure, we have the New Series range that’s still being written by those talented chaps that contributed to the original ranges, but sadly the target audience has changed. Being neither aimed at the very young readers like the Target novelisation days, nor the adult fans that grew up with the programme in the 70s and 80s, this new set of books falls rather awkwardly somewhere between the two, and reading one always tends to leave me feeling both patronised and unfulfilled.

I miss those books and I miss those days. Truly great times, gone forever.

Of Short Story Collections & Stage Plays

2010-08-17T13:54:00.017+01:00

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted on here (yeah, I know I know, I’m getting lazy) but I promise to update a lot more regularly from now on.

No, honest.

So, what’s happened since I last posted? Well, it’s been quite an eventful 5 weeks, what with entertaining friends, family, having my fiancée’s niece and nephews staying over, as well as being commissioned to write a short story for a forthcoming collection…oh yes, and another theatre company will be performing my stage play version of A Christmas Carol this year - which brings the tally up to three (3) U.S. productions.

Let’s start with the good stuff first.

Obverse Books, publishers of three Iris Wildthyme collections, as well as the forthcoming Obverse Book of Ghosts, have announced that they will be publishing their first collection of Faction Paradox short stories at the beginning of next year.

My short story “Holding Pattern” will feature in Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts which has been scheduled for publication in February 2011. The collection is being edited by Faction creator Lawrence Miles and Obverse’s Stuart Douglas, and already has the FP fan forums buzzing with excitement despite only being officially announced four days ago. Work has now begun in earnest on my story and needless to say, I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of all this as well as having the wonderful opportunity of working alongside some very talented and generous writers!

OK, so a few days ago I was contacted by another theatre company over in the States, this time in Maine, wanting to secure the rights to perform my stage version of A Christmas Carol this coming December. I am absolutely delighted, as this will be the third U.S theatre company performing my play this year - the other two being in Idaho and Virginia. Details are still being finalised at the moment but I will, of course, be posting all details, pics, info and links on my blog as soon as I get them.

Obviously, now is the time for knuckling down to some serious writing and many of my favourite online haunts, such as Twitter and Facebook, will inevitably become neglected over the coming weeks, but I shall attempt to put a little time aside every few days and keep this blog a little more up-to-date than I have been doing.

Please stay tuned.

A Second U.S Production of my Play!

2010-07-09T09:49:00.015+01:00

Exactly a month after the Idaho-based Knock ‘Em Dead theatre company contacted me regarding the performing rights to my stage play of A Christmas Carol another email suddenly plopped into my inbox, also from a U.S theatre company, also enquiring after the performing rights to my play. This company was 2,000 miles away from the first, on the Atlantic Coast of the southern United States, in the state of Virginia.

To have one production of a play you’ve written being performed is wonderful, but to have two at the same time, and on the other side of the world, is absolutely amazing!

Eden Troupe theatre company will be staging a production of my stage play of A Christmas Carol this coming December as part of their 2009 / 2010 season. The theatre company is part of the Patrick Henry College, located in the town of Purcellville, 40 miles north-west of the capital, Washington DC.

Over the past 3 years Eden Troupe have staged stunning productions of such classic plays as Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic & Old Lace, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men.

Performance dates are yet to be confirmed (the theatre company have promised that they will have that information for me in a week or two’s time!), but I am told all performances are being scheduled for December only.

As with Knock ‘Em Dead’s production of the play I will be making regular updates with news, information, photographs and artwork as and when the company passes them in my direction.

For more information on the theatre company, ticket prices and all future shows, please visit their website on the link below.

The Eden Troupe theatre company can be found at :http://www.phc.edu/edentroupe.php

A U.S. Production of my Stage Play!

2010-06-29T12:55:00.009+01:00

A little while back I was approached by Knock ‘em Dead Dinner Theatre, a U.S theatre company based in Boise, Idaho, enquiring about performance rights for my stage play of A Christmas Carol. I’m thrilled to say that negotiations have now been concluded and the company will be producing my stage script this coming Christmas.

There will be 13 performances beginning on 19^thNovember 2010 and running until the last Saturday before Christmas, with the final performance on 18^th December. Although details have yet to be finalised tickets will go on sale in a couple of months time and should be priced between $15 - $20.

The theatre company began producing shows over a quarter of a century ago, back in 1984, with their first production of Dracula, a stage adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel. Since then they have increased their number of productions per season from two to an impressive five, as well as finding a permanent 122-seater home for their full-time theatre company on Parkcenter Boulevard.

I will, of course, be making regular reports and updates on the progress of the play as soon as rehearsals start (auditions begin in July) on my blog, which I hope will include photographs of the cast and crew as well as poster / flyer artwork and pages from the programme.

It’s also my intention, at some point, to put up a blog entry about the original professional productions of A Christmas Carol, performed in the Victorian street exhibition at the Castle Museum in York, back in 2003 / 2004 – once I’ve badgered a few friends and colleagues into sending me some of their cast / production photographs, as well as some behind-the-scenes pics.

Meanwhile, for more information on the forthcoming stage production, as well as details about other wonderful shows planned for their 2010 / 2011 season please visit their theatre company website on the link below.

The Knock 'em Dead Dinner Theatre Company can be found at http://www.kedproductions.org/

My stage play of A Christmas Carol is still available at Amazon.Com : http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Carol-Being-Ghost-Story/dp/1434815846/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277812677&sr=8-2

What I Read In My Holidays by Scott Harrison (aged 36)

2010-06-23T13:44:00.018+01:00

I love books from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Absolutely love ‘em - particularly novelisations and TV tie-ins. And collecting old and out of print editions has become a bit of a part time hobby of mine.

I guess it all harks back to my formative years when I moved on to grown-up fiction a year ahead of the rest of my year. The School’s reading library was colour-coded in sections, with each label (white, yellow & white, red, black & red, etc) denoting a particular level of reading ability; with the final level being labelled simply ‘library book’, which meant you could read just about anything you liked, as long as it didn’t contain anything of an ‘adult’ nature.

The first book I remember taking in to read in the regular afternoon Reading Group (first class straight after dinner, every afternoon) was a Star Trek novel from my mother’s own personal stash. It was from her that I inherited both my love of all things Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror as well as my insatiable appetite for reading; and in the living room cupboard, beneath the Venetian serving hatch, my mother had a rather impressive collection of genre titles, all bought in the late 70s and early 80s. It was here, amongst this weighty stack of paperback fiction, where I had my first proper exposure to Bram Stoker’s classic vampire novel Dracula, something that was to turn into an obsession – both for the original novel and it’s various book and film spin-offs. Coincidentally this copy of Dracula was bought in 1979 and had the Universal film cover tie-in with Frank Langella as the Count on the front, the version that would become my favourite movie adaptation many years later.

Slowly, yet with great eagerness, I made my way through my mother’s collection of genre novels in the living room cupboard, many by writers who are sadly out of print today, such as; Audrey Rose by Frank De Fellita, Sasquatch by M.E.Knerr, The Howling by Gary Bradner, Gateway to Hell by Dennis Wheatley, Omen: The Abomination by Gordon McGill, The Entity by Frank De Fellita, Spock Messiah by Theodore R. Cogswell & Charles A. Spano and Alan Dean Foster’s novelisation of Alien, to name only a handful. All of which I remember with great fondness.

Over the intervening years, with the need to make room for new titles, not to mention moving house several times, the above novels have been lost, thrown or lent out never to be returned, much to my great disappointment and sadness.

As the 80s wore on the collection was starting to run dry, so instead I began to buy novels of my own. Original novels, such as ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, The Death of Grass by John Christopher and Magician by Raymond E. Feist , as well as film and TV tie-in novels aimed at the 15-and-upwards market such as V by A.C. Crispin, The Spaceman and King Arthur by Vic Crume, Ghostbusters by Larry Milne and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom by James Khan.

Around the same time my family, along with my aunt and uncle, would regularly spend our summer holidays at the Yorkshire seaside town of Bridlington. At first we would stay in a wonderful little B&B on Tennyson Avenue (sadly no longer there) about 5 minutes walk from the beach, until my aunt and uncle bought a small caravan a mile or so up the coast in the village of Sewerby. Naturally with my uncle being the big reader that he was the caravan was constantly littered with paperback novels, seemingly every shelf space, cupboard, nook and cranny heaving with them (they were mostly spy novels by Len Deighton, WWII adventures by Jack Higgins or the Minder novels of Leon Griffiths and Anthony Masters). Later, when borrowing the caravan for my own holidays, I would often spend the evening on the quiet little campsite, winding down reading one of my uncle’s novels.

Consequently, in the last couple of years, I have been hunting down these books in various charity, second hand, and rare book shops, as well as online - not just in an attempt to recapture a small slice of childish nostalgia, but because these are wonderfully fun novels, with cover artwork and designs that have, arguably, never been bettered.

Recently my fiancée and I spent a very enjoyable week out and about visiting various cities and places of historical interest, but we also managed to find the time to pop in to any second hand bookshop, if we’re passing, on the off-chance that I might find myself a 60s, 70s or 80s print of a much loved novel or perhaps even something that’s now out of print. And we found some, by god! I’ve just about managed to replace all those books from my childhood, in those original covers I remember from the 1960s – 80s. Now I’m slowly working my way through reading them again, trying to recapture those long, hot, carefree days of my childhood. And sometimes, just sometimes, when the sun is out, or I’m visiting Bridlington, or I find that book with that cover that I read all those years ago…sometimes it does feel like I’m 9 again.

Review - The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar

2010-04-15T13:28:00.008+01:00

Steampunk is in a great place right now. Thanks to boundary-pushing authors such as Cherie Priest, George Mann, James Blaylock and Stephen Hunt it’s a genre that’s no longer just the Victorian era with airships. It has started to expand into new and varied landscapes. A Science Fiction sub-genre that’s not afraid to experiment, to shock, surprise, or even to horrify. Right now, it seems, there isn’t anywhere that Steampunk isn’t afraid to go.

Set in a strange alternate London of 1888, The Bookman concerns itself with a young man named Orphan, a poet with aspirations of greatness. When the two people he cares most about in the whole world are suddenly killed, Orphan finds himself dragged into the terrible machinations of the sinister Bookman - terrorist to some, freedom fighter to others. Orphan soon finds himself aboard the Nautilius, on a course for the L’lle mysterieuse, with writer and adventurer Jules Verne. There he must uncover the connection between The Bookman’s deadly mission and the strange alien lizards that now sit upon the throne of England.

This is Lavie Tidhar’s first solo novel, and what an amazing start it is. Coming across like the bastard son of Kim Newman and Arthur Conan Doyle, and yet surprisingly Dickensian in its depiction of a squalled and decaying London at the backend of the 1800s, Tidhar’s novel is, in turns, beautiful, shocking and downright distasteful. Tidhar’s prose is rich and beautifully evocative, yet crisp, clear and alarmingly simplistic.

There is an odd, almost dreamlike quality to the book, sometimes giving the impression that the whole thing was furiously written in a fit of drug-addled euphoria. The fabric of the world appears worn in places too, allowing other fictitious worlds to encroach and overlap for brief pages at a time. At one point in the novel a bomb explodes, burying the hero in a cascade of nearby books, a glance across the titles plunges us into the worlds of Stephen King’s Castle Rock and Derry, Frank Herbert’s Dune saga, Robert Rankin’s Hugo Rune series, P.G. Wodehouse’s Blanding books, Dorothy L. Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey novels…the list goes on.

As with Newman’s wonderful Anno Dracula series, Tidhar sprinkles his novel liberally with characters from both fact and fiction, famous historical figures of the time brushing up against his own richly crafted characters as they wonder across this surreal landscape. In this remixed turn-of-the-century London Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis James Moriarty is Prime Minister, running Britain and its Empire beneath the shadow of the Le Lezards, while French novelist Jules Verne is both travel writer and intrepid explorer on the side – inspirational fodder for his future novels.

From fake Lord Byrons to ancient prophetic automatons and mohican-haired punk lizards this is a city-wide penny-dreadful peepshow, a Victorian pandemonium carnival that has spilled out onto the streets and embedded itself into the very social fabric. Two worlds, one human the other (literally) alien, poised on the brink of bloody revolution and only one person can stop it.

But is it Orphan or the Bookman?

Without a doubt The Bookman is the second best book I’ve read so far this year, with Kaaron Warren’s Walking The Tree still occupying the top spot. Proving, if proof were needed, that although Angry Robot's back catalogue has barely reached its twenties this little division of Harper Collins is producing some of the most exciting and important works of SF, Fantasy and Horror of the Twenty-First Century.

So don’t take your eyes off them.

The Bookman can be found at the Angry Robot website http://www.angryrobotbooks.com/

Blaze by Richard Bachman - classic horror

2010-04-12T14:12:00.006+01:00

Between 1977 and 1984 author Richard Bachman published five novels before his sudden and unexpected death in 1985 of cancer of the pseudonym. Dicky (as he was known to his friends) was never a major player in the world of literature, he never made the best-sellers list (his final novel Thinner sold around 28,000 copies) but during his brief seven year career he managed to build up a sturdy and somewhat faithful cult following, before being ‘outed’ as best-selling novelist Stephen King by a Washington book clerk and writer, Steve Brown. Rather tellingly after that Thinner went on to sell over £280,000 copies! Who said you should never judge a book by it’s cover…or author?!

Written in late 1972 – early 1973 during his ‘Bachman’ writing era King soon lost confidence in the novel, considering it to be “crap” and, although it was briefly considered as a follow up to his debut novel Carrie (it would lose out to the vampire infested book Second Coming, soon to be re-titled as ‘Salem’s Lot) he abandoned it without showing it to a single publisher. Instead it languished for thirty-four years as an infamous ‘trunk’ novel, packed away in a cardboard box, pushed into the corner of a cupboard before being dusted off in 2006, extensively revised and rewritten and released as Bachman’s (until now undiscovered) seventh, and final, novel.

Blaze, like Bachman’s 1981 novel Roadwork, is an attempt at what King himself calls a “serious novel”; all supernatural, horror or Sci-Fi elements ejected in favour of gritty realism and bare-bones story-telling. Clayton (Blaze) Blaisdell Jr, thrown down the stairs by an abusive alcoholic father when he was only six years old, stumbles through life as a semi-retarded giant, friendless save for the weasely, manipulative con-artist George Rackley. As the novel opens George is dead and the clueless Blaze finds himself alone once again; frightened and confused, yet resolutely determined to put George’s final plan into action – kidnapping a baby and ransoming it back to it’s rich parents for a million dollars. Things start to get a bit complicated however when Blaze finds himself unexpectedly falling in love with the little ankle-snapper and gradually becomes reluctant about giving him back.

There is no doubting that this is classic King at his yarn-spinning best. Following hot on the heels of the wonderfully apocalyptic Cell and the poignantly touching Lisey’s Story, Blaze is a ruthless and unflinching study of child abuse, mental cruelty and social ignorance in small town America. Original conceived as a follow up to his novel The Colorado Kid for Hard Case Crime publishers it’s flat, disconnected tones brilliantly hark back to the pulpy noir fiction of the 1950s creating a stark, unrelenting tale of pain, rejection and, ultimately, crime. Rewritten by King at a furious pace the narrative rattles along at breakneck speed hardly giving the reader time to catch their collective breath, and although it lacks some of the warmth and familiarity often associated with the author’s longer novels (at a mere 291 pages little time is given for any real in depth character development) Blaze still fails to disappoint and contains everything we’ve come to expect and love from a Stephen King novel. It’s just a pity that we’ve had to wait thirty-four years for this little gem to finally hit our local book shops!

Interestingly, all proceeds from Blaze go to The Haven Foundation, an organization specially created to help down on their luck freelance writers, so if you buy this book not only will you be getting a thumping good read but you’ll also be doing your bit for the odd struggling artiste! Now, doesn’t that give you a lovely warm glow inside!

Up next a review of Lavie Tidhar's new steampunk bestseller The Bookman.

Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod - classic SciFi

2010-04-12T14:10:00.003+01:00

Let’s face it, the political thriller is a predictable breed, its greatest strength of pure readability is derived from the very conventions we have come to expect and – dare we say it – demand from such a genre; conspiracies, misinformation, skulduggery, underhanded political machinations, and so on. So many novelists in recent years have profited so handsomely in this field; Tom Clancy, Dan Brown and Fredrick Forsyth, being at the very tip of this humungous and ship-threatening iceberg.

Odd, then, that it should be these very conventions that are, arguably, The Execution Channel's greatest downfall, the latest offering from Scottish Sci-Fi powerhouse Ken MacLeod. Such a pity as, on the surface, this novel has so much more going for it than, say, the clumsily written novels of Dan Brown or the technobabble heavy tomes of Mr Clancy.

The plot takes those tried-and-tested thriller favourites – terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets, the world pushed to the brink of World War III, conspiracy theories, spies – and gives them a refreshing little Sci-Fi spin. Set in a Britain of the near future where the internet and 24 hour news channels are uploaded directly to our mobile phones; a constant wall of white noise that shapes, controls and dominates our lives. Add to this mix a group of peace demonstrators trying to prevent the world from plunging into nuclear Armageddon, secret government organisations with hidden agendas, a French spy and a conspiracy theorist computer nerd and there you have your plot.

The trouble is, after all this is set up in the first few dozen pages of the novel pretty much nothing else happens for the next 200-odd pages. MacLeod liberally shuffles his characters around the story’s landscape, utilising a vast array of transportation (planes, trains and automobiles of various description) as the cast meet up in various remote locations throughout the UK to spend 10 pages dumping vast chunks of exposition upon the reader, before moving them on to begin the whole process again several pages later. To make matters worse each of the principal players (of which there are a fair amount, mind you) have several theories concerning the unfolding crisis, which they all too enthusiastically, and at great length, constantly choose to explain before rejecting and then (frustratingly) decide to revisit again. So many varied and conflicting theories are flying about back and forth between each character in the course of the story that it leaves the reader feeling dazed, confused and more than a little annoyed. It feels as though the characters are merely speaking there minds, thinking out loud, rather than actually trying to infer to the reader that their explanation might, in fact, be the truth behind the attacks. It’s not until the final 30 pages or so from the end of the book that the truth is finally revealed. Sadly, by this time you either find yourself not caring or waiting for one of the other characters to shoot it down with yet another theory of their own!

However, having said all this, there is still much enjoyment to be had from reading The Execution Channel. As usual MacLeod’s prose is sharp, incisive and refreshingly crisp – something we have come to expect and admire from the author since his debut novel The Star Fraction some 12 years ago. The characters which populate this terror-stricken future world are wonderfully detailed and breathtaking in their complexity (like novelist Stephen King, one of MacLeod’s greatest strengths lies in his characters), and, at just a little over the 300 page mark, the novel never threatens to outstay its welcome, but rattles along at a satisfying, attention-friendly pace.

Although not quite this reviewer’s cup of tea, The Execution Channel is without doubt an interesting (if somewhat deeply flawed) exercise into hitherto unexplored territory by a writer who has over the past 12 years, quite deservedly, carved himself an important and well respected little niche in the Sci-Fi genre. No doubt if you are a hardened enthusiast you’ll love it, if on the other hand you’re a Ken MacLeod virgin then you’d probably do better starting with The Star Fraction or Cosmonaut Keep and work your way up from there!

Lisey's Story by Stephen King - mini classic horror review

2010-04-12T14:06:00.003+01:00

A lot of criticism has been aimed at Stephen King over the last few years, chief of which being that he has, in recent years, become somewhat samey and unoriginal in his storytelling. This is a tad unfair when you consider that there are several British Horror authors who have been writing the same book for the past twenty years!

Lisey’s Story, his second release of 2006, tells an old and familiar tale in a rather refreshing and inventive way. The main story – that of Lisey’s marriage to her troubled novelist husband, Scott Landon, and his abrupt death – is told in a series of flashbacks, half-remembered memories and dream sequences, interwoven somewhat smoothly into the novel’s two subplots – that of the psychotic ‘Zack McCool’ and Lisey’s mentally unstable sister, Amanda. King’s strength has always been in creating believable characters, and here is no exception, written with all the depth, tenderness and seat-of-the-pants suspense that we’ve all come to expect over the last 32 years. The plot twists like a narrow mountain road as secrets are unearthed, and Lisey attempts to come to terms with her husband’s death and heal old wounds.

Not the classic King of the mid 70s – early 80s by any stretch of the imagination but a brilliantly written, powerful book nonetheless, and proves without a doubt that Mr King has a hell of a lot more mileage in him yet!