Time And Time Again

Well, the new book on Ghosts and Hauntings is out - and a good volume it is too - and ready to buy whilst The World's Creepiest Places is done and off to the printers. I think that New Page are releasing it a wee bit earlier than they had planned, as we're ahead of schedule.

Still working on the American Vampires book and the new book for New Page looks as if it will be on Lovecraft - the title is still to be worked out, although we do have a working title. So doing some specimen work for them on that.

At the moment my son is dragging me in to watch a boxed television set which I bought recently. It's the Time Tunnel from the 1960s and he's quite hooked. Can I admit that I was a big Irwin Allen fan? I truly loved his Lost In Space - it was the magnificent Jonathan Harris which made it for me as Dr. Smith and I have a full boxed set of all the series - and I enjoyed Richard Basehart in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as well as Land of the Giants. I've always loved The Time Tunnel, even though it ran for only one series. So whilst it has been pouring with rain outside, he and I have watched episodes of it. I also had a look at the 2002 remake which looked interesting and deals with the changes in history which even the smallest alteration can make.

It made me haul out the basis for an old sci-fi series that I wrote once upon a time - well actually two or three years ago - about a time agency. Time travel and how it can change our own world has always fascinated me. This one deals with the American Civil War and how the timeline can be altered if the South had somehow won - what would a subsequent America be like if say Robert E. Lee had become president? I read through what part of it exists - almost half the book - and it's not all that bad. It can do with revisions but I might dust it down and have a look around for a publisher. I'm not all that well up in sci-fi publishers but Ill see what I can do.

I have a series somewhere in the back of my head. But the Creepiest Places should be out soon. Hope you like it and the places that I've chosen. I had a lot of fun writing it and Ian's artwork is stunning. More to come,e specially on time travel!

Vampires

Still working on the American Vampires book which is getting close to being completed. I have to say that this book has nearly written itself and has interested me greatly. It's looking at the historical and cultural influences, from various parts of the world, which have fashioned the vampire myth in the States - looking at the folklore in a number of States. But don't expect it to be like Buffy or Twilight. In fact Paranormal magazine here in the UK has already asked me to write an article on the famous Vampire Chair down in Tennessee. Can you imagine that - an actual chair which is a vampire? And I was able to drag up a story from Latvia which concerned a vampire mirror which is very spooky. So the next time you look in a glass ......

I've just finished the section on the vampire and witch-lore of New York State with its nachtmerrie and witches and am now doing the lore of North Carolina. The book should be finished within a couple of months or so - and I'm hoping it'll be popular as I don't think there's another vampire book like it, I've certainly learned a lot doing it - and then I'll hopefully be working on the Lovecraft book for New Page.

It's not finalized yet but we'll hopefully get something up and running over the next month or so. And of course there's always the comics which are slow but worth it. At the moment I'm taking things a bit easier as my wife and children are off from school and I'm trying to fit a few things in with them - although it's not easy sometimes.

Still I'm off tomorrow to see Captain America with my son who's just returned from scout camp in England. I hope a lot of you are getting a bit of a break over the summer - where's it going eh? Will let you all know when American Vampires is finished and when we've finalised the new Lovecraft book, maybe not a for a little while. Take care and watch out for the vampire kind!

Lovecraft Looming

The American Vampires book is almost three quarters finished although I'm taking a few days off here and there to share part of summer holidays with my family.

My time seems to be taken up at the moment with community work - I'm the Chairman of a community facility in a massive housing estate which allows one-parent families to return to education by providing courses and a creche for them. It's very satisfying but as you might expect it's hard work if you're to do it properly. So I've been working with the Project Manager to develop and expand this which is taking up a fair amount of time but which I could handle if there weren't for another set of projects including bringing four rural villages together in a sort of joint project.

There's talk of a marathon next year but again a lot of work. And I do want to spend some time with the family who are all off over the summer - my wife being a teacher. So I've been working on Dutch witchcraft trials for the New York section of the book. However, it's coming along well and I'm very pleased with it.

And of course I've another book in the pipeline with New Page. We're just talking about it at the moment although I've some sample text written. This one looks as if it's going to be about Lovecraft which I'm told is gaining a new lease of life in the US and as a project I find it extremely exciting.

Because the new World's Creepiest Places was finished ahead of time and because there was little correction needed to be done it looks as if it might go to the printer's early and be out slightly early. I should get the final read through from Gina this coming week. And the Ghosts and Hauntings book should also be coming out this week.

I'm looking forward to working on the Lovecraft book which is going to be something of a challenge - and what's life if you don't have a challenge?

Just heard the news as I'm working on this that it looks like Amy Winehouse has been found dead. What a waste of talent! I really enjoyed her stuff and it's been on my turntable for a few days now.

A premonition?

That's not to take away from all those families in Norway who have lost loved ones. All our thoughts and prayers go out to them. And if my son happens to be reading this - he's away at scout camp in England at the moment and I know he sometimes reads this, though he says he doesn't - we're all missing you Michael.

I'll keep you all abreast of the Lovecraft book but keep watching for Ghosts and Hauntings!

Going Dutch Again

It's been over a month since I was on this blog. In the meantime I have been in Amsterdam, which is still an amazing city - I lived there for a while years ago - my family and I truly enjoyed it.

One of the things that I found truly moving was the Anne Frank house which my daughter wanted to see as she's read the Diary at school. Amazing to think of a family hiding away in such a narrow house during the Nazi occupation.

We had a good and restful time and then found ourselves back in the midst of rioting and destruction that is the 12th of July in Northern Ireland. I was talking to a man today who was in Spain over the 12th and he was telling me that he was watching the English channels over there and all they were getting from Northern Ireland were pictures of rioting going out all around the world.

I watched people coming on to say that this is their culture and they must defend it - and if you want to take that attitude then I suppose you can - but how can it be a culture if you are destroying your own area or someone else's? Where's the "heritage" in that?

I had to do a couple of messages on the 12th and I was out and about round our town and all I saw were gangs of youths with beer cans getting moved on by police. And on the television I watched the cars that someone had worked to buy and maybe hadn't paid off yet being burned by gangs of youths in the name of "culture" and "heritage".

One thing my trip to the Netherlands did teach me - and which I suppose I already knew - is that most of the people over here don't really know anything about the culture of the House of Orange-Nassau, which we all claim to celebrate. Or rather they only know what they want to know. Still it's over for another year although there'll be a number of other marches and probably more tension. I don't think it does the image of the Province any good.

On the more positive side, the American Vampires book is coming along - I've just finished the section on South Carolina and am working on the New York State one which once more brings in the Dutch, they're getting everywhere. It really is a book that I'm enjoying writing.

And the new Ghosts and Hauntings should be out soon from New Page with a section from myself in it. Other than that I'm working on comics and have a new strip coming out in an Italian comic called Dark Matter in October. Some of it may show up at the San Diego convention next week. Oh and keep an eye out for an article on Giovanni Aldini from "Man Made Monsters" in an upcoming issue of Paranormal magazine.

The holiday was great but work beckons. Will talk again soon I'm sure.

Creepy Places

The last four or so weeks have been extremely busy so I've been negelecting this blog a little but things have been extremely hectic. As well as that I've been suffering from a nasty cold which my daughter kindly brought home from school and which eventually turned into a minor chest infection. But am back to rude health - or as rude as I can be - now and up to my eyes.

The World's Creepiest Places has gone to Gina, who is one of my favourite editors and we'll soon have something ready for printing but in the meantime you can have a look at Ghosts and Hauntings which is also from New Page and in which I also have an article. These promise to be very good.

I'm trying to twist New Page's arm on a couple of new books but we're still thinking about them. I know that they're not keen on Unseen Forces so we might put this on the back burner - which is a shame as it would be fun to do.

I have so much coming out at the moment I'm starting to lose track - the new Zombies Handbook which came out recently has been selling extremely well and the Biblio Vampiro has been getting great reviews. I think there's another couple of titles in the series due for release sometime soon through Barrons - I'll check with my old friend Eric Lowenhar and find out when.

And of course, there's American Vampires on which I'm still working - looking at vampire tales State by State. Oh and keep your eyes open for new material on Irish and Celtic Saints which is being brought out by Tourism Ireland Ltd - I'll tell you more about that later as I have a meeting about it this very evening, Enough to keep me going and when I get something worked out with New Page I'll let you all know.

In the meantime I'm off to grab a lemon drink and see if I can shake the last traces of this infection. It's a tough life being an author!

The World's Creepiest Places

Well the new book is almost finished and should be with the publishers this week. I'm rather pleased with it, although I always find it difficult to tell with books - I suppose it's working at the coal face. Anyway, I've been sending each section up to Ian Daniels who's illustrating the book and he always sends me back a mail saying it's really creepy. Maybe he's just easily frightened.

As usual with some of my books, the word-count is slightly more - that's because I get carried away sometimes - so it'll be up to the editor, who may be Gina Talucci again, as to what goes in. Gina always does a good job though. There's two I'm hoping they'll keep in, though they're two of the longer ones - Eilean Mor and Warleggan.

When I was originally talking to New Page one of the books that was under consideration was a Lovecraft one, so in the new book they told me to pick a few sites which had a Lovecrat feel to them. Apparantly there's a great interest in Lovecraft at the moment. So both of these have a distinctly Lovecraftian feel to them and I think you should enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing about them. And they're true!

So what happened to the keepers on that lonely Hebridean light and what was really going on within Warleggan Rectory with the wierd and sinister Rector? Hopefully New Page will include them and you'll find out!

And thanks by the way to Charlotte Thompson who wrote to me and said about how much she enjoys my books and how much she was looking forward to the next one. I hope it doesn't disappoint Charlotte.

Thanks too to all the people who were in contact with me about the comics we've been putting up on the Bog Standard. We're trying to get some more up but with all our commitments, it's not easy. Now that the book's almost done we're beginning to think of a follow up volume, so I'll be twisting arms at New Page.

On another front, there should also be a new book out from Barrons on Angels. We've been looking at Angels and Ghosts and I think there should be one of those - Angels - coming out over the summer with another one slightly later. I'll check with my old friend Eric Lowenhar over in the States and see when it's out - he and I are due a chat about British football. He's a big fan of Tottenham Hotspur over here. Unfortunately the team I support - West Ham - went down at the weekend. Not unexpected but disappointing. I think that's about it for now, off to get this book finished or there'll be complaints. Be back soon.

Creepy Places

I meant to do this blog earlier but this week has been fraught and made all the more hectic when I lost my diary - which is a bit like might right arm. I haven't got it back as yet but I can reconstruct it from other paperwork, I think.

My new book is almost finished. I should have it with the publishers in about a couple of weeks and I think the release month for it is October. I see that already New Page have already put it up on the Amazon Webpage - I told you that the Ian Daniels cover was something spectacular didn't I? As I said I've only a few more sites to go, then it's away and into the editing I think I could have filled another book on the Creepy Places - there's so many to choose from - but I've tried to give as big a geographical spread as possible.

Maybe sometime in the future we'll do another book of Creepy and Sinister Places but let's see how this one sells first. I've been sending the sections up to Ian to give him some idea of the locations and he has e-mailed me back saying that he finds them creepy. I hope that you do to.

As soon as I get that out of the way, it's down to thinking what the next book might be - I've a few ideas swimming about and have been trying to push one or two with New Page. We'll see anyway. But keep your eyes peeled around October and let me know what you think of the selection of locations.

In the meantime, can I give a bit of a plug for Anna Franklin's Silver Wheel Annural which she does every year and which I think is worth supporting. She asked me to do a section for it and I was really glad to do so. It's published by Lear which is Anna's own small press and which deserves your support - as do all small presses in these days of recession.

I'll keep you in the loop when this book gets finished and when we've decided on a new one. Just keep watching! You might be surprised...