Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint of Angry Robot Books, is delighted to announce the signing of two more YA authors for 2013:  Julianna Scott and Laura Lam.

Julianna Scott has been signed for a two-book deal – negotiated by Strange Chemistry’s Amanda Rutter and Carly Watters of the P.S. Literary Agency – starting with The Holders. Laura Lam has also signed a two-book deal – negotiated by Amanda Rutter and Juliet Mushens of Peters Fraser and Dunlop – starting with Pantomime. Both titles will be published in the Spring of 2013.

About The Holders by Julianna Scott:
“17-year-old Becca has spent her whole life protecting her brother – from their father leaving and from the people who say the voices in his head are unnatural. When two strangers appear with apparent answers to Ryland’s “problem” and details about a school in Ireland where Ryland will not only fit in, but prosper, Becca is up in arms.

She reluctantly agrees to join Ryland on his journey and what they find at St. Brigid’s is a world beyond their imagination. Little by little they piece together information about their family’s heritage and the legend of the Holder race that decrees Ryland is the one they’ve been waiting for.

But they are all, especially Becca, in for a surprise that will change what they thought they knew about themselves and their kind.”

About Pantomime by Laura Lam:
“R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide.

Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star.

But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.”

Elsewhen Press has announced that Sanem Ozdural, a New York attorney, has signed a publishing deal with them for her first novel.

The novel is set in a near-future where a secretive organisation has developed technology to transfer the regenerative power of a body’s cells from one person to another, conferring extended or even indefinite life expectancy.  As a means of controlling who benefits from the technology, access is obtained by winning a tournament of chess or bridge to which only a select few are invited.  At its core, the game is a test of a person’s integrity, ability and resilience.  The fantastic nature of the game’s technology is made all the more credible by the familiarity of the contemporary setting, giving the story a definite slipstream feel.

Elsewhen Press adopts a digital-first policy, initially publishing new titles in ebook format and subsequently in print editions, the reverse of most long-established publishing houses. “This approach allows us to be more innovative and exciting,” explained Al Murray, Managing Publisher of Elsewhen Press, “and to publish titles that would otherwise be beyond the resources of a small independent publisher”.

Sanem Ozdural’s debut novel will be published in a digital edition in summer 2012 and in a print edition in the autumn.

Mark C. Scioneaux and Robert S. Wilson, founders and co-editors of Horror for Good: A Charitable Anthology, have teamed up with Jennifer M. Wilson to form Nightscape Press. Nightscape Press is a new horror press that will publish novels, novellas, and, occasionally, anthologies with a strong focus on variety and quality over quantity. Along with this focus will be a firm concentration on nurturing and promoting the author and their work. Nightscape Press will open to submissions on 2 April 2012 immediately following the World Horror Convention.

Their first planned title is World’s Collider, an apocalyptic anthology edited by Richard Salter.

“The Collision is the worst disaster in human history. So far…

In the near future, an experiment at the Large Hadron Collider causes an enormous explosion, known as the Collision. The blast flattens a huge chunk of central Europe and punches a massive hole in the Earth’s surface. Over the next decade, unspeakable horrors pour from the rift: vicious creatures with a taste for human flesh, a terrible scream that drives all who hear it insane, a phantom entity that feeds on fear and paranoia, and a nightmare train from the pits of hell, to name but a few. This onslaught of terror causes the collapse of civilization and threatens to wipe humanity from the planet.

World’s Collider is a unique concept in short fiction, where all eighteen original stories are part of a common narrative, recounting the disaster and its aftermath. A novel by many voices, including Steven Savile, James Moran, Aaron Rosenberg, Trent Zelazny, Jonathan Green, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Kelly Hale, Richard Wright, and a host of new talent.

Fifty million people died in the Collision. They were the lucky ones…”

PS Publishing have teamed up with Centipede Press to make available selected Centipede books at a fraction of their original published price. Plus, postage and packing charges will, of course, be lower for UK customers as they won’t need to be shipped from the US.

To start this venture off, they are offering Centipede’s Knowing Darkness, a sumptuous volume full of artwork inspired by the writing of Stephen King. This 448-page art book includes colour and black and white paintings and drawings that have directly or indirectly illustrated King’s writings over the last thirty-five years.

Artists include Michael Whelan, Ned Dameron, J.K. Potter, John Jude Pelancar, Stephen Gervais, and many others. The book features an introduction by Frank Darabont and text (written by King critic George Beahm) that looks back at 34 years of King in print providing a detailed look at the writer and his life, and supplemented with interviews with Michael Whelan, Bernie Wrightson, Drew Struzan, John Cayea, Dave Christiansen, and many others.

The book was originally published at £180 ($295) but PS are offering it for £95 (around $150) plus post & packing (£8.95 in the UK or £12.95 everywhere else). There are only 100 copies available.

Full details HERE

In a deal finalised last month, DarkFuse has acquired the publishing imprint Morning Star Press from Larry Roberts.  Roberts will remain the editor-in-chief during and after the transition.

Morning Star Press was founded in 2008 by the genre publisher, Roberts. Morning Star has published many genre greats including Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, James A. Moore, Edward Lee, Weston Ochse and many others.

Full details of the acquisition HERE

Publishers Weekly reports the launch of a new horror/mystery/thriller ebook imprint, Ravenous Shadows, with John Skipp as editorial director.

The four launch titles are “an Ira Levin-style mystery (House of Quiet Madness by Mikita Brottman), an ultra-violent 80s-style Italian cannibal horror (Tribesmen by Adam Cesare), a Hitchcockian take on a modern suicide cult (The Devoted by Eric Shapiro), and a sexual abuse/revenge story (Die, You Bastard! Die! By Jan Kozlowski).

The aim is to publish 30-40 titles per year. Other titles soon to be published include The Dark, a metaphysical thriller by Scott Bradley and Peter Giglio, and Unwanted, a supernatural story set in both pre- and post-Katrina New Orleans by R.J. Sevin.”

Read the full story HERE

Atomic Fez Publishing has announced its schedule of publications for 2012 and into 2013. The four planned novels are:

The Designated Coconut (Benji Spriteman #2), by John Travis, coming Autumn 2012

“As the first in the series was an homage to the noire thrillers, so we have the second Benji Spriteman tale similar to the classic English Mystery of roughly the same era.

During the visit of the two famous mystery-writing sisters, a death occurs, leading to a complicated series of events. How did the safe in the locked room get stolen? Who was behind the poisoning? Is someone at the resort’s hotel involved, and is it the beer-guzzling band-leader? What do the mole-men have to do with it?”

The House of a Thousand Screams (working title), by John Llewellyn Probert, coming Autumn 2012

“Starring Mr Massene Henderson and Miss Samantha Jephcott; the most un‑likely team of paranormal investigators you’ve somehow lived your life without … until now!

Henderson and Jephcott head to the wilderness of Northern Wales to investigate a house constructed from the bits of haunted buildings and filled with devices of death, all constructed on a foundation of a ‘stone circle’. Designed to be the most haunted house in Britain, the original owner hasn’t been heard from since the mid-1950s, and the new one wants to know if he’s got the real thing or not. What lies in wait for the two detectives and the four people who are there to help in the research, and will anyone survive to claim the fees for their labours?”

I, Death by Mark Leslie Lefebvre, coming Winter 2012

“The terrifying story of a young man coming to terms with a death curse.

By writing an on-line journal, Peter O’Mallick hopes to deal with his emotional turmoil at being dumped by his former girlfriend. While the blog helps, it also attracts cyber stalker Bryan Brecht, who coerces Peter into doing things which should never be done …

Hilarity ensues.”

Sleepless Knights by Mark H. Williams, coming Spring 2013

“It’s not easy being the man behind the myth.

Sir Lucas is butler to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; the person who managed every epic legend behind the scenes. He’s the one who made sure each quest happened in the right place at the right time, and that everyone involved had comfortable accommodation for the weekend. The man whose average working day involved fighting dragons, defeating witches, banishing demons, and ensuring the Royal pot of tea never crossed the thin line separating ‘brewed’ from ‘stewed’. What’s more, 1,500 years after that golden age, he’s still doing it: here in modern Britain, right under our noses …”

Read more HERE

Strange Chemistry – the YA imprint of award-winning independent genre fiction publisher Angry Robot – has announced its first two titles:  Shift by Kim Curran and Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings.  Details HERE

Strange Chemistry have also announced an Open Door period, where the usual submission guidelines are relaxed to allow authors who are unagented to send in a manuscript. Full details HERE

Angry Robot have also announced its second Open Door submissions window. For two weeks in April, they will be accepting un-agented manuscripts from epic fantasy writers.

More information can be found HERE

Hammer Books have announced further publications for 2012. After initially publishing several novelisations of their classic films by authors such as Shaun Hutson, Peter Curtis, Francis Cottam and Guy Adams, they then obtained the rights to reprint three classic Graham Masterton novels.

They are now branching out further, with books including: Jeanette Winterson’s original novel based on the true story of the Pendle Witches trial of 1612 which will be published in February; a new novelisation of Hammer’s cult classic Vampire Circus by Mark Morris due in March; Tim Lebbon‘s new novel Coldbrook also due in March; and Helen Dunmore’s original ghost story The Greatcoat, about “the power of the past to imprint itself on the present, until the present is possessed by the past”, to be published in April. Further books will be announced soon.

Full details HERE

At the same time many of their films are set to be restored for release onto Blu-Ray. More than 30 films are involved, with several to include new or extended scenes that were cut from the original. One of these is Terence Fisher‘s Dracula, which will incorporate a recently-discovered extended death scene considered too gruesome for cinema release in 1958. Other titles involved include Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, The Mummy, and Frankenstein Created Woman.

See the full BBC story HERE

Jo Fletcher Books has acquired World English rights for Seoul Survivor, a futuristic satirical thriller and the debut novel from Zeno Agency client Naomi Foyle.

“The world balances upon the edge of a knife. A meteor known as Lucifer’s Hammer is about to wreak a terrible destruction on the earth and terrorists have annihilated the City of London, covering it in a blanket of nuclear poison.

Rumours of war abound in every continent, but if the end of the world is imminent, there is only one safe place to be.

American-Korean bio-engineer Dr Kim Da Mi thinks she has found the perfect solution in the mountains above Seoul, but her methods are strange and her business partner, Johnny Sandman, is not exactly the type of person anyone would want to mix with. Sydney, a Canadian model trying to escape an unhappy past, is drawn in by their smiles and pretty promises – until she realises that the quest for perfection, comes at an impossible price …”

A second untitled novel has also been acquired as part of the deal. Seoul Survivor is currently scheduled for release in February 2013, with the untitled second novel following in 2014.