Alex Davis has organised a residential writing weekend – “Fantasy February” – at Dove Valley Centre, Nr Buxton, Derbyshire from 15 to 17 February 2013

This spring residential weekend focuses on the imaginative landscapes of fantasy, combining a range of group and individual writing activities, free writing time and much more. It is ideal for anyone wanting to break into this exciting area of fiction.

The guest author is Adrian Tchaikovsky, creator and author of the Shadows of the Apt series.

Places cost just £150, including two nights’ accommodation, meals, tea/coffee throughout, goodie bag and a host of writing activities. Full details HERE

To book your place, contact Alex Davis at alexdavisevents [at] hotmail [dot] co [dot] uk

The Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award to recognize stellar writing in two categories: adult and young adult. The awards are presented annually to Canadian writers with a speculative fiction novel or book-length collection of speculative fiction published any time during the previous calendar year.

The 2013 Sunburst Award jurors have now been announced. They are: Rebecca Bradley, Tony Burgess, Shari Lapeña, Barbard Roden and Leon Rooke. Full details HERE

Atomic Fez is delighted to announce details of a title for publication in the spring of 2013: Sleepless Knights by Mark H. Williams, with cover art by DC Comics and Vertigo artist Jimmy Broxton.

While Sleepless Knights is Mark Williams’ first novel, his writing has already been commissioned in the past by entities as diverse as BBC Cymru Wales TV and Radio, as well as Welsh National Opera, and the Courtyard Theatre, Hereford for whom he is also working on a future main stage adaptation.

Jimmy Broxton, whose work has graced the pages of Knight & Squire, Saucer Country and The Unwritten, will be providing his prodigious gifts to the outsides of Sleepless Knights, with a ‘concept sketch’ of the cover art already in hand.

“When I read the manuscript,” said Atomic Fez’s Publisher / Proprietor Ian Alexander Martin, “it was tough to remember it was a first novel by the author; it felt like something by a far more practised writer. I’m lucky to be trusted with the work.”

Tackling the Arthurian and ‘Knights of the Round Table’ legends was a daunting task which author Mark Williams undertook with respect and foreknowledge of its possibilities. “I’ve always loved the King Arthur legend,” says Mark. “For me, it’s the recipe for the perfect story.

“It’s got magic and monsters in spades,” he continued. “Incredible feats and outlandish quests. Heroes and villains, love and betrayal. Humour and scares, twists and turns. And, at its heart, a very human story of idealism and frailty; about the aspiration to create something good in this world, no matter how far you might fall short of it.”

Mark points to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman as influences, calling them both “writers who inspired me with their entirely serious approach to comic fantasy. I started [during University] to develop a taste for novels like The Princess Bride – books that approach the fantasy genre with a spring in their step, a twinkle in their eye, and a strong story at their heart.”

About the Book:
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…

Through ten working days in the life of Sir Lucas the Butler, discover what really went on at Camelot. The story behind Lancelot’s affair with Guinevere. The truth about the quest for the Grail. And find out what happens one fateful day in June, when King Arthur and six of his knights are revealed as living among us. A revelation that brings about the return of Merlin and the end of the world, uncovering secrets from the past that King Arthur would rather stay buried, and forcing Lucas to confront the truth about his own unique and peculiar destiny. A destiny he will do anything to avoid, even if it means sacrificing the love of his life in the service of his master.

In short, the kind of crisis only the ultimate butler can resolve.

Jo Fletcher has bought a Viking trilogy by Icelandic writer Snorri Kristjansson from the Geraldine Cooke agency.  The first of the series will be Swords of Good Men, published in summer 2013 by Jo Fletcher Books.

Snorri Kristjansson is currently teaching at a London primary school, but he has been at various times a journalist, web-designer, computer programmer, caretaker for ill people, cement-packer,longshoreman, musician, writer, actor and, most recently, a comedian. His Edinburgh Fringe show was the first to combine puffins, Icelandic revolutions and Jude Law – well, in recent history that is. Swords of Good Men is his first novel.

Geraldine said: ‘I met Snorri on the night Iceland finally went down the tubes – as he was doing a gig in the West End: he was so funny I thought I’d get him to do book on Iceland . . . little did I know that he was already writing a fantasy. This is a story of betrayal, war and emotion with comedy along the way.’

Snorri says: ‘When I found out that Jo Fletcher herself had expressed an interest in my book I had to go have a sit down. I am proud, privileged and tremendously excited to join JFB’s list of fresh, intriguing authors.’

Jo Fletcher says:  ‘There’s nothing like a good, rip-roaring Viking yarn to get the blood flowing, and when you add a recently converted warrior king determined to bring Christianity at the point of his sword and a powerful Northlands witch determined the Old Gods will triumph and, you know you’re in for a good time. I’m really thrilled to welcome Snorri to JFB, as part of my commitment to publish the very best in fantasy, SF and horror.’

Eric Brown is returning to the vast cosmos of The Helix in a blazing sequel from Solaris Books. Helix Wars is due 11 October 2012 in the UK.

About the book:
“The Helix is a vast spiral of ten thousand worlds turning around its sun. Aeons ago, the enigmatic Builders constructed the Helix as a refuge for alien races on the verge of extinction. Two hundred years ago, humankind came to the Helix aboard a great colony ship, and the Builders conferred on them the mantle of peacekeepers. For that long, peace has reigned on the Helix.

But when shuttle pilot Jeff Ellis crash-lands on the world of Phandra, he interrupts a barbarous invasion from the neighbouring Sporelli – who scheme to track down and exterminate Ellis before he can return to New Earth and inform the peacekeepers.”

Eric Brown is widely acknowledged as one of the defining voices in British SF – enter the mind-bogglingly vast universe of The Helix and discover a world beyond even the scale of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rama or Larry Niven’s Ringworld.

Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has commissioned a new novel by Australian fantasy writer Rowena Cory Daniells.  The agent is John Jarrold, and the deal is for World English Language rights. The book is due for publication at the end of 2013.

Solaris have already published Daniells’ King Rolen’s Kin trilogy very successfully, and are publishing her Outcast Chronicles trilogy this year.  The new book, provisionally titled King-Maker, King-Breaker, will complete the story of King Rolen’s Kin.

Jonathan Oliver said: “It’s great to be working with Rowena again and I can’t wait to read this finale to her brilliant fantasy series.”

Rowena Cory Daniells first became involved in speculative fiction in 1976. Since then she has run a bookshop, then a graphic art studio where she illustrated children’s books, had 6 children in 10 years, sold nearly 30 children’s books and an earlier fantasy trilogy internationally, established R&D Studios and served on the management committees of state and national arts organisations. She lives by the bay in Brisbane with her husband and children, and has a Masters in Arts (Research).

A unique genre-bending fantasy / sf epic, Ecko Rising is the astonishing debut from first-time author, Danie Ware (Titan Books, September 2012, paperback, £7.99).

Ecko Rising follows a savage, gleefully cynical anti-hero immersed in his own fantasy world. Ecko joins a misfit cast of characters and strives to conquer his deepest fears and save the world. Danie Ware says, “Ecko Rising is sardonic fantasy, a sharp new slant on the genre, scattered with a healthy dusting of sex, violence and sarcasm. I’ve read fantasy, on and off, since I was a teen – and you can’t put a new twist on something unless you fell in love with it to start with! I wanted to push back its boundaries, make it do something different, something smarter and darker – but also something that we’d understand and recognise.”

Ecko Rising, and its sequel scheduled for publication next year, will appeal to those who love fantasy, classic or modern, those intrigued by new concepts, and those with a liking for twisted anti-heroes.

Danie Ware is the publicist and event organiser for cult entertainment retailer Forbidden Planet. She has been immersed in the science-fiction and fantasy community for the past decade. An early adopter of blogging, social media and a familiar face at conventions, she appears on panels as an expert on genre marketing and retailing.

Waterstones Nottingham is pleased to announce an evening talk by Sunday Times bestselling author Deborah Harkness on Wednesday 12 September 2012 starting at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £5, or £3 with a Waterstones loyalty card.

The American scholar and internationally best-selling novelist will be visiting the UK to talk about her phenomenally popular books A Discovery of Witches and brand new sequel Shadow of Night. The first two epic volumes of The All Souls Trilogy – a sophisticated sequence full of magic, witches, vampires, demons and sweeping historical romance – have captured the imagination of millions of readers around the world. Waterstones Nottingham is delighted to announce an evening event with Deborah, here to answer questions on her work and discuss the research that goes into creating such a compelling world. This will be followed by a book signing.

The event takes place at Waterstones Nottingham,1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, NG1 2GR (to book your tickets ring 0843 290 8525).

Locus Online reports the winners of the Mythopoeic Awards, recently presented at Mythcon 43. The 2012 Mythopoeic Award winners were:

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature: Lisa Goldstein, The Uncertain Places (Tachyon Publications)

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature: Delia Sherman, The Freedom Maze (Big Mouth House)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies: Carl Phelpstead, Tolkien and Wales: Language, Literature and Identity (Univ. of Wales Press, 2011)

Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies: Jack Zipes, The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films (Routledge, 2011)

Full details from the Mythopoeic Society’s website  HERE

Elsewhen Press, a small independent digital-first publisher specialising in speculative fiction, has announced that Dave Weaver, graphic designer and author, has signed a publishing deal for an undisclosed sum for his debut fantasy novel Jacey’s Kingdom. Managing publisher Al Murray calls it an “exciting and thought-provoking” book which is a “must-read story for adults and young adults alike.”

The story sees Jacey Jackson collapsing with a brain tumour while sitting her final history exam at school. While deep in a coma, she struggles through a quasi-historical sixth century dreamscape as surgeons fight to save her life. Jacey is helped by a stranger called George, who finds himself trapped in her nightmare after a terrible car accident. There are quests, battles, and a love story ahead of them, before we find out if Jacey will awake from her coma or perish on the operating table. And who, or what, is George? In this book, Dave Weaver questions our perception of reality and the redemptive power of dreams; are our experiences of fear, conflict, friendship and love any less real or meaningful when they take place in the mind rather than the ‘real’ physical world?

The book will be published as an e-book in winter 2012 and in print in 2013.