Claire Eddy, Senior Editor at Tor Books in New York, has concluded a three-book World English Language rights deal for British author David Barnett. The agent was John Jarrold.

The first volume in this steampunk series is titled Hero of the Empire and introduces a young protagonist, Gideon Smith, who faces perils both natural and supernatural in Victorian England.

David Barnett is an author and award-winning journalist who has worked both in regional newspapers and for national publications such as the Daily Star and the Guardian Online. He is the author of three published novels, Hinterland and Angelglass , both published by Immanion Press, and popCULT!  from Pendragon Press. In 2009 Immanion Press brought out a collection comprising a novella and thirteen of Barnett’s short stories, The Janus House and Other Two-Faced Tales.

THE JOY OF TECHNOLOGY by Roy Gray. Pendragon Press £3.00

Reviewed by Tom Crouch

The preface says that if you are offended by explicit sex scenes, don’t read this novella. I have to say, I didn’t think that these scenes were all that explicit. In fact, they were quite coy, using allusions to organs and the act itself.

The story is mostly set in a sex club in a future Germany, soon filled with British soccer fans getting off on the on-stage antics of the strippers, featuring dildos and artificial vaginas. The story is about the desensitisation of feelings, particularly those of a coming of age teenager. Gray conveys this effectively enough, but deals with it a little too quickly at the end – he could’ve taken longer to get into the boy’s head and his feelings for the girl also on the coach trip. The writing is competent although a bit clunky. A stronger editorial hand would have made a better flowing story. The editor/publisher also forgot to correct punctuation throughout, which does disservice to the writer and his story.

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the BFS will be followed by its annual London Open Night on Friday 9 December 2011. The venue is The Mug House, London Bridge, London, SE1 2PF. The EGM starts at 6:00pm and the open night starts at 7:30pm.

The open night will involve the usual mix of book launches (by Pendragon Press and PS Publishing amongst others), general chit-chat, and a little drinking! All welcome.

Christopher Teague, proprietor of Pendragon Press, announces as follows:

“In 1999 I embarked on a publishing journey with no real experience of, or knowledge in, what I was doing, but I edited and published Nasty Snips. Late next year, Pendragon Press will be publishing its first proper e-book – and a sequel to Nasty Snips – imaginatively titled NASTY SNIPS II.

I will, though, be helped by three co-editors to read the flood of submissions – yes, this is OPEN to ALL. My fellow editors are (in alphabetical order) Katy O’Dowd, Esther Sherman and Ross Anthony Warren. Submissions open on 3 October 2011 and will close on 31 January 2012.

Keeping in flavour with the original Nasty Snips, we are looking for short, sharp and shocking tales of original horror fiction no longer than 1000 words. Payment will be a token £10 upon acceptance (which works out at 1p per word), preferably by Paypal, for first World E-publication rights – all other rights reserved by you, the author.

E-mail your submissions (in typical MSS format) to: submissions [at] pendragonpress [dot] net. Please one story at a time, and simultaneous submissions are fine with us.”

XMAS OPEN NIGHT BOOKED @ THE MUG HOUSE – 9 December 2011

Seasonal celebrations this year should see the launch of Visions Fading Fast (Volume One) by Gary McMahon (ed.) from Christopher Teague‘s Pendragon Press.

In this, his second anthology, Gary McMahon – the critically acclaimed author of the novels Pretty Little Dead Things, Hungry Hearts, Rain Dogs and Rough Cut – has selected some of the finest writers within the horror genre today.

In this, the first volume, you will be treated to brand new stories from:

Reggie Oliver | Joel Lane | Kaaron Warren | Paul Meloy | Nathan Ballingrud

Over sixty thousand words to chill and shock you, with stunning cover artwork from Tomislav Tikulin.

This hardback edition is limited to 100 copies and signed by the editor, with coloured end papers and ribbon marker.

KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS ABOUT THE XMAS OPEN NIGHT OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS…

Screaming Dreams and Pendragon Press invite you to spend a Saturday afternoon in the salubrious company of authors and other like-minded folk to celebrate the launch of five books:

Hunter’s Moon, the debut novella from Charlotte Bond
Lest You Should Suffer Nightmares, the biography of Herbert Van Thal by Johnny Mains
Kingston to Cable, the short novel by Gary Greenwood
The Joy of Technology, the debut chapbook by Roy Gray
Isabel Jane, the debut chapbook by Catherine Dale

There will be some free drink and refreshments on offer – along with the books of course!