Authors Electric

A blonde, a brunette and a redhead walked into a bar. They really did. I was the brunette.  It’s November 1991 (I think – give or take a year – it was a long time ago) and we’re in Earl’s Court, London at a fantasy convention. I’d met the blonde (Jan) and the redhead (Lindsey) six months or so earlier at a writers’ conference – we were among the dozen or so writers whose work wouldn’t be pigeonholed into romance, or memoirs or even thrillers. We were fantasy, science fiction and horror writers and affectionately dubbed the weirdos by the late and lovely editor Carolyn Caughey , who took us under her wing! Carolyn was a senior editor at Hodder & Stoughton and she made an effort to keep in touch with me over the years – even as far as making sure I got an invitation to the Stephen King party in London in the late 90s (Storm Constantine and I asking Mr King to dance is a whole other story …)  Jan and Lindsey knew each other already, and I lived only 20 miles or so away, so w...

This weekend I should have been attending Horror Writers Association’s annual Stokercon event. Stokercon usually takes place in the USA as the vehicle for presenting the Bram Stoker Awards but this year it was to be held in sunny Scarborough.  Okay the event was not cancelled, merely postponed until August, but who knows what will happen by then. That being the case Peter and I decided to go ahead with an online launch this weekend and retain our slot at the revised August date as a showcase. Its no big deal given the enormity of what is happening around the world but after all of the work we put into these things I imagine most people are disapointed  with missing something in the past few weeks. A holiday or a birthday or just some event where they meet people in general.  I am not bothered by the logistics of lockdown in general.  I quite like my own company and only ever run out of time rather than things to do. There are books to write and books to r...

Not too sure why I'm sharing a name with Tina Rath! This past month I've been "appearing"! On radio, in public, attending events, doing book signings - I almost feel like a celebrity. Around this time last year, I was gadding around the country on the White Witch book and DVD tour . This year, I've been out and about too. Is it the time of year, maybe? Or just co-incidence? Towards the end of September, I was in Nantwich at a writers' event. I blogged about it last month . As a result of that, I was invited to visit  Radio Northwich - a local independent digital radio station - to talk about my books and my writing. So in early October, with much trepidation, I arrived at the radio station above a small shop in town and met my host Jeff Stuart. Five minutes later we were live on air! Now I hate the sound of my own voice (yes, I know that might be hard to believe for those who know me...) and I was dreading the idea of headphones, so I turned it all of...

As any independently or mid-level traditionally published author will tell you, unless your first name is Neil or Stephen or J. K. and your last name is King or Rowling or Gaiman, you are going to spend a goodly portion of your time attending various conventions to promote your work. This is especially true if you are writing genre fiction. If you are traditionally published and lucky, your publisher may foot the bill for your hotel, and the convention planners may buy a few copies of your books for you to sign and sell throughout the weekend. If you are and independently published author or a traditionally published author and unlucky, you are going to be footing the bills for these things and setting them up yourself. Results may vary. You will still do it, though, because it's part of getting your work out there and building your own name recognition. However, regardless of how much you plan and prepare, every once in a while, things will turn out much differently ...

I read of a young writer, years back, who told some friends at a convention: 'Gotta go, There's a bunch of more important people that I want to meet.' The cheek and gall reminded me of someone who snubbed me about the same time, in pretty much the same way. The same guy? No way to know. The type, though, is identical: 100% focused on knowing and stroking the people who count...and shunning the losers who don't. Plus: doing and saying whatever it takes. Yeah, I know: it's the way of the world. It goes on in the workplace: It goes on in bodybuilding: And it goes on in Vegas: But in writing it seems more disconcerting. Whatever our genre, we share a blood bond: united by storms of rejections...tens of thousands of hours alone at our desks...the anguish of poor reviews...the battle to make ends meet while finding time to write...and, unlike any other art, the lack of immediate feedback. Now and then a lone wolf like Howey or H...

(c) Peter Coleborn Last month, I posted that I was going to be at this year's FantasyCon in Nottingham. I'm figuring that I haven't been to a FantasyCon in six years - I seem to remember taking Clare when she was thirteen, which made a change from taking her aged two (when she had great fun stuffing goody-bags). But they don't stuff goody-bags anymore. These days you get your nice cotton bag with an event programme and a souvenir book, and you select your goodies from the mountains of free paperbacks, plus flyers, leaflets, postcards, badges etc on the tables. It's actually a far more sensible system as you only get the books you want! So. East Midlands Conference Centre. Fantastic venue, although a bit far away from civilisation, making guests far more reliant on the shockingly overpriced and sub-standard food served in conference centre and the attached De Vere hotel. Breakfast was excellent, however, and the hotel itself was new, shiny and comfortable. An...

Me and horror writer Sam Stone I spent last weekend in the company of several incarnations of Dr Who, a few daleks, lots of stormtroopers, jedi knights and Chewbacca – plus various characters from Lord of The Rings, Batman and numerous other film and television shows. Not forgetting the creepy Pennywise the clown and other scary creatures. I was at Sci-Fi Weekender – an annual get-together of more than 6,000 fans of science-fiction, fantasy and horror in all media forms. At a Haven holiday park in North Wales, I stayed in a gorgeous caravan with stunning views of Tremaddog Bay and so close to the sea, you could hear it at night. And I was there as a “guest artist”, with an access-all-areas pass! With several other writers, I co-hosted a variety of panels on writing in the Author Zone – part of the Spaceport (aka the smaller of the two main areas on the site – with a stage, seating, bar etc). I somehow managed to get listed in the lovely, glossy, full-colour event guide on...