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Category: stardust

Ruby – cover reveal!

Truly delighted to reveal Julia Lloyd’s exquisite cover design for Ruby, published by Titan Books on the 8th of September.

Ruby is the brand new title of the brand new edition of Stardust, previously published in 2013 by PS Publishing. The all-new Ruby has been revised and expanded to include a new story that will reveal new insights and information about the book’s mysterious title character.

Ruby Castle is a film actor, famous for her roles in horror cinema, made infamous for murdering her lover in a jealous rage. The stories in this book illuminate her life and times from different angles, forming a multifaceted portrait of an extraordinary woman.

It has been a joy to return to this manuscript, to spend time with Ruby again, to bring to the text a new incisiveness and clarity. Writing the extra story was the icing on the cake! In the years since Ruby first stepped into the spotlight, I feel I’ve come to understand her better, and I hope I’ve been able to reflect this in the revised text.

Julia’s cover art captures the drama and tragedy of Ruby’s story to an uncanny degree. I’m thrilled with it, and looking forward to introducing Ruby to a wider audience later in the year!

cover stories

I’ve just received previews of the cover art for the upcoming Spanish edition of Tejedora/Spin, the French edition of Stardust/Legendes de Ruby Castle, and the mass market French edition of Complications/The Silver Wind. I think they’re all simply stunning – all three briefs have been interpreted in beautifully original and striking ways, and I’m thrilled to have such wonderful artists working on my behalf – and I couldn’t resist sharing them with you here.

 

 

 

Some lovely news to share

I’m very happy indeed to announce that my story The Gateway (Stardust/PS Publishing) has been nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award in the Best Novella category.

Every year I look to the Shirley Jackson Awards shortlists for a year end summary of the best in horror and dark fiction, checking to make sure there’s nothing I’ve missed, feeling pleased that the judges have taken note of works that have particularly impressed me. If you look back at the nominations slates since the award’s inception in 2007 you’ll find they include much of the most original and accomplished contemporary horror being written, and the list of winners is more or less a who’s who of modern dark fantasy. To find my own work being acknowledged in this way is nothing short of mind-blowing.

This year’s lists highlight some fantastic works, as always. It’s particularly lovely to see my PS and TTA Press cohort Rosanne Rabinowitz being nominated for her Machen-inspired novella Helen’s Story, the amazing Rob Shearman for his short story ‘That Tiny Flutter of the Heart’, and the perennially brilliant Tanith Lee for her novelette ‘A Little of the Night’. (Indeed, British talent makes a grand showing across the board this year.) Other favourites among the nominations include Kit Reed’s collection The Story Until Now, Ramsey Campbell’s novella The Last Revelation of Gla’aki, Nathan Ballingrud’s collection North American Lake Monsters, Livia Llewellyn’s short story ‘Furnace’, and in the novel category I shall be rooting particularly for Joyce Carol Oates’s resplendent The Accursed. But really, every nominee deserves a special mention because they are all such amazing and inspiring writers, every one.

Congratulations and good luck to all.

Stardust Special

Just a quick note to let you know that PS Publishing are celebrating Mario Guslandi’s generous review of my most recent collection, Stardust with a great special offer: for this weekend only you can grab a copy of Stardust for the bargain price of £9.99 +p&p.

“I cannot recommend this book enough: this is great fiction at its best by an extremely talented author who, I suspect, is going to get even better in the future.” (Mario Guslandi for SFRevu)

Drop by the PS site and order your copy here.

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