Edge-Lit 8

This weekend the lovely Cate and I will be in Derby for the 8th Edge-Lit convention.

Edge-Lit is one of the two cons I always attend every year (the other, of course, being Fantasycon, although this year we might have to give it a miss.) A one-day event organised by the most excellent Alex Davis, it's always well-attended and a great chance to catch up with old friends.

Among this year's luminaries are:

Confirmed Guests of Honour:
Aliette De Bodard, multi-award winning fantasy and science-fiction author
Anne Charnock, Arthur C Clarke Award winning author of Dreams Before the Start of Time
Christopher Golden, New York Times Bestselling Author of Ararat and The Pandora Room - joining us from the US!
Neil Spring, bestselling author of The Ghost Hunters, The Watchers, The Lost Village and The Burning House
Sarah Lotz, acclaimed horror and thriller author (The Three)
Tim Lebbon, popular dark fantasy and horror novelist (The Silence)
Special Guest:
Stephen Volk, author and scriptwriter (TV's Ghostwatch, Afterlife, Midwinter of the Spirit)
Speakers and Panellists:
Simon Bestwick, acclaimed horror novelist and short story writer (*waves*)
Jan Edwards, award-winning crime and horror author
Robin Triggs, author of Night Shift
David Mark, author of the DS Aector McAvoy crime series
Sarah Pinborough, Bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes and Cross Her Heart
Alex Reeve, writer of the Leo Stanhope series
Zen Cho, acclaimed fantasy author and editor
Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C Clarke Award winning SF and fantasy novelist
Dominic Dulley, author of Morhelion and Shattermoon
Matt Hill, science-fiction author of Zero Bomb
Anna Stephens, fantasy author of the Godblind trilogy
Jen Williams, fantasy author of the Copper Cat and Winnowing Flame series
Genevieve Cogman, author of the Invisible Library series
Tim Major, SF and horror writer
KK Perez, YA author of the Sweet Black Waves series
Adam Christopher, acclaimed novelist, comics and tie-in fiction writer
Jodi Taylor, author of the Chronicles of St Mary series
Daniel Godfrey, author of The Synapse Sequence and New Pompeii
Ruth De Haas, fantasy author and blogger
Danie Ware, Warhammer 40k novelist and author of Children of Artifice
Dan Coxon, award-winning author and editor
AC Clarke, children's and YA fantasy author

It's also great for panels and workshops, both of which I'll be involved with this year. There'll also be readings of work, too, which I think is new.

Here's my itinerary, for those interested (or wanting to know which parts of Derby Quad to avoid!)

10.00 am. Panel:
Short Cuts: Does a Background in Short Fiction Help You Build a Career as a Novelist? (Sponsored by Fox Spirit Books)
Simon Bestwick, Zen Cho (Chair), Jan Edwards, Tim Lebbon, Tim Major.

2.00 pm. Workshop:
Simon Bestwick:Writing Your Novel

4.00 pm. Multi-Publisher Horror Book Launch:
Dark Minds Press launches A LOVE LIKE BLOOD by Simon Bestwick.

Hersham Horror Books launches THE WOODS: PENTANTH 6, with stories by Cate Gardner, James Everington, Mark West, Penny Jones and Phil Sloman.

Sinister Horror Company launches CANNIBAL NUNS FROM OUTER SPACE by Duncan P. Bradshaw.

Wine and nibbles available.

5.00 pm. Reading: 
Simon Bestwick and Robin Triggs.

As you can see, I'm a glutton for punishment. :)

Looking forward to this weekend. And I hope I'll see you there. 

A Love Like Blood

I have not one, but two books coming out in July.

I've already talked elsewhere (but weirdly I forgot to do so here!) about my new short story collection from ChiZine Press, And Cannot Come Again, which is out in July.

But I also have another book out, from Dark Minds Press, being released the same month.

It's called A Love Like Blood.

It consists of two novelettes on the theme of missing parents.

"From the author of AND CANNOT COME AGAIN and the BLACK ROAD series, two tales of family trees whose roots go down into dark and bloody soil. 

FITTON’S GHOST: When Laura inherits her murdered father’s derelict shop, she finds herself haunted by the terrible Grinning Boy. To escape him she’ll have to learn the truth about her family, and face something even more monstrous than him... 

BURNS THE WITCHFIRE, UPON THE HILL: Emma searches for her long-lost mother, only to learn she died mysteriously years before. Will uncovering the truth doom Emma to the same fate? 

The answers lie in dark earth, hidden places… and in a love like blood."

"Hauntingly beautiful and compelling, these stories will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished reading. Simon Bestwick understands what it is to be human, to be fragile and frightened, and yet still find the strength to fight."

- Damien Angelica Walters, author of Sing Me Your Scars and The Dead Girls Club.

I'll post a link to where it can be bought/pre-ordered as soon as I have one. 

News Roundup #3: Darker Minds

Delighted to announce that my short story 'Laws of Acquisition' will appear in Darker Minds, the forthcoming anthology from Dark Minds Press, edited by Ross Warren and Anthony Watson. It'll be due out in April- good lord, that's anytime!