2012 - A Year in Focus

As the New Year dawns on 2013 I would like to focus, as always, on the good things that have happened this year.

2012 kicked off with a bang when David and I were guesting at the SFX Weekender, which took place in North Wales in February. This was the first convention I could attend where I could go home every night and sleep in my own bed! There was a super line-up of other guests. Colin Baker, Brian Blessed and Eve Myles among them. Robert Rankin hosted the SFX awards to much cheering and applause as a well-loved and respected author of Surrealist Fantasy. I might add that I'm a huge fan of his work too.

There were about six thousand people at the event over the course of the weekend and we had a great time. Panels were packed to the doors and great fun. My favourite one being on Apocalypse writing.

David Wacks, Chase Masterson, Me, David J Howe

After the SFX Weekender David and I headed across the Atlantic to Colorado Springs with our friend Frazer Hines. We had all been invited as Guests of Honour to a new convention called GalaxyFest, run by David and Diann Wacks who also run the Colorado Literacy Foundation. The event proved to be something of a show-stopper for us and an amazing start to 2012. We made some wonderful new friends, among them Kevin J Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Guy Anthony De Marco, Dean Haglund, Chase Masterson and Denise Crosby. There was a hard-working team of people helping out at the con and we were made to feel like part of a new and wonderful family generated by the warmth of

With Kevin J Anderson

David and Diann and their fabulous volunteers and friends which included the gorgeous Stacey Vowell, David Boop and Christopher Salas.

During the trip we also got an opportunity to go Western Riding which I enjoyed very much. And we spent some time with a lovely lady called Karyn Valentine who kindly showed us around.

When I returned home it was a massive wrench to leave all of our new friends.

Some new and unexpected writing success then followed - I was invited to write and submit a story for Chaosium, by Editors Glynn Owen Barass and Brian Sammons. The anthology is called ELDRITCH CHROME, and when I submitted my story both Editors loved it. The story is called Sonar City and it gave me an opportunity to write out of my comfort zone because I had to create an new and unfamiliar dystopian world that fit into both the Cthulhu Mythos and Cyberpunk.

After that Brian and Glynn asked me to submit to their Cthulhu Steampunk anthology and Brian also sent me the guidelines for another anthology he was working on called EDGE OF SUNDOWN, with Editor Kevin Ross. I didn't make the final line-up for the the Steampunk anthology (congratulations to all of the writers who did) but my story The Puppet Master was chosen for EDGE OF SUNDOWN, which was a western/horror anthology. I was delighted.

In between times I finished my latest Vampire Gene novel Silent Sand. When I finally turned this over to my editor Terry Martin at The House of Murky Depths, the feedback was excellent. They felt this was my best work to date. Terry Martin also commissioned a fantastic new artist, Martin Baines, to design the cover for Silent Sand and as you can see it is pretty terrific.

This book is available signed direct from my website with any of the other Vampire Gene Series Books HERE, or in any reputable book stores, direct from Murky Depths, or Amazon.

When I finished Silent Sand I sent in a pitch to editor Stephen James Walker, at Telos Publishing. It was four lines, offering to write a novella that would be both Steampunk and Horror. I expected Steve to come back with a request for a fuller outline, or more information, instead he replied with 'How soon can you do this?' and 'I'll send a contract over'. Within 24 hours I had a contract to write Zombies At Tiffany's and a great advance. Because I was so pleased with the cover for Silent Sand, I recommended Martin Baines to Telos also. The cover he produced for this book was even better than I could have imagined. I love real art on my books.

Zombies At Tiffany's so far has received the best acclaim in terms of reviews this year. My favourite being when I was compared to both H G Wells and Alan Moore. I couldn't have had any greater compliment!

You can buy it in paperback form only for the time being. An ebook is due for release in August 2013. Buy signed copies direct from TELOS. Or you can purchase this book on Amazon or in book stores.

Further success came when I was approached by Peter Mark May from Hersham Books, he had asked editor Stuart Hughes to put together a PentAnth - a book that consisted of five stories on the subject of Siblings. For this I wrote the story Imogen - which was published in September in both paperback and ebook formats.

Buy SIBLINGS for £2.02 on Kindle
Buy SIBLINGS for £4.30 in Paperback

Imogen was later chosen by Salt Publishing for their Best British Fantasy Anthology 2013. Needless to say,  I was extremely pleased by this and the subsequent reviews the book has had.

My career took another unusual turn when AudioGo editor, Alexandra Arlango, picked up my collection Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings and bought the rights to make it an Audio Book.

In her press release Alex said, "We are very excited to be working with Sam. She is a fresh and unique voice in horror and her short stories weave deliciously dark tales involving vampires, werewolves and clowns."

The collection is unabridged but only contains the short stories (not my commentaries on them, or the poetry), plus one bonus story, Walking the Dead, a black comedy that fitted in just right. The audio has also received some excellent reviews and it was a wonderfully exciting process to liaise with the editor about how the audio would be done.

You can purchase a download of the collection direct from AudioGo.


Chaosium editors Brian Sammons and Glynn Barass put out an open call for yet another anthology. This one was Atomic Age Cthulhu: Terrifying Tales of the Mythos Menace, and I was once again challenged to produce a story with a difference. This one was set in the 1950s with a Cthulhu twist. Fall Out was chosen for the final table of contents and I was absolutely delighted to be working with these great editors once more.


As well as writing work, this year has seen David and I being invited to many events as guests. In April we were guests at the huge event The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, in Peterborough. Here I made some more new friends and met some people that I had admired for many years, the fabulous and totally adorable Christopher Lambert and the very warm Adrian Paul of Highlander fame among them.

Me with the two Highlanders!

I really took a shine to two other media celebrities that I had the privilege to spend a little time talking to when we were all in the green room: Eve Myles and Montserrat Lombard. Both these lovely ladies were really likable and I hope to see them again at something else in the future.

The Peterborough event had the biggest media and Author guest list I've ever seen and it was extremely well attended.

Sometime after this we joined the Victorian Steampunk Society at MCM Expo and had the most entertaining weekend with Lady Elsie, Major Tinker, Ian Crichton and the gang. I love these guys so much! MCM Expo was supported by around 50,000 people. It was full of people cosplaying, and having a great time. It's the biggest one I've ever been to and it was great fun.

We began our book tour of Waterstones in September to promote the new books and attended Wales Comic Con, which proved to be massively successful. There I met someone I've admired for a long time: Anthony Stewart Head of Merlin and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. Tony was lovely. I also learnt that he had been asked to do the reading for Zombies in New York by AudioGo but had been too busy because it was such short notice. I was gutted, but thrilled that he had been asked anyway, and so I gave Tony a copy of Zombies At Tiffany's and stole a few hugs. And yes, I am blushing in this photo but don't tell anyone!

Another lovely new friend I met up with was Mark Lester. David and I met Mark initially at The Greatest Show in the Galaxy and I was really impressed with how normal and down to earth he was. So it was lovely to see him again at Wales Comic Con too!

Wales Comic Con had its best turn out yet this year and it was also great to see so many local Steampunks in attendance.

Also there was our best mate Frazer Hines, Gareth David Lloyd, Spencer Wilding, Virginia Hey, Chris Barry, Warwick Davis and many more stars including some of the cast of Game of Thrones.

We returned once more to The Asylum Steampunk convention in September. And we love this opportunity to get together with our friends, in splendid Steampunk fashion. We launched Zombies At Tiffany's and Silent Sand and my two new babies went out into the world in their finery for all to see for the first time. A convention high-light was the inaugural Steampunk awards and we cheered with happiness when our friends were short-listed and the best novel award went to Raven Dane for her super book Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron. A read I can fully recommend to anyone looking for a brilliant Victorian roller-coaster novel with Steampunk, alchemy and a dirigible or two!

Thanks go, as always to the gorgeous Lady Elsie and the dashing Major Tinker for putting up with us at Asylum and for all the hard work they and their crew put in to make the weekend so amazing.

As well as all of these events we were recently invited to attend the annual Dimensions Convention in November which was huge fun and allowed us to catch up with some of our friends in the Whoniverse.

A highlight of the event was joining our friend Chase Masterson and the Big finish crew for dinner and getting to chat with the lovely Sylvester McCoy, who was looking extremely dapper! I'm happy to say we will be joining Tenth Planet again for several more events next year - Dimensions and Big Finish Day being two of them. Can't wait to see everyone again!

Part way through the year I was invited to open Vampire Sunday by Grimm Up North, which was an excellent day of  back to back Vampire Movies, and I did a reading and a Q and A for them. This was the first time I had read an extract from Silent Sand. The event was extremely well attended and the reading well received by a very appreciative audience. In October we joined Grimm Up North again for GrimmFest in Manchester, and David and I introduced and hosted one of the films. This was called Attack of the Werewolves. I can thoroughly recommend it. It was a Spanish black comedy, with proper special effects and make-up rather than relying on CGI. The werewolves reminded me of the Lon Chaney Wolfman (in a good way) but the story was very modern.

Other noteworthy events - although I am actually confused now about the dates when they happened! This year has been a total whirl-wind - I was invited to a reading event by This Is Horror, which took place in the Electric Theatre in Birmingham. Jasper Bark hosted the event and the other two guest speakers were David Moody and John Llewellyn Probert. We took part in a recorded discussion about the works of Stephen King and then we all did a reading, followed by an in depth question and answer session. I was incredibly impressed with how Jasper Bark handled all of that too. He seems to have a remarkable memory!

Throughout the year David and I have been building a calender of events because of invites to various conventions and comic cons for next year. One that has particularly pleased me the invitation to Sci-Fi Weekender next March because we had such a good time last year at SFX Weekender. We are also going back to Colorado and GalaxyFest (YAY!), and I'm delighted to say returning to the wonderful Gallifrey Convention in Los Angeles to celebrate 50 years of DOCTOR WHO with all our friends there.

I have also been commissioned to write another novella, and a novel in six parts that is going to be serialised. However, because contracts are still being negotiated at the moment this is all I can tell you for now. But more to follow on this soon I hope.
 

So that concludes my 2012 round up. I'm thoroughly looking forward to 2013 even though it promises to be our busiest year yet!

Publications for 2012
Zombies at Tiffany's (Telos Publishing) Aug 2012
Silent Sand (The House of Murky Depths) Sept 2012
Imogen (Hersham Books, Siblings) Sept 2012
Zombies in New York and Other Bloody Jottings (AudioGo Audio book) Oct 2012

Commissions and Publications for 2013
Sonar City (Chaosium Eldritch Chrome) TBA
The Puppet Master (Chaosium, Edge of Sundown) TBA
Fall Out (Chaosium, Atomic Age Cthulhu) TBA
Imogen (Salt Publishing, Best British Fantasy 2013) April 2013
* Novel - TBA
* Novella - TBA
* Screenplay - TBA

*More news on the Novel, Novella, and a screenplay to follow early next year. Plus exciting news on a graphic novel of Zombies at Tiffany's.

Happy New Year everyone.

Waterstones Event Cancelled

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have had to postpone my Waterstone's Arndale Centre, Manchester, signing.

I will be returning to the store in the new year and will post details when the date is set.

Sorry if this disappoints or inconveniences anyone at this time. The store does have stock of all of my books, so if you need anything you can still go in and buy it before Christmas.

If you wish to have signed copies then you can order these directly from HERE. (But please do this by Monday 17th December at the latest as this is the last day I can process the orders.)

Wishing you all a Happy holidays and see you in the New Year.

Sam x

This Week I'll be At ... MANCHESTER

WATERSTONES ARNDALE CENTRE MANCHESTER, 15th December 2012.

Sam Stone and David Howe will be revisiting this super store in Manchester town centre.

Sam's new Vampire Gene Book Silent Sand will be available as well as her new Steampunk/Horror Novella, Zombies At Tiffany's.

David's horror collection talespinning will also be available.

Address: Waterstone's Arndale Centre, Arndale Centre, Manchester, Lancashire, M4 3AQ 
Time: 12-4pm
Date: 15th Dec 2012.

See you there!

Apocalypse. Again?

So the world is going to end is it?

I keep hearing from various sources that the world is going to end ... Again! This time it is because the Mayan Calendar comes to an end.

We seem to have an obsession with the apocalypse lately: though I’m sure that this is nothing new. Religious factions have declared the end at many intervals. As a child of about 12 I remember something being bandied around at school about impending doom. Since then it seems that the world has been ready to end in one form or another several times.

In the year 2000 our technology was all going to crash leaving us in total crisis. Well that didn’t happen, unless I missed it?

So I’ve been thinking, how is the world going to end – or rather how would I like it to happen?

Well ideally I wouldn’t like it to end at all. But let’s have some fun with this anyway!

Here goes with a list of my five favourite apocalypses:

1) Zombie Apocalypse has to be my first choice. If we are going out, at least give us a chance of survival (even a narrow one). And it would be such fun blowing the brains out of the undead, or practising the double-tap on the neighbour, now turned zombie, for all of those annoying, noisy things they did. I only see this as actually possible if some kind of government experiment went wrong like a virus being released into the atmosphere. For the really religious it could be that hell is full and so the dead have nowhere else to go (That’s been done already though and doesn’t really work for me as being quite as plausible). So I’m sticking with the scientific option. Although my vampire Lucrezia did cause a zombie meltdown in New York at one time (http://www.audiogo.com/uk/zombies-in-new-york-zombies-in-new-york-sam-stone-gid-1013665o). That’ll teach her to leave her Renfield alone for too long ... 

2) Why not have an Alien Invasion. I’d love that. It would please all of the conspiracy theorists because – hey they were right all along and ‘the truth was out there’. With aliens let’s make it as sick as possible please. They want us for food ... that’s really not nice for people who consider themselves at the top of the food chain, right? What’s for dinner ... you are! They might want us for breeding because they are trying to make a new race? Ick! Kill me now! (Or maybe not. They might prove to be uber-compatible with humanity. I mean most things have two eyes, a nose and a mouth, don't they? We could surely cope with some extra appendages, tentacles and the like. Those sucker things could be useful if you don't have fingers.) They want us for slaves ... well that one doesn’t necessarily say the ‘end of all things’, though does it? But at least it gives the survivor types time to build a resistance. We could have years of fun with that one! They want to build a new intergalactic highway and our planet happens to be in the way? I think Douglas Adams has that one covered. Okay, my favourite and the most gross ... experiment on us: we are just lab rats to them, and that’ll teach us for all the cruel things we did to animals in our time!

3) We could go Super Nova? That should please the scientists (because, yes, we know they are always saying the Sun is going to explode one day and kill us all) and it is the most plausible ending we could have. So the world is going to end tomorrow ... and we all run about trying to get our affairs in order, praying for salvation or just basically having the best sex we’ve ever had. Of course there will always be those that go looting for the hell of it, but that won’t make any difference if the planet is going to explode in 24 hours. Let them have that new 70" TV if they want it so badly! The world's ending, who cares? The best thing to do in this case? For me it would be best spent with my loved ones, wearing my best clothing, and go out with dignity. The last thing you want to do when you arrive at the pearly gates is look like you were dragged through a hedge backwards. I'd prefer something far more torturous though. Why not the Sun just snuffing out one day, like a light bulb that's burnt out? We'd survive a bit for a while. It would bring out the best and the worst in humanity and some of might even make it off the planet in a giant Space Ark in search of a new world ...

4) Meteoroid Showers sound like fun. If it was good enough to wipe out the dinosaurs then why not humanity when we are only the size of domestic animals compared to them? So we could have a meteoroid shower that infects anyone who watches it with some kind of super radiation. We all mutate and turn into freaks, scrabble about the planet in pathetic, and sometimes amusing ways, before we lose the intelligence to actually grow plants, breed animals and more importantly make wine. Awful ending! A world without wine. Just can't imagine that one. Or the meteoroids could hit the Earth so hard they punch holes in the planet which then stops spinning. Gravity fails and we all fall off into space. Not plausible? Okay how about this: a big asteroid falls into the sea, pushing all the water onto the land, so that we all drown. Erm ... ridiculous (but it's been done time and time again!). Besides, Bruce Willis will probably slip into a vest, get in a rocket, shoot out to space, plant some explosives on the offending lump of space rock, and blow it to atoms long before it hits the Earth. It could all be caused by some mysterious Emperor though, and it might take a blond, buff, football star, a mad scientist and a reporter to thwart his evil plan.

5) Global Warming is my least favourite ending. It’s slow, it’s dull, it’s - so what? I’m slapping on the sun screen and I'll sit this one out ... And there is always a chance that the ozone layer will repair itself, right? Of course there could be a new Ice Age. That’ll teach us! In the UK we’d have no chance; we can’t even cope with an inch of snow or a bit of ice on the roads. When that happens, everything comes to a standstill. I think if this is going to happen I'm moving to Alaska: they probably wouldn’t even notice the difference there and they have all the right vehicles, tools and clothing to cope with it already. As long as the vampires didn't attack of course. We could have a flash freeze though, like they did in The Day After Tomorrow. I liked that one. It was very cruel the way people and things just froze on the spot. But there was hope for survival and some people made it by burning books in a library. That would never work for me though ... I’d rather freeze than burn books.

If the world is going to end any time soon, and I doubt it is because some ancient Mayans didn’t make a long enough calendar, then I think the most plausible options are going to be scientific, and not based around superstition and myth. We’ll know in advance that it really is going to happen, or at least the scientists in the world will.Whether they choose to tell us or not is another matter.

Anyway, if I'm wrong and the world is going to end sometime in the next few weeks, then I had better get my latest book finished. I’m on a deadline and I’d hate to fail to reach it. Now that would be the end of the world ...

The Next Best Thing? Me? Really?

I was recently tagged as The Next Best Thing by editor Brian M Sammons.  I have been fortunate to be chosen on three occasions now for anthologies Brian is editing or co-editing. So I'm really pleased and flattered that he considers me worthy of passing on this mantel. Thanks Brian. Here's to great sales for Eldritch Chrome (Edited with Glynn Owen Barass), Edge of Sundown (Edited with Kevin Ross) and the latest one Atomic Age Cthulhu (Edited with Glynn Owen Barass). All of these anthologies are planned for some time next year.

Now I have the utmost respect for the following people who I believe could also be the next best thing ...

Tagged

Debbie Bennett

Robert Harkess

Jan Edwards
Kit Cox

Now onto answering the questions :)

What is the working title of your next book?

I’m currently working on two new projects but can’t really talk about them at the moment because they are subject to contract. As well as those two, there’s a finished novel which is being considered by an Agency in America at the moment, and I’d rather not talk about that until it has a publisher attached. There’s also another novel in the works, but that’s in the early stages of planning at the moment.

However I’d love to talk about my two most recent books SILENT SAND and ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S.

2)    Where did the idea come from for the book?

SILENT SAND – A Vampire Gene Novel – is number five in the series and sees the return of my characters Gabriele Caccini and Lucrezia Borgia. Gabriele is captured and taken to a secret military base in the Nevada Desert. There Lucrezia is working as a scientist, doing experiments on a new form of vampire. Like the fourth book, HATEFUL HEART, SILENT SAND is  a stand-alone story though it follows on chronologically from the other books. The idea for the story came from a ‘what if’ question. What if my vampires, following on from the threat in HATEFUL HEART were to face an even bigger and better foe? As always the book contains blood-thirsty fierce vampires, sex and lots of action. ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S was an idea that came from a dinner table discussion with my partner David J Howe. David and I were discussing what title might be evocative in today’s market and the title came about before the idea of the story. I didn’t want to write something that was a direct knock-off of the Breakfast At Tiffany’s story that the title might imply. Instead this is a completely original story, but with some tips to the hat to both Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Shaun of the Dead. It is also my first dabble at writing within the Steampunk genre. I really enjoyed inventing the weapons and gadgets which appear, so I’m sure I will be doing more in the future. In this book you’ll find Zombies, Steampunk weapons and a large helping of black comedy.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Both books fall into the horror category, but I like to mix the genres so SILENT SAND is Horror/Fantasy and ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S is Horror/Fantasy/Steampunk

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

If ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S was made into a movie, I’d really like to see Frazer Hines as Rocky the gangster, Mandy Patinkin as the Jewish manager at Tiffany’s, Anthony Head would be brilliant as the inventor and as for Kat Lightfoot (my kick-ass heroine) she should be played by an unknown actress who has the look of a young Audrey Hepburn.

 5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

SILENT SAND: The ancient vampire family find themselves facing their greatest foe yet, something primal and insidious, and from which they have no protection.

ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S: A Steampunked story of diamonds, chutzpah, death and horror from the blood-drenched pen of Sam Stone.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m not working with an agency at present, but my partner David is checking contracts and chasing deals for me. Both these books were commissioned prior to writing.

SILENT SAND was commissioned by The House of Murky Depths. I pitched the story and plot in a phone call with my editor Terry Martin and he bought it on that basis. In face I only sent him the full synopsis when he needed it to commission the cover art.

ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S was commissioned by Telos Publishing after I pitched a four line synopsis to Editor Stephen James Walker.

I don’t believe in self-publishing: though I make no judgement for those that do as it is often a way to get known and some people have become hugely successful by doing it. I write because I love it, but I also want to be sure that what I want to write will also sell. This is also my livelihood and I can’t afford to spend months writing something that won’t be sold. I love working with editors to discuss and refine ideas, and I love the process of writing: creating characters and worlds for them to inhabit.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

SILENT SAND took a few months to write. I am a fast writer and tend to do all my planning in my head beforehand. This means that when I come to put the words down, they flow easily as I already know where I’m going with the story.

ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S was written in ten days to first draft. On my first edit I added about 10,000 words more. It was then passed on to my editor. From beginning to end it took about three weeks to complete it and I’m extremely pleased with the end result.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That’s a tough one! I don’t really think that my writing or stories are like anyone else’s. However, people who like adult, fierce vampires often enjoy my vampire series. So if you like Anne Rice, Christopher Pike, Stephen King or Dean Koontz, you will probably enjoy my writing too.

I did have one reviewer say that my writing in ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S reminded him of H G  Wells and Alan Moore, which is a rare complement!

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My partner David always inspires me. We talk a lot about plots and character and story – all of which are equally important to me as a writer. David helps me refine my ideas. He’s my muse.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

I like to write lots of action and try and keep my writing style very fast-paced. My readers often tell me they find my books to be page-turners. I’m not a big fan of long wordy sentences, or of using words that make my readers have to stop in the middle to go and find a dictionary. Reading should be FUN. It is entertainment. And entertain is what I hope I do most of all because losing ourselves in a good story is what it is all about. A lot of writers forget that.

Plus, no matter what subject you are writing about, it’s usually all been done before in some way or another. I see it as a challenge to try and approach things differently. My Vampire Gene series for example, isn’t written in a formulaic manner. Each book is different and hopefully gives my readers new surprises and new philosophies to consider. It’s why the zombies in ZOMBIES AT TIFFANY’S aren’t just humans infected by some communicable disease. They are caused by something evil getting into the hearts of the soldiers at war. Something sees and fills the darkness within them.

I think it’s important to have multiple levels within your stories, even though different readers will interpret them in different ways. It’s what keeps it interesting for me as a writer, and which keeps the readers coming back for more. And as I say, it’s all about the readers.