The World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, Alberta, was neither the best nor the worst
I have ever attended. At least it afforded a welcome opportunity to catch up with many
old friends (including Rodger Turner, who runs this website for me so
magnificently). I interviewed David Morrell live on stage (we could have kept
talking for a couple more hours!) and, although Travellers in Darkness
lost out to a not very impressive website in the World Fantasy Awards, I did
find myself accepting statuettes on behalf of my fellow
Brits "Edward Miller" (Les Edwards) and Peter Crowther. They certainly made
for interesting shapes in the hand-luggage on the return journey!
But before that, I headed down to Los Angeles, where I did a signing with Peter
Atkins, Tony Richards and Glen Hirshberg at the wonderful Dark Delicacies store
in Burbank. Despite the fact that it was a Tuesday afternoon, and most of America
was glued to its TV screens to see who was winning the Presidential elections,
we still managed to sell an impressive number of books and signed non-stop for
around an hour-and-a-half.
That evening I also hosted a party at the store to celebrate 20 years of being
a full-time writer/editor. Although Forry Ackerman's worsening health problems
cast a shadow over the event, around forty old friends and colleagues turned up,
including Peter Coleborn, who took the following photos. We were tracking the
election results online as they came in, and the winner was announced during
the party (to almost universal approval!).
—Stephen Jones
November, 2008
STEPHEN JONES, TONY RICHARDS and local boy GLEN HIRSHBERG will be signing copies of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR #19 (Running Press, tp $13.95).
TONY RICHARDS will also be signing copies of PASSPORT TO PURGATORY (Gray Friar Press, tp $17.00),
SHADOWS AND OTHER TALES (Dark Regions Press, tp $19.95) and DARK RAIN (Eos/HarperCollins, pb $7.99), while ex-pat screenwriter and author PETER ATKINS will be signing MOONTOWN (Earthling Publications, limited edition hc $40.00)
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR VOLUME 19 (Robinson Publishing, £7.99) will be launched with an exclusive signing at FANTASYCON 2008.
Award-winning editor Stephen Jones and eleven contributors, including Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Nicholas Royle, Mark Samuels and Canadian author Simon Strantzas, will be signing copies in THE MAIN BAR, BRITANNIA HOTEL, ST. JAMES STREET, NOTTINGHAM, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH.
With every copy purchased, the buyer will receive a free glass of wine courtesy of Robinson Publishing and FantasyCon. Stocks are limited and will be available on a first-come basis.
On Monday June 9, Britain's Royal Mail celebrated its launch the following day of a set of six Classic Carry On and Hammer Films stamps, celebrating 50 years of Hammer horror and Carry On comedy films.
Among the guests invited to an exclusive reception at The Deck, on top of the National Theatre overlooking London's River Thames, were veteran Hammer scriptwriter Jimmy Sangster (whose 1950s classics THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA and THE MUMMY were all represented by the Hammer
stamps) and his wife, actress Mary Peach (THE PROJECTED MAN), along with Carry On stars Fenella Fielding and Amanda Barrie (representing the CARRY ON SCREAMING and CARRY ON CLEO stamps, respectively).
Also on hand was writer and broadcaster Kim Newman, who consulted on the issue and wrote the insert notes for the presentation packs, Hammer director John Hough (TWINS OF EVIL), Hammer expert and publisher Marcus Hearn, writer Mandy Slater, and horror editor and writer Stephen Jones.
The stamps can be ordered through the Royal Mail's website:
www.royalmail.com/shop
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Photo © 2008 Royal Mail
Left to right: Marcus Hearn, Stephen Jones, Jimmy Sangster and Kim Newman at the Classic Carry On and Hammer Films stamps launch, London, June 9, 2008.
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Photo © 2008 Royal Mail
Left to right: Mandy Slater, Stephen Jones and Kim Newman at the Classic Carry On and Hammer Films stamps launch, London, June 9, 2008.
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Hosted by the British Fantasy Society and PS Publishing, the bio/bibliography BASIL COPPER: A LIFE IN BOOKS Compiled and Edited by Stephen Jones will be launched on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd at THE UPSTAIRS BAR, YE OLDE COCK TAVERN, 22 FLEET STREET, LONDON EC4Y 1AA from 6:00pm onwards.
Among those signing copies will be BASIL COPPER, editor/co-designer STEPHEN JONES, artists RANDY BROECKER and LES EDWARDS, co-designer MICHAEL MARSHALL SMITH and publisher PETER CROWTHER. Special Guests (subject to commitment) include legendary anthology editors HUGH LAMB, MICHEL PARRY and DAVID A.
SUTTON.
Basil Copper became a full-time writer in 1970. His first story in the horror field, 'The Spider', was published in 1964 in THE FIFTH PAN BOOK OF HORROR STORIES, since when his short fiction has appeared in numerous collections and anthologies, and been extensively adapted for radio and television. Along with two non-fiction studies of the vampire and werewolf legends, his other books include the novels THE GREAT WHITE SPACE, THE CURSE OF THE FLEERS, NECROPOLIS, THE BLACK DEATH and THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF.
Copper has also written more than fifty hardboiled thrillers about Los Angeles private detective Mike Faraday, and has continued the adventures of August Derleth's Sherlock Holmes-like consulting detective Solar Pons in several volumes of short stories and the novel SOLAR PONS VERSUS THE DEVIL'S CLAW.
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Photo © 2008 Peter Coleborn
Basil Copper
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Photo © 2008 Peter Coleborn
Basil Copper and Stephen Jones at the the bio/bibliography book launch of BASIL COPPER: A LIFE IN BOOKS
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Concluding three years' extensive research, multiple award-winning editor and writer Stephen Jones was given unprecedented and unrestricted access to the books and papers of renowned British macabre and crime writer Basil Copper.
The result is BASIL COPPER: A LIFE IN BOOKS, a unique and in-depth study of the author and his works. Not only does this volume contain the most comprehensive Working Bibliography ever compiled of Basil Copper's productive output—including Macabre and Supernatural Novels and Collections, the "Solar Pons" series, the "Mike Faraday" series, Short Fiction and Novellas, Media Adaptations, Unpublished Works and much more, enhanced with commentary by the author himself—but it also features several rare and obscure articles covering everything from Arkham House creator August Derleth to a brief history of Count Dracula.
There are also a number of short stories, most of them original to this volume, ranging from his very first published work back in 1938 to a brand-new "Mike Faraday" detective adventure, along with a complete television script based on M.R. James' classic horror story 'Count Magnus'.
With an in-depth look at the author's life and career by acclaimed ghost story editor Richard Dalby, and Basil Copper's inspirational Guest of Honour speech from the 1977 British Fantasy Convention, BASIL COPPER: A LIFE IN BOOKS is illustrated with numerous cover reproductions, artwork and unique personal photographs.
If you cannot make it to the signing, but still want to PRE-PURCHASE a personally-signed copy (or copies) please contact <enquiries@pspublishing.co.uk> for details of how to place your order.
Dealer's enquiries welcome—trade discounts available.
ISBN 978-1-905834-98-3 (Jacketed hardcover) £25.00 / $50.00 (approx.) ISBN 978-1-905834-97-6 (Hardcover) £15.00 / $30.00 (approx.) 280pp
BFS BONUS!!! On the night, a number of specially-priced copies of the PS hardcover anthology DON'T TURN OUT THE LIGHT will be available on a first-come basis. Edited by STEPHEN JONES, this third volume in the acclaimed new "Not at Night" series features work by BASIL COPPER, PAUL McAULEY, MARK SAMUELS, JAY RUSSELL, RANDY BROECKER, LES EDWARDS and many others (including Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Charles L. Grant and Hugh B. Cave).
