All the latest Shadow Writer news and announcements.   Current news can be viewed here 2022 news can be viewed here 2021 news can be viewed here 2020 news can be viewed here 2019 news can be viewed here 2018 news can be viewed here 2017 news can be viewed here 2016 news can be viewed here 2015 news can be viewed here 2014 news can be viewed here 2013 news can be viewed here 2012 news can be viewed here 2011 news can be viewed here 2010 news can be viewed here 2009 news can be viewed here 2008 news can be viewed here 2007 news can be viewed here 2006 news can be viewed here 2004 news can be viewed here 2003 news can be viewed here   December Last month Paul and his webmistress Marie O'Regan caught up with bestselling American Gods author and July's Shadow Writer Neil Gaiman while he was in the UK to promote his new book Anansi Boys. A good time was had by all and an interview with Neil will be published in Dark Horizons as well as online here very soon. In the meantime you can read a review of the book which Paul wrote recently by clicking here -------------------------------------- Guest Writer for this Christmas month is award-winning author and publisher Peter Crowther writing under his Nick Hassam pen-name. Pete will also be providing our New Year story for January so watch out for that one. You can read the aptly-titled and excellent 'Boxing Day' by clicking here. -------------------------------------- And to keep the spirit of Christmas going you can also find a reprint of Paul's story 'A Nightmare on 34th Street' now online at the Shadow Writer site. Click here to read this seasonal tale to keep you awake on Christmas Eve. -------------------------------------- Paul was honoured and overwhelmed to find out recently that quotes from some of the interviews with him have appeared on the 'Brainy Quote' website, alongside writers such as Douglas Adams, Ben Elton and Brian Aldiss, and famous figures like Clint Eastwood, Robert Englund and Marilyn Monroe. Click here if you want to read them some of them. -------------------------------------- Paul will be at the BFS Open Night on December 2nd at the Devereux, just off The Strand in London. Likely attendees include Stephen Jones, Michael Marshall Smith, Phil and Sarah Stokes of the Revelations site, and Chris Teague of Pendragon Press is launching Lavie Tidhar's new book, An Occupation of Angels. Be there or be…all unChristmassy. -------------------------------------- That's all for this month, and for this year. Paul would like to wish all the visitors to the Shadow Writer site a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year. See you in 2006 for some major announcements. -------------------------------------- November First piece of news this month is that John B. Ford's long-awaited extended edition of his Evil Entwines book is now out from Rainfall. In it Ford works with some of the top horror authors in the world, such as F. Paul Wilson, Thomas Ligotti, Ramsey Campbell, Brian Stableford, Simon Clark and many others on a series of collaborative stories. The book is now a whopping 280 pages, much larger than its previous incarnation, which is now a collector's item. It also comes with a stunning cover by Lorretta Mansell. Paul penned the introduction for this special release and also worked on one of the collaborations with the author, called 'The Toll'. -------------------------------------- And we have a very special Guest Writer this month, a living legend in the horror genre. Author of The Overnight and many other supernatural novels and collections, Ramsey Campbell is online right now with his story 'Cat and Mouse'. Click here to read this superb piece of work. -------------------------------------- Paul was very proud to attend a book launch for a new poetry anthology called Arnemetia in October which featured the talents of two of his writing students, Angela Truelove-Mayhew (left below) and Sylvia Reeve (right). The launch took place at Chesterfield Library on 12th October and the students gave readings in front of a packed audience. -------------------------------------- Pictures from both the Signs of Life book launch and FantasyCon 2005 have now been uploaded on the website. You can access these through the Events link or by clicking here (for Signs) or here (for FCon) -------------------------------------- Join us next month when we'll be looking forward to some Christmas spirits and there'll be more news about what's happening in the Shadow Writer world. -------------------------------------- October Apologies for the slight delay with the news this month, but both Paul and his webmistress Marie O'Regan were in attendance at this year's excellent FantasyCon. More of this a bit further down. The first piece of news this month is that Paul's Signs of Life novella is almost upon us. He attended a launch for this on 10th September at haunted Craig-Y-Nos castle, base of the publisher Crystal Serenades. There he gave a reading, signed advance copies of the books and was a guest on one of their famous Ghost Tours around the castle. Pictures from this will be uploaded onto the site next month. A special thanks to Kelly Burnell, Steve Graham and Ian Simmons. -------------------------------------- Guest writer this month should be a familiar face to anyone who has been reading Shadow Writer the past couple of months. Void author Teri A. Jacobs - see the interview link in last month's news section - joins us with one of her own personal favourite stories, 'Wild Things'. Teri's new book Secrets of the Bones below is out now from Prime. -------------------------------------- A review of Paul's e-book Master of the White Worms is up now at The Sword Review. To read it just click here. -------------------------------------- As reported last month Paul attended two British Fantasy Events in the last month. On 2nd September he was at the Devereux pub in London for the Open Night, along with Michael Marshall Smith, Stephen Jones, Les Edwards, Conrad Williams, Bob Covington and Marie O'Regan. At the end of the month he was also at the superb FantasyCon 2005 at Walsall. Here he officially launched the BFS Calendar (see previous news sections for details, now available to buy here, interviewed Guest of Honour Simon Clark on stage and featured in a line-up on a Horror Comedy panel alongside the creator of one of Paul's favourite shows, Garth Marenghi's Dark Place, Matthew Holness. Paul would like to congratulate all the winners of British Fantasy Awards this year, in particular Christopher Fowler for his novella, Breathe, Stephen Gallagher for his collection Out of his Mind, Les Edwards for best artist, and Andrew Hook for winning best small press with Elastic and best anthology for The Alsiso Project. A full list of the winners can be found on the BFS website. Photos from both of these events will be up on the site in the very near future. -------------------------------------- September News Extra News has just reached us at the Shadow Writer site of a brand new production of Clive Barker’s play, Frankenstein in Love. Directed by Dean M. Drinkel this exciting play is running from Tuesday 27th September until Saturday October 8th at Baron’s Theatre, 28a Comeragh Road, London W14. Nearest tube is Baron's Court. 7.30 curtain up each night, except the Sunday 2nd Oct which is 2.30pm. Box office is 020 8932 4747 and tickets cost £10. September Terror Tales #3 edited by Paul and John B. Ford is currently being put together. As mentioned in previous news sections the line-up includes some of the top names in the horror genre, such as Peter Straub, Stephen Laws, Simon Clark, Conrad Williams, Chaz Brenchley and now Hollywood screenwriter Richard Christian Matheson. The cover, as always, is provided by the very talented Steve Lines and the anthology will feature reviews and of course Kane's Korner. -------------------------------------- Paul is proud to announce that Kim Newman is his Guest Writer for September. Author, film critic and TV personality Kim, who has featured in many documentaries talking about the genre is online right now with his excellent story 'Completist Heaven'. -------------------------------------- Paul is now in possession of a replica of one of his most well-liked characters - or should that be two? Sitting on top of his bookcase is a replica of Bony M (or B, depending on your preference) from his story 'The Bones Brothers' kindly given to him. Paul would like to say a big thank you to both Marie O'Regan and Jason Williams. -------------------------------------- As promised two interviews have gone into the archive this month, which Paul conducted with Neal Asher and Teri A. Jacobs - see last month's news section for details. Click here to read Paul's interview with Teri and here to read his conversation with Neal. -------------------------------------- Two of Paul's friends have forthcoming books pending. The first is Alec Worley who has delivered the MS for Empires of the Imagination: A Critical Survey of Fantasy Cinema from Georges Melies to The Lord of the Rings to US publishers McFarland. Alec's thorough and entertaining book covers over one hundred years of fantasy films, examining every sub-genre from Fairy Tale, Earthbound, Heroic and Epic, and features such movies as The Wizard of Oz and Raiders of the Lost Ark. More details as and when on this exciting project. Secondly, John B. Ford's Evil Entwines is about to get a reprint. If you missed this the first time, you missed out as Ford works in collaboration with some of the top names in the genre - such as F.Paul Wilson and Ramsey Campbell. Paul & John have a story in this one and Paul also contributed the introduction. -------------------------------------- Paul will be attending two events this month. Firstly on the 2nd September he will be at the Devereux for the BFS Open Night. Then at the end of the month, 30th September - 2nd October, he will be at this year's FantasyCon where he will be interviewing Hotel Midnight author and good friend Simon Clark on stage, and featuring in the line-up of a horror comedy panel with a very special surprise guest. If you haven't booked yet, shame on you, and be sure to say hi if you see Paul at either of them. Pictures from both of these events will be online at a future date. -------------------------------------- August It can now be revealed that the celebrity penning the introduction to Cinema Macabre (for which Paul has written about Hellraiser) is none other than OBE Jonathan Ross. Jonathan is of course well known as the presenter of The Last Resort and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and he has interviewed a whole host of stars from Madonna to Tom Cruise. He also presents Film 2005 for the BBC and is the author of The Incredibly Strange Film Book. Most recently you will have seen Jonathan hosting the massive Live 8 concert, also on BBC. Needless to say Paul is thrilled by this news as he's been a fan for a long time. For more details about the book, visit the PS Publishing website here -------------------------------------- Guest Writer on the site this month is Mark Morris, responsible for such novels as Toady, The Secret of Anatomy, Genesis and Fiddleback (as J.M. Morris) as well as the Dr Who novels The Body Snatchers and Deep Blue (below). Mark was once labelled 'One of the finest horror writers at work today' by Clive Barker and is also the editor of Cinema Macabre. To read Mark's excellent story 'Losing It' just click here. -------------------------------------- A page has been set up on the site devoted to Ian Simmons' ongoing graphic novel adaptation of Paul's story 'The Torturer'. Just click here You may remember that Ian was a contributor to last year's BFS calendar (above) and has done a painting to accompany Neil Gaiman's piece on Death for the 2006 Horror one. For more on Ian and his art, check out his website here -------------------------------------- Due to the terrible events of 7/7 in London the BFS Awards Showcase was postponed until 23rd July. But Paul attended on this date and you can find pictures of the event here He was also able to attend a scripting Masterclass at RADA on the same day, given by screenwriter, script editor and deputy editor of ScriptWriter magazine, Nic Ransome. -------------------------------------- As promised, the long-awaited picture gallery from John B. Ford's wedding is now online here. -------------------------------------- And it doesn't end there. Two more galleries have now gone up. Firstly, Paul, John B. Ford and Simon Clark's hunt for the burial place of the legendary Little John from Robin Hood's gang of Merry Men can be found here Not only that you can find Paul's Alton Towers adventure with DJ, Presenter and all round Media personage Lee Glasby captured here in stills - and here in moving pictures via a short film Lee put together The movie is best viewed in Internet Explorer using Winamp, which you can download for free by clicking on the button below. -------------------------------------- Two archive interviews will be going up on the site next month that Paul conducted with Void author Terri A. Jacobs (above) and Cowl author Neal Asher. Miss them at your peril. -------------------------------------- Paul will also be counting down to FantasyCon next month with a couple of special surprises lined up. Join us then for more news. -------------------------------------- July As mentioned in a recent mailshot, Paul is delighted to welcome Neil Gaiman as his Guest Writer for the sunny month of July. Neil is of course the award-winning writer of the Sandman graphic novels and also of the bestselling books Stardust, Neverwhere (which was also a BBC series starring Lenny Henry) and American Gods. His story on the site is one of Paul's all-time favourites and you can read it by clicking here -------------------------------------- Neil is also one of the contributors to the 2006 Horror Calendar which went up in the news section last month. Paul wishes to thank all the people who have pre-ordered it so far. Word is already starting to spread with authors such as Graham Masterton, Poppy Z. Brite, Stephen Gallagher and Christopher Fowler mentioning it on their sites. If you want to reserve your copy (and judging from the way things are going you might want to hurry) you can do so here at the BFS Cyberstore. -------------------------------------- The Zombie anthology Paul co-edited with Walter Diociaiuti, Albions Alpträume: Zombies, to be published in Italy and Germany is due for publication this month. The gruesome but excellent cover artwork by David Magitis is above and the anthology features authors such as Christopher Fowler, Tim Lebbon, Paul Finch, John B. Ford, Derek M. Fox, Tony Richards and Maynard & Sims amongst others. It also comes complete with a Simon Clark intro and an article on zombies written by Paul. The translation of Paul's Touching the Flame is also due out in Germany this month. See previous news sections for details of this. -------------------------------------- One of Paul's writing students, Graham Godfrey, was chosen by Chesterfield College's New Study Guide for a student profile last month - click here. Graham, who has been coming to the classes for a year, has had work published by the Daily Mail since joining up and is about to embark on his first novel. He has also completed an Open College Network qualification - like many other students from Paul's classes who were all celebrating their Level 1-2 passes in June. -------------------------------------- And Chesterfield College held their annual Arts Festival in June where students' work went on display in the college itself. Featured in the line-up were fashion parades, video screenings and Performing Arts shows. -------------------------------------- Paul will be at the BFS Awards Showcase on Saturday 9th July at the Devereux pub in London after being recommended for two awards again this year (see last month's news). Pictures from this and the long-awaited photos from John B. Ford's wedding will be appearing on the site next month. -------------------------------------- Finally Paul is very proud to announce that he became a Godfather in June to Amelia Sarah, the daughter of his oldest friend James and wife Julia. The Christening was a happy event and Paul reports that Amelia never cried once! If only the same could be said for anyone unfortunate enough to hear Paul's Marlon Brando impersonation. More news next month. -------------------------------------- June Extra Announcing a brand new Special Publication: the 2006 British Fantasy Society Horror Calendar. This is a project Paul has been working on for several months with his co-editor Marie O'Regan, a follow-up to last year's very successful Fantasy Calendar. This time around the authors featured are Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Muriel Gray, Stephen Gallagher, Graham Masterton, Christopher Fowler, Ramsey Campbell, Kelley Armstrong, Stephen Laws, Simon Clark, Poppy Z. Brite and John Connolly. The stunning cover artwork is by Lord of the Rings, Constantine and Sin City artist Paul Campion - who has also contributed one of the internal pieces of art. The other artists represent the cream of the genre: James Ryman, Mike Bohatch, Lew Lehrman, Michael Ian Bateson, David Anthony Magitis, Ian Simmons, Russell Dickerson, Lara Bandilla, Bob Covington, Lizzy Shumate and Michelle Blessemaille. Demand for this collector's item is likely to be extremely high, but you can pre-order it now from the BFS Cyberstore here and it will be launched at FantasyCon 2005 in September -------------------------------------- June 2005 The major news item of this month is that bestselling author Peter Straub will be appearing in volume three of the Terror Tales series edited by Paul and John B. Ford. Peter's books include Ghost Story, Mr X, Lost Boy, Lost Girl and of course The Talisman and Black House, which he wrote with none other than Stephen King. The anthology is due to feature several other big names, as well some of the best new talent in the genre, so keep checking back for details of that in the news section. -------------------------------------- Meanwhile news has just reached us that Terror Tales # 2 which was published last year, has been recommended for a British Fantasy Award, as has its publishers Rainfall Books. The anthology contained stories by the likes of Michael Marshall Smith, Stephen Gallagher, F. Paul Wilson & John B. Ford, Paul Finch, Gemma Files, Jeffrey Thomas, Lisa Negus, Marie O'Regan and Peggy J. Shumate. It also boasted a very special cover by Steve Lines depicting a very recognisable two-headed editor demon! -------------------------------------- Paul's story 'Guilty Pleasures' published in Double Dragon's Demonology book in 2004 has also been recommended for an award. To read the story in full click here. -------------------------------------- Paul has just learned that the League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss (below right) will feature in the Cinema Macabre book - see previous news sections for details - the signing sheets for which have just started to go out, with a launch scheduled for FantasyCon 2005. Paul is very excited about this as the dark comedy series is one of his favourites. For those who may not know (and if so, why not?) the League of Gentlemen are about to hit cinema screens this month with their very own version of the Apocalypse. For more information about this visit the website here -------------------------------------- Response to the Assembly of Rogues book and DVD (see last month's news section for info) has been incredible. The anthology and documentary have completely sold out. But if you want to see stills from the film, directed by Martin Roberts, a special section has been set up in the Film part of the site here. -------------------------------------- Guest Writer for this month is a former British Fantasy Award winner, Conrad Williams, author of Game and London Revenant. To read his story 'The Diminished' just click here. And Conrad is also set to appear in Terror Tales # 3. -------------------------------------- May 2005 Above is the new stunning cover artwork for the German translation of Touching the Flame done by artist David Anthony Magitis. David has also painted illustrations based on the stories in the book, like the ones below. You can view them all in a special part of the 'Illustrations' section of the site here. The book is due to be published by Eloy Edictions who have some major titles lined up, by bestselling Australian author Steve Gerlach (read Paul's interview with Steve here) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellboy author Christopher Golden to name but two. -------------------------------------- Guest Writer for this month is the acclaimed author Michael Marshall Smith with the superb 'More Bitter Than Death'. Michael's books include Spares, More Tomorrow and Other Stories, plus his 'Straw Men' thrillers penned under the name Michael Marshall. You might have noticed adverts for the latest of these, The Lonely Dead, playing during the trailers for Ring 2. The next in the series is due out in hardback this June and is called Blood of Angels (below). -------------------------------------- You can find pictures from Paul and John B. Ford's recent return to the haunted Rowter Rocks, this time in the daylight hours, by clicking here. -------------------------------------- Paul's story 'Homeland' has just been published in the trade paperback anthology which accompanies the DVD of Assembly of Rogues, the horror documentary directed by Martin Roberts. He features alongside some of the best horror writers working today, including Ramsey Campbell, John B. Ford, Mark Morris, Graham Joyce, Peter Crowther, Mark Chadbourn, Simon Clark, Tim Lebbon, James Newman, Derek M. Fox and Mark Valentine. The cover artwork is by Des Knight. You can read an extract of 'Homeland' here and pictures from the documentary will be appearing in the film section soon. -------------------------------------- Best Man Paul reports that the wedding of John B. Ford and Lynne Long was a wonderful event enjoyed by all. Here are a few pictures of the celebration. There will be more to follow shortly and there are some courtesy of Sue Phillips here ) Pictures © Paul Kane & Helen Hopley 2005 And you can catch up with what happened on the Stag do holiday to Dracula country by clicking here. See you next month. -------------------------------------- April 2005 Last month Night of the Triffids and Dalek Factor author Simon Clark visited Paul's writing class at Holymoorside to give a talk to the students. The bestselling author's 'Write for Life' strategy was outlined and he chatted with students about his many and varied experiences as a writer. A thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all and the event was well publicised. For more information visit the Chesterfield College website by clicking here Simon's latest book is In this Skin in hardback from Robert Hale and Paperback from Leisure in the States... -------------------------------------- And Paul is delighted to welcome bestselling Chasm and Somewhere South of Midnight author Stephen Laws to the site this month as Guest Writer with his story 'The Penitent'. Click here to go straight to it. Stephen is also kindly providing a brand new story for the forthcoming Terror Tales # 3 to be co-edited by Paul. -------------------------------------- As promised the second part of Paul's Muriel Gray interview from 2004's FantasyCon is now online. To access it just click here. There's also the opportunity to listen to an audio recording of the whole thing at the end. -------------------------------------- You can book your place for 2005's FantasyCon right now by visiting this special part of the British Fantasy Society's homepage. Places are filling up as usual so you might want to head on over there soon. Details can be found by clicking here -------------------------------------- Paul's collection FunnyBones has just gone on sale at Project Pulp here as well as the other outlets already mentioned (see previous news sections for details). There should also be some signing sessions in bookshops soon so keep checking the site for future dates and times. -------------------------------------- Next month you can find out what these three reprobates were doing on the coast and what the 'Beast of Kane' really is. Plus photos from that other Royal Wedding: John B. Ford and Lynne Long's. -------------------------------------- March 2005 The main news this month is that Paul's second collection, Touching the Flame (published in 2002) is to be translated into German by the same publishing company handling the zombie anthology he is co-editing: Eloy Edictions. The collection garnered great reviews and some of the stories in it are being developed as other projects - including the Graphic Novel of 'The Torturer'. More news on this exciting project as and when. -------------------------------------- For his birthday, Paul was taken ghost hunting in Derbyshire again by his good friend John B. Ford. The pair got up to no good at the Druid Inn and on the Rowter Rocks - a very famous haunted location. No ghosts were spotted this time, but there were plenty of spirits involved. -------------------------------------- March is also the month John is getting married to his partner Lynne Long - and the couple had a mini-celebration (coupled with the launch of a new charity book, Dog Tales edited by Sue Phillips) in the Cittie of York on 19th February. In attendance were genre writers Mark Samuels, Marie O'Regan and Quentin Crisp, plus artist Des Knight. Paul wishes the happy couple well and is very much looking forward to the stag do! -------------------------------------- To mark the completion of his Cinema Macabre essay Paul also went on a pilgrimage to find the house in Dollis Hill, London, where the original Hellraiser was filmed. The film book, featuring essays by some of the most well known writers, artists, editors and film personalities in the horror world, will be out later this year (see previous news sections for details). -------------------------------------- You can now read the first part of Paul's interview with Muriel Gray in the Interviews Section. This is a transcript of the live interview he conducted with Muriel on stage at 2004's FantasyCon. To access it just click here. -------------------------------------- Speaking of interviews, you can also read a brand new one with Paul at the 'Carnival of Wicked Writers' website here. A downloadable pdf version of the magazine is available. With special thanks to Peggy and Brian. -------------------------------------- Paul is delighted to welcome Andrew Hook as Guest Writer for March with his story 'The Honey Ward'. To read this gem simply click here. That's all for this month - Have a Happy Easter. -------------------------------------- February 2005 Details of Paul's forthcoming novella release Signs of Life have gone up on the Crystal Serenades website recently. The stunning cover art is by Ian Simmons and it comes with an introduction from Bestselling author Stephen Oktober Gallagher (see previous news sections for more information). -------------------------------------- As reported in last month's news section, FunnyBones has now been reprinted by Creative Guy Publishing and is available from the publishers here, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Amazon in Canada, Barnes and Noble and all good bookshops. Go on, treat yourself. You know you want to. -------------------------------------- We're delighted to have award-winning horror and crime author Christopher Fowler as Guest Writer for February, with one of Paul's all-time favourite stories, 'Hated'. Just click here, then sit back and enjoy -------------------------------------- Christopher also recently had a story published on the BBC's 'Cult Presents: Sherlock Holmes' which really is worth checking out, called 'The Lady Downstairs'. There's also an audio option so you can listen to the tale being read by Hannah Gordon. Click here to check it out. As most people know, Paul loves the Holmes stories so can thoroughly recommend it. But he is at pains to point out that there's absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to the Master Detective and his very own Dalton Quayle. Well, just a bit, maybe. -------------------------------------- The interview Paul conducted live on stage with Muriel Gray at last year's FantasyCon is set to appear on Shadow Writer in the near future. Keep checking the site as you definitely won't want to miss this entertaining discussion. -------------------------------------- Finally, though he's trying to keep it quiet (as if) February is Paul's birthday month. When asked his age he declined to comment, unless middle finger gestures count. But we reckon it's somewhere in the region of a few centuries. So, still in his prime. But we're sure that you'll all join us in wishing him Many Happy Returns. See you in March. -------------------------------------- January 2005 Happy New Year! The first piece of news for 2005 is that Paul's FunnyBones anthology is about to be re-issued by Creative Guy Publishing. It has a new cover design and should be available to buy through places like Amazon and Barnes and Noble within the next month. The collection gained great reviews and was even recommended for a British Fantasy Award last year. -------------------------------------- For pictures from the BFS Open Night and TTA Gathering held on 3rd & 4th December click here. Paul reports that both were enjoyable do's and he had a great time at each of them, and far too good a time with Peter Jackson's Award by the looks of things. -------------------------------------- This month's Guest Writer is veteran Tony Richards with his tale 'The Brother'. Click here to read it now. -------------------------------------- You can also read Paul's Interview with Tony conducted in 2004 by clicking here -------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- Current news can be viewed here 2022 news can be viewed here 2021 news can be viewed here 2020 news can be viewed here 2019 news can be viewed here 2018 news can be viewed here 2017 news can be viewed here 2016 news can be viewed here 2015 news can be viewed here 2014 news can be viewed here 2013 news can be viewed here 2012 news can be viewed here 2011 news can be viewed here 2010 news can be viewed here 2009 news can be viewed here 2008 news can be viewed here 2007 news can be viewed here 2006 news can be viewed here 2004 news can be viewed here 2003 news can be viewed here

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