Witch Hunter Chronicles

Sometimes the internet brings you wonderful gifts, and you wonder what you ever did without it. Today I randomly stumbled across an absolutely brilliant audio drama series called The Witch Hunter Chronicles.

I've listened to the first episode, and was floored by how professional and enthralling it is! It starts with a man greeting death, and telling him of his story from when he was a witch hunter. I can't wait to sit down with a cuppa and listen to the other episodes, and if any of the rest of you would care to join me, you'll find them at http://whchronicles.wordpress.com/

Chronicles of the Dead - News in YA & Kids' Horror

News from the world of YA and kids' horror in the week ending 27/5/11:

• BIG news first up - The Leeds Book Awards were announced on Wednesday, and horror authors took out not one, but two of the categories! Jon Mayhew won the 9-11 category with his chilling Gothic tale Mortlock, and David Gatward's The Dead took home first prize in the 11-14 category. Other brilliant horror authors were among the nominees, including Chris Priestley, Andrew Newbound and William Hussey. Congrats to all winners and nominees! What a fantastic result for horror, or in David Gatward's words: 'The best thing about that award is that Horror got a bit of a nod. It deserves more. Much more.' Couldn't agree more. But the results are unsurprising when you take into account that the readers decided who won - more readers' choice awards, I say!
• And now we move on from the super exciting news... to the super exciting news. Barry Hutchison, author of the Invisible Fiends series, has come up with a ghoulishly good idea. He's running a kind of zombie apocalypse serial on a website he's created - check it out at www.myzombiediary.com and there's even a special guest appearance from yours truly!
• Some other thrilling award news: Tommy Donbavand's book The Uniform has won the Hackney Short Novel Award for 2011. Congratulations Tommy, what a fantastic win!
• Sticking with Tommy Donbavand, the Scream Street author has posted a new podcast on a week in the life of a children's author. Private planes? Throngs of screaming fans? Penthouse apartments? Find out here! Tommy has also posted the second part to his series on How To Promote Yourself Online. As a newbie author who has no idea what I'm doing yet, I can honestly say I'm finding these absolutely invaluable!
• Justin Somper, author of the Vampirates series is going on a pretty extensive blog tour to celebrate the release of the last book in the series: Immortal War. Check out the full list of blogs and dates on his website at www.vampirates.co.uk (via www.wondrousreads.com)

Chronicles of the Dead - News in YA & Kids' Horror

News from the world of horror ending 20/5/2011.

• Tommy Donbavand and Barry Hutchison have released a new podcast on their Wordies website, in which they discuss hilarious tales of school visits, censorship, and cup-snatching teachers.
• Darren Shan's Birth of a Killer and Charlie Higson's The Dead are a couple of the excellent titles nominated for the 2011 Independent Booksellers' Week Awards. Check out the full list here! (Via Darren Shan's website.)
• Check out the various foreign editions of Chris Priestley's books, such as Spok-historier! 
• There's also a brilliant interview with Chris on the Absolute Vanilla blog.
• Release of a picture book that's sure to be a classic - That's Not Your Mommy Anymore: A Zombie Tale via Barry Hutchison's site. 
• Alexander Gordon Smith has moved - well, his blog, anyway. Head on over to his brand new website to resubscribe.
• ...and while you're over at Gordon's new website, check out the very exciting press release about his new book, The Fury. A zombie book without zombies? Can't wait to read it!
• Quote of the Week: "Saw some lamb in the shop...50% off... sheep at half the price..." - Jon Mayhew via Facebook.

I'm Not Dead (Just Undead)

So, I probably should have posted this at the start of the month, but I've been so busy that I'm only just getting around to it now.

I haven't been posting any reviews or much of anything lately, and for that I apologise. I'm not dead, just insanely busy, for exciting reasons:

1. I am currently doing the novel-in-a-month thing on my HORROR WESTERN. So far I'm 45 000 words in and I'm aiming for 60 000. Most of that has come from three 10 000 word days which is utterly achievable for anyone and I highly recommend it for the sense of achievements (and bragging rights). Not all of the 10 000 words will be fantastic, but you're sure to find some gems in there.
2. Secondly, I am entering preparation mode for the publication of MY FIRST BOOKS in June! Here's what you should know: the series is called Star League, they're junior fiction about an action movie star, a werewolf, a zombie, a ninja, a robot and an animancer, and lastly, you should buy them. Preparation involves things I am wildly unequipped to handle, such as making an author website, but thanks to genius posts like this from Tommy Donbavand, I may get there eventually.
3. I'm also getting used to my new position at my job where I run the kids e-newsletter and paper newsletter, and also blog about things that never were and interview celebrity horror writers.
4. Lastly, I'm also on the board of directors (ooh, sounds fancy, don't it?) for a YA Literature Festival later on this year called A Thousand Words Festival where I do things like offer useless suggestions, marvel at the Festival Director's superhuman ability to do everything, and occasionally blog. Very occasionally.

And that's a snapshot of what I spend most of my days doing. I'm really missing updating this blog more regularly, and hope to get back into it shortly. But what's really killing me is having to read SERIOUS BOOKS about SERIOUS ISSUES for work. Give me exploding buckets of blood any day!

Podcast from Tommy Donbavand and Barry Hutchison

Lock the doors and draw the curtains, because two of the masters of young horror have released their latest podcast. Tune in to hear Tommy Donbavand (Scream Street) and Barry Hutchison (Invisible Fiends) discuss such wide-ranging topics as author events, inspiration for ideas, and missing toilet seats. I even get a mention, which puts me that step closer to being famous.

Check it out at http://www.wordies.co.uk/2011/05/18/wordies-episode-4/

Chronicles of the Dead - News in YA & Kids' Horror

News from the week ending 13/5/2011:

• Steve Feasey has been busy touring blogs to coincide with the release of Changeling: Zombie Dawn. Check him out at Empire of Books, Wondrous Reads, Mr Ripley’s Enchanted Books, My Favourite Books, and Book Zone (For Boys) on Monday. 
• And in more Steve Feasey-related news, check out a sneak preview of the new US cover for Wereling: Blood Wolf.
• Tommy Donbavand has written a fantastic article on the ins and outs of promoting your books online. 
• Ali Sparkes talks about her writing procedure over at Trapped By Monsters and answers that eternal question: to plot, or not to plot? 

Chronicles of the Dead - News in YA & Kids' Horror

Chronicles of the Dead will be a new weekly (or perhaps twice-weekly) posting of snippets of news from around the YA Horror Blogosphere looking back over the past week. This first Chronicle will be posted on a Sunday, but after this week they should take place every Friday.

• Barry Hutchison has written a guest blog post for the Edinburgh International Book Festival, talking about the festival's Elsewhere project and his spooky story TheUnclaimed Girl. (Via http://www.barryhutchison.com/2011/05/guest-blog-post-for-edinburgh-book-festival)
• Barry's been a busy boy, because he's also been posting over at Trapped by Monsters. Check out the terribly exciting news on his upcoming 13th Horseman series.
• Arthur Slade has been experimenting with  his e-book sales, and the results are quite interesting.  
• Carrie Ryan has time to give a few book recommendations, even though she's on tour.  
• David Gatward's The Damned gets a 5 Star Review in Frightfest. You can also download a PDF of the mag here.  
• It's InternationalZombie Awareness Month at Dymocks Southland! Get along for signings from horror authors, giveaways and a zombie shuffle! 
• The sale of The (Many and Varied) Deaths of Jeb Marney by Jon Mayhew has been announced, and it sounds fantastic! 
• The supremely cool Billi SanGreal from Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss has made the Kirkus Review's list of 'Tough Teen Heroines ofScience Fiction and Fantasy'. (Via http://sarwatchadda.blogspot.com/2011/05/she-came-she-saw-she-kicked-ass.html) 
• Zombie Dawn, the final book in Steve Feasey's Changeling series was released on Friday. What's Steve up to next? 
• The new cover of Chris Wooding's Braided Path has a sinister-looking fellow sporting a rather nice hoodie.

Anything else exciting catch your eye? Got some YA & Kids' Horror-related news you're bursting to share? Post it in the comments below and I'll add it to the list!

May Horror New Releases

These are the horror new releases in Australia for the month of May. Not a huge range of younger stuff this month, but some dynamite titles for YA.
What I'm Excited About: I can't wait to read Robin Hood vs. the Undead Plague (I'm a sucker for a good crossover), and it's good to see a resurgence of Choose Your Own Adventure books with the iHorror titles. I'm also excited about Devil's Triangle, because I'm obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle, and I'm halfway through Ministry of Pandemonium which so far is excellent - review to follow!


Junior & Middle Fiction

iHorror: Vampire Hunter, Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore (Hachette).
iHorror: Zombie Hunter, Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore (Hachette).
Tremors: Deadly Dodgem, Anthony Masters (Hachette).
Tremors: Spectre in School Lane, Tessa Potter (Hachette).
Raven Mysteries 5: Magic and Mayhem, Marcus Sedgewick (Hachette).

Young Adult

Hex Hall 2: Raising Demons, Rachel Hawkins (Simon & Schuster).

Devil's Triangle, Mark Robson (Simon & Schuster).

Fear Street 5: The Boy Who Ate Fear Street, R.L. Stine (Simon & Schuster).

Vampire's Promise, Caroline B. Cooney (Scholastic).

Ministry of Pandemonium, Chris Westwood (Walker).

Screaming Season, Nancy Holder (Penguin).

Robin Hood vs. the Plague Undead, James Black (Hachette).

Raptor, Paul Zindel (Hachette).

Vampyr Legion, Alan Gibbons (Hachette).

Warriors of the Raven, Alan Gibbons (Hachette).

Lunatic's Curse, F.E. Higgins (Macmillan).

Graphic Novels
Mysteries of Harris Burdick, Chris Van Allsburg (Random).
Salem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers, John Harris Dunning and Nikhil Singh (Walker).

As usual, let me know if I've left anything out that you think should be in the list. But remember, these are Australian release dates only.