Ancient Wonders reviewed

Pop over to the Ginger Nuts of Horror website and read a rather splendid review of The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber. Jim McLeod says:

"The Alchemy Book of Ancient Wonders, is one of those anthologies that really does live up to the title. This is fourteen stories of pure magic, that will whisk to lands full myth, magic, and adventure."

Q&A: Pauline E Dungate

PAULINE DUNGATE answers the questions this time around about her story in The Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders:

Tell us a little about yourself, and what you like to write?

I spent all of my working life as a teacher but ended up as the resident teacher at Birmingham Nature Centre with a classroom full of exotic animals. I spend a lot of time reading, writing and reviewing when I am not in the garden. I take my camera on exotic holidays looking for wildlife. Last year it was Ecuador.

What inspired you to write “One Man's Folly”?

Every year there is a Middle Earth Weekend at Sarehole Mill in Hall Green, Birmingham. Because of the Tolkien connection, the local paper often runs articles about his influences around this time. On the photo of Perrot’s Tower, an octagonal building, I noticed that the corner stones of the topmost floor looked very different from the rest of the brick built building. That led to the question of what they were made of. What if it was a stone circle in the sky. The story grew from there.

If the TARDIS could drop you off to any one site in its heyday, where would you go?

It would probably have to be Hadrian’s Wall – either that or British Camp, the hill fort on the Malvern Hills.

What appeals to you most about ancient sites/landscapes?

The mystery. We know so little about them so there is much that can be imagined and no-one can tell us we are wrong.

What do you have coming out next?

I am working on a near future thriller set in Birmingham plus a number of stories. I write reviews and poetry as Pauline Morgan and there are plenty of my reviews around. The writers’ group I belong to has recently put out a pamphlet called Grapeshot which has three of my poems in it.

[Pauline E Dungate’s stories have appeared in anthologies such as Skin of the Soul, Narrow Houses, Swords Against the Millennium, Beneath the Ground, Merlin, Victorious Villains and Under the Rose. She has won prizes for poetry and has been a judge for the Arthur C Clarke Award. She reviews for SFCrowsnest and runs workshops covering all areas of creative writing. She lives in Birmingham with husband and fellow writer Chris Morgan.]

Photo (c) Peter Coleborn

Astrologica: the final line up

Editor Allen Ashley has now fixed the final line up for the forthcoming Alchemy Press anthology Astrologica: Stories of the Zodiac. Allen says: “That’s it! I have made my final three acceptances and the book is now full. The last trio to announce are ‘Broken Horn’ by Doug Blakeslee for Capricorn; ‘The Third Face of Virgo’ by Adam Craig for Virgo; and ‘Deep Draw’ by Neil Williamson for Aquarius.

Doug Blakeslee lives in Portland, Oregon. His interest in books started early thanks to his mom and hasn't stopped since. A heavy fan of SF and fantasy, it came as a pleasant surprise that his first sale was the suspense short story ‘Madame’ to the anthology Uncommon Assassins. He recently started a blog, The Simms Project, where he talks about writing and other related topics. He can be reached via the blog or Facebook.

Adam Craig lives in the hinterlands of Staffordshire. Although he’s been writing for an embarrassingly long period of time, on and off, Adam has never had any fiction published until this year. Adam says that he’s quite staggered to find one of his stories in such distinguished company.

Neil Williamson will be familiar to many in the BFS. His fiction has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including Allen Ashley's The Elastic Book Of Numbers. Neil's short story collection, The Ephemera, is still available from Infinity Plus Books, and his first novel, The Moon King, will be published in 2014. Neil is a veteran of the literary fight club known as the Glasgow Science Fiction Writers Circle. For more information visit his website."

So, without further ado, here is the full running order for Astrologica: 

• Aries – Aspects of Aries by David Turnbull
• Taurus – The White Bull Ranch by Christine Morgan
• Gemini – The Sun and the Moon by Bob Lock
• Gemini – Star-crossed by Stuart Young
• Cancer – Ragged Claws by Joel Lane
• Leo – The Yellow Fruit by Ralph Robert Moore
• Virgo – The Third Face of Virgo by Adam Craig
• Libra – The Order of the Scales by Storm Constantine
• Scorpio – Cookie by Jet McDonald
• Capricorn – Broken Horn by Doug Blakeslee
• Sagittarius – Dark Matters by Megan Kerr
• Aquarius – Deep Draw by Neil Williamson
• Pisces – The Prize by David McGroarty
• Pisces – The Fishman by Mark David Campbell

Sex, Lies... reviewed

Sex Lies and Family Ties by Sarah J Graham has received a four-star review on Goodreads. The reviewer, Jan Ruth, says: "the author handles all of these issues with sensitivity and great insight ... well written and full of poignancy."

Available in print and ebook formats from Amazon and other online dealers.

Urban Mythic

Here is the provisional cover design for The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber. The fabulous artwork is by Ben Baldwin.

Astrologica update

Update from editor Allen Ashley: “I am delighted to announce that three more Zodiac signs are sewn up for Astrologica: Stories of the Zodiac. I have accepted the following:

“Aspects of Aries” by David Turnbull (Aries)

“Star-crossed” by Stuart Young (Gemini)

“The Sun and the Moon” by Bob Lock (Gemini)

“The Prize” by David McGroarty (Pisces)

“The Fishman” by Mark David Campbell (Pisces)

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that I have taken two for Gemini (naturally!) and also two for Pisces, which will deliver a big, fishy finish to the anthology. You might also have spotted that it seems to be a good time to be called ‘David’!

David Turnbull was born in Edinburgh and now lives and works in London. He has been widely published in numerous magazines and anthologies, both in print and online. His first novel, a children’s fantasy adventure entitled The Tale of Euan Redcap, was released in 2012 by Pixiefoot Press, an imprint of Essex based Wyvern Publications.

Stuart Young is the author of “Spare Parts”, “Shards of Dreams” and was the BFS award winner in 2006 for his novella The Mask behind The Face. He also featured in Allen Ashley’s anthology Catastrophia (PS Publishing, 2010).

Bob Lock was born on the Gower Peninsular, Wales. He has published horror, fantasy and science fiction tales and articles in a number of publications including SF Crowsnest, Samsdot Publishing, SFF World and SciFi UK Review. He also has a number of novels published in print and ebook format: Flames of Herakleitos, The Empathy Effect, They Feed on Flesh, to name just a few.

David McGroarty was born in Glasgow. His fiction features in the anthology Rustblind and Silverbright from Eibonvale Press (due July 2013); and he has been shortlisted for the James White Award. He lives in London with his partner and their two sons.

Mark David Campbell was born in Canada but now lives mostly in Italy. He is a writer, painter and teacher.

In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair

Now out from The Alchemy Press

In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair

By Cate Gardner

When the mirror released Kathleen into the unknown, for the briefest of moments she giggled and realised that she’d never laughed before. She had been a blank canvas, sitting and waiting in a room and occasionally bouncing from wall to wall desperate for freedom - and now she was out. White walls no longer surrounded her. In this new place, a thousand mirrors spun reflecting worlds.

The first in The Alchemy Novella Series

Available in Kindle format via Amazon. Only £1.35

For the ePub version contact The Alchemy Press

alchemypress [at] gmail.com

Astrologica update

Allen Ashley, editor of our forthcoming anthology Astrologica: Stories of the Zodiac, reports:

“I can now confirm more acceptances for the anthology:

‘The Order of the Scales’ by Storm Constantine for the star sign of Libra

‘The White Bull Ranch’ by Christine Morgan for the star sign Taurus

‘Cookie’ by Jet McDonald for the star sign Scorpio

‘Ragged Claws’ by Joel Lane for the star sign Cancer

A note on the authors:

Storm Constantine is a well-known and well-respected figure on the SF/ fantasy scene. She has written more than 20 novels plus several non-fiction books. She is best known for her successful Wraeththu series. In 2003 she launched Immanion Press.

Christine Morgan works the overnight shift in a psychiatric facility and divides her writing time among many genres. A cat-lady in training, her interests include history, mythology, superheroes, crafts, and cheesy disaster movies.

Jet McDonald is a writer, musician and storyteller with big hair. His first novel ‘Automatic Safe Dog’ was published by Eibonvale Press. He likes stories about things on wheels.

Joel Lane lives in Birmingham, England. His publications in the weird fiction genre include four short story collections, The Earth Wire, The Lost District, The Terrible Changes and Where Furnaces Burn – the latter a book of supernatural crime stories set in the West Midlands – as well as a novella, ‘The Witnesses Are Gone’.

I am also very close to selecting the stories to represent the star signs Aries and Gemini. I’m really excited about how the book is taking shape. If you’ve submitted a story and haven’t heard from me, please stay patient as I am getting in touch with everybody systematically. Often with good news!”

New novella due soon

"In the Broken Birdcage of Kathleen Fair" is the quirky story of a young woman imprison in a cage, who manages to escape ... but does she end up in a worse place?

The novella will be released in a week or two as an eBook, initially for the Kindle.

Astrologica update

Update from Allen Ashley, editor of our forthcoming anthology Astrologica: Stories of the Zodiac –

“Two down, ten to go! I'm pleased to report that I have made my second formal acceptance for the anthology. The story is ‘Dark Matters’ by Megan Kerr and is for Sagittarius. Megan will be familiar to you as the winner of last year’s BFS Short Story Competition and is currently working on ‘The Artist and the Mathematician’, a literary slipstream novel for which she has received a Society of Authors Grant. This is a brilliant, bravura story and I'm really glad to have Megan on board. I will be announcing further acceptances very soon.”