The Only Woman Aboard – New Publication

Cover Image of a Zeppelin and Lady Grace Drummond-Hay
The Only Woman Aboard – Written by Selina Lock, Artwork by David O’Connell & Designed by Jay Eales

The Only Woman Aboard is a new Biographical Booklet.

A twenty eight page full colour booklet/zine including:

  • Fourteen Page Biographical Essay – Lady Grace Drummond Hay: Lovestruck Glamourous Young Thing or Ambitious Feminist Journalist?
  • Nine Page Comic Strip – Lady of the Skies

Available to purchase in the UK via Etsy.

Panel from Lady of the Skies
Lady Drummond-Hay aboard the Graf Zeppelin.
Attribution Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-08192 CC-BY-SA 3.0

Events: Nottingham Does Comics & ArtBeat

Jay & I will be guests at Nottingham Does Comics on the 13th June.

Weird Worlds and How We Build Them @ ArtBeat 2017

The Speculators (the writing group we are in) will be running this event for the Clarendon Park ArtBeat Festival on Friday 23rd June at 6.30pm.

Friends Meeting House (Small Meeting Room), 16 Queens Rd, Leicester.

How do you create a fictional world? A discussion about world building within SF&F and related genres.

 Event Link

The Fiction Frontier – Starting to Write Science Fiction

22 October at 14:30–15:30

Leicester Central Library, Bishop Street, Leicester LE1 6AA

A panel discussion with Jay Eales, Selina Lock and James Worrad from The Speculators., a Leicester writing group. We will cover writing fan fiction, short stories, novels, comics & short films.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL – call the library on 0116 2995401
For more information on StarBase and the Sci-Fi festival, go towww.starbaseleicester.co.uk
For more information on The Speculators, go to https://leicesterspeculators.wordpress.com/

Facebook event:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1660774447568336/

Did Iris forget her biscuit & end up in the kitchen sink?

Jay has been busy writing short stories and has several being published in new anthologies:

The Perennial Miss Wildthyme

perennial_irisDeath of the Author, by Jay Eales

Right vs Left vs Wrong, by Paul Vayro

Wildthyme and The Wolf, by Graham Tedesco-Blair

Dolores Smith and the Birthday Bear, by Kara Dennison

The Girl Who Went Up In Smoke, by Greg Maughan

Onesies, by Steve Palace

The Opera of Samhain, by Donald McCarthy

A Grove Invisible, by Juliet Kemp

Michael Drake, by Dale Smith

The Midnight Empire, by Julio Angel Ortiz

Doppler Shift, by Ian Potter

Closure, by Paul Castle

Cover Artist: Paul Hanley

Available to pre-order from Obverse Books.

You Left Your Biscuit Behind

biscuits

Photo courtesy of ‘Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums’

Elf Prefix by Graham Wynd

Between Love and Hat by Jay Eales

Black Glass by James Bennett

No Mercy by Kate Hollamby

That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles by Penny Jones

Feeding the Fish by Carol Borden

Mermaids in Cape Town by Mame Diene

Patron by E.J. Davies

The Price of a Biscuit by Kate Coe

The Princess, The Pekingese and the Ivory Box by R.A. Kennedy

Cover art will be by Michaela Margett

Available in 2016 from Fox Spirit Books.

Kitchen Sink Gothic

kitchensinkgothicDaddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon

1964 by Franklin Marsh

Derek Edge and the Sunspots by Andrew Darlington

Black Sheep by Gary Fry

Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones

Waiting by Kate Farrell

Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black

The Mutant’s Cry by David A. Sutton

The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne

Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch

Late Shift by Adrian Cole

The Great Estate by Shaun Avery

Nine Tenths by Jay Eales

Envelopes by Craig Herbertson

Tunnel Vision by Tim Major

Life is Prescious by M. J. Wesolowski

Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull

Cover Artwork by Joe Young

Out now! Available through Amazon.

 

Here, there and everywhere in May

May turned into a very busy month for us with lots of events with some kind of creative connection…

First off was a visit to The Lakes with friends from The Speculators writing group. No writing was done, but we did lots of sight-seeing of writing-related places.

Writers in the rain!

Writers in the rain – at Wordsworth’s favourite writing spot.

Applied Comics Network Event - information, educational & factual comics.

Applied Comics Network Event – information, educational & factual comics.

Next up was a trip down to London for the inaugural Applied Comics Network Event, which I had been invited to speak at about the sessions I do at work about using comics to communicate research. I’ve blogged this in detail over on my work blog.

We both did readings at the latest Fox Bites event, which is a Leicester event for writers to read 5 minutes extracts of their work in a relaxed atmosphere in a local cafe. Organised by the lovely Adele (aka Aunty Fox) of Fox Spirit Books.

Jay entertains the audience with a sci-fi tale.

Jay entertains the audience with a sci-fi tale.

Jay read his short story Spare Change, which originally appeared in Murky Depths. While I read Once in a Blue Moon, a piece of flash fiction I wrote for the event.

The others writers who read were:

  • Daniel Ribot (author of Vampsov 1938) read his short story A Gentleman’s Agreement.
  • Marianne Whiting read an extract from her Viking novel Sheildmaiden.
  • Carol Leeming read an extract from her choreopoem – The Loneliness of the the Long Distance Diva.
  • Selina talks ancient hearts.

    Selina talks ancient hearts.

    Mayapee Chowdhury read a short story from her collection Embarrassing Siblings, Playground Taunts and other Growing Pains.

  • Leah ‘Ileandra’ Osbourne read an extract from one of her novels.

I went on a rather different creative jaunt during for the second Bank Holiday weekend, as I went on a sewing retreat. It was good fun and I learnt lots of new crafting techniques…

#sewingretreat winding up. Had a great time & learnt lots :-)

Fruits of my sewing labours.

May is being rounded-off with Jay busy working on a short story and a Speculators critiquing session this weekend.

Oh, and April brought the news that To End All Wars has been nominated for TWO Eisner Awards! Very exciting to have written for an Eisner nominated book!

Pimping our prose stories

I was rather busy in 2014 promoting ‘To End All Wars‘, so I forgot to give our prose stories the shameless self-promotion they deserve…

My most recent short story appeared in ‘Iris Wildthyme of Mars

Iris Wildthyme of MarsThe Red Planet.

Everyone agrees about the colour, at least. The rest is up for grabs.

Is Mars a dead and sterile desert, or teeming with life?

Are Martians red, green or blue? Nubile and lithe, or monstrously tentacular?

These Marses are of course incompatible, contradictory, and in many cases quite impossible. And Iris Wildthyme has visited them all.

My story Death on the Euphrates sees Iris and her companion Panda splashing down into a canal of Mars and becoming embroiled in several mysteries.

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3

While Jay wrote The Revenant for The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3.

Twelve stories of supermen, cops, Mysterymen, samurai and private eyes from the likes of Kim Newman, Rod Rees, Tony Richards and more … thrilling tales of pure Pulp Adventure.

 

Jay’s previous prose publications:

Burning With Optimism's FlamesMightier than the Sword, Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts, Obverse Books, 2011

Imaginary Kingdom, Alt-Zombie, Hersham Horror, 2012

Nine TenthsTerror Scribes, Doghorn Publishing, 2012

Faction Paradox: Burning With Optimism’s Flames, Editor, Obverse Books, August 2012

The Five Faces of FearBorn Among Briars, More Tales of the City, Obverse Books, 2013

The Five Faces of Fear (The Periodic Adventures of Señor 105 #8), Manleigh Books, November 2013

Zeitgeist, Terror Tales Volume 2, #1, Rainfall Books, June 2014

Selina’s previous prose publications:

Green Eyed and GrimThe Periodic Adventure of Seňor 105: Green Eyed and Grim (Novella), Manleigh Books (2013)

The Great and PowerfulThe Alchemy Press Book of Ancient Wonders, Alchemy Press (2012)

Light Fingers, Terror Scribes, Doghorn Publishing (2012)

Ancient Wonders 002Lone and Level Sands, Alt-Zombie, Hersham Horror (2012)

Naughty or Nice?

Naughty or Nice?

by Jay Eales

“You remember the rules, right?”

“Jawohl, mein Kapitan.” Carol gave a Hitler salute, with a mocking grin.

Rather than the desired effect of lightening the mood, Kristian’s expression grew grave.

“Indulge me.” He looked at Carol seriously, as though he was about to tell her the cat had been run over. Carol sighed, and played the game, rattling through the rules by rote, just as Kristian had relayed them to her: “No smoking. No drinking. No swearing. I thought this was supposed to be fun?”

“It better be. It cost me a packet to ship that crate all the way from Lapland.”

“I’d have been happy with a week at Centerparcs.”

“I can take you to Centerparcs any time of year! Where’s your Christmas spirit?”

“Under lock and key in the drinks cabinet until after Twelfth Night, apparently…”

“If you think my dad will stop smoking those evil Christmas Cuban cigars of his just because of some rules you’ve made up, you don’t know him as well as you should.”

“I didn’t make the rules. Rare Exports Incorporated do. I had to sign a contract before they’d even agree to let me buy one.”

“In… blood?”

“Might as well have been. I felt they’d charged me a pound of flesh. But, it’ll be worth it. This is gonna be the best Christmas ever, babes. Trust me. It’s all for you. Your dad will understand. Tell him we’re not smoking in the house any more, or something.”

“Careful, tiger! Isn’t lying on that list of rules somewhere too? Can I take a peek at this mysterious crate, at least?”

“Don’t be so impatient! Christmas Eve is just a few hours away. You’ll have to wait.” Kristian seemed to have cheered up a little at least. He’d regained some of his playfulness. It was a relief, as Carol thought he’d had it all knocked out of him with all the extra hours at work. A fat wallet was all well and good, but not if it meant losing the cheeky man-child she’d fallen for. Hadn’t she worked just as hard to keep up with the Joneses; live the dream; a top-flight career and a life?

“Can I at least have a teensy bottle of Grolsch tonight? It’s not Christmas yet. You haven’t even let me trim the tree. You and your family traditions. Look at the poor thing sitting there in the corner all naked and green. By the time you let me decorate it, the needles will have started to drop off. Come on, big boy! Just a beer and a bauble… I won’t tell.”

“You can’t.”

“But…”

“He’ll know.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Kristian!” Carol was growing just a little tired of her boyfriend’s inflexibility. What good was Christmas if you couldn’t let your hair down? Eat too much, drink too much and go a little wild. Let the credit card take the strain and repent at leisure when the New Year was safely begun. Kristian took a sharp intake of breath, “Careful… Do you want to be naughty or nice?”

“Oh, I like this game! Naughty, every time! It’s a fair cop, guv! Put the bracelets on. I can’t promise I’ll come quietly, though.” Carol pantomimed the universal invitation to put invisible handcuffs on her wrists, a prelude to a better end to the evening than its beginning, she hoped. Hope that was instantly dashed when she saw the horrified look on Kristian’s face.

“He’ll put you on his list.”

“He can check it as many times as he bloody well likes. The day I’ve had, I’m having a drink. Join me or don’t. And I’m opening the gingerbread packet. Don’t even try stopping me.”

Kristian knew he was on a hiding to nothing. When Carol set her mind to it like this, nothing short of coshing her over the head and dragging her from the house would change how this would turn out. He considered it.

The funny thing was, Carol did get her way and decorated the tree that night. Not in a modern style, though it could be described as ‘traditional’. When both sets of parents arrived for Christmas dinner, punctual as ever, Carol’s father stubbing out his filthy cheroot in the snow outside the house on the instructions of She Who Must Be Obeyed, they could see the tree glistening through the window first of all.

When they finally gained entry, it was the splintered crate they saw next, quite empty. Their calls to Carol and Kristian went unanswered. Confused that they might have missed a phone message cancelling dinner, they wandered about the house, finally arriving in the lounge to finally witness the tree in all its glory. Not a scrap of tinsel on the tree this year. Slippery red ropes strung about the tree, and those were definitely not baubles. Ho. Ho. Ho.

 

This story is a homage to the film Rare Exports & is not intended to infringe copyright.

LICAF Highlights

Last weekend we were at The Lakes International Comics Art Festival in Kendal.

Love the extra little touches at @comicartfest #licaf like these mirror stickers.

Our highlights were:

  • Staying with our friend Julie in her lovely cottage and seeing this view at breakfast:

The misty Lake District...

  • The Scott McCloud talk on Friday evening which was inspirational and entertaining.
  • Being on the ‘To End All Wars – Art of Editing” panel and taking part in the TEAW signing afterwards. Sorry I didn’t get to speak to some of other contributors properly! (Selina)

TEAW talk Lakes

Jonathan Clode, Stuart Richards, Selina Lock (I’m looking a tad serious there!) & John ‘Brick’ Stuart Clark at the TEAW – Art of Editing Panel. Photo courtesy of Alex Fitch

 

  • Catching up with lots of friends and helping out on the Borderline Press table.
  • Meeting with folks from Lancaster University who are doing a research project looking at comics as a means of research communication.
  • The Audrey Niffenegger talk – which started with the most surreal moment of the weekend – being introduced to Eddie Campbell & Audrey before the talk by Sarah McIntyre, so that Eddie could identify comic panels on my comic strip skirt!
  • Being interviewed by Alex Fitch for a forthcoming podcast on our involvement with Obverse Books – Jay editing and writing for their Faction Paradox line, me writing for Iris Wildthyme and us both writing for the Senor 105 pulp novella line.
  • Becky Cloonan talk.
  • Felt Mistress workshop (Selina) and making a felt creature (not quite finished yet):

Beardy felt creature which I made in @feltmistress workshop at #licaf Hope to finish making it later in the week.

  • Nick Abadzis & Rian Hughes talks (Jay).
  • Buying far too many comics and graphic novels….
  • Including new Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge in Meanwhile…
  • Just some of the swag…

LICAF swag 1

LICAF swag 2

LICAF swag 9

 

Upcoming events: The Lakes, Thought Bubble & Signing

Jay and I will be heading up to The Lakes International Comics Art Festival next weekend (Friday 17th – Sunday 19th Oct), with a boot full of Borderline Press books to drop off at the Comics Clocktower.

verityfair

Including the new Verity Fair collection by Terry Wiley, which we’re very excited to see as Verity first saw publication in the pages of The Girly Comic.

 To End All Wars

 On Sat 18th at 10.30am I’ll be appearing on the To End all Wars – The Art of Editing panel, as one of the ‘ brow-beaten’ contributors. This will be followed by a mass signing featuring the attending TEAW contributors. Come along and say Hi!

Also looking forward to attending lots of the other events at The Lakes.

We’ll be heading up to Thought Bubble in November.

Looking forward to seeing the glory of three halls of stalls and catching up with lots of friends.

Very excited to have been asked to do a local book signing for ‘To End All Wars’ at the University of Leicester bookshop on Tues Dec 2nd. More details when confirmed.

What we’re up to at FantasyCon

It’s only a few days to FantasyCon starts on Friday (and our holiday from the day jobs begin). Here’s the places you’ll be guaranteed to see us at FCon:

Friday 5th Sept

5.00pm – WORKSHOP: Writing for Comics
From idea to sale, what do you have to do? (limited to 20 attendees on sign-up sheet at Registration)
Selina Lock, Jay Eales

Saturday 6th Sept

2.00pm – The Alchemy Press Book Launch
Kneeling in the Silver Light anthology edited by Dean Drinkel
The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic 2 anthology edited by Jan Edwards & Jenny Barber
The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3 anthology edited by Mike Chinn
Nick Nightmare Investigates limited edition collection by Adrian Cole
Merry-Go-Round limited edition collection by Bryn Fortey

The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3Jay has a story in The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3 called The Revenant.

 Inspired by equal parts Lamont (The Shadow) Cranston and Jim (The Spectre) Corrigan, “When the city cries out for justice, the Revenant responds.”

7.00pm – Comics on the Small Screen
Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, the Flash, Daredevil, Peggy Carter – is TV the new cinema for superior superhero drama?
Maura McHugh (m), Selina Lock, Guy Adams, Mike Chinn, Den Patrick

We’re also looking forward to going to some of the other items on the schedule, catching up with friends and meeting new people. We’re always happy to chat, so grab us to say ‘Hi!’ if you’ll be there.