You Must Have Choices

Choices being a brand new anthology from Pendragon Press, available in December, but ready to pre-order now. Look at how pretty it is...

Here are some reasons to get excited by it.

It contains six novelettes, by some very fine writers both established and up and coming. Stephen Volk, best know for his television work such as Ghostwatch and Afterlife? Check. Eric Brown, sci-fi novelist and short story writer filling shelves at your local bookstore? Check. Gary Fry and Andrew Humphrey, whose short fiction and collections are rapidly making them must-have authors? Check. Paul Finch, already one of the strongest new horror voices in the UK? Check. Erm... me? Check. Novelettes are, by the way, a perfect medium for good horror. Longer than a short story, there's time for the atmosphere and characters to be built up fully, without the tale being dragged out to a novel length. Trust me, they're brilliant.

It's produced by Pendragon Press, one of the UK's finest independent presses, and publisher of one of my favourite new novels from last year, Mark West's In The Rain With The Dead.

Christopher C Teague's last anthology, Tourniquet Heart, was critically acclaimed across the board, and there is every suggestion that this will be too.

It's available in December, priced £7.99.

If you pre-order it today in the UK, you pay £7, and your copy will be part of an initial numbered run, signed by each of the writers. Pre-ordering is a very good thing indeed, and you'll get the book sent straight to your door while it is still slightly steaming from the press. I can't encourage you enough to put your money down in advance - it's a tremendous boost for a small publisher, and really can help good books do well. What's more, if you're in America, pre-ordering at Shocklines online bookstore ($16) not only saves you international shipping prices, but also means that your card won't be charged until the book physically ships to you.

My contribution, the novelette Radio Trauma, is adapted from my stage play of the same name (it originally toured Scotland in 2002 as the third act of my anthology show Black Hearts), and the result has worked out rather well, if I do say so. When you buy the book, you'll meet John Brosnan, a jaded late night talk show host, and listen as he takes a caller who just won't take no for an answer...

Go on, pre-order it today (UK or US). Support my writing without breaking the bank, and be rewarded with some subtle, satisfying horror stories that will linger with you for days.

Get to it.