Something extra for the extra day...!

Hi Guys,

Well, with today being a 'bonus' day for 2012, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to offer a little bonus to our next few bookers for the Discover Festival.

So here's the deal - to the next FIVE people to book for the event, we'll also give you £10 of free tickets for the Discover raffle, where we'll be offering a host of fantastic prizes, plus an additional FREE book in your event goodie bag. It's a great way to make that little bit more of your weekend!

I don't expect this one to last long, so make sure you book now to get a little something extra for the extra day! You can check out all the latest information on Discover Festival at www.discoverfestival.co.uk, and all the information on how to book your place can be found at http://www.discoverfestival.co.uk/#/booking/4558412914

And of course, if you have any questions on the event, or this limited time offer, feel free to reach me at discoverevent@hotmail.co.uk!

Thanks a lot

Alex

New speakers confirmed - Anne Lyle and Amanda Rutter

Hi Guys,

Busy weeks ahead for sure with Discover Festival as the flyers hits the shelves and the schedule continues to take shape - we're almost there with our event line-up, and today I'm delighted to announce two new speakers for the weekend in the shape of ANNE LYLE and AMANDA RUTTER.

Anne Lyle was born in what was once the heart of Sherwood Forest, and has been fascinated by English history and folklore ever since. She now lives in Cambridge, an equally historic corner of the realm, where cattle still graze on the common land as they did in Marlowe's day. Despite these archaic leanings, however, she’s a thoroughly 21st century citizen: full-time web developer, part-time blogger and obsessive Twitterer.

Her debut fantasy novel The Alchemist of Souls, set in Elizabethan London, is out this spring from Angry Robot Books, with two sequels to follow. The Alchemist of Souls has already been getting great reviews, so Anne is a name you will certainly be hearing more from.

Amanda Rutter is editor at Strange Chemistry, Angry Robot's new young adult imprint, which will be launching its first titles in September 2012. With a host of exciting names already signed up to write for the imprint, Amanda will be bringing her expertise on the business of publishing in this fascinating area of fiction to audiences at the Discover Festival. Amanda has also edited for Morrigan Books, and spent many years running the very popular Floor to Ceiling Books blog.

Two more great names for the Discover Festival, and very excited to welcome both Anne and Amanda on board - for all the latest, and to book your tickets for the event, check out www.discoverfestival.co.uk

Latest author news...

Hi Guys,

I'm happy to announce a great new addition to our author line-up - horror author WILL HILL has just confirmed for the event, and will joining a superb roster of horror writers including Guest of Honoour Graham Masterton, Conrad Williams, Gary McMahon, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Tom Fletcher and more. Will's debut novel, DEPARTMENT 19, has already made a great impression and with sequel THE RISING hitting bookshelves on March 29th, you're bound to be hearing more from this very talented author. For more info on Will's work, check out www.willhillauthor.com

For all the latest on the full line-up, be sure to visit our website at www.discoverfestival.co.uk as more and more names are added to the event!

Thanks a lot

Alex

MY FAVOURITE: Part Five - Adam Christopher

Hi Guys,

Hopefully everyone is suitably recovered from the weekend by now, and ready for the latest in our great series of mini-interviews with our superb line-up of Discover Festival authors. Today the spotlight falls on Adam Christopher, whose novel Empire State is already garnering rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. As always, it's a good read, with a whole host of interesting choices...

Enjoy!



MY FAVOURITE: PART FIVE - ADAM CHRISTOPHER

FAVOURITE BOOK

The most difficult question of all! Actually, no, that's your next one. My favourite book tends to change with the day of the week, as I more have a pool of books I all consider to be utterly wonderful and essential - 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Slights by Kaaron Warren, The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. At the moment I'm reading Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin for the first time, and I suspect that's going to be added to the group as well.

I think life is too short to read bad books, so I'm not one of these readers who is determined to reach the end of a novel even if they're not enjoying it. This means, thankfully, that most of what I do read seems to be pretty good.

FAVOURITE AUTHOR

The same applies here - my "pool" of favourites includes HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Lauren Beukes, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Kurt Busiek - because I tend to read a lot of comics as well as novels I tend not to distinguish between writers in different media.

FAVOURITE GENRE FILM

Ghostbusters. In fact, Ghostbusters is the greatest film ever made. It's sheer genius, and I will happily fight anyone who says otherwise!

*rolls up sleeves*

FAVOURITE NON-GENRE FILM

Tricky, because I tend to watch mostly genre stuff. I'd love to be able to say Blow-Up, which is a film I have pretended to like since I was about 15 but which is a little... well, it's boring, let's face it.

So it has to be the original Michael Caine version of The Italian Job.

FAVOURITE TV SHOW

Community. And Doctor Who (original series only). And Justified. And Fringe. And Revenge. And... okay, I've done it again, haven't I?

FAVOURITE BAND

The Cure. I discovered them when someone left a tape of their first album, Three Imaginary Boys, at my house in 1991. So, despite being entirely the wrong age group, I pretty much listened to their stuff in release order, and have been listening to them ever since. In fact, I even measure my life as the gap between Cure concerts - I was 15 when I first saw them in New Zealand in 1992, then 30 when I next saw them in London. I'd doubled in age! Crazy.

I have to make a special mention here of The Dandy Warhols too - the only other band I've been listening to for anything like as long as The Cure (since 1996).

FAVOURITE GAME

I don't game as much as I used to, despite having one of everything in the house - I've played a lot of World of Warcraft but MMORPGs are just too much of a timesink, so I tend towards console games now. I think Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is probably my favourite game - it is insanely good, possibly the PS3's crowning glory.

But I have a soft spot for the classic space trading game Elite. My parents bought an Amstrad CPC464 (with built-in tape drive) for me for Christmas around 1986, and Elite just blew me away. I know Elite was originally developed for the BBC Micro and the Amstrad port is slightly different, but that's the version I played for hours, days, weeks, months, even years. And I never got to the Elite rating either, I only hit Deadly. I suspect the Amstrad port - which was missing a few things - might have also been missing the final combat rating!

My Favourite... Part Four: Gareth L Powell

Hi Guys,

The fourth installement of our mini-interview series comes courtesy of SF author Gareth L Powell. As always, some really interesting choices here, and a little link each time around for those of you wanting to know a bit more...

We've got a lot more of these short interviews on the way, so keep your eyes peeled on the blog to find out more about our superb range of authors for the Discover Festival!

Cheers

Alex


MY FAVOURITE: GARETH L POWELL

FAVOURITE BOOK:
On The Road by Jack Kerouac
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141182679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329386077&sr=8-1

FAVOURITE AUTHOR:
William Gibson
http://www.amazon.co.uk/William-Gibson/e/B000AP5DM0/ref=sr_tc_ep?qid=1329386123

FAVOURITE GENRE FILM:
Aliens
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/

FAVOURITE NON-GENRE FILM:
The Big Lebowski
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/

FAVOURITE TV SHOW:
Battlestar Galactica
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407362/

FAVOURITE BAND:
Tom Waits
http://badasme.com/

FAVOURITE GAME:
Chess

New authors confirmed for Discover Festival!

Hi Guys,

A very nice announcement to make for a Tuesday, as we have two new authors attending Discover Festival this May. I'm really excited by the line-up so far, and delighted to add SUZANNE MACLEOD and SIMON KURT UNSWORTH to the event.

Suzanne MacLeod is that author of the spellcrackers.com urban fantasy series, with the fourth part of the series, The Shifting Price of Prey, to be released in August 2012. With six books planned in this fantastic series, you'll be hearing much more for Suzanne in the future.

Simon Kurt Unsworth is a short story author who has featured in The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, The Very Best of Best New Horror, Lovecraft Unbound and many more. He has two short story collections published to date, Lost Places and Quiet Houses, with two more to follow in 2013.

If you haven't got your ticket for Discover Festival yet, you can check out all the information and book your place at http://www.discoverfestival.co.uk/

Cheers!

Alex

A new look blog - and new website updates

Hi Guys,

As you might have noticed, have given the blog something of a new look - to be honest, the old design was starting to make my eyes hurt, and hopefully this one captures a bit more of what the event is about anyway.

I've also updated the website, which now includes a contact form for those of you wanting to get in touch, some more information on accommodation, and plenty more on the news page in the latest update. As always, you can check it out at www.discoverfestival.co.uk

I should also have another author to announce in the next day or two, as we come towards getting the line-up completed...

Keep checking back, as there will be more to follow shortly.

Cheers!

Alex

My Favourite... Part Three: Lou Morgan

Hi Guys,

Today it's on to the latest part of our 'My Favourite' interviews, and today we're joined by author Lou Morgan, whose debut title Blood and Feathers comes out from Solaris later this year. Some great choices, as always, and well worth checking a number of these out!

MY FAVOURITE: LOU MORGAN

FAVOURITE BOOK: One book? You realise that's like asking me to pick my favourite from a box of kittens, right? If I had to choose just one (and I'm doing this with much pouting, stamping of feet and general sulking, you understand) then it has to be "Life: A User's Manual", by Georges Perec, which is - in theory, at least - about the inhabitants of an apartment building in Paris. At the same time, however, it's about jigsaws, crosswords, literary allusions, memory, life, death... it's a big, unwieldy story, but it's fun and clever and I wish more people had read it.

FAVOURITE AUTHOR: Depending on which name he happens to be wearing at any given time, Michael Marshall Smith / M M Smith / Michael Marshall. I'm also a big fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte's work: especially books like "The Dumas Club" and "The Seville Communion", which blew me away the first time I read them.

FAVOURITE GENRE FILM: "The Lost Boys". I have huge affection for this one, and I've easily seen it enough times to know every single line. Yes, especially the "death by stereo" one.

FAVOURITE NON-GENRE FILM: You're probably not going to let me sneak "Inception" in as non-genre, are you? No, thought not. Spoilsport. In that case, it's probably Hitchcock's 1940 version of "Rebecca".

FAVOURITE TV SHOW: "Supernatural". I am predictable, yes. I'm OK with that.

FAVOURITE BAND: Pendulum. Brilliant albums (try "In Silico" if you've never heard them), and they're absolutely astonishing live.

FAVOURITE GAME: I'm an old-school computer gamer: I never quite grew out of "Doom" LAN deathmatches. But *my* game? My game's "Tekken". I play as Hwoarang, and I lose - frequently, and noisily.

My Favourite... Part Three: Gav Thorpe

Hi Guys,

A new post for a new week, with the latest part of our MY FAVOURITE interview going live. Today, it's fantasy an SF author GAV THORPE sharing a host of his faves...

MY FAVOURITE: GAV THORPE

FAVOURITE BOOK:

Excession, Iain M Banks

FAVOURITE AUTHOR:

Don't have a favourite, and I refuse to choose one! I like lots of different authors, depending on mood, wind direction, solar flares...

FAVOURITE GENRE FILM:

The Crow.

FAVOURITE NON-GENRE FILM:

A Bridge Too Far.

FAVOURITE TV SHOW:

Ever? Can't pick one. Candidates include Buffy seasons 1-5, Angel, Firefly, Generation Kill, Rome, Babylon 5, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C, Evangelion, Lost, Spaced, Battlestar Galactica remake... it's an impossible choice.

At this moment? Fringe, maybe. Watching Carnivale on DVD for the first time and enjoying that.

FAVOURITE BAND:

Guess what... Don't have one. (I'm a really bad choice for these sorts of questions!) Listen to rock, metal, Indy, classical, soundtracks...

FAVOURITE GAME:

Videogame - Call of Duty: World at War. Like most COD titles, but MW3 multiplayer is really not my cup of tea. Also love Total War series (just started another Rome campaign).

Boardgame - Hammer of the Scots, Columbia games. Wrote an essay about it in Hobby Games: Top 100.

Roleplaying game - Space 1889, Frank Chadwick. Hardly ever played it, but still love it.

My Favourite... Part Two: A J Dalton

Hi Everyone,

Continuing in our series of mini-interviews, it's gothics fantasy author A J Dalton stepping up to tell us a bit about some of his genre and non-genre favourites. As always, some really interesting choices!

MY FAVOURITE - A J DALTON

Favourite book:
The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe. Okay, it's a play, but I read it before I saw it performed. He was the first author of dark fantasy, for me. Doesn't get better than Marlowe.

Favourite author:
Hmm. I guess it would have to be someone like Homer. First great fantasy author.

Favourite genre film:
Undoubtedly, Rollerball, the 70s version starring James Caan. The triumph of the individual over society. A film of awesome dynamics. Scifi.

Favourite non-genre film:
Bound. Plays with genre gorgeously.

Favourite TV show:
Battlestar Galactica, both the 80s series and the modern remakes (although the last series was pish).

Favourite band:
A-ha! The sun always shines on tv.

Favourite game:
Link's Crossbow Training, on the wii. Simple, addictive and with a fantasy setting.

A story a day!

Hi Guys,

The eagle-eyed among our Twitter followers may already have noticed this, but we've kicked off a new series of tweets entitled 'A STORY A DAY' - we'll be tweeting either a full short story or an extract from one of our authors at Discover every day, so it's a great chance to enjoy free stories by some of your favourite writers, as well as find out more about new writers and talent you may not have heard of as yet!

If you missed our first two days, we offered an extract from Mark Chadbourn's Destroyer of Worlds at http://www.markchadbourn.net/extracts/destroyer-of-worlds.htm, as well as the full story Walker by Adam Christopher at http://www.hubfiction.com/2011/03/hub-136/

So do keep checking into our feed for some fantastic free fiction - we'll be tweeting A STORY A DAY until the day of the event itself!

Thanks a lot

Alex