July

Marie was delighted to be able to interview TV genre maestro Joe Ahearne last month. Joe was the creator/writer of hip vampire series Ultraviolet, starring Jack Davenport, and director of the pilot and several episodes of Strange, starring Samantha Janus (both above). In the interview, Joe talked about his new series for the BBC, the supernatural drama Apparitions, which airs later this year and stars Martin Shaw (below). More details about when and where you’ll be able to read this in a future news update.

On the website front, Marie has just finished updates of artist Michelle Blessemaille and author/editor Allen Ashley’s websites. You can check these out at www.michelleblessemaille.com and www.allenashley.com respectively.

Marie’s interview with bestselling author Michael Marshall Smith that she conducted has now appeared in issue 3 of Shroud magazine (below).

Marie had a great time at June’s BFS Open Night and you can see a couple of pictures below from that. She will next be at the BFS Award Showcase at the same venue, Ye Olde Cock Tavern, Fleet Street, on 19th July. Hopefully she’ll see some of you there.

June

We kick off this month with review news, and Marie has just turned in a piece on John Connolly’s new novel The Reapers for The Hub magazine which should be appearing shortly. The latest in his series of Charlie Parker thrillers, this time Parker is relegated to the back seat whilst Angel and Louis take centre stage - and Marie was delighted to report that it’s up to John’s usual excellent standards. Look out for both the review and the novel out at a bookstore hear you now.

For the same publication Marie has also just reviewed the new horror movie, Five Across the Eyes. Following a group of young girls who get lost in a car and then chased by another, demented driver, the film is shot in a handheld way à la Blair Witch Project. You can find out what Marie thought of it when the review is published soon.

Marie also found time, in amongst scripting work this past month, to update author Tony Richards’ website with news about his forthcoming collection Passport to Purgatory (above). To visit ‘Richard’s Reality’, just click here.

Finally, Marie typeset the brand new publication for the British Fantasy Society last month:A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (above), edited by Lavie Tidhar and featuring Conrad Williams, Adam Roberts, James Lovegrove, with an introduction by Jeff Vandermeer. This publication is only available to members of the BFS, so join today in order to get yours.

Marie will be attending the BFS Open Night on 6th June from 6pm onwards at Ye Olde Cock Tavern, Fleet Street, so come along and join in the fun.

May

You can find not one, but two interviews Marie has conducted with bestselling author Michael Marshall Smith (above), firstly in the May/June issue of Shroud magazine and also in the June edition of Writing Magazine. In both Michael talks about his life, his work and his excellent new book, The Servants, which has just come out from HarperCollins (below) so be sure to pick them up.

In the review stakes, Marie has written about the new DVD releases Megasnake, Snoop Dog’s Hood Of Horror and Ghost in the Shell – Laughing Man OVA (below) all for Dreamwatch, which you can find by clicking here.

Marie recently updated the site of award-winning Elastic Press, with news of releases from Gareth L. Powell (The Last Reef) and Chris Beckett (The Turing Test) both below. To head on over to the site just click here.

Finally, below you can see a selection of photos from Derby’s Alt.Fiction which Marie attended in April.

Organiser Alex Davis

Sarah Pinborough, Mark Morris, Simon Clark and Tim Lebbon

Graham Joyce, Michael Marshall Smith

Philip Palmer

Mike Carey

April

Last month Marie typeset another in the popular ‘Angel’ series by Mike Ripley for Telos Books. Following on from Just Another Angel, Angel Touch and Angel Hunt, comes Angel on the Inside. For more details about the release and previous publications in the Telos line, visit the website at www.telos.co.uk.

Marie was also delighted to be invited on set at Black Island Studios, London, to watch some of the post production work on the new Book of Blood movie (above), the second of Midnight Pictures’ releases after Midnight Meat Train. There she got to see the effects being done on the impressive ‘Army of the Dead’ which will plague both Jonas Armstrong and Sophie Ward in the film (see previous news sections). The set visit, which will form part of her report for Dreamwatch Presents Total Sci-Fi, also allowed her the opportunity to meet up with Clive Barker again, who she hasn’t seen since FantasyCon 2006 where he was a Guest of Honour. A great time was had by all and Marie thoroughly enjoyed herself.

On the review front, Marie has turned in pieces on both Conrad Williams new horror novel, The Unblemished (above) and Maria V. Snyder’s second entry in her fantasy ‘Study’ series, Magic Study (also above). Both of these you can read on Dreamwatch Presents Total Sci-Fi soon.

You can also see what Marie had to say about the new Richard Kelly film Southland Tales over on Pantechnicon. The ‘follow-up’ to Donnie Darko, this SF/Thriller stars Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar as Krysta Now (below). To check out the review right now just click here.

Marie will be attending Alt.Fiction at the Assembly Rooms in Derby this month, on 26th to be precise. This is the third year she’s attended and the line-up is no less impressive this time around, featuring such luminaries as Brian Lumley, Mike Carey, Simon Spurrier, Michael Marshall Smith, Eric Brown, Mark Morris, Stephen Gallagher, Sarah Ash, Sarah Pinborough, the aforementioned Conrad Williams and many more. Tickets can be booked directly from the Assembly Rooms Box Office on 01332 255800 for £20/£16 concessions, or contact Alex Davis on alex.davis@derby.gov.uk.

March

Following on from her piece in Fortean Times Marie’s article about black magician Aleister Crowley is appearing in March’s edition of Shroud magazine. In it she examines the life and history of the man some called The Great Beast. Pick up your copy soon by visiting the website here

A review roundup now, and we begin with the DVD release of Blackwater Valley Exorcism (above) which Marie cover for Dreamwatch Presents Total Sci-Fi. A rural take on the exorcism sub-genre you can check out what Marie thought of this by going to the site here. She has also just completed a review of the forthcoming Ramsey Campbell book from Virgin, The Grin of the Dark (below).

Marie has also reviewed the book for The Hub magazine, plus the DVD release of the outstanding new series Jericho which follows the survivors of a nuclear war (below).

Marie had a wonderful time at the latest British Fantasy Society Open Night and Basil Copper book launch (see last month for details). A good night was had by all and, to prove it, here are some of the photographs.

The book display at Ye Olde Cock Tavern

The assembled revellers…

Publisher of the book and owner of PS, Peter Crowther introduces the signers, the first of which is Michael Marshall Smith (left)

Including the editor and compiler Stephen Jones (left), Basil Copper himself (right) and Basil’s wife Anne (middle)

Author and critic Kim Newman is in attendance.

The signing in full flow.

Hellraiser star Doug Bradley at the event.

Copies of Basil Copper, A Life in Books can be obtained from PS publishing here

February

Marie was recently invited along to a set visit of the new adaptation of Clive Barker’s Book of Blood. Directed by John Harrison (who brought us the Sc-Fi Channel version of Dune) it stars BBC TV’s Robin Hood, Jonas Armstrong as Simon McNeal, Sophie Ward as Mary Florescu and Hellraiser’s Doug ‘Pinhead’ Bradley as Tollington. More news about when and where this will appear later on, but in the meantime you can read a production diary by producer Joe Daley on the Revelations site here.

Marie has been busy again reviewing for Dreamwatch Presents Total Sci-Fi. First up, are reviews she has done of the Canadian TV series Blood Ties based on the novels from Tanya Huff (above). In addition, she also passed comment on the films Like Minds, Furnace, and the brand new novel from Stephen King: Duma Key (below).

Marie enjoyed this one so much, she reviewed it for The Hub as well, alongside Old Devil Moon, Blood Ties, Day Watch and Dr Who Beneath the Surface, which gathers together three of the aquatic adventures from classic Who – starring Jon Pertwee and Peter Davidson (below).

January Extra

We've been informed by the makers of Hatchet that - if you go over to their website and play the Cabin Fever game online, you stand a chance of winning a Nintendo Wii. So if you fancy your chances, click here.

January

As Chairperson of the British Fantasy Society, Marie is delighted to be able to announce their new Special Publication: H.P. Lovecraft in Britain, written by award-winning anthologist Stephen Jones and with a cover by award-winning artist Les Edwards. A limited edition signed by both contributors, this is free to members but is also on sale at the BFS site here so what are you waiting for?

Marie has just reviewed Christopher Fowler’s superb new collection, Old Devil Moon (above), for Dreamwatch Presents Total Sci-Fi which you can find online here.

She has also just reviewed the movie Rise: Blood Hunter for them. The film, which stars Lucy Liu from Charlie’s Angels (below) and Michael Chiklis from The Fantastic Four, is an erotic vampire adventure with the female heroine as a vampire seeking revenge on those who turned her - so look out for this on the site when it appears.

Marie had a fantastic time at the BFS Christmas Open Night back in December, as the pictures above and below illustrate. She got to meet science fiction author Cory Doctorow (above, with Marie) for the first time as well as Afterblight author Scott Andrews and Dr Who fiction writer Simon Guerrier, plus catch up again with friends like Michael Marshall Smith, Stephen Jones & Mandy Slater, Simon Clark, Doug Bradley and Nicholas Vince (Pinhead and Chatterer from the Hellraiser series of movies), Phil and Sarah Stokes from the Revelations site, Adam Nevill, Val and Les Edwards and Christopher Fowler (below with Marie).

Finally Marie has just updated the website of author Tony Richards, who has recently signed a deal with Eos Books (HarperCollins). To visit the site, just click on the link here.