Alison Buck shortlisted for British Fantasy Society Best Artist Award

The British Fantasy Society (BFS) have just announced the shortlisted nominees for this years BFS Awards. The shortlist for Best Artist incudes our very own Alison Buck. The winner will be announced at FantasyCon in September.

Mandigo and the Hellhounds announced as finalist in Independent Book Awards

Artwork: Alison BuckThe finalists of the 2016 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards have been announced. They include Mandigo and the Hellhounds by Anders Reemark in the Books for 9-12 Year Olds category.

WSA 2016 Finalist LogoThe Wishing Shelf Awards are awarded based on the results of groups of readers rather than a judging panel. The children’s books were this year read and judged by children in 8 UK primary and secondary schools; the adult books by 2 Reading Groups, 1 in London and 1 in Stockholm. The books were marked according to EDITING, THEME, STYLE, COVER and, in the case of many of the children’s books, ILLUSTRATIONS. Only books that were awarded over 30/40 are finalists.

The winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in each category, picked from the finalists, will be announced on April 1st 2017.

 

Thomas Silent announced as finalist in Independent Book Awards

Cover by Alison BuckThe finalists of the 2016 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards have been announced. They include Thomas Silent by Ben Gribbin in the Teenager category.

WSA 2016 Finalist LogoThe Wishing Shelf Awards are awarded based on the results of groups of readers rather than a judging panel. The children’s books were this year read and judged by children in 8 UK primary and secondary schools; the adult books by 2 Reading Groups, 1 in London and 1 in Stockholm. The books were marked according to EDITING, THEME, STYLE, COVER and, in the case of many of the children’s books, ILLUSTRATIONS. Only books that were awarded over 30/40 are finalists.

The winners of the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in each category, picked from the finalists, will be announced on April 1st 2017.

 

“A fascinating fantasy adventure with strong elements of Welsh mythology. A finalist and highly recommended.” – Wishing Shelf Awards

Artwork: Alison Buck
Artwork: Alison Buck

Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards 2015 FinalistSeventh Child by Peter R. Ellis, the first book in the Evil Above the Stars series, was a finalist in the 2015 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards in the teenager category. The Wishing Shelf Awards are judged by their target readers, not a panel of ‘experts’. Feedback from those readers is subsequently sent to the author, and we would like to share it here:

A very good book. I lie fantasy so this was perfect for me. I liked the characters and the way the hero September is not perfect.’ Girl, aged 14

I thought this book was a bit different to most fantasy as it has a lot of myths in it which were interesting. Exciting ending which made me want to read the next book. The blurb was good and enticing but I didn’t like the cover much.’ Boy, aged 15

Gwlad, the fantasy land was well described. The only problem I had with the story was trying to pronounce the words. For example, Cludydd o Maengolauseren. I had to keep stopping to try to get my tongue around them which kept interrupting the story. I enjoyed it though.’ Girl, aged 15

I thought the was an exciting story. The plot was twisty which kept me interested and I think the author has a lot of imagination. A few odd words in there but they added to the fantasy. I understood all of the story and the characters and settings were well described.’ Boy, aged 14

 

Silver Award for Arteess Conflict confirms gamer James Starling as new author to watch

Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards present Silver Award for Teenage Fiction for 2013 to science fiction novel from first-time author and gamer, James Starling

DARTFORD, KENT – 28 April 2014 – Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to congratulate James Starling for winning the Silver award in the Teenage Fiction category of the 2013 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards for his debut science fiction novel, Arteess: Conflict. The winners of the awards were announced at AuthorConUK in Manchester on Saturday afternoon (26 April 2014).

Arteess: Conflict is the first book in the Arteess series. Arteess is a game but not child’s play, a private virtual reality experience created as an experiment into the nature of time itself. Players are invited to take part in an international warzone of nomadic factions. We follow the Shard squad, friends specialising in conflict arenas, who are surrounded by sociopathic technicians, facetious pilots and an insane commander and must survive the onslaught of rivals and the antics of their own faction.

James Starling deftly creates credible characters, and readers soon find themselves rooting for the resourceful members of the squad. Bridging the chasm-like void between literature and gaming, James brings together both the disturbingly amusing black humour of the gaming community and the focus, scope and monumental scale possible within modern literature. This is a book that appeals to gamers of all ages as well as readers of science fiction and action novels.

A review on Risingshadow described Arteess: Conflict as “bold experimentation in combining modern science fiction and gaming” and said that the book manages “to convey the hectic action and the addictive atmosphere of the gaming world to readers”.

Arteess: Conflict was published in July 2013 by Elsewhen Press.

About James Starling

James Starling is an avid gamer. He revels in the virtual environments and endless community entertainment of this millennium’s gaming scene, caught up in the rush of gaming to the point where it’s become a bit of an obsession. Arteess: Conflict is his first published novel.

About Arteess: Conflict

Arteess: Conflict cover imageArteess: Conflict is the first in a new science fiction series where much of the action takes place inside a game. But surviving the game is not child’s play. We learn of science, betrayal, power and progress – from the perspective of innocent, but nevertheless accomplished gamers.

Created as an experiment into the nature of time itself, the virtual world of Arteess exists, in the near future, as a private digital realm. A full-body virtual reality experience where the talented, the shrewd and the lucky are invited to participate in an international war zone of nomadic factions. We are introduced into the world of Arteess alongside the Shard squad, a group of friends specialising in conflict arenas. Though each member possesses unique talents, they are ultimately defined by their personalities, their own personal battles and the moral choices they make in the consequence-free virtual environment. Surrounded by sociopathic technicians, facetious pilots and a potentially insane commander, they must carve out a place for themselves while surviving the onslaught of rivals and the antics of the rest of their own faction.

 

Gold Award for Bookworm confirms Christopher Nuttall as star of indie fiction

Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards present Gold Award for Adult Fiction for 2013 to epic fantasy novel from best-selling science fiction and fantasy author, Christopher Nuttall

DARTFORD, KENT – 28 April 2014 – Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to congratulate Christopher Nuttall for winning the Gold award in the Adult Fiction category of the 2013 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards for his epic fantasy novel and Amazon best-seller, Bookworm. The winners of the awards were announced at AuthorConUK in Manchester on Saturday afternoon (26 April 2014).

Bookworm is a high fantasy novel in which the main protagonist, Elaine, an inexperienced witch in Golden City, has her life turned upside down when she triggers a magical trap hidden within a book. All the knowledge of magic in the Great Library becomes crammed inside her head, making her the Bookworm of the title. Avoiding the Inquisition she tries to understand what has happened to her. But she is a pawn in the dark plans of one who wants the Grand Sorcerer’s power.

A review on Risingshadow described Bookworm as “fluently written escapism” and said that Nuttall has “woven an exciting and entertaining story of secrets, dark history, books, werewolves and magic, and knows how to keep the story on the move.”

Bookworm was published in January 2013 by Elsewhen Press and became a best-seller almost overnight in the US, UK, Germany and elsewhere. In June 2013 it was announced that the German translation rights to Bookworm had been acquired by RandomHouse Germany for publication under their Blanvalet imprint in 2015.

Bookworm was the first in the Bookworm series. The second in the series, Bookworm II: The Very Ugly Duckling, was published by Elsewhen Press in January 2014 and it too was an immediate best-seller. The next in the series, Bookworm III: The Best Laid Plans, is planned for early 2015.

About Christopher Nuttall

Christopher Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learned to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author, he has self-published a number of novels. Bookworm was his second fantasy novel to be published by Elsewhen Press, who have so far published six of his novels. Chris is currently ranked in the top 100 most popular authors on Amazon and is consistently one of the two most popular science fiction and fantasy authors on Amazon.

About Bookworm

Bookworm cover image
Artwork: Alison Buck
Library photograph: zens/shutterstock.com

Elaine is an inexperienced witch in the Golden City. Her life turns upside down when she triggers a magical trap and ends up with all the knowledge in the Great Library stuffed inside her head. This unwanted gift doesn’t give her greater power, but it does allow her to accomplish far more with her weaker powers than she previously could. If the senior wizards find out what has happened to her, they will almost certainly have her killed. Elaine is forced to struggle with the terrors and temptations of her newfound knowledge while trying to stay out of sight of the Inquisition. But a powerful and mysterious figure is drawing up a plan to take the power of the Grand Sorcerer for himself; and Elaine, unknowingly, is nothing more than a pawn in his plans. She must unlock the mysteries behind her new knowledge, a plan that threatens the entire world… and her own origins.

 

Science Fiction debut highly commended in Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Awards

TimeStorm by Steve Harrison, due to be published by Elsewhen Press this year, highly commended in the inaugural Science Fiction and Fantasy sub-category of the FAW Jim Hamilton Award

DARTFORD, KENT – 16 April 2014 – Elsewhen Press, an independent UK publisher specialising in Speculative Fiction, is delighted to congratulate author Steve Harrison for being Highly Commended for his novel TimeStorm in the Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) National Literary Awards for 2013 that were presented in Melbourne last Friday, 11 April.

The FAW Jim Hamilton Award is presented for an unpublished novel of sustained quality and distinction by an Australian author. The categories were expanded in 2013 to encompass fantasy/science fiction.

In their report, the judges, Michael Foster and Alisa Krasnostein, noted that there were an impressive number of entries for the inaugural judging of the Science Fiction/Fantasy sub-category of the FAW Jim Hamilton Award. They commented that many showed willingness to stray from norms of the genre, and it was good to see some also showing an Australian flavour – not simply for the sake of inserting some token Australians, but as an integral and considered part of the narrative. The judges chose not to award a winner, but felt that two works stood ahead of the others and deserved commendations. One of these was time slip adventure TimeStorm, Steve Harrison’s debut novel.

TimeStorm is a thrilling epic adventure story of revenge, survival and honour set in a strange new world of unfamiliar technology and equally unfathomable social norms. In the literary footsteps of Hornblower, comes Lieutenant Christopher ‘Kit’ Blaney, an old-fashioned hero, a man of honour, duty and principle. But dragged into the 21st century… literally.

TimeStorm will be published later this year by Elsewhen Press in both digital and print editions.

About Steve Harrison

Steve Harrison

Steve Harrison was born in Yorkshire, England, grew up in Lancashire, migrated to New Zealand and eventually settled in Sydney, Australia, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

As he juggled careers in shipping, insurance, online gardening and the postal service, Steve wrote short stories, sports articles and a long running newspaper humour column called HARRISCOPE: a mix of ancient wisdom and modern nonsense. In recent years he has written a number of unproduced feature screenplays, although being unproduced was not the intention, and developed projects with producers in the US and UK. His script, Sox, was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild ‘Awgie’ Award and he has written and produced three short films under his Pronunciation Fillums partnership.

 

Bookworm announced as a finalist in Independent Book Awards

Bookworm cover image
Artwork: Alison Buck
Library photograph: zens/shutterstock.com

The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards have just announced the 2013 finalists. In the category of fiction for Adults, the twelve finalists include our very own Bookworm by Christopher Nuttall.

The GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE winners, picked from the finalists, will be announced in April at AuthorCon.

You can see the full list of finalists and read more about the Wishing Shelf awards here

 

Arteess: Conflict announced as a finalist in Independent Book Awards

Arteess: Conflict cover image

The Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards have just announced the 2013 finalists. In the category of fiction for Teenagers, the nine finalists include our very own Arteess: Conflict by James Starling.

The GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE winners, picked from the finalists, will be announced in April at AuthorCon.

You can see the full list of finalists and read more about the Wishing Shelf awards here