Atomic Fez Publishing

Yes, you read that correctly: it’s a September Sale-​​A-​​Bration here at Atomic Fez! In honour of the British Fantasy Society’s FantasyCon in Nottingham (September 17 – 19) and the West Coast Science Fiction Association organized VCON: Vancouver’s Convention of Science Fiction and Fantasy (October 1 – 3), the special prices for printed and electronic books are being extended to you through the modern miracle of ‘the InterNet’!

Now, thanks to the generosity of the people in the Atomic Fez Executive Suite, you’ll find that trade paperbacks are as low as $15 /​ £8 and hardbacks are up to 25% off!

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Every title in the space-​​age Electronic Book format purchased directly from Atomic Fez^† is a full 50% off! That’s just $5 (roughly £3) for any title, and for that one price you get several formats in one handy *.ZIP file, and they’re all DRM-​​free!

REMEMBER: any order over $50 or £35 always qualifies for FREE SHIPPING! This is a perfect time to catch-​​up on those titles you keep meaning to experience, or to ensure your Christmas shopping is taken care of for those you know will cherish these well-​​written books.

All of the books’ product pages are live with their newly reduced prices clearly marked, and everyone can order books, anytime during the month of September, even if you can’t make it to the Atomic Fez table at either of those two events!

So it’s time to get crackin’ and click that “Book Catalogue” button on the site and join in on the Atomic Fez September Sale-​​A-​​Bration!

Books make part of a balanced diet!
Just ask Mother!

† PLEASE NOTE: this offer applies only to those copies of titles purchased directly from Atomic Fez, and does not apply to any external web-​​site such as KoboBooks.com, Amazon.com, or Amazon.co.uk. Please select the orange “E-​​BOOK” button on the product page. Thank you.

Fresh from the stunning world début of Atomic Fez in England this spring – at World HorrorCon 2010 and EasterCon’s “Odyssey 2010″ – Ian Alexander Martin will be attending VCon 35, in Richmond BC, from October 1^st through 3^rd inclusive!

Not only will Mr. Martin be in the Dealers’ Room making the entire catalogue of Atomic Fez books available – including the brand-​​new title Ponthe Oldenguine, by Andrew Hook – he will also be appearing on a panel or two, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Attend VCon and behold the Proprietor behind the mighty Atomic Fez Dealer’s Table of glory! Look to the image at left for an approximation of what this is like (with many thanks to Christopher Teague for supplying this extremely silly image).

VCON 35 — STEAMPUNK: FROM ALCHEMY TO ZEPPELINS

Tune up your gear and prepare to be amazed this fall, as the Lower Mainland’s annual
science-​​fiction and fantasy convention goes full steam into its 35^th edition, October 1 – 3, 2010.

Vancouver’s Convention of Science Fiction and Fantasy (AKA “VCon”), organised by the West Coast Science Fiction Association, offers every science-​​fiction and fantasy fan something to satisfy the imagination. Even if vampires, dragons, Cylons, or Mr. Spock are not your cup of tea, you may find Steampunk refreshing. A popular sub-​​genre of speculative literature, Steampunk invokes England’s Victorian era as it might have been with the addition of technology and invention. Vast and incredible in its ability to borrow from history and create a new reality, it’s yours to discover through the words and works of the Guests of Honor and program participants.

VCON, a non-​​profit event run by and for fans, is Canada’s oldest science-​​fiction and fantasy convention, having been promoting Science Fiction and Fantasy in Canada and the Pacific Northwest since 1971. This year, the Guests of Honour are Cherie Priest, a Seattle-​​based author of seven novels, including the steampunk adventure Boneshaker (nominated for a Nebula award, winner of the PNBA award); Jim Beveridge, an Aurora award-​​winning artist with a left-​​handed aesthetic; and Canadian musician Heather Dale, who performs her own Celtic music for the 21^st Century. They will be joined by a lineup of writers, artists, editors, scientists, musicians and other guests.

VCON welcomes all those interested in science-​​fiction and fantasy. The 2010 program includes a multi-​​author book launch, panel discussions, author readings, art show and auction, games room, KidCon, costume contest, filk music [no, that’s not a typo], dance, writing and art workshops, an artists’ alley and dealers’ room.

VCON 35 will be held at the Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel (7571 Westminster Highway in Richmond), a five minute walk from the Richmond-​​Brighouse Skytrain Station on the “Canada Line”.

• Three-​​day memberships (before Sept.2): $50; at the door: $60.
• Discounts for students and children 12 & under.
• Children 6 and under free.
• Single-​​day memberships are available at the door.

Find more information and links on the website: www.vcon.ca.
Learn about VCON and related subjects via the Forums and Blogs.

WHOEVER YOU ARE, WHATEVER YOUR SCIENCE FICTION OR
FANTASY INTEREST, VCON HAS WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!

Atomic Fez Publishing is delighted to make available the never-​​been-​​revealed, true story of the legendary Ponthe Oldenguine! Kept from the knowledge of the public for decades, now you can finally know what really happened in the halls of the BBC’s Broadcasting House in the late 1960s and early-​​1970s!

Written with loving care and attention to details by noted British author Andriew Hœk from notes left on his doorstep one day by a mysterious and smelly individual (who shouted “PORCU–PIIIIINE” through the letter-​​box before running away giggling), Ponthe Oldenguine is the man you’ve been denied any information about. So secret was Mr. Oldenguine’s existence, you may not even be aware how badly you’ve wanted to know everything about him! But now, the story can be told and you can read it for yourself.

Here’s something about the book itself:

If you want a picture of the future, Trunka,
imagine a boot stamping on a cake . . . forever.
Imagine just how glorious that would be.

Ponthe Oldenguine is one part fictional biography of a former television impresario who claims he’s been hounded out of media history, and one part biography of the journalist commissioned to write his story. Where the tales merge, there is madness.

Trade Paperback copies of Ponthe Oldenguine are just $16.99 (Canada/​USA) or £9.99 (UK/​Others), with pre-​​orders being taken now. The electronic book (just $9.99 Canadian) will made available on the title’s Official Publishing Date of October 8^th 2010.

To pre-​​order your printed copy, CLICK HERE.

EDITED AUGUST 23^rd TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING UP-​​DATE:
The proofs for the North American run of the books have arrived!

Thanks to the wonders of the people at Amazon, Atomic Fez books are now available directly from the specially designed Kindle Store for readers in the United Kingdom, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Jersey!

Just before we get into the new Amazon Kindle, the Kobo eReader is available for only $128 this week-​​end, which is only £77.98 for those of you in the UK. Clearly, they’re battling the new price range of the Kindle models at $189 or $139 (depending on how important 3G is instead of only WI-​​FI).

Do you live in the United Kingdom, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, or Jersey? Are you interested in purchasing the brand-​​new 3G Kindle that’s only £149? Perhaps the new WI-​​FI Kindle for just £109? Or perhaps you don’t want to buy a Kindle at all, and are happy to read Kindle books on your existing Smartphone, or computer; in which case, there’s an app for that. No matter where, you can now get Atomic Fez titles directly from your very own Kindle Store in good old Sterling!

Purchasing Electronic Books via Amazon's UK site or the UK Kindle Store for only £4⁹⁹

If you use the Amazon UK Kindle retail site, the links on the covers below can be considered extraneous as you can purchase books directly through the UK Kindle Store on your Kindle device. If, however, you want to make a note of the ASIN or exact title of the book in order to do a quick search on your device, then click the cover of the book you want in the table below, and you’ll be taken right to the page on the Amazon.co.uk site.

The Terror and the Tortoiseshell by John Travis	The Beautiful Red by James Cooper	Twisthorn Bellow by Rhys Hughes	Wicked Delights by John Llewellyn Probert

The New Kindle Unit

The announcement that Amazon had released a new unit wasn’t too much of a surprise to me, but the price point of nearly 50% lower than anything they’d done before certainly was. Of any of the manufacturers of eReading devices, they were the last ones I expected to jump into the price war for the devices. No matter where you live, here’s what the new unit looks like (and the three images below will enlarge when you click them):

New Kindle 3G or WI-​​FI  model (both colours)	New Kindle 3G or WI-​​FI  model (side view)	New Kindle 3G or WI-​​FI  model (for scale)

The rough size and shape are slimmer than the previous Kindle models – mostly due to a reduction in wasted area around the screen itself – and results in an outline nearly the same as the Kobo eReader (which is still lighter), except the new Kindle unit has a “QWERTY” keyboard, one-​​month battery life, you can e-​​mail files to your unit for free now (previously it was a charge of 50¢/file), plus the Kindle’s screen boasts a larger number of “grey levels”, meaning the image rendition is closer to the original versions. Additionally, the new Kindle has a higher contrast than any of the other eReader models using E Ink displays, so this model is even closer in its display to paper than we’ve seen yet.

The screen on the new model is the same as the newly improved screen on the Kindle DX Graphite. According to Amazon, this results in a non-​​glare screen with 50% higher contrast than any other unit in the world. How do they calculate that figure? Your guess is as good as mine, really. However, thanks to this article at PC World Magazine, you can have a look at the difference in the image below [click to enlarge]; look especially closely at the density of the word “amazon” on the two screens. Even discounting the change in the colour of the plastic around the screen, you can see the blacks are specially better in the new screen on the right. I still maintain the experience is identical to reading a newspaper; the new screen means it’s equal to a better printed newspaper, is all.

Understandably, we’re dealing with very subtle differences here – very, very dark grey v black – but the more things get improved, the fewer complaints anyone can justifiably make about the realities of the units’ acceptability.

Onwards we go… let’s all try to ‘keep up’, shall we?

Now then, what’s all this fuss and bother about, eh? People seem to be showing their love for all sorts of books put out by Atomic Fez, and it’s getting a mite embarrassing, wot?

Here’s two about John Travis’s novel, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell.

[John] Travis is an accomplished writer and… The Terror and the Tortoiseshell is an effective opening to a promising new series.

–Colin Harvey, “Sci-​​Fi/​Fantasy Fiction, Suite 101″, June 6^th 2010

John Travis has penned a novel that’s sort of “Animal Farm”, partly classic noir, and definitely acid trippy weird  –  but all in a good, fun, highly readable and entertaining way…

Very dark, but also funny in the sickest of ways. Here’s to hoping the world gets to enjoy much more of Benji  –  maybe if Atomic Fez offers a dimebag of catnip?

–Dave Simms; Horror World, Book Reviews (June 2010)

We’d just like to mention that the term “dime bag” is one which leaves a feeling of naïve confusion here at Atomic Fez. No, really, we haven’t a clue what Mr. Simms is talking about. The guffaw which was uttered when we read that line was someone else. They’re not here now because… they ran away before they could be caught. Yes.

To read the entire text of each of the reviews above, click the date at the end of the credit. In the case of the 2^nd one, click and then scroll about half-​​way down on that link. Once you’ve read the reviews, pop back here and click the cover image to go to the book’s page here on the Atomic Fez web-​​site and order a copy. Remember that they’re mailed domestically from both within North America AND within the UK!

Shifting to the ‘paperback’ titles, let’s hear what the American Library Association’s Booklist had to say about James Cooper’s collection The Beautiful Red.

At the heart of every tale in Cooper’s latest collection of meticulously crafted horror is a disquieting, iconic figure or image. …

While independent publisher Atomic Fez may not yet be positioned to introduce Cooper to a wider audience, the quality of his output so far easily matches that of the best-​​known talents in contemporary horror.

–Carl Hays; Booklist April 1^st 2010

And now… here’s one from Colin Harvey on the Suite 101 site: you can easily read the full text after you select here, as it’s quite a long link, actually.

Through all the stories run images of impending death, damaged children, broken families and corruption, forming the thematic threads articulating the book’s skeleton…

These stories as a whole form a gestalt of a book…

Certainly, while it is less than a novel, “The Beautiful Red” is more than the sum of its individual stories, and forms an impressive collection which will only add to a reputation that continues to grow.

–Colin Harvey, “Sci-​​Fi/​Fantasy Fiction, Suite 101″, May 31^st 2010

Continuing on with Mr. Harvey, here’s his review about Rhys Hughes’s book Twisthorn Bellow which we’ve not got around to shouting at you about until now.

…Rhys Hughes is a hard act to match; “Twisthorn Bellow” is Hughes at his most madly inventive.

–Colin Harvey, “Sci-​​Fi/​Fantasy Fiction, Suite 101″ April 26^th 2010

And now here’s a review about this very same novel by Mr. Hughes, this time by the incredible Peter Tennant:

Hughes has claimed the book is his tribute to Philip José Farmer… but he is a writer who wears his influences lightly and the spirits of other literary worthies gleefully flit in and out of the text… each contributing something to the tasty brew that ultimately is all Hughes’ own.

… Rhys Hughes is more fun than one of those barrels of monkeys people talk about, and you’re probably going to have a good time with his book.

–Peter Tennant; Black Static, Issue #16 (April/​May 2010)

We had honestly thought that we already had the reviews for John Llewellyn Probert’s filth fifth collection in hand, but here’s one that was stumbled across nearly by accident, again by the highly experienced Carl Hays in the pages of the ALA’s Booklist:

When he’s not penning gruesomely amusing horror tales, Probert writes essays online reviewing some of his favorite slasher flicks, both obscure and famous. In his fifth story collection, his cinematic appetite often manifests in stray movie references and crisp, screenplay-​​ready narration laced with vivid imagery. The opening story, “At Midnight I Will Steal Your Soul,” for instance, shares its title with a little-​​known 1964 Brazilian movie and follows a fearful woman’s visit to a psychiatric hospital, where an evil presence waits to claim her soul and body. “Ophelia” recounts the fate of a young woman kidnapped expressly to become a model corpse for a group of unprincipled artists bent on reproducing great paintings. In “Your Help Needed Urgently!,” a deceitful businessman is forced to watch video clips of torture scenes to avoid being exposed. More than once Probert goes absurdly over the top with his story arcs, but his penchant for wily humor and odd narrative twists just as often yields a genre gem.

–Carl Hays, Booklist

Sadly, the exact issue this appeared in has not yet been located. Anyone with some further information about that should contact Atomic Fez by leaning out the window & shouting really loudly.

Just when you thought we were done with that book (and because earlier we didn’t talk enough about how incredible Black Static is), here’s another review of Wicked Delights: this one from the periodical continually enjoyed in Atomic Fez’s laboratories: Black Static!

It’s an immensely entertaining read…

[“Two for Dinner”] is so deliriously tongue in cheek and full of witty invention, written with such panache and obvious delight that I found it impossible to read without a smirk of satisfaction taking up residence on my chops. This is the story that best represents the promised Wicked Delights.

A fine collection from a writer who… is a skilled storyteller, one who works at his craft, and is always going to provide fair measure of thrills and chills in a horror mode for the discerning reader.

–Peter Tennant; Black Static, Issue #17 (June/​July 2010)

If you’d like the full text of the Wicked Delights review – plus a bit of an intelligence leak about a new Atomic Fez title from the talented JLP, plus this is the first issue of two with the winners of the recent “Campaign for Real Fear” competition, so you probably want a copy for that reason alone – then here’s what they suggest you do:

How to Buy:

You can buy Black Static in good bookshops, newsagents and specialist stores, both here in the UK and several other countries including the USA. If your local shop doesn’t stock the magazine please ask them to order it in for you. You can also order Black Static via mail order distributors such as Fantastic Literature and BBR, or download an e-​​version from Fictionwise (head here). By far the best option though, for you and for us, is to take out a subscription to the magazine direct: please just click on this link where you can buy our stuff with a credit/​debit card or PayPal. Thanks!

Take it from this year-​​long subscriber, this is well worth the cost. Interzone is also perfect for those who enjoy Science Fiction or ‘Alternative Reality’.

And there you are. Go and have a lie-​​down now, you probably need it after all that excitement.

…right after you buy all these books, though. Priorities, eh?

Due to the noble indications of what a good idea it might be (okay, someone hit the Proprietor over the head until he finally gave in), the entire Atomic Fez catalogue is now available to purchase directly through the Kindle store, right on your Whispernet-​​equipped Kindle or Kindle DX! Click the images below to see the relevant page on the Amazon web-​​site!! All are priced at at least 50% less than their paper twins! Plus, you get to save the cost of shipping and avoid the guilt associated with the destruction of our wood-​​based living friends!

The Terror and the Tortoiseshell by John Travis	The Beautiful Red by James Cooper	Twisthorn Bellow by Rhys Hughes	Wicked Delights by John Llewellyn Probert

They all are supposed to be priced at $9.99 (or equivalent in your local currency), but there may be some variation  of that due to some oddities in the back-​​end of the Amazon set-​​up. The Boffins in the Atomic Fez labs have sorted it out as much as is possible for them, and thank you for the patience and understanding regarding any limitation imposed by a large-​​multi-​​national oligarchy.

These titles are also available for your electronic book reading needs directly through the Atomic Fez web-​​site, as well as through the Kobo web-​​site (further details about all three different e-​​book options are available here)

Atomic Fez Publishing: you may not have a jet-​​pack yet, but you can have electronic books!

While a trifle delayed in its official declaration, Atomic Fez is pleased to announce the winner of the “Wicked Champagne Breakfast with the Author” contest at World HorrorCon was Stephen Bacon!

During the Sunday-​​morning event, the proud recipient was regaled with witty banter and intelligent literary discussion over a fine selection of pastries, preserves, and one of the finest champagnes the publisher has ever had the joy of sampling.

Due to the incredible popularity of the fifth collection of John Llewellyn Probert’s short fiction, Wicked Delights has already been re-​​printed in the United Kingdom, and in North America the title is now being printed for its third time. Atomic Fez is over-​​joyed that the world thinks as highly of Mr. Probert’s writing as does the hard-​​working team of fiction scientists in the Atomic Fez laboratories.

PLEASE NOTE: United Kingdom, European, and other Foreign Regions have freshly-​​reprinted copies available now. Customers in these areas will have orders shipped immediately from Atomic Fez’s UK Centre of Operations using direct domestic mail.

While North American supplies of this title are temporarily unavailable, more copies will arrive at the Atomic Fez shipping complex in the Dominion of Canada at the beginning of July, for which orders are being taken now. These copies will be shipped using Canada Post immediately upon their arrival from the printers.

Breakfast (the eating part)

For those of you interested in more ‘background information’ about both Atomic Fez and its proprietor, head over to the interview on the blog Midlist Writer.

It’s a bit long (much of the answers fit in the ‘rambling and babbling’ category, for one thing), but someone must be interested enough in it. “In Depth” might be a fair description.

• PART 1: midlistwriter.blogspot.com/2010/05/small-press-profile-atomic-fez.html
• PART 2: midlistwriter.blogspot.com/2010/05/small-press-profile-atomic-fez-pt-2.html

There are a few things to take care of and mention just before the brimless, nuclear-​​powered headgear is packed and the voyage of 4707 miles (7566 Kilometres) is embarked upon. Most of these wouldn’t have rated a full post themselves, or might have if one had time to think about things long enough to pad them out into their own little entries.

• The books exist! All four of the titles simultaneously forming the inaugural publishing life of Atomic Fez are in completed and in boxes at the printers, and merely have to be shipped to the holding area prior to the opening of the Dealers’ Room doors in the Royal Albion Hôtel in Brighton. This day has been long coming, but has finally arrived. The book covers you see in the photo on the right are not actually books, but are some proofs created here in the laboratories for the purposes of confirming things before sending the files to the production centre. Actually having real books in the hand is something that will have to wait for about a week-​​or-​​so from right now. There are some copies in the hands of their authors right now, however, owing to specific Contributor’s Copies being needed for a few reasons prior to the event, in one case because “I really really really can’t wait and it’ll take a bit of effort to get used to it really existing”. We try to keep people as happy as possible around here.
• Christopher Fowler and Maura M^cHugh have formed the excellent “Campaign for Real Fear” (with the delightful ‘cut line’ “Darkness is for Everyone”) in order to bring new voices of horror to the reading public’s awareness no matter the age or gender of the author. Prospective participants – experienced or not, previously published or not, all are welcome – are invited to submit 500 words to the people involved, following the guidelines on the web-​​site TTA Press has become involved, promising to publish some of the entrants in their excellent periodical Black Static.
• Speaking of Black Static, that magazine’s 15^th issue (the one for February/​March, with the scary bunny on the front) has the début of the novella-​​length tale “Eight Small Men” which will appear in James Cooper’s collection The Beautiful Red, officially hitting the streets on April 2^nd, although copies might slip through security at World HorrorCon in Brighton. If you were wondering if this book was ‘your kind of thing’ or not, then grab a copy of Black Static Issue #15 and discover both the worth of James’s writing and the excellence which is the bi-​​monthly magazine Black Static.
• If there’s a particular author who writes fantasy, horror, speculative fiction, a mixture of any of those, or simply ‘scary stuff’, you may very well find some information from them about their latest work over on the “Ask the Authors and Artists” threads on the British Fantasy Society’s message boards. Thanks to the efforts of the English author Allyson Bird, there are individual topics for more than 84 different writers and artists there for your perusal. While there, check out the Atomic Fez Publishing thread in the “Pr0mote Your Projects!” section.
• Becoming a member of the British Fantasy Society isn’t something you’ll go wrong with either. For the cost of joining you’ll get a stonking great deal on attending the annual convention, plus more fiction and poetry than you can shake a stick at. Plus, if you’re a writer, then there are opportunities to submit your writing for competitions and inclusion in regular periodicals, as well as critical, supportive analysis by peers. Atomic Fez is a member… and you want to be just as cool as that, right…?
• Finally: don’t forget that if you’re attending WHC, simply buying a copy of Wicked Delights at that event – but only if you buy a copy there – means you’re entered in a contest to share a champagne breakfast with the book’s author: John Llewellyn Probert and his retinue! Buy a book, read some great stories, enjoy the writing, plus possibly get to break your fast with that devilishly good-​​looking JLP with his infamous whip-​​like wit! No matter the result, everyone wins!

METRO VANCOUVER, BC: Atomic Fez Publishing today announced their scheme to ‘bring a little joy to the morning’ of their loyal customers at the upcoming World Horror Convention 2010 by way of a Champagne Breakfast with the author of Wicked Delights: John Llewellyn Probert.

Attending any World Horror Convention is something special, but this year is the first time that the event will have been held off the North American continent. Additionally, World HorrorCon – held March 25^th–28^th in Brighton, England – is the event at which Atomic Fez will be making their maiden publications available to the buying public for the first time.

Wicked Delights is Mr. Probert’s fifth collection of short stories, and during WHC will be specially priced to make the volume of 18 delectable tales particularly desirable to the horror connoisseur.

One lucky purchaser of the collection will discover something extra amongst the book’s 352 pages of highly-​​talented writing: a “Golden Ticket” that will enable them to have the experience of a lifetime and something to make their trip to WHC fit for the history books: a Champagne Breakfast with the author!

This “Golden Ticket” will allow the bearer to enjoy the delights of a thoroughly wicked Champagne Breakfast in the company of both Mr. Probert, his publisher (Ian Alexander Martin), along with their retinue on the Sunday morning of WHC. All the bearer need bring with them is the ticket, a sense of humour, and a healthy appetite… and probably some clothes.

While only copies of Wicked Delights purchased at WHC are valid for this contest, the hardback collection may be obtained from either AtomicFez.com or better book dealers.

Advance Praise for Wicked Delights:

18 gruesome, unsettling, and often unnervingly funny tales in his wide-​​ranging fifth short story collection. … Vividly creepy images… are all the more compelling when rendered in Probert’s breezy style. An illuminating and frequently hilarious afterword ends the collection on a gentle note.

— Publishers Weekly, February 8^th, 2010,
‘Fiction Book Reviews (SF/​Fantasy/​Horror)’

The delightfully wicked Mr. Probert wields his prose like a scalpel. His imagination is impressively warped and gruesome, and yet his tales have an unrepentantly English reticence. There’s dark humour here, and unexpected poignancy  —  indeed, the book is as full of surprises as the man himself. Horror is lucky to have him.

—Ramsey Campbell (author of “Just Behind You”
and “Creatures of the Pool”)