NEWS

WRITERS, AUTHORS, POETS AND READERS is an MSN Web Community where those interested in writing of all kinds (and reading them), especially in the small presses can get together to compare experiences and swap tips. For further information, or to join the community, go to http://communities.msn.co.uk/Writersauthorspoetsandreaders.

Congratulations to NEAL ASHER for clinching a three-book contract with Pan MacMillan. He's already received his first advance and the first book, Gridlinked, is already at the copyediting stage. He joins a select list of only four British SF writers at MacMillan, the others being Peter F. Hamilton, Justina Robson, and China Meiville.

The CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION has announced the Debut Dagger Award 2000 for new crime writing. Awarded to the winner of the CWA's new writing competition, the Debut Dagger is open to anyone whose work has not been published before. Potential writers have until 14 August 2000 to produce a 500-word outline of the crime novel and its opening pages (up to 3,000 words). Crime includes anything from historical mysteries and period whodunits to thrillers. There is an entry fee of £10. Professional readers will assess the entries and the final decisions will be taken by a judging panel of publishing editors and crime fiction experts. The top ten entants will each win a parcel of crime novels from the sponsoring publishers and an editorial report on their entry; the overall winner will receive £200 plus free tickets and accommodation for two at Dead on Deansgate, the annual crime writing convention in Manchester in October 2000. For further information and an entry form, send an SAE to CWA Competition, P.O. Box 62, Okehampton EX20 2YQ, UK.

CHANGES OF ADDRESS

CLOSED OR MISSING

BEYOND THE ROSE #1, A5, 56pp, Ir£1:50 (Ireland/UK 3/£3; USA/Canada 3/$10) from David P. Dunning, Black Rose Publications, P.O. Box 5461, Dublin 12, Ireland (e-mail: dunningd@gofree.indigo.ie). A brand new sword-and-sorcery and high fantasy magazine from the publishers of Black Rose, opening its account with fiction by Patrice Sarath, Doris Speed, Victor West, Chad Hensley, Myki Blatchley, Nicola Caines, and Nancy Bennett.

BLACK ROSE #4, A4, 64pp, Ir£2:50 (Ireland/UK 3/£7; USA/Canada 3/$20) from David P. Dunning, Black Rose Publications, P.O. Box 5461, Dublin 12, Ireland (e-mail: dunningd@gofree.indigo.ie). Horror and supernatural fiction by Lorne Patterson, Frank Roger, Craig Jones, Kevin Gormley, Anthony Wilkins, Darren Floyd, John Light, Kenneth C. Goldman, and Julie E. Washington.

DATA DUMP #45, A5, 4pp, 70p/$2 (USA orders in cash or stamps of 50¢ or less) from Steve Sneyd, Hilltop Press, 4 Nowell Place, Almondbury, Huddersfield HD5 8PB. Continuing Steve's series of factsheets on genre poetry with a general summary of recent anthologies, articles and news, plus continuing updates on the influence of genre ideas on opera and rock music which first started in #12.

THE GILA QUEEN'S GUIDE TO MARKETS #103, A4, 20pp, $6 (10/$45; Canada 10/$49; r.o.w. 10/$60) from Kathryn Ptacek, P.O. Box 97, Newton, NJ 07860-0097, USA (e-mail: gilaqueen@worldnet.att.net; http://www.gilaqueen.com/). Six-weekly writer's and artist's market magazine covering fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines, trade journals, book publishers, small press, greetings cards and many other markets, with an emphasis on those that pay. This issue includes updates for erotica and SF/F/H markets, plus articles on blatant self-promotion, and the art of collaboration.

HANDSHAKE #39, A4, 2pp, free for SAE from J.F. Haines, 5 Cross Farm, Station Road, Padgate, Warrington WA2 0QG. Market information and news of SF-poetry-related events, plus poetry from Steve Sneyd, Kama Garcha, Giovanni Malito, Geoff Stevens, Philip Davenport, A.C. Evans, and Peter Day.

NOESIS #6, A4, 40pp, £2:75 (4/£10:50; r.o.w. 4/£12) from Noesis, 61 Pengarth Rise, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2RR (e-mail: lesleymiln@aol.com; http://www.noesis-sf.co.uk). Lively magazine of science fiction and science fact, which sees extrapolations of the universe as we know it as the basis for its SF. This issue's fiction is provided by Chris Wood, Will Tobin, Hugh Spencer, Barbara Davies, Trevor Mendham, Ceri Jordan, and Peter Rushton.

NOT ONE OF US #23, A5, 52pp, $5:50 (3/$13:50) from John Benson, 12 Curtis Road, Natick, MA 01760, USA. Horror and dark fantasy exploring the concept of 'otherness' from every fictional angle with stories by Neil Williamson, Antony Bennett, Seth Matthew Lindberg, Mark Rich, Bruce Boston, and Paul Bradshaw, plus poetry by Karen R. Porter, Nancy Bennett, Kurt Sobolik, C.S. Fuqua, Michael A. Chaney, John R. Platt, and John Grey.

ON SPEC #39: Winter 1999, A5, 116pp p/b, Can$4:95 (4/Can$18; USA 4/US$18; r.o.w. 4/US$25) from On Spec, Box 4727, Edmonton, AB T6E 5G6, Canada (e-mail: onspec@earthling.net; http://www.icomm.ca/onspec). Award-winning SF and fantasy magazine with fiction by Tanya Huff, Candas Jane Dorsey, Sherry D. Ramsey, Randy Schroeder, Douglas Ivison, Robert H. Beer, Joe Murphy, Linda Smith, Leslie Lupien, Mary Soon Lee, and Marlene Wurfel.

PANDA #2, A5, 60pp, £3 (4/£10; USA 4/$15) from Esmond Jones, 46 First Avenue, Clase, Swansea SA6 7LL (e-mail: esmond.jones@cableol.co.uk). A quarterly magazine of poetry and prose which promises 'to deliver fresh, modern, unbiased material ... ignoring the critics who are stuck in a time warp'.

SCAVENGER'S NEWSLETTER #193, A5, 28pp, $2:50 (12/$22; Canada 12/$21; r.o.w. air 12/$27; r.o.w. surface 12/$18) from Janet Fox, 833 Main, Osage City, KS 66523-1241, USA (e-mail: foxscav1@jc.net; http://www.jlgiftsshop.com/scav/index.html). Monthly newsletter for SF/F/H/mystery writers and artists with an interest in the small press. Market news, letters and reviews from USA, UK and elsewhere, plus interviews with David B. Silva and artist Jamie Oberschlake, and fiction by T.M. Eaton.

SPACE AND TIME #91, A4, 52pp, $6:50 (2/$10; outside USA 2/$11) from Space and Time, 138 W. 70th Street (4B), New York, NY 10023-4468, USA (http://www.cith.org/space&time.html). A rich mixture of fiction and poetry covering all aspects of the fantasy genre – science fiction, supernatural horror, swords and sorcery, and the unclassifiable – from James Van Pelt, Charlee Jacob, Patricia Russo, Charles Anders, Katherine Woodbury, Robyn Bates MacKenzie, Raud Allen Kennedy, Lorraine Schein, and Chris Huntington, plus poetry by J.W. Donnelly, Tim Myers, David McClinton, Ann K. Schwader, Nancy Ellis Taylor & Denise Dumars, Michelle Leasure-Firesheets, Rob Cook, and Jennifer Crow.

UNHINGED #5, A5, 84pp p/b, £2:50 (4/£9; US 4/$26; r.o.w. UK 4/£13) from P.J. Lockey, 9 South View Terrace, Silsden, Keighley, West Yorks BD20 0AS. A quarterly adults-only magazine that likes to explore the darker side of humanity. The fiction in this issue is provided by David Murphy, Andrew Richardson, Angela Readman, D. Morrison, Suzy Nightingale, Brian Maycock, David Whippman, Derrick Porter, Jason Conway, Lauren Halkon, D.J. Tyrer, Paul Ward, D.F. Lewis & David Price, David Bell, Lisa Negus & Robert D. Rowntree, and Steve Redwood.

ZENE #22, A5, 36pp, 6/£12 (Europe 6/£15; USA 6/$24; r.o.w. 6/£18) from TTA Press, 5 Martins Lane, Witcham, Ely, Cambs CB6 2LB (e-mail: ttapress@aol.com; http://www.tta-press.freewire.co.uk). A comprehensive listings magazine for prospective contributors to the independent press. This issue features guidelines from Britain, Canada, Ireland, Germany, France, USA, and Australia, plus competition news, reviews and articles.

THE FALL OF AMERICA by Robnoxious, A5, 128pp, $2 (outside USA $4) from Robnoxious, P.O. Box 743, Mankato, MN 56002, USA (e-mail: therobnoxious@hotmail.com. For centuries many people have looked forward to the day when revolution comes to the USA but, when it finally does, there are others who plan a different outcome that would leave them in control of the entire world. In this setting of the last days of America, a few kids in the underground struggle to create their own world and resist the new takers of freedom. The author's as revolutionary as his writing – this self-published volume is printed on newsprint, and bound by hand with the cover hand-printed on re-used cardstock to reduce environmental destruction.

GNAWING MEDUSA'S FLESH: THE SCIENCE FICTION POETRY OF ROBERT CALVERT by Steve Sneyd & David Jones (aka DATA DUMP #40/#41), ISBN 0-905262-21-2, A5, 52pp, £2:99/$7 (USA orders in cash or stamps of 50¢ or less) from Steve Sneyd, Hilltop Press, 4 Nowell Place, Almondbury, Huddersfield HD5 8PB. Over a decade after Calvert's death, the importance of the legendary Hawkwind frontman's contribution to science fiction poetry at last receives due recognition in this appraisal of his life and work. By exploring his lyrics and poems in depth, and placing them in the context of his extraordinary creative activity, this book reveals how the ultimate space rock icon was a true prophet of his age.

COLD TONNAGE BOOKS March 2000, A5, 40pp, enquire to Cold Tonnage Books, Andy Richards, 22 Kings Lane, Windlesham, Surrey GU20 6JQ (tel: 01276 475388; fax: 0870 0548510; e-mail: andy@coldtonnage.demon.co.uk; http://www.coldtonnage.demon.co.uk). Extensive selection of SF/F/H signed, hardback and limited editions, and many collectable paperbacks.

CREATIVE ARTS COURSES 2000, A5, 28pp, enquire to Creative Arts Courses, The Indian King Arts Centre, Fore Street, Camelford, Cornwall PL32 9PG (tel: 01840 212111; e-mail: info@indianking.co.uk; http://www.indianking.co.uk). Latest catalogue of residential courses for writers of all levels and persuasions, including getting started, poetry, historical/romantic fiction, genre fiction, and novels, as well as related topics such as enhancing creativity through self-hypnosis. Groups are strictly limited to 6-12 people to ensure full participation and individual attention.

ZOM BEE MOO VEE
by Mark McLaughlin
ISBN 0-9668184-1-5, 132mm x 181mm, 64pp, $5:99 (Canada $6:99) from Fairwood Press, 5203 Quincy Ave SE, Auburn, WA 98092, USA (e-mail: talebones@nventure.com; http://www.fairwoodpress.com) (reviewed by Tony Lee).
  This smartly produced chapbook, subtitled "an A-Z collection of cinematic fantasy", brings together six stories and three poems from the editor of US genre fiction magazine, The Urbanite. Thematically, the verse reads better than the prose but there's room for both forms in this writer's keenly observed media satire of weird B-movies, and the shallow but often fascinating subcultures independent American cinema has given rise to.
  Is Little Perky, the conscienceless protagonist of "Bucktoothed Boy, Beloved By Millions" a wickedly mischievous, dreamscape alter ego of McLaughlin? Has the author ever performed the bizarre techno-pagan ceremony described in his disturbing "Tread The Backward Spiral"? What really happened to the typecast and embittered actress of moral fable, "I Am Not Painsettia Plont"? Dare you laugh at the tragic ending of "Planet Of The Secret Agents"? How can the trapped victims escape from the dreaded island of ghouls in the title story? For the answers to these questions, and more sudden death twists and sustained amusement than the average full-length dark fantasy novel, you must read Zom Bee Moo Vee. You must read it now – or die horribly!