In a dimly lit basement. Beneath the grim streets of a post industrial city whence dark satanic mills long since ceased to pushing dense black smoke in to the air. On a wooden operating table, complete with ancient leather straps to hold down the patie…
In a dimly lit basement. Beneath the grim streets of a post industrial city whence dark satanic mills long since ceased to pushing dense black smoke in to the air. On a wooden operating table, complete with ancient leather straps to hold down the patient, or perhaps victim. A manuscript lays strapped there, lifeless, a husk awaiting existence.
Out side a storm rages. Creative thunder seems to shake the building with crashing sound. The lightening of invention brightens the world briefly, bringing light to the basement with greasy windows. Rain pours and runs through gutters, washing away the debris of forgotten plots and unused verbs. Metaphors so mixed that they run into each other clashing in furious sentences as nouns get carried away and advance on the massed ranks of adverbs with murder in there hearts...
And they wait , in the darkness, in the gloom, in the shadows. They wait, they watch, they pontificate, procrastinate and scribble in note books. they wait for the lightening to strike the conductor rod on the roof. Counting the gaps between the lightening and the thunder, 10 seconds, threes seconds , two seconds...
Thunder rolls as the lightening flashes in the window. Electricity raw and untamed fills the air, smokes rises form the manuscript on the table, then it starts to burn as it fights against its shackles. And a voice shouts out with joyous exultation.
"IT'S ALIVE!!!!!"
And so perhaps we should meet some of those who haunt the shadows... Otherwise known as the writers featured in Mr Harvey Duckmans new anthology Folly and Madness. For some of these lovely people I have specific links to there own stuff and pictures because they are open about there existence as real (or surreal) entities. However, for reasons of which I can not speak, which could possibly be to maintain a level of mystic, I have had to put them all together in one collective picture so you can have a fun game of guessing who is who...
Nimue Brown. Author, poet, musician, squid herder, possibly a were-otter. one of Jessica Law's Outlaws, writer of the ever fascinating Druid Life blog, Wessex Mysteries, speculative fiction, Pagan non-fiction, poetry, steampunk, hats. Also known to steal wool from trees and spin it into yarn with the possibility of at least one sock at some point in the future. No one is sure what the name of the sock will be...
Steven C Davis. A fascinating darkness and herder of music, writer, poet of dark intent, enamoured of squirrels, playwright, organiser of steampunk music festivals and publisher at Tenebrous Texts. Also known to sit quietly and unobtrusively at the back of events, saying nothing, and sipping tea. This is in no way a worrying thing, and you should not beware...
Eloign deBrohn. Taller than one might imagine, occasionally eats lotus leafs, flighty and know for wearing chiffon robes and dancing by the side of the lake pretending, or possibly not, to be a fairy. May be fictional and actually a bloke call John. We do not however assume an authors life choices, or their choice of pen names.
Ben Sawyer. Writer of paranormal fiction, including the Holly Trinity and the Ghosts of York series of novels and a The cleverly named Ben Sawyer Author blog Likes umbrella's, Kate Bush and dressing up as Sylvester McCoy's doctor, if Sylvester McCoy had a neatly trimmed beard and long hair. Is possibly just a means of transport for Dotty, the next terrible overlord of all things. Too nice by far... May also be dead by now if the tarot reading he received on Saturday is anything to go by.
Kate Baucherel. Crypto-current expert who gets invited to South by South West every year. This is not annoying at all, it not like anyone else would want to swan off to Austin TX and flit around going to premieres and concerts, all for sitting on a stage talking about stuff no one else understands, so frankly she could just be making it all up. Also writes books, quite good ones I recommend a lot...
Alexandrina Brant. According to her Twitter Bio: Just a vintage girl living in a clockwork world. Whovian, Trekkie, infertility warrior and writer who keeps promising the world she will finish that novel she has been writing eventually. Which is good as I for one would quite like to read it...
Keith Errington, Musician, writer, publicist and pun herder. Occasionally is Russian aristocratic comedian Count Rostov, who so amused the wonderful Robert Rankin he turned the Count into the main villain of a novel. It is therefore disappointing when you discover Kieth is not trying to subvert the government and install the Count as head of state. Not least because he is a nice bloke and would probably do a better job of ruling we, the unwashed masses ( who have had a shower actually so are just the masses thank you very much...)
Laura Buckley a writer who embarrassingly I know nothing about. What I do know is her story The Beast of Lava Lake was too good not to be included in the anthology, and she has submitted more stories that are equally awesome that will be in future Harvey anthologies so there will be more to come. So I probably need to fine out something about her, or just make stuff up like I normally do. Fond of vol au vents and owns a hamster called Cedric Archibald the third (possibly)
Anna Atkinson-Dunn A writer of things, including things where people dress up to hit other people dressed up as things with things. Also known to give mocking glances at other authors reading tarot cards. The Engine Whisper is her debut as a writer of short fictions, it is really rather good and certainly better than the attempts at tarot card readings she is rightly somewhat dismissive of .
C.K. Roebuck can not be trusted. Smiles too much and seems openly cheerful. Where is the post modernist angst? People should not be this happy, and you can not trust those who are. Don't trust the niceness, its a ploy to draw you in and make you feel secure. Writes stuff, rather well for a happy person, too well, what is he hiding? We are watching you Craig...
Mat McCall steampunk, writer, member of the Ultra low altitude retrorocket display team. Wearer of ever more elaborate hats, who also manages to write incredibly complicated but wonderful novels set on Mars in the 1890's. Keeps far too tidy a wilderness of a back garden to be a dandelion farmer. May or may not have a website, but i am buggered if I can find it, don't even have his books listed on a amazon authors page (half the time he doesn't remember to bring his books to events). Clearly likes to keep his profile as a writer as low as his rocket pack flying... Can be found hanging about in Gloucester, if you know where to look ...
Mark Hayes, who also curated this Steampunk edition. You may have heard of him but personally I don't trust him, he makes stuff up all the time...
C G Hatton , While I may have curated the steampunk edition Gillie did all the work. Gillie is a wonderful writer in her own right, as well as a publisher, editor, and just plain wonderful...
Folly and Madness is out now in paperback and on kindle. Those listed above are to blame... They have all helped bring the apocalypse closer, literally as the next Harvey Anthology will be on themed around stories of the Post Apocalypse.
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