Thursday, January 21, 2010

News from teh HWA, Angry Robot Books, Comicbook Artists Guild

*HWA Specialty Press Award Goes to Tartarus Press*

Tartarus Press, of North Yorkshire, England, will receive the Horror
Writers Association’s Specialty Press Award for 2009. The award will be
presented during the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet at the World Horror
Convention, to be held this year in Brighton, England, March 25-28.

The annual Specialty Press Award recognizes a publisher outside the
mainstream New York City publishing community that specializes in
dark-themed fiction. Winners are typically “small presses” specializing
in limited editions, small print runs, or the work of new and relatively
unknown authors. The winner of the award is determined by a majority
vote of the HWA Board of Trustees.

Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker’s Tartarus Press specializes in weird,
ghostly, and gothic fiction ranging from reprints of obscure but notable
novellas and novels to single-author collections of classics and brand
new collections by contemporary writers. Tartarus has reprinted
collections by Arthur Machen, F. Marion Crawford, Sarban, Robert
Aickman, Edith Wharton, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, plus published new
collections by Rhys Hughes, Mark Valentine, Peter Cannon, and Simon
Strantzas, among others.

Their first original anthology, /Tales From Tartarus,/ was edited by
R.B. Russell and Rosalie Parker and published in 1995. Since then,
/Strange Tales/ volumes 1-3 have come out, and the first volume won the
World Fantasy Award in 2004.

Tartarus has been in existence for twenty years. Initially, the
publications were inexpensive yet attractive stapled booklets of stories
or articles limited to 25-50 copies. The press quickly graduated to
publishing 100-250 copies of its more popular chapbooks, and by 1992 it
was producing attractive hardbound books such as the collection /Ritual
and Other Stories/ by Arthur Machen. Now, in 2010, most of their print
runs are 300-500 copies.

In addition the press published a price guide to first editions, and the
journal /Wormwood/.

Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow said, “I’ve been following
the maturation of Tartarus Press for all these twenty years and eagerly
await each book they publish. I’m thrilled that they’re finally being
honored this way.”

When informed of the award, Tartarus had this to say: "Tartarus has only
ever published writing that we, Ray Russell and Rosalie Parker,
personally admire. It is a constant delight to us to find that others
share our enthusiasms, whether it be readers, reviewers or the Board of
Trustees of the Horror Writers Association!”

Past winners of the Specialty Press Award include Delirium Books,
Earthling Publications, PS Publishing, and Blood letting Press. Cemetery
Dance won the first Specialty Press Award in 1997.

For more information about Tartarus Press, visit the company website at
http://homepages.pavilion.co.uk/users/tartarus/ .

###

Note: The conference and the awards banquet are open to the public.

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide organization promoting
dark literature and its creators. Started in 1985, it has over 500
members who are writing professionally in fiction, nonfiction,
videogames, films, comics, and other media.

For more information about the HWA, the Bram Stoker Awards, or the
Lifetime Achievement Awards, please visit www.horror.org
. More information on the World Horror
Convention is available at www.whc2010.org .

For immediate release
Jan. 10, 2010

*LUMLEY, NOLAN WIN LIFETIME HORROR AWARD*

The Horror Writers Association has chosen two long-time icons of the
genre to receive the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award this year.
The award, given for an author’s overall body of work, will go to Brian
Lumley and to William F. Nolan.

Brian Lumley's first short story collection, /The Caller of the Black/,
was published by Arkham House in 1971. Lumley went on to garner
followers around the world for his series of /Necroscope/ novels, which
began in 1986. He has published dozens of short stories, including many
in the Cthulhu Mythos begun by H. P. Lovecraft, and he is also the
author of the popular "Titus Crow" and "Psychomech" stories. His books
have been published in both mass market and small press limited
editions, and his early titles command high prices in the collector's
market. He is the subject of 2002's /The Brian Lumley Companion
/(co-written with Stanley Wiater), and his most recent release is /Harry
and the Pirates: And Other Tales from the Lost Years /(Tor, 2009).
Lumley is a former President of the Horror Writers Association.

William F. Nolan is a true Renaissance man of literature, having written
science fiction (including the immensely popular /Logan's Run/ series,
the first volume of which was co-written with George Clayton Johnson),
mysteries, screenplays, and non-fiction, but some of his most
outstanding work as an editor and short fiction author has been in the
horror genre. His 1984 collection /Things Beyond Midnight/ was first
published by Scream/Press (and since been reprinted by Babbage Press),
and in 2003 Leisure Books published /Dark Universe/. As a screenwriter,
Nolan co-wrote the legendary television film /Trilogy of Terror/, a
highly-regarded adaptation of /The Turn of the Screw/ (ABC, 1974), and
1976's /Burnt Offerings/. In 2002, he was voted a "Living Legend in Dark
Fantasy" by the International Horror Guild, and in 2006 he was named
Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America,
Inc. Nolan most recently served as editor on the anthology /The Bleeding
Edge/.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious of the Bram
Stoker Awards, given by the HWA in acknowledgment of superior
achievement not just in a single work but over an entire career. Past
Lifetime Achievement Award winners include such noted authors as Stephen
King, Anne Rice, Joyce Carol Oates, Ray Bradbury, F. Paul Wilson,
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and Peter Straub. Winners must have exhibited a
profound, positive impact on the fields of horror and dark fantasy, and
be at least sixty years of age or have been published for a minimum of
thirty-five years.

The LAAs will be presented on March 27, 2010 in conjunction with the
World Horror Convention in Brighton, U.K. The convention will take place
from March 25-28 at Brighton's historic Royal Albion Hotel. For more
information on the World Horror Convention, please visit their website
at www.whc2010.org .

The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide organization promoting
dark literature and its creators. Started in 1985, it has over 500
members who are writing professionally in fiction, nonfiction,
videogames, films, comics, and other media.

To learn more about this year’s winners, visit them online. Lumley can
be found at www.brianlumley.com and Nolan
at www.williamfnolan.com .

###

Note: The conference and the awards banquet are open to the public.

For more information about the HWA, the Bram Stoker Awards, or the
Lifetime Achievement Awards, please visit www.horror.org
.

High resolution photo of Brian Lumley:
http://www.lisamorton.com/hwa/2010/brianlumley.jpg
High resolution photo of William F. Nolan:
http://www.lisamorton.com/hwa/2010/williamfnolan.jpg

More information on Angry Robot can be found at angryrobotbooks.com.

Press Release
19th January 2010 ~ For Immediate Release
ANGRY ROBOT PUTS THE HORROR BACK INTO HORROR FICTION
Angry Robot, HarperCollins’ imprint focussing on innovative fantasy and science fiction, has turned its attention to reinvigorating horror. Gary McMahon’s Pretty Little Dead Things and its sequel promise an astonishing mix of David Peace and modern Japanese horror cinema to create a truly unique fusion of intense writing and sheer terror.

Marc Gascoigne, Angry Robot’s publishing director, said: “Horror thrives in movies and graphic novels. Like our other recent discovery, Kaaron Warren, Gary is at the forefront of a new generation of writers bringing that energy back to horror fiction.”

McMahon added: “Working with the Angry Robot family, it feels as if I’m participating in something fresh and vital. Exciting times lie ahead.”

Pretty Little Dead Things will be published in the UK and Australia this July, and in the US (also by Angry Robot) in winter 2010. Its sequel, Dead Bad Things, follows in the Spring of 2011, with US publication shortly thereafter.

All Angry Robot titles are available in paperback, eBook and audio formats.

About Angry Robot
Angry Robot is the new genre imprint from HarperCollins, bringing you the best in new SF,
F and WTF?! Our first titles hit the stores in the UK and Australia on 1st July 2009. We
debut in the US in May 2010.

For more information, review copies, interview and feature requests contact Lee Harris
(lee.harris@angryrobotbooks.com +44 (0) 115 - 845 6551).

From the Comicbook Artists Guild

Local CT arts center serves as host for gallery event.

MOODUS CT, January 11, 2010: The Comicbook Artists Guild is excited to announce the very first CAG Gallery Showing featuring a Tribute to Rusty Haller, hosted by the Green Street Arts Center in Middletown CT. Commencing with an opening celebration on Friday, January 22nd, the gallery showing will feature work from some of the hottest up and coming artists in the comic book industry. The show will also feature a retrospective of work from acclaimed comic book artist Rusty Haller, who worked on a wide range of comics including The Flintstones, Looney Tunes, Alf, and his own creation, Ace and Queenie.

The showing will also include a 3-hour workshop for artists who are interested in learning the ins and outs of sequential art. Part one of the workshop will focus on the basics of creating art for the comic page. Part two will move into a more advanced class for those looking to hone their skills and feature the more fantastic elements of bringing mutants and monsters to life in the comic book. These workshops will be held from 1 to 4pm on Saturday, January 23rd.

Throughout the opening weekend, members of the Comicbook Artists Guild will also be exhibiting and selling their art and published works in an Artists Alley room being set up in the Arts Center. The Artists Alley will run from Friday evening through Saturday, January 23rd. The gallery exhibit will be on display for two weeks.

The Green Street Arts Center is located at 51 Green Street in Middletown CT. The Comicbook Artists Guild Gallery Show and Tribute to Rusty Haller begins Friday January 22, 2010 at 7pm. Admission is $10 for the general public and $8 for Arts Center members. To register for the two workshops, interested participants should contact the Arts Center directly. The fee for each workshop is $15.00, or $25.00 for the full session.


The Comicbook Artists Guild, founded in 2000, is an organization dedicated to the networking, education and support of comic book creators, writers and artists alike, regardless of amateur or professional status, skill levels or talent divisions. CAG operates membership chapters in New York Metro and New England, with interest in opening more chapters and continuing to grow. CAG’s goal is to advance the medium of comics through the creative experiences of its members. By bringing them together on projects of their choosing, the Guild perpetuates the positive aspects of the comics industry and its continuing contribution to popular culture.

The Green Street Arts Center, which opened in January 2005, is an initiative of Wesleyan University developed in collaboration with the City of Middletown and the North End Action Team and serves as an anchor to the revitalization efforts currently underway in the North End. Programming in the former schoolhouse at 51 Green Street includes a vibrant after-school program and a wide range of affordable classes and workshops for children and adults in music, dance, visual arts, theater, sound recording, media arts and creative writing.

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