The Big Scoop on Space: 1889 EBooks

After a week in Arizona as guest of honor at the 2011 Consimworld Expo (great time, and more about that in a later colum), and then a week without internet service (due to a broken router and delayed service call, one of the thrills of rural living), I imagine some of you thought I'd fallen off the earth. Nay nay! Lots of stuff to report, and some pictures of master miniatures coming in a later post.


But for today the big news is the official launch of the Untreed Reads line of Space: 1889 EBooks, with the first one due out next month and then following through the rest of the summer and fall with all six available by the end of the year. This is not a series for which you'll have to wait a year or two between installments. Also, at least one of the authors may sound a little familiar.


Here is the complete press release from Untreed Reads:


*****

Coming July 2011 from Untreed Reads Publishing

SPACE 1889 & BEYOND

Everything Jules Verne should have written.

Everything H.G. Wells could have written.

Everything Arthur Conan Doyle thought of,

but never published – because it was too fantastic!

A brand new series of ebooks based on the world-renowned Role Playing Game, fully licensed from creator, Frank Chadwick, and headed by best-selling author of Seeker (Book One of The Garden), Andy Frankham-Allen. Space 1889 & Beyond takes the concepts and ideas that have thrilled steampunk gamers for over two decades into new and unexpected directions. Familiar enough for the old guard, and thrilling enough for a whole new generation of fans.

This series follows the exploits of “Professor” Nathanial Stone, scientific genius and unwilling adventurer, and Miss Annabelle Somerset, niece of infamous scientist Doctor Cyrus Grant and born adventuress, as they travel the inner worlds uncovering secret plots and encountering strange creatures. From the unexplored subterranean world of Luna, all the way to the divided sands of Mars, and back again, adventure and wild daring-do is never far away.

The first series of six ebooks runs from July through to December 2011 and is brought to you by some of the best names in the field of steampunk, science fiction and horror.

Andy Frankham-Allen is a Welsh-born author of many short stories, both for Untreed Reads and the Big Finish official range of Doctor Who anthologies. In 2005 he co-authored the last in Noise Monster Productions range of Space 1889 audio dramas, and in early 2011 Hirst Publishing and Untreed Reads published the first novel in his new real world dark fantasy series, The Garden. In June 2011 he was also Author of Month with Queer Magazine Online. He is the author of story #1: Journey to the Heart of the Luna and co-author of story #6: Return to Luna.

K.G. McAbee writes steampunk, fantasy, horror, science fiction, pulp and YA, plus a few more genres from time to time just to keep her hand in. She’s had seventeen books and over ninety-one short stories and novellas published so far, and she has from five to seven underway at any given time; she also has a passion for prime numbers. She’s the author of the Lady Abigail steampunk short story series at Untreed Reads, and she is co-author of the steampunk series The Brass Chronicles; the first book, Brass and Bone, will be released soon from Carina Press/Harlequin. She’s a history geek who once spent an hour lying in a stone vault in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid, and she lives in a 217-year-old log cabin in the woods of upstate South Carolina, near an ancient stone quarry used by some of her ancestors, the Cherokee. She is the author of story #2: Vandals on Venus.

Mark Michalowski is the author of four BBC Doctor Who novels, a Doctor Who spin-off novel and a BBC Being Human novel, as well as more short stories than he can count (mainly because he's never been very good at counting). He lives in Leeds with half a cat. Not in a macabre way - it's just that Lulu spends half of her time living in the lap of luxury at various neighbours' houses. If only humans could do that... He is the author of story #3: The Ghost of Mercury.

L. Joseph Shosty lives in Beaumont, Texas with his wife and son.  He is the author of nearly fifty short stories, as well as numerous essays, articles, book reviews, and poems.  A novel, Sign of the Hanged Man, was serialised on the web in 2000 and 2001, and his story collection, Hoodwinks on a Crumbling Fence, was published in 2000.  His second novel, a mainstream work titled The Return of Baldheaded Johnson, has recently been completed. He is the author of story #4: Abattoir in the Aether.

Frank Chadwick is no stranger to the Victorian science fiction field. He is the creator of the Space: 1889 universe, with the first in a series of role-playing adventures, board games, and miniatures rules appearing over twenty years ago. He is known throughout the gaming industry as one of its most prolific designers, with over a hundred published games. He is also well-known in the history and military affairs field, with over two hundred books, articles, and columns. His 1991 Desert Shield Fact Book reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, but he still lists steampunk as one of his first and greatest loves. He is the author of story #5: A Prince of Mars.

J.T. Wilson is an author, a script consultant and a musician. He is the manager of the band Deathsex Bloodbath and the wrestling zombie Chris Stone, a traveller in Unspace, a renowned lover and a compulsive liar. He is best known for his far-fetched fiction novel Cemetery Drive and the forthcoming Untreed Reads short Squalling Brats. Despite growing up in the North of England, ill-fated dabblings with the undead condemn him to dwell forevermore in Coventry. He likes cats and dinosaurs and is the last of the romantics. He is the co-author of story #6: Return to Luna.

Steve Upham is the artist, editor and publisher at Screaming Dreams, a small press dedicated to all things fantasy, sci-fi and horror. He also produces cover artwork and designs for several other independent publishers. Although formally trained in traditional media, Steve now works digitally for illustration work using numerous 2D and 3D graphics applications. As if he doesn't already have enough to do, he continues to look for new challenges! You can find out more at his website - http://www.screamingdreams.com. He redesigned the series logo, and designed the cover template.

David Burson is a freelance illustrator specializing in science fiction art. He writes and illustrates the comic book Draculasaurus, and is an active Doctor Who fan artist. David lives near Austin, Texas with his wife. He is the cover artist for series one.