Authors beaming to Sci-Fi Weekender 15
We’re delighted to welcome American author PETER V BRETT as part of his UK tour promoting his current novel. Peter is the internationally bestselling author of the Demon Cycle series, which has sold more than three and a half million copies in twenty-seven languages worldwide. Novels include The Warded Man, The Desert Spear, The Daylight War, The Skull Throne, and The Core. He lives in Brooklyn. Peter joins us on the Saturday Only to meet everyone and sign copies of his books.
DARREN SHAN is also back with us. Darren’s first children’s book, Cirque du Freak, was published in January 2000. It was the beginning of The Saga of Darren Shan series, which went on to become a much-loved global phenomenon, making bestseller charts in the UK, USA (New York Times Top 10), Japan, Taiwan, Hungary, Norway, the Netherlands, Dubai and elsewhere. The first three books were adapted into a movie by Universal in 2009. Darren followed up his vampiric saga with The Demonata, which saw him enjoy similar chart success worldwide. That has been followed by three more series, The Saga of Larten Crepsley, Zom-B, and most recently Archibald Lox. He has also published a few stand-alone books for children, and there was a much translated manga adaptation of The Saga Of Darren Shan, drawn by the Japanese artist, Takahiro Arai. Darren writes novels for adults too. Some of those were released under the Darren Shan name, but now he releases his books for older readers under the pseudonym of Darren Dash.
Darren’s books are on sale in every continent, in 40 countries, in 32 languages, and have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. The Saga Of Darren Shan, Zom-B and short novel Koyasan are all currently under option for TV or film adaptations. He lives in Ireland, with his wife and two children, where he continues to write, read and watch far too many movies and TV shows.
SARAH PINBOROUGH also joins us for the event. Sarah is a New York Times bestselling and Sunday Times number one and internationally bestselling author and screenwriter who is published in over 30 territories worldwide.
Having published more than 25 novels across various genres, her recent books include Behind Her Eyes, now a smash hit Netflix limited series, Dead To Her, now in development with Amazon Studios, and The Death House in development with Compelling Pictures.
Sarah lives with her dog Ted and is currently adapting her most recent novel Insomnia for Left Bank Pictures amongst other film and television projects.
MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI published his first book at the age of 16 and has worked for several decades in book publishing. He has written 21 novels, 5 short story collections and edited over 100 anthologies in the Sf & fantasy, erotica and crime genres.
A winner of the Karel, Anthony and Red Herrings awards, he has also featured regularly in the Sunday Times bestseller lists under a pseudonym.
He was until recently Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association and ran Crime Scene, London’s mystery film festival for 10 years while reviewing crime for Time Out and The Guardian. He once wrote a Doctor Who outline, which Douglas Adams rejected. Maxim has recently sold his noir thriller novel Just A Girl With a Gun, and this book will be launched at the event.
ELIZABETH MORTON was born and raised in Liverpool, spending much of her formative years either at convent school, or playing her piano accordion in Northern working men’s clubs. When she was 18 she trained as an actress at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and went on to work in TV, film, and theatre. She is known for the Liverpool sitcom, Watching, playing Madeleine Bassett in the ITV series, Jeeves and Wooster, and performing in Willy Russell’s plays, including the role of Linda in the original cast of Blood Brothers in the West End.
She began writing after winning The London Writers Competition and has written plays as well as episodes of Doctors, the Radio 4 drama series Brief Lives, and CBeebies.
She was shortlisted for the Bath Short Story award in 2014, also shortlisted for the Dragon’s Pen competition, Fish Short Story Award, and in 2015 won prizes in the Exeter Short Story competition, and the Trisha Ashley Most Humorous Short Story. In 2016, she was one of six shortlisted in the CWA Marjorie Allingham award.
Recent books include The Girl from Liverpool, The Orphans from Liverpool Lane (as Eliza Morton) and, in July 2024, the paperback of The Children Left Behind (as Eliza Morton).
NOELLE HOLTEN is an award-winning blogger at www.crimebookjunkie.co.uk. She is the PR and Social Media Manager for Bookouture, a leading digital publisher in the UK, and worked as a Senior Probation Officer for eighteen years, covering a variety of risk cases as well as working in a multi-agency setting. She has three Hons BA’s – Philosophy, Sociology (Crime and Deviance) and Community Justice – and a Masters in Criminology. Noelle’s hobbies include reading, attending as many book festivals as she can afford and sharing the booklove via her blog.
Dead Inside, her debut novel with One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK is an international Kindle bestseller and the start of a series featuring DC Maggie Jamieson. 6 Ripley Avenue, a stand-alone thriller is her first standalone and is out now. A new stand alone novel is coming in Spring 2024.
BEN ALDERSON is a #1 Amazon bestselling author. His stories are set in fantasy worlds filled with magic, adventure and MM romance. Ben lives in Oxfordshire and, when not writing, can be found reading, taking Winston – his Labrador – out for long walks, or obsessing over Marvel’s The Scarlet Witch.
G N GUDGION (‘Geoff’) grew up with his nose in a book, often one featuring knights in armour. A later search for stories where women didn’t have to be either beautiful damsels or witches led him to the fantasy genre and the works of Guy Gavriel Kay and Mark Lawrence. After Geoff gave up a business career to write, it was natural to gravitate to historical fantasy, to stories with complex, conflicted characters that a reader can bleed with, cry for, and perhaps fall in love with. They live in worlds where you can smell the sweat and the sewers, as well as the roses. Geoff lives in a leafy corner of England, where he’s a keen amateur equestrian and a very bad pianist. He spends much of his time crafting words in a shed, fifty yards and five hundred years from his house.
R S MOULE (‘Roger’) lives in South London with his wife Eloise and their cat Tinks. He has a passion for writing epic fantasy grounded by human flaws and desires, set in worlds inspired by a childhood divided between his home in the soft, rolling hills of the Cotswolds and summers spent exploring the rugged coastline and deep glens of the Isle of Man. When not reading or writing, he can often be found playing guitar or watching football.
RAVEN DANE is a UK based author of dark fantasy, alternative history, steampunk novels and horror short stories. Her first books were the dark fantasy Legacy of the Dark Kind trilogy. These were followed by a High Fantasy spoof, The Unwise Woman of Fuggis Mire. Her steampunk novels are the award-winning Cyrus Darian and the Technomicron and Cyrus Darian and the Ghastly Horde. She has also had many short stories published.
In 2013, her collection of Victorian ghost stories, Absinthe and Arsenic was published and in 2015, the alternative history/supernatural novel, Death’s Dark Wings. Novellas include The Bane of Bailgate, a horror tale, and The House of Wrax, set in a chaotic, dystopian future. A lifelong Doctor Who fan, Raven was delighted to be part of the script team on a spin off film, The White Witch of Devil’s End released by Reeltime Pictures in 2017. She also contributed to the novelisation of the film. Her next work is a folk horror tale, Dwrg Stones, which will be launched at SFW XV.
Stalwart of SFW BRYONY PEARCE returns! Bryony is a multi-award-winning novelist (including the SFW best sci-fi author award) writing for readers of ages 9-12, 13-19 and adults.
For young adults she has penned a mixture of dark thrillers, paranormal adventures, science fiction and horror. Her most recent young adult novels are Cruel Castle (the sequel to the award-winning, Savage Island) and Raising Hell, an urban fantasy with a Buffy vibe. For the adult market she writes thrillers focused on missing children.
Bryony works as a consultant and mentor for Cornerstones Literary Consultancy and teaches the Writing for Childrencourse at City University. Among other events, she has performed at the Edinburgh Literary Festival, YALC (twice) and MCM Comicon (twice). She also appears regularly at the Sci Fi Weekender, her favourite place to hang out.
She currently lives in Gloucestershire and, when she isn’t working or providing a taxi service for teens, can usually be found reading, writing, drinking wine or playing the cello (badly)
And of course…
Bestselling author and award-winning screenwriter, Samantha Lee Howe, and Doctor Who historian, writer and publisher, David J Howe, will be running Author Central as usual with the help of their stalwart crew Tracey and Mick Herod.
Copies of all attending writers’ books will be available at Author Central.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
