The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts

Great progress has been made with The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts: Rolling Back the Years..., the most ambitious project yet undertaken by Parallel Universe Publications. The book will be approximately 220 pages in length and contain hundreds of black and white and colour illustrations, going back to the very earliest days of Jim's career as a fantasy artist in the 1970s  when he became a mainstay for such legendary fanazines as Shadow, Balthus and the British Fantasy Society's Dark Horizons, right up to today, with books such as Brian Lumley's lavish hard cover from Fedogan & Bremer, Earth, Air, Fire & Water, Spectre Press publications like Cthulhu, The Hyborian Gazette and books from Alchemy Press, Shadow Publishing and PUP.
Above is a rough copy of the cover, though that is still very much a work in progress.
The book is scheduled to be published in August/September as a numbered and signed limited edition hard cover, eight and a half inches by eleven. Details of how to pre-order this book (and the offers being made for any who take up this opportunity) will be given shortly. Copies of the book will also be available at FantasyCon, where Jim will be on hand to personally inscribe any books bought. As this is a signed limited edition copies will only be available though the Parallel Universe website or at FantasyCon.
The book includes articles by Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, David A. Sutton, Adrian Cole, Peter Coleborn, Jon M. Harvey, David A. Riley, and Nick Caffrey.

Bibliotheca: H. P. Lovecraft - a Shadow special publication

As well as regularly publishing Shadow during the late 1960's and early 70's, Dave Sutton also produced a couple of other publications, including Weird Window (showcasing original short stories) and Bibliotheca: H. P. Lovecraft.

 Cover art: Kevin O'Neill (from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)

 Back Cover: Art by Brian J. Frost

Contents page

Shadow - the later issues

Rounding off my scans of covers from David A. Sutton's fanzine Shadow:

Issue 12 November/December 1970

Cover art: Brian J. Frost

Issue 12 May/June 1971

Cover art: David Fletcher

Issue 14 September 1971

Cover art: Brian J. Frost

 Issue 15 December 1971

Cover art: David Fletcher

Issue 16 March 1972

Cover art: Alan Hunter

Issue 17 June 1972

Cover art: Jim Pitts

Issue 19 April 1973

Cover art: Jim Pitts

Issue 20 October 1973

Cover art: Jim Pitts

Issue 21 August 1974

Cover artwork: David Fletcher

(Final issue)

Shadow - David A. Sutton's groundbreaking fanzine from the 60's and 70's

I was recently going through my copies of Dave Sutton's great little literary fanzine, Shadow, looking for artwork by Jim Pitts for the forthcoming book to be published next year by Parallel Universe Publications. I wondered, perhaps, whether the early covers would be of interest to some of you, even if the first few issues had no artwork on them.

Issue 1, January 1968

Issue 2 August/September 1968

Issue 3 October/November 1968

Cover art: David A. Sutton

Issue 4, December/January 1968/69

Issue 5 February/March 1969

Cover art: Eddy C. Bertin

Issue 6 April/May 1969

Cover art: Brian J. Frost

Issue 7 September 1969

Cover art: Eddy C. Bertin

Issue 8 October/November 1969

Cover art: David A. Sutton

Issue 9 January/February 1970

Cover art: David A. Riley

Issue 10 April/May 1970

Cover art: Brian J. Frost

Issue 11 July/August 1970

Cover art: Brian J. Frost

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole - copies arrive by courier

Our copies of Tough Guys by Adrian Cole arrived by courier yesterday, including extra copies ordered for the launch at Fantasycon in Scarborough later this year. Really pleased with the brilliant Jim Pitts wraparound cover. The book includes an in-depth introduction by David A. Sutton.

Mobi copies of Tough Guys by Adrian Cole available to reviewers

If any reviewers would like a free mobi copy of Adrian Cole's Tough Guys, which is now available as a paperback and ebook, simply send an email to paralleluniversepublications@gmx.co.uk.

Adrian Cole's Tough Guys now available as paperback and ebook

Adrian Cole's Tough Guys is now available as both a trade paperback and an ebook on amazon.

Trade Paperback:
Amazon.co.uk £8.99
Amazon.com $11.99

Ebook:
Amazon.co.uk £2.99
Amazon.com $4.30

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole now available on Amazon

Cover artwork: Jim Pitts

Paperback copies of Adrian Cole's collection Tough Guys are now available from Amazon. An ebook version will be available shortly.

Adrian’s latest collection, Tough Guys, contains three previously unpublished novellas and a short. Based on the title theme, these four works are completely different in subject matter and tone. There is, of course, A Nick Nightmare story herein, ‘Wait for the Ricochet’, in which the gumshoe is entrusted to convey a message about “The Malleus Tenebrarum”, a book that names the properties and powers of dark and light, to the Mechanic, one Oil-Gun Eddy... His adversary is the sinister Lucien de Sangreville, plus assorted non-human denizens of the murky lower levels, and his sidekick the sword-wielding business-woman Ariadne Carnadine. In contrast, in ‘If You Don’t Eat Your Meat’ the reader enters a post-apocalyptic world where the very unsavoury Ryan relates his story of rival families and cannibalism. It is gruesome and unflinching horror. In ‘A Smell of Burning’ a hospital patient finds he is having out-of-the-body experiences. On his astral journeys he visits a man recalling his abused childhood and this leads to a shocking revelation... Finally, ‘Not If You Want to Live’ explores the fate of Razorjack, who is a Redeemer, a dead man used by a shady organisation to bring back others from death. An intriguing and engrossing story of love between Razorjack (aka Jack Krane) and mobster’s moll Rebecca Fellini, with science fictional and satanic elements.

We'll have stocks of our own at Parallel Universe shortly. We'll also be launching this book at Fantasycon in September, when Adrian Cole will be present.

Amazon.co.uk £8.99
Amazon.com $11.99

Proof copy of Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

The proof copy for Adrian Cole's Tough Guys arrived today - and it looks great. Jim Pitts' wraparound cover artwork looks really good. The book also boasts an in-depth introduction by David A. Sutton.
The book is set to be launch at FantasyCon at Scarborough in September.

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

Cover Artwork: Jim Pitts

I can now reveal the wraparound cover artwork for Adrian Cole's collection of three novellas and one short story, Tough Guys, which will be published by Parallel Universe Publications and launched at Fantasycon in September this year.
The artwork is by award-winning artist Jim Pitts and the collection has an introduction by David A. Sutton.

Dead Water by David A. Sutton and Leinster Gardens by Jan Edwards, Alchemy Press

Two lovely looking books arrived in the post today from The Alchemy Press: Dead Water and Other Weird Tales by David Sutton and Leinster Gardens and Other Subtleties by Jan Edwards. I did the introduction for Dead Water, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to review that, but I do intend to read and review Leinster Gardens.

Dead Water and Other Weird Tales by David A. Sutton

Dead Water and Other Weird Tales by David A. Sutton will be published next month by The Alchemy Press. It's splendid cover is the work of artist Jim Pitts and I had the pleasure to be invited to write the Introduction.

My first published piece: Frank Kafka: Narrator of Nightmares in Shadow # 6

My first published piece was in David Sutton's celebrated fanzine Shadow back in April/May 1969 in its sixth issue. This was an article titled Franz Kafka: Narrator of Nightmares, with a totally inappropriate illustration by yours truly. Other contributors to this issue were Brian J. Frost, Eddy C. Bertin, Alan Jones, and David Sutton.

Weird Window 2

My cover artwork for issue 2

Back in the very early 70s before he became a professional editor with Sphere Books' New Writings in Horror and the Supernarural volumes 1 and 2, Dave Sutton published Weird Window, which showcased new stories by a variety of writers like Robert J. Curran, Keith A. Walker, Alan Moore, Edward P. Bergland, Eddy C. Bertin, Gregory Francis, Alan Jones, and Colin Lee, as well as a couple of stories of mine, one of which ended up in The Year's Best Horror Stories 1 edited by Richard Davis (Sphere Books, UK and DAW Books USA).

Weird Window only ran for two issues. I provided the artwork for the cover of the second issue, plus a story, Corpse-Maker. Other stories in this issue were The Dog by Robert J. Curran, The Haunting of Edward Latimer by Keith A. Walker, Shrine of the Lizard by Alan Moore, and Homecoming by Edward P. Berglund.

Alan Moore's artwork for his story Shrine of the Lizard

Special Offer on Signed Editions Bundle at Shadow Publishing

 Shadow Publishing is offering a discount on a signed bundle of their books:

Eddy C. Bertin's THE WHISPERING HORROR (Signed bookplate issued at World Fantasy Convention, author, cover artist Harry Morris and editor David A. Sutton signatures), very limited supply!

 

David A. Riley's LURKERS IN THE ABYSS AND OTHER TALES OF TERROR

(Signed by the author). Limited number of copies available.

 

Samantha Lee's WORSE THINGS THAN SPIDERS AND OTHER STORIES (Signed bookplate). Limited number of copies available.

 

The UK price for all three, including postage is £20.00.

The European price, again including postage, is £30.00.

The US and ROW price, including airmail postage, is £40.00.

Getting Ready For the WFC

My last day at work this week and it's all about getting ready for going to Brighton tomorrow morning for the start of the World Fantasy Convention. The weather looks good today, and I hope it stays that way for the next few days!

Other than attending various program events as a member of the audience and taking photos, I only have one commitment, and that's the Shadow Publishing book launch on Friday afternoon at 2.00 p.m. for, amongst others, my short story collection The Lurkers in the Abyss and Other Tales of Terror. Sorry to have just learned that the only other author who was due to be there, Samantha Lee, won't be able to make it. That just leaves Dave Sutton and me.

Shadow Publishing Book Launch at the World Fantasy Convention

Shadow Publishing will be launching four books at the World Fantasy Convention on Friday the 1st November. The event, which includes complementary wine, will be from 2 till 3 p.m.

The books launched will be:

•  The Lurkers in the Abyss and Other Tales of Terror (David A. Riley)
•  Phantoms of Venice (David A. Sutton, Mike Chinn, Tim Lebbon & Conrad Williams)
•  Worse Things Than Spiders and Other Stories (Samantha Lee)
•  The Whispering Horror (Eddy C. Bertin)

Shadow Publishing Blog

Dave Sutton has created a blog for Shadow Publishing, which looks pretty interesting and is well worth a visit.

Proof reading finished!

Finally finished my second bout of proof reading in the last month. The first was for my novel, The Return (Blood Bound Books). The second was for my much longer collection of short stories, The Lurkers in the Abyss & other Tales of Terror (Shadow Publishing). It feels like a marathon stint. All I have to do now is email Dave Sutton at Shadow Publishing with all the typos, etc., that I've found and I can go on holiday at the end of next week with a clean slate. May even find time to start writing something new!

Cover for The Lurkers in the Abyss by Paul Mudie

This is the cover as it will probably appear on my short story collection when it's published in October this year by Shadow Publishing.  All of the stories, which start with my very first professional sale, appear in chronological order and should show how my writing has developed over the years.