A childhood ambition fulfilled! My contributor copies arrived!

This anthology goes on sale on September 6th. It's published by Signet Classics and is edited by Barbara H. Solomon and Eileen Panetta. It includes classic tales from Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Ann Rice, Woody Allen, Charles Dickens, Henry James, Joe Hill, Yvonne Navarro, Rudyard Kipling, Angela Carter and many more. And my story "The Third Option" is included. This fulfils a childhood ambition to be in an anthology with some of my literary heros.

Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural

They are the fearful images that have stalked humanity's nightmares for centuries, supernatural creatures that feast on flesh and haunt the soul, macabre and uncanny beings that frighten and fascinate the imagination.

Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves, and Ghosts collects classic stories from literary masters inspired by folklore and mythology who dared to explore the darker side of human nature and crafted tales that defied convention, stirred up controversy, and gave life to a storytelling genre that has endured for generations.

Derek

What's new for Autumn 2011

What's new for Autumn 2011 is now posted at my website HERE.

A new 130,000 word apocalyptic thriller called The Gatekeeper is due in ebook format at the end of September and the Signet Classics Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural edited by Barbara H. Solomon and Eileen Panetta, is due out September 6th. I'm very honoured to be included with Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Ann Rice, Woody Allen, Charles Dickens,Henry James, Joe Hill, Kim Paffenroth, Yvonne Navarro, Rudyard Kipling, Angela Carter and many more.

The Gatekeeper - Coming 09.30.2011. Cover Preview

Four Talismans of Power: The Cup, the Spear, the Sword and the Stone. Throughout history they have been known by many names including the Grail, the Spear of Destiny, Excalibur and Tara. Their power is legendary and their individual appearance in this dimension has always heralded great change. Together they could bring about a time of peace and enlightenment or they could unleash Hell on Earth. They have not been brought together since the forging of the world - until now.

Investigating a series of murders linked to a druidic sect practising the dark arts, Inspector John Holmes is unwittingly led to play a pivotal role in a ritual from the ancient book, The Angelicus Infernal, thought to have been written by Lucifer himself.

The ritual brings the four talismans of power together and opens a gateway to a nightmare world that unleashes armies of hellish creatures that spread throughout Europe leaving mayhem, death and destruction in their wake.

The only hope for humanity is thought to be contained in a secret chapter in The Book of Kells written by The Columban monks in 800AD. Holmes must locate it and decipher the code in a race against time to close the Gates of Hell.

The Gatekeeper - Coming 09.30.2011

Four Talismans of Power: The Cup, the Spear, the Sword and the Stone. Throughout history they have been known by many names including the Grail, the Spear of Destiny, Excalibur and Tara. Their power is legendary and their individual appearance in this dimension has always heralded great change. Together they could bring about a time of peace and enlightenment or they could unleash Hell on Earth. They have not been brought together since the forging of the world - until now.

Get a FREE pdf of A PRELUDE TO THE APOCALYPSE

Leave your email address here under comments or email it to derekg(at)iol(dot)ie if you would prefer.

Aldergun Books

ALDERGUN BOOKS is an imprint, set up with my wife and partner-in-writing, Alice (I do the writing, she does everything else - editing, some covers, website derekgunn.com, blog, twitter, facebook etc.). We plan to release a number of new titles this year.

The reason we have set it up is to be able to bring some of my books direct to readers in ebook formats (which are now toppling paperbacks and hardbacks in sales, apparently) and to have control over pricing, publishing dates, cover design etc. For the moment, Aldergun Books titles will only be available in ebook format. Quite honestly, the reason is because I can price them low and the cost to readers of any paperbacks we published would be too high in the current economic climate, in my humble opinion.

Books published under the Aldergunn Books imprint will be available initially from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de. We will roll them out to include Smashwords (which will also distribute via B&N and iBooks etc.).

The first two titles were published in April/May:

Gemini - a full length spy/espionage/triller


A Prelude to the Apocalypse - a series of diary extracts written within my Vampire Apocalypse universe from the vampire's point of view and each is set in a different historical time period.



More full length novels are planned for release over the next few months so stay tuned!

Happy Birthday to THE ESTUARY!

To celebrate the second anniversary of The Estuary, I’m giving away three copies (winners choose either paperback or ebook) in a random drawing which will take place on June 30th 2011. The Estuary was published by Permuted Press on June 30th 2009. This competition is open to contestants worldwide.

The Estuary - new contest at the International Thriller Writers website - win free copies - no need to sign up or subscribe, just post your reply to enter at http://thrillerwriters.org/bookgiveaway/?p=314

Here’s a little about the book:

Journalist, John Pender has returned to his home town of Whiteshead to rekindle his marriage. Ex-British intelligence officer Dave Johnson has arrived to isolate himself after his fiancé is murdered during a mission that went terribly wrong. But excavations for the new shopping centre unearth a mysterious contagion that threatens to throw their lives into chaos.

Now the residents of Whiteshead are trapped within a quarantine zone with the military on one side and ravenous hordes of living dead on the other. Escape is no longer an option.

Far out in the mouth of the estuary a small Keep sits forlornly surrounded by an apron of jagged rocks. This refuge has always been unassailable, a place of myth and legend that has grown in folklore through the years. Now, it’s the survivors’ only hope of sanctuary. But there are thousands of flesh-eating infected between them and the Keep and time is running out …

“I want to immediately read a sequel and grab popcorn for the big screen movie adaption! This book is a definite recommendation for any fan of the horror and zombie subgenre as well as Gunn’s magnificent and adventurous writing style that will grab your bloody beating heart and never let go!” Fangoria

“some great action sequences, particularly towards the end of the novel. Gunn is able to write tension-filled scenes that kept me turning the pages. Gunn has created some very frightening monsters” Fatally Yours.com

“The Estuary, not your average Zombie Novel. Thank God! Derek Gunn gets it right with this novel of horror.” zombiefiction.com

Good luck!

Derek Gunn