Jan Edwards's Blog

I have just sent out Of Sands and Tides in e format to five winners in a random draw exclusive to readers signed up to my newsletter.

Now to sit back and breath – these things are harder than people might think!

There will be more offers to come only available through the  newsletter

Of Sands and Tides – reviewed by Jessica Rydill.

A satisfying read with true suspense and a redoubtable heroine

Jan Edwards has put together a gripping collection of eight dark tales featuring spirited government agent Captain Georgianna Forsythe (Georgi to her friends). The agency Georgi works for, The Ministry of Arcane Events, sends her on perilous missions in Britain and beyond, where she must fight horrific powers from the distant past. Set in the time before World War II and just after, the stories are rich in well-researched detail and memorable characters.

In the first of these Lovecraftian tales, Hand of the Nile, Georgi travels to Egypt on a mission to investigate strange deaths in the wake of the Tutankhamen excavation. What she finds will test her skills and courage to their limits and beyond. We are taken on a journey into true horror of mind and body as she meets Nyarlathotep, the dark deity whose influence will mark her for life.

In the second story, Crawling Chaos in Climping, Georgi is watching over an archaeological dig on the Sussex coast, where a careless and clueless Professor unearths an ancient evil – and more. Once again, Georgi’s skill is tested beyond endurance, but she discovers an ally in the most unexpected place, who introduces her to powers she did not suspect she possessed.

The Decks Below sees Georgi brought in to help the Royal Navy when the salvage of a lost submarine awakens powerful and deadly creatures. As Georgi begins to learn about her powers and how they are linked to elemental forces, she must fight for her life amidst bloody carnage in the waters of Lyme Bay.

In Tamesis and the God’s Skull, an unearthly massacre in the City of London brings Georgi face to face with the champion of a god. Who is Tamsin, the mysterious woman who arranges to meet her by the shores of the river Thames, and is she an ally – or an enemy? Georgi begins to understand who she is as she descends into a stronghold far below London.

Penumbra Over Millwall is a terrifying adventure set in the London Fog. Georgi is dispatched on a strange errand to visit an old woman who used to work for the Ministry. Chilling descriptions evoke the “pea souper” and the eerie atmosphere as Georgi makes her way from Greenwich to the Isle of Dogs, pursued by creatures from the deep.

In Below the Plimsoll Line, Georgi visits at a country house, helping an old school friend whose ancestral library is plagued by more than the usual poltergeist. As Georgi encounters an evil from the family’s past, the sea and its denizens continue to haunt her.

The Loch Ness Deal sees Georgi on unfamiliar territory in Scotland when she is ordered to investigate supposed sightings of the Loch Ness Monster and foil the curious press. She must venture into the fathomless waters of the loch, and trust in her skills in combat with a mysterious creature whose origin is captured in local folklore.

The last story, Beneath the British Museum, turns on the legend of a cursed Mummy case, and terrifying screams heard in the tube tunnels below the British Museum. When Georgi ventures into the depths of the Egyptology department, she meets both a familiar ally and an old enemy who wants to keep her forever – dead or alive.

Of Sands and Tides is a fine collection of stories of derring-do, rooted in well-researched historical reality, myth and folklore. Jan Edwards is a master of detail and suspense. The stories are at their best when she marries authentic details with vividly realised magic, conjuring up horror in familiar scenes.

Georgianna herself is a great character, always resourceful, but growing through every adventure as she learns more about her powers and her true identity.

Out this week!  Kindle here  and paperback

For over 25 years The Alchemy Press has published fantasy, science fiction and horror in fiction and non-fiction, and a few poems along the way, from a wealth of wonderful writers such as Sarah Ash, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Steve Rasnic Tem, Storm Constantine, Stan Nichols, Nancy Kilpatrick, Stephen Jones, all encased in covers by the likes of Clive Barker, Daniele Serra, David Hardy, Steve Upham … and many more writers and artists.

Collected here is a smorgasbord, if you will, a taster of what has appeared over the years, to whet your appetite. In these pages you can visit Teufelsberg and Lirpaloof Island; meet the Dragon-Form Witch at the Silver Dollar, where No One Stays Dead; play your Ace in the Hole; and welcome The Return of Boy Justice. Read these stories … because we’ll always have Alchemy.

Four days to go before Of Sands and Tides hits the  Paper and Kindle shelves (pre-order the kindle edition here,) Meanwhile here is a taster!

CAPTAIN GEORGI FORSYTHE scanned the waters of Loch Ness yet again and suppressed a sigh. The scene reminded her of some artist’s watercolour, so still that the steamboat chugging into Clansman Harbour provided a welcome change. A bird of prey punctuating the sibilant highland breeze with a high screech was a fresh distraction and, shading her eyes against the evening sun, she watched it glide across the loch. An eagle? she wondered. Or perhaps an osprey? She was no ornithologist and wasn’t about display her ignorance to her superior officer, Colonel Brady.

Georgi risked a glance at Brady surveying the same stretch of water, in silence. His booted feet were set “at ease”, the regulation single stride apart, and he gripped both ends of his swagger stick loosely behind his back; but she could feel the tension radiating from him. She waited and waited, watching trout beginning to rise to midges, so large she was convinced, as she waved a cloud away from around her head, that they should be reclassified as birds, or possibly vampire bats. “So what brings us here?” she said finally and sensed him stiffen at her tone. “Sir,” she added.

“The Prime Minister wants this newspaper frenzy stopped,” he replied. “Ever since Wetherell and his surgeon friend sent those photographs to the Daily Mail every crackpot adventurer this side of Gibraltar has been haring up here to hunt for monsters.”

“I heard it was all a publicity stunt.”

“The image in the Mail is a hoax without a doubt, but enough people have believed it to be taken in.” Brady pursed his lips and lifted his shoulders in a mild shrug. “Even politicians have become involved. I’ve raced up here to quiet the local MP. He’s calling for an act of parliament to prevent any capture or removal of the beast of Loch Ness, and the PM understandably feels that making laws to cover myth and legend would make his government look foolish.”

“Then pronounce it all a trick of the light and be done with it.”

“We could,” Brady agreed, “and we would, except for other pictures showing something far less innocent than a putty model fixed to a cheap child’s toy.” Brady turned to frown at Georgi. “Images which we would rather they not draw attention. There is something here. We’ve known that for years. We simply don’t know what, beyond that it’s big enough to take sheep and the odd cow.”

“The beast has been legend in these parts since the sixth century.”

“Some eighty years ago there were reports of several missing persons but nothing more – until yesterday. Obviously, we are taking steps to ensure that the incident is not publicised.” He shot her a momentary scowl. “Best to avoid the local constabulary if at all possible. Now I have that damned MP calmed down, I’d rather there was no risk of anything leaking back to him.”

“Yes Sir.” Georgi thrust her hands deep into her greatcoat pockets in the hope that the arcane warning itch around her god-bitten finger was merely due to the cold.

They both fell silent at another shriek from the bird hunting across the waters. They followed the raptor’s progress. It stooped for a kill, skimming the water and setting up a plume of spray, which rose in a swirling vortex obscuring their view of the bird before returning to a rippled calm. The raptor did not reappear.

“We did both see that, Sir?”

“We did,” Brady replied.

“Could it be a pike?”

“It would take a large Jack to see off a three-pound raptor in a single bite,” Brady growled. “And a damned leviathan to take a man.”

Ah, now we get to the meat of the matter, she thought. “So, after all this time, there has been a death, Sir?”

“A man and his wife rowing across to the Arden Hotel at dusk last evening were seen to vanish. The witness reported a swirling in the water before something dragged them down.”

“A reliable witness?”

“Of the worst kind. A newshound and his lady companion. Fortunately they did not possess a camera. We strongly suggested that what he saw was a dead tree pushed up from the depths by the undertow. We doubt he believed us. Before the war we could have had his editor send him to Brazil, but the modern world is a great deal smaller.” Brady leaned toward her to whisper, “I do not like the feel of this.”

“You suspect the Old Ones?”

Brady raised one exasperated brow. “We don’t know at this juncture. You’re here precisely because you are our expert in that field. Identify the beast, eliminate it, if possible, and report back with your findings.”

“A tall order for any agent to tackle alone.”

“It is,” he agreed. “And I do prefer that my agents work in pairs, if possible, but simply put – none will work with you.” Brady broke into a quiet chuckle. “You have your unnamed resources to be called upon…”

Georgi let loose a chuckle of her own. “I do, Sir.”

“Good. Now, as I must be in Westminster to see the PM by ten hundred hours tomorrow, I have a berth booked on tonight’s sleeper train. I shall not say good luck, Captain Forsythe, only happy hunting.”

Just nine days to go until the Of Sands and Tides launch! Anyone signed up for my newsletter will be in the draw to win one of three kindle copies!

Exclusive offer for my newsletter pals!

If you aren’t already on my mailing list you can Sign up here!

Peter and I had a stall at a book event at the MAC in Birmingham this month. It was busy and fun and more to the point successful. i.e. we sold books! (illo1  just my section before the event began).

Not always the case, as most authors know full well. I doubt there is one who at some point hasn’t sat behind a table and come away with the same stock they arrived with

The MAC (Midlands Arts Centre) was a regular haunt for me when I lived in the city. Great facilities and a lovely park so hugely popular on a sunny Sunday afternoon!  And location is key with events. A venue might be cheap but if its in the depths of a housing estate without hope of passing footfall or even parking it won’t see huge crowds. 

The event in question was also charging  a mere £1 entry. The general public will stump up a quid at the door but far fewer will pay £5 (or the £10 that I have been charged at some occasions) simply to walk around a room full of sales tables unless their best mate/relative is a seller and expecting to see them show their face or know the reason why… 

A good selection of books to be had from children’s picture books to hard boiled crime. There were both new and pre-owned goods as well as some merchandising stands so something to catch the eye of most folks.

A good time had by all!

My main objective while there was also to enlarge my mailing list ahead of some special promo offers for new publications – at which point I will say if you haven’t signed up for that please do as some offers will only be available to subscribers! Go to my contacts page for links!  The sales drive for Of Sands and Tides starts very soon!

My next event will be Fantasycon in Chester in October (unless I get tempted by something locally). This is a convention rather than purely a book market – and a different kind of event entirely, with panels and talks and all manner of high jinks!

Unless, or course we get tempted into rocking up to the Quad in Derby on 7th Sept for Edgelit. Though purely as a punter – no bookselling involved for once :-). 

There are also some events in the planning in Stoke sometime in November but more of that soon!

Kindle edition Of Sands and Tides now available

on pre-order!

I have been quiet with my newsletters of late because there hasn’t been a lot to say, by which I really mean things you might want to hear about.

Yeah, I know, impostor syndrome, the curse of writers everywhere.

This week, however, I have something to say

The proofs for Of Sands and Tides clunked through the letter box this week and its looking good!

This one has been a long time coming for many reasons and kept slipping down the schedules in favour of other projects, but finally – it has arrived!

So what is it all about?

Some might call it a collection and others a novel on shorts, but for the uninitiated Of Sands and Tides is a series of eight connected swashbuckling tales of daring do as Cpt Georgi battles gods and monsters from Luxor to Loch Ness; three previously published and five brand new adventures.

Set in the 1930s Of Sands and Tides straddles the divide between folk horror and contemporary (-ish as its set in 1930s) fantasy with a good dose of tentacled cosmic horror thrown in for good measure. These were fun to write and I hope as much for you to read.

Of Sands and Tides is scheduled for publication with the Alchemy Press in late September, just in time for Fantasycon in Chester (UK) and will have paper and kindle editions.  In the meantime  I’m looking for reviewers so if you are in the market  for an uncorrected digital arc  just message me!  (There may be more Cpt Georgi tales to come in the future.)

In other news I also have  three short stories  completed and waiting launch in various anthologies (not Cpt Georgi). All are  under wraps for a few more weeks but I suspect at least two will also be hitting the sellers tables at Fantasycon.

More news soon. I promise!

I am very aware that I have been lax in posting recently for various reasons but rest assured I have not been idle. 
The sixth Bunch Courtney Investigation is under way  and below is a tiny sample written just an hour ago!

***

This was not a British Restaurant set up to feed the workers and displaced householders, but neither was it Fortnums or the Ritz.

It was a large space with high ceilings up-lit by vast glass lotus shaped collars on the supporting columns. Moulded cornices above them were enveloped by smoke of pipes and cigarettes from a sea of shoppers and office workers and a scattering of various uniforms. Small round tables were set in rows just wide enough apart for the wheeled serving trolleys guided by the famous Nippies in their black dresses and white pinafores, with trademark caps pinned high on their foreheads like black and white tiaras. To Bunch they suggested princesses of hearts, weaving between the diners, delivering the Knave’s jam tarts with tea that somehow managed to be both stewed and weak at the same time.  

When Wright arrived it was in a flurry of apologies as he took his seat opposite her, putting his hat in the redundant third chair and smoothing his hair with a weary hand. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I tried to call the house to say I’d been held up but you’d already left.”

“I was wondering whether to leave. People give you very odd looks when you sit alone.” She glanced around them. “Is this really the best place to discuss things?”

“It’s perfect, and…” He smiled up at the waitress who had materialised at his side, handing them menus.

“Tea, please, and the steak pie?” Wright turned to Bunch.

“Salmon if you have it?”

“Not today I’m afraid, Miss.”

“But its salmon season.”

“Yes Miss, but we’re only getting fresh delivered on a Friday now.”

Bunch began to object until she caught Wright’s warning eye. “Is the game pie good?” she asked.

“Yes Miss.”

She had a nasty suspicion game might involve a lot of pigeon but she was too hungry to inquire. “Then game pie it is.”

Wright waited until the nippy and nipped off before he carried on speaking. “It’s perfect because if you are going to be a PI you’ll need to come out of the clouds— and the Carlton is a bit rich for my wallet.”

“They would have had salmon, though,” she grumbled.

***

Newsletter due soon so sign up now!

“Granny Did It!” #WordsWeedandWobbles.