JAMES SWALLOW

The Official Site of Bestselling Author James Swallow - COMING SOON!

Games

Let The Games Begin!

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Today is publication day for GAME OVER, the new anthology of horror fiction inspired by classic arcade games from Snowbooks, featuring my original short story “Screen Burn“…


In the cavern-like darkness of the arcade, the neon phosphor-glow of the screen beckons you close. Drawn to the dancing pixels like a moth to a flame, digging deep in your pocket you pull out a shiny coin and thumb it into the slot as the electronic siren sings the fanfare that marks your arrival. One hand on the joystick, the other splayed across the control buttons, your pulse begins to quicken.

You’ve barely begun but suddenly the discordant bleeps are trumpeting your failure as your 8-bit adventure comes to an abrupt end. At least in the world of the video arcade you get a second chance. But what is the true price you pay when you make a pact with the digital demon? There’s always another coin, an extra life to be earned, a second chance… Isn’t there?

GAME OVER: A dozen stories of creeping dread and savage horror inspired by the humble amusement arcade and the classic coin-ops of yesteryear. Twelve tales to chill your blood by twelve masters of the malevolent and the macabre.
Just keep reminding yourself, it’s only a game… Isn’t it?

As well as me, the GAME OVER anthology also features stories by James Wallis, Sarah Peploe, Jonathan Oliver, Simon Bestwick, Gav Thorpe, Laurel Sills, Alexandra Peel, Tim Major, Adam Chillman, George Pickett, and Michael Carroll, all ably edited by Jonathan Green – and right now, if you buy it direct from publishers Snowbooks you can get 50% off by quoting the discount code ‘GO’ for the ebook edition, and ‘GO-PRINT’ for the paperback. (The offer’s good for the next 24 hours so act quickly, mwah hah hah, Space Cadet).

Click Here to visit the Snowbooks website, or go check out the official GAME OVER Facebook page Here.

GAME OVER, man, GAME OVER

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In the darkness of the arcade, the neon phosphor glow of the screen beckons you close. Attract mode flickering like dancing fire, you’re drawn in, digging deep in your pocket for that shiny coin, thumbing it into the slot as the chiptune siren sings the fanfare for your arrival.
One hand around the joystick, the other splayed open to rest across the control buttons. Get Ready. 1-Up. Prepare to Qualify. Avoid Missing Ball For High Score. I Hunger…

When I was a kid, I barely made it out of the era of Disco with my sanity intact, and if I hadn’t been bitten by the videogames bug (thanks to Space Invaders, Galaxian, Asteroids, Gorf, Tempest and a million more) I probably would have grown up well-adjusted.
Lucky for me, that bug laid eggs in my brain that later hatched and turned me into the writer of stuff that I am today.

I’m a gamer through and through, from my Binatone TV Master Mk.IV to my bleeding-edge octal-core PC, and so when I heard about m’colleague Jonathan Green’s call for a horror fiction anthology inspired by classic videogames, I had to sign up.

Game Over hits on August 12th from the good people at Snowbooks, and features a dozen tales of gaming made to chill your blood; my contribution is a story called “Screen Burn“, a speculation about the dark truth behind an unsolved mystery dating back to the height of the arcade era.

For more about Game Over, stay tuned to the anthology’s official Facebook page Here and the Snowbooks site Here.

NINE WORLDS 2015

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So the delightful folks over at the Nine Worlds Geekfest event have been kind enough to invite me along to their convention this year, which is being held over the weekend of the 7th-9th August, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel across from London’s Heathrow airport.

As they describe it, “It’s about gaming, film, cosplay, fandom, literature, science, geek culture, meeting people and having a really big party” and you can find out more about the event by visiting the website Here.

I’ll be along to talk about stuff – currently I’m on the dedicated Star Trek track but there may be more of me depending on how things shake out – and joining me will be a whole bunch of other interesting people, including my fellow Trek novelist Una McCormack and top gaming chap James Wallis. The current guest line-up is listed Here.

…A Great Adventure Begins…

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Last month I announced with a (20th Century Fox) fanfare that I’ve been working with games studio Ninja Theory on the latest iteration of the Disney Infinity toys-to-life videogame – specifically the Disney Infinity 3.0 Star Wars playset Twilight of the Republic; you can see more about that by clicking Here.

But as well as writing the story and scripts for the TotR playset and Clone Wars era-characters (Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Yoda and Darth Maul), I also worked on something else that we’ve been keeping under wraps until today…


 I got to write for Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren and Zeb Orrelios, four of the main cast from the Star Wars Rebels cartoon series, helping to bring them into the world of Disney Infinity! They’ll join the Clone Wars characters in Twilight of the Republic and the characters from the original Star Wars trilogy in the Rise of the Empire playset.

For more pictures and information, check out the Infinity Inquirer site fansite.

You Are Hearing Me Talk…to Geek Apocalypse

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A couple of weekends ago, I got to round out my merry month of May with three days of relaxing nerdery at the UK Games Expo convention in Birmingham, a massive board gaming event packed with interesting folks, cool games and lots of to indulge my cardboard and dice habit…

While I was there, Steven Hesse of the ace Geek Apocalypse podcast/YouTube/Twitch channel sat down with me at my signing table for a chat to talk about such things as my love of games, how I got my start as a writer and the challenges of writing in a shared universe. You can find me Here on Episode 80 (from the 26.17 mark), or also via iTunes if you’d like to subscribe to Steven’s show.

This episode also features a whole bunch of other folks, including Librium Games, Dice Sports, The Next Great American Board Game, Andrew Harmen of Frankenstein’s Bodies, Chris Birch of Modiphius, Dave Cousins of North And South Games and Rob Burnham, editor of the new Tabletop Magazine.

UK GAMES EXPO this weekend!

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It’s the UK Games Expo event in Birmingham this weekend, the largest convention of its kind in the country, and I’m going to be along as a guest, as well as giving my dice a workout…

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UK Games Expo takes place at the NEC Hilton Metropole, just across from Birmingham International train station, and there’s a full weekend going on of tabletop gaming, seminars, tournaments and more.

I’l be along to sign and sell my books; you should be able to find me (when not spending ££ in the dealers room or gaming at the free tables in the evening) with the New Writers UK team at Stand K35 in the King’s Annex –  so come along and say hello!

Click on the banner to learn more about the event…