John Jarrold

Ian Whates, Publisher at Newcon Press, has acquired limited-edition and ebook rights in the fantastical novel THE MOON KING by Neil Williamson.  Neil said of this novel:

 

‘The story of The Moon King grew out of its setting, the sea-locked city of Glassholm, which is a thinly veneered version of Glasgow, Scotland where I live. Glasgow is a city of mood swings, brilliant with sun and warm sandstone one minute and dour with overcast and rain soaked tarmac the next. Summer days are long and filled with light. The winter months pass mostly in darkness. Living here, your spirit is tied to the city’s mood. As soon as I hooked that almost bipolar sense to the idea of natural cycles, the story blossomed. In Glassholm, the moon never sets and everything, from entropy to the moods of the populace, is affected by its phasing from Full to Dark and back to Full again. I wanted to know what would life be like there, what quirks nature might throw into the mix. And what would happen if it was discovered that the cyclic euphorias and depressions were not natural after all.’

 

 

Neil’s first story was published in 1994 and his collection THE EPHEMERA, first published in 2006 and shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award (and re-published by Infinity Plus Books in 2011), has received the following quotes:

 

‘…an inventive, versatile and luminous debut. A cabinet of curiosities crammed with well-crafted, richly textured and utterly absorbing stories.’ Andy Hedgecock, Interzone

 

‘…a very strong collection, well worth buying and reading, not once but many times.’
infinity plus

 

‘…every one of the stories in the book is a gem.’
Sci-Fi Online

 

 

The agent was John Jarrold. The book is due for publication in spring 2014.