The Millennium Falcon And Me

On February 11th 2011, I wrote a blog post (linked here) where I talked about the nostalgic fix that you can get from old, childhood toys.

Whilst I am nostalgic, I do very much appreciate the times that I live in because through the wonders of eBay and little retro toyshops (such as the one I use, The Leicester Vintage & Old Toy Shop), I’ve been able to piece together bits of my childhood that had disappeared in the sands of time or through passing down to various cousins.  I now have almost the entire collection of Three Investigator books, for example, in the early 80s Armada editions (I just need TheSecret Of Skeleton Island now) and I now have a (vintage) Stormtrooper army (something I didn’t have as a child but always wanted).

Dude & I were in Leicester on Saturday and we called into the shop, as we always do when we’re in town.  We wandered around, checking the shelves and then I spotted a Palitoy Millennium Falcon.  The Millennium Falcon!  I really wanted one of those when I was 9 but never got one and although I’d seen them around in the past, at toy fairs and the Memorabilia at the NEC, I’d always been struck by two things - a) they’re expensive and b) where the hell would I put it?  Standing next to the Falcon was an AT-ST Walker that Dude said he would like, to go along with the one I already have.  I pondered his request, whilst he & I checked out this Falcon (which wasn’t cheap, but was nowhere near as dear as most you see) and it suddenly occurred to me - if I didn’t buy it, I’d probably regret it.  So I did and Dude & I walked back to the car, a pair of excitable kids and I wondered just what Alison would make of it (her response - “very nice, where are you going to put it?”).

The purchase gave us the excuse to get the old Star Wars toys out (I gave Dude all of the ones I bought in the late 90s, when the films were re-issued), we watched some of the films and had a great time.  Yesterday afternoon, we set up camp on the patio table with a toothbrush each and a bowl of hot water (with Ariel washing liquid) and scrubbed the Falcon until it shone.  We’ve done the outside and the removable parts, the inside and underside are on for next weekend and it looks good.

Last night, as I put Dude to bed, he asked if the Falcon was mine, or ours.  I told him it was for both of us, that if he ever wanted to play with it, he could do.  You see, as much as I love it and as much as it means something to me as a relic from my childhood, it’s not designed to sit on a shelf somewhere gathering dust.  It’s a toy, a hark back to an age where you saw the film at the cinema and then recreated the action with the toys rather than video games - it’s supposed to be played with.

And I'm happy to finally be in a position where I can.
Sorry, no, I meant where Dude can.  Yes, that's what I meant...

New reviews for "What Gets Left Behind"

Two new reviews to report on, following FantasyCon and the release of "What Gets Left Behind".

The first comes from Paul Holmes (Pablo Cheesecake to his friends) who has been very supportive of my writing in the past and when I met him and his lovely wife at FantasyCon, he mentioned he'd read "What Gets Left Behind".  He smiled and nodded, though I daren't ask if he liked it or not.

Turns out he did like it and this is my favourite pull quote from the whole thing:

"West is part of a small group of authors that I’ve come across who are particularly gifted when it comes to capturing the sights and sounds of childhood."

You can read the whole of the review here.

That's brilliant, I've always wanted to do something that really captured childhood and it appears that I might just have done it with this tale!

* * *

The second review comes from James Everington at Scattershot Writing, who has also been very supportive of my writing and I was keen to see what he thought.  Thankfully, he liked it!

My favourite bit:

"West's evocation of the 80s is note perfect - not just in the period details like Star Wars t-shirts and Noel Edmonds (and excitingly for this reader East Midlands Today!) but in the recreation of a time when no one had mobile phones and kids played outside at "the Rec" because there was nothing else to do."

You can read the whole of the review here

FantasyCon, Brighton, 28th September to 30th September 2012

Friday 28th September

Jay & Selina picked me up at 10.30 and we made good time - it wasn’t as sunny and hot as last year, so we didn’t have to share the road with a lot of opportunistic weekend holidaymakers.  Creating a new tradition, we stopped off at Pease Pottage again, had lunch and I got to stretch my legs - my heel is still sore and so I’m still limping.

By the time we got to Brighton, it was about 2pm and Selina & I took the bags in whilst Jay went to park the car.  Saw Paul & Cath Finch, who remarked they knew more about Dude than me recently from my Facebook feed and talked about their son’s rugby, then went into the hotel.  We got booked into the rooms whilst there wasn’t a queue, then booked into the Con - and seeing the smiley faces of Helen Hopley and Pixie Pants is always a good thing.  This year, topping the Jo Fletcher Books canvas bag of 2011, the goodies were in a proper bag (courtesy of PS Publishing) and I think pretty much everyone used theirs all weekend - I know I did.

I went to check my room, which was in the basement.  It was nice enough but only had an unopenable skylight (it wasn’t, as it transpired) and so I went back to the desk to see if I could change (since I get a little claustrophobic).  The hotel was full for the night, so I gave up and went to the Fear magazine launch.  John Gilbert was on hand and it was good to talk to him and I also met up with Steve Harris and John Worley.  We got chatting, as we normally do, about sleazy 70s/80s horror and were having a right old time and when I mentioned my room, Steve suggested we swap.  He reckoned he’d only be getting a couple of hours kip a night so wouldn’t have a problem with the basement (nearer the bar and dealers room, he said).  So we swapped and I moved into his 3rd floor corner room which looked out on the pier -very nice (I did feel guilty about swapping, but he was adamant).

Went into the dealers room and said hi to Chris Teague, who was setting out the new Gary McMahon collection.  Gary & Emily came along then and whilst he signed, Emily & I chatted for ages about work and schools, joined by Simon Kurt Unsworth.  They had copies of “What Gets Left Behind” (and wanted me to sign them), which looked very nice.  Met up with Peter Mark May, then headed up to the bar when I bumped into Simon & Lizzie Marshall-Jones, of Spectral Press.  Simon gave me my contributor copies of the chapbook (and it does, seriously, look very nice) and two Spectral badges, one for me and one for Dude.  Met and chatted with Mick & Debs Curtis, Gary Cole-Wilkin & Soozy Marjoram, then had a wander and said hello and got into little conversations here and there (Mathew F Riley said he was looking forward to the chapbook, I said I hope he didn’t get his hopes up too high!).  Saw Adam Nevill en route and stopped to have a quick word with him.  I thanked him again for “Last Days” and he thanked me for my promotion of it and the faked book cover.  Good see to him and fingers crossed for the awards on Sunday (he’s up for best novel with “The Ritual”).

Arranged to go to dinner with Jay & Selina, Peter, David Price, Stuart Young, Stuart Hughes and Richard Farren Barber and we set off to find an Indian restaurant that Jay was keen to sample.  In a repeat from last year, the restaurant eluded the SatNav of both Jay and Richard though when we did find it (I stopped a passerby and asked them), they didn’t have room for us.  We ended up in a buffet Indian which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t brilliant and the eight of us were squashed around one table.

Back to the hotel for the Pendragon Press launch, which was delayed for a bit and then the Spectral one, where I chatted with Anna Taborska and met up with Pablo and Mrs Cheesecake - good people all.  John Llewellyn Probert, whose collection “The Nine Deaths Of Dr Valentine” was launching, was in fine form and the crowd was almost eating out of his hand.  Saw Dean Drinkel there too and had a chat with him, about horror in general and the demon anthology he’s editing (that I’m writing a story for).  Headed into the raffle with Ross Anthony Warren and Paul & Mandy Edwards but didn’t win anything (though Ross later gave me a copy of James Herbert’s “Haunted), so nipped up to hear the readings from Gary McMahon and Simon Bestwick (both excellent).  Back down to the bar, where I had a quick chat with Sarah Pinborough who’d hurt her back and then sat with Tim Taylor and Paul Melhuish, from my writing group (Tim is also Greyhart Press) and Ross.  We were joined by Stu and Graeme Reynolds and talked the hind legs off a donkey until the early hours - Graeme nipped out for a fag, Ross went on a beer run, I called it a night.

Saturday 29th September

A nice and sunny day.  I went down to breakfast and sat with Paul Melhuish, then went to the Alchemy Press launch in Bar Rogue as Selina has a story in The Book Of Ancient Wonders, edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber (both of whom were visibly thrilled to be there).  I was really pleased for Selina, especially since she’s blaming my poking her into action for her sudden rash of publishing achievements!  Wandered back into the lounge, where Robert Spalding collared me - we’d passed each other two or three times but had been en route, so it was nice to sit down for a bit.  Mark Lachlan came by and we had a chat, then Adele Wearing and Kat Heubeck (of Unbound) joined us - I haven’t seen Kat since The Staff Of Life recording and it was good to catch up with her and it’s always a pleasure to see Adele.

Gavin Williams, Stuart Young and me, in front of the pier

Caught the start of the Titan Books launch and got Danie Ware to sign her book, then went up to Jon Oliver’s reading which was very good (and got a nice reaction from the audience at an OAP sex scene).  Rather than risk the lounge and the James Herbert signing, I went into The Lanes for lunch with Stu Young (and no, we didn’t find any secondhand bookshops this time) and Gavin Williams, the latter of whom has his short film “Sleepworking” showing.  Back to the hotel for the Solaris giveaway (though I didn’t pick anything up) and a chat, then I headed for the dealers room.  As I crossed the restaurant, Johnny Mains called me over.  He and Mary Danby were sitting in the corner whilst they signed hardback copies of her collection “Party Pieces” and so I got to have a chat with her and tell her how much I loved her Armada Ghost books during the 70s - great stuff.  After chatting in the dealer room for a while, I went up to the Russell Room where Mark Morris interviewed Guest Of Honour Mark Gatiss - it was a great interview, with some top quality questions and Gatiss was a superb interviewee, funny and knowledgeable and really down to earth.  I caught up with Steve Harris and Gavin Williams on the way back and chatted with them for ages, then joined Paul & Mandy Edwards, Selina and Jan Edwards for yet another chat.

 In the dealers room, with Selina Lock, me, Richard Farren Barber, Stuart Young

All too soon, it was time for dinner (Jay & Selina are die-hard Dr Who fans so we had a time restriction), so we gathered the troops and headed out.  On this particular expedition, we had Peter Mark May, me, Mandy & Paul, Stuart Hughes, Richard, Paul, Jay & Selina and Stu and, of course, there were too many of us to fit in the American diner.  Instead, we went next door to Steak-On-Sea and had a fantastic meal there, where conversational topics ranged right across the board.  

In the steak house - Stuart Hughes, Paul Edwards, Mandy Edwards, me, Peter Mark May, Stuart Young, Jay Eales, Selina Lock, Paul Melhuish, Richard Farren Barber

Jay & Selina left and the rest of us took our time heading back to the hotel where I managed to miss Alison Littlewood’s reading, which annoyed me.  Finally got up to the reading room for the joint John Llewellyn Probert/Stephen Volk Spectral half-hour and that was great fun - John’s brilliantly theatrical anyway and Steve’s tale, featuring the gentleman Peter Cushing was wonderful.  Back downstairs with Stuart, Jay & Selina, we tried some of the Evening Entertainment but it didn’t grab my attention, so I headed down for the film show.  This year, it was held in the Fitzherbert which wasn’t ideal - the room (like the rest of the hotel) was suffering with having the heating on, the air con units were noisy (and didn’t appear to work) and Health & Safety had apparently decreed that some of the lights had to stay on.  Oh well.  The programme had changed and Paul Kane’s film “Wind Chimes” was showing.  I like Paul, we go back a long way, but when he said his film was inspired by walking through a children’s graveyard and featured child mortality, I had to make my excuses and leave.  I felt even worse for leaving when I realised there weren’t too many in the audience.  Back to the bar, for a quick chat about Takeshi Miike films with Gary McMahon, Graeme Reynolds and Neil Buchanan, then back to the film show for Gavin’s short.  It was a very good, visually impressive (especially for the budget) and drew a good sized audience.  After he finished the Q&A, I went back up to Bar Rogue and met up with the NSFWG writers group contingent.

I think we might have been singing along to Donna Summer here...

The disco had already started and, being a self-conscious idiot, I was going to give it a miss until I heard DJ Rio Youers dedicate a song for Gary McMahon.  Stu & I, curious, wandered over to see what it was and Gary danced all the way through Footloose.  That, combined with seeing Paul & Mandy on the dancefloor, made up my mind and I spent the next two and a half hours happily dancing the night away (though pogo-ing with my injured heel perhaps wasn’t the wisest thing).  Singing along heartily to an inspired collection of 80s tunes (Sarah Pinborough apparently put together the playlist and it was very good), with an ever fluctuating gang of fellow dancers in our ‘circle’ (Peter May, Paul, Chris Teague, Emily McMahon, Lee Harris, Paul & Mandy and a whole load of people I didn’t recognise), we all ‘partied like it was 1999’ and I bloody loved it.  They closed off with two slower numbers and it was just like being back at school - some hardy souls kept dancing, but mostly the boys took to one side of the room and the girls to the other and some people (looking at you, Paul Melhuish and Chris Teague!) shouted “Metal, metal!”.  Back to the bar for some quick chats (difficult with seriously ringing ears), then back to the room for 3.15am.

Sunday 30th September

Woke up to find my ears were still ringing and, as predicted, all that pogo-ing had made my heel feel worse.  Oh well.  Sat with Steve Harris for breakfast and we almost (only almost) finished our epic, ongoing Fulci conversation and talked about what a great weekend it’d been so far.  I then went through to the Greyhart Press launch (of Paul’s book and Nigel Edwards’ two collections), some of which I’d critiqued at the writing group.  Unfortunately, we were in the lounge bit and people sat around us so we didn’t really get any attention - it probably looked like a group of friends sitting around, chilling out with piles of books on the table.  However, I did manage to sell Steve a copy of “The Mill”, bringing sales to a total of three (by me) for the weekend.

Me & Steve Harris

It was then the Hauntings launch and Ian got us all sorted out in the end part of the bar (where Forbidden Planet usually has their shop area).  I sat between Ben Baldwin and Alison Littlewood and our fellow signatories included Adele Wearing, Amanda Hemingway (who said “Hello, how are you?” to me in her urgent, clipped tones and I was just as keen to please her as I had been back at the Staff Of Life!), Kim Lakin-Smith, Paul Kane (I apologised again about the film show), Mark Morris (and I thanked him for the Mark Gatiss interview - he later emailed me to point out we hadn’t had our Three Investigators chat yet!), Adrian Tchaikovsky and Rob Shearman.  There was a real buzz in the air and there were a lot of people milling around and we signed a lot of books.  We also had a good laugh amongst ourselves, which was nice.

Alison Littlewood and me, "giggly schoolkids" taking it in turns to pull faces...

With Stuart Young looking on, Paul Kane and Adrian Tchaikovsky act professional.  

Alison and I act serious.

Went to the dealer room, chatted with Stu and Peter, then went for lunch with Jay & Selina.  We tried the American diner again but, once again, it was full so we wandered along the front a bit further and found a lovely Italian place that did a fantastic pizza.  Selina went to get the car and Jay & I walked back to the Albion, meaning to say our goodbyes.  We got as far as finding Simon Bestwick & Cate Gardner in the terrace area, John Worley and Roy Gray joined us and we didn’t get any further.  Said goodbye to Lisa Jenkins on the steps, then loaded the car up and Steve Harris came out to shake my hand and we were off.

We followed the Awards ceremony via Twitter on the drive home and I was pleased with the results, especially Angela Slatter getting short story and Adam Nevill winning for “The Ritual”.  If there’s any justice, “Last Days” will be nominated next year and he’ll do the double!

Another great con, over all too quickly but bloody hell, it was brilliant fun!

Leg’s still sore though…

photographs by me, Ian Whates and Fergus (Hauntings signing) and Jonathan Green (disco)

More reviews for "What Gets Left Behind"

The “What Gets Left Behind” chapbook is now in the hands of Simon Marshall-Jones and the first copies will go out to Spectral Press subscribers attending FantasyCon in Brighton this weekend.

Even better, some reviews have been filtering through and - thankfully - they’re hearteningly good! Following on from Jim’s one (at Ginger Nuts Of Horror), which I mentioned in my earlier post, three more have come through. I’ve listed them below, with key quotes extracted, but please do follow the links which all go to the original review site.

 First up is Walt Hicks, over at the Hellbound Times (the review can be linked from here). Walt says, "West’s prose is lean and effective, and his build-up of suspense is excellent. He seamlessly transitions from past to present utilizing clever details that are incidental rather than intrusive; his sense of setting is keen, and his character interaction—particularly with fathers and sons—is dead-on target.” 

 Next up is Geoff Nelder, writing at Science42Fiction (the review is posted at the Spectral site in its entirety on this link) and he says "The story only lasts 27 pages but leaves you with a haunting, yet touching, legacy.” 

Adam Millard, reviewing for This Is Horror (find the review at this link) says “What West manages to do in so few pages, some authors don’t achieve in an entire novel. What Gets Left Behind is a spine-tingling tale that will play on your mind for some time after you’ve put it down. A laconic gem.”

Both Walt and Adam also make note of my use of 1980’s touchstones (as did Jim) and it’s nice to see that appreciated too.

 Adam writes “The 80s are referenced here to marvellous effect, with nods to Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and even Noel Edmonds. It was a time when children actually went outside to play, an epoch of innocence and grazed kneecaps, and West does a fantastic job of setting the scene.”

1st review for "What Gets Left Behind"

Courtesy of Jim Mcleod, from the Ginger Nuts Of Horror website.

Click this link to go to the review on his site.

 It's a great review and I'm really pleased with it, especially these two lines which I'll post here:

Mark West's writing has a heart and soul that many writers would kill for.

  Stories where the protagonist goes back to his childhood home are ten a penny, What Gets Left Behind, is a £100 note in a pocket of small change.

What Gets Left Behind is almost here...

I signed off on the final cover (with text and blurbage) and the interior layout yesterday and from today, PDF review copies will be sent out by Simon Marshall-Jones, the publisher at Spectral Press.

"What Gets Left Behind" has been with me for a long time (since March/April of 2011) and I'm both excited and nervous about Mike & Geoff taking their first steps on their own into the big wide word but it's here, publication date is almost upon us and I have to let them go.

Good luck, lads, have a great time!

Tales Of The Nun & Dragon

As is often way, creatively speaking, I am moving through a nicely fertile period - I have four short stories that people have asked me for (one is due for the end of this month and I had the idea for it yesterday), edits for the “ill at ease” follow-up and I’m also trying to put together a novel pitch. A lot of this drive has come from people approaching me for stories - which is always a nice feeling - and has contributed to the fact that so far, I’ve published more material this year than any since 2001. And that's got to be a good thing.

One such story - and I had a lot of fun writing my Nunsploitation black comedy - is “Incident At Wearing Abbey”, which has now appeared in the book it was written for - “Tales Of The Nun & Dragon”. Edited by the brilliant Adele Wearing, for Fox Spirit Books, it features cover art by the talented Vincent Holland-Keen, interior art by Kieran Walsh and a host of great stories.

Vincent's fantastic cover
Here's the information from the Fox Spirit website

‘Tales of the Nun & Dragon’ features twenty three stories by a mixture of well-known and new authors who offer up a delightful blend of genres. There are zombie dragons, latex nuns, trips through time, nunsploitation and some unusual fantasy tales and fables.

The writers are Sarah Cawkwell, Mhairi Simpson, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Jasper Bark, Mark West, Joan De La Haye, Simon Bestwick, Colin F Barnes, Andrew Reid, Ren Warom, Pat Kelleher, Cat Connor, Peter Ray Allison, S.J.Caunt, Wayne Simmons, Geraldine Clark Hellery, V.C.Linde, Catherine Rogers, Jay Faulkner, Sammy HK Smith, Francesca Terminiello, K.A.Laity, Karen Davies.

Available as an ebook at present, there will be a very limited edition print run available later this year, prior to all the Fox Spirit books being made available as print on demand from Lulu.

Available from Amazon UK here, Amazon US here and Wizards Tower Books here

Go on, give a new Small Press a chance…

"ill at ease" Special Offer

As the second volume gears up (more writers, more chills!), we thought it would be a good idea to offer "ill at ease" for a special reduced price (one week only!).

Why not take advantage?

ill at ease is an e-chapbook collection from PenMan Press, available now from Amazon and Smashwords. Combining the talents of Stephen Bacon, Mark West & Neil Williams, ill at ease showcases three new tales of the macabre.

Waiting For Josh, by Stephen Bacon
Pete Richards returns to his hometown for the first time in years. His childhood pal is dying, and Pete realises he must face the past and confront some ugly truths if he is to fulfil his friend’s dying wish.
But the events of their childhood would prove to hold far more darkness than he’d ever imagined.

Come See My House In The Pretty Town, by Mark West
When David Willis travels to the picturesque village of Hoelzli, for a reunion with his old college friends Simon & Kim Roberts, he expects a weekend of laughter and reminiscing. But on a visit to the local fair, he manages to lose the Roberts’ seven-year-old son Billy and things take a decided turn for the worse.

Closer Than You Think, by Neil Williams
Dave is a loving family man, with a keen eye for a bargain. So when he spots a brand-new-looking child seat in a skip at the local tip, he decides to take it. After all, he needs one in his car to ferry his daughter around. But then he starts to notice things that seem otherworldly yet still familiar.
Could it really be an unquiet spirit, the echo of some past tragedy?
Or is it something else? Something that is much closer to home?


'Here are three writers with singular voices who have, nevertheless, somehow managed to merge their talents to imbue the whole of this slim collection with a kind of menace that is like oil on skin: difficult to remove and persistent. For relative newcomers to show such restraint, to trust in the subtle and the unsaid, is rare indeed. ill at ease is a treat, and I hope it finds many readers.'
Conrad Williams, British Fantasy Award winning author of One and Loss Of Separation

"Childhood memories, a seemingly idyllic English town, a car seat found in a skip... The three chilling tales from ill at ease ably demonstrate that horror can be found in the most mundane places, and a sense of unease is always much closer than we think."
Gary McMahon, author of Pretty Little Dead Things and The Concrete Grove

The book is available from Amazon - click the title below:

From Amazon.co.uk, priced at £0.77 - ill at ease

From Amazon.com, priced at $0.99 - ill at ease

The collection is also available, on a range of formats, from Smashwords.

Don’t have a Kindle? No problem, Amazon provide a range of free app’s that allow you to read them on whatever device you might have:

Kindle for PC & laptop
Kindle for iPhone
Kindle for Blackberry
Kindle for iPad
Kindle for Android

More details at the PenMan Press website or join the Facebook Group.

Me, interviewed

An interview with me, conducted by James Everington, has just been published at Penny Dreadnought, as part of their Abominable Gentlemen line.

It was great fun, with some brilliant questions - if you take a look, hope you enjoy it.

The direct link is here

What Gets Left Behind (book trailer)

Here we go - it was sold out long before it was due to be published (in September) but all the same, here's the book trailer for my Spectral Press chapbook, featuring original music written (especially for this) and performed by the talented Gary Cole-Wilkin.

Mike & Geoff and the Rainy Day Abductor are about to make their way into the world and whilst I'm really excited about that, I'm also a little bit nervous...