There’s an extract of me reading from The Burning Man on This is Derbyshire, along with a brief interview and a call to email questions for me to answer - on anything, writing, fantasy, my work, life in general…

Send me something to make me ponder.

As you may have noticed in one of the comments below, multiple award-winning artist John Picacio has signed on to provide covers for the US publication of my Age of Misrule books - and I couldn’t be more pleased.

John is a phenomenal artist with World Fantasy, Chesley and IHG Awards under his belt, as well as a Hugo nomination. But don’t take my word for it - take a look here and prepare to be impressed.

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement, I can reveal that I’ve just agreed a six-book deal with US publisher Pyr.

The highly-acclaimed SF and fantasy imprint will publish the first of my epic Elizabethan fantasy sequence, The Swords of Albion, in Fall 2009, with books two and three in subsequent years.

Pyr has also acquired the rights to my British Fantasy Award-nominated Age of Misrule sequence. The three books – World’s End, Darkest Hour and Always Forever – will be published in Spring/Summer 2009.

Here’s the rest of the press release:

Chadbourn says: “I’m very excited to be working with Pyr on the launch of The Swords of Albion and the US debut of Age of Misrule. Pyr has a dynamic, cool and smart approach to the genre, which, of course, is an excellent fit for my writing!”

Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders says: “Mark is a brilliant writer - who not only has a tremendous imagination but manages to marry his vision to a very readable, accessible and fast-paced style. It’s amazing to me it’s taken this long to get him to America, but between these six books and the epic fantasy trilogy that Solaris recently acquired, that egregious oversight is about to be resoundingly corrected.”

The Swords of Albion, which will be published in the UK and Commonwealth by Transworld, follows Elizabethan England’s greatest spy, Will Swyfte – adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit and scholar.

Lou says of The Swords of Albion: “I first encountered Elizabethan Superspy Will Swyfte in the short story “Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast,” originally published in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (and subsequently selected for Hartwell and Cramer’s Year’s Best Fantasy), and fell in love at first read. I was weaned on Ian Fleming and Fritz Leiber, and this wonderfully fun character seemed to marry both these loves into one. I wrote Mark to ask if there were any more planned outings for Swyfte, and was thrilled to hear back within minutes that a proposal for a trilogy was going out the very next day. Naturally, I couldn’t wait for the next day. Now, I can’t wait for him to finish writing the first novel. And the second. And the third…”

The Age of Misrule deals with the return of the Celtic gods to modern day Britain and is steeped in the mysticism and mythology of the Isles with an edgy modern take – from Fabulous Beasts firebombing the rush hour-packed motorway outside London to the ancient secrets of Avebury stone circle.

Lou says of The Age of Misrule: “Every once in a while you read a work that treats its subject so well you realize it’s the last and final word on the topic. Like the way a certain Boy Wizard pretty much owns the school for magic space, and the idea of all of reality being a virtual illusion ends (for the foreseeable future) with the film The Matrix. That’s the sense I got reading the books of the Age of Misrule. Mark’s rigorously-researched exploration of Britain’s sacred sites reads with such authenticity that I can’t imagine there being any other explanation. That it underpins a fantastic adventure story chocked full of great characters - a sort of modern day Lord of the Rings transposed onto contemporary Britain - makes for a simply irresistible combination. I can’t wait to spring it on unsuspecting Americans - they have no idea what’s in store for them!”

With the Solaris book, and another unannounced tome, I’ve got six books out in the US next year, which, I think, justifies a trip…

Today I signed a major three-book deal with UK publisher Transworld for an epic Elizabethan fantasy. ‘The Swords of Albion’ will be published annually from 2010, in the UK and Commonwealth. The sequence has also been acquired by a US publisher, and I’ll be talking more about that later.

It’s an epic story filled with intrigue, mystery, adventure and romance, set against the rich backdrop of the Elizabethan era. I hope it’ll appeal to readers of both fantasy and historical fiction. I’m very excited to be working with Transworld for the first time on the launch of this new series.

You want to know what it’s about? Here’s the pitch:

‘Spies are men of doubtful credit, who make a show of one thing and speak another.’ ~ Mary, Queen of Scots

A devilish plot to assassinate the Queen, a Cold War enemy hell-bent on destroying the nation, incredible gadgets, a race against time around the world to stop the ultimate doomsday device…and Elizabethan England’s greatest spy!

Meet Will Swyfte – adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar and the greatest of Walsingham’s new band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity – what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe?

But Swyfte’s public image is a carefully-crafted façade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work – and the true reason why Walsingham’s spy network was established.

A Cold War seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have been preying on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted or eradicated.

But now England is fighting back!

Magical defences have been put in place by the Queen’s sorcerer Dr John Dee, who is also a senior member of Walsingham’s secret service and provides many of the bizarre gadgets utilised by the spies. Finally there is a balance of power. But the Cold War is threatening to turn hot at any moment…

Will now plays a constant game of deceit and death, holding back the Enemy’s repeated incursions, dealing in a shadowy world of plots and counter-plots, deceptions, secrets, murder, where no one… and no thing…is quite what it seems.

The entire world is the battleground – from Russia, across Europe, to the Caribbean and the New World. And while great events play out in the public eye, the true struggle takes place behind the scenes: the Spanish Armada, the Throckmorton Plot, the colonisation of the Americas, the Court intrigues, the battles in Ireland and against Spain, the death of Marlowe, the plagues, the art, the music, the piracy, the great discoveries…all are simply window-dressing as the great sweep of recorded history is peeled back to show the truth behind.

Announcements on various fronts are forthcoming. The last few weeks…months…have been taken up with considerations of the future, negotiations, new contacts, new ideas. For me, it’s been an exciting time, and definitely feels like the start of a new phase - for good or bad remains to be seen, but at the moment I’m wallowing in the crackling energy of newness and possibility.

I’ve spent the last ten years telling essentially one story over a trilogy of trilogies, dense, complex, with a massive cast of characters, numerous mythologies, and two thousand years of human history - but one story. And now I’m just about at the end of it. When I first mooted this tale back in the golden, boomtime days of the nineties, my editor frankly thought it was too big a project to pull off - and I did nurture a few self-doubts myself. It’s been exhausting, infuriating, stimulating, and hugely fulfilling. But that’s still a long time to be exploring one small part of the jungle.

More next week.

Every month best-selling fantasy author Gail Z. Martin interviews genre writers from around the world for her Ghost in the Machine podcast. This month it’s my turn. You can go straight to the audio file here or for other options head to Gail’s homepage at chroniclesofthenecromancer.com.

Another nice review from NextRead.

With The Burning Man published on April 17, I thought I’d post another brief extract on my MySpace blog to try to whet appetities.

I have a new short story about to be published in British Invasion, an anthology out now from Cemetery Dance.

It’s called Farewell to the 21st Century Girl and is about a love affair, Chaos Theory, what lies behind reality and the strange patterns of life - all themes people will be familiar with from my novels. Other contributors include Ramsey Campbell, Peter Crowther, Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough and many other Brit genre writers. Editors are Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon and James A. Moore, with an afterword by Kim Newman.

The one and only book signing event for The Burning Man is to be held at Waterstones, Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, on Saturday April 19 at noon.

If you’re travelling any distance it’s worth calling ahead to ensure the shop puts a copy aside for you.

There’s an interview with me about my forthcoming novel The Burning Man - and writing in general - on UK SF Book News here.

Hellboy - big red guy, cigar-chomping, protects humanity from the hordes of the supernatural. If you haven’t read Mike Mignola’s brilliant, scary, funny, wildly imaginative series of comics and graphic novels, you’ve probably seen the movie starring Ron Perlman and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

I’ve been invited to contribute to a collection of short stories to coincide with the release of the movie sequel this summer. Hellboy: Oddest Jobs will be published on July 25 by Dark Horse and will also feature contributions from Garth Nix, China Mieville, Joe R Lansdale and others.

My story, Straight No Chaser, involves Hellboy on a quest through the zombie jazz, soul and blues clubs of London. Even the dead deserve a nightlife, right?

Personally, I found writing the story a blast. Hellboy is a great character and a testament to Mike Mignola’s unique imagination. You can pre-order the book here.

There’s a review of Jack of Ravens here which raises some very interesting issues.

What I’ve been working on for the last few years is an epic story covering more than two thousand years of human history, numerous mythologies, a huge cast of characters with complex motives and inter-relations, an enormous range of antagonists, monsters, creatures and Fabulous Beasts, each with their own history, and a fair smattering of mysticism, psychology and philosophy thrown into the mix.

Unlike, say, The Wheel of Time, where the books are successively numbered so you know exactly which one to read next, I’ve told this fantasy tale over a trilogy of trilogies - the Age of Misrule, Dark Age and Kingdom of the Serpent sequences.

I’ve attempted to provide background information so new readers can drop into the story pretty much anywhere, but I think I’ve got to face up to the fact that they can’t. If you’re a new reader to Jack of Ravens, you’re just not going to get the depth, subtelty and interplay unless you’ve read Age of Misrule. You’ll certainly get a rattling good yarn, but it will lack what I intended as the author.

The problem is, the trilogies have each been packaged in such a radically different way that the casual reader would find it hard to tell that they’re all part of this massive canvas - although the excellent design for the Age of Misrule Omnibus has brought it in line with Jack of Ravens.

What I think I need to do now is get the word out more that this is one big, sprawling story. I’d hate for a reader to come to the books under the false pretences of thinking they’re starting a standalone trilogy (and only in fantasy can you use those words…) and be disappointed.

Aren’t you sick of those author photos - nicely lit, the writer staring wistfully at camera, head rested on hand?

Here’s Keith Brooke.

Keith has just signed a deal with Solaris for his new science fiction novel, The Accord - full details here.

Oh, and nice rack, Keith…

My short story, Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast, starring Will Swyfte, Elizabethan England’s greatest spy, has been selected as one of the best short stories of the year for the prestigious Year’s Best Fantasy anthology.

Edited by David G Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, the annual book - this one is number eight - also features work by Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Tad Williams, Elizabeth Hand, Jeffrey Ford and more. Full list on the link above.

The story, originally published in the Solaris Book of New Fantasy has received a fair amount of pleasing praise from various corners, including media commentator and editor Lou Anders among others.

All of this bodes very well for more tales of Will Swyfte and his secret war with faerie.

A press release issued today by Solaris:

Solaris is proud to announce a new acquisition from popular British fantasy novelist Mark Chadbourn.

The Lord of Silence is a thrilling new epic fantasy. When the great hero of the city of Idriss is murdered, Vidar, the Lord of Silence, must take his place as chief defender against the mysterious terrors lurking in the dense forest beyond the city’s walls. But Vidar is a man tormented—by a lost memory and a vampiric jewel that demands the life energy of others. Now, with a killer loose within Idriss, and the threat from without mounting, Vidar must solve a three thousand year old religious mystery to unlock the terrifying secrets of his own past.

A two-time winner of the British Fantasy Award, Mark Chadbourn is the author of eleven novels and one non-fiction book. A former journalist, he is now a screenwriter for BBC television drama. His other jobs have included running an independent record company, managing rock bands, working on a production line, and as an engineer’s “mate”. He lives in a forest in the English Midlands.

Mark Chadbourn said, “After several years writing my own particular and peculiar brand of urban fantasy, I wanted to try something completely different. The Lord of Silence is me cutting loose and experimenting way out of my comfort zone—a completely new world, new characters, a twisted take on magic, and a mystery that spans several thousand years. It’s a sword and sorcery, noir, puzzle-cracking, romance, serial killer, adventure-mystery. With mad, dancing magicians.”

Publisher Marc Gascoigne added: “It’s always been puzzling to me why a writer of Mark’s immense talent, and with such a huge British fanbase, has rarely been offered the opportunity to release his books in the US. It’s time to remedy that, with the best book of his career so far.”

The Lord of Silence will be released in 2009 in the US and UK.

Please note – this book will be in addition to my regularly scheduled novels published by Victor Gollancz.

The Devil in Green has sold out of its latest printing. This volume of The Dark Age sequence is a key read if you’re interested in getting the full The Burning Man effect so if you haven’t got one yet, place an order with your bookseller, online or real world - a good load of advance orders will get my publisher to shift it up the reprint queue.

The Burning Man is published by Victor Gollancz in a few weeks. I’ve posted a brief extract on my MySpace blog.

The paperback version of Jack of Ravens: Kingdom of the Serpent Book One is on the shelves from today.

The hardback sold out in record time, and I know it’s been a long wait for people keen to get their hands on a copy. Advance orders are running very high, so if you want a first printing it’s probably a good idea to buy early.

The story: modern day archaeologist Jack Churchill wanders out of the mists into ancient Celtic Britain. Desperate to get back to his own time, he embarks on a long quest through more than 2,000 years of history. But the denizens of Faerie are a constant threat…and a dark force waits for him at the end of his journey.

You can buy it from Amazon here for just £3.99 (currently).

I’ve just signed a deal to publish a new novel in 2009. This will be alongside the final volume of Kingdom of the Serpent. More soon.