MARK MORRIS

As it has now been officially announced in Doctor Who Magazine issue 392, out this week, I'm finally at liberty to tell you that I have been commissioned to write another in the BBC's hugely successful Doctor Who book range!
The new novel will be entitled Ghosts of India, and will be published in September. I'm incredibly excited to be writing another Who book so soon after Forever Autumn. I had a fantastic time last year, and met some brilliant people who have since become very good friends, and can't wait to do it all again this year.
Here's the official BBC blurb:
India in 1947 is a country in the grip of chaos - a country torn apart by internal strife. When the Doctor and Donna arrive in Calcutta, they are instantly swept up in violent events.
Barely escaping with their lives, they discover that the city is rife with tales of 'half-made men', who roam the streets at night and steal people away. These creatures, it is said, are as white as salt and have only shadows where their eyes should be.
With help from India's great spiritual leader, Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi, the Doctor and Donna set out to investigate these rumours.
But what is the real truth behind the 'half-made men'? Why is Gandhi's role in history under threat? And has an ancient, all-powerful god of destruction really come back to wreak vengeance upon the earth?

I'm brimming over with news at the moment, though frustratingly I've been told to keep quiet until official announcements are made. Hopefully I'll be able to reveal all at some point in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I had a great time at the BFS Open Night at York Brewery last weekend. There was a great turnout, and kudos to Lee Harris, editor of Hub Magazine, for organising it. This was the second such event at York Brewery, and Lee tells me he's hoping that these northern BFS nights will become a regular occurrence. The intention is not to split the BFS membership, but rather to give people who find it hard to get to the quarterly London gatherings a chance to get together with fellow genre enthusiasts. York Brewery is a great setting - the 'function room' beside the bar area is cosy, homely but also just a little bit spooky. Fittingly, given that York is the most haunted city in England, the theme for the evening was ghost stories, and more particularly the public reading thereof. I kicked off proceedings with my story, Coming Home, which was originally published in the anthology Taps and Sighs (Subterranean Press, 2000) and subsequently reprinted in Best New Horror Vol 12. After me came Allison Bird, who was nervous about her first public reading but did a sterling job, a guy called - I think - Peter Roberts (my memory is not what it was), who came all the way from Bristol to read his own hilarious poem about the 'real' tooth fairy, Simon Clark, who read a poem by a bloke called Dylan Thomas (no, I've never heard of him either), Pete Crowther, who read his own story, Cleaning Up, an oldie but a goodie, and finally - the piece de resistance - Ramsey Campbell, who read his brilliant story, Calling Card, which I'm astonished to discover (having just looked it up) is now over quarter of a century old.

Anyhow, all the stories and poems seemed to go down very well with the receptive and appreciative audience, and it was great to catch up with old friends. What was particularly pleasing for me was that my wife, Nel, and my kids, David & Polly, were there, not least because it was the first time the kids had ever heard me read in public.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm the featured author over at the US website Horror World this month (www.horrorworld.org). There's a brand new 7000 word story of mine to read called The All-Nighter, so if you find yourself with half an hour to spare, why not head on over there and let me know what you think.

Finally for now, independent publishers Humdrumming have just issued a new press release about their intentions for 2008, and have asked me whether I'd mind running it on my website. So here it is:

"Independent UK publishers Humdrumming have been steadily gathering a name for themselves over the last three years, publishing attractive books by such respected authors as Mark Morris, Garry Kilworth, Gary Fry, Gary McMahon and James Cooper. As 2008 promises to be their biggest year yet (with new titles from Rhys Hughes, Peter Crowther and Tim Lebbon lying ahead) they have relaunched their website and are offering a sale on a number of their books. There are a handful of titles at only £5 - including their much-lauded First Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories - with further books at discount prices, including their expanded reprints of Mark Morris's Toady and Stitch at £10 each (a third off retail). The sale will only last 14 days, so head over to www.humdrumming.co.uk and pick up a bargain! The new site also features an option to join the Humdrumming mailing list. Members will receive early notification of forthcoming titles and occasional special offers, so it's well worth signing up."