Sequel to Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows

[Michael Connolly]

This is from the Sarob Press website: www.sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk

The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows is now SOLD OUT.
Thanks everyone for making this our most popular title to date.
The book has been so well received that editor Rosemary Pardoe and I have decided to produce a follow-up volume in 2014 (as long as we can achieve the same standard of stories).
Rosemary has just announced a call for submissions in the recently published issue (number 23) of The Ghosts & Scholars M.R. James Newsletter (a great journal that I can't recommend highly enough for fans of James and ghostly fiction in general).
The deadline for submissions is to be 31 January 2014.
The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows contents were inspired by eleven of M.R. James' ghost stories and Rosemary and I are looking for prequels/sequels to the remaining twenty two.
These are:
“Lost Hearts” “The Ash Tree” “Number 13” “Count Magnus” “The Rose Garden” “The Tractate Middoth” “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral” “Martin's Close” “Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance” “The Residence at Whitminster” “The Diary of Mr Poynter” “An Episode of Cathedral History” “The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance” “The Haunted Doll's House” “The Uncommon Prayer-Book” “A Neighbour's Landmark” “A View from a Hill” “A Warning to the Curious” “An Evening's Entertainment” “There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard” “Rats” and “After Dark in the Playing Fields”
Any submission which is just a revamp or parody of the plot of the original story is unlikely to be selected. We are looking for something more original than that and there is no rule that the story must be in the James tradition itself. Rosemary will not look kindly on stories which have been simultaneously submitted elsewhere ~ word count up to the authors (within reason).
Submissions preferred by email attachment in Word or RichText format to Rosemary at [e-mail].

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

I'm thrilled by how well 'The Ghosts and Scholars Book of Shadows' has been received - and rightly so, as it's an utterly fabulous collection. I'm also thrilled that Rosemary has now started to include more regular fiction in the G&S Newsletter (three new stories - by Chico Kidd, Philip Thompson and Mark Valentine - in number 23 alone, with stories by Jane Jakeman and Peter Bell lined up for 24), and is looking for further submissions before deciding whether to return to producing it as 'Ghosts & Scholars' as of old.

As for the Sarob Press follow up, I'm still trying to decide which story (more likely 'stories') from the list to take as my starting point. Just hope, unlike last time, I decide before the final week before submissions close.

[Michael Connolly]

The Sarob Press website (www.sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk) has announced a publication date for THE GHOSTS & SCHOLARS BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2. Did any Vault of Evil contributor get a story accepted?

[Johnlprobert]

May 8, 2014 13:37:30 GMT Michael Connolly said:

The Sarob Press website (www.sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk) has announced a publication date for THE GHOSTS & SCHOLARS BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2. Did any Vault of Evil contributor get a story accepted?

Unfortunately, and for the very first time in my life, I ran out of time before the deadline so my SF spin on 'Number 13' never even managed to be submitted.

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

I, too, ran out of time with my follow up to 'The Ash-Tree', though there may well be a third volume if this one does as well as the first, as I believe the ultimate hope is that all of MRJ's originals end up with their own prequel or sequel.

[Michael Connolly]

THE GHOSTS & SCHOLARS BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2 is now available to order from the Sarob Press website: sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk/

Paul Lowe's cover is based on "Count Magnus", one of the stories sequelled or prequelled. The lineup of authors is much the same as for the first volume, which had some excellent material.

The stories are: Peter Bell, “The Sands o’ Dee”; C.E. Ward “11334”; David Longhorn, “Lineage”; Elsa Wallace, “A Tale from Kildonan”; John Howard, “Touched”; Reggie Oliver, "Absalom”; Christopher Harman, “Slapstick”; Rick Kennett, “Dolls for Another Day”; Derek John, “The Desecrator”; Helen Grant, “The Third Time”; Mark Valentine, “Character” and John Ward, “The Partygoers”.

[The Lurker In The Shadows]

Ah, Codex has beaten me to it. Rosemary tells me that she thinks the line up is, if anything, slightly stronger than in volume one, which, given how incredible the contents of the first volume were, is a very good sign indeed.

[Michael Connolly]

There is a call for submissions for The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows Volume Three on the Sarob Press website: www.sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk

The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows Volume Two was just as successful as volume one, so we have agreed to go ahead with a third volume to complete the sequence and include prequels and sequels to some (hopefully all) of those M.R. James stories which were not covered in the first two collections.

The deadline for submissions to the third Book of Shadows is 31 December 2015. Send them to Rosemary Pardoe ([e-mail]) preferably in the form of a Word or RichText e-mail attachment, or in the body of an e-mail (or on a CD-ROM: snail mail address on request). The current plan is for the book to be published around the middle(ish) of 2016.

Here is the full list of remaining stories for you to take your pick from:

“Lost Hearts” (prequels only)
“The Ash-tree”
“Number 13”
“The Rose Garden”
“The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral”
“Martin’s Close”
“An Episode of Cathedral History”
“A View from a Hill”
“A Warning to the Curious”
“An Evening’s Entertainment”
“There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard”
“The Fenstanton Witch”

You may be wondering why we have specified prequels only for “Lost Hearts”: this is because Rosemary has already accepted sequels to that story (very different). You might also wonder about the inclusion of “The Fenstanton Witch”. This isn’t among the stories published in, or just after, MRJ’s lifetime, and is sometimes listed with the unfinished drafts. But unlike the rest of those (with the exception of the comic “A Night in King’s College Chapel”) it is a completed story, just one which MRJ never really polished to his own satisfaction. Rosemary has also not ruled out the possibility of including prequels and sequels inspired by some of MRJ’s other works such as The Five Jars, Abbeys, The Apocryphal New Testament and Suffolk and Norfolk. So if you have something you’d like to do along these lines, contact her to discuss it.

[Craig Herbertson]

Aug 7, 2015 13:01:03 GMT Michael Connolly said:

There is a call for submissions for The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows Volume Three on the Sarob Press website: www.sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk

The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows Volume Two was just as successful as volume one, so we have agreed to go ahead with a third volume to complete the sequence and include prequels and sequels to some (hopefully all) of those M.R. James stories which were not covered in the first two collections.

The deadline for submissions to the third Book of Shadows is 31 December 2015. Send them to Rosemary Pardoe ([e-mail]) preferably in the form of a Word or RichText e-mail attachment, or in the body of an e-mail (or on a CD-ROM: snail mail address on request). The current plan is for the book to be published around the middle(ish) of 2016.

Here is the full list of remaining stories for you to take your pick from:

“Lost Hearts” (prequels only)
“The Ash-tree”
“Number 13”
“The Rose Garden”
“The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral”
“Martin’s Close”
“An Episode of Cathedral History”
“A View from a Hill”
“A Warning to the Curious”
“An Evening’s Entertainment”
“There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard”
“The Fenstanton Witch”

You may be wondering why we have specified prequels only for “Lost Hearts”: this is because Rosemary has already accepted sequels to that story (very different). You might also wonder about the inclusion of “The Fenstanton Witch”. This isn’t among the stories published in, or just after, MRJ’s lifetime, and is sometimes listed with the unfinished drafts. But unlike the rest of those (with the exception of the comic “A Night in King’s College Chapel”) it is a completed story, just one which MRJ never really polished to his own satisfaction. Rosemary has also not ruled out the possibility of including prequels and sequels inspired by some of MRJ’s other works such as The Five Jars, Abbeys, The Apocryphal New Testament and Suffolk and Norfolk. So if you have something you’d like to do along these lines, contact her to discuss it.

Looks good. I might have a go at this. Wish there was a way of determining which story to go for as you could end up with twenty stories on one title and none on the others.

[dem bones]

An update from Rosemary Pardoe.

"The Third G&S Book of Shadows is already three-quarters full, and the range and quality of stories is extremely satisfactory. The official deadline for submissions is the end of the year, but I might have to bring that forward a bit."

[dem bones]

Aug 7, 2015 14:06:08 GMT Craig Herbertson said:

Looks good. I might have a go at this. Wish there was a way of determining which story to go for as you could end up with twenty stories on one title and none on the others.

Craig - or anybody else interested in contributing. Ro assures us:

I'm open to accepting multiple prequels/sequels to any of the stories listed on the Sarob blog for volume 3, but preferably not more than two of each. That being the case, I'm not now considering any further sequels to "Lost Hearts" (as announced on the Sarob blog) or "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral". Otherwise, I'd say, go for it!

Any query's, just email the editor:

pardosATglobalnet.co.uk

(replacing AT with @, obviously.

[Michael Connolly]

Jul 2, 2014 11:48:41 GMT Michael Connolly said:

THE GHOSTS & SCHOLARS BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2 is now available to order from the Sarob Press website: sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk/

Paul Lowe's cover is based on "Count Magnus", one of the stories sequelled or prequelled. The lineup of authors is much the same as for the first volume, which had some excellent material.

The stories are: Peter Bell, “The Sands o’ Dee”; C.E. Ward “11334”; David Longhorn, “Lineage”; Elsa Wallace, “A Tale from Kildonan”; John Howard, “Touched”; Reggie Oliver, "Absalom”; Christopher Harman, “Slapstick”; Rick Kennett, “Dolls for Another Day”; Derek John, “The Desecrator”; Helen Grant, “The Third Time”; Mark Valentine, “Character” and John Ward, “The Partygoers”.

Rosemary, is there any chance that any sequels or prequels that did not quite make the final cut for the Books of Shadows trilogy to be published?  I'd love to see what other writers did with Count Magnus et al. 

[ropardoe]

Jan 27, 2018 13:12:18 GMT Michael Connolly said:

Jul 2, 2014 11:48:41 GMT Michael Connolly said:

THE GHOSTS & SCHOLARS BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME 2 is now available to order from the Sarob Press website: sarobpress.blogspot.co.uk/

Paul Lowe's cover is based on "Count Magnus", one of the stories sequelled or prequelled. The lineup of authors is much the same as for the first volume, which had some excellent material.

The stories are: Peter Bell, “The Sands o’ Dee”; C.E. Ward “11334”; David Longhorn, “Lineage”; Elsa Wallace, “A Tale from Kildonan”; John Howard, “Touched”; Reggie Oliver, "Absalom”; Christopher Harman, “Slapstick”; Rick Kennett, “Dolls for Another Day”; Derek John, “The Desecrator”; Helen Grant, “The Third Time”; Mark Valentine, “Character” and John Ward, “The Partygoers”.

Rosemary, is there any chance that any sequels or prequels that did not quite make the final cut for the Books of Shadows trilogy to be published?  I'd love to see what other writers did with Count Magnus et al. 

The best of these, which weren't in the book for a number of reasons not relating to quality (e.g. they were too similar to a story which was included), have been published in G&S.  There's Carole Tyrrell's "Lorelei", for instance, which I eventually included in G&S and liked so much that I'm reprinting it in A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror.  In all I think you'll find about a half a dozen tales in G&S which were among those omitted from the Books of Shadows.  I don't think there are any others I'd want to put into G&S.  One or two have been published elsewhere, by other editors. 

[Michael Connolly]

Jan 27, 2018 14:26:37 GMT ropardoe said:

Jan 27, 2018 13:12:18 GMT Michael Connolly said:

Rosemary, is there any chance that any sequels or prequels that did not quite make the final cut for the Books of Shadows trilogy to be published?  I'd love to see what other writers did with Count Magnus et al. 

The best of these, which weren't in the book for a number of reasons not relating to quality (e.g. they were too similar to a story which was included), have been published in G&S.  There's Carole Tyrrell's "Lorelei", for instance, which I eventually included in G&S and liked so much that I'm reprinting it in A Ghosts & Scholars Book of Folk Horror.  In all I think you'll find about a half a dozen tales in G&S which were among those omitted from the Books of Shadows.  I don't think there are any others I'd want to put into G&S.  One or two have been published elsewhere, by other editors. 

Oh.

[auntdaisy]

Any plans to release "Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows" volumes 1-3 as eBooks?