Alex Bell - fantasy author

Welcome to the Chainsaw Gang! We are a select group of UK-based YA writers, writing about a variety of different things but - as you may have guessed by the rather awesome blood-soaked banner - there are no sparkly vampires here, my friends. There are no moping teenage girls whose lives are incomplete without their vampire/angel/(insert appropriate brooding stereotype here) boyfriends. Instead, we write about killer dragons, and underground prisons, and yetis, and werewolves (proper ones - not loved-up ones), and heroines who are Templar warriors rather than simpering cheerleaders. All this and more. So if you like your YA fast-paced and furious - and maybe a little bit bloody - then you have come to the right place. Without further ado, I give you the other members of our brand-new, and ultra-cool, gang (I always wanted to be in one . . . ):

First up, Sarwat Chadda (unofficial leader of the gang - and the one with the Templar warrior heroine):

Stephen Deas (the dragon man of Gollancz):

Sam Enthoven (writer of fantastical action thrillers):

David Gatward (lots and lots of DEMONS!):

Steve Feasey (writer of ferocious werewolves):

William Hussey (who writes about ancient horrors):

Jon Mayhew (demons plus fog-drenched Victorian London = a double win in my book):

Alex Milway (he writes about yetis! And I agree with Sarwat on this - there just aren’t enough yeti books out there):

Sarah Pinborough (aka Sarah Silverwood - writer of murder, madness and the Knights of Nowhere):

Alexander Gordon Smith (yes, there are three Alex’s in the gang. At a future date I may stage a mutiny and attempt to rename the group The Alex Gang . . .) He writes about an underground prison run by demons! What more do you need to know? :

And, of course, me. And that’s it!

The Chainsaw Gang will be blitzing the UK over the Halloween period, so here are some dates for the diary:

Alexander Gordon Smith:
13th October, 4.00, Thornton Heath Library, Croydon
14th October, 4.00, Coulsdon Library, Croydon
19th November, 4.00, Worksop Library

Jon Mayhew:
21st Oct: Crosby Civic Hall: Scarefest
26th: GobbledeBook Festival Chester: Teen Panel AM, Full Event PM
27th: Newport Big Read, Riverfront Theatre Newport
29th: Booka Bookshop Oswestry: A Hallowe’en Party
30th: Lancaster Castle

Steve Feasey will be at the Cheltenham Festival on Oct 10th.

Sarwat Chadda will be at GobbledeBook Festival, Chester on Monday 25th, 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

And, finally, the big three multi-author events:

Crystal Palace Children’s Book Festival on Sat 23rd October with Jon Mayhew, Alexander Gordon Smith, Sam Enthoven, Steve Feasey, Alex Milway, Sarwat Chadda and MYSELF. The event is free, but ticketed, so book now to avoid disappointment!

Norwich Millenium Library on Friday 29th October, 2.30pm with Alexander Gordon Smith, William Hussey, Sam Enthoven and Sarwat Chadda.

Foyles, Charing Cross Road. Their big Halloween Angels and Demons extravaganza running Saturday and Sunday, 30-31st October. With William Hussey, Sam Enthoven and Sarwat Chadda. Contact the store and book your place now.

And watch this space . . .

Just a quick post to say that I will be doing a library event in Southampton next Wednesday at 3.30pm. The event is an open one so if anyone wants to come along and listen to me talking about Lex Trent and writing then feel free! Copies of the book will be available to buy and, of course, get signed, on the day. More details here: http://www.southampton.gov.uk/s-leisure/libraries/alexbell.aspx

Alt Fiction (http://altfiction.co.uk/): I will be there this year. In fact I’m even giving up attending the Youth and Student Labour Leadership event in London in order to be there. That’s how committed I am to this writing thing. Nothing trumps it, not even politics.

I’ll be doing a couple of podcasts and a panel, so if there’s anyone around who would like to see me talk learnedly about whatever the heck the panel is about then do come along. I may not talk learnedly, though, I might just talk. But it should be good!

And if anyone has any books they want signing them bring those along too. I like signing books for people – it makes me feel important. So make my day. And if you ask me nicely I may give you a Jaffa Cake. I always have Jaffa Cakes with me at these things because conventions and literary festivals always give me the munchies for some reason and, as every ex-student knows, nothing fixes that better than a big tube of Jaffa Cakes.

There’s been a lot going on this week, which means I have not managed much writing. But I have enjoyed a rare burst of social activity that should keep my recluse metre topped up for the foreseeable future so that I can get some actual work done.

The Gollancz party on Thursday was splendid as always. I met (and re-met) Gavin Smith and Sam Sykes – new authors for next year who I expect to be deeply envious of some time soon. I had several people express their shock and horror at the fact that I love the Roadkill toys. People seem to think it’s out of character considering my vegetarianism and animal rights activism. And the more they go on about it, the more I start to feel a little bit shocked and horrified myself. Why am I so fond of my gory rabbit? Is there something dreadfully wrong with me? But mostly I just feel a vague sense of amusement that meat eaters can be uncomfortable with a squished soft toy that, actually, is not really dead, yet they don’t mind paying a butcher (or their supermarket) to chop off a cow’s head. Strange, eh? But – everyone’s shock and horror aside – the Gollancz party was a great bash, and I was tremendously pleased that the midnight train was the last one running rather than the usual half past ten.

The panel I took part in at the Havant Literary Festival yesterday was also a success. Fortunately, my hangover from the Gollancz party the night before had worn off by then. At least, I think it had. No one suggested to my face that I still looked hung over anyway. The panel was very well attended, and I was particularly pleased to see the lovely Neil C. Ford in the front row, especially as he had the foresight to bring a Lex Trent ARC – something that never occurred to me (possibly because of the hangover thing).

I believe I spoke relatively coherently, although I may have blanched a little when the moderator suggested we read aloud from our books. The whole concept of an author doing readings from their own books completely baffles me. This is, essentially, a form of acting. I could no more speak convincingly in Lex’s voice (or any of my characters) than I could get up and sing a piece of Italian opera. I am no actor. If I were forced to read aloud from one of my books, it would therefore probably come out as something of a dull monotone. I lack the theatrical flair. Writing it and speaking it are, after all, very different things. I’m always amazed that so many authors seem happy to do readings at conventions and other appearances. This is certainly not something I would ever voluntarily do. Fortunately Mr Ford, perceiving my discomfort, offered to read a section on my behalf, which let me nicely off the hook. And, indeed, he read it much better than I would have done. Henceforth, I shall refer to him as Lancelot, and expect him to accompany me on all and any events I may attend – just in case.

A big thanks to everyone else who made it to Havant last night, and an even bigger thanks to those of you who bought one of my books. Think of me again in February when Lex Trent versus The Gods will be out in all its fantastic, stupendous, awesome, breathtaking, shiny book glory.

Once again, I should have blogged about this ages ago, but I’ve only just realised that the Havant Literary Festival is, in fact, only one week away. How is this possible? It’s still the middle of June, surely? Not practically the end of September! Well, at least that means Christmas is closer. Yay! Christmas is a time for silly hats, and I might have to convince Moose to wear a Santa hat so that we will match!

But back on topic. Next week from Friday 25th September until Sunday 4th October is the Havant Literary Festival: http://havantlitfest.wordpress.com/ I was involved in this last year, and it was a lot of fun and a fantastic event. This year I will be doing a panel at 7.45pm on Friday called ‘The Journey through Adolescence’, with authors Isabel Ashdown and Yong Pease. We will be talking about ‘the special challenges of writing for and about teenagers’. Tickets are £4.00 each: http://havantlitfest.wordpress.com/programme/programme-_-friday-25th-september/ If you are anywhere near my neck of the woods and fancy watching me speak eloquently and eruditely on this subject (or perhaps just making up stuff that may, or may not, be coherent) then do come along. There will be books available to buy and have signed afterwards.

Aside from my panel there is a whole bunch of stuff going on in Havant over that weekend, with a wide selection of writers so if you’re even remotely interested in reading, writing, or just books in general, and you’re within a manageable distance of Havant, then I would highly recommend going along at some point. It was a brilliant event last year, and it looks set to be even bigger and better this year.