New Mangel and FREE Graven

Loyal followers of Royston Blake will be relieved when March 2013 comes. That is when the big guy comes back into our lives, via the fifth Mangel book MADE OF STONE. To whet your appetites, here is the cover:

That insect is the Hurk Moth, a new species they discovered in the wooded area north of Mangel. This moth explains a few things about the way people behave around there... but you'll have to read the book to find out how. And it's not just about moths - there's a lot of other insane shit too that all seems to hang together in the usual Royston Blake kind of way. I'll say more about the background to this book nearer the time, but if you happened to be reading this blog last year and caught some of an episodic story that was playing out in real-time on these pages, you will recognise some of the early parts - the novel came from that. And I'm glad it did. Check it out (and maybe pre-order) here in the UK and here in the US.

Kindle owners who have not read my novella GRAVEN IMAGE should check out Amazon (UK, US) for the next couple of days - it will be going FOR FREE for a limited period. Do it! It's about Leon, a brothel bouncer with problems. I don't know why I keep writing about bouncers. In the pissed-up, amplified social world that a lot of us live in, they are the gatekeepers.

Royston Blake says "God Bless America"

I heard they got a new prime minister in America. Personally I liked the old one, Arnold Scharzenegger. At his best he were like the biggest bastard of a headmaster you ever got caned by, except with a shotgun instead of a cane. Also he had that arm with robot shite under it, which he could pull the skin off whenever he wants to shite people up. I heard he had a special operation to have all that put in, and it's seizing up now with rust and that's why they had to get the new prime minister, played by Apollo Creed out of Rocky I, II, III and IIII (until he gets wasted by Ivan Drago). I like the bit at the end where Rambo goes "If I can change, and you can change, every fucker can change. Maybe even Fat Sandra down the arcade, who still reckons I'm banned even though I ain't tried going in there in three years." As everyone knows, that film is all about communists and the Iron Beef Curtain. So here's to hoping Barracks Wossname can finally end all that and bring a new kind of curtain to them Soviets. One made of velvet, or summat. Or just a nice Venusian blind.

Your mate,

Blakey.