Candy Jar Books updateBookmark and Share

Wednesday, 31 May 2023 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books has announced the second book in its final series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels.

Lethbridge-Stewart: It came from the Isle of Man (Credit: Candy Jar Books)It Came from the Isle of Man

Written by John Peel

Artwork by Paul Cooke

 

It was possibly the kindest, most humane invasion ever. Nobody was killed; nobody was even bruised by it. At least, not at first.

 

Three landings, three countries. Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart soon realises this is too big for the Fifth Operational Corps, and so plans are put into place for an international operation, with Bill Bishop and Anne Travers sent to the US to work alongside Colonel Hickenlooper, Colonel Douglas goes to the USSR to liaise with Major Bugayev, and Lethbridge-Stewart is joined in the UK by an old American ally from his National Service Days.

 

Just what is going on, who are the Engineers, and why do they insist they have an agreement with the King of Earth?

 

Lethbridge-Stewart finds himself having to deal with international politics and inter-galactic agreements, while Anne has to cope with a Russian spy, and a trip to an alien world…

 

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

It’s always nice to have John Peel back. He’s an old hand at novel writing, and without fail always delivers a strong first draft. More often than not, in fact, it requires little or no rewrites, usually a few touch-up edits. With the end in sight, we knew we had to prepare the way for Lethbridge-Stewart to become the Brigadier, and for his transfer from the Fifth to UNIT. To the end I worked alongside the authors of the final series to develop stories that would see the transition take place, show the fans why it was necessary for UNIT to be set-up to protect not just the UK, but the world itself. This book, like the previous Spheres of Influence, is a step towards that end…

We’d planned these final books some time ago, and I’d forgotten some of the smaller details, since obviously I had worked on many titles in the meantime. So it was a nice surprise when characters from bdw titleoth John's The Grandfather Infestation and On His Majesty’s National Service made an appearance. I hope it will be equally surprising and exciting for the long-time readers of the range, to see things coming full circle. It’s apt, I feel, that these characters in particular should return, tying John Peel’s contributions to the series in nice little bow.

John Peel said:

I had tremendous fun while writing On His Majesty's National Service and introducing some new characters to the world of Lethbridge-Stewart, so when I was asked to write another entry in the series, I couldn't resist bringing some of them back again to help him out. Or are they helping him?”

I wanted to write something a bit different this time around, though, so I decided to avoid the customary alien invasion theme. This time around, the aliens aren't determined to conquer the Earth – but what they have in mind might be a greater disaster than a simple invasion. It was also fun working with Jonathan Blum (with a bit of assistance from Simon Forward) to find ways to link these final books together, to walk the path to UNIT…

As with many Lethbridge-Stewart books the title underwent something of a change. Andy explained:

The title often changes between first announcement and eventual release, and this one was no exception. Originally it was called United Nations, which would be followed up by Jonathan Blum’s Intelligence Taskforce. However, due to the need to turn Jon’s novel into two books (more on that when Jon’s book is due), I decided it made sense to assign both titles to Jon’s novels. Thus, John Peel’s needed a new title. It took a while, but I eventually suggested It Came from the Isle of Man to fit in with the B-movie influence behind the chapter titles contained within the book. John approved it immediately.

Rgular contributor Paul Cooke provided the art.

This cover was slightly different to my earlier ones in that rather than an idea of what the story elements were, I was given a passage of the novel to illustrate. The description of the sea monster is vivid and when I sat down to design it, I was influenced by one artist in particular. Way back when, when I was at school, a favourite artist of mine was Rowena Morrill, who sadly died a couple of years ago. She painted strange, fantasy hybrid creatures that had an otherworldly colour palette perfect for this subject, I felt. The scale of the creature is helped with the poor Minke victim, though I did move the ship closer than in the story for visual impact. Lethbridge-Stewart was always a hands-on sort and Andy asked for him to be in action mode. What better than showing him running into battle, urging his men forward? The breaking ice behind him hints at a location for the story, and there is a clue to another location for the keen Doctor Who fan.

I do like the Scots Guard hat (glengarry) so am pleased I was able to paint it. I find it can be quite tricky to get right in the way it sits on the head as the angles look wrong. Fortunately, I have one (too small for me, unfortunately) but it fits a polystyrene bust I have (don’t ask!). This allowed me to get it just right. I’m a big believer in reference material; you can guarantee that if you get something wrong someone will always notice. This caused quite the headache when trying to draw Lethbridge-Stewart’s service revolver, as I’d chosen an angle that I couldn’t find any reference of, so had to piece it together as best I could. I hope I’ve got it right!

I’ve been really fortunate with my association with the Lethbridge-Stewart books. I bought the first one and loved it; so much so that I felt the urge to create some fan art. Andy saw it and later offered me a try-out. So not only am I a fan, Andy give me the opportunity to become a part of it. It is sad for me to know this is my last cover as the series draws to a close, but what a ride it’s been! Massive thanks to Andy for creating such an enjoyable series of books, and for taking a chance on me. (I know he will want to edit this out, but I hope it stays)

 

It Came from the Isle of Man is available to order fromt the Candy Jar website, and is included in a subscriptiomn to their books.

 


 

After a successful launch last year, a new quick read novel has been published this year:

The Analysis Bureau - Roseblood (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Analysis Bureau: Roseblood

Written by Tom Dexter

Artwork by Lee Sullivan

 

The Analysis Bureau does not exist. Ask any questions about it, and the same answers always greet you. There's no trace of any department matching that name in any branch of Government, only speculation and wild rumours.

 

May 1967, Puppet on a String is high in the charts, and people are wearing flowers in their hair as the 'Summer of Love' begins. However, in the backstreets of Whitechapel, near one of the last variety theatres to survive the Blitz, a ghost has been spotted. A ghost who seems to be screaming in terror.

 

At the Analysis Bureau, in the aftermath of Incident Three, Mr Quebec is ordered to investigate. He sends Flower on a solo mission, but how does this lead her to encounter the legendary movie star, Orson Welles? And what does the word Roseblood mean to him?

 

When Professor Travers tries to save a figure who seems to have fallen through a breach between dimensions, Flower ends up underground in the worst way imaginable...

 
 

Author Tom Dexter said:

The reaction we’ve had about the first book centred on the fact that it featured a strong female lead character, who our readers seem to have wholeheartedly embraced, working alongside classic Doctor Who characters such as Professor Travers and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The latest short story takes a new twist, and brings the iconic film actor and director, Orson Welles into the mix.

There’s a famous Spitting Image sketch from years ago,” Tom adds, “where they basically said that Orson Welles lived his career in reverse, starting with the remarkable success of Citizen Kane and ending with financing being more than scarce for anything he wanted to direct.

Set immediately after the climactic end of the first volume, this new book sees Welles heading for England to stop production of a horror parody of Citizen Kane being filmed, only to find that his past starts to haunt him in a very startling way. The Analysis Bureau step in to not only try to save his live, but also figure out what the connection is to the planet Mars.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar said:

The Analysis Bureau did exactly what we wanted, launching a spin-off title from our Lethbridge-Stewart books, and has created a team of characters who not only exists in their own universe, but also embrace characters, both human and otherwise from the worlds of Doctor Who, who we have under license. It was only natural to bring them back as soon as we could.

The book can be ordered via the Candy Jar website.

 


 

An updated paperback version of Kklak: The Doctor Who Art of Chris Achilléos has been published, featuring an unpublished Peter Capaldi illustration by the artist, plus contributions from his daughters, Esther and Anna, his nephew Thomas, and his wife, Natasha.


Natasha said:

Chris painted the image of Capaldi in time for the LFCC when he was invited to be a guest at the Heavy Metal stand as he knew Peter was attending. Capaldi was one of my favourite doctors and we both liked his gruffness and welcomed a return to an older representation of the Doctor. Chris remarked how much he enjoyed painting his characteristics – the eyes being particularly a feature as Capaldi’s look is quite striking. Chris liked to draw interesting, older faces as ‘they were a more interesting subject’ to paint.

Shaun Russell said:

Before Chris sadly passed away, we had been discussing doing something else, but this never came to pass. Since then, knowing that we had one more piece of artwork, I wanted to showcase this. We are now releasing this version of the book to celebrate his life.

You can read more about the book in our original news article on its release. It can be purchased from Candy Jar Books from their website.





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The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: updateBookmark and Share

Sunday, 6 November 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books have announced four brand new stories in The Lucy Wilson Mysteries, the children-focussed series based around the exploits of the Brigadier's granddaughter.

 


 

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Ballad of The Borad (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Ballad of the Borad

Written by Jonathan Macho

Cover and artwork by Steve Beckett

 

 

School trips are never simple when it comes to Lucy and Hobo. There’s always an adventure just around the corner.

 

Spending the day at Bristol Zoo, Lucy hopes to have a normal day out, but it’s not long before she realises the zoo has gone wild!

 

The animals have escaped and, Lucy’s no expert, but these animals aren’t quite what Lucy was expecting: a fish-bird, a cat-snake, a tortoise-spider and a huge, lumbering elephant-frog!

 

As Bristol Zoo welcomes visitors for the very last time in 2022, Lucy Wilson joins many other visitors in looking back at what makes the zoo special to her as she says a final goodbye.

 

 

Kick-starting the new quartet of adventures is fairly-new-to-the-scene author Jonathan Macho, with his short story The Ballad of the Boradwhich is an action-packed tribute and farewell to the recently closed Bristol Zoo. Jonathan is an exciting new talent from Cardiff who’s first novel The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Serpent’s Tongue was very well received by fans of the series.

Jonathan said::

When Shaun asked me to pen a new story with Lucy and Hobo encountering the Borad and some animal hybrids at Bristol Zoo, it turned out to be a two-fold blessing. Not only did I get to spend more time with two characters I really love to write, but it gave me an excellent excuse to go to Bristol Zoo for ‘research’, just a few days before it closed down! The more I saw and learned about the Zoo and its history, the more clear it became that it was the perfect setting for a Lucy Wilson adventure. I hope I did such a special place justice.

 

 



 

The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Invisible Women (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Invisible Women

Written by by John Peel

Cover and artwork by Steve Beckett

 

 

2020 has only just begun, and it already feels like it’s going to be full of back-to-back adventures as Lucy’s time ring sends her and Hobo on their second adventure of the year.

 

On arrival, our Ogmore-by-Sea teenage heroes have no idea where (or when) they are. They are just grateful that it isn’t lunchtime, as they crash land right in the middle of a dinner table surrounded by strange faces!

 

With invisible women lurking around every corner, how can they defeat someone when they can’t even see them? Add ghosts, ferocious fairies, Harry Houdini, HG Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into the mix, and this is one strange time travelling escapade. But who is the monster behind this kaleidoscope of calamities, and why does it want Lucy’s time ring?

 

Lucy and Hobo are about to find out…

 

Popular author John Peel, writer of the third book in the Lucy Wilson series The Midnight People, returns with his second full-length novel The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: The Invisible Women, but there’s a twist - the new novel crosses over with the ongoing Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off series, Travers & Wells.

Range editor Andy Frankham-Allen says:

First it was The Brigadier and the Bledoe Cadets paired with Lucy Wilson and the Bledoe Cadets and now… When it came time to discuss what our next crossover would be, Shaun suggested Lucy meeting up with Edward Travers and HG Wells. Then came the old ‘who to write it’, which almost always results in Shaun suggesting John Peel. I was on board with that, and knew John would be up for the challenge…

In The Invisible Women, Lucy is transported back in time for an Edwardian adventure that includes ghosts, ferocious fairies, Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as some irksome invisible women. On their adventure, Lucy and Hobo pair up with popular character in the Lethbridge-Stewart series Edward Travers and his companion HG Wells, in an attempt to stop the monster behind a kaleidoscope of calamities!

John said:

Writing the story was… interesting. The two books had to have separate plots that interlinked, and yet still made sense if read alone – which obviously took a bit of planning! And the last couple of chapters (the wrap-up) had to be the same, obviously, but told from two different perspectives. The only way I could imagine doing this was to write both books together as a single manuscript, so that I could be sure that the pacing worked out and the overlaps occurred at the same time in each tale, and then leave the two respective editors to disassemble the manuscript into two books. Hey, I wasn't going to do all of the work! I was expecting the process to be challenging, but because the editors and I had worked it out beforehand, it actually proved to be a lot smoother and easier than I had feared. And also a great deal more fun.

 

 



 

The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Memories of the Future (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Memories of the Future 

Written by George Ivanoff

Cover and artwork by Steve Beckett

 

 

Melbourne, 1985. Matty is just an ordinary boy having an ordinary evening, browsing for books in his favourite sci-fi shop. Until he meets a girl. A girl who appears out of thin air, into a locked room, and can’t remember who she is or where she came from.

 

And then Matty’s day gets slightly less ordinary when he encounters time-travelling killer plant people from outer space.

 

For Matty to put things right, he must work out who his new friend Lucy Wilson is, and why he is suddenly not so ordinary.

 

Following on directly from The Invisible Women is The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Memories of the Future by George Ivanoff, which is the first book in a three-part time travel adventure set in Australia.

George said:

The main theme of the book is memories. Lucy has travelled to Melbourne, Australia, in 1985 but has lost most of her memories. She can’t remember where or when she came from, or even who she is. Particularly important are the lost memories of her grandfather, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. In 1985, she befriends a boy named Matty who also has repressed memories. Weaving all those memories into the story as they begin to be reclaimed was the concept that inspired the novel.

 

Much of the book’s setting is based around my own teenage years. I grew up in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The library and lifesaving club mentioned in the book were places that I used to ride my bike to. And, just like the characters in this book, in 1985 I attended Aussiecon 2, the 43rd World Science Fiction Convention, as Melbourne was the host city. It was heaps of fun, taking these elements from my formative years, and weaving them into Memories of the Future.

Fans of The Lucy Wilson Mysteries may notice the change in the series title to The Mystery of Lucy Wilson for this three-part instalment, because Lucy Wilson truly is a mystery to both herself and her new friends, but Lucy is not the only mystery in this story!

George continued:

I was really excited when I was told that I’d be able to use UNIT. in Memories of the Future. I ended up giving UNIT. an Australian branch. In my mind, they are off having other adventures around Australia now that Lucy has returned to her own place and time.”

 

 

 


 

 

The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Rampage of the Drop Bears (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Rampage of the Drop Bears

Written by Baz Greenland

Cover and artwork by Steve Beckett

 

 

Melbourne, 1985. Fred’s best friend Matty has vanished. And now he’s found a new friend, Lucy Wilson.

 

Lucy doesn’t remember much about herself, but what she does know is that she’s from the future. But time travel isn’t possible, is it?

 

Aliens, drop bears on a rampage, a Pleistocene safari, a trip to Sydney Olympic Stadium in 2000, and a vicious baby running riot through time. Will Lucy and Fred ever be able to restore the timeline, or has their life as they knew it changed forever?

 

And last in the newly released quartet is The Mystery of Lucy Wilson: Rampage of the Drop Bears by Baz Greenland, which is the second book in the three-part time travel adventure set in Australia.

Baz said:

What better inspiration for a kid’s story than evil Koala Bears? I had so much fun stepping into the world of Lucy Wilson, and throwing her into a time travel adventure with one of Australia's greatest mythical monsters, the legendary drop bears!

Lucy finds herself back in Melbourne in 1985 and she still doesn’t know who she is or where and when she’s come from! All she does know is that her time ring seems to be defunct and she’s being taken on an even bigger adventure than she’s ever been on before.

Baz continued:

It's Gremlins meets a tour through Australia's rich history – from a trip to the Pleistocene era through to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was an honour to follow up a wonderful story by George Ivanoff and I hope Rampage of the Drop Bears delights fans, young and old!

 


 

The Invisible Women, The Battle of the Borad, Memories of the Future and Rampage of the Drop Bears are all available to pre-order via the Candy Jar shop and will be posted out at the end of October.

 

The third book in the Mystery of Lucy Wilson trilogy will conclude next year.





FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Lucy Wilson - Books

Travers & Wells: The Invisible WomenBookmark and Share

Sunday, 30 October 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books have released details of their next (almost annual) crossover novel, this time bringing together the 'worlds' of Travers & Wells and The Lucy Wilson Mysteries, written by John Peel:
 

Travers & Wells: The Invisible Women (Credit: Candy Jar Books)Travers & Wells: The Invisible Women

Written by John Peel

Cover by Richard Young

 

 

Wells had come to a post with a sign on it. He gestured to a poster that had been hastily slapped over the Rules and Regulations. It was at a bit of an angle, but very clear: PARK CLOSED, BEWARE OF THE FAIRIES.

 

Armed with new knowledge about their journey across parallel Earths, Edward Travers and HG Wells find themselves in 1919, London, on an Earth not too dissimilar from their own.

 

They are soon embroiled in a mystery surrounding fairies in St James’ Park. They are joined in their investigation by Leonora Goodwin, a woman with a secret… but at least they can see her! For on their heels are a group of invisible women, all intent on stealing Travers’ time ring for their own nefarious purposes. Someone is pulling the strings, orchestrating events, drawing Travers and Wells ever closer to an enemy from the past!

 

Luckily, they have a two secret allies. A bald-headed boy, and his friend… A brown girl with big hair and the most peculiar hat! Travers and Wells are not the only time travellers this time!

 

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

First it was The Laughing Gnome, and then Bloodlines… and now… When it came time to discuss what our next crossover would be, Shaun suggested Lucy meeting up with Edward Travers and HG Wells. It was a great idea, and made a nice change from her bumping into her grandad. First we had Lucy without Hobo, then we tried to shake things up with the last crossover by not actually having Lucy in it at all (sort of), so this time we knew we definitely wanted Lucy and Hobo. Then came the old ‘who to write it’, which almost always results in Shaun suggesting John Peel. I was on board with that, and knew John would be up for the challenge…

John Peel said:

When I was just starting my writing career, Terry Nation offered me a lot of advice. One piece was this: ‘If an editor ever asks, “Can you write me this?” always say yes. Then panic. And then go away and work out how you'll do it.’ (He never took very much seriously.) But it was good advice, and made me accept some writing assignments I would otherwise have passed up. It was very applicable in this case, where I was asked to write two interlinked novels simultaneously and for different age groups – certainly nothing I would have attempted without being asked!

Andy continued:

John has written plenty for us so far, but he hadn’t done a Travers & Wells, and as I knew it was time to start thinking ahead, and working just how many books I actually wanted the series to be, it seemed John was the perfect choice to just go away and get on with the writing while I worried about the future.

John continued:

The characters were interesting – Professor Travers, explorer and scientist, matched with a young and somewhat naive Herbert George Wells – possessing great imagination, but very little actual experience. They're still learning to act as a team, and being thrown into bizarre and dangerous situations. And the challenge of writing something that would have the vague flavour of Wells' stories without actually copying him was intriguing. Writing the story was… interesting also. The two books had to have separate plots that interlinked, and yet still made sense if read alone – which obviously took a bit of planning! And the last couple of chapters (the wrap-up) had to be the same, obviously, but told from two different perspectives. The only way I could imagine doing this was to write both books together as a single manuscript, so that I could be sure that the pacing worked out and the overlaps occurred at the same time in each tale, and then leave the two respective editors to disassemble the manuscript into two books. Hey, I wasn't going to do all of the work! I was expecting the process to be challenging, but because the editors and I had worked it out beforehand, it actually proved to be a lot smoother and easier than I had feared. And also a great deal more fun.

Shaun Russell, Range Editor of The Lucy Wilson Mysteries said:

Being presented with two books, one not a Lucy Wilson, was interesting. It took a bit of wrangling to work out how to edit them. Andy edited both first, with his main focus on the Travers & Wells story, and then I primarily focused on the Lucy Wilson story, making sure everything still linked. We tweaked things in places, playing around with the respective perspectives. I think we’ve all pulled it off, and as this crossover sets up a big shift in the Lucy Wilson books, I’m looking forward to seeing what people make of it.

 

The Invisible Women can be ordered from the Candy Jar website.

 

The series continues next year with A Modern Shangri-La by Sarah Groenewegen, and The First Moon by Andy Frankham-Allen.





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Lethbridge-Stewart: the end beginsBookmark and Share

Saturday, 16 April 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books has announced the first book in its final series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels.

The final year of Lethbridge-Stewart novels is split in two halves, with the first a trilogy of novels set during Lethbridge-Stewart’s time as a teacher at Brendon School. This first of these, A Most Haunted Man, sees the return of Sarah Groenewegen to the series, with her first novel since 2017’s The Daughters of Earth, although her most recent short story featured in the UNIT: Operation Wildcat collection.

 

Lethbridge-Stewart: A Most Haunted Man (Credit: Candy Jar Books)A Most Haunted Man

Written by Sarah Groenewegen

Cover by Martin Baines

 

 

In 1977, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart suffered a shock so great that he was hospitalised. Not that he can remember what happened. Teachers found him, knocked out cold beside the obelisk on the hill. No signs of an attack. No bumps on his head, and no memory of why he lay where he fell, who he’d been with, and great chunks of his past torn from his mind.

 

It wasn’t like any form of amnesia described in the textbooks. The clinic discharged him back to Brendon Public School and he resumed his duties as a teacher of mathematics and rugger.

 

Two years later and a series of nightmares send him back to the clinic. Then come the pranks played by identical twins, his own erratic behaviour and short-term memory loss leading to a breach of the Official Secrets Act. Someone else is living in his house, driving his car, and making changes to the school he loves.

 

It seems that the demons haunting him prove too big for him to fight on his own.

 

 

The 2022 series was put back a little when it was discovered the book planned to open the year was a little too close to the events at play in Ukraine. Thus, Spheres of Influence has been put on indefinite hold. Hopefully it will see the light of day at some point but, for now, and to make up for the delay, Candy Jar Books have also decided to reprint the very first Lethbridge-Stewart novel, The Forgotten Son: Special Edition, with a brandnew cover by Richard Young.

Head of Publishing Shaun Russell said:

When it became apparent that the themes and events depicted in Spheres of Influence too closely echoed current events, Andy Frankham-Allen and I quickly came to the decision that to release it at this time would be, at the very least, insensitive. Putting it on hold did mean bringing forward the rest of 2022’s books, and finding a replacement. Fortunately, Andy quickly solved that problem by commissioning a third Brendon novel, turning the first three titles into a loose trilogy. For myself, I decided it would be a nice idea to reprint The Forgotten Son with a new cover, to hopefully make up a little for the delay. I must stress, however, that the content remains the same from the previous revised version.

 

A Most Haunted Man is set two years after the Brigadier’s traumatic encounter with his future self in the Doctor Who television serial, Mawdryn Undead. Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

This is another of those books which started an idea that came up through discussions with Shaun – a good two years ago, at least. It was a while before I realised it was the perfect fit for Sarah. I’d been wanting to do another novel with her, and she came back for a short story in The Laughing Gnome: The HAVOC Files, so it was great when she agreed to do another novel for us. The only real prerequisite, other than the core idea, was that it had to be set during the Brig’s time at Brendon when he’d lost all memory of the Doctor.

Sarah Groenewegen said:

I adore writing for the Brigadier, and being able to explore different facets of this much-loved character has been great fun. When I was offered another novel in the series, this one set in 1979 and during the Brig’s post-army career as a school teacher, I immediately said yes. It’s an honour to be asked to contribute a novel to the final season of Lethbridge-Stewart novels, which has proved to be a terrific series of stories.

Sarah’s previous novel, The Daughters of Earth, delt with the breakdown of his relationship with his then-fiancée. In this book, Sarah’s dealing with a breakdown of a different sort::

I wanted to explore how he deals with strange goings-on when he has forgotten so much, and when he doesn’t have his soldiers to call on to help. My brief was to write a psychological thriller, in which the Brig’s identity and life is stolen from him. The novel allowed me to explore the nature of identity theft, and memory loss, and the combined uneasiness of not being able to trust your own mind. I added a set of identical twins to the mix, a boy at Brendon, and a girl at a local comprehensive. They are at the cusp of their own change from creepy kids who enjoy playing tricks on people, to young adults facing choices.

Setting the book in 1979 also freed Sarah up from the ongoing narrative, and gave her a chance to explore a different facet from the usual setting of the early-70s:

The setting was apposite because of the feeling of being on a cusp of change, but without knowing its direction. In that, it parallels much of today’s politics. I found it cathartic to explore similar themes of being seduced by the apparent certainty of authoritarianism — even with the attendant feeling it could turn on its own to destroy at a moment’s notice. 1979 proved to be a watershed year in Britain. The full assault on the unions, LGBTQIA people, and appeals to jingoism of the worst kind were all yet to come; and for a while the political turmoil that brought much of the UK to a standstill ceased. It’s hard to think that in this day and age of TV-on-demand, the stations that are now ITV were off air for much of the year. 1979 was an amazing year for British pop music. Punk began to segue into the New Romantic movement, and rap, reggae and disco attracted huge numbers of fans. It was fun delving into the music of the time through a few of the kids who are important during the story.

 

The cover is by popular artist Martin Baines, returning from the success of his recent cover for UNIT: Operation Wildcat:

I was partially inspired by a German poster of a classic British film. My last Candy Jar cover I did was for the UNIT anthology, Operation Wildcat. It was very flash, bang, wallop. Because of this, I enjoyed tackling a more psychological concept for this book.”

 

Both A Most Haunted Man and The Forgotten Son are available to purchase from the Candy Jar website.

 

The final series of Lethbridge-Stewart will be split in two parts over 2022, the first half is the Brendon trilogy and will continue with Legacy of the Dominator by Nick Walters, and The Overseers II by James Middleditch. The second half will be the final in the road to UNIT narrative which began in 2015, with novels by Natasha Gerson, John Peel, and Jonathan Blum.





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World Book Day: Kindle books from Candy JarBookmark and Share

Friday, 4 March 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Candy Jar Books (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Candy Jar Books have announced a number of book titles available to download for free on Kindle as part of World Book Day 2022, which took place on 3 March 2022; the offer features a number of their chilldrens' books, including from The Lucy Wilson Mysteries, and from today also includes some titles from the Lethbridge-Stewart series. 

The full list of titles includes:

The giveaway continues over the next four days.





FILTER: - Books - E-Books - Candy Jar Books

UNIT: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories updateBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 1 March 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster
The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Candy Jar is adding a further four stories to the line-up in the previously announced UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories, with new stories from established writers John Peel and Chris Lynch, plus two new writers to the series.

Range Editor Tim Gambrell explained the thinking behind the changes:

I love situations like this, because they focus everyone’s creative energies. It started with a quick conversation with Shaun Russell just before Christmas. Shaun felt we needed to add a bit more value for our readers, and I was keen to make sure we weren’t just replicating the (successful) formula of the Lethbridge-Stewart HAVOC Files books. So, the collection has expanded from 9 stories to 13. But we didn’t want to delay the publication, as it had already been announced for pre-orders, so I had to work quickly.

John Peel, who most recently penned the first Benton Files book with Tim, said:.

What are a writer’s second-favourite words to hear? Would you like to write me a story about…? (The writer hopes that they are attached to his absolute favourite words: Here’s an inordinately large amount of money, but they so rarely are!) So, when I was asked, "Would you like to write a UNIT story, with dinosaurs in it?", how could I refuse? (As you can see, I couldn’t)

Then came the inevitable dance of what the editor liked and what I felt happiest writing. “Would you include this?” “Can I use that instead?” That continued until we were both comfortable. Then it was time to buckle down and do the actual writing – which, for the writer, is where the fun really begins. Getting into the mood, resurrecting beloved characters and doing horrible things to them…

Tim continued:

I had an idea for a story to act as a coda to Invasion of the Dinosaurs. John, being the great writer he is, turned that on its head and came up with Here We Go Again, set just before Invasion of the Dinosaurs! However, Ian Ball – who is the second of three new writers in the collection – ran with some of the ideas I’d pitched to John, while developing some threads set up in Here We Go Again. Ian has written The Ptower Bridge Pterror, so we’ve ended up book-ending Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Chris Lynch – who recently wrote the free Lucy Wilson Christmas download story, The Gray Lady of Martyr’s House - provided the next story, Honourable Discharge:

It's simple. When UNIT calls, you answer! Honestly, what writer could resist the chance to craft their own corner of this world and leave a footprint in the sand next to the Brig? For my story I wanted to explore what happens in the aftermath of a UNIT adventure, the price paid by ordinary soldiers who defend Earth alongside the extraordinary heroes we know about, and what happens when one of them doesn't quite measure up to the high standards we expect. It’s a little dark, a little weird, but hopefully a part of the world of UNIT you’ll enjoy discovering.

 

Tim continued:

Chris immediately came back with a cracking idea that put the Brigadier centre stage. It felt like I’d lit the blue touch paper – he produced the goods really quickly! As with John’s and Ian’s stories, I was also able to ensure some minor continuity between Chris’ Honourable Discharge and Martin Parker’s Old Fowlkes’ Home.

Martin had pitched a story for the Lethbridge-Stewart range, which was unused. It became clear the story could be adapted relatively simply to work as a UNIT story instead. It’s not always easy to adapt stories in this way. You’ve got two choices, basically: you adapt / re-write as you go along, leaving alone what already works – which can be fiddly and frustrating, or you put aside everything you’ve already written and start the piece again from scratch. Neither option is necessarily any quicker to deliver. But there was a lot I liked about the story as it was, and I was keen not to lose that. So, I encouraged Martin to concentrate on the aspects we agreed needed wholesale re-writes.

Martin added:

It’ll be great to get my story out there with readers. It’s a bit longer than the others in the collection, I think, but we’ve worked to keep it tight and focused. I had to learn not to be precious about the story as it already was. Best of all, I can imagine it being on TV. I think when you’re writing material like this, with established characters, that’s the most important thing – to be able to picture it easily in your head. I hope the readers will, too.

 

The story line up for The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories::

Benton's First Day, part one, by Tim Gambrell

Norwegian Would, by Simon A Brett

Shadow, by Iain McLaughlin

Operation Wildcat, by Sarah Groenewegen

The Gift, by Sharon Bidwell

Parasite, by James Middleditch

How to Negotiate with a Sentient Tree in Shoreditch, by Baz Greenland

The Aftermath of Aberbuwch, by Jonathan Macho

Here We Go Again, by John Peel

The Ptower Bridge Pterror, by Ian Ball

Honourable Discharge, by Chris Lynch

Old Fowlkes' Home, by Martin Parker

Benton's First Day, part two, by Tim Gambrell

 

The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories, is available to pre-order from Candy Jar, and comes with an art card and a free copy of The Benton Files 2, with new stories by George Ivanoff and Kenton Hall. The Benton Files 2 can also be ordered separately.

 




FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

Lethbridge-Stewart: Blue BloodBookmark and Share

Tuesday, 15 February 2022 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books ihas announced the final book in its penultimate series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels:

Lethbridge-Stewart: Blue Blood (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

Blue Blood

Written by Chris Thomas

Cover art by Paul Cooke

 

 

People go missing every day. It’s an unfortunate part of life, and tragic for the families involved. But when bodies of the missing start turning up, as if ripped apart by wild animals, the Fifth Operational Corps is called in to investigate. 

Sergeant Major Samson Ware and Captain Bill Bishop head to Newcastle, after a spike in the missing persons’ reports, and form an alliance with young photographer Gary Merrin in an effort to uncover the truth.  

Meanwhile, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne Travers try to find the recently returned Professor Ted Travers, who himself seems to have disappeared. Their investigations lead them to a World War II veteran, who is a shadow of his former self. 

How are the disappearances linked to an experiment from the past? And just what is the connection with the missing Professor Travers? 

 

 

Blue Blood is the first Lethbridge-Stewart novel by Chris Thomas, who previously wrote Vampires of the Night for The HAVOC Files 2: Special Edition.  Born in Perth, Western Australia, Chris is a writer, actor, journalist and broadcaster. His writing includes the novel Journo's Diary for defunct publisher Metropolis Ink, the Doctor Who short story One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (published in Short Trips: Defining Patterns), the plays Which One?Reality Matters, and Appetite for Destruction

Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

I enjoyed Chris’ short story at the time, and was amused to find he originally ended it in the ‘present’, setting up a sequel. A common thing among new authors – trying to set up some future work for themselves. I remember removing that end scene and telling Chris that if we’re gonna do a sequel, let’s do one properly instead of simply setting it up. Also, by removing the set-up in the short story, we leave things open for new ideas to develop in the meantime.

Chris said:

After Candy Jar Books released my short story in late 2019, Andy got in touch when he was mapping out the latest Lethbridge-Stewart series and asked if I would like to submit a pitch for one of the stories. Vampires of the Night featured Professor Travers and was set during World War II, and I originally had a short scene thirty-odd years later with Lethbridge-Stewart and Anne, discovering something that hadn’t been quite resolved at the end of the story. The scene got cut but, about six hours after I got the initial email from Andy about the novel pitch, I think we had both reached the same conclusion – he followed up, asking if I wanted to do the sequel I had previously hinted at.

 

As the final book in the penultimate series, this book serves a bit as a preamble to the final days of the Fifth Operational Corps. Chris continued:

Given the United Nations is a global organisation, I wanted to create a problem that had its focus in the UK but was also happening around the world. Being an Aussie, I did throw in a couple of things from Down Under, but the core of the story is set in England’s north, so the focus remains on the Lethbridge-Stewart characters with sojourns to other countries to show similar things happening elsewhere.

 

Andy added:

It’s all about laying the foundations for the end of the series, as the band finally starts to break up (in a very dramatic sense), which the final series will build upon as things on the international stage start to become even more precarious. But Blue Blood does much more than that; it tells an exciting story, a bit of a mystery, introducing some fun new characters to the LSverse and, eagle-eyed observers will notice, a nice link back to a popular Doctor Who story from 1989.”


The cover is by postman and popular part-time artist Paul Cooke, back for his fourth Lethbridge-Stewart novel cover:

When I got the brief, I decided to produce an atmospheric piece, but one that was still vibrant and colourful. I went for bright sidelights and a sunset rather than night sky, and pushing the colour on the radio telescope in a non-realist but striking way (I hope!).

It was really important to me to get Samson right on this cover. I really like his character and I wanted to create a good portrait. One of the things Candy Jar have been really successful with is introducing strong (I hate this term) minority characters but treating them in a realistic period-way without denigrating them or making them in any way ‘token’. I hope I’ve done Samson justice.

It was fun creating the other characters, too. The female character had to be fairly scary without being too gory and not falling into the titillation trap with the tears in the dress. Merrin had to look alarmed without becoming a caricature, so I hope I struck the right balance. An enjoyable commission and I’m really looking forward to the book.

 

The book is available to pre-order from Candy Jar Books, and is part of the Season 8 six book bundle for subcribers.

 

The final series of Lethbridge-Stewart will be split in two parts over 2022, beginning with three novels; Spheres of Influence by Violet Addison & David N Smith, The Most Haunted Man by Sarah Groenewegen, and Legacy of the Dominator by Nick Walters.





FILTER: - Candy Jar Books - Books - Lethbridge-Stewart

The Artwork of Jeff Cummins and Colin HowardBookmark and Share

Monday, 20 December 2021 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Following on from the release of the artwork of Chris Achilléos in Kklak! at the end of 2020Candy Jar Books have announced two new volumes to be released next year, featuring fellow artists Jeff Cummins and Colin Howard. Both books are available to pre-order in paperback or limited edition hardback exclusively from the Candy Jar Books website.

 


 

The Invisible Artist (Credit: Candy Jar Books)


The Invisible Artist - sample images (Credit: Candy Jar Books)
Jeff Cummins has been a prolific artist on many book covers, album covers, and posters since 1976. He is well-known for his work on the Target novelisations of the 1970s/1980s, most notably The Face of Evil, The Three Doctors and Horror of Fang Rock, as well as cover art for several of the New Adventures of the 1990s, including the seminal Dimension Riders and Conundrum. His cover work for Doctor Who helped redefine the look of Target books, expanding the canvas begun by Chris Achilléos.

 

Head of Publishing, Shaun Russell said:

After the success of Kklak! it was an obvious thing to do more collections of popular Doctor Who artists. Jeff Cummins was the second one on my list, since, although popular, his Doctor Who work is only a small part of his portfolio. Which makes for an interesting book; Doctor Who fans love to discover further works of their favourite artists. So why not have it all in one book?

Born, educated and art-schooled in Flintshire, North Wales, Jeff Cummins moved to London in 1974 and while working a graphic designer there, he freelanced and painted posters for Bruce Lee, covers for Kung Fu Monthly, Doctor Who and The Six Million Dollar Man for TV Sci-Fi MagazineHowever, with many recognising his work but unaware he was the artist, he often thought of himself invisible, hence this volume entitled The Invisible Artist!

Jeff said:

I’ve been scribbling for as long as I can remember. Any blank surface was fair game; bedroom walls, the backs of family photographs, whatever I could lay my pencil or ballpoint on. My appetite to draw was voracious! I kind of stood out at school, but not for any academic achievement. I would be given any number of art projects by teachers and pupils alike.

A long-time fan of the Target range, in particular the work Jeff did, the book is edited by Andy Frankham-Allen,
who said:

It was a fascinating project to be given. I was always aware of the work Jeff did on his Doctor Who covers, both for Target and Virgin, and his work for Horror of Fang Rock and The Dimension Riders have always been among my favourite pieces of Doctor Who art. I, rather foolishly, expected this book to be highly focused on his Doctor Who work, so imagine my surprise when I discovered how much else he had done. As it turns out, I knew a fair bit of his art, even owned some on albums and singles, but I never knew it was Jeff who had painted them. I guess it’s not without reason he often calls himself the Invisible Artist. My biggest surprise was that he did the poster for Back to the Future, one my favourite movies of all time, the cover art for the Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson single Say, Say, Say. The book is a powerhouse of surprises!

Jeff added:

My Target experience overall was happy, intense, but satisfying. Although I only ever see faults in my work, the generous feedback I’ve received over the years is very humbling. I’m very proud of my association with Doctor Who and my small contribution to its history.

As well as his Doctor Who work, the book also discusses The Beatles, of Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, how Jeff was involved in the marketing of the blockbuster film Back to the Future, painting such artists of Eric Clapton, Ozo, Blondie, David Essex… and so many more. If a pop/rock artist was popular in the late’70s/early-80s, the chances are you’ll find them in The Invisible Artist.

 


 

Timeslides (Credit: Candy Jar Books)




Timeslides - sample images (Credit: Candy Jar Books)
While most fans will know Colin Howard best for illustrating some thirty VHS covers in the 1990s, his Doctor Who portfolio further includes a vast amount of highly-detailed paintings for Doctor Who Magazine, the BBC Books ranges, private commissions, the Lethbridge-Stewart novels, calendars, posters, Doctor Who Classic Comics, and the recent DVD and Blu-ray range of animations for missing episodes like The Macra Terror, Shada, and The Evil of the DaleksTimeslides explores this incredible body of work, with each piece accompanied by a fascinating commentary from Colin.

 

Shaun Russell enthused:

One of the great things about Timeslides is that Colin’s still has a huge number of sketches he made before setting out to work on each piece. That was particularly exciting because it gives you that extra glimpse behind the scenes, sits you right at his desk, so it was immediately obvious that we’d include as many of those preliminary drawings as we could.

Colin Howard said:

I was really keen to open up my portfolio and see what fell out. We had a few disasters – I'd saved much of my original art and accompanying sketches, as well as the final products they were used on, but some of that was lost thanks to a leak in the roof!

Fortunately, the main victims were the replaceable bits: we managed to salvage all the originals, and we've worked hard to reproduce them in a high-quality that even the BBC struggled to print back in the day.

Timeslides (which takes its name from an episode of Colin's beloved Red Dwarf) is edited by Philip Bates, author of 100 Objects of Doctor Who. He said:

When Shaun told me Candy Jar would be working with Colin on a book of his Doctor Who art, I cleared a space on my bookshelf next to Kklak! I was eager to get my hands on a copy. Little did I realise that Shaun was actually asking me to edit it.

I grew up in the so-called ‘Wilderness Years’, and those gorgeous VHS covers were my introduction to Doctor Who in other mediums, probably before I was aware of the Target novels properly. So the videos hold a special place in my heart, and I know that’s true for so many other fans too. Naturally, I was super excited at the idea of getting to know Colin, let alone riffle through his archive – much of which many Doctor Who fans have never seen before. It’s an absolute privilege.

In this unique glimpse inside the artist’s studio, Colin chats about his artistic inspirations and aspirations, which aspects of Doctor Who really capture his imagination, which works he’s especially proud of, his real-life adventures at a cheetah rehabilitation centre in South Africa, and much more.Philip explained how difficult it’s been narrowing down what actually made it into Timeslides: 

One of the main challenges has been deciding on the shortlist, such is the wealth of artwork in his collection. I thought I knew Colin’s portfolio well, but I was shocked to learn just how much more he’s done. The VHS covers were essential. But how do you decide which other masterpieces make the cut? I gravitate towards artworks with great stories behind them… but talking with Colin, it became clear that that’s true of all his paintings. I mean, he's got his very own ‘missing Doctor Who story’ – one of his pieces was lost in transit and has been MIA for over twenty-five years!

But I'm really happy with the final selection and I think fans will love it too. It feels representative of Col's overall artistic journey, and delivers what readers expect, but there are also some great little surprises along the way too.

Colin concluded:

I'm really excited to share the final book with fans. My work has never been collected together like this before, so Timeslides feels like a definitive guide.




FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books

The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other StoriesBookmark and Share

Sunday, 12 December 2021 - Reported by Chuck Foster

From early 2023, Candy Jar will begin publishing a series of novels covering the adventures of UNIT – featuring Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Benton, and other characters from the Doctor Who story The Invasion (all authorised by Kate Sherwin and Hannah Haisman). In advance of those novels comes the first short story anthology:
 

The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories

Features stories by Tim Gambrell, Simon A Brett, Iain McLaughlin, Sharon Bidwell, James Middleditch, Baz Greenland, Sarah Groenewegen and Jonathan Macho

Cover by Martin Baines

 

Join Benton and the Brigadier in nine short stories looking at life in the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Ever wondered what happened on Benton’s first official day in UNIT, or why he left to sell used cars? Ever wondered how Benton earned his sergeant stripes? Or what he got up to on his days off? How Does UNIT select new recruits? And what happens when the clean-up after an alien incursion goes wrong?

In Operation Wildcat and Other Stories, you’ll find these things out – and a lot more.

 

 

Compiled by Range Editor Tim Gambrell, it brings together nine adventures.Tim explained further:

Candy Jar has already set a standard for short story collections with The HAVOC Files books. The UNIT Files will continue in that vein. There are a lot of aspects – personal or otherwise – of life in UNIT that haven’t been covered on TV or within spin-off media published to date. That opens up a deep well of potential material that really suits the short story medium. I think we’ve pulled together a collection of pieces for this first UNIT Files that truly reflects that.

Everyone who was able to contribute seemed hugely fired-up by the opportunity and pitched some tremendous ideas. My story in The Benton Files book sparked an idea for a pair of linked situations within Benton’s career, so I’ve used those shorter ‘scenes’ to book-end the collection.

Among the authors contributing to Operation Wildcat and Other Stories are recent Lethbridge-Stewart writers James Middleditch (The Overseers), Jonathan Macho (The Serpent’s Tongue and The Two Brigadiers) and Baz Greenland (Bloodlines: Foreword to the Past), along with the return of popular author Iain McLaughlin (Mind of Stone) and long-standing Candy Jar stalwarts Sharon Bidwell and Sarah Groenewegen. In addition, Candy Jar welcomes new author Simon A Brett. Tim said:

I’ve enjoyed Simon’s work on other projects, and I was keen to introduce some new voices early on in the UNIT range. Simon had a basic concept inspired by a recent trip to the Shetlands Islands. I knew I needed to bottle that inspiration, and we quickly worked out a storyline together (along with a punning title). As expected, what Simon delivered was spot on.

The story that gives the collection its title, Operation Wildcat, is by Sarah Groenewegen. Of the opportunity to contribute to The UNIT Files, Sarah said:

I’ve loved writing for the Brigadier, and when the opportunity came to contribute a story involving more of the UNIT family I leapt at it. Sergeant Benton was, for me, the obvious choice to focus on as an ordinary squaddie facing extraordinary foes.

I grew up with the original UNIT stories, and later spent a fair proportion of my law enforcement career alongside serving and former special forces soldiers. Some of the tales they shared about their training made me wonder about the adventures prospective UNIT soldiers might face and what qualities the organisation would look for in new recruits.

The UNIT Files sees the return of author Iain McLaughlin, whose last book for Candy Jar was Mind of Stone (which is being re-released with a brand new story very soon). Iain explains about his return:

My dad was a staff sergeant, so I’ve always been hugely fond of the UNIT stories on TV. That also means that any time there’s a chance to do a UNIT or Brigadier story I’m happy to join up and do my duty.

My contribution, Shadow, is set early in Benton’s time with UNIT. He’s still learning how things work and the brass at UNIT are still getting to know him. I wanted to do a story that gave him a chance to show there was a lot more to him than just snapping to attention and saying ‘Sir’. He wouldn’t survive – and indeed thrive – in UNIT if he wasn’t resourceful and capable as well as brave. It let me have a bit of a delve into what Benton thought he was getting into in those early days.

Of contributor James Middleditch, Tim said:

I approached James just as he was completing work for Andy Frankham-Allen on The Overseers. He was very buoyed up from the experience and eager for the next challenge.

James explained:

Doctor Who, while rightfully focusing on the Doctor and his companions, leaves us some tantalising clues about what UNIT and its troops are up to in the background – including how personnel are managed, trained and promoted. Although he holds a number of positions across his various appearances, usually Benton is referred to as sergeant – it’s the rank he seems stuck with! At last, we can find out how he took on this mantle and what challenges he had to overcome.


Jonathan Macho first came to Candy Jar’s attention as a runner-up in the second South Wales Short Competition. He then went on to write the short story The Two Brigadiers, as well as the hugely creative Lucy Wilson book, The Serpent’s Tongue. He said:

When Tim kindly asked me to contribute to the first UNIT adventures at Candy Jar, my head flooded with bonkers ideas for the Brig and Benton. Where I ended up was Bong Joon Ho’s The Host in West Wales and the most fun I've had writing a story in a long time. I can't wait to see what my fellow writers have in store for the team too!

Baz Greenland’s first novel, Foreword to the Past, closed the Lethbridge-Stewart: Bloodlines series in 2020. He said

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to The UNIT Files and to have the opportunity to write for the Brigadier once again. Not only that, I got to write for one of my favourite characters from Doctor Who – Sergeant Benton – in a story that explores just how the members of UNIT are considered by their armed forces peers.

The cover for Operation Wildcat is by ever-popular Lethbridge-Stewart artist Martin Baines. Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, said:

It’s always a pleasure working with Martin. His creativity is second-to-none and our readers seem to appreciate his style.

 

The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories is a hardback anthology, similar to the recent Lethbridge-Stewart books Downtime: Child of the New World, Kiss of the Ice Maiden and the illustrated Beast of Fang Rock. It will come with a postcard of the cover art and an exclusive short paperback book: The Benton Files II, featuring two new Benton short stories by 
 

UNIT: The Benton Files II (Credit: Candy Jar Books)The Benton Files II

Written by George Ivanoff and new author Kenton Hall

Cover by Richard Young

 

It’s all in the mind… Or is it?

Retired Sergeant Major John Benton recounts two more tales of his experiences serving under Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. In The Lady Jessica Affair, by George Ivanoff, Benton and the Brigadier take tea with an apparently harmless elderly lady at her stately home – and end up defending the world. In Kenton Hall’s Life Assurance, life has apparently thrown a different set of circumstances John Benton’s way. But will he be able to find a path back to his true calling?

 

On the cover, Shaun continued:

As always Richard has done us proud. His work just gets better and better.

 

The UNIT Files: Operation Wildcat and Other Stories will be available exclusively through the Candy Jar website - note, this is not included in any subscription or multi-book deal.





FILTER: - Books - Candy Jar Books - UNIT

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Overseers / Short Story Collection 3Bookmark and Share

Sunday, 17 October 2021 - Reported by Chuck Foster

Candy Jar Books has announced the second book in it’s ninth series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels:

 

Lethbridge-Stewart: The Overseers (Credit: Candy Jar Books)Lethbridge-Stewart: The Overseers
Written by James Middleditch
Cover by Adrian Salmon

 

 

The Fifth Operational Corps is preparing for the future, but are horrified to see the shape of things to come.

 

A new form of surveillance is spreading across the South Coast of England. The British people are being shown a new kind of peace, but at what cost? Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and his team fear it may already be too late when this revolutionary method of control extends its reach through the ordinary city streets.

 

There are other secrets at work too, stretching from the past through the hidden world beneath the surface.

 

With nowhere to hide, Lethbridge-Stewart, Anne Travers, Bill Bishop and Samson Ware must find new allies. With their own histories part of the pattern and the fate of the country at stake, can they resist a force that’s closing in from every direction?

 


The Overseers is the first novel from author James Middleditch after two previous short stories for the series. Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen said:

From the first time I read James’ first short story, Piece of Mind, I knew I had found a very good author. And it was after his second short, Latent Image for The Laughing Gnome anthology, that I knew it was time to test him on a novel. By that point plans were underway for the final eight Lethbridge-Stewart novels, which meant if I was going to use James, there would be no better time. James’ inventiveness is matched easily by his enthusiasm, and that shows in his writing. It took a few attempts to break his story, slotting in a few new elements and characters, but when the idea was locked down, James’ true skills came on full display.

James said:

I’ve loved spending time reading about these characters over the past few years and was thrilled to be able to write a couple of short stories featuring some of them. I was then asked to pitch a story for a full novel, and was quite overwhelmed to be selected. This will be my first published novel. Nothing quite prepares you for the task, so I’m grateful for the guidance Andy has provided throughout.

Andy continued:

It had been some time between finalising the outline and the first pass edit of the completed novel, time during which I had worked on a lot of other projects, so in many ways it was a nice surprise to read James’ book. I recalled only bits of the outline. What I discovered was some very sharp writing, in a book that exemplifies the what Lethbridge-Stewart (and indeed Doctor Who) does best, telling a good adventure story by playing on common fears and issues with modern culture. An even more clever task, considering the book is set in 1971.

James added:

Chapter planning was a great intermediate stage, although I’ve learned that these have to evolve as things progress and new ideas emerge. Spending an even more immersive time with these characters has been a pleasure. They have always felt so real, especially in the face of extraordinary things, and I feel privileged to have contributed one of their full adventures, especially as the series heads to its conclusion.

As well as keying into some of the more disturbing sides of popular culture, The Overseers highlights some of the more interesting aspects of the South Coast of England. James explained:

I’ve taken the chance with The Overseers to show off (and embellish!) some of our own local history here on the South Coast of England, while also exploring some very contemporary debates about surveillance and control. A few news stories have even broken during the time I’ve been writing that seem frighteningly close to the fiction. That blurry boundary between reality and speculation is an ideal one for our team of familiar characters to navigate. Likewise, the point between the past and the future, where each exerts a pull, is a great one to have taken them, and I hope readers enjoy going there too.


The cover sees the return of popular artist Adrian Salmon, hot off his work on the latest Doctor Who animation, The Evil of the Daleks:

I loved the ICUs the moment I read the brief – it's such a brilliantly simple idea, yet incredibly creepy: big brother on legs. I felt there should be a big bold drawing of an ICU with gun arm raised to catch the readers eye, whilst the rest of the montage hinted at scenes from the story. The speeding Volkswagen T2 Camper gave the cover a sense of movement, and all that was needed was Anne and Lethbridge-Stewart to complete the design.

 

The Overseers is due out at the end of October 2021, and can be pre-ordered now either on its own or as part of the series 9 bundle from the Candy Jar website.

 

The next book in the series will be Blue Blood by Chris Thomas

 


 

Lethbridge-Stewart: Short Story Collection 3 (Credit: Candy Jar Books)

In 2017, 2019 and 2021 Candy Jar offered aspiring writers and fans of the Lethbridge-Stewart series the/ opportunity to pen their own story. Notable entrants included Jonathan Macho (who has since written several short stories and The Lucy Wilson Mysteries book, The Serpent’s Tongue), Richard Brewer (the author of the recent Lethbridge-Stewart anthology, The Ever-Running) and the 2019 winner Megan Fizzell (who co-wrote Domination Game with Aly Leeds).

Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce that the winner of the third Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competition is Peter Frankum.

Head of publishing, Shaun Russell, said:

It’s always a privilege going through entries and, as you can imagine, it was extremely difficult choosing a winner, but we felt that Peter’s stories were outstanding.

Peter’s two winning stories are called Prologue and Epilogue, and sit at the beginning and end of the book.

Will Rees, editorial co-ordinator at Candy Jar Books, said:

We have always offered entrants the opportunity to send in two stories, but not until now have we felt obliged to use both of them. Peter’s stories were both equally brilliant that we didn't really have a choice. Peter instinctively understands the characters of Professor Travers and Anne, and offers a new perspective on their lives. We look forward to working with him in the future.

 

The runner-up story is by Susan Brand. Shaun said:

In the Lucy Wilson books we usually include a flashback prologue; basically Lucy sitting on the Brig's knee as he recounts a fantastical story from his action-packed past. Susan has taken this concept and lovingly expanded it. As a co-creator of the series, I felt that this story was a joy to read!

 

The idea for the Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Competition came from the company’s commitment to shedding light on fresh writing talent. Since 2015 the Lethbridge-Stewart novels have championed previously unknown authors such as James Middleditch and Gareth Madgwick, alongside famous writing names in the Doctor Who universe including John Peel, Nick Walters, Simon A Forward and David A McIntee.

The Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection features eight exclusive short stories featuring Lethbridge-Stewart at various stages in his life (as well as one story from the wider LSverse). This is a chance for fans to see the Brigadier like they’ve never seen him before!

 

The eight stories are:

  1. Prologue by Peter Frankum
  2. The Grotesque by Tim Beeley
  3. The Dulcians by Dallas Jones & Roger Reynolds
  4. And... Cut by Robert Kilmister
  5. Feeding Animals in the Zoo by Peer Lenné
  6. A Master of Perception by Alan Darlington
  7. Perfect Day by Susan Brand
  8. Epilogue by Peter Frankum

 

Fully licensed by the Haisman estate, and featuring concepts and characters created by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, the Lethbridge-Stewart Short Story Collection is a must for fans new and old. Readers are advised that this book will be a limited edition release, only available to purchase directly from Candy Jar Books.





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