As the title of this post suggests, you can now pre-order AUTUMN: EXODUS – the climactic final novel in the LONDON TRILOGY. As with the other books in this series, limited edition hardcovers and signed paperbacks are available from Infected Books. Order now via www.infectedbooks.co.uk, and you’ll get an immediate download of the new novel. Signed pre-orders will start shipping from early- to mid-December.
The official release date is 10 January 2023, and pre-sale links for the eBook and paperback versions will start popping up at Amazon, B&N, and all the usual online locations over the next few days and weeks. An audiobook and a German language edition (Herbst: Exodus) will also follow.
LONDON IS DEAD!
A great fire has swept through the heart of the city, destroying everything in its path. The living, the dead, and the undead alike have been wiped out. And yet, protected by the impenetrable walls of the Tower of London, the remaining members of the Monument group have somehow survived. Now, they must strike out if they want to stay alive.
They’re going to have to risk everything to get out of here, then risk it all again to reach Ledsey Cross, a fabled safe haven hundreds of miles away.
Every step they take will be fraught with danger. There will be no shortcuts, and no easy options. To stand any chance of a future, the group will have to trek through the harshest of winters, across a land ruled by the living dead.
I need to let you know that the release plans for AUTUMN: EXODUS are changing. There have been some scheduling problems (my fault entirely) that have impacted getting the book ready for press. It’s an important release and I don’t want to rush it, so I’ve decided to put back publication slightly.
The revised release plan is as follows:
Pre-orders will open in EARLY NOVEMBER
If you pre-order a signed copy of the book from Infected Books, you’ll be able to download a complementary ebook copy IMMEDIATELY
As with the other books in the series, EXODUS will be available as a strictly limited edition hardcover with bonus material
Signed paperbacks and limited edition hardcovers will ship from EARLY DECEMBER
The eBook, print, and audiobook versions will go on general release to the public on TUESDAY 10 JANUARY 2023.
I know this might be a disappointment, but I’m committed on delivering the absolute best book I can, and that means not cutting any corners. A few extra weeks will make all the difference. As you might recall, some unexpected personal issues at the beginning of this year meant that I couldn’t give the release of AUTUMN: INFERNO my full attention. I’m very proud of the way the LONDON TRILOGY has turned out, and I want to give the final part of the story the release I think it deserves. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
And finally, the new issue of SCREAM magazine has just dropped through the door. Yes, the team do send me a copy every month (for which I’m very grateful), but I don’t promote it out of duty. I tell you about SCREAM because it’s my favourite horror mag by a long shot. There’s always something in it for the mature (ie getting on in years) horror fan. This issue, I particularly enjoyed the in-depth article on HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR, and the interview with HEATHER LANGENKAMP of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET fame. Find out how to get the mag here.
Here’s Jasper guarding the new issue and stopping me going back to it until I’ve finished my work for the day. I may be some time…
Just two months to go until AUTUMN: EXODUS is published, bringing THE LONDON TRILOGY to a (very grim, bloody, and cold) conclusion. There was a enforced lack of noise from me when the second book, AUTUMN: INFERNO, came out earlier this year, so with the release of book three looming on the horizon, I thought I’d remind you about the story so far…
WELCOME TO LONDON
Population seven million • 99.9% of them dead • the survival of the rest balanced on a knife-edge
“Autumn: Dawn is an instant classic of the zombie genre, a superb novel that demands to be read by anyone with an interest in zombie fiction, or high-quality horror fiction in general; and I cannot wait to see what Moody brings to this setting with the next book in this new series.” —The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reviewer
“Autumn: Inferno is an absolute blast from beginning to end. One that fits within the Autumn world, expands it just enough and sets up, what is sure to be, a blistering finale. 10/10″ -Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life
Both books are available in paperback, and as audiobooks and ebooks. You’ll find the links below.
I’m finally being allowed back out in public again! Coming (a frankly ridiculous) four years since I last appeared at an in-person event, I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be a guest at NERD FRIGHT FEST at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle on 9 October from 10am – 4pm. Tickets are available here. Hope to see you there!
It’s been quiet over here for a while as I’ve been busy finishing up AUTUMN: EXODUS, but I just wanted to post to mark the sad passing of the wonderful RAYMOND BRIGGS. Many people here in the UK will know him best for that Christmas staple THE SNOWMAN, or for FUNGUS THE BOGEYMAN, but to my mind his greatest work was WHEN THE WIND BLOWS.
I wrote about the film adaptation on this site several years ago – if you haven’t read the book or seen the film, I implore you to do so. Released in 1983 at the height of the (first) Cold War, it’s the tale of Jim and Hilda Briggs, an elderly married couple. As World War III looms on the horizon, they make preparations in accordance with the UK government’s woefully inadequate PROTECT AND SURVIVE guidance, fully expecting the next conflict to be similar to the last World War they remember.
Briggs had a unique and immediately recognisable style that was equally suited to heartwarming and heartbreaking stories. WHEN THE WIND BLOWS is a masterpiece of apocalyptic writing.
While I wait to be able to share with you the HUGE news I’m currently sitting on, I’ve been looking back at a few of my older books. Last weekend I managed to inadvertently wind up a climate change denier talking about STRAIGHT TO YOU, which was interesting. Never mind that a) the book is about the sun dying, not the earth’s climate changing, and b) the temperature here in the UK hit 40 degrees centigrade this week for the first time since records began, apparently I’m in the pocket of the WEF, I’m a corporate pig for having worked in a bank after leaving school, and I’m being paid by dark forces to push forward a narrative. You couldn’t make it up. Except, that’s exactly what I do for a living!
Anyway, at the risk of enraging another group of conspiracy theorists, today I’d like to talk about aliens.
I find it hard to believe, but it’s 10 years this week since I relaunched Infected Books and released TRUST, my ‘anti-science-fiction’ novel.
I shut down the original iteration of IB after the AUTUMN and HATER novels were acquired by Macmillan. IB was born in the early days of the Internet and independent publishing and it proved to be very successful. I couldn’t resist the idea of returning to indie publishing with the knowledge and experience I’d picked up from working with traditional publishers. It’s proved to be a hugely satisfying adventure, breathing life into more niche novels and projects that might otherwise not have seen the light of day.
“TRUST is a slow-burner and all the richer for it. The layers of characters and details of the story play out perfectly when matched with an ending you’re not likely to forget. It’s an outstanding novel, delivers in more ways than one, and is worthy of a place on the discerning fan’s bookshelf. 10/10″ —Starburst Magazine
“TRUST is the latest in a long line of thought provoking, intelligent novels… For new readers this is an ideal starting point to discover this major British talent who despite his innovations and successes of the last decade, you get the feeling is only just getting started.” —Shadowlocked
“Forget the idea that this is an anti-science fiction novel. It has aliens in it and it’s a treatise on how the ordinary person copes when the world which they are familiar with changes beyond all recognition. In my mind, that makes it very simply, a very good science fiction novel.” —Geek Syndicate
In a recent post I bemoaned the fact I have a backlog of too many ideas and not enough time. Your responses were reassuring, and it’s good to know I’m not the only one who struggles with an off-kilter inspiration-to-output ratio. My first overseas trip for a few years has done nothing at all to help that situation. If anything, it’s made it worse. But in a good way.
Lisa and I managed to visit to Lanzarote a couple of weeks ago. It was a holiday we’d attempted to take three times previously, only to be derailed at various stages by pandemics, heart attacks, budget airlines and dodgy travel firms. The world of 2022 remains a horrifically volatile place, and it felt indulgent taking a holiday when so many people are struggling, but it also felt good that we were able to pause for a while and soak up new surroundings.
It’s always invigorating to be able to look at the world from a different angle. It makes me realise just how small an area our lives typically operate within. What’s normal to you in your day-to-day might seem bizarre or extreme to me, and what I think of as mundane might be the height of excitement to someone else. When I was very, very, very young I was convinced that holidays worked on some kind of exchange system – you went and lived someone else’s life for a week or two, and at the same time they came and tried out your world for size. My tiny, pre-school brain had assumed that everyone led the same kind of lives, they just happened to do it in different places. I should add, by the way, that this was just a fleeting misapprehension, and that by the time I reached school age I’d realised that swapping two weeks at the seaside for a fortnight living in our semi-detached house in the middle of Birmingham would have been a bum deal for whoever owned the caravan we’d been staying in.
My point is, we sometimes have a tendency to assume that our lives are normal/typical/as good as things get.
I think the pandemic and the various lockdowns most of us went through have further distorted this perspective. A week sitting by the pool in a quiet little resort felt at times like a trip to another planet, non-stop brain food. Who’d have thought that a coach trip through the lava fields of Lanzarote would have provided inspiration for a key scene in the upcoming AUTUMN: EXODUS?
I guess I just wanted to post this as a counterpoint to my previous post about ideas. I doubt that any writer will ever use up their entire reservoir of ideas, no matter how long and prolific their career. My beef was with the onward march of time, not my overactive imagination! Finally getting away again was a welcome reminder of the unquestionable importance to me of looking further than the end of my nose and grabbing every opportunity that comes up. Better to have a thousand unused ideas and have lived, than to have worked non-stop and be scratching around for things to say.
I watched a great video on YouTube today which happened to contain a quote from Irvine Welsh that summed up the point of this post. Unfortunately I only have an auto-translated version of a Ukrainian translation (if anyone can direct me to the source of the quote I’d be grateful), but here it is: “It’s only when you start travelling that you understand what’s wrong with the place where you were born and raised.”
THIS IS ACE! Joseph Freeman’s MIDSUMMER MACABRE is now live. Settle back for the next couple of hours and enjoy readings from PETER ADKINS, ALISON MOORE, JOE, TIM LEBBON, and myself.
The show was brilliantly put together by Joe, and I want to thank him for inviting me to be a part of it. I hope you enjoy it.
