hey all, I forgot to post about this here last month- d'oh! My first article for the awesome genre site HORRORNEWS.NET was published on November 18th. Here's a taster:

Do you know what happens when someone watches horror films for years on end? They turn into me. Hello, I am the product of a life spent watching gore and innards flying in all directions, and contrary to the beliefs of a great many people who would call me the spawn of the devil, or a serial killer in waiting, I am actually a (pretty) well rounded member of civilized society. Granted, I am probably more familiar with the site of exposed brain matter and the concepts of cannibalism, vampirism, reanimating corpses and suchlike, but I'm hardly going to go and start eating kittens and screaming that the Great Demon Of Zorb is about to come and rip everyone to shreds.

You can read the full article, REALITY SCARES ME, at HorrorNews.net!

Hey all... check out the latest issue of POWERPLAY ROCK AND METAL MAGAZINE for my two most rcent interviews, namely Swedish stars The Poodles and French newcomers Kipling!

There's a fantastic covermount CD as well, with well over and hour of cool stuff you probably won't hear anywhere else!

This issue rounds of another fantastic year writing for the mag. These past two years have been brilliant fun, and I'm looking forward to many more! The current issue is a special double issue, and well worth the 3.95 cover price.

As ever, it's the rock mag with a difference, covering many bands that will be new to you along with the greats.

Hey all, I've started a new movie reviews site for you to check out. It's called THE GENRE ADDICT and will be the place to find a daily movie review from me. The material I'll be covering includes horror, science fiction, fantasy, anime, exploitation, b-movies, action, anime, and all manner of other cheap and nasty flicks that come my way.

There'll be new and old titles galore, and hopefully you'll find something you agree with, or even discover something new to enjoy! I've started the page because of the amount of film reviews I've been writing lately, and as I don't have a gig with a film mag yet, you're getting them fresh, fast and free!

Visit THE GENRE ADDICT!

Current stuff up? There are presently reviews up of DEMONS, DEMONS 2, CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE, LAID TO REST, FLESH FOR THE BEAST, STUART GORDON'S DEATHBED and DEATH TRAP (aka EATEN ALIVE).

Add the RSS feed to your reader of choice and get a new review delivered to you every day! As time goes on, there will also be the odd review of a book, comic or other chunk of media. 

Andy

Hey all... I've finally given my profile an overhaul, corrected some errors, got a new layout, new music, new info on me and what I'm doing and generally had a bit of a change. There are some spectacular things coming up, as well as some that are already out.

If you haven't done so yet, check out the current issue of POWERPLAY ROCK AND METAL MAGAZINE for my interview with THEATRE OF TRAGEDY on their storming new album 'Forever Is The World', along with all of my new reviews. Of course, there's the usual bunch of top notch material from the rest of the Powerplay crew as well (*waves at Lucy and the gang*), and it it well worth checking out if you like your music journalism unbiased and enthusiastic.

News on my new books soon. The list of new titles is growing fast, and there'll be a nice annoucnement regarding next month soon :)

Man, this year is zipping by. There's been so much going on I've not been able to update my Myspace blog all that much. I've moved to Nottingham, for a start. If you're in Nottingham, drop me a line and we can see about meeting and being social.

Writing? TO BANISH THE DARK, STOLEN FATE and all the other stuff are yet to be completed, but I swear I'm getting there. I just finished the revisions for the new edition of ACROSS THE SEAS OF MIND, so that'll be out soon.

I have a new graphic novel project underway, which I'm tackling alone. Inspired by the films of Kevin Smith and John Hughes, along with stuff like SPACED and HIGH FIDELITY. Expect comedy drama with pop culture references. Add to this a horror project and a none-genre project too, a move to a new city and attempting to build a whole new social life (hello? Anyone?) and I am deliciously chaotic, hence my best work.

Anyway. Drop me a line.

Incidentally, there are regular updates with new material at http://www.andrewhawnt.com and you can catch up with my music journalism in POWERPLAY ROCK AND METAL MAGAZINE every month. The latest issue contains my interview with THEATRE OF TRAGEDY.

See you around soon,
Andy

Hey all... my first anthology, ACROSS THE SEAS OF MIND, is now only 75p (roughly $1.10) to download as an eBook, and the paperback version has also been reduced! Check them out here:

ACROSS THE SEAS OF MIND by Andrew Hawnt

Originally released in May 2008, ACROSS THE SEAS OF MIND contains 16 stories in its 216 pages, including the title novella and the chilling WITH DEAD EYES OPEN.

This is your last chance to get hold of the original edition of this book!

More news on my 2 new books, STOLEN FATE and TO BANISH THE DARK soon...

All the best
Andy

Having a marvellous weekend at the seaside with my lady while we visit her family. Getting away for a couple of days is working wonders.

Work on the book is continuing while out here, and also work on our joint secret project, which is only secret as far as we're not telling you what it is yet.

Am feeling suitably inspired, despite not having enough time or fingers to get it all outy of my head fast enough. Some cool things coming up, which I'll tell you about once I'm done enjoying this sunshine and good company.

I haven't been using Myspace all that much lately- have I missed anything? Feel free to drop me a line with what you've been up to.

While it may make me seem like some kind of social freak, I must tell you that I don't watch TV. Well, I do, but generally the images on my screen are those of long-ended sitcoms or films from yesteryear (You know, that trustworthy period aka 'way back when'). There are exceptions- Doctor Who, The IT Crowd, and, erm, that's about it. I have well worn DVDs of the three series of Black Books, various Red Dwarf series, Spaced (I am an Enormous Spaced Fanboy. An ESF, if you will), Blackadder and a bunch of titles that ended their runs before I was born, or at least soon after.

Many people I know are huge TV fanatics, and while I am a little envious of the Battlestar Galactica club (I did see the first season before quitting watching TV- I loved that, but never followed it up and am now too far out of the loop to get back into it), I can't say that my life is all that worse off for not being addicted to Lost, Heroes, Hollyoaks, Coronation Street, Big Brother, Celebrity Nose Picking or anything else that has been littering various channels in recent years. In fact, I feel rather netter for it. Thanks to the internet I am able to moderate the stream of mindless waffle that I am exposed to (and yes, I acknowledge that there's way more waffle online). Thanks to podcasts and streaming media I'm up to date with the news, and am probably privy to a wider range of opinions in doing so.

A lack of TV shows clogging my daily and weekly routines has freed me up to do the other important things in life, such as cooking properly, scratching myself luxuriously and getting through some of the stack of books that I keep buying and never getting around to reading.

You see, I am somewhat at a loss as to how people do the TV thing now. With a bajillion channels hurling a constant stream of lurid vomit into your eyes, how do you find the time to sleep, work, brush your teeth or indeed switch channels? I am genuinely curious. I was once a complete TV junkie, soaking up series after series of dross (Buffy, Angel, Highlander: The Raven, Star Trek: Voyager) with the odd nugget of joy (Father Ted, Men Behaving Badly, Babylon 5, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), but after switching it off (or at least ending my love affair with the latest episodes of whatever), I seem to have lost the knowledge of cramming life with those of onscreen fictional characters.

I am, however, curious to check out some of the series that have been consistently appreciated by friends, such as House, Life on Mars and the like. But my problem is, for every good show that comes along, there seems to be twenty five that scare me off again. Sex and the City? Gossip Girl? Reality Pitchfork Dancing? Bah. Give me a 70s sitcom and leave me with my scorn.

I fear the TV addicts of today are hiding a grim secret. They have evolved beyond the rest of us. As they sit before their 125-inch LCD MindBender 5000 screen, I imagine their heads splitting open, revealing hundreds of quivering tentacles, each boasting a pair of tiny eyes and a tiny remote control, their open skull writhing with screen junky minions. Their TV set then opens at the sides and hundreds of tiny televisions extend on flexible wires, settling in front of each Head Worm. Only then can the true TV watcher be able to suck in all of the required shows at once. Only then will they be able to keep up with all of the Reality Show nonsense at once. While Celebrity Career Suicides On Ice plays to one, another will be glued to CSI: Basingstoke and another to Imbeciles On Parade, and yet others will be glued to more. You see what you've done to people, TV? You've mutated them, turned them into drooling, incoherent alien beasts with heads full of worms.

Actually, maybe my lack of a regular TV fix has done that in my head in a vain attempt to keep my brain docile enough not to scream at passers-by and hurl my own shoes at them in sheer frustration at their obsession with the lives of people they don't know and will never meet.

I love you TV, but I don't miss you.

........

Things could be much worse, and in the current economic climate I'm grateful for what I have. Anyway, time to update on my progress with various things:

STOLEN FATE
The novel is almost ready. Covers are being talked about and the text is being finalized. This is the best thing I have ever written. So far.

TO BANISH THE DARK
Is on hold until I finish Stolen Fate.

THE FOREVER GUARDIAN
Likewise, but a sample pack is now ready to be pitched. The ebooks will come down shortly.

NEW CD
Writing for the new CD is going slowly but surely. I'm playing better than ever, so my last release as a musician should be awesome.

THE FUTURE
The more I think about it, and the more I see this Cd as the last music project I'll do, the more sense things make. A tangible ending will help me take stock of the past, the present and the future, but for now I am sticking to the decision of quitting playing music. DJing is also a thing of the past now. I'll never say never, but here and now, I'm done. Surprisingly, that is rather comforting. I will be concentrating solely on writing after the CD is done. Writing seems to be the only thing i am actually any good at, and the only thing where I am having some measure of success.

Speaking of which, I am having an absolute blast writing for Powerplay. The albums I get to review are diverse and wonderful, and the artists I interview are fascinating and a joy to talk to.

The sun's out. Ain't life grand?

Am currently unable to articulate anything that is going on in my head whatsoever. I think I will attempt to deal with some of the chaos out of sight for a while. I've always been far too open an honest when writing online, and I feel that may be I should take a step back from all of this for a while. There's a lot I need to deal with, and for the time being I think I should do it in private for once. Please excuse my apparent melancholy- it is not really so. I feel pretty okay, just a little, hmm, distant. Isolated. Granted, further isolation probably isn't the answer to anything, but hopefully it will lead to one. I'll post new material to my site, but nothing personal for a little while. It isn't like I have nothing to say. I'm just not sure ho to say any of it.