Black Static

It seems appropriate at this moment in time, to look back at what happened in 2010 from a Case Notes review perspective.

In the six issues of Black Static that appeared in 2010 I reviewed a total of 91 titles, and Stephen Theaker guest reviewed one more, making 92 in all, though purists may choose to disregard the seven titles from his back catalogue that I 'reviewed in brief' as part of our feature on John Connolly.

Breaking it down we get:-

• Novels - 37
• Short Story Collections - 20
• Anthologies - 17
• Novellas - 7
• Graphic/Illustrated work - 5
• Chapbooks - 4
• Non-fiction - 2

I also reviewed two titles (perhaps more - I can't be bothered to check) on this blog.

During 2010, I listed a total of 154 titles received for review, though the actual figure is slightly higher as I don't include review material sent in electronic format in any counts.

So the chances of any individual title getting reviewed at the moment is running somewhere in the region of 50-60%.

A word about electronic formats - I will accept PDFs for review, but I'm not keen. Yeah, I know e-ink is magic and the kindle is the best thing since sliced bread, and when I win the Lottery it's on the 'to buy' list right after new central heating, new plumbing, a new computer and tickets for Kylie Minogue's latest tour. At the moment though, it's a toss up between sitting in a comfortable chair in front of the fire and reading a book, or sitting in a crap chair in the coldest room of the house reading from the screen I've been staring at for most of the day, and that's really no contest.

I will review from PDFs in certain circumstances (e.g. an author whose work I really want to see, when I need to catch a deadline, something that's very short), but in general they're a hard sell when I have a pile of paper books making eyes at me. Ask, or simply send them, by all means, but don't be surprised if a review doesn't appear.

The next issue, #21 by my count, will appear in February and feature an all-female Case Notes, to tie in with Women in Horror Recognition Month. Australian writer Angela Slatter will be our featured author, and thinking up some questions to ask her is the very next thing on my 'to do list'. I'm also hoping to turn this blog over to Black Static's female contributors for the duration, so if any of you are reading this and fancy doing a guest blog post from a female perspective and with a horror slant then please get in touch by writing to whitenoise@ttapress.com

And yes, that does include writers published as part of the Campaign for Real Fear.

You can also use the White Noise e-address for any review queries subject to the usual:-

The Standard Offer and Disclaimer - An expression of interest in seeing the book does not guarantee that a review will be done.

And that's my lot for today, other than to wish all our readers a happy and creative New Year.