Brand New From Candy Jar Books!
Lethbridge-Stewart – Spheres of Influence
Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce the first book in its final series of Lethbridge-Stewart novels.
Spheres of Influence is the first Lethbridge-Stewart novel by authors Violet Addison and David N Smith.
Originally planned for release early 2022, Spheres of Influence was held back due to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.
Range Editor Andy Frankham-Allen explains:
“We were nearing the end of editing, with the final changes just arriving from Violet and David, when the invasion began. Knowing the content of Spheres of Influence (originally called The Russian Incursion) I became a tad worried that releasing it at that time might be insensitive, not knowing how many of our readers may have been personally affected by the war in Ukraine. A long conversation was held between Shaun (Russell) and I, and we decided to hold off the book for a while. I spoke to the authors, explained the situation and they agreed.”
Violet Addison says:
“This book was originally written in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, and was supposed to be published in early 2022. It was designed to be something of a warning, dressed up as science-fiction. It was all going to be jolly good fun, dealing with real-world issues, using good old-fashioned sci-fi metaphors. Then real life intervened. Suddenly real-world events were dangerously close to those in our supposedly far-fetched fiction, so we chose to delay publication, until the real world settled down. Ten months later, it now finally feels appropriate to release it. We’ve not changed a single word of the text. The parallels with the real world will now be glaringly obvious – our warning far too late – but many of the underlying messages are now more pressing, more real, than ever. We therefore like to think that it’s a book with something relevant to say.”
Violet and David are no strangers to the worlds of Doctor Who fiction, having previously written (individually) short stories for Big Finish’s Short Trips collections and the Bernice Summerfield collections, and together they penned a Faction Paradox short story for Obverse Books.
Andy says:
“Originally, the book was pitched to me as a short story for one of the HAVOC Files, but there was something in the idea I liked. And I thought it would be better served if explored as a novel. Some stories are just too big for small-form, they need more space to breathe. And so I posed the idea of making it a novel, and Violet and David jumped at the opportunity.”
David N Smith says:
“This is the first time we’ve written a novel. We’ve had over a dozen short stories published, in numerous anthologies and fanzines, but we’ve never had the confidence to complete 70,000 words before. There are at least four failed, half-written books stashed away on forgotten hard drives. So, when we were asked to write a novel by Andy, we gladly accepted, as we knew it would provide us with the structure we needed to actually get it done. Having a deadline, and knowing it would be published, is extraordinarily motivating. It gave us focus. And it taught us we could do it. As writers it’s been an incredibly useful process, as it means we now know with certainty, we can do it. So, one day we’ll be able to write another, because now we know we can.”
Violet says:
“The real joy of working on this range for us is, of course, writing for Lethbridge-Stewart. He’s such a wonderful, idiosyncratic character. A legend. An icon. In sixty years of Doctor Who, no other character has come close to making the same impact as he did, albeit in a very understated way. He never stole the show, but he always did his duty. There simply are not enough fictional characters like Lethbridge-Stewart. Reliable, dependable and professional; a good man simply trying to do the best he can. We really believe Lethbridge-Stewart will still be appearing in stories a hundred years from now. That’s what makes him important. That’s why it’s a privilege to write for him. He’s the type of person we should all aspire to be.”
The cover is by popular artist Martin Baines. Martin says:
“I really enjoyed doing the cover for this one. It’s got a monster, snow and guns – what’s not to like. Saying that, I was slightly annoyed that the Brigadier does not have a moustache. I asked Shaun if I could add one, but he said a definite no. Apparently the Brig shaves it off before this scene. I miss the moustache, but, despite this, I hope I’ve done the Brig proud.”
Blurb:
An alien presence has arrived on Earth. Lethbridge-Stewart has been dispatched to determine the nature of the new arrival.
The Fifth Operational Corps is not the only one interested in the visitor. The race is on to establish diplomatic relations with the extra-terrestrial, and a top-secret military team from the Soviet Union are one step ahead of them…
If either side can successfully form an alliance with the creature, it could turn the tide of the Cold War forever, bringing it to a sudden and unexpected end – with the victor controlling the future of mankind.
Lethbridge-Stewart must call upon the brightest and the best to ensure that Britain is successful in its negotiations, as the alternative is simply too terrifying for him to contemplate… an alien menace – allied to the Soviet Union!
Failure is not an option. Not at any price.
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THE LUCY WILSON MYSTERIES: THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!
Candy Jar Books is pleased to announce that a brand new collection of festive short stories in The Lucy Wilson Mysteries series is now up for pre-order, and will be released just in time for Christmas.
The short story collection entitled The Best Christmas Ever contains three stories by popular Lucy Wilson and Lethbridge-Stewart series author Chris Lynch.
The anthology kicks-off with short story ‘A Little Lucy Christmas’, which was given away for free to fans of the series on Christmas day 2020. This story is followed by ‘The Grey Lady of Martyr’s House’, which was also given away for free, but on Christmas day 2021.
Head of publishing at Candy Jar, Shaun Russell, says:
“We like to try and give something away for free at Christmas as a thank you to our readers for the support that they have given us throughout the year. The first two stories in the book were given away free over past Christmases, and as Chris was knees deep in a new story for this year we realised that we actually had enough Christmas adventures to bring out another festive short story collection.”
‘A Little Lucy Christmas’ is about Christmas traditions and family heirlooms that many families have and don’t typically think twice about, whereas ‘The Grey Lady of Martyr’s House’ is much more of a traditional Victorian Christmas story, as protagonist Lucy and her best friend Hobo find themselves in a haunted mansion on Christmas Eve being chased by ghosts.
Shaun continues:
“This is a book three years in the making and it’s nice to finally see Chris’ Christmas stories collected together.”
The third and final story in the collection is called ‘The Krampus Who Came to Tea’, which is a brand new story never before seen by readers. The story is set over the Christmas of 2020 and introduces the half-goat, half-demon monster from folklore called the Krampus who, it is believed, only visits when misbehaving children need to be punished at Christmastime.
Chris Lynch says:
“The yearly Lucy Wilson Christmas story has become a tradition in the Lynch house, as much a part of our festive activities as putting up the tree, wrapping the presents, or closing the curtains and pretending that we’re all out when my sister calls over.”
Chris has written four Lucy Wilson Christmas stories in total, with his first called ‘Past, Present and Yet to Come’ which was included in Candy Jar’s first Lucy Wilson Christmas collection back in 2019 entitled Christmas Crackers.
Chris continues:
“Don’t ask me why but Christmas just seems the perfect time of year for shrink rays, death beams, ghosts, monsters, and mysterious time travelling goatmen to all make their appearance. So, I hope you enjoy these very non-traditional, but still very festive, stories!”
Popular Beano artist Steve Beckett continues at the helm of the series’ artwork, providing a front cover filled with intrigue and Christmas cheer.
Blurb for The Best Christmas Ever:
Christmas is the busiest time of the year, but this never seems to be a problem for the monsters and aliens that visit Lucy Wilson over the festive period!
Alongside her best friend Hobo, Lucy discovers one of her grandad’s old secrets, investigates a creepy haunted mansion, and gets a visit from a mysterious goatman called Krampus, who takes bad children away.
This is a collection of three stories set over the Christmases of 2018, 2019 and 2020. Defending Earth doesn’t stop for anything, not even Christmas!
But which Christmas is the best one ever?
The Lucy Wilson Mysteries is a Lethbridge-Stewart spin-off adventure and featured licensed characters created for Doctor Who by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln.
The Best Christmas Ever is available HERE.
With guaranteed delivery before Christmas if ordered before the 15th December 2022!