Man Immediately Regrets Jumping Onto A Dead Whale Being Eaten By Great White Sharks

Harrison Williams, of Quinns Rock, north of Perth, was videotaped jumping from his friend’s boat and swimming across to the dead whale, because one of his mates said “it would be pretty funny to surf the whale.”

However, there were several large great white sharks circling and feeding on the other side of the whale. The 26-year-old said he knew they “busy chomping on the whale,” but told Seven News he knew it was a stupid thing to do once he was on top of the whale.

SHARKPUNK - The Audiobook!

Fresh from the minds of twenty-two top writers comes an anthology of killer shark stories to sate all appetites. From SF to WTF, from gritty to whimsical, these stories all have weight and depth as vast as the deep blue ocean. And now you can get it as an audiobook from Circle of Spears Productions!

This is the first release featuring all the members of Circle of Spears, which presents SHARKPUNK in its entirety in both Download and MP3 CD format. Over 13 hours of shark-themed stories available for the first time in audio!

And if you need any more persuading, just check out the reviews the print edition has received.

Even if you've already read the stories contained within the anthology, you owe it to yourself to download and listen to the audio version as well - and it really helps make the time pass while you're preparing supper, or paintings your wargaming miniatures.

So what are you waiting for? Come on in... The water's fine...

You can buy the 2-disc MP3 CD set here, and you can buy the MP3 Digital Download here.

SHARKPUNK 2

SHARKPUNK - a new review!

SHARKPUNK, my first anthology as editor, has recently received a new, and very thorough review that originally appeared in Black Static #51.

In the introduction, the reviewer, Peter Tennant, says:

"In the circumstances, an anthology of shark stories might seem like a further unnecessary libel on this species’ good name, but fortunately Green casts his net wider than the archetypal killer shark template and hauls in a rich and varied catch, and as ever the biggest and most deadly of predators is man himself."

You can read the review in its entirety, with each story getting its moment in the spotlight, here.

Close Encounters of the Selachian Kind!

400 year-old Greenland shark is the oldest vertebrate on the planet!

Grey, plump and growing to lengths of around five metres, the Greenland shark is one of the world’s largest carnivores. With a reported growth rate of less than one centimetre a year, they were already thought to be long-lived creatures, but just how long they lived for was something of a mystery.

That is, until Julius Nielsen and an international team of researchers set about determining the age of 28 female Greenland sharks, collected as by-catch during scientific surveys between 2010 and 2013.

And here's the record-breaker. She was born during the reign of James I, she was a youngster when the Great Fire of London raged, she reached adulthood around the time of the American Revolution, and lived through two world wars.

To read more about this story, click this link.

Now wouldn't it be great if somebody submitted a story for SHARKPUNK 2 about a Greenland shark. Oh, hang on, somebody already has. ;-)

The Shallows

In the taut thriller The Shallows, when Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark. Although she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of Nancy's ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude.

The Shallows opens on Friday 12th August and you can find out more about the movie here.

SHARKPUNK and The Best Horror of the Year Volume 8

Ellen Datlow has published her long list of Honourable Mentions for The Best Horror of the Year Volume 8 and I'm delighted to report that no fewer than seven SHARKPUNK stories have made the list.

Although they did not make the final cut for this benchmark anthology, to receive such an Honourable Mention is no small matter. 

So congratulations to Den Patrick, Richard Salter, Steve Savile, Andy and Amy Taylor, Ian Whates, Jenni Hill and Gary McMahon*.

* One of Gary's other stories, however, did make the collection. :-)

70 tiger sharks have a whale of a time in Australia

A drone has captured footage of more than 70 tiger sharks feeding on a humpback whale off Australia’s west coast.

The feeding frenzy, which left a trail of blood across the clear ocean surface, occurred in the state of Western Australia near Shark Bay, known for its large population of tiger sharks.

SHARKPUNK 2 - Call for submissions

For immediate release: 

Jonathan Green // Call for Submissions 

In May 2015 Snowbooks published SHARKPUNK, an anthology of twenty killer shark stories edited by Jonathan Green, inside a fantastic cover by comic book artist Simon Coleby. Such has been the interest in the book that we are already planning a second volume, to be published in 2017.

The inspiration behind SHARKPUNK is such classic shark movies as Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and The Reef (as well as such ludicrous delights as Sharknado, Sharktopus and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus). The stories contained within SHARKPUNK are a mixture of rip-roaring page-turners, slow-build chillers, and darkly humorous comedies, which celebrate all things savage, pulp and selachian. For SHARKPUNK 2 we want more of the same.

The stories in SHARKPUNK 2 can – and indeed should – cover the whole range of speculative fiction genres, from horror and steampunk, through to science fiction and action-adventure; the only stipulation is that they must all feature sharks in some way. Alternate historical settings for stories are welcomed (there haven’t been any involving the Golden Age of Piracy yet, or medieval crusading knights braving the perils of the Mediterranean). I am also very happy that the stories feature recurring characters of your own creation, as long as including them in the anthology won’t infringe upon anyone’s copyright. (In other words, you need to own the rights to the character yourself, or have permission from the copyright owner to have them appear in SHARKPUNK 2 at no charge.)

Stories need to be between 3,500 and 7,000 words in length (although there will be some flexibility with this, depending on the individual stories) and the deadline for first drafts is 1st July 2016. SHARKPUNK (Volume 1) features stories involving space sharks, ghost sharks, Franken-sharks, psychological sharks, and “sharks with frikkin’ laser-beams attached to their heads” (just about). However, we’ve yet to read any stories about zombie sharks, Hawaiian were-sharks, alien sharks, or tales featuring vampires and sharks, for example, so please bear this in mind when you are working up your idea. I don’t mind if some themes are revisited, but obviously I don’t want an anthology of nothing but steam-powered sharks made out of brass and walnut panelling – heaven forbid!

The plan is to publish SHARKPUNK 2 in 2017 and I am going to be running a Kickstarter (either towards the end of 2016 or early 2017) to raise funds to produce the book and, just as importantly, to pay the contributors. If your story is selected for publication, subject to a successful Kickstarter, you will be paid £50 and will receive a physical copy of the book. However, you will also receive royalties from copies of the book sold outside of the initial Kickstarter, which will be paid on top of your fee. Not instead of, not offset against royalties, but as well as! One of the Kickstarter rewards will be a signed copy of the book and you need to be prepared to sign however many copies are required to fulfil this reward level.

In terms of rights, Snowbooks ask for exclusive World English language rights for six months from the date of publication, dropping to non-exclusive World English language rights thereafter, with an option for foreign language translation within the anthology should offers be made for overseas editions. They also require rights to special editions, omnibus editions or other anthology editions, where appropriate.

If you are interested in being a part of SHARKPUNK 2, then please read the submission guidelines below very carefully, as any submissions not adhering to them will be automatically rejected.


SHARKPUNK 2 submission guidelines 

1. Fonts – choose something easy on the eye for proofing, something like Palatino, Calibri or Times New Roman.

2. Dialogue – “double quote marks” around speech, ‘rather than single’, which can be used for quoting within speech.

3. Formatting – indent new paragraphs, rather than leave a single line break, but use two (or more) line breaks for a change of scene/time/point of view. Please use a single space between sentences rather than two spaces. Please leave a space after an ellipsis but not before one. Submit your story double line spaced.

4. Spelling – please use English spellings throughout, and ‘s’ over ‘z’ in words like ‘realise’.

5. Proof-reading – please proof-read your story carefully before you send it, and remember that a Spellchecker is your friend (although not infallible).

6. Poetry – SHARKPUNK 2 is an anthology of short stories, not a poetry collection, so no poetry please.

7. Contact details – make sure your name and contacts details (including email) appear on the first page of your story.

8. Document name – this should include ‘SHARKPUNK 2’, the name of your story, and your name, for ease of identification.

9. Emailing your submission – send your submission to info@jonathangreenauthor.com. The subject of your email must include your name, story title, and the words ‘SHARKPUNK 2 submission’ in the subject line. For example, ‘SHARKPUNK 2 submission – The Sharks of Wrath – Jonathan Green’. Please include your real name, your writing name (if different), the title of your story and a one sentence synopsis of your submission. Send your story as a document in .doc (Word) or .rtf (Rich Text) format as an attachment to your email, and not pasted into the body of the email itself. Submissions will only be accepted via email.

10. Reading period – the reading period will be from 1st July – 1st October 2016. Formal feedback will not be given on submissions, unless they are accepted for publication, and discussions will not be entered into regarding reasons for rejection. Please do not submit your story anywhere else, until you know of our decision, and if you are not happy working to the terms outlined above, please do not submit.


I shall look forward to reading your submission in due course, but in the meantime my advice would be, stay out of the water…

Judge Dredd Megazine #369

Just a quick heads up to let you know that this month's Judge Dredd Megazine features interviews with not one, but two SHARKPUNK contributors - Alec Worley and Al Ewing - and also features the stunningly graphic artwork of ace Pax Britannia cover artist and book jacket designer, Pye Parr.

So what are you waiting for? Pick up a copy today!