In which Joe wins a prize…

Good news, everyone!

I am pleased, humbled, rather giddy, and just generally excited to announce that I am a proud recipient of the Guardian and Hot Key Books Young Writer’s Prize! Huzzah–huzzah indeed!

What does this mean, you ask? Well, along with a bit of a skip in my step, it means I’m stepping onto the clear, crystal shores of traditional publishing, with my first novel geared toward a Young Adult audience – The Rig!

Check out the cover and synopsis:

(click to make biggerer…est)

Catchy, no? The blue is blue and the hand rather handy. I love it. Here’s a bit about the story:

Fifteen-year-old Will Drake has made a career of breaking out from high-security prisons. His talents have landed him at The Rig, a specialist juvenile holding facility in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. No one can escape from The Rig. No one except for Drake…

After making some escape plans and meeting the first real friends of his life, Drake quickly realises that all is not as it seems on The Rig. The Warden is obsessed with the mysterious Crystal-X – a blue, glowing substance that appears to give superpowers to the teens exposed to it. Drake, Tristan and Irene are banking on a bid for freedom – but can they survive long enough to make it? Drake is an action hero to rival Jason Bourne and the CHERUB team in this debut author’s fantastically imagined sci-fi nightmare.

And then awesome things happen that you can read about in September – the 5th of, to be exact – when the story is released. Until then, here’s the first chapter.

My story was selected out of hundreds, along with a story from my fellow winner Katie Coyle. The judging panel included YA author Will Hill, Julia Eccleshare, John Newman, Elen Caldecott and students from Evelyn Grace Academy and Thongsley Fields Primary School. I’m told they liked ‘The Rig’, so that’s encouraging.

So my thanks to all involved, for choosing my story. It is a good story, if I can say so myself. One of those that came out on the page almost as clear as I saw it in my head. Rare, that. Coveted, even, among creative types.

Roll on September!

-Joe

 

 

Z-APOC: When John Met Sarah

Further good news, everyone!

The first part of my serialised gruesome zombie story just went live on Amazon. Check it out:

Here’s the rather gripping synopsis:

*~*~*~*

For John Allen, the end of the world began with a slutty pumpkin…

A year later, scavenging alone in the apocalyptic wastelands, John searches for a rumoured food distribution centre. In the the ruins of Wyong, a town just north of Sydney, he encounters Sarah Bell, another survivor – hiding a dark secret about the hordes of roaming dead, and holding the future of humanity in her hands.

Thrust together in a world gripped by horror and sickness, John and Sarah must make choices that could mean surviving another day – or falling to the endless waves of walking dead.

*~*~*~*

You can pick it up here.

Recently, and with the ever-increasing rise of the almighty e-book, the industry has seen a swing toward serialised stories. Z-APOC represents my humble contribution to this not unwelcome trend. I’m intending to release one part every five to six weeks, and then the whole thing as a collection further down the line.

Rather excited about this. An end of the world story with a twist!

Again, get yourself some awesome right here.