Although his fiction career dates back to the 1970s, for sixteen years he concentrated on a career as a freelance music and arts journalist (interviewing such luminaries as Frank Zappa, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard and David Puttnam) and as Head of Corporate Communications for one of Britain's biggest financial institutions.

He eventually returned to the literary field via freelance review columns, interviews and articles. Assignments included interviewing Ramsey Campbell, Patrick McGrath and Jonathan Carroll in the horror/fantasy field; noted science fiction writers Ray Bradbury, Ian Watson and Harlan Ellison; and, in the crime genre, Ed Gorman, Andrew Vachss and Robert B. Parker.

His first fiction for more than a decade appeared in 1990 in the British magazine FEAR, while his second and third new stories sold to DARK VOICES 4 and DARKLANDS 2, the latter tale being described by INTERZONE as "an object lesson in how to write a ghost story".

Since then, Peter Crowther has sold more than one hundred stories, novelettes and novellas to a variety of anthologies and magazines (primarily in America) and has had work reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR (three times), 25 FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES (twice—one of the tales featuring his New York private eye, Koko Tate) and THE YEAR'S BEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES. His short fiction has been translated into several languages and has frequently been nominated for Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild and British Fantasy Awards. Three tales have been adapted for British TV and two more have since been optioned for the movies.

He lives about five hundred yards from the sea in Hornsea, England, with his wife, Nicky—their two sons (Oliver and Timothy) having "flown the coop" for solo adventures—and several thousand books, magazines, comic books, graphic novels, vinyl records and CDs. He enjoys reading virtually anything, but also listens to a lot of music (again virtually anything . . . although he writes only to jazz) and loves watching old B&W movies and re-runs of SGT. BILKO and THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

For three years he served on the Board of Trustees of the Horror Writers' Association and in 1998 was a judge for the World Fantasy Awards.

PUBLISHED WORKS

Two collections of the author's stories—THE LONGEST SINGLE NOTE (AND OTHER STRANGE COMPOSITIONS) and LONESOME ROADS appeared in 1999, with the latter title going on to win the British Fantasy Award for Best Collection. COLD COMFORTS (AND OTHER FIRESIDE MYSTERIES), a CD-Rom collection of crime and mystery stories, appeared in 2001, while SONGS OF LEAVING—a collection of science fiction stories—appeared in the autumn of 2004 to widespread critical acclaim, including a nomination for the World Fantasy Award. A follow-up to THE LONGEST SINGLE NOTE collection of dark fantasy, entitled DARK TIMES, is scheduled for 2006.

Leisure	Earthlight	Subterranean Press

In 1996, his novelette FOREST PLAINS appeared as a limited edition chapbook. FUGUE ON A G-STRING, a second chapbook, was published in 1998. It was followed by a third, THE HAND THAT FEEDS (written in collaboration with James Lovegrove) in 1999, and GANDALPH COHEN AND THE LAND AT THE END OF THE WORKING DAY in 2000. The following year, he adapted one of his stories—ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN—for "reluctant readers" (13-16 year-olds with a reading age of around 8+) for solo book publication by specialist imprint Barrington Stoke.

In collaboration with James Lovegrove he also wrote ESCARDY GAP, a big (170,000-word) dark fantasy novel for people who like a light at the end of even the darkest tunnel. A sequel (UNFINISHED BUSINESS) and an unrelated collaborative follow-up are both at the planning stages. DARKNESS, DARKNESS, the first in a cycle of short SF/horror novels under the series title of "Forever Twilight", appeared in 2000. Further episodes will be published as and when they are completed.

In addition to his own writing, Peter Crowther is also a prolific editor of other authors' work. From 1992 to 1994 he edited an eclectic three-book anthology series (NARROW HOUSES, TOUCH WOOD and BLUE MOTEL), based around various superstitions. The first volume was nominated for both the British and World Fantasy Awards.

DAW	DAW	DAW

He went on to edit HEAVEN SENT, TOMBS and DANTE'S DISCIPLES (all with Edward E. Kramer) and, in 1997, DESTINATION: UNKNOWN. Also in 1997, he published TALES IN TIME, a reprint anthology of classic SF tales involving elements of time travel, following it up the following year with TALES IN SPACE.

In 1999 he edited MOON SHOTS, an anthology of new SF stories to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. FOURSIGHT, an anthology containing four dark fantasy novellas, and TAPS AND SIGHS, an anthology of ghost stories, both appeared in 2000. The following year saw the publication of FUTURES (the second "Foursight" anthology—this time showcasing the best in British SF). His fourteenth and fifteenth anthologies, MARS PROBES and a third "Foursight" compilation (INFINITIES), appeared in 2002, while CITIES: FOURSIGHT 4 appeared the following year. CONSTELLATIONS (a follow-up anthology to MOON SHOTS and MARS PROBES) and FOURBODINGS, a quartet of dark fantasy short novels, appeared in early 2005.

Gollancz	Advertisement Click on Image
Gollancz

Gollancz	Gollancz

Peter Crowther's PS Publishing imprint has received the British Fantasy Award for Best Small Press for four consecutive years, while the publisher himself won the 2004 World Fantasy Special Award (Professional). In fact, since its inception in 1999, PS Publishing itself and many of its titles have picked up more than twenty awards (including the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and the Theodore Sturgeon Award).

CURRENT PROJECTS

Peter Crowther recently delivered FORBIDDEN PLANETS, an anthology of space exploration tales scheduled to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the classic science fiction movie FORBIDDEN PLANET. The book is scheduled for publication at the end of 2006.

He is currently at work on a long-threatened mainstream novel, several more short stories, a couple of anthologies, more TV work and a whole host of publishing projects. Two movie projects based on his work (STAND-BY and DARKNESS, DARKNESS) have now been given the green light for a 2006 production. His long-term aims are to have one of his movie outlines/screenplays actually make it to the big screen and to work in the comic book medium. This latter has made a tentative step in the right direction with the comic book adaptation by Joe Hill of Peter's story 'Rustle'. Meanwhile, he has recently started up a small production company—Oceanside Productions—specifically geared up to working for TV and the big screen.

Further information about PS Publishing—including new and forthcoming titles—can be found at the official website: www.pspublishing.co.uk