Friday, March 24, 2023

The Lowdown on Shadow of the Gallifreyan



What is Shadow of the Gallifreyan?

A collection of unofficial flash fiction pieces set in the Doctor Who universe, telling the stories of what happens next to the people and worlds the Doctor has encountered in his travels. The book is available in paperback and electronic form and has been written in aid of Shelter. The cover has been designed and illustrated by one our writers, the multitalented Simon Brett.


Where did the idea come from?

The title is based on The Shadow of the Galilean, a 1986 book by the German theologian Gerd Theissen. It tells the story of Andreas, a wealthy grain merchant who lived in first century Sepphoris. He is on a mission to find out who Jesus is, but is always one step behind him. So he never gets to meet Jesus, and must make his own conclusions from the shadows he left behind.


What’s different about this book?

We tasked our writers with taking the perspective of a character from a televised Doctor Who story, the more obscure the better! There may be one or two surprises along the way, but as a rule the Doctor and his companions are not active characters. It gives us a chance to consider what happens to those who must pick up the pieces after the events of the TV story have played out.


Can you give us some examples?

They range from the policeman in An Unearthly Child to Karvanista in Flux – friends, foes and those indifferent to the Doctor. We’ve got historical figures, including King John (The King’s Demons), King James the First (The Witchfinders), Vincent van Gogh (Vincent and the Doctor) and Agatha Christie (The Unicorn and the Wasp), and other humans such as Ping Cho (Marco Polo), Samantha Briggs (The Faceless Ones), Mollie Dawson (The Evil of the Daleks), Ann Talbot (Black Orchid), and Jeff (The Eleventh Hour). Plenty of aliens also have their say - a Foamasi (The Leisure Hive), Gibbis the Tivolian (The God Complex), a Vervoid (The Trial of a Time Lord), Tzim-Sha the Stenza (The Woman Who Fell to Earth) and many more. The book covers 177 different Doctor Who stories in total, from all eras of the series to date.


What about the stories where there are no guest characters or where everyone died?

There are indeed a few awkward ones, but we had some really fun and creative pitches for them. In fact, these were the ones that were most popular with our prospective writers! You’ll have to read the book to find out how, for instance, Horror of Fang Rock and Warriors of the Deep were tackled. But other stories in the collection do include memories from a character who died. Fortunately, the Doctor Who universe has readymade ways around that.


This is book one, does that mean others are planned?

We hope to finish the project with at least every televised story covered, but there is scope for more.


What was it like putting this collection together?

Working with 65 different writers, all of whom have given up their time and talents for free in order to raise money for Shelter, makes this Altrix’s most ambitious project yet. But we have to say, everyone rose to the challenge and were brilliant to work with. Perhaps the hardest editorial choice was how to structure the book. We didn’t want to follow an established list because as a reader it’s more fun not quite knowing what to expect next, but at the same time, we didn’t want it to be completely random. Starting and ending the book with the thoughts of a fictional compiler helped in that respect.



Wednesday, December 21, 2022

 


Shadow of the Gallifreyan

It's been a quiet year for Altrix, but we've been busy at work behind the scenes. Our next charity Doctor Who anthology, in aid of Shelter, will be our first release in 2023. We are delighted to reveal this superb cover art by writer and illustrator Simon A Brett. Simon is a regular member of the Strangers in Space  podcast and the artist behind the stunning cover for Paul's Professor Howe book The Holy Hotel

Featuring flash-fiction from a huge variety of writers and fans, Shadow of the Gallifreyan tells the stories of what happened next to some of the people and places the Doctor left behind on their adventures. How would the Doctor be remembered, did things go as they would have liked or expected? 

These stories are told from the perspective not of the Doctor's regular companions, but often from characters we might have even forgotten about. Some get their happy endings, others not so much, but for all of them life would never be the same again.

More news early next year, but in the meantime a very happy holiday season to all our readers!

Paul and Kara. 




Thursday, March 3, 2022

Shadow of the Gallifreyan - Update

 


The deadline for receiving submissions for our next charity anthology (in aid of Shelter) has now passed and we are beginning to edit the pieces.  But don't worry if you have missed it. With so many stories to cover and writers to feature, this was always going to take some time and we are hoping to have the book ready for publication by the end of the year. If you have reserved stories for the collection, but have yet to send in your work, do get in touch to let us know how things are progressing. 

If you missed out on the initial call for pitches, there are still a number of slots available. We plan to approach a number of writers directly to fill in the gaps, but if you'd like to be part of this exciting project then do get in touch with us at altrixbooks@virginmedia.com and we will send you all the details.

For those looking forward to reading the book, we can tell you that you are in for a treat. This is going to be something quite special judging from the excellent stories we've received so far. 



Sunday, October 31, 2021

State of the Altrix: November 2021

 

Mars

You may have noticed a degree of silence from us for a while — we assure you, it's nothing to do with Altrix itself. We're alive and well, and as things stand, hopefully ready to push forward at full speed again.

It's Kara at the wheel today. Some of you may know this via social media already. My grandfather and adoptive father, Charlie Husson, passed in early September. The months prior to that were spent dealing with various end-of-life stages. And the weeks since then have been spent dealing not only with the obvious grief, but also legal and financial tie-ups.

I'd like to thank everyone for their patience during this time, as my family helps to get each other back on track. It's been a longer process than I'd like, and Altrix is (unfortunately) not the only thing in my life affected. Big thanks also to Paul for keeping things afloat while I've been in and out of commission, especially the release of the very good Master Switches.

A lot of things are up in the air, but as I get my feet back under me in the coming days, a few quick notes:

  • Shadow of the Gallifreyan is still being worked on (I will be hopping in to read through the pitches along with Paul shortly) - please keep an eye out for more information on this
  • Master Switches is still available - thanks to everyone who's already bought a copy!
  • We've got other irons in the fire as well, and with both of us in commission, things should be ticking over again shortly

Thanks again for everyone's understanding, and for your continued support of Altrix. 

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

Shadow of the Gallifreyan - Extended Deadlines

 


Over the last few weeks we have been reserving story slots for our next Doctor Who charity anthology - The Shadow of the Gallifreyan (in aid of Shelter). We have been delighted by the response so far. Some writers have even sent in completed first drafts, and others have come up with some truly outstanding and original pitches for their chosen stories.

Although we will not be editing submissions until early in the new year, anyone who contacted us before the 30th September deadline should have heard back from us by now. Do get in touch if you think we've missed something from you.

There are still a number of slots to fill, so we are extending the deadline for reserving stories to 31st October. Importantly, we'd like to see a brief proposal for each story before we can give the final green light.

The list of stories that have already been taken and are therefore no longer available is here - list of reserved stories

Initially we limited story reservations to three per writer, but we are now giving you the opportunity to write up to four pieces. If you have already reserved your three stories and would like to pitch for another please do!

For more details about the anthology and what we are looking for see our updated announcement here

The most popular Doctors so far have been the seventh and the twelfth Doctors, but although some of the others are lagging behind we've had a fairly balanced mix of pitches from across every era of the series. 

In order to allow more time for pitches to come in, we are also extending the deadline for first drafts from all writers to the 1st March 2022.

Paul and Kara.



Friday, September 10, 2021

Master Switches: Further Misadventures in Space and Time

 


Altrix Books is delighted to announce the release of Master Switches - an unofficial Doctor Who anthology in aid of The Stroke Association.

After a series of adventures without the Doctor (Master Pieces), the many incarnations of the Master are back to doing what they do best; scheming to bring down their greatest adversary. The proverbial thorn in the side has made a hobby out of thwarting the Master's plans for universal domination. But even the Doctor can't always be the hero, the victor, and the star. Sometimes, the Master must take the Doctor's place...

Featuring stories by Jon Arnold, Andrew Blair, Kara Dennison, Paul Driscoll, Kenton Hall, Stephen Hatcher, Paul Hiscock, Matthew Kresal, Gary J Mack, Greg Maughan, Iain McLaughlin, Ellen Montgomery, Nathan Mullins, Gerard Power, Rachel Redhead, Graham Tedesco-Blair and Joshua Wanisko. Cover illustration and design by Ginger Hoesly. 

The book is available to buy now for a limited time in various Amazon regions, including the UK and the USA



Sunday, August 15, 2021

The Shadow of the Gallifreyan - Call for Pitches

 


This flash fiction 2022 charity anthology edited by Kara Dennison and Paul Driscoll considers the after-effects of the Doctor’s presence in a televised adventure. The things they leave behind, physically and emotionally. It’s the ‘what happened next’ as told from the perspective of some of the individuals who encountered them. The title is inspired by the German theologian Gerd Thiessen’s The Shadow of the Galilean (and is not intended as a loaded comment on the Doctor’s origins).

We are looking for flash fiction of between 500 - 1000 words told by a supporting character to cover every televised Doctor Who story. They can be minor or major characters (as long as they have a spoken role and name), human or alien, hero or villain, but no companions or series regulars.

Your character is the narrator of the piece, whether you write it as an action scene or piece of reflective speech. The best contributions will be those that best capture the individual voice of the speaker. We will accept multiple genres, from poetry as consciously written by the character, to letters, journal entries and straightforward story-telling.

We want to know what impact the Doctor had, in terms of their actions, their decisions, their words, and their character. We don’t want a book that becomes a gushing eulogy, so those experiences and judgements might be negative as well as positive, or more likely a little bit of both. Although these are the experiences of those whose lives were altered in some way by the Doctor, the focus must end up on the Doctor, hence the title of the collection.

You can pick a ‘good guy’, a ‘bad guy’, or a neutral character. Their perspective and ‘side’ might have changed from what was seen on screen. No series regulars, including any of the Doctors should be active figures in your story. This is about what happens after they have left – whether that be the immediate aftermath, or sometime in the future, from days to years.

As an unofficial charity anthology, this work is not meant to be considered as canon in the strictest definition of the term, meaning that you do not need to worry about presenting a consistent timeline to that which might be featured in official spin-offs such as BBC novels or Big Finish audios. Be creative and don’t feel limited by existing stories.

There will likely be two volumes to cover 1963-1996 and 2005-present.

You can reserve up to four (UPDATED) stories in total. We just need the name of the story you are planning to cover and the character you would like to use. Slots will usually be reserved on a first come - first served basis, but the final green light will come following receipt of an acceptable synopsis (which can be just a few lines). 

We will be raising money for the UK homelessness charity, Shelter. We hope that some of the stories might show a character who has experienced similar social and economic challenges to those faced by the people the charity support, but it is of course by no means a requirement.

DEADLINE FOR RESERVING STORIES (UPDATED): 31st October 2021.

DEADLINE FOR STORY SYNOPSES (NEW): 31st October 2021.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING YOUR WORK (UPDATED): 31st August 2022.

E-Mail for reservations, pitches and story submissions: altrixbooks@virginmedia.com.