SEA LION PRESS

By Ryan Fleming . Alternate history anthologies focused on a single country were nothing new by the time we began work on The Scottish Anthology , nor were themed anthologies unknown in other genres, in alternate history, or even from Sea Lion Press by the time of those first nation-based anthologies. While this was my first effort as an editor of a fiction anthology, I had been proudly featured in anthologies edited by others in both alternate history and other genres. But w

By Alexander Rooksmoor. As Sea Lion Press regulars know, often it is the least likely alternatives which are the most favoured as the basis for novels. The classic is Nazi Germany winning the Second World War, something that would have required multiple divergences from what unfolded in our history. Yet I think I am safe in saying more books and dramatisations have used this rather than any other alternative history scenario. Despite this popularity, far more feasible are alt

By Alexander Rooksmoor. Quite often I have been inspired to write a short story or even a novel as a result of disliking how a story I have read or seen turns out. The Blood and The Ghost  was stimulated by me watching all 5 seasons of the TV series The Last Kingdom  (broadcast 2015-23). The series, based on the Saxon Stories  novels by Bernard Cornwell, is set in Wessex between 866-878 CE, the eponymous ‘Last Kingdom’ not under Danish rule. My main prompt for an alternative

By Matthew Kresal. “Where do your ideas come from?” That’s almost an inevitable question one receives after a stranger finds out you’re a published author. One that is almost always in the wake of, “What do you write?” It’s an understandable question and one that I’m sure in my younger (and unpublished) days I asked myself. Since being published, I’ve come to realize that like a magician revealing a trick, there’s a risk that answering takes some of the magic out of proceedin

By John A. Hopkins Receiving my paperback copy of Atomic Secrets , my first AH novel, was a thrill. Whilst I had previously self-published a novel, this felt a bit different. Perhaps it was the engagement with the team at Sea Lion Press, the cover coming together, and a date for publishing versus me pressing the button on KDP. Whatever the reason, I opened the package and grinned like an idiot. Then I put it away – I had already read it hundreds of times, either all the way t

By Charles E.P. Murphy It was the internet’s fault.   I’d been into history as a general interest since I was a kid, and alternate history was introduced to me through a barrage of sci-fi stories, most especially Sliders  on BBC2. It was the internet that turned this mild interest in AH, “oh yeah that’s a fun source of stories”, into a bigger thing because the internet was where fanfiction writers had long written “What If Character X Was Like Y”, “What If Bad Guy Won”, “What

By Andy Cooke. The editor asked me to write a short article on “Why I wrote…” any of my SLP books. Naturally, I turned in an article on...

By Alexander Rooksmoor Like a lot of children of my generation who were interested in history, I grew up with a fascination with the...

By Dr Charlton Cussans. A few years ago, I read a poem about South Africa which called the country “our free and happy land”. Well, I think I did. I could have sworn that I did, because the phrase stuck with me. I wish I could remember who wrote it, or what it was called, because I’ve not been able to find the damn thing since. Maybe it never existed, but I’m not going to claim the phrase is my own creation, it’s too evocative for that, and I’m not that good a writer. But I c

By Alexander Wallace. It is very odd for me to think that I have been a published author for three years – that is, someone who makes...

By Ryan Fleming. The writing of Reid in Braid was ultimately inspired by seeing the 2003 German film Good Bye, Lenin! for the first...

By Alexander Rooksmoor Sea Lion Press has published over a hundred alternate history books so far... but what leads an author to pick the...

By Gary Oswald Philip K Dick is, in my humble opinion, possibly the greatest writer of speculative fiction short stories to have ever...

By John A. Hopkins I was incredibly excited when Sea Lion Press agreed to publish my first alternate history novel, Atomic Secrets.  It...

By Monroe S. Templeton Alternate history is a genre defined by a sense of regret. It is the genre where we look at the past, at decisions...