Karl Shuker: Interviewed by Mark Antony Raines

What inspired you?

Right from the earliest age, I'd always been fascinated by animals and in particular by unusual ones. But cryptozoology didn't enter my life significantly until my early teens, when my mother, Mary Shuker, bought as a birthday present for me a copy of the 1972 Paladin paperback edition of Bernard Heuvelmans's classic cryptozoology book On the Track of Unknown Animals. Once I'd read that, I was totally hooked on the subject, and re-read it so many times that I could quote great chunks of it. I later bought the bigger, unabridged edition that contained a few extra chapters, as well as his book on sea serpents, and during my spare time during sixth form and university I began amassing an archive of magazine articles, books, and newspaper cuttings re mystery animals of every kind. When I obtained my PhD in zoology, I decided to try my hand at becoming a full-time writer and media consultant specialising in cryptozoology, and in 1989 my first book, Mystery Cats of the World, was published and was a big success. I now have 20 published books to my name and countless articles, most of them on cryptozoology, and have just completed my 21st book. 


What are your aims?
My primary aim with my cryptozoology career has always been to investigate and document lesser-known mystery beasts. There are so many researchers and publications re bigfoot, yeti, Loch Ness monster, etc, so I've always aimed to publicise the more obscure examples, uncovering long-forgotten reports in early travelogues, little-known periodicals, and so forth, so my books and articles cover many cryptids that you won't find in other published works. Of course, with the internet a lot of my work gets copied by others online without even giving me the courtesy of a reference, but those who read my publications know that mine are the origin of these online coverages, so that's all that really matters. Also, I now have my own award-winning blog, ShukerNature (at: www.karlshuker.blogspot.com), where I regularly post new or updated articles of mine on a vast range of subjects, not just cryptozoology but also other animal anomalies and mysteries, and it attracts numerous viewers every day. There are almost 400 articles on my blog at present, and one of them alone, on black lions, has attracted almost a million hits since I posted it less than 2 years ago.

What are your plans for the future?

My plans for the future are to write more books and articles - I have lots of ideas in mind, though obviously I'd prefer not to go into details publicly just in case someone else steals them and gets a book or article out on the same subject before I do! I can say, however, that the book I have just completed and which will be published by CFZ Press later this year is my third compilation volume of extraordinary animals, containing a varied mix of mystery animals, mythological animals, and bizarre known animals. It's called The Menagerie of Marvels. So look out for that one soon!

Weird Weekend 2014 - August 15 to 17th 2014

Weird Weekend 2014 - August 15 to 17th 2014 shared a link.

12 November 2013

Tickets for the 2013 event are now on sale at a special discount price of £20 if you buy in advance. Don't be square, be there.

http://forteanzoology.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-publicity-juggernaut-for-next-years.html

Gonzo Multimedia

About Gonzo

Gonzomultimedia.co.uk went live in October 2010, with the first exclusive being Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman's debut release as a duo "The Living Tree".  Gonzo Multimedia brings you a wide variety of products from a number of renowned artists and record labels, largely spanning rock and pop music from the '60s to today, and the Gonzo catalogue includes 100% exclusive products that are unavailable elsewhere.
 In addition to a varied and wildly eclectic catalogue Gonzo also boasts its own YouTube TV channel and its own dedicated streaming web radio service which features exclusive interviews with some of the world’s biggest artists. Two recent additions to the web radio stream were exclusive interviews with Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage from Gong and those two legendary Prog musicians Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman who are discussing their latest album The Living Tree.

Gonzo Multimedia also have a large back catalogue of DVD releases including DVDs from Ginger Baker, Yes, Renaissance, T’Pau, Nik Kershaw and Van Der Graaf Generator and albums from Gordon Giltrap and Rick Wakeman, Hawkwind, Soft Machine, The Fall and Gong  with  many more to come. Gonzo also exclusively distribute releases from the great British film director Tony Palmer and some of the recent best selling DVD releases from Tony Palmer featuring Frank Zappa, Jack Bruce and Leonard Cohen have been released through Gonzo Multimedia

With further exclusives in the pipeline from names such as Yes and Leonard Cohen we look forward to serving you with the best music on the planet and quite possibly in the Universe, Well, let’s stick to Planet earth for now.

Sign up to our mailing list for news on releases web casts and TV shows not to mention advance news of upcoming tours from Gonzo related artists and you will not miss out on any forthcoming exclusives and special offers!

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/about.html

Lars Thomas: Interviewed by Mark Antony Raines

What inspired you?

My inspiration when it comes to cryptozoology was a Danish book about the Loch Ness monster I bought at a book sale when I was 12. And later on Janet and Colin Bord's book Alien Animals, which brought me in contact with the world of cryptozoology in a more serious manner, and then it just grew from there.

What are your plans for the future?

My future plans a simple, to find the truth behind as many cryptozoological creatures I possibly can, to make sure, that Denmark will have a new generation of cryptozoologists when I am gone, and to get at least on of the universities in Denmark to offer a course in cryptozoology - just once!

What are your aims?

My aim in life is to teach as many people as I can, what a wonderful place nature is - not just from a cryptozoological point of view, but also just from a natural history point of view. There are so many exciting creatures out there - you just have to look for them! 

Christophe​r Stone: Interviewed by Mark Antony Raines

What inspires you to write?

What inspires me to write? Everything inspires me to write. I’m interested in most things and have a compulsion to communicate that interest. That’s the essence of writing: being interested and then being able to communicate that interest in an accessible and open-hearted way. 

Currently I’m working with this guy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bolton, Steve Bolton, on his autobiography. The reason I’m interested in this is that it’s like my own story to some degree. It’s the story of post-war Britain. Steve was a rock and roll star. He’s been there, done that, got the tee-shirt, taken the drugs, lost the tee-shirt, and ended up in a field in Reculver playing guitar by an open fire. How interesting is that?

What are your plans for the future?

My plan for the future is simply to keep writing. I’m approaching my retirement now and don’t have any pension sorted out. What better an occupation for a retired person than writing? It doesn’t involve any physical work, just mental work. All you have to do is to sit on your arse and be interested in things and then interesting in the way you express them.As for what it’s like to be a writer, well it’s not a lot different from being a plumber I imagine. Both of them are skills. Both of them are trades. You can earn money from either and there is a certain amount of demand for both. The only difference is, really, that the writer can express his life through his work, while the plumber has to wait till he gets down the pub. http://christopherjamesstone.wordpress.com/

"Stone writes with intelligence, wit and sensitivity." Times Literary Supplement

Publications *The Guardian Weekend*The Observer*The Big Issue*The Independent*The Independent on Sunday*The New Statesman*The London Review of Books*Mixmag*The Sunday Herald*The Times Literary Supplement*Prediction*Kindred Spirit*The Whitstable Times*Saga Magazine*Kent Life*The Whitstable Gazette*

Books *The Trials of Arthur (with Arthur Pendragon: Big Hand Books 2010)*Housing Benefit Hill (AK Press 2001)*Last of the Hippies (Faber & Faber 1999)*Fierce Dancing (Faber & Faber 1996)*

"Wry, acute, and sometimes hellishly entertaining essays in squalor and rebellion." Herald

"The best guide to the Underground since Charon ferried dead souls across the Styx." Independent on Sunday

"Passionately serious, irresistibly compelling, and hilariously good-humoured." Professor Ronald Hutton, Bristol University

"Searching, funny, intelligent and illuminating." Deborah Orr, The Independent

Webcam video from February 22, 2014 3:02 PM

Webcam video from February 22, 2014 2:47 PM