The Race Glass - three stories by Remy Dean

questing beast books is proud to announce The Race Glass by Remy Dean.

Special Launch Party Promotion - details below...

To help celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Scraps - the first book published by questing beast - we asked the author to suggest titles for a retrospective of his work published over the last two decades. Of course, being Remy Dean, he bent the rules and dug up an unpublished piece from before the allotted period, making this a collection of three short(ish) stories spanning the past three decades... From the 1980s we present Snail Racing - published here for the first time, from the 1990s we have Guitar Hero, and from the 2000s, the slipstream story, Homunculus... 

The Race Glass by Remy Dean

Paul, Mark and Nancy have finished school and are facing a British summer of uncertainty while they consider how to move on… three ‘average’ teenagers who learn the meaning of growing up and letting go. Snail Racing tells the story of three friends attempting to take control of their futures, dealing with the subtle and complex issues of gender, belonging, connection, and alienation - a short story that is both poignant and told with an underlying wry wit… and, yes, they do race snails.

College student Mac, lonely though surrounded by friends, is obsessed with his guitar – the only thing he can really relate to and express himself through. Guitar Hero picks up on the themes of Snail Racing and ups the anti in a world of free sex, cheap drink and expensive amplifiers – the second short story presented in this retrospective is delineated with a gentle humanity and reminds those who may have forgotten, that the 'folly of youth' is often a brave front.

In a future world of virtual warfare, those with the fastest synaptic responses become heroes. In Homunculus, we meet Gurt, a ‘Top Tester’ for a bio-tech conglomerate that develops new kinds of weapons – but he is being changed by his experiences just as any real soldier is. Has he been contaminated? Is he losing part of himself or discovering himself anew? What secret is Gabby hinting at? Something strange is happening… and soldiers must have their orders. Mixing elements from SF, zombie horror and romance, the third short story in this collection remains highly relevant in a time when we are gradually losing-and-finding ourselves in the digital world…

Remy Dean holds the actual race glass prop used in the 1986

short film he made of  the story, Snail Racing... and now uses 

to race garden snails with his daughter.

"Re-reading these stories brought back memories," Remy commented , "I realised I have some affection for them and so I'm delighted to see them preserved in this way. As for Scraps being twenty-years old! It represents some sort of achievement that the novel is still 'alive' - in paper and pixels formats - and so am I!"

The Race Glass is a retrospective, novelette-length, collection of short stories from the author of Scraps and Final Bough - presented with an insightful introduction by Remy Dean. 

Available from Friday 21 March, exclusively via Amazon.co.uk. 

SPECIAL LAUNCH PARTY PROMOTION: 
The Race Glass by Remy Dean will be available to download FREE on day of release!
Follow this link during 21 March to download - sorry this promotion has expired (now available at £1.85). Thanks to all who joined in and grabbed the freebie, all we ask in return is that you post a brief amazon review, just let us know which story was your favourite from the collection!

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Scraps by Remy Dean - Kindle Edition

questing beast books are proud to present the new Kindle edition of Scraps a novel by Remy Dean:

Tom doesn't know which city he is in or what drug he is addicted to and is forced to confront himself on a strange journey of self discovery - or maybe self deception.

On the run from the cops and two factions of the mob, he falls in with a gang of street punks and poets.

Under the influence of three very different women and assorted substances, Tom must sort out his dreams from his memories and come to terms with what he has done, or failed to do...

Scraps is brave and uncompromising - a surprising story told with startling style - brutal, flippant and fun.

Lydia Lunch, author, confrontationalist, musician and multi-media artist, said of Dean's first novel, "great language, poetry and images..." she also commented that, "the sex was hot".

Miles Hatfield in his review in 'The Champion' described it as, "a twisted tale... a freewheeling, experimental novel". He realised that, "Dean has taken a few risks... there are some startling and surreal episodes," and goes on to say that, "there is plenty of energy in the writing and the yarn rattles along at a cracking pace".

Susan Watt, a senior editor at HarperCollins described Scraps as, "a really moody, and inspired portrait of urban life at its seediest".

Writers News called 'Scraps', "a fast moving, gripping story of love, lust and moralities," whereas Writers Monthly branded it as a, "shocking debut novel, also describing it as, "racy, gripping, brutal and startling..."

Others have likened Dean's distinctive gritty-crime-noir fantasy style to the films of Quentin Tarantino and Scrawl UK said, "An intelligent crime novel with a romantic twist... A dense and powerful debut novel, 'Scraps' has the visual impact of cutting edge cinema and the lyrical quality more often found in good song writing. The theme challenges you to re-think your own morality."

Remy Dean has added this note to the new edition: "Music was an important part of the writing process for this novel – it helped me to create and capture certain moods and atmosphere. I was writing as if describing a film I had dreamt, and I had music in mind for the dream soundtrack of that film. The sounds that were playing as I wrote, and in various ways filtered through into the text, included music and lyrics by the following artists, to whom I wish to extend my gratitude for their positive influence upon this piece of writing and upon my life, then and now: Dave Graney (The Moodists / The Coral Snakes), Lydia Lunch (8 Eyed Spy), Gavin Friday (Virgin Prunes), BrainDeath, Slab, Eric Serra, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Go-Betweens, Hunters & Collectors, Nick Cave (Birthday Party), Scott Walker, Gordon Lightfoot... If you really listen to this book, you will hear them all."

Buy Scraps direct on-line