Nuptial Flight 2017 - what you need to know about 'Flying Ant Day' in the UK

At least once a year, one of the most amazing natural phenomenon occurs across the UK (and the world): nuptial flight, also more affectionately known as 'flying ant day'.

Before we talk about our latest book, Nuptial Flight: The London Vampire Conspiracy, it is important to explore more about this process in detail, examine why it's important and consider how this possibly links to John Michaelson's allegory about ants and vampires.

The following is adapted from Wikipedia:

"Flying ant day" is an informal term for the day on which queen ants emerge from the nest to begin their nuptial flight.  In most species, smaller male ants fly alongside them and are less noticeable. During their flight, the queens cover varying distances before mating and dropping to the ground.  They then shed their wings and attempt to found a new colony. 

The flight typically requires clear weather since rain is disruptive for flying insects. Different colonies of the same species often use environmental cues to synchronise the release of males and queens so that they can mate with individuals from other nests, thus avoiding inbreeding.  The actual "take off" from the parent colony is also often synchronised to overwhelm their predators.

During flight, the queens release pheromones to attract males. However, the queens often try to escape the males, allowing only the fastest and the fittest to mate with them. Mating takes place during flight and one queen usually mates with several males. The sperm is stored in a special organ, known as a spermatheca, in the queen's abdomen, and lasts throughout her lifetime. This can be as long as 20 years, during which time the sperm can be used to fertilise tens of millions of eggs!

Once they have landed they attempt to start a new colony. The details of this vary from species to species, but typically involve the excavation of the colony's first chamber and the subsequent laying of eggs. From this point the queen continuously lays eggs which hatch into larvae, exclusively destined to develop into worker ants. The queen usually nurses the first brood alone. After the first workers appear, the queen's role in the colony typically becomes one of exclusive (and generally continuous) egg-laying. 

Queen ants have an extremely high failure rate. During its lifetime a very large ant colony can send out millions of virgin queens. Assuming that the total number of ant colonies in the area remains constant, on average only one of these queens succeeds. The rest are destroyed by predators (most notably other ants), environmental hazards or failures in raising the first brood at various stages of the process. This strict selection ensures that the queen has to be both extremely fit and extremely lucky to pass on her genes to the next generation.

In the UK, nuptial flight occurs typically during the summer months and on one day, although recent research by the Royal Society of Biology has concluded that variations occur in different regions.  More can be found below this post.

Nuptial Flight: The London Vampire Conspiracy (12th June 2017 - Burton Mayers Books)

John Michaelson's cryptic new book

John Michaelson has always had a fascination with ants.  At first we thought he was just trying to be poetic, but in fact - having edited both books - we can see now what he was trying to suggest much more.  The vampires he hunts are defined by him as ants because they exhibit similar characteristics; there are a group who exist within London who are exclusively trying to found new colonies of vampires.  Furthermore, we believe he defines these modern day vampires as ants because it allows him to dehumanise them and thus make extermination of them that little bit more guilt-free.  

Indeed, having read Nuptial Flight you might reach your own conclusions about whether Michaelson himself is a virgin queen or not, trying his best to ensure his own colony survives the competition that exists in the UK's dangerous capital.  The conspiracy, of course, runs much deeper and darker than we are prepared to let on.  

Nuptial Flight is available from all good bookstores and a Kindle version is also available. Michaelson's first book, October's Son, introduced us all to a world where our perceptions of vampires were radically challenged. 

Below is a snapshot of the Royal Society of Biology's Nuptial Flight investigation -  Visit the full page here

Flying Ant Survey - Royal Society of Biology

Flying ants often seem to appear on the same day in different locations in the UK – flying ant day.

Ants aerate soil, help to cycle nutrients, improve garden fertility and control pests. Most ant colonies start with a flying ant - when young queens leave the nest to found their own colony.

However, after five years of our flying ant survey, we have found that flying ant day isn’t as predictable as we had at first thought.

If you see flying ants during the summer months, send us a picture of the ants and another of you holding an 'I just saw flying ants' sign, via Twitter or Facebook using #flyingantsurvey or via email.

Publications Update - New Books - May 2017

The team at Burton Mayers Books have been working hard to bring you more exciting, innovative content. We have several exciting projects in the pipeline, but let's start with our first release of 2017:

June 12th - Nuptial Flight: The London Vampire Conspiracy

Nuptial Flight - John Michaelson

Determined to set the record straight, John Michaelson (aka The London Vampire) returns with the follow up to October's Son.  John materialized on the surface web in 2009 and attracted global interest.  His claim?  That vampires were alive, operating deep within London, and very different to how you might imagine them to be. 

Michaelson remains secretive about most of his research which involves active investigation and deception across the dark web in pursuit of this terrifying sect.  In 2014, a stylized retelling of his experiences were published in October’s Son: The London Vampire Diaries, gaining media attention for his alternate view on vampirism.

In Nuptial Flight, Michaelson answers many of the questions raised in October's Son, including how he tracks down modern vampires and where he gets support from now that Michael is gone.  Told through a series of terse journal entries and graphic recollections, Michaelson's writing is chilling, dark-humored and painfully real. 

Released: 12th June 2017 £9.99 available from all book stores.  A kindle version of this title will be released on 8th June 2017 and is available to pre-order now.   

The Adventures of Lavender the Hedgehog

Burton Mayers Books are developing our first venture into children's picture books.  Author Richard Mayers, whose titles include Spikez and Making Trakz, has developed a very different tale about a curious little hedgehog whose nocturnal routine is changed when she stumbles across a full moon party in her favorite garden.  The story is being wonderfully brought to life by illustrator Abi de Montfort through her wonderful layered style of photos and watercolors.  We've included a few sample images below just to whet your appetite, but we think that children, mums and dads alike are going to love The Hedgehog's Full Moon Party when it hits the shelves, hopefully by late 2017.

Sample illustration by Abi de Montfort

Lavender the Hedgehog - Full Moon Party 

Web and Educational Publishing

In 2010 Burton Mayers Books began publishing online content, which included exciting websites such as www.alevelmedia.co.uk This site was set up to support the work of Media Studies students and teachers by offering a bank of resources and study guides for the A-level content that had recently come into effect in 2008,  However, following Ofqual's recent overhaul of all A-level specifications, which includes Media Studies for September 2017, Burton Mayers Books have been redeveloping the website and content to offer students and teachers a rich, multi-media online resource to help them stay up-to date.  When the specification for all exam boards has been approved (hopefully by July 2017) we will be looking to release an accompanying text book for 2017-18.  In the meantime, please check out the website and give us your thoughts.  

Spikez will be making another appearance in Red Dragon very soon.  Keep up to date by following us on Twitter @BurtonMayers or see what author Richard Mayers is up to @Spikez_Novel or if you're feeling brave, see what @TheLondonVamp has to say.

October's Son is also available on paperback here.

Nuptial Flight - The London Vampire's Final Manuscript Received!

In October 2016 we were given a glimpse into the dark, depraved and murky life of the elusive London vampire hunter, John Michaelson, when he disclosed an extract from his forthcoming biography.  It certain whetted our appetites and that of readers, however November, December and January passed without any extra chapters, and editing of the manuscript was unable to take place.  By February, the team at Burton Mayers Books nearly gave up hope that Michaelson would ever deliver his manuscript for Nuptial Flight despite several polite reminders.

Nuptial Flight - Draft Idea 1

That was until recently when Michaelson, in his trademark London vampire style, defied expectations and randomly sent us an encrypted file.  Eventually we were able to download and start unpicking what can only be described as dark material.  Whilst his book is written with a similar degree of humour, honesty and hostility towards those who ruined him in October's Son, there is a noticeable difference in the overall tone - like we are starting to get to know the real John Michaelson, aka The London Vampire.

Little of what is written is being edited down, however the order of  events is less linear and more modular so we are making creative decisions about how best to order the events.  Nuptial Flight dips in and out of key events over a period of nearly eight years rather than a single year and feels more like a biography.  Aside from that, there are very few hurdles limiting us for publishing the title for Spring 2017.  We have ideas for a book cover design which we will be sharing soon and we think you'll love it.  The book is certainly worth the wait.

So keep your eyes peeled and your fingers crossed that we can finally share with people the truth about London's vampires.

Sneak Peak of The London Vampire: Nuptial Flight

Back in June 2016 we mentioned that John Michaelson was keen to set the record straight about vampires, again.  Well, he is not one to disappoint.  Just when we thought the elusive author was going to negate his promise of some content for us ahead of Halloween, something wicked arrived in our inbox.

Back from the shadows, Michaelson returns to haunt and teach us

We read it, then we reflected.  Then we read it again. For someone who claims to be a vampire hunter, his extract read more like a diary from a police investigation that didn't go quite to plan.  John claims to be working tirelessly behind the scenes, trying to infiltrate a gang of 'real' vampires who use organised crime gangs to supply them with fresh produce.  The problem we had was that the horror seemed a bit too real  Before, with October's Son, we had a skeleton story that we had to work with and add flesh to the bones so that we could tell the world about John Michaelson.  Now, two years since the release of his book, we have a more auto-biographical account of how he lives his daily life.

The extract is just too good to keep to ourselves, so whilst we wait for the rest of it to come in from John - which could take some time - why not read some for yourself?  Download the .PDF file for your eReader, either from our author page www.thelondonvampire.com or directly from his twitter feed, if and when he posts.

The London Vampire Strikes Again!



October's Son was John Michaelson's debut book


Today marks the start of October, a month famous for having more US presidents born in than any other, a great month for raising awareness about conditions such as breast cancer and National Cholesterol Month, Black History Month and, if you're American, it's also the month to celebrate popcorn and pork!

October is also the month John Michaelson, aka The London Vampire, was born.  To celebrate this we have run a free kindle promotion for his biographical novel October's Son.  This is, of course, not without an important announcement from Burton Mayers Books on his behalf.

Building on the interest from the debut book, John Michaelson has been busy delving into the darkest depths of London to continue his investigations.  We can now confirm that John is in the process of summarizing his work hunting ants since his transformation, spanning a period of several years.  John has revealed to us that the title of the follow-up to October's Son will be called Nuptial Flight.



Initially, we were a little confused about the title.  Nuptial Flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant species.  During the flight, the virgin queens mate with males and then land to start a new colony.^[1]   Of course, once we had researched this we realized that this was classic Michaelson, adding mystery and enigma around the subject of ants, his own synonym for defining real vampires.

John Michaelson has confirmed that the book picks up from where October's Son: The London Vampire Diaries ended, embarking on investigations into the network of ants across London, his hunt for Michael, and his dealings with organized crime gangs who deal in the trafficking of men, women and children for profit and for food.  The book will document key developments across several years and includes a report about his recent visit to the 'jungle' at Calais and his exploration of trafficking routes across Europe; he even hinted that he may have visited Vlad's home town of Transylvania on his travels.

We are yet to see a full manuscript but John instructed us that the novel should not be edited or stylized to fill in the blanks, but he did say that names of vulnerable individuals would be protected.  We are anticipating a release for mid-2016, possibly to coincide with Flying Ant Day? We can't wait, in the meantime be sure to buy the book or download it from Amazon.

 

Publication Update for Burton Mayers Books 2015

Bold, sci-fi colours

E B White's classic

What a busy year it has been so far.  So busy, in fact, that the we are anticipating not one but two children's books releases by the end of 2015.

Making Trakz has been shifted back from its initial early 2015 release to this autumn. The cover for this book hopes to replicate many of the design features typical of the Spikez series of books, whilst also paying homage to classic texts like Stuart Little.

In even more exciting news, Richard Mayers is currently working with illustrator Samantha Goodlet on a children's picture book.  The project, which will be Burton Mayers Books' first venture into picture books, is based around the adventures of Lavender, a very curious hedgehog.  The story is going to be rich in content with wonderful, layered illustrations.  Release date will be late 2015/early 2016.  To learn more about Samantha and get a glimpse of her quirky, classic drawing style, you can see much of this @samdrawsthings

London's very own Vampire Hunter, John Michaelson, also contacted us recently to say that there had been 'developments' in his fight against ants.  The elusive author didn't give any further details, other than that he wanted to put right many wrongs and wrap up the loose ends from his biographical account in October's Son. We have no content as of yet, but we expect the book will be an eye-opening look into London's murky underground - certainly not for Twilight fans!

Capturing The London Vampire

How do you catch a vampire? Harder still, how do you capture a vampire who claims he isn't a Vampire? Confused?

At Burton Mayers Books, we were faced with the same problem. Ahead of the release of October's Son: The London Vampire Diaries, we set about trying to shoot some images to use on the book cover and for publicity purposes.  John Michaelson is an enigma to say the least, and with no phone number and no known address, getting hold of him is hard at the best of times.  So imagine trying to arrange a meeting with The London Vampire himself.  Well, it happened somehow.

A meeting was arranged via Skype and John agreed to meet in London's thriving China Town.  We arrived and, too our amazement, found John waiting for us.  See picture below.

John was resolute about where we could go and take pictures, and warned us that Soho would be off limits that evening; he also stressed that the mask would remain on throughout the whole shoot.  He didn't talk much and seemed to be on a schedule of his own.

We got some great shots around China Town and it was amazing to see that most people didn't even blink an eye or stop to notice. It was like he didn't exist.

 This was especially noticeable in Leicester Square. See below.

His trail led us through St Martin-in-the-Fields and into Trafalgar Square where we got some amazing shots that we ended up using for the main cover.

We then followed him towards the river but he suddenly cut through Charing Cross and towards The Savoy where he revealed a bit of the city's history.  Below, Michaelson poses next to the capital's last remaining street lamp fuelled by gas from London's sewers.

We tried to persuade John into taking some shots along the Thames and across East London, specifically landmarks highlighted in his book.  John declined, however, because he had an appointment to meet a medical graduate nearby.  He didn't say much more before we took these last shots.

He was courteous, thanked us for our patience and said he looked forward to seeing the final version of the book.  We caught a bus back home with mixed feelings; a little unnerved about what he told us, and perhaps a little safer knowing he was out there watching our backs.

October's Son: The London Vampire Diaries is released on 27th October 2014.

Welcome to Burton Mayers Books

Burton Mayers Books is an independent publishing house founded by Richard Mayers and John Burton in 2008.

Richard Mayers is a secondary school teacher and children's author and comes from a background working within the TV and Film industry.  He formed Burton Mayers Books with his colleague, John Burton, to publish and promote a range of groundbreaking titles for the Juvenile market.  Richard worked as a freelance creative for a number of years before becoming a teacher in 2006, but he continues to foster interests in interactive media and has attracted a varied client base over these years.

John Burton also currently works as a secondary school teacher but has a wide and varied background as a designer, illustrator and web developer.  John worked as an independent creative designer at studios across London for a number of years, including working for national newspapers (The Mirror), worldwide charities, projects (Bloodhound SSC) and small businesses looking for a design edge above their competitors.  Because of his contacts and track record of innovation, John continues to offer highly creative ideas to future publishing projects.

The first in-house title was a project that began in 2008 with a concept for a robotic, animal superhero.  Since that time, John and Richard developed the idea and published Spikez internationally in 2012.  During that time, opportunities to collaborate with authors and artists from across the UK continue to come in.

Many of the online design projects Richard and John contributed to since 2009 onwards have also come to fruition, with the first adult title, October's Son, set for release in 2014.  The project, a biographical horror by John Michaelson, attracted John and Richard because of its revelatory content, global appeal, potential to redefine genres and challenge the conventions of non-fiction.  The title is currently being edited for content.

In 2015 there will be an increase in the number and range of titles published by Burton Mayers Books, including an anthology of short stories, poems and photography about London.

List of Titles:

Spikez (Ingram) - 2012: Children's Novel 9-12+, number 1 in the series.
Spikez: Red Dragon - 2019: number 2 in the series.
Spikez: Viral - 2020: number 3 in the series.

Making Trakz - 2014/15:  Children's Novel 9-12+, a prequel to the popular Spikez series.

October's Son: Diary of the London Vampire - 2014 - An adult biographical horror by John
Michaelson.

Nuptial Flight: The London Vampire Conspiracy - 2015 - an extended memoir of John Michaelson's gruesome exploration of vampire culture in Europe.

The Hedgehog's Full Moon Party - 2018 - picture book collaboration between Richard Mayers and Abigail de Montfort.

Complete Darkness: A Darkmatters Novel - 2019 - Matt Adcock (debut novel)

Osmond the Toad - 2019 - Liz Noble - Children's picture book

London: An Anthology (2021) - a selection of short stories, poems and photography from some of London's up and coming creatives.

All works will be printed by Lightning Source (Ingram) and available through all leading bookstores.  Electronic versions will also be available on Kindle through Amazon.