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.