Author Mark Chadbourn (pictured left) has been shortlisted for a prestigious literary award.

The former Birmingham Post & Mail and Burton Mail reporter is delighted to have made the final five for the August Derleth Award for Best Novel - a top honour in the science fiction, fantasy and horror book industry.

Previous winners have included Stephen King and Clive Barker.

Mark has been short-listed for World's End which is the first volume of a dark fantasy trilogy. The hardback edition was published to critical acclaim in July 1999 and the paperback version hit the shops last week - published by Orion.

Mark said: "I'm not really expecting to win - it's a very tough field this year - but being shortlisted has already bought me a lot ofinterest, particularly in America, including some film companies."

The second volume of the trilogy, Darkest Hour, is due out in hardback and large format trade paperback on October 19.

Mark turned to writing books in 1992 after moving on from regional newspapers to work on national newspapers and TV journalism.

His first four novels were horror and he also wrote a non-fiction book about a haunted house in Brecon.

Mark has a website, which is a magazine about science fiction fantasy writing in general as well as featuring news about Mark's own books.

To visit his website click here

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