Contemporary Authors

• Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse Talos (New York, NY), 2018

• H. G. Bells - https://hgbells.com/about/

  ABOUT
  HG New Pic Cropped

  Heidi Grace Bells is a film school grad who became a film projectionist to fund her passionately pursued goals in writing. She has had short works of science fiction and horror published in anthologies such as Once Bitten Never Die, Dark Light Vol.II, A Quick Bite of Flesh, Zombies Gone Wild II, and From The Depths. She won a Cygnus Award, taking first place for her novel Iso in the category of New Adult Sci-Fi, her screenplay adaptation of which placed in the top 10% of entrants for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship. She has guest starred on several podcasts as writing guru, including Checking The Gate and Not Another X-Files Podcast Podcast. She has worked for the Surrey International Writers’ Conference for the past four years, helping readers and authors alike share and learn about the craft. She’s got a myriad of projects on the go across many mediums, but wants to hit the ground running with Sleep Over as a strong debut for what is sure to be a nova-hot career.

  And more personally:

  H.G. Bells grew up in Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada. She loves the West Coast, but currently lives in New Zealand. She enjoys writing very much, and hopes to have a long career as an author.

  She will now stop referring to herself in the third person. Did it work? I think it did. There. That’s better.

  I used to be a Projectionist, projecting digital films at a multiplex in downtown Vancouver, and 70mm OMNIMAX film at a science centre downtown. I loved being a Projectionist very much, but now it’s automated. Digital is, while not nearly as romantic, a great way for cinema to go.

  I have hosted games nights, tabletop roleplaying sessions, and am a regular attendee of geeky meetups.

  I write a great many things and have had several short stories published. My agent is Beth Campbell over at Bookends Lit. My publisher is Skyhorse, and my editor there is Cory Allyn.

  In addition to writing screenplays, short stories, and books, I’ve played around with an Oddcast called Forgotten.

  My life plan is this: be happy, make others happy, and write amazing stories to garner an audience that will howl for more. Oh, and to shape our collective cultural narrative and steer humanity towards the bright future I envision …you know, the usual.

  You can contact me via email: heidi @ hgbells . com

  For professional inquiries, you can contact my agent, Beth Campbell, at bcampbell(at)bookends-inc(dot)com

  Some extra facts about me, because I don’t really know why an “about me” should be standard when I can make it fun.

  I have:

  had the mumps, whooping cough, vertigo, and e. coli.
  been stabbed by a hawk, fed a baby deer, and dog sledded.
  caught a salmon with my bare hands.
  sung in a world-renowned choir, competed in music festivals, and penned my own compositions.
  played the flute, guitar, and had one fateful summer of violin which ended with me and my entire group of friends being quarantined while we were camping.
  I am a graduate of the Vancouver Film School, and hold both my BC Motion Picture Orientation cert, and a traffic control person ticket.

  I was a P.A. on Eve and the Fire Horse, worked in the art department on another production, and was an extra in the last episode of The X-Files shot in Vancouver.

  I used to throw messages in bottles over the side of the ferry, and, when I was 11, The X-Files responded to one of them and blew my mind.

  I get one pumpkin spice latte a year, to celebrate the anniversary of becoming a Projectionist.

  I love Robin Hood.

  I wish on shooting stars, wave at the International Space Station whenever I see it, and was Captain of Star Trek Vancouver for a time.

  I bind books, dabbled in chain maille, and practice archery.

  I binge-watch TV shows to help get over the crazy feelings that come with finishing writing a novel.

  I will never stop writing.

  Peace. ❤

4/25/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Print Marked Items
Sleep Over
Booklist.
114.8 (Dec. 15, 2017): p92.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Sleep Over.
By H. G. Bells.
Jan. 2018.376p. Skyhorse/Talos, paper, $14.99 (9781940456690).
When the apocalypse comes, it might just keep you up at night. Various accounts from people around the
world tell of a sudden, irreversible plague of insomnia. Whether it's viral, chemical, or something else
matters less and less as society breaks down and people start dying. Doctors, gamers, teachers, gurus,
researchers, and more share their accounts in turn of society's breakdown and spiral into oblivion as people
start to hallucinate and become catatonic. Perhaps most poignant is the lone account of an insomniac child
whose prior experience with sleep loss steels her to the difficulties as the adults around her succumb to
madness. Bells' debut presents creatively imagined chaos, from planes crashing to natural disasters to drug
abuse brought on by those trying both uppers and downers in a frantic search for relief. Readers looking for
a twist on conventional apocalypse tales will enjoy this look at alternative human zombies that is no less
political than Nancy Kress' Beggars Trilogy. A grimly suspenseful tale with a brutally real ending.--Erin
Downey Howerton
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sleep Over." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2017, p. 92. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A521459608/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b9446ec1.
Accessed 25 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A521459608
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Sleep Over: An Oral History of the
Apocalypse
Publishers Weekly.
264.48 (Nov. 27, 2017): p41+.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse
H.G. Bells. Talos, $ 14.99 trade paper (376p)
ISBN 978-1-940456-69-0
In Bell's intriguing themed debut collection, a plague of insomnia instantaneously grips the world and is
chronicled via accounts from those who survive. The linked stories span the globe and the human spectrum,
made even scarier by their relatability. Some accounts are poignant, highlighting heroism and self-sacrifice
in the midst of destruction and carnage, and some are feverish accounts of those succumbing to sleep
deprivation. Particularly harrowing is the story told by a pediatric nurse about exhausted pregnant women
going into premature labor, almost always resulting in the death of both mother and child. Another reveals
the high-wire act of a power company trying to keep the power on for residences that are now in use 24/7.
In a chilling tale, a cop discovers the killing room of a man who's taking full advantage of his neighbors'
new vulnerability. Despite the grim elements, human resilience and compassion are the overwhelming
themes of this well-written collection, and the coda is full of hope. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse." Publishers Weekly, 27 Nov. 2017, p. 41+. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A517575658/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cdb2ad03. Accessed 25 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A517575658

• Pendora Magazine
  https://www.pendoramagazine.com/book-reviews/2018/1/16/book-review-sleep-over-by-hg-bells
  Word count: 630

  Book Review: Sleep Over by H.G. Bells

  SLEEP OVER
  by H.G. Bells
  You must’ve had a sleepless night. Working on that work project? Studying for finals? Writing that long essay? You go out in the morning, deliver your work, manage to get through the day until it’s finally time to get home. You go to sleep earlier than usual, and that moment when your head hits the pillow and you’re under the covers lives up to every unrealistic expectation of happiness you’ve built up in your mind throughout the day. But, what if when you get home you have another project, another exam, another deadline the next day, and you need to stay up all night again? What if you had to stay up all night for weeks and weeks on end? It’s terrifying, right? Welcome to the world of Sleep Over.
  H.G. Bells imagines a world where the entire human race loses the ability to sleep all of a sudden. Mass insomnia starts off as an inconvenience, and develops into the deadliest threat to humanity’s existence. The novel is laid out in the “oral history” genre popularised by World War Z, giving you a different account of the Insomnia Apocalypse every few pages. The accounts are commissioned and compiled by an editor whose thoughts frame the book’s narrative, in an effort to document the stories of the few people who survived the apocalypse. An office worker in New York, a farmer who witnesses the collapse of The Three Gorges Dam in China, a child who was already living with severe insomnia even before the apocalypse, a researcher who goes far beyond the borders of morals and ethics trying to find the cure for this pandemic.
  All around the world, people start dying of exhaustion. You may know some of the consequences of sleeplessness, but you probably don’t know about all of them. About what happens to your brain after a week without sleep. About what insomnia does to a young child, who needs sleep a lot more than adults. About what it does to babies, newborn or still in the womb. Tiredness, hallucinations, paranoia. Cities start burning down because of riots by mobs who have to take out their frustration on someone, or something, since the cause of their pain is unknown. This is one of the most remarkable and well-delivered aspects of the novel: how fragile we are that we don’t need zombies or alien invasions to risk our existence; a simple thing like mass insomnia will destroy us within a few weeks. You can see this realisation underlying the stories of most survivors, whether they were people who went far out of their way to help other when they could barely stand up themselves, or opportunistic drug dealers who made quick small fortunes by selling uppers to Wall Street executives. The final tone of the book is a blend of hope, catharsis, and closeness.
  H.G. Bell’s Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse is out today in the Uk and the US. Fans of World War Z, you’ll love this one. Pro tip: if you’re confident you’re going to like this book, I think a good reading strategy is going through one story each night before going to sleep.

  PLATON POULAS
  Successfully impersonated a student of English literature and now a Publishing student in Edinburgh. Interested in the direction English literature is taking in the 21st century, noir comics, beautifully shot films. Can bore you to death with Hollywood trivia, extensive knowledge of Leonard Cohen, and La La Land.
  TWITTER INSTAGRAM

  Platon
  January 16, 2018

• This Is Horror
  http://www.thisishorror.co.uk/look-out-for-sleep-over-an-oral-history-of-the-apocalypse-by-h-g-bells/
  Word count: 274

  Look Out For … Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse by H. G. Bells
  December 7, 2017

  “With the odd, yet appropriate, moniker H.G. Bells, this book takes another stab at the end-of-the-world scenario, this time using insomnia instead of a zombie virus.”

  The world record for a human to go sleepless is eleven days. As a new epidemic of insomnia hits the world, everyone begins to wonder when they will be able to rest again. Chaos reigns as scientists desperately race to discover a cure with strange experiments. Society crumbles, violence becomes a way of life. As the world falls apart, all anyone can do is watch the madness all around them, powerless to stop it.
  If they could only sleep …
  Why we’re excited about this book:
  Just as Max Brooks’ World War Z revitalized post-apocalyptic fiction over a decade ago, it’s high time for a new spin on this familiar trope. With the odd, yet appropriate, moniker H.G. Bells, this book takes another stab at the end-of-the-world scenario, this time using insomnia instead of a zombie virus. Written in a series of vignettes, each capturing a different character at varying points on the time-line, we get a wide lens view of how such events would play out. Publishers Weekly says: “Despite the grim elements, human resilience and compassion are the overwhelming themes of this well-written collection, and the coda is full of hope.”
  Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse by H.G. Bells releases 16 January 2018 and is available for pre-order over at Amazon.
  BOB PASTORELLA

• ForbiddenPlanet.com
  https://forbiddenplanet.com/247222-sleep-over-an-oral-history-of-the-apocalypse/
  Word count: 444

  Sleep Over: An Oral History Of The Apocalypse
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  For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, an inventive new spin on the apocalypse featuring a world-wide plague of insomnia.
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  Product Description
  Author
  H.G. Bells

  Binding
  trade paperback
  Cat No.
  3823699
  EAN
  978194045669051499
  Genres
  Horror
  Film & TV
  ISBN
  9781940456690
  Publisher
  Talos Press
  Type
  Books
  For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, an inventive new spin on the apocalypse featuring a world-wide plague of insomnia.
  Remember what it’s like to go an entire night without sleep?
  What if sleep didn’t come the following night? Or the night after? What might happen if you, your friends, your family, your co-workers, and the strangers you pass on the street, all slowly began to realise that rest might not ever come again?
  How slowly might the world fall apart? How long would it take for a society without sleep to descend into chaos?
  Sleep Over is a collection of waking nightmares, a scrapbook collection of haunting and poignant stories from those trapped in a world where the pillars of society are crumbling, and madness is slowly descending on a planet without rest.
  Online vigilantism transforms social media into a blame game with deadly consequences.
  A freelance journalist grapples with the ethics of turning in footage of mass suicide.
  Scientists turn to horrifying experiments as they grow more desperate in their race for a cure.
  In Sleep Over, these stories are just the beginning. Before the Longest Day, the world record was eleven days without sleep. It turns out many of us will be forced to go much longer.
  Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times best-seller, a national best-seller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

• Dreamland Bookshelf
  https://clairsbookshelfblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/book-review-sleep-over-an-oral-history-of-the-apocalypse/
  Word count: 635

  The Dreamland Bookshelf
  Book Review : Sleep Over – an oral history of the Apocalypse
  by ClairDecember 14, 2017
  Sleep Over: An Oral History of the Apocalypse by H.G. Bells

  Why I read:
  5 Star Read
  Book blurb: “For fans of the oral history genre phenomenon World War Z, a worldwide plague of insomnia creates a devastating new apocalypse.
  Remember what it’s like to last an entire night without sleep? That dull but constant headache. The feeling of your brain on edge. How easily irritated you were. How difficult it was to concentrate, even on seemingly menial tasks. It was just a single restless night, but everything felt just a little bit harder to do, and the only real comfort was knowing your head would finally hit the pillow at the end of the day, and when you awoke the next morning everything would return to normal.
  But what if sleep didn’t come the next night? Or the night after? What might happen if you, your friends and family, your coworkers, the strangers you pass on the street, all slowly began to realize that rest might not ever come again?
  How slowly might the world fall apart? How long would it take for a society without sleep to descend into chaos?
  Sleep Over is collection of waking nightmares, a scrapbook of the haunting and poignant stories from those trapped in a world where the pillars of society are crumbling, and madness is slowly descending on a planet without rest.
  Online vigilantism turns social media into a deadly gamble.
  A freelance journalist grapples with the ethics of turning in footage of mass suicide.
  A kidnapped hypnotist is held hostage by those at wit’s end for a cure.
  In Sleep Over, these stories are just the beginning. Before the Longest Day, the world record was eleven days without sleep. It turns out most of us can go much longer.”

  My review
  A wonderfully chilling apocalyptic book that questions what would become of the world if no-one was able to sleep? We follow the story as the world breaks apart, bit by bit. The horror created by the insomnia of the entire human race is easily comparable to that of zombies or killer viruses. Its a highly original and thrilling read.
  The book consists of a number of personal testimonials from different characters. There are tales from an amazingly diverse range of people with different backgrounds, all scattered around the world. You get to see the effect of insomnia through the eyes of scientists, policy makers, a taxi driver, gamers, nurses, to name but a few. The stories are grouped into time frames and each one reveals more about what is happening to the world. Some of the people’s stories show humanity descending into its worse traits, others show survival and there are some touching tales demonstrating real caring and the best of humanity. The writing is beautifully haunting, vividly capturing the horror each person experiences but with brief moments of hope and joy scattered throughout. There are loads of brilliant thoughts and ideas packed into the 300 pages as we see the apocalypse through many different viewpoints. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so will just add this is a book I really enjoyed and will read again in the future.
  Overall this is a brilliant and original apocalyptic thriller. It’s a thought provoking book that I’d suggest all sci-fi fans read.
  I’d highly recommend to fans of: horror, apocalyptic thrillers, dystopia and sci-fi
  *****
  I received a free copy via Netgallery in return for an honest review.
  Paperback, 300 pages
  Expected publication: January 16th 2018 by Talos