Joel Lane

Joel Lane (1963–2013) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, critic and anthology editor. He received the British Fantasy Award twice.

Born in Exeter, he was the nephew of tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott. At the time of his death, Lane lived in south Birmingham, where he worked in health publishing. The latter city frequently provided settings for his fiction.

Although the majority of Lane's short stories can be categorised as horror or dark fantasy, his novels are more overtly mainstream. From Blue to Black (2000) is a portrait of a disturbed rock musician, whilst The Blue Mask (2003) follows the aftermath of a brutal and disfiguring attack.

Lane addressed the Birmingham Science Fiction Group in March 2002 and was a guest speaker at Microcon 30 in March 2010.

Bibliography

Novels

• From Blue to Black (2000)
• The Blue Mask (2003)

Novellas

• The Witnesses Are Gone (2009)

Short story collections

• The Earth Wire and Other Stories (1994)
• The Lost District and Other Stories (2006)
• The Terrible Changes (2009)
• Do Not Pass Go (booklet, 2011)
• Where Furnaces Burn (2012)
• The Anniversary of Never (2015)
• Scar City (2015)
  

Poetry

• The Edge of the Screen (1998)
• Trouble in the Heartland (2004)
• The Autumn Myth (2010)
• Instinct (pamphlet, 2012)

Anthologies

• Birmingham Noir: Urban Tales of Crime and Suspense (2002, co-edited with Steve Bishop)
• Beneath the Ground (2003)
• Never Again (2010, co-edited with Allyson Bird)