Paul Magrs published his first novel in 1995 and 666 Charing Cross Road, released by Headline on March 15th, will be his fourteenth.

He is perhaps best known to readers of Starburst, though, as the author of the Hornet’s Nest, Demon Quest and Serpent Crest audio adventures that have tempted fourth Doctor Tom Baker back to starring in new Doctor Who for the BBC. Magrs was also the author of several very highly regarded novels in the Eighth and Past Doctor ranges between 1998 and 2002 (including Mad Dogs and Englishmen), all of which featured Magrs’ own character Iris Wildthyme as a recurring foil for the Doctor, and the tenth Doctor adventure Sick Building, as well as a number of audio dramas for Big Finish (including Horror of Glam Rock and The Zygon Who Fell to Earth).

He has also gone on to become a popular children’s author with titles such as Strange Boy and Hands Up!; and furthermore, Magrs was the co-founder with Stuart Douglas of Obverse Books, publishers of the Iris Wildthyme and Obverse Quarterly short story collections, as well as new Faction Paradox fiction.

Here at Starburst Magazine, we’re delighted to be able to bring you an exclusive, pre-publication appearance of Paul Magrs’ latest Iris Wildthyme short story, Hang Onto Yourself, due to appear in the first of the 2012 Obverse Quarterly volumes, Lady Stardust, in May.

Iris Wildthyme, better known (via a series of Big Finish audio plays) as Katy Manning (Jo Grant from Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane Adventures), is a renegade Time Lady whose TARDIS is a red double-decker bus, and who may or may not have come from a parallel universe, and the collection Lady Stardust is a series of short stories in which her adventures have been inspired by the songs of David Bowie.

You can read Hang Onto Yourself by going here.

Look out too for a comprehensive guide to independent Doctor Who publishing, due to appear on the Starburst website in the next few days, which will include interviews from many of the people behind the guide books and spin-off fictions that surround the series, including Telos Publishing, Mad Norwegian Press and Big Finish Books.