My God, It's Raining

It occurs to me that I have recommended a few things to people in passing, but have completely failed to follow up with details of them. Far too often when recommendations come the other way, I just forget about them, or forget some pertinent detail that would make the book or the movie or the song easy to find. So, for anyone who I recommended these things to, this is your handy aide memoire. For anyone I didn’t, check these things out! They are awesome.

Real Genius

There is a reason I do not like The Big Bang Theory. It feels very much like laughing at smart people instead of laughing with. “Ha! Look at Sheldon! He knows so much about flags and yet exhibits tendencies that border on sociopathy!” Hilarious.

Real Genius is the solution to the Big Bang Theory problem. It’s an entertaining, funny, and clever movie that depicts very, very smart people as actual human beings. Val Kilmer’s Chris Knight is handsome, smug, irreverent, ridiculously brainy and never suffers for any of it. Knight and the idealistic undergraduate Mitch are caught in the trap of closed-door research: they are working in the lab without ever thinking about the world beyond it. That they are building military tech is clear to the viewer from the get-go. In a world where faceless lab rats tinker away on death rays in every movie and comic book going, Real Genius makes the point that the people building the next generation of weapons can be blinkered by their own idealism – and broken by the moral weight.

It’s such a good film, and if the crappy trailer doesn’t get you excited, then how about this: the character Jordan in the film was cited as the inspiration for Gadget Hackwrench. That, my friends, is awesome.

First and the Last

The war memoir of World War II German ace Adolf Galland keeps coming up. I reviewed it over on Floor to Ceiling Books a while back and it is still worth hunting out. The brutal clash between the idealistic domain of a pilot who believes that he and his kind represent the last vestige of true chivalry and the realities of a modern war machine is a stunning and absorbing read.

I would put a purchase link at the top but it’s out of print and the only copy I could see from a brief search was $41. With a little digging I’m sure you can find it much cheaper than that.

BONUS SIDE MISSION: If you can get your hands on A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939-1940 by William Trotter, that is absolutely worth reading as well. The Talvisota was my inspiration for the Halloween short story, In the Wolf’s Glen and – again – it is an absorbing and fascinating read into one of the lesser-known conflicts of WWII.

The Brothers Lionheart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Astrid Lindgren is probably most well-known as the creator of Pippi Longstocking. The Brothers Lionheart, however, was one of her most controversial books. Published in 1973, it is the story of Karl and Jonatan, two brothers. Karl is sick – sick enough that he may soon die – and his brother tells him not to worry, because when you die you go to Nangijala, a place where you can have adventures from morning until evening, and even through the night; because Nangijala is where stories come from.

It’s one of those books that you try to describe and fail, because really it’s about everything. It deals with life and death in the most part and in the process goes to some dark places. It’s a stunning example of how deep and affecting children’s writing can be.

It was made into a movie in the late 70′s, but is apparently being remade by Tomas Alfredson. I look forward to seeing it.

 

As I write this Eightsquaredcon is still ongoing. Officially it ends tomorrow, but I headed back early. I don’t think I’ve ever lasted past the Sunday at a convention – two evenings is just about my limit for “con time” and then I start to doze off randomly as my body tries to catch up on lost sleep.

This was quite an unusual Eastercon, as it is the first convention I’ve been to since signing with an agent. Having news makes the experience slightly different, and it was an odd experience finding that I was being asked about what I’ve written and how things are going with it. It was a lot of fun, but BY GOD was it scary. On the one hand you want to sound positive and enthusiastic and – not to put too fine a point on it – sell the idea of yourself as a writer, but on the other you don’t want to sound massively self-aggrandising. What I found myself doing more often than not was saying exactly that, and the conversation was steered into much safer territory of how British we all are about these things. Self-effacement? Embarrassment? Much easier ground to tread on.

Speaking of Britishness, I achieved one of my meta goals in UK genre circles by offering Emma Newman tea.

Anyway. It was a really good convention. I did my usual thing of arriving way too early and then standing in the bar looking round and thinking, “I know no-one here. I’ve been coming to conventions since 2009 and I know no-one here.” Luckily Ian Whates was on hand to rescue me (as ever) and introduced me to the excellent Simon Morden, Colin Tate, and David Towsey.

I talked and talked, and then survived the con food, and then saw the opening ceremony, and went to a couple of panels. Mostly, though, I just talked to people. Someone commented at one point that the more cons you come to, the less time you spend in the programming, and while I think that’s not strictly true I do find myself gravitating towards just meeting people and having little hey what do you think of this? chats over going to panels. Part of it is the person I am (I like talking to people) and part of it is where I’m based. It feels like the dead zone of the UK genre scene up here, really, and for the most part I live vicariously through the adventures of my friends on Twitter. It’s as though I store up my entire quota of chat for six months and every so often I get a weekend away to spend it.

While I was sad to miss some of the panels (many of which were – apparently – excellent) I wasn’t sad to spend the time catching up with and/or getting to know people. I so rarely get to have back-to-back conversations about German World War II flying aces, witch hangings, and the sheer insanity of space flight that I grab every opportunity with both hands. Or one hand if I’m holding a drink at the time.

So yes. It was good fun. Great to see people. I will now crawl back into my fairy light bedecked writing hole and pound words out until the next time money and schedule freedom coincide and let me out, blinking, into the light.

I gathered there was no bid for 2015, but I’m not sure how the whole bid/organisation thing works. Will there now not be a Eastercon 2015, or will the lack of bid provide impetus for people to start putting together a proposal to be ready for the one in Glasgow next year?

 

*True. Paul’s pen ran out during the Flash Fiction panel and he threw it away in a panic. At me.

Inspired by a bit of early morning panic over reading material (so many books! so little time!), I was thinking about the books I pick up in the event that I just cannot choose what to read. The safe choices that I always go back to.

One title sticks out right away.

The Count of Monte Cristo

I love this book. I love it. It’s so ridiculously good – chock full of adventure, dark moral ambiguity, and lots of pacy dialogue that makes a doorstop-thick book just fly along (I read somewhere once that Dumas was paid by the line, and that’s why it ended up that way). I have a Penguin Classics edition of this book that is close to falling apart from being read so many times and it will be a heartbreaking day when I finally have to fold and buy a new one. If I had the money for it, I’d be very tempted to invest in an Easton press edition that I would sit in the house and hug all day long.

Other books that I will happily pluck off the shelf for something to read include The Player of Games (my favourite Culture novel), Point of Impact (what? I can like airport thrillers if I want to, dammit!), Assassin’s Apprentice (in all honesty, I could read the Farseer Trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy over and over and never be tired of it), and The Fencing Master (I love a good swashbuckler, and the whole thing tilts on the romantic ideal of a “perfect” sword thrust – so good!).

Been a while since I posted. Sorry. January was kind of a down month, really. The weather sucked, going back to work was a bit of a shock to the system, and I’ve started to wake up to the idea that by the time June rolls round there will be a baby in the house. This worries me far more than it did when it was just the concept of a baby, and amazingly more than when I saw the ultrasound scans. There’s something very real about being kicked in the back at four in the morning by a third person who’s just hiding inside your partner’s belly. You wake up to the responsibility very quickly after that.

Anyway. Now that January is out of the way, things are going well. I put my fantasy novel out on submission at the very start of the year and tried my best to forget about it. I had a draft of Gunslinger Symphony done that needed editing, and a different fantasy novel outlined to start writing.

This is what I looked like trying to write and edit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Essentially, I was priming myself for what felt like the inevitable. To date, my writing has been defined by a series of positive failures, and in all seriousness I was anticipating another knock back. I had even thought of what I would do to cheer myself up when it happened, and what the next step was after that.

So when I got an offer of representation I was a bit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously, I accepted. I accepted so damn fast I think my email might have jumped clear of the internet and tried to bite my agent (sorry). So I am now represented by Juliet Mushens, who you can find as @mushenska on Twitter and you should. She’s very funny, super friendly, and in all honesty is far, far cooler than I am.

So, the next step is to put Gunslinger and The Ironwood back in their boxes and return to the fantasy novel for editing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In all seriousness, though, I would not have got this far without the awesome support and feedback of my excellent friends. Without that, my manuscript would have been much poorer (if complete) and I likely would have given up sometime around the middle of 2011. Cheers guys. Onward!

So, Christmas has come and gone. I am still recovering from the two (TWO) Christmas dinners and drinking far too much coffee for it to be strictly healthy.

It’s been an okay year. Financially a very hard one, but we’ve struggled through it with some help from our families and a canny eye on buying veg from the markets. There have been ups and downs, as there always are, but on balance I think the ups count for more.

I’ve made more friends online and in real life, meeting more and more awesome people through primarily Twitter and – when I could afford it – conventions. I feel ridiculously lucky in that respect as I’ve had enough online friendships go sour over the years (damn you, World of Warcraft) and while I can attribute it partially to a shift in how I present myself online, it’s also largely due to the very open, forgiving, and good-humoured people I meet.

I haven’t read nearly as many books as I want to, but that never changes. I could read all day every day and never catch up, it seems.

Health-wise, things are pretty good. Last year was awful for hospital trips and constant vigilance over my blood results, so it’s been nice to get that onto an even keel. I am so unfit, though, and I need to get on that in the New Year.

Writing is going well. I got my first short story in print, with three more coming in 2013 – the last of which is possibly the most personal and difficult thing I’ve written. I wrote the first novel in a epic fantasy series which is currently out on submission because I think any more edits will just be second-guessing myself at this point. I wrote the first draft of an alt-history adventure that started humble and got progressively more insane.

Next year I will be editing a collection of recipes (all desserts) and short stories for Fox Spirit books, which I am both dreading and looking forward to. It’s a lot of responsibility so I’m pretty desperate to get it right. I’m sure Adele will keep me on the straight and narrow.

I’m also planning to write another two novels in 2013. I was tempted to start a whole new Fantasy world, but I can’t leave the other one unfinished. I’ll crack on with the second volume and see how it goes. The other novel is kind of linked to Gunslinger Symphony but isn’t. It’s another alt-history novel, set in roughly the same time period, but with a different fantastical twist driving the narrative: this time about pocket watches, and a fashionable obsession with the dead. The idea is to create a trio of stories that link thematically but are not set in the same versions of the world.

And that’s my plan. Not quite a resolution, but better than nothing.

What have you got planned for next year?

Tag! I am apparently it, courtesy of Jennifer Williams over at her ‘blog. She tagged me alongside Emma Newman, Adam Christopher, and K T Davies, which is a hell of a compliment over and above the tag itself.

I don’t know where the meme started or how many people have taken part along the way – it would be nice to see a ‘blog with all the Next Big Thing posts linked in order as it has spread.

Anyway. On with the motley.

What is the working title of your book

Kingdom’s Fall

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Alt.Fiction 2009 and NaNoWriMo. I came off a year-long dry spell in my writing – partly due to work, partly due to me hanging on to the idea that I could fix a manuscript that was irretrievably broken – and wanted to completely start over. I signed up for NaNoWriMo and wrote a 65,000 word novel called “The Thousand Fold Blade”. It was awful, but I liked some of the ideas.

After leaving it on my hard disk over the winter, I came across a writing exercise that I did in Mark Chadbourn‘s workshop at Alt.Fiction. It wasn’t bad, so I opened a new document, set it as a prologue, and started again.

What genre does your book fall under?

Fantasy. It started as Sword and Sorcery, but got progressively more Epic as I wrote it. I jokingly described it in an email as Sword and Gunpowder and Sorcery and Danger and Kisses and Lols, but then I wrote all the kissing out.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Oh, Gods.

Vincent Regan as Commander Gray.

Adrien Brody as Aiden Baird.

Molly Quinn as Shana.

Uhm…I’m not au fait with teen male actors for Cuan so I’m going to have to opt for the obvious default, Wil Wheaton circa 1987.

There are more characters but I am TERRIBLE at this so I’m just going to skip it.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Generic fantasy sizzle line! Woo! Read this in your best trailer voice!

In a world threatened by a power beyond man’s understanding, four people will try to save their kingdom – if they don’t destroy it in the attempt. 

Also, I was once asked what my five word pitch would be. I pitched it as: “Badass adventurers have feelings too.”

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

Hopefully represented. I’m going through the agony and the ecstasy of the submission cycles at the moment. I got asked about this at FantasyCon – why am I choosing traditional routes over self-pubbing, and while I would like to self-publish something at some point in the future, I’d really like to see my work through the lens of a professional editor.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Six months.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I feel really awkward about this question, even more so than “who would play them in a movie?” I was massively influenced by Robin Hobb’s Assassin Trilogy and Fool’s Trilogy. Those books are amazing and I would be seriously kidding myself if I said I could compare. The Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Lieber? The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I sat down at the keyboard wanting to write, and a fantasy novel welled up to meet that desire. One of the big things that I wanted in my novel was a sense of mystery about the magic. There were a glut of blogs and discussions about how important it is to have a completely logical and consistent magical system and that it needs to be nailed down so that the reader isn’t lost. A recent example of this is allomancy in Brandon Sanderson’s books, and while I enjoyed the books overall at times it felt like I was reading a DM’s guide to the magic system. I wanted there to be magic in my world but I wanted it to be rare, and slippery. I wanted it to feel genuinely threatening for them to come up against it.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s got some fantastic characters, and they all get time on the page to make their mark. Pretty much everyone who has seen the MS has come back telling me about their favourite, and they have all been different. Also, there are some heartbreaking moments in there. No kisses, though – not until book two, at least.

What stage is your book at now?

At submissions. After the first beta edit I sent out a couple of queries and got some good feedback, so it has had tweaks and is now back out in the ether trying to find a home.

And that’s it!

So…I guess the next thing to do is tag someone, although I’m not sure who has and has not done this.

Den Patrick. If you do not know his name, then you will soon.

Tom Pollock. He has a book out already. It is ridiculously good. Buy it.

Icy Sedgwick. Dropping new flash fiction weekly and the world is all the better for it.

Liz de Jager. Possibly the most enthusiastic reader and writer I’ve met online. There’s some tough competition out there, but she nails it.

 

Although it has been available on Amazon since late Saturday, today is the official launch day of the anthology, Tales of the Nun and Dragon. This is the first anthology (but not the first title) to be released by Fox Spirit books, a small press set up and run by Adele Wearing (also known as Hagelrat on the Twitter).

It’s an eclectic collection of stories, all based around the theme presented by the title – all the authors were given the remit of including some form of nun and/or a dragon, and the rest was left entirely up to them. As a result we end up with twenty-two (I hope I counted that right) stories and one poem that cover a wide range of influences. From the classical fantasy bookends The Ballad of Gilrain and The Last Hunt shoring up the entire collection (by Black Library stalwart Sarah Cawkwell and fantasy novelist Karen Davies respectively) to the Asimov-meets-Gundam overtones of LOOP (SJ Caunt), there’s something there (hopefully) for everyone’s tastes.

There’s poetry, with VC Linde’s The Hazel and the Hawthorne, where each line rides along a crest of instability, teetering on the edge of  a revelation that neither lady or knight can bring themselves to speak; there’s full-on pulp action, as Ren Warom’s Nil Desperandum channels a Rodriguez-style disregard for the subtle and kicks over all the tables for the sheer Hell of it.

As for a personal favourite, it’s hard to pick, but Adrian Tchaikovsky’s St. George and St. Giles is a convincingly dark tale that strides towards seeming inevitability before taking such a swift turn that I – in the age of the stone-faced LOL – actually laughed aloud. Adrian’s tale has a deft and confident touch, and it works an absolute treat.

On a side note, one of my stories also features! Go me, or something like that!

The Fox Spirit site has an official release post here and Amazon (US) and Wizard’s Tower purchase links here. There is also a competition (details at either link, or both) which could win you a copy of the limited print run of Tales… and an invitation to submit for the next anthology – so get writing!

Finally, here’s a piece of flash fiction I put together for the launch. Hope you enjoy!

Nun and Dragon Story

So, today marks the official launch date of Blood and Feathers, by Lou Morgan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very lucky to pick this up at the start of the week, the local Waterstones having a single copy out for sale which I immediately snapped up. Of course, it has not been replaced since – that’s Hull for you; endless piles of slice-of-life nostalgia wank in the style of James Herriot, single or zero copies of smoking-hot genre releases.

Did I say smoking hot? Oh yes, I should mention that. It’s bloody good. Working on the premise that the War between Heaven and Hell is starting to gather momentum, the main character Alice finds herself stuck smack dab in the middle of it. Far from being asked to pick a side, it becomes abundantly and immediately clear that both sides have plans for her, and neither seems overly worried about her opinion on the matter.

It’s a tricky balance, but Morgan handles the telling with aplomb. Sailing the course between Scylla and Charybdis (I know I used this description on Twitter already, but I can’t type “rock” and “hard place” together without thinking of Paul Bettany in A Knight’s Tale), the reader’s sympathy stays rooted in the most important part: the human one.

With the sequel already due August next year, it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.

Also release today are The City’s Son by Tom Pollock, and the paperback of Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill. Sadly neither of these were in stock when I’ve been into town so my comments on those will have to wait.

Read more…

A while back, I stopped reading KJ Parker’s Engineer trilogy after book two for the reasons outlined in this post (spoilers). With the release of Parker’s latest novel, Sharps, an enthusiastic review and interview by Pornokitsch convinced me that perhaps it was time I took another look. After all, I enjoyed the Fencer trilogy (although I had to skim the sections on sympathetic magic, like poems in a Steven Erikson book) and I knew that Parker is – at the level of phrase and sentence – a writer to be envied.

(On a side note – being that of Parker’s identity – I’m going to save myself some typing and set Parker’s gender to Spivak. That’ll teach em.)

So, on to Sharps. I will try and avoid spoiling things, but then again I can’t promise not to, so it’s probably best if I do the short version first.

Short version – if you are a fan of KJ Parker, you will enjoy Sharps. If you’ve never read em before, pick up Colours in the Steel and give that a shot. I think it’s better, and it has siege engines in. If you are looking for a really, really good book that combines swordplay with political intrigue, then read The Fencing Master by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

Long version (here be spoilers)

Read more…

Of course, I would write my first ‘blog post for ages and forget to actually include worthwhile content.

Well, friends, fear not because I will make it up now by delivering up a recommendation of incredible value to you.

You may or may not remember Jennifer Williams (@sennydreadful) who hosted the Halloween Shorts on her ‘blog a few months ago.  Rings a bell, no? No?

Well, if you need a reminder, go read her very literal take on Faulkner’s advice to “Kill your darlings”, Wendigo.  It’s free and won’t take five minutes.  Off you go.

Just before Christmas, Jennifer released the first part of her Fantasy serial, The Copper Promise.  It’s available for Kindle download through Amazon and costs less than a pint for damn near two hour’s worth of reading pleasure.  It’s a well-tooled chunk of dungeon-crawl adventure fiction, with fun characters and fights and tentacles and torture and other whatnot.  Buy it and give it a shot, if that sounds like your sort of thing.