Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The Scion now on Amazon (pre-order), Blog Tour and Other Stuff
Amazon:
My novel The Scion is now available to pre-order from Amazon! It is coming out as an eBook only. Although, you never know, they might kill some trees and spill some ink later on...
Europe Links:
UK, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain.
Non-Europe Links:
US, Canada, Australia, Japan.
The Scion Blog Tour:
Some lovely people have said they will entertain some of my words on their sites. Fist up, I've got a piece about aliens coming to Beauty In Ruins on 6th of July. Then a top 10 of my favourite SF novels to Words, Words, Words on the 7th July. More to follow...
Other stuff:
'Approaching 43,000 Candles' has been published by Shoreline of Infinity! And beautifully illustrated by Sara Ljeskovac. It also features an interview with Charlie Stross (I once held his Hugo) and a heap of other great stuff.
'Gestating Elegy' (a reworked version) has also been accepted by Bards and Sages Quarterly and will be appearing in January 2016.
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
Space Opera novel, 'The Scion' - cover reveal
Sometimes a picture can tell a thousand words. So said a Japanese philosopher, whose name has been lost in the vagaries of time. Not quite 112,000, or thereabouts. Unless it's Picasso's 'Guernica' or maybe the Bayeux tapestry. In which case...
Anyway, cut to the chase: the cover for my Space Opera novel 'The Scion' was revealed this week! And, you know, I think it hits the spot. The novel starts on a beach (sorry, prologue haters). Figures are converging to face an oncoming alien threat in unison. The skies are filled with a skein of creatures, fast approaching over the water. Then... to put it simply, things don't go too well. The title font on the cover is meant to symbolise the clouds of these aliens, the Wraith, approaching. And the other fonts spell the same but in other texts. I'm not going to plot spoil, but there are other alien species involved, not just murderous, apocalyptic ones. (Big shout out to those involved in the cover design.)
If you like the sound of all this, the book will be published on the 1st July. There'll be some kind of Blog Tour as well, around this time. And I'm planning on Betelgeuse to go nova in celebration. The celestial clock is ticking - look up and watch the stars!
With the Cover Reveal came the blurb, which you can read over at Safkhet Publishing. But I've included it here as well, just for the hell of it:
The aliens from your nightmares are coming. The colonies of Earth are next. And it looks like nothing can stop them.
A blue star, a dying friend, a kidnap and the dusty contents of an old room: Septimus Esterhazy's life is about to change. As he blows cobwebs from the manual of an old spacecraft, hidden for decades, a Pandora's box creaks open.Little does he know that the universe's very nature is being threatened by a powerful alien race. Nor does he know that he is somehow involved with why the Wraith, destroyers of worlds, are coming.
The self-proclaimed 'Protectors of the Known Universe', the Sassrit, are trying to do everything they can to thwart a Wraith attack. But time is running out and resources are stretched.
A Sassrit agent, one of the shapeshifting Jarthiala, is recruited to help. The path he follows leads to the doorstep of a planet called D, an Earth colony, above which a blue star hangs, its light reflected in the eyes of Septimus below.
This is a journey which will change Septimus Esterhazy forever. It will make him question his nature. He will uncover secrets about his family that have lain dormant for years. And it will test the loyalty of those closest to him.
But first he has to watch his best friend die.
The Scion
Saturday, 30 May 2015
The R-word?
Some pictures of Tout Quarry Scultpure Park in Portland, Dorset. About 40 mins drive from where I live.
Some wiki-lite: Much of the stone which was used to construct St Paul's and Buckingham Palace, came from Portland. Some even travelled further afield, across the Atlantic, where it was used to construct the United Nations buildings in New York. The excavations left vast scars over the landscape. The quarry fell into disuse circa 1920, then in 1983 was reopened as a Sculpture Park.
| 'Still Falling' - Antony Gormley (1983, incised work) |
| 'Hearth' - Timothy Shutter (1989) |
This wasn't strictly the R-word (research) as the late, great Iain Banks put it. But it was a fascinating day out. Words started appearing shortly afterwards, which eventually became a story, so in retrospect...
| Chesil Beach, looking towards Weymouth |
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
Two Short Stories Published!
Two stories have just landed in the USA! Oddly enough, on the same day. Both are free to read.
Firstly, 'Esterhazy's Cadence' has been published by Perihelion SF (who also published 'Time out at the Cafe Metropole' last November). A character from one of my older stories 'Gestating Elegy' makes a reappearance... I wrote the opening sequence to this many years ago at an Arvon course in Ted Hughes' old house. The rest fell into place much later on.
Secondly, 'The Leather Bracelet' has been published in Encounters Magazine of SF, Fantasy and Horror. This started off as an M.R. James style tribute, centring on a hotel I used to work in during Uni holidays. And whilst I wanted to write a ghost story, the SF crept in and wouldn't let go.
More story news to follow soon...
Firstly, 'Esterhazy's Cadence' has been published by Perihelion SF (who also published 'Time out at the Cafe Metropole' last November). A character from one of my older stories 'Gestating Elegy' makes a reappearance... I wrote the opening sequence to this many years ago at an Arvon course in Ted Hughes' old house. The rest fell into place much later on.
Secondly, 'The Leather Bracelet' has been published in Encounters Magazine of SF, Fantasy and Horror. This started off as an M.R. James style tribute, centring on a hotel I used to work in during Uni holidays. And whilst I wanted to write a ghost story, the SF crept in and wouldn't let go.
More story news to follow soon...
Sunday, 19 April 2015
NOVEL AND SHORT STORY UPDATES!
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| Eastercon - I drank with Milfordites, witnessed some great readings and then left to edit... |
THE SCION
The copy edit of my novel 'The Scion' has now been returned to the publishers at Safkhet! I hurried back from Eastercon to sort this out - it pinged into my inbox almost as soon as I got there. So after catching up with the Milford SF crew and many other lovely SF people, I started slogging through the manuscript, working through the Copy Editor's comments. Then re-reading it twice, ironing out a few blips here and there. Two weeks later and I'm happy to report that it is all looking good. Late nights, lots of coffee, a few glasses of wine and a very supportive
fiancée helped me get this done! The cat, Gordon, was indifferent to my efforts - he prefers Dreamies to SF.
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| Hands off the Penderyn, Gordon! |
As soon as 'The Scion' had once again disappeared into the machinations of the publishing industry, I had another short story accepted by Perihelion SF! This is called 'Esterhazy's Cadence' and features a character that appeared a long time ago in a story called 'Gestating Elegy'. Jathria Al Sestro of sect Threses appears once again to play her viotel. It should be going live in May.
Other shorts to follow, some of which were mentioned in a previous post:
'The Leather Bracelet' - Encounters Magazine #14 (publication date May 2015)
'Approaching 43,000 Candles' - Shoreline of Infinity #1 (publication date June 2015)
'Sounding Out The Undead' - Blackfriars Bestiary, Rotting Hill Gate issue (publication date tbc)
'The Machine Sequence (Reflected)' - Imaginalis #1 (publication date tbc)
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| Advert for upcoming Milfords - Guy T Martland assuming pensive, writerly pose... |
Friday, 20 March 2015
Status Update: Incoming
| Katrin Von Lindenberg's work-in-progress inspired by 'The Machine Sequence' stories. |
Some news:
1) The Scion
I am reliably informed by the owners of Safkhet publishing that The Scion is now with a copy editor. So, things are moving towards publication. Soon you will meet Septimus Esterhazy Esq. and travel with him around the colony planet of D and elsewhere...
2) Story Updates.
Accepted, pending publication:
'The Leather Bracelet' - Encounters Magazine #14 (publication date May 2015)
'Approaching 43,000 Candles' - Shoreline of Infinity #1 (publication date June 2015)
'Sounding Out The Undead' - Blackfriars Bestiary, Rotting Hill Gate issue (publication date tbc)
3) The Machine Sequence
Hopefully the rest of The Machine Sequence will come to Imaginalis soon. Another 4 or so stories to go...
4) Machine Songs
Still working on this. Second draft taking longer than I thought as I keep adding passages!
5) Other writings
There are about 10 short stories working their way through the Submissions Grinder... If you haven't been there, you must visit!
6) Dysprosium
I will be there. Propping up the bar.
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