A Conversation with Urban Fantasy Author Steve McHugh

I round off my release-week blog fest with a conversation with UK-based novelist Steve McHugh. I’d like to thank Steve and all the authors who have taken part either by posting, here, or by inviting me to post on their great blogs.
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A Conversation with SF Author Neve Maslakovic

Neve Maslakovic switched from being a research engineer to being a fiction writer. Both professions are creative endeavours, she says, but in science fiction you don’t have to stick to the Rules of the Universe. The ink is now drying on the manuscript of her third novel. In this conversation, we explore are similar backgrounds, discuss our different paths to finding a publisher, and find we share a love of writing dialogue. Read more

Guest Post: Kate Maruyama on The Time Traveler’s Wife

Kate Maruyama and I are ‘book-twinned’ because 47North released our novels on the same day, yesterday. I’m an avid reader of her blog Annotation Nation, which invites authors to explain how they’ve honed their craft by examining other writers’ works. So I asked Kate to write a guest post about one novel that helped her to write Harrowgate.

Kate Maruyama

Kate Maruyama

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47North Releases A Calculated Life, Today

The 47North editorial, design and publicity teams have surpassed themselves! In the space of just two months — since acquisitions editor David Pomerico signed me up — they have created a fabulous new cover for A Calculated Life, expedited my manuscript through the editing and proofing process, organized the audiobook and generally ‘put the word out there’. I’ve been involved at every stage in the process!

Little did I know when I took the difficult decision to self-publish my novel that, eight months later, I’d be signing a book deal with a US publisher. Read more

Lightspeed

Susan Duerden Narrates Audiobook, and Other News

Cripes! It’s just two weeks to the release of A Calculated Life by 47North and, at some point before Christmas, the audiobook will be released. I’ve just learned that the audiobook narrator is British actress Susan Duerden who played Carole Littleton in the Lost television series. Susan won an award for her narration of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht, and she has also narrated Embassytown by China Mieville, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and many more. In an interview with AudioGals website, Susan says she now has a recording studio at home, which allows her to take on more book narration work.

In other developments… I’m particularly chuffed that 47North is advertising my book prior to release on the excellent online magazine Lightspeed. It’s a cute ad! I’m not sure how to describe it – it’s a three-image slideshow advert. Take a look here. And here’s a screen capture: Read more

Guest Post: Roberto Calas on Writing Serial Novels, and Insanity

Fellow 47North author Roberto Calas is a trailblazer in the current revival of serial novels. I invited Roberto to explain his approach to serials. And he also tells us how the discipline of writing to order has lifted his game!

I’ll be having a guest blogpost each month written by one of my new author buddies at 47North. They’re a great bunch and I’m pleased you’ll get to meet them, too! Read more

Hugo Awards Short Stories 2013: My Favourite

Three short stories are in contention for the Hugo Award and they are diverse. I’ve enjoyed them all. And, as I’m writing a few short stories at the moment, I’ve found it fascinating to read the best of 2013 (as nominated and selected by members of the World Science Fiction Society).

Here’s an admission: I’d intended to read all the shortlisted novels because I wanted to compare them with the Arthur C Clarke Award shortlist, which I reviewed here earlier this year. But with all the work involved with my novel’s new release by 47North, I scaled back my ambition. First, I opted to read all the shortlisted novellas, and later I scaled back again and decided to read the shortlisted short stories. So I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon reading these stories in the shade of my apple tree. Read more

front cover

New Cover Release for A Calculated Life: Pre-ordering On!

front cover

And the back cover is fab, too!

One step closer! I’m thrilled to show you the cover art for the new edition of A Calculated Life, which is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon.

It’s been a wonderful experience having my self-published novel signed by 47North and the team has done a sterling job. The new cover, by theBookDesigners, has an echo of the original (I was surprised by that). And the paperback format is brilliant because the artwork wraps around the spine, with fragmentation of the image on the back cover. Just gorgeous. Great typography, too! I hope you like it.

My editor David Pomerico presented me with several covers. There was a clear consensus on the final choice!

As well as working with the 47North team, I’ve been carrying out research for a new writing project. I’ll tell you more once I’ve progressed beyond scribbles, post-it notes and chaotic bashing at my keyboard… Read more

Nine Worlds GeekFest #2: Why Is The Future So Binary?

Nine Worlds GeekFest explored sexuality and gender in science fiction in a fascinating range of debates including Why Is The Future So Binary? This super-packed-out event witnessed a lively exchange between the author-panelists and the attendees, who shouted out examples of gender diversity in SF literature. The event successfully drew together a list of fictional worlds featuring gender non-conformity as opposed to the usual girl-meets-boy scenarios. (More books for the To Read list!)

Alex Dally MacFarlane pointed to the classic example – Ursula K Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness, set in a world without gender. ‘Le Guin pokes at gender binary,’ said MacFarlane. And chairing the discussion panel, Tori Truslow told the audience, ‘We need more! SF writers seem to think, “Le Guin did that so we don’t need to do it.”’ Read more

Utopia

Nine Worlds GeekFest #1: Is Our Future Utopian Or Dystopian?

Science fiction writers are getting ‘carried away with fear,’ according to author Tricia Sullivan. ‘There’s a failure to imagine a positive future. As a writer it’s harder to build things up than blow things up… Finding an element of hope really does mean disabling all my instincts as a science fiction writer.’

Sullivan was part of a four-author panel debating the question Is Our Future Utopian Or Dystopian? at Nine Worlds GeekFest 2013 in London last weekend. Her remark came in response to a challenge from Tom Hunter, director of The Clarke Awards, who chaired the event. He asked: ‘How do we find an element of hope?’ Sullivan quoted from Oscar Wilde: ‘The basis of optimism is sheer terror.’ (From The Picture of Dorian Gray). Read more