My New Website and The Latest on Phantasma Stories

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I decided to pile on the stress this summer by rebuilding my website!

As the rebuild progressed, my second novel Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind moved steadily forward from its development edit, to copy edit and proofread. And, at the same time, I polished my short story ‘The Adoption” for the anthology, Phantasma Stories, which will include stories by J. D. Horn, Jason Kirk, Kate Maruyama, Jodi McIsaac and Roberta Trahan.

Over recent weeks I’ve solved a few glitches on the new website and blog. As for the trickiest problems, I’m fortunate to have an ace troubleshooter at hand, namely, my son Adam!

So here is the new website! Read more

ARCs For Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind

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ARC3cropA milestone moment. A box of books! All the way from the US of A. These are Advance Reader Copies of Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind.

If you’ve never heard of ARCs, let me explain… An ARC is an uncorrected proof, and it’s produced several months before a book’s official publication date.

A publisher sends out print ARCs and electronic ARCs, mainly for review purposes. Often, they’re devoid of cover art, but as you can see, 47North has produced these ARCs with the fab front cover art, designed by M S Corley.

Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind will be published by 47North on 1 December 2015.

Cover Release: Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind

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Since I returned from my month’s research trip to China in May last year, I’ve worked flat-out to write my second novel, Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind. So this is a special week for me—to see the fabulous cover art, by designer MS Corley. I love the strong emphasis on typography.

Publication date: 1 December 2015, in Kindle eBook, paperback and audiobook editions.

It’s been immense fun to write this novel but a huge challenge, too, because of the complexity of the three-storyline structure. But I have the perfect editor in Jason Kirk at 47North. He gives me invaluable advice and has the knack of suggesting subtle changes that have a big impact.

And with two novels under my belt, I felt it opportune to redesign my website. Many thanks to my son, Adam, who guided me through the revamp!

So here’s the cover and the back cover blurb: Read more

Coming Soon: September Release for Phantasma Stories

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I find myself in splendid company in an anthology of short fiction and verse—Phantasma Stories—edited by J.D. Horn and Roberta Trahan. The release date is 22 September 2015.

My contribution is a near-future science fiction story titled “The Adoption.” Read more

And The Title For My Novel Is…

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SLEEPING EMBERS OF AN ORDINARY MIND

I’m absolutely thrilled with this title and I’m now excited about the next stage in the publishing process—cover concepts by 47North’s designers.

The publication date will be sometime this year and as soon as it’s firmly decided I’ll announce it here.

It was a tough challenge to find a title because this novel has three intertwining storylines set 600 years apart—in fifteenth century Italy, present-day China and twenty-second century London.

So when, and how, did I arrive at Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind? And how did I even choose a working title? Read more

47North Signs Up My Second Novel For 2015 Release

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I’m delighted to announce that I’ve signed a book deal for my second novel with Jason Kirk, editorial director of 47North, Amazon Publishing’s science fiction, fantasy and horror imprint. As you know, 47North published my debut novel, A Calculated Life, and I’ve had a great experience working with the lovely 47North team in Seattle. I’m excited to be working with Jason who is the ideal editor for my current writing project as we share an interest in science fiction and history.

The manuscript is now close to completion and we’re working towards a release date later this year. And, I’ll let you know as soon as I have a title for this novel!

47North LogoSo what’s it all about?

Read more

One Year Since Release Day: My Bookiversary Progress Report

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Philip K Dick Nominees

Finalists and their representatives for the Philip K Dick Award, Seattle, April 2014.

It’s my first Bookiversary today! I can’t believe it’s a year since the release of A Calculated Life by 47North. And, since release day, I’ve made a bunch of new friends within the SF community and enjoyed the continuing support of friends who read my novel when it was self-published.

So thanks to everyone! It’s been so exciting to find new readers and receive positive feedback from reviewers. Here’s a review by literary critic Adam Roberts on Sibilant Fricative, which I particularly appreciated. Full review here.

Charnock’s Manchester is quite unlike Blade Runner’s hyperreal city, and her prose creates a much more rounded sense of actual life than the deliberately flattened paranoidal patterns of Phil Dick’s writing. What she shares with Dick is the ability to write unease.

Extract from Sibilant Fricative review.

Read more

Author Charlie N. Holmberg: My Long Journey to Publication

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Charlie N. Holmberg

Welcome to Charlie N. Holmberg, the most tenacious of writers, who never gave up hope of seeing her work in print. I’m delighted to host Charlie in the week that her novel The Paper Magician is published.

Everyone knows it—the road to publication is a long and bumpy one, with few bus stops along the way. Mine wasn’t much different; it took me seven years before I reached any landmarks! But the advice that’s passed around the most is also the best: stick with it. Or, in the words of Jason Nesmith, “Never give up, never surrender!”

I’ve been writing since age thirteen, but I didn’t take it seriously until I started my undergrad at Brigham Young University. I was nineteen when I finished my first, way-too-long, truly awful RPG-style epic-fantasy novel. That burned up in a wild dumpster fire and was never heard from again.

I started a second book, one that I thought had a more original premise and interesting characters. Another epic fantasy. At this time Read more

The Philip K Dick Award, His Legacy and His Surrealism

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Philip K Dick Nominees

So here we have, from the left, Ann Leckie’s representative Ellen Brady Wright (Orbit), err…me, Cassandra Rose Clarke, Ben H Winters, Toh EnJoe (special citation), and EnJoe’s translator, Terry Gallagher.

What a thrill to be in this line-up. The lovely Ben H Winters won the Philip K Dick Award 2013 for Countdown City, sequel to The Last Policeman. Ben is a smart and witty writer so make a note of his two titles! This photo was taken at Norwescon in Seattle where the award ceremony takes place every year. Here’s a full list of the nominated works.

Award administrator Gordon Van Gelder (left) and T William Sadorus (right) ceremony coordinator.

Award administrator Gordon Van Gelder (left) and T William Sadorus (right) ceremony coordinator.

Each author read an extract before the award was announced and I have to admit I’m getting accustomed to reading in public, and I definitely enjoy the experience.  The award is administered by Gordon Van Gelder, award-winning editor of the New York based Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

I was delighted to join Gordon on a panel discussion on Philip K Dick’s literary legacy, together with Toh EnJoe, Nick Mamatas (EnJoe’s editor), Jack Skillingstead and Cassandra Rose Clarke. We each talked about our connections with Philip K Dick’s writing. For me, Read more

Shortlisted for The Kitschies Golden Tentacle Award (Debut)…!

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Screen Shot 2014-01-24 at 13.22.23The Kitschies, it has to be said, are pretty cool awards for ‘speculative and fantastic’ fiction. They were launched just five years ago by Jared Shurin and Anne C Perry founders of Pornokitsch. I’ve followed The Kitschies since they began. So I’m absolutely thrilled that my dystopian story, A Calculated Life, is a finalist for the Golden Tentacle Award for debut novels. I’m in fabulous company and I can’t wait to meet the other finalists – for the Red, Golden and Inky Tentacles – at the awards ceremony (12 February) at London’s Seven Dials Club. There’s an impressive line-up for the Red Tentacle including Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge.

Jared Shurin told Allison Flood in The Guardian yesterday: Read more