A Calculated Life is Nominated for Philip K Dick Award

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Yesterday afternoon I received the astonishing news that my first novel is one of seven nominated works for the Philip K. Dick Award.

I’m a long time fan of Philip K. Dick’s writing and I’ve enjoyed so many screen adaptations of his work. I’m sure many people have started reading science fiction as a result of seeing, for example, Blade Runner, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau, Total Recall.

Screen Shot 2014-01-11 at 11.12.25Seven novels have reached the shortlist. Congratulations to all the nominees and thank you to the judges! A Calculated Life is 47North’s first book to receive a nomination for a major award so I expect there’s a bit of celebrating on the other side of the pond.

The winner and any special citations will be announced on Friday 18 April at Norwescon 37 in Seattle. I had already booked to attend! So I’m hoping to meet the other nominees as well as the judges and award administrators. And I’ll be meeting face-to-face for the first time with the 47North team including my editor David Pomerico.

Here is the list of nominees:

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Signed Copies Competition and Free eBooks at LondonCalling

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I’m starting the New Year with an excellent promotion courtesy of online culture magazine LondonCalling. Register with the LondonCalling website and you will receive a free A Calculated Life eBook at the end of the promotion on 19th January. And you’ll have the chance to win a signed copy of the paperback.

Here’s the Special Offers page on LondonCalling.

Last week, Tom Hunter interviewed me for LondonCalling and asked me some great questions about journalism, art and the creative impulse. I really enjoyed the interview and here it is if you’ve not come across it as yet. Read more

Audiobook Released, eBook Promotion in US and UK

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There’s so much happening for A Calculated Life this month but I’ll be brief. The Audiobook narrated by Susan Duerden is released today so keep it in mind if you’ve any long tedious car journeys coming up. Read more

A Conversation With Epic Fantasy Author Mark T Barnes

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Australian author Mark T Barnes has recently released The Obsidian Heart, second in his Echoes of Empire Trilogy, and I’m delighted to introduce you to this breakthrough author in epic fantasy. He has just arrived back in Sydney after speaking at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton. Mark and I are both published by 47North and in our little chat, here, we compare notes on world-building, opening scenes and short versus long form fiction.
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Catch Up: 10 Blogposts Since Release Of A Calculated Life

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It’s four weeks since 47North released a new edition of A Calculated Life and I thought I’d mark the occasion by doing a round-up of all the recent guest posts and reviews I’ve written. It’s been manic, but a great deal of fun. I really appreciate the massive amount of support I’ve received from other 47North authors and the good wishes from readers. Those all-important reviews are coming in and it’s pretty encouraging so far. Read more

A Conversation with SF Author Neve Maslakovic

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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

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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

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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

Susan Duerden Narrates Audiobook, and Other News

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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

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

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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