Don’t Buy My Book – Adventures in Self-Publishing (29/03/2015)

Posted in News | Temp

If you’ve been reading these pages at all regularly, you’ll probably know that The Silver Kings is coming out in a few months and that that’s going to be the last fantasy Stephen Deas writes for Gollancz for a little while (Nathan Hawke is still a more open question). Now this is sort of annoying and sort of good. It allows (forces) the pursuit of other projects. But on the other hand, there was more to the story of that world that I’d wanted to tell. Long story short, I’m contemplating self-publishing at the moment. I have no idea whether anything will come of this, but part of that whole contemplation thing was a decision to self-publish a few shorter stories to see what happens and (much more importantly) figure out how to do it.

Last week I self-published a short story through Amazon. Here it is. It’s a story that appeared in the BFS anthology Unexpected Journeys published for World Fantasycon 2013. It’s about six thousand words. Problems I encountered with this first pipe-cleaning exercise

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Glorious Angels (23/03/2015)

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A few days ago I read that an author acquiantance had “finished plotting out his feminist epic fantasy” or something like that. I find myself raising an eyebrow when men call themselves feminists – unfortunately I’ve come across a few who say that when what they actually mean is that they support the status quo and aren’t actively trying to push women back into the dark ages. Which, guys, isn’t quite the same thing.

But anyway, in this case I’m inclined to think the intent was pure enough, but it still left me with a frowny face of something being out of whack.  Why is a man writing a feminist fantasy? It seems wrong to me. Isn’t that a contradiction? I don’t have strong opinion on this so by all means share an alternative point of view, but I felt it was somewhat patronising – as a man, if I did that, aren’t I effectively stepping in to do feminism for you when actually my place, if I want to support, is to stand in the background and cheer? Seems to me that as a male writer the thing to do is portray all characters, irrespective or gender, race, sexuality, anything else, with equal passion, care, respect and agency. And in SFF choose a setting that supports that ideal?

In the spirit of that thought, this week’s giveaway is Glorious Angels by Justina Robson, a “groundbreaking new novel from one of the genre’s most respected authors: a thrilling mix of science, magic and sexual politics.”

Usual deal – comment on this post in some way before Sunday 30th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far. Am currently up to date with posting things.

There’s also an interesting article about cover art here, from Orbit’s art director.

Villains (part one) (15/3/2015)

Posted in Critical Failures | Temp

About the author: Her Holiness the Dragon Queen Zafir, Speaker of the Nine Realms, has played both pro- and antagonist roles in her career as a fictional character. She is either the aloof fist of authority to be respected and feared, a liberator of the oppressed and enslaved, or a dragon-riding genocidal psychotic tyrant bitch-queen from hell, depending on your point of view.

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Giveaway: The Royalist (10/3/2015)

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This week I have two titles coming out in paperback on the same day from different publishers. Last week I had them fight.You might imagine that dragons and lightning-throwing flying ships made of enchanted glass would have an edge on a grizzled civil war veteran, but as it turned out the dragons lost out in the popularity stakes. So this week I’m giving away Cromwell, pikes and muskets and the unwilling and ever-dour renaissance detective Willian Falkland: The Royalist

Royalist-cover-201x309

You get to choose. Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday 15th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Been kind of a busy week for non-writing reasons so I don’t have a game to play and am just giving books away. Say hi, say which one you want, and you’re entered. You can read the opening chapter here.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far. Am currently rather behind with posting things.

Giveaway: The Royalist/The Splintered Gods

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You’ve all gone and bought a copy of Gallow: The Anvil, right? Because that came out last week, and have I mentioned yet how the future of Nathan Hawke as a writer probably depends on it?

In a couple of weeks I get to have two of my own titles coming out in paperback on the same day from different publishers, so it seems to me that the only rational course of action is to have them fight. So for this week’s giveaway you get to choose which one you want if you win. Will it be the  magical flying ships, enchantresses who mould glass to their whim, golems and, of course, dragons of The Splintered Gods…

splintered gods cover

… or will it be the historical grit of the the English Civil War, Cromwell, pikes and muskets and the unwilling and ever-dour renaissance detective Willian Falkland in The Royalist…?

Royalist-cover-201x309

You get to choose. Usual deal – comment on this post before Sunday 8th March and I’ll randomly select a lucky victim for a free copy. Given the lack of interest last week, manifesto plans to deal with a zombie apocalypse have been put on hold and I’m just giving books away. Say hi, say which one you want, and you’re entered.

No one has complained (so far) about how long it takes me to get to the post office and post things, but it can take a while and if you live abroad then it can take even longer. Sorry about that, but they do get there eventually. Well, so far. Am currently a bit behind with posting things.