As a result of last week’s Mind Meld on SF Signal, I had a nice suprise in the post this morning. Because I mentioned that I really wanted to read Moxyland by Lauren Beukes,  those lovely people at Angry Robot Books have sent me a copy, plus an advance proof copy of King Maker by Maurice Broaddus.

Both books look good. The first is a “politically charged urban speculative thriller”, and the second a retelling of the Arthurian myth, set amongst the drug dealers and gangs on the streets of downtown Indianapolis.

When I’ve read them, I’ll post a review.

I was pleased to be invited to take part in this week’s Mind Meld discussion over at SF Signal. The question was: which books are at the top of your “to be read” pile? To find out the panel’s answers, follow this link: Mind Meld

The following article appears in the new issue of Focus, the BSFA’s magazine for writers:

How To Write A Press Release
By Gareth L Powell

If you’re serious about selling the books you write, then sooner or later you’re going to have to get some press coverage. Maybe you need to attract people to a book signing you’re holding in Waterstones; maybe you’ve just signed a big publishing deal; or maybe you’re releasing your self-published novel. Whatever your reason, the humble press release is still one of the best ways of attracting an editor’s attention.

Continue reading “How To Write A Press Release”

To read an excerpt from The Church Of Accelerated Redemption, the story I co-wrote with Aliette de Bodard for the Shine anthology, head over to the Daybreak magazine website: click here for link.

I have just received an email from Online Colleges and Universities, an education database for students. They recently published a new article, 30 Finest Creative Writing Blogs of 2009 – and this website is listed at #17 !

It seems like a fairly arbitrary selection (and I’m not 100% certain that it isn’t some kind of advertising scam), but if you’re interested, you can read the list and check out the other blogs included at: www.onlinecollegesanduniversities.com.

(Scroll down past the school profiles to see the list).

At the moment, my schedule for this year’s Eastercon appears thus:

• Friday 6pm -  Conflicts anthology book launch (NewCon Press)
• Saturday 12pm – Autograph session
• Saturday 6pm – Shine anthology book launch (Solaris)

I have stories in both the Conflicts and Shine anthologies, and at the autograph session (which will feature several authors besides myself), I will be signing copies of my short story collection The Last Reef and my new novel, Silversands, which is being officially released to coincide with the event.

If you are planning to attend Eastercon this year, make sure you come up and say hello.

Issue 109 of Hub magazine is now available, featuring my short story “Gonzo Laptop”.

Click here for free download options.

When I first saw trailers for James Cameron’s Avatar, I was worried. Big blue CGI aliens? It didn’t sound promising. But then yesterday, I saw Avatar on a big screen, in 3D, and it blew me away. I loved every minute of it.

Yes, the plot’s predictable – a conflicted and otherworldly outsider joins the tribe, falls in love with the chief’s daughter, beats the tribe’s most skilled warrior, and leads the tribe to salvation – but so what? It’s an archetypal plot, one that our ancestors have probably been recycling since the dawn of campfire storytelling. It’s the hero’s journey. It’s a basic story of primate tribe dynamics, and it runs through our myths, from the Greek legend of Prometheus, through early sci-fi, to films such as Dances With Wolves, and Pocahontas. To complain about its unoriginality is to miss the point, as Cameron isn’t crafting something entirely new: instead, he’s reinterpreting the myth for our times, incorporating contemporary elements such as “shock and awe” bombing and commercial environmental exploitation.

Continue reading “Avatar: Film Review”

And so the promotional campaign for Silversands rolls forward…

The press release for Silversands has generated some local press interest, and so Becky and I have been taking promotional shots to accompany the articles.

Information from the press release also appeared on James Bloomer’s website Big Dumb Object yesterday: click for link.

Here’s the press release for my novel, Silversands:

MAESTEG, 10/01/2010 – Pendragon Press proudly announces the forthcoming release of Silversands, the hotly anticipated debut novel from rising British SF star Gareth L Powell.

Set 200 years in the future, Silversands tells the story of Avril Bradley, a reluctant astronaut thrown headlong into a world of political intrigue, espionage and subterfuge; a world where retired cops, digital ghosts and corporate assassins battle for possession of a hidden computer file that may just hold the key to humanity’s future.

Continue reading “Silversands Press Release”