Filed under General • 30-11-2009 •
I first encountered steampunk through Bryan Talbot’s seminal comic series The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. It appeals to me in the same way as the adventures of Indiana Jones, or the Biggles books I read as a child: it’s all good clean, escapist fun. But is it science fiction, or is it a retreat from the future? Is it symptomatic of a general loss of nerve among science fiction writers, as they turn away from a difficult and challenging future?
Continue reading “The Trouble With Steampunk, Or: Why SF Matters Now More Than Ever”
Filed under My Writing • 26-11-2009 •
My novel “Silversands” is now available to pre-order from the following sites:
The book is officially launched in hardback on 10th April 2010, but you can save £2 off the cover price by ordering in advance from Pendragon.
The first 100 copies of the hardback will be signed and numbered.
You can also click here to download a free PDF excerpt from “Silversands”.
Filed under My Writing • 24-11-2009 •
A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to co-write a 10,000 word novelette with the popular Interzone and Angry Robot author, Aliette de Bodard.
The story we wrote is called “The Church Of Accelerated Redemption” and I’m pleased to announce that it will be appearing in Shine, an anthology of near-future, optimistic science fiction edited by Jetse de Vries.
The book is due from Solaris Books in April 2010, and there will probably be a Shine launch party at Odyssey, the 2010 British EasterCon, which is being held in Heathrow in April.
In the meantime, the anthology is already available to pre-order on Amazon UK and Amazon USA.
From Monday 30 November, Jetse will be running a competition on the book’s website. He will be posting an excerpt from each of the sixteen stories in the anthology and challenging readers to guess which of four alternative endings to each story is the correct one, and which authors wrote which excerpt.
Filed under General • 23-11-2009 •
This December, TTA Press will be hosting an advent calendar. Each day, from the 1st through to the 25th, the TTA website will feature a new link to a story on another website. Some of these stories will be new, others old. Some will be written by previous contributors to TTA Press magazines (Interzone, Black Static, etc.) and some will be by new faces.
I believe one of my stories will be linked to on 2nd December. For more details, keep your eye on the TTA Press discussion forum.
Filed under My Writing • 21-11-2009 •
At the age of ten years old, I scribbled a story into the pages of three spiral-topped reporters’ notebooks. Covering both sides of each page, it must have totalled somewhere in the region of 30,000 words. Heavily influenced by Star Wars and Blake’s 7, the story recounted the adventures of a crew of intrepid space traders and their aged vessel, The Argo. As it was handwritten, there were no rewrites. The story progressed episodically, each new adventure or plot twist influenced by the latest book I’d borrowed from the local library, or the TV programmes I’d happened to watch the previous evening. Sadly, I’ve no idea what became of those notebooks. I can’t even remember the title of the story. The books went astray decades ago. I suppose they may be hidden away in a dusty corner of the attic, but I haven’t laid eyes on them for more than 25 years. Maybe they’ll show up one day – but on the whole, it’s probably for the best if they don’t.
Filed under Copywriting • General • 19-11-2009 •
Today is the last working day of the six month contract I have with my present employer – which means from tomorrow until I find another job, I’ll be a full-time writer and house husband. I’m looking forward to spending more time with the kids; and I’ve already got a freelance project under way and a couple more lined up, as well as a novel and a handful of short stories to work on, so we’ll see how it goes. Wish me luck.
Filed under Advice • 13-11-2009 •
One of the questions people often ask me is: “Where do you find the time to write?” When they ask this, I often think that what they really mean is: “Why can’t I find enough time to write?”
From personal experience, I know how difficult it can be to find the time and energy to be creative, especially if you have a full time day job, a mortgage to pay, and a family to look after, and I won’t pretend I have all the answers. But there are strategies you can use to increase the time you have available for writing. The three strategies listed below have worked for me, or for other writers I know personally:
Continue reading “3 Ways Of Finding More Time To Write”
Filed under General • 10-11-2009 •
As part of my ongoing experiment in earning a living as a writer, I’ve created some exclusive merchandise at: www.zazzle.co.uk/garethlpowell.
The t-shirts and mugs feature quotes from some of my most popular stories: “Ack-Ack Macaque”, “The Last Reef”, and “Six Lights Off Green Scar”.
They could make good stocking fillers, now Christmas is just around the corner.
Click on over and see what you think. Am I barking up the wrong tree or are these kind of cool?
Filed under General • 09-11-2009 •
Writing in the latest email newsletter from Tor/Forge Books, Cory Doctorow says:
“All creative endeavor begins with just fooling around, not doing much of anything, just noodling and letting the different parts of your mind talk to each other. Science and art and invention spring forth when we do the unexpected and so coax our brains into letting some imaginative combinations of ideas and concepts jangle together.”
This is so true. I find time off to be as important to the creative process as time spent in front of a keyboard. Reading novels, listening to the radio, watching TV – they all have their part to play in replenishing the imagination. The mind needs distractions in order to make connections. It’s like a muscle: after working hard, it needs time to recover and grow. The unconcious mind needs time to play with the pieces of information it collects, to turn them around and around in order to see how they fit together. This is why some of the best story ideas I’ve ever had are the ones that struck me while driving on the motorway or getting into the bath.
Filed under General • 08-11-2009 •
Writing on Jeff Vandermeer’s blog, Jason Sanford puts in a good word for the UK SF&F magazine Interzone.
Gardner Dozois has called Interzone “the best looking SF magazine,” and it’s hard to disagree. But as good as their design is, the writing is even better. I love their fiction, and find their reviews and nonfiction articles to be the best in the business.
He backs up this view by linking to four sample stories from the magazine – three of which are past winners of the magazine’s annual readers’ poll for best short story of the year.
Read the whole of Jason’s article here: www.jeffvandermeer.com
