I have six months before I find out whether or not there will be a sequel to The Recollection. So rather than sit around all summer twiddling my thumbs, I’ve started work on a new near-future novel. As things stand, I have a six page synopsis, written in one hectic and wine-fuelled session last week,  and a few hundred words of notes, which I hope to turn into an 80,000 word book.

I’m currently working on the first scene of chapter one, trying to find the right angle of attack. When it comes to writing novels, the first page is always the hardest.

Nancy Fulda has posted an interview with me on her blog, where I talk about my forthcoming novel The Recollection, and how in the book I have tried to marry near-future and far-future science fiction.

“I’m a big fan of both space opera and near-future fiction; so when I started plotting this book, I wanted to find a way to include both. I wanted to write about spaceships and aliens and pack the book with all sorts of widescreen sensawunda eyeball kicks, and show how amazing all this stuff could be by contrasting it with a recognizable, contemporary character, grounding it all in his everyday experiences.”

Read the full interview here.

My novel The Recollection is now officially listed on the Solaris Books website, for release in September 2011.

Here’s the blurb:

In modern-day London, failed artist Ed Emery is secretly in love with his brother’s wife, Alice. When his brother disappears on a London Underground escalator, Ed and Alice have to put aside their personal feelings in order to find him. Their quest reveals to them terrifying glimpses of alien worlds and the far future.

Meanwhile, 400 years in the future, Katherine Abdulov must travel to a remote planet in order to regain the trust of her influential family. The only person standing in her way is her former lover, Victor Luciano, the ruthless employee of a rival trading firm. And in the unforgiving depths of space, an ancient evil stirs…

Gareth L. Powell’s epic new science-fiction novel reveals a story of galaxy-spanning scope by a writer of astounding vision.

Click here for link.

This afternoon, I have submitted the manuscript of The Recollection to Solaris Books. I will write more about the submission later, but in the meantime, I think a celebration is in order.

A few months ago, I sold my unfinished second novel, The Recollection, to Solaris Books on the strength of the first fifty pages and a synopsis. But what is a synopsis, and how do you go about writing one?

Continue reading “How to write a novel synopsis”

“What, in fact, is a novel but a universe in which action is endowed with form, where final words are pronounced, where people possess one another completely, and where life assumes the aspect of destiny?”

- Albert Camus

Thirty hardback copies of Silversands have just been delivered to my door, direct from the printer.

They look amazing, thanks to Vincent Chong’s cover art and design, and Christopher Teague’s typesetting.

I started writing Silversands ten years ago, and it’s strange to be finally holding  printed copies of the book in my hand. So much has happened in my life since I wrote the first words of chapter one.

The thirty copies that have been delivered today will be riding up to Odyssey 2010 in the back of my car in a fortnight’s time, and will be for sale on the TTA Press stall in the dealers’ room at the convention. I will also have a number of paperback copies of The Last Reef and Other Stories for sale/signing at the event.

Silversands is also available via Amazon or direct from Pendragon Press.

In April, there will be a book launch for my first novel, and you are all invited.

The event takes place from 2.00pm on Saturday 24th April, in the back bar of The Shakespeare Tavern, Princes Street, Bristol.

I will be giving a short reading from Silversands and signing copies, so please come along and join the fun.

The Shakespeare Tavern is a traditional English pub in the Harbourside area of central Bristol. It serves a selection of beers, wines and spirits along with traditional pub meals and snacks. It is a 10 minute walk from Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

Link to Google Maps.

If you are on Facebook, you can join the event here: Link to Facebook Event

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”