24 hours in Nottingham - or - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Metal

So, last Friday lunchtime (with still some way to go on my latest Pax Britannia novella Proteus Unbound*) I packed in work for the day and headed up to Nottingham for FantasyCon 2010. Due to other commitments I would have to hit the motorway again at 2pm Saturday so arriving in Robin Hood's hood at 2pm on the Friday, I had 24 hours in which to experience all that FantasyCon had to offer.

Friday 17 September 2010

2pm - Arrived in Nottingham in need of a comfort break and so stopped at GW HQ and popped into Bugman's Bar... Where who should I run into but Christian Dunn and Alex Davis from Black Library editorial. Chris is holding a handful of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks and was about to sit down with Alex to discuss... I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. Not yet, anyway. Suffice to say it was a very exciting moment!

Relaxed and ready to take on the world again, I had a good nose around the Warhammer World miniatures hall which gave me a few ideas for... But again, alas my lips are sealed for the time being.

3pm - Checked in to my hotel where I discovered that complimentary Wi-Fi in all rooms didn't actually mean free. Settled down to do some more work on Proteus Unbound.

8pm - Headed into the city, to The Salutation Inn, semi-ready for a night of Abaddon Books-sponsored metal karaoke. The first fifty to the bar received a complimentary** copy of Al Ewing's I, Zombie while David Moore judged the metal karaoke-ists, the winner receiving a complete set of his chosen Abaddon series!

10pm - David took the mike himself and I wondered why I don't do this sort of thing more often. David's hat gets passed round, photos are taken, and reputations are ruined, all at the click of a shutter lens.

Just for the record, I am not in any way metal - as this photograph proves most effectively.

11pm - Tinnitus kicks in and I realise why I don't do this sort of thing anymore.

12am - Head back to my hotel while the hardcore (a.k.a. Jon and David) rock into the wee small hours of the morning.

Saturday 18 September 2010

8am - Stumble out of bed, ears still ringing. Swear never to go to another metal karaoke as long as live (or until the same time next year, whichever is sooner).

9am - Back to the laptop. Proteus Unbound is starting to come together quite nicely now.

10am - Head off to the Britannia Hotel to experience FantasyCon for myself for the first time. Conclusion: It's basically a load of mates (who happen to be writers, artists and editors) all getting together for a pint*** and a chat.

Barely through the door when I'm met by Mark and Liz of My Favourite Books (go check it out!) and Mark Charan Newton of Nights of Villjamur fame. Then run into Jonathan Oliver, who's looking a lot worse than I am (see above).

Head off into the dealers' room and meet Lee Harris of Angry Robot Books and pick up Guy Adams' The World House along with Lavie Tidhar's The Bookman while I'm about it.

Check out the Art Show upstairs and display incredible self-control and great restraint in managing not to purchase a print of Les Edwards' cover for Creature of Havoc or a piece of original Bryan Talbot comic artwork.

Go back downstairs to the bar where I run into Marc Gascoigne (Angry Robot overlord, former BL publisher, my first FF editor and former flatmate) followed by Bryan Talbot. I even get to shake the great man's hand****.

1pm - The End of the Line book launch. Twelve authors arrayed to sign Solaris Books' latest horror anthology. Take pity on Jon Oliver and David Moore (who are both looking worse than me) and buy them a re-hydrating Coke each. Manage to pick up the last copy and get it signed by all present, in the process meeting such luminaries as Simon Bestwick and Stephen Volk in the flesh for the first time.

2pm - Leave FantasyCon with a bag full of books, Doctor Who toys for the kids and safe in the knowledge that I'll earn a few Brownie points for leaving on time!

Here are the books I picked up at FantasyCon. Some were freebies, some I parted with my hard-earned cash for.

Nice one, FantasyCon. See you next year down in Brighton.

* I can say that now that it's finished and in with my editor. ;-)

** Complimentary here does mean free.

*** The definition of 'a pint' that I'm using here is 'Anywhere between 2 and 10 pints, but most definitely not just the one'.

**** Bryan Talbot's, that is.

Angry Robot has new overlord

Angry Robot Books has moved publishers. After a year with HarperCollins, the SF/Fantasy/Horror imprint has found a new home at Osprey Publishing. To find out more, follow this link...

Angry Robot interviewed

The British Science Fiction Association has an interview with Marc Gascoigne and Lee Harris of Angry Robot Books. To hear what they have to say about their (relatively) new science fiction/dark fantasy/horror imprint, click here.

An infinite number of typewriters and some damn fine monkeys can get you a long way, apparently

If, like me, you're a fan of Dan Abnett's books (and if not, why not?) then you may be interested to here that he's given his blog an overhaul and has posted a number of updates (no doubt having got the blogging bug from his stint over at Babel Clash recently).

You can enjoy the fruits of his blogging labours here, and just to wet your appetite, here's the artwork for the cover of Dan's next original novel for Angry Robot Books, entitled Embedded and due for release this September.


He wanted to see for himself what the war on the desert planet was like close-up. So he got himself to the frontline, reporting back live to Earth from inside the head of a G.I. super-soldier. Now the soldier's dead, and he will have to take over the dead man's body and fight his way home. And now he will see for himself what war on this desolate desert planet is really like.

Angry Robot Books Christmas Speech

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Angry Robot Books UK Launch

Yesterday I spent a very pleasant hour or so at the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London at the official UK launch of Angry Robot Books. Head honcho (and my old partner-in-crime) Marc Gascoigne was there, as was Triumff author (and me old Black Library mucker) Dan Abnett and his wife, ace editor, Nik Vincent. Had a great time catching up, briefly saw James Swallow and said 'Hi!' to Steven Savile.

It all seemed to go very well and I even bagged myself a Triumff poster.

Evidence that Dan Abnett really is a writer, with pen in hand...

Angry Robot launch

They've been around for a while now, but tomorrow those Angry Robots will officially stake their claim as the new masters of the world... Well, they'll be enjoying their official launch at Forbidden Planet in London at least.

So, if you're in the Big Smoke this weekend, why not pop along to the FP Megastore between 12.30pm and 2.00pm get your own copies of Triumff, signed by Dan 'The Man' Abnett himself, along with Winter Song by Colin Harvey and Kell's Legend by Andy Remic?

And I'll be there, lurking in the background, trying to nab my own free poster. ;-)

October 1st - Triumff Day!

Dan Abnett's storming Elizabethan-inspired clockpunk adventure Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero is officially released today, and you can read my review of it over on Dan's blog right now!

Triumffant

Tomorrow (October 1), Dan Abnett's original fiction debut hits the shelves of bookshops across the country. I have been among the privileged few who have already got to read it and you can read my review below...

Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero is Dan Abnett’s long-awaited and much-anticipated original fiction debut. He’s been writing for years, of course (which is patently apparent in Triumff), and is already a multi-million-selling author, but outside of 2000AD, Games Workshop and various other comic-writing and tie-in novelisation gigs, he is still, unbelievably a relative unknown. But all that is about to change with the publication of this truly original work of fiction.

The setting is the present day, only it’s a world very different to our own, the sun never having set on the glories of the first Elizabethan Age. In this alternate reality the Renaissance saw a re-emergence of the Magick Arts and hence the arresting of significant technological development. Against this backdrop of Shakespearean thesps, wily cardinals and duelling noblemen, Sir Rupert Triumff – dandy, drinker and dueller – is catapulted into a revenger’s tragedy’s worth of intrigue as he tries to uncover and put paid to a nefarious and damnably traitorous scheme.

Abnett’s world-building is assured and satisfyingly detailed, although none of this detail ever swamps the plot which moves at a rollicking rate. In fact, it reads like a Blackadder-inspired cinematic blockbuster. As a result, the alternate Elizabethan setting is instantly recognisable, populated with pastiches of historical figures as well as characters that have walked right out of your television set. There’s even a nod to hardcore Warhammer fans. Humour, action and intrigue abound in equal measure, and combine with Abnett’s idiosyncratic clockpunk stylings to create a wholly satisfying read.

To dismiss Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero as a Pratchett clone is to do it a disservice; this is classic Abnett. From the economy of description – which nonetheless conjures a vivid and fascinating backdrop – to the grand set-piece action scenes and frequent, pun-tastic humour – that extends to a scene right out of Bond – it could hardly be anything else.

If you want your buckles well and truly swashed and derring done, you know where to come. Triumff is, in a word, a triumph.

You can pick up a copy of Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero here! (You really should, you know.)

Angry Robots make thier bid to conquer the world

In case you missed it, Wednesday last week (1 July) saw the official launch of the first books from the Angry Robot ™ manufactories.

Angry Robot is a new imprint from HarperCollins dedicated to the best in modern adult science fiction, fantasy and everything in between. British-based but selling worldwide, its mission is to produce books that appeal to everyone, from post-Dr Who and Xbox fans to long-time genre enthusiasts.

To find out more about how the launch came and went, click here.

The Pitch is the Thing!

Writing a novel is one thing. Being able to get someone else to read it or even, heaven forbid, publish it is another thing entirely.

Many doubtless fantastic writers never get to see their dream of becoming a published author realised (remember - there's no such thing as an unpublished author) because they don't make it easy enough for the Powers That Be (i.e. editors) to see how good they are. In other words, they don't pitch their Pitch properly. (Did you see what I did there?)

Lee Harris, one of the editorial team at Angry Robot Books, has written a piece for SFX Magazine about how to help yourself on the road to authordom (if that's a word), outlining twelve handy hints (a.k.a. The Twelve Commandments Of Preparing A Pitch That Thou Shalt Stick To) to make sure that you do all in your power to get someone else to read the labours of countless hours of blood, sweat and tears-style toil.

Then it's up to The Work itself to sell you The Writer. Gulp!

Solaris For Sale

I seem to be a little slow in catching up on this piece of news, but in case you haven't heard yourself, Games Workshop's BL Publishing division has put their Solaris Books imprint up for sale.

In a statement George Mann, head of publishing at BL Publishing, said: "In recent years our Black Library imprint has more than doubled in size and scope and we have decided that we should focus all our attention in growing this core part of our business. While we see plenty of growth potential with Solaris, we are looking for a buyer who is interested in developing this global brand."

Apparently all books commissioned up to 2010 will still go ahead, but don't quote me on that! I wonder how Marc Gascoigne - formerly head of of BL Publishing and Solaris but now of Angry Robot Books - took the news.

I don't expect it helped Solaris' situation any that Angry Robot snapped Dan Abnett up for a three book deal, when there's been talk for some years now that he was going to write original fiction for Solaris. Apparently the BL editors kept pushing for him to do more stuff for them first. Oops.

Shiny and new

Angry Robot Books have gone and got themselves a brand new, shiny website, and a funky logo to go with it (see left). They have also revealed what their first titles will be, released this summer.

To find out more, as well as how to join their Angry Robot Army, follow this link.

Angry Robot

Publishers Harper Collins have announced that they have appointed Marc Gascoigne (one-time collaborator, editor and publisher of mine) to run a new SF & Fantasy imprint. This new business venture - with the wonderful name Angry Robot - is being set up to provide the global science fiction/fantasy community with new content both in physical and digital form.

To read more about this exciting development in the world of publishing, click here. In the meantime I'd like to wish Marc all the best with his latest publishing venture.