SFX Weekender #3 Prestatyn
Have a flick through the gallery. See that lovely white house? That was The Lodge/Bond villain lair, where all the Tor UK authors were staying, while the other publishers herded their teams into chalets. Which weren’t as bad as last year, by all accounts. The Tor party is becoming one of the highlights – it’s not that often the great, good and recovering alcoholics of the publishing industry all gather under one roof. Quick highlights: there was a baby (you can see Peter Hamilton holding her – not his, but Editor Julie’s), a very steep hill, possibly the steepest in the country; the Kitchies, and lots of Kraken Rum; an introduction for Sam Sykes to the delights of a British chippy; the panel I moderated went, I was told, rather well.
All in all, met lots of new people, didn’t get to speak many folk for as long as I’d have liked to. This is still by far and away the best SFF convention the country has to offer. Hoping to do a write-up for the new Tor UK blog very soon.
But for now, man flu – so just the photos.
Back from the Weekender
And it was as classy as ever. More photos soon. When I’ve recovered from man-flu.
What’s not to like? There’s 
Galaksija
The above gem is a piece of cover art from a vintage issue of Galaksija, a science and SF magazine published in the former Yugoslavia. A huge gallery of this retro SF-style art can be found on Flickr. Just about all of it is wonderfully insane.
(Via 50 Watts.)
Book Links
Just a few things I’ve spotted online recently. First up, one of the most criminally underrated genre writers, Daniel Abraham, writes a private letter from genre to mainstream literature.
I saw you tonight. You were walking with your cabal from the university to the little bar across the street where the professors and graduate students fraternize. You were in the dark, plain clothes that you think of as elegant. I have always thought they made you look pale. I was at the newsstand. I think that you saw me, but pretended not to. I want to say it didn’t sting.
Looks like the Kindle Fire could hit the UK in January, although it’s probably the usual finger-in-the-wind analysis when it comes to Apple releases. If it’s similar to the Nook, which quite a few places suggest it is, it’s not likely to be much to get excited about. When I tried the Nook in the US I found it a huge disappointment: really slow, clunky, and a terrible interface, especially when compared to the iPad (which, let’s face it, I’m going to).
There’s an interesting Top 10 ‘writings from the edge of language’ in the Guardian:
From The Waste Land to Jabberwocky, the poet picks his favourite writing from the ‘conversation between words and silence’
And for those interested in children’s fiction, there’s a special feature in the Telegraph at the moment. It starts with an interview with Jacqueline Wilson and even gives a bit of review coverage to things like adventure or historical children’s fiction
Cover Art – Nacht über Villjamur
Here’s the rather lovely cover art for the German edition of Nights of Villjamur, Nacht über Villjamur, which is published by Egmont-Lyx in April 2012 – and which you can pre-order here.
The extra good news is that my editor at Lyx, Anja, also enjoys single malt whisky. (I’m not sure that was a requirement of rights contract, but I’m considering making it one for all future deals.)
Gollancz Samaritans Auction
Esteemed Brit SFF publisher Gollancz are doing a mighty fine thing. They’re holding an eBay auction to raise money for the Samaritans. The auction includes some cool stuff, plenty of books, and opportunities for unpublished writers out there – having thousands of words reviewed and edited by Gollancz editors. Books, editorial guidance and marketing help – plenty for everyone. I am, however, disappointed that editor Simon Spanton didn’t offer himself up for a cosy dinner…
It’s a fantastic cause, and comes at a time of year (and a period where the economy is really starting to suffer), when the Samaritans could probably do with a bit of help. If you don’t fancy bidding, then please do spread word to anyone who might be interested.
Interviews & Links
There’s a brief chat with me over at Rowena Cory Daniels’ blog, in which I say Many Things, and talk a little bit more about the new series:
The lead character, Lucan Drakenfeld, is a bit like a young lawyer-slash-detective, and certainly the polar opposite of a private eye (if anything, he’s a public eye). I’m really trying to steer away from noir pastiche because I feel that would be disrespectful to crime readers. The book is as much a crime novel as it is a fantasy novel. Imagine a mainstream writer trying their hand at a fantasy novel, and filled it with a paint-by-numbers story – they’d be strung up by the fanbase, which is why I’m not doing a paint-by-numbers crime novel, either.
There’s a video interview with my agent, John Jarrold, for those of you who are interested in tales and tips of publishing.
And I review a book about making compost for the Ecologist. More interesting than you might think…
The City & The Corporation
The City of London is the only part of Britain over which parliament has no authority. In one respect at least the Corporation acts as the superior body: it imposes on the House of Commons a figure called the remembrancer: an official lobbyist who sits behind the Speaker’s chair and ensures that, whatever our elected representatives might think, the City’s rights and privileges are protected. The mayor of London’s mandate stops at the boundaries of the Square Mile. There are, as if in a novel by China Miéville, two cities, one of which must unsee the other.
- George Monbiot writing in the Guardian.
Great to see lots of stuff finally being aired about the City of London Corporation, something which I blogged about earlier in the year.