Close Encounters of the Angry Kind

Where Dennis leads, others follow… It has just been brought to my attention that Angry Robot have a WordPress site now open. Head over to HERE to have a look. Not that there’s much to look at just yet, but one for the future I reckon.

In other news, it’s amazing what you can do to a novel with £13.98 and a spare day. The £13.98 was spent on a desktop writing pad easel thing and some coloured pens. The day was spent scribbling all of the elements of The Crown of the Blood over big bits of paper, drawing lines, adding in ‘cool ideas’ and ‘Moments of Awesome’. The result? A much clearer and dynamic storyline for the novel, which now isn’t the same basic tale as Malekith.

How did I achieve this momumental feat? Well, I went back to basics. If the character journey was the same as in Malekith, the easiest way to change things was to alter the starting point. I chopped out some of the sub-plots and incorporated them into the protagonist’s storyline instead. Everything fell into place after that and I’m just buffing up the synopsis and some sample chapters.

So, next time you’re stuck on an idea, leave it alone for a while and then break out the pens of many different colours. Read here for more thoughts on that. My pad has adhesive strips, so the sheets are now stuck to the wall of my office/ study/ box room for me to look at with pride. ‘Saving’ a novel for under fourteen quid? Bargain!

Addendum: Look what just arrived in the post for Dennis (apologies for my shonky camera work):

Dennis says hello to Malekith

Shiny new BL website

The Black Library have been toiling away on their new-look website and it’s now been unleashed upon the world. I’m not any kind of expert on tabs versus non-tabs and all that, but I think it looks spiffy.

I just hope all my Hamsterlinks still work okay – if you find one that doesn’t go where it’s supposed to please drop me a line.

And rewrite… Again!

I’ve finally put my finger on what it is that’s been bugging me about my latest fantasy novel. I’ve massaged the characters, changed some of the plot elements, refined the setting and it still wasn’t sitting right in my mind.

It was as I sat down to give the synopsis another read through this morning that it struck me. Having left it to one side for a couple of weeks whilst working on Project Ssh! (which is almost done now, thanks for asking) I realised what it was that was making me uncomfortable. The problem is, at a fundamental level, the story is the same as the one told in Malekith! The setting is completely different, the principles of the plot bear little resemblance to each other but the character journey described by the story is essentially the same.

On reflection, this is not so surprising. Much of the groundwork for the novel was laid down whilst I was working on the Malekith rewrites. Having spent quite some time seeking a story I wanted to tell, it’s become clear that my subconscious settled on a comfortable tale that I already knew worked.

There’s nothing wrong with telling a well-known tale in a different way, but since it is likely that this could be my first ‘independent’ novel I want to make sure it offers something different to what I’ve been writing for the black library.

Is this the end for the story? Certainly not! Having identified the niggling issue that had been eluding me, I can now sit down again and look at solutions that aren’t simple tinkering at the edges but ensure that the story is sufficiently different to what has come before.

So, with that in mind, it’s time to return to the notepad and start coming up with some more changes. It’s frustrating that I fell into such a seemingly obvious pit, but also a relief that I was not losing my mind or simply being overly-critical. A problem identified is halfway to being solved.

Language Article

Another article on writing, this time using languages in your fiction.

Say What?

As I’ve been threatening to do over the last few weeks, I’ve finally managed to put aside some time to talk about the use of language in fantasy and sci-fi. By this I don’t mean the style of prose, but rather the use and representation of different languages by the narrator and characters.

It’s an immensely broad subject once you start looking at the detail, and right at the start I’ll say this is, like my other advice, simply a rambling collection of thoughts and experiences. I would love to hear from fellow Hamsterites on their own experiences; the way they’ve dealt with the issue, or perhaps problems they have yet to resolve.

Why Do It?

The first thing a writer must ask is whether it is necessary to employ different languages in your story. The potential pitfalls are deep, so there must be a solid reason for doing so. As with other aspects of writing, the use of languages falls into three categories: character development; plot; and world-building.

The rest can be found HERE.

More on Dialogue

Thanks to Atomic Nerds for linking to my thoughts on dialogue. There’s a fascinating examination of how language and speech is processed here.

Gamesfest

On Saturday, I travelled down to Tring for Gamesfest3. I had a lot of fun, meeting and talking to fans and also several other authors. I was delighted to exchange a copy of the Last Chancers omnibus with Derek Gunn for his Vampire Apocalypse. Derek is a fan of Black Library and had read 13th Legion and Kill Team but missed out on Annihilation Squad and the omnibus, so I was happy to help out. It helped that he’s a thoroughly decent chap and great fun to talk to. If you like war and vampires, Vampire Apoclypse does exactly what it says on the tin!

Other BL luminaries were also there: Dan Abnett, Jim Swallow and Richard Williams. It was great to see the guys again; though I saw them at Games Day we were all so busy none of us had much chance to chat at that event. Best of luck to the guys for their current projects, they all sound very exciting .

There was a nice vibe around the writers’ hall, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the day. I’d like to mention The Write Fantastic, in particular Stan Nicholls and Juliet E McKenna. Dennis put in an appearance to rub shoulders with the great and the good, and I’m trying to track down some photos to add here and on the Facebook page.

Last and by no means least, thanks to Mark, Walter and Diane for organising the event and taking care of us all. It’s always inspiring to meet folks with the passion and enthusiasm to get an event like this up and running. I’m sure there will be a Gamesfest4, and I’d heartily recommend it. Don’t be put off by the ‘game’ in the name, it’s a celebration of all things fantasy, sci-fi and horror, and there was a room filled with authors very willing to ply their wares and chat to visitors.

Online Interview

I’ve recently done an interview with Kris Sherriff of the Gaming Kingdom, which can be found here. Thanks to Kris and for his interest and enthusiasm!