Archive for August, 2011
Angry Robot Week at The Secret Lair
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The Secret Lair is a bit of a misnomer – it’s actually really easy to find – here, for example. Not much of a secret, really, but we don’t mind – we’d prefer you to be able to actually find it. Partly because it’s a great blog, and partly because this week they’re running an Angry Robot Week.
Every day this week you’ll find reviews, interviews and commentary on some of the things Angry Robot are up to. For example:
There’s a Haiku Contest, where you can win five cool Angry Robot books.
There’s a review of the classic Morlock Night (recently reprinted by Angry Robot).
There’s an overview of our Nano Editions (short stories by our authors).
And today there’s an interview with Empire State author, Adam Christopher.
Go visit them every day this week for further goodies.
Introducing WorldBuilder
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Sometimes, when you’ve read a great book you just don’t want the experience to end. We know that many of you are talented creators in your own right – artists, writers, musicians, puppeteers, and so many other things. This is why we designed WorldBuilder.
WorldBuilder is our way of reaching out to the fan creator communities, to invite you to come play in our yard.
We’re not new to the concept, of course. We once ran a short story competition based in the world of Moxyland by Lauren Beukes, and the best three stories were featured at the back of Lauren’s award-winning Zoo City.
WorldBuilder takes that idea and moves it forward a billion or so steps (note: might not be a billion).
In January, when we publish Adam Christopher’s uber-cool prohibition-superhero-noir novel, Empire State, we’ll be inviting fan creators everywhere to visit the world of Empire State and create their own works of art based in the Empire State universe. These creations can then be uploaded to a dedicated website, and distributed under a Creative Commons license.
The best of these will be featured in a number of “Best of” anthologies (with most of the proceeds going to the creators).
Additionally, we’re commissioning some short stories from some rather well-known writers, as well as other cool things from creators in other fields. WorldBuilder will be managed for us by the mighty Mur Lafferty.
Empire State is the perfect novel to kick off the WorldBuilder project; there are an infinite number of stories to be told within that world – private eye, superhero, gangster, fringe science, alternate realities – and an infinite number of ways these stories can be told.
The website addresses you’ll need:
EmpireState.cc (launches in January,a longside the novel) and WorldBuilderOnline.com (launches in the autumn).
Empire State preview over at Noir Week
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Those stand-up gents and dames over at Tor.com are running Noir Week right about now, and we thought we might just muscle in on a piece of their action.
So head on over thattaway for an exclusive sneak-read of a chapter from Adam Christopher‘s wondrous Empire State, a whole five months before it’s published.
Yes, really. Fly, fly now!
Colin Harvey RIP
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It is with a heavy heart that we heard this morning about the death of Colin Harvey. He had a stroke on Monday morning, and did not recover.
I first met Colin at NewCon in Northampton, as I was just starting to get Angry Robot off the ground. We’d got talking about nothing in particular, as you do at SF conventions, but once he’d sniffed out I was not only a possible publisher but also open to pitches, he went for it with gusto. I bought two novels off him in quick succession – Winter Song and the still-in-progress Damage Time – and the former was included in our launch line-up in July 2009, the second novel last October. His writing was an unusual mix of traditional SF tropes – crashed spaceship, decaying city – but written with almost total focus on the characters of the people caught up in such events.
Colin hadn’t just come from nowhere, however. He had made frequent story sales in the usual venues, and had a trio of titles out through small presses in the UK and US. He had a natural enthusiasm for SF in all its forms too – he was part of the team organising the blossoming Bristolcon, and ran regular blogs and interviews across his and several other websites. He was a cheery presence on the UK SF scene, and we shall miss him terribly. Our thoughts and condolences go to his wife, Kate. — Marc
PS, thank you to everyone leaving your own reminiscences of Colin in the Comments section below. It’s wonderful to read them all.
Steampunk at Steamcon with Angry Robot
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Steamcon III is happening in Seattle in October and the fearless airship pioneers of Angry Robot will be well represented.
The convention’s Author Guest of Honour is none other than the inscrutable K W Jeter, making a rare personal appearance. He’ll be speaking on panels and generally available for questions and chat, so do catch up with him about those tasty Infernal Devices and Morlock Night reissues, and his future plans.
Also represented, albeit in spirit rather than physical form, will be the Bookman himself, Lavie Tidhar. His novel Camera Obscura has made it onto the shortlist for best novel in the Steamcon Airship Awards. Three cheers and a rousing huzzah! Attendees and supporting members have until September 30th to vote for their favourite… not that we’d want to sway you, but, you know, we’re always happy to win stuff.
Steamcon runs October 14-16th, at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Washington, USA.
Cover art reveal – introducing Mal Catlyn
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[ Click for larger image. You really should, the detail is amazing! ]
Thanks to artist Larry Rostant, we can finally show you Mal Catlyn, roguish swordsman and star of Anne Lyle‘s upcoming Night’s Masque series.
In the first novel, The Alchemist of Souls, the arrival in Elizabethan London of the mysterious skraylings from far-off Vinland is the talk of the town. Mal gets drawn into helping protect the party… but in short order discovers that the eldritch beings are just as interested in him, for reasons that soon become dangerously clear.
The first of these magic-stuffed historical fantasies will be published next April.
Where to find us at WorldCon
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Next week, if you’re at Renovation (this year’s WorldCon) in Reno, you’ll find three Angry Robots wandering the hallways in search of tea, wine or cake. This is who’ll be there, and where we’ll be:
Lauren Beukes
Wed 16:00 – 17:00
Social Media, Online Technologies, and the Way We will Live
Wed 18:00 – 19:00
Literary Beer: Hall 2 Bar
Thu 09:00 – 10:00
Stroll with The Stars
Thu 12:00 – 13:00
Where to Start With Comics E1
Thu 16:00 – 17:00
Futuristic Fashion and Wearable Art D05
Fri 10:00 – 12:00
Writers Workshop (Already fully booked, sorry!)
Fri 14:00 – 14:30
Reading: Lauren Beukes A15
Fri 17:00 – 18:00
The Future of Cities A01+6
Sat 12:00 – 13:00
Meet the Campbell Award Nominees A03
Sun 12:00 – 13:00
Autographing: Sun 12:00 Hall 2
Aliette de Bodard
Wed 13:00 – 14:00
Molecular Gastronomy: When You have more Gadgets in Your Kitchen than Your Mom (Panel), A04 (RSCC)
Wed 16:00 – 17:00
Interview with Aliette de Bodard (Interview), A09 (RSCC)
Thu 14:00 – 15:00
Autographing: Thu 14:00 (Autographing), Hall 2 Autographs (RSCC)
Thu 15:30 – 16:00
Reading: Aliette de Bodard (Reading), A14 (RSCC).
Fri 11:00 – 12:00
Minority Representation in SF Art and the Ugly Reality (Panel), D05 (RSCC)
Fri 16:00 – 17:00
F*** Your Knight and the Horse He Rode in on: Fantasy Series not Based on Medieval European Culture (Panel), A10 (RSCC)
Sat 11:00 – 12:00
KaffeeKlatsch: Sat 11:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1 (RSCC)
Sat 1:30pm-3:00pm
Lunch meeting
Sat 16:00 – 17:00
Cross-Cultural Influences in SF (Panel), A03 (RSCC)
Lee Harris
Thu 11:00 – 12:00
Angry Robot (Publisher Presentation), A11
Thu 15:00 – 16:00
KaffeeKlatsch: Thu 15:00 (KaffeeKlatsch), KK1
Fri 11:00 – 12:00
Minority Representation in SF Art and the Ugly Reality (Panel), D05
Fri 16:00 – 17:00
Beyond _Doctor Who_: The Rest of British SF on TV (Panel), A05
Sat 10:00 – 11:00
Web Publishing and the Future of Magazines (Panel), A16
Sun 11:00 – 12:00
There’s a Bimbo on my e-Book! (Panel), A09
We hope to see some of you there.
New cover: Empire State
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[ Click for larger version. Click it, click it I say! ]
That there is the US cover for Adam Christopher‘s superlative Empire State, due from us in January 2012. The novel, as you may well recall, is a mix of superheroes and gumshoe detectives, in an alternative New York – which means this totally nails it. Incidentally, you can read Adam’s own thoughts on the creation of the cover over at Floor-to-Ceiling Books blog.
I’d say “ta-daaa!” and whip back the curtain with a flourish, but at least some of you have been all over this already, as our lovely chums over at Amazon.com managed to post it before we do. Gives an exciting little glimpse behind the emerald curtain, I guess. Unseen by the world at large, the race is always on to get a cover out to our suppliers in time for certain marketing deadlines, in as finished a state as possible, while not revealing it till the design is definitively complete and we (that is, the US sales team, UK sales team, various key bookstore people, and all us editorial and marketing types… not to mention that most valued opinion of all, namely the author) are all happy with it.
Read More→
Lauren Beukes and Joey HiFi in London, August 13th
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On Saturday 13th August, that freakishly-talented Ms Lauren Beukes is in London, en route to the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, and various interviews and readings in New York and San Francisco.
Lauren will be joined by Joey HiFi (BSFA award-winning artist of the SA/UK editions of Zoo City), and will be speaking at the British Library’s Out of This World exhibition in London.
The event starts at 1.00pm, and by pre-ordering tickets (which are free), you can enter the draws to win Zoo City prizes, including a great Zoo City T-shirt, featuring Joey’s artwork. You don’t need a ticket to attend the event – just to be in with a chance to win the prizes.
Markowski’s Rules – How to survive the world of Hard Spell
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While Hard Spell has been pulling up trees and impressing hordes of reviewers in the run up to its publication, author Justin Gustainis has been putting in a fair shift himself, writing guest blogs, doing interviews and Q&As, etc.
One of these blogs went up recently on the Bibliophilic Book Blog, and it was so good we asked them if we could re-post here, to which they kindly agreed. So here we go!
My Rules for “Supe” Safety
by
Detective Sgt. Stan Markowski
Occult Crimes Investigation Unit
Scranton Police Department
I deal with supernatural creatures (“supes”) every day. Some of them are okay, others are dangerous badasses. Listed below is a summary of the lessons I’ve learned – sometimes the hard way.
