Stephen Aryan's Blog, page 23

Bloodmage Launch

I'm delighted to finally reveal the launch date and location for Bloodmage, book 2 in the Age of Darkness trilogy. It will be taking place at Waterstones Birmingham High Street on Thursday April 14th at 7pm. Tickets are free but please let them know if you are planning to attend so they have a better idea of numbers. More info at the link below.


Bloodmage Launch - Birmingham


Thanks

Stephen

Bloodmage – Cover Reveal

Those lovely people over at Fantasy Faction have the exclusive cover reveal for Bloodmage, book 2 in the Age of Darkness trilogy, plus some more info about what is to come in the story, and some details about who created the cover.

See the cover and more info here.

February worklog

I thought I would do a quick post about what I’m up to at the moment on various things.

So, book 2, Bloodmage, is completely done and dusted. My publisher, Orbit books, has just sent me the latest version of the cover and I think it looks really good. So that is all set to come out in April.

In about a week’s time the copy edits on book 3, currently untitled, will be coming back to me. I’ve then got a couple of weeks to turn it around and send it back to the publisher. After that, a few weeks later, I get a physical proof.

So at the moment I have a window of time where I’m not writing. I won’t lie. It’s weird. After doing it all the time, almost every day, to suddenly not be working on a novel seems odd.

Not writing at all doesn’t sit right with me, so I’m writing down notes for the next big thing. In theory it will be a new trilogy, but it is very early days, so that might change. In the meantime I’m also working on what is currently a novelette, but depending on how long it runs, it might turn into a novella. It’s set in the same world as the Age of Darkness, and it shines the light on a couple of characters. It is an interesting side adventure they went on together. Chronologically it’s set before Battlemage, so it doesn’t spoil anything, but if you’ve read book 1 already then there are pay-offs.

I’ve just finished doing an Author roundtable Q and A over at SFF World which you can read here. The questions were mostly about process  and more general as there were three of us.

The comic book projects roll on. Flux, co-written with Pete Rogers is going well. We’ve just finished the Issue 3 script (out of 4) and we’re fairly happy with it. Artwork for issue 2 is still coming in and we’re going to start working on Issue 4, and extra content soon. I’ve also got about nine ideas written down for some other mini series and am having trouble deciding what to pursue next. I think a bit of a head to head Skype chat with Pete is what is required.

The podcasting is still going well. I have monthly chats with Scott for CBO and the same with Pete for Bags of Action, where we talk action movies. Later this month I’ll be doing face to face podcasts with both of them, which will be weird, as you learn certain rhythms when doing it over the internet. Seeing the person talk is just odd. Pete and I recently saw Creed, so we’ll be talking about that very soon for Bags. We’re both big fans of the Rocky franchise so it will be an interesting discussion.

Soon I’ll be announcing some events in the UK for the launch of Bloodmage in April, so keep checking back. The first of these as gone up already on the Events page, and I will add more when confirmed. I suspect I’ll be attending a couple of conventions this year but I’m not sure where or when yet. Pie in the sky idea for 2017 is to attend NYCC in October, but right now it’s just a cool idea. Let’s see if it actually happens.

Battlemage heads to France

In March this year Battlemage comes out in France from my French publisher, Bragelonne. It joins the ranks alongside versions from Orbit and Piper in Germany.

Battlemage is currently available in the UK, USA and lots of other countries around the world in English, but very soon it will also be appearing on French shores. I am delighted to reveal the French cover below and showcase it alongside the Orbit and German covers for comparison.

It is always fascinating for me to see how someone else has interpreted the characters and story. Below are the three covers so far. So, which one do you prefer?

 

Wailing Heights

I can finally reveal a little bit more information about another of the secret writing projects I’ve been involved with. I recently had the pleasure of working with Outsider Games, on their latest project – Wailing Heights.

It was a real challenge for me, bringing humour to the content. It was very different to what I normally write and I had to write two pieces in very different styles and voices. I also had to do some research and delve into areas I would never normally look and it was quite an eye opening experience. I had a lot of fun working on the project with the guys and am looking forward to seeing the game when it comes out.

You can read more about my involvement with the game on their Production Blog.

I can finally reveal a little bit more information about ...

I can finally reveal a little bit more information about another of the secret writing projects I’ve been involved with. I recently had the pleasure of working with Outsider Games, on their latest project – Wailing Heights.

It was a real challenge for me, bringing humour to the content. It was very different to what I normally write and I had to write two pieces in very different styles and voices. I also had to do some research and delve into areas I would never normally look and it was quite an eye opening experience. I had a lot of fun working on the project with the guys and am looking forward to seeing the game when it comes out.

You can read more about my involvement with the game on their Production Blog.

First Bloodmage event of 2016

It’s now only a few months until Bloodmage comes out in April and I’ve already got one event booked. There will be a couple of signing events to mark the publication of Bloodmage and as soon as they’re sorted I’ll post the dates and details on the events page. They will likely be around the publication date of 14 April.

In the meantime, the first event booked in the diary is on Thursday 28th April I will be going back to my home town, Whitley Bay, to speak at the local library.

I haven’t been back to my home town for a few years. I moved away over 15 years ago to work in another part of the country, as did many of my friends from school. I’ve been back every now and then, noting the changes and improvements to the town, including the library itself. The old library was a pretty battered concrete building on the sea front and it was kind of an extended portakabin, but despite its unglamorous exterior, I spent a lot of hours in there. The staff were always excellent and it helped foster my love of reading and stories. I saw all of these amazing books and aspired to write one myself. Fast forward about twenty years and here we are.

The new library is right in the town centre and it is very modern with lots of glass and shiny metal and I am thrilled to be returning home to talk about my journey to publication.

No doubt there will be some familiar faces in the crowd and probably some people I can’t name as it’s been many years since we last met!

I’m really looking forward to going back to Whitley Bay and seeing my book on the shelf in my home town library. If anything I hope that my visit sparks the imagination of some local children who also want to write and perhaps in another twenty years they’ll come back to see their book on the shelf.

World’s Strongest Man 2015

Below are my thoughts on the Heats and then the Final for this year’s World’s Strongest Man competition, so stop reading if you want to avoid spoilers.

The Heats

This year the heats were dominated not by any one person but something far worse. Injuries. I think on some level I’ve become quite blasé about some of the impossible feats that the athletes perform. I see them lifting huge lumps of wood, stone and metal. I hear the numbers and comparisons (5 people, 2 fridges, six cows) and I’ve stopped actually thinking about the reality of that. The fifty or so men who compete are the strongest in the world. That’s out of 7 billion people. Just think about that. You can compare the skills of other athletes and debate their ranking, one footballer against another, but it’s all opinion and up for discussion. There’s no debate here. One is just stronger than another. It’s black and white.

What they do is superhuman. 99.9% of the population cannot do it. Even those guys and girls you sometimes see in the gym who are ripped – they can’t do it. They’re just not strong enough. Also during the heats there were a couple of segments this year where they spoke to one of the doctors. In it he said, their muscles can take it, because they’re very big guys who train to do this all year, but their tendons cannot, and they tear or just rip off the bone. Just writing that makes me feel slightly sick. This is not a sport that most people can do and reach the top.

Injured competitors this year included Graham Hicks, Benny Magnusson, Mateusz Baron and one of my favourites, Laurence Shahlaei. Big Loz looked to be in good health and he was all fired up but then he tore a bicep. Hopefully all of them will be back next year, fit and healthy.

Heat Winners

There were a couple of heats where I wasn’t surprised by the winner. Big Z,  Brian Shaw and Thor all dominated their heats. The timeless Mark Felix proved why he is still one of the best in the world as not only did he win his heat, but he performed a remarkable feat on the deadlift. He remains the best in the world at it and he can beat everyone from Big Z to Brian Shaw. He is just that good. Jerry Pritchett from the USA did exceptionally well as did JF Caron from Canada, earning themselves a spot in the final ten. The real surprises for me were Mikhail Shivlyakov and Matjas Belsak. The smiling Russian is fairly slight compared to some of them but he proved to be an incredibly tough competitor. Equally Belsak is a young man and already he is extremely strong, standing toe to toe with some of the veterans. They’re both worth watching in the future.

Mike Burke and Eddie Hall both did themselves proud to get through, although I was disappointed to hear Burke announce this is his final year competing. I can understand why but I always enjoy watching him compete so I’ll miss him next year.

The Final

Given the very close result last year, this year they made the Atlas Stones count for double points. It makes sense as last time it came down to half points and seconds. As it happens, this year it was not too different, both in terms of the final result and the difference between the top 3 men on the podium. Looking beyond the top 3 for a minute, I think Eddie Hall did himself proud coming in 4th, as he has focused himself 100% on WSM. He’s been able to give up his day job and just train. It’s really paid off as one of his worst events, the Atlas Stones, turned out to be one of the best for him this time. He’s stronger and more athletic, which is so critical as there are always loading or carrying events. So there’s always a balance between static strength and being fast and strong at the same time.

This year’s winner was Brian Shaw. I think it came down to him being hungrier than Big Z. Despite him being the heaviest competitor Shaw is also one of the most athletic. He really does have the whole package and while there are some areas Big Z will probably always dominate where he has world records, like the Log Press, Shaw is no slouch. He did incredibly well on the deadlift and the weights they were all lifting this year were very impressive.

Thor was on fire this year and in the end he was only half a point behind Big Z to get 3rd place again. None of the top 3 are slowing down and I’m really not sure what is going to change over the next few years unless one of them suddenly retires, which seems unlikely. They are all so close, the only upset I can see is if Thor somehow trains like a madman and becomes just so strong he knocks one of the other two into 3rd place.

I couldn’t call the result for 2015 and I’m not sure what is going to happen for the 2016 results. The competition is as fierce and exciting as I’ve ever seen it and after all this time I still love watching it and look forward to it every Christmas and New Year. Now all I have to do is try to avoid the results for 5-8 months of the year again so I can watch it at Christmas this year without any spoilers.

Looking back at 2015

This year has been a busy one, for me and for geeks in general. Next year looks as if it is going to be more of the same.

By the time the new year bells ring out, a new Star Wars film will have been out for a couple of weeks and it will be in the realm of being rewatched multiple times. I’m going to see it soon and cannot wait. After the horrible disappointment of the Phantom Menace and the other prequels, I am trying to stay positive for this. I really enjoy the new Trek films, and hope that JJ Abrams (and all of those people around him of course as it’s not a solo thing) are able to work their magic again.

We’ve got more Marvel, DC, and lots of genre films to come next year, with the likes of a new Star Trek film, a new Harry Potter universe film, a new Rocky universe film for me in Creed and a tonne of other great films I could list but won’t.

In terms of books and the Age of Darkness trilogy, it all kicks off again in April with Bloodmage. I’ve seen the first draft of the cover and it looks good. The work on my side is completely done and right now I’m working on the next draft of book 3 following comments from my editor. So book 3 will also be out next year, about 6 months after Bloodmage. It’s a very weird thing to say and imagine that by this time next year I will have 3 published books of fiction.  The question then becomes, what next?

I’m pondering a couple of things. I have a short novella that I want to write, set in the same world, that expands on a line of dialogue someone mentions in book 3. I also have a short story I want to sketch out and then write, again set in the same world. After that, in theory I will write another trilogy that is chronologically set after the Age of Darkness.

It’s very thin on paper so far, but I have notes and ideas on scraps of paper. I have a Word document stuffed full of ideas and story arcs and character descriptions and lots of ‘what if’ questions and answers. So once book 3 is out of the way again and back with the publisher I’m going to try to nail down some of these floaty ideas, see what the throughline is that ties it all together and start to build the spine of the story. After that I’ll discuss it with my agent and we’ll go from there. So, by the time book 3 comes out, I will probably be working on the first draft of the new book.

On top of that the French version of Battlemage is due to be published in either Spring or Summer. I am also hoping that the long-gestating comic book mini series I’ve been co-writing with Pete Rogers, Flux, will be ready early next year. Then we can make a more formal announcement and talk about it in a bit more detail.  I’ve been sketchy about where it’s coming from and what it is about as we want to get most of it in the can so that we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot. A busy year ahead indeed.

Events-wise, it is too early to say but no doubt I will be doing some to promote the launch of the two new books in the UK. I’m doubtful I’ll get to any conventions outside of the UK next year but you never know, something might come up.

So, onwards to 2016 although I’ll be posting over the holidays about the World’s Strongest Man competition.

Reddit AMA

On Thursday next week, 10th December, I’m doing a Reddit AMA on reddit/fantasy.

This is my first one of these and I’m fairly new to Reddit in general. I dabbled on there a while ago, but recently in the last year I’ve been dipping in and out. I tend to post occasionally in some of my favourite subs, like Fantasy or Dresden files,  but most of the time I tend to lurk and read. I’ve found that with the exception of Twitter, I tend to do this more. Watch and listen. Maybe it’s the writer in me, or maybe I’m just not as open as some people.

I share with my friends and family, but they hear about my writing, characters and process all the time anyway. To be honest, they’ve been hearing about it all for years already so they’re not too interested in the deep nitty gritty.

So, if you want to know about how I got published, how I found an agent, anything about the publishing world that I’ve discovered, then I will do my best to share it. However, all of this will be from the perspective of someone who has been published for less than a year. So it is all still relatively new to me as well. Also my route to getting an agent and then getting published is likely to be similar to, but not identical to, other people. So I will share what information I have about that, but also the lessons learned from the many years of work and rejected novels I wrote before Battlemage.

Equally if you want to know about character, plot, world-building and so on, I can talk to you about how I do it, what works for me and what doesn’t, but again it is all from my point of view. You will have to find your own path.

However it is an AMA, so if you just want to know about my favourite cheese or flavour of crisps I can share that as well. So this time I’m not going to be able to sit back and lurk in the shadows. Watch for me in the spotlight this Thursday evening (UK time) into Friday morning.