Stephen Aryan's Blog, page 24

Second Act

This month has been crazy busy. I’ve just moved house to a new area, am still neck deep in boxes, my job situation has kind of changed, so there’s been a lot of adjustments to make. And a lot of stress from the house move too. Looking in the mirror I definitely saw more white in my hair after an awful moving day, but that’s another story.

In the meantime, I’m now kind of in my second act as a writer. The first trilogy is done, for the most part. Book 1, Battlemage, is out there in the wide world. Book 2 is completely edited and now is with the publisher to turn the manuscript into a real physical book. I’ve not seen a cover yet for Bloodmage but that is in the works too. The first draft of book 3, yet to be titled, is with the publisher for review, so that leaves me to ponder what next.

I’m thinking it will definitely be another trilogy. I’m setting it in the same world, a few years after the events of the first trilogy and right now I’m pondering a few different ideas. Part of me is panicking that I’m not writing, because for the last two years I’ve always been writing. There hasn’t been a week where I wasn’t writing, in order to meet my deadlines. Now I’m doing that purely thinking thing while not writing something else, and I’ve not done that in a few years so it’s weird and in some ways feels like a step back in time as I’m now working without a deadline.

I’m also trying to do the relaxing thing. Whatever that is! But it is kind of important for lots of reasons, not only to recharge my batteries, but also the more I feed my brain good stuff, the better it seems to work as good story feeds it. Whether it’s TV, books, films, comics or even games, engaging with good stories and good characters makes me want to rise to the occasion. I’m also trying to sleep more than before, which should also help rest my brain a bit.

So it feels like I’m on holiday in a way. The day job is also keeping me busy, which is actually good, because my brain ticks along in the background while doing something else and ideas creep through the cracks while at work. So I’m often scribbling down notes. Sitting at a desk hammering my head against the keyboard for 20 hours straight will not work. It never has. So I’m trying to remind myself that everything I’m doing right now is normal and natural and that I’ve been here before. But it still feels weird.

In the meantime, I’m busy with a couple of events. Tomorrow I’m at SLEDGE-LIT, a one day event in Derby. And on December 10th I’m doing my first AMA over on Reddit Fantasy, so pop by and as the title says, ask me anything about writing or real ale or whatever you fancy.

 

Interview with me at SFF World

Following on from the review of Battlemage over at SFF World by Mark Chitty, he also did a long interview with me about my début novel, world building, my influences and all sorts of things. The questions went in some interesting and unexpected directions. Some of them also made me take a step back and analyse some of the decisions I made when writing the first in this series.

We also chatted about how I found an agent, comic books and what I get up to in my spare time, such as podcasting. I co-host a monthly geek related podcast, CBO, and also for fun co-host Bags of Action. The podcast is all about action films and every month Pete and I talk about high octane, ridiculous action films and why we love them so much. Both shows are on iTunes as well if you want to download them from there.

I’ve just moved into a new house, and after a week of being offline I am now sorting through my emails and still unpacking a mountain of boxes. Time to get back to it.

In Transit

I’m currently in the middle of moving house, so I’m neck deep in boxes in every room in the entire house! And we keep finding stuff we’ve forgotten about, but we are gradually getting there. Kind of.

In the meantime to avoid having to read about my packing techniques to avoid making a box too heavy, here are a couple of new Battlemage things.

I used to do a book blog called Walker of Worlds, with my old chum, Mark Chitty. We were a good pairing as he favoured SF and I favoured Fantasy novels so together we covered a lot of ground. WoW went away but Mark has recently brought it back to life again, plus he does some work over at SFF World.

Mark recently reviewed Battlemage and his review is quite detailed but it doesn’t actually contain any major spoilers. There is also a bit more biography information about me on there too. Next week Mark will be posting a long interview we did this week about Battlemage, writing and my approach, my influences and all sorts of stuff. So watch for that as I will retweet it and repost it everywhere, like my Facebook page.

I also did a Five Favourite Wizards guest post for those good people over at Fantasy Faction. I chose five quite different wizards on purpose, and even one from comics. I should point out, in case it’s not clear, these are not the five most powerful wizards. They are also not my five most favourite wizards ever, just five from the hundred or so I could name. There seemed to be some confusion around this over on Reddit Fantasy where I posted the link.

In the meantime, with Battlemage out there in the world, the countdown now begins for Bloodmage, book 2 in the Age of Darkness trilogy, which is due out next year in about six months. More news, cover art and blurb info, when I have it!

 

 

 

Post-Fantasycon and Pre-SLEDGE LIT

Fantasycon is done and is now in the rear view mirror. Bye bye Nottingham and next year it is going to be in Scarborough by the sea. The event was super tiring but fun, and I had a great time hanging out with friends I only get to see maybe once or twice a year. I met a whole bunch of new people, including the great Brad Beaulieu, who was over here in the UK visiting from America. Prior to Fantasycon I’d seen photos of him going up and down the country at various signings with Brandon Sanderson, but we met across a table with only a deck of Magic: The Gathering cards between us. Den Patrick brought several decks with him and throughout the weekend we battled, sometimes head to head and once with Brad in a 3 way match. We tried to have a rematch on Sunday but didn’t manage to fit it in. There are too many people to name so I’ll just say you all know who you are and it was great to see you.

SLEDGE-LIT

So, in about four weeks time, on Saturday 21st November in Derby, I will be attending my next convention, a one day event called SLEDGE-LIT. Tickets are still available and there’s more information on the Facebook group. I’m going to be doing a reading and will be on panels, and there are also some epic guests of honour as well including Alison Moore, Adam Roberts, Robert Shearman and Charles Stross.

I’ve been to similar events at the Derby Quad before including EDGE-LIT which is normally run in July. So this is a great partner event to that giving fans an extra helping of some great voices in fantasy and science fiction.

If I didn’t see you at Fantasycon then perhaps I will see  some of you at SLEDGE-LIT or next year at another event. For now I’m going to try and catch up on my sleep…and all of the new TV that’s just come back for new seasons.

Fantasycon 2015 – Nottingham

Below is a list of things that I’ll be doing  in a couple of weeks at Fantasycon 2015. This year the event is being held at the East Midlands Conference Centre and Orchard Hotel in Nottingham. I’ve never been to the venue before, but it looks very new and shiny, with lots of natural light and glass, so hopefully it will be a lovely space.

So, my plans for the weekend, other than catching up with friends and having one or two beers, will be the following:-

Friday

5pm – There is a reading slot with me for about 20 minutes. I’m probably not going to read for all of that, so I might answer any questions, or failing that, just talk at whoever is there.

Saturday

In the Conference Theatre at 2pm – War: What Is It Good For? Martial Conflict in SFF

Moderator: Natasha Bardon

Panellists: Stephen Aryan, Bradley Beaulieu, Sophia McDougall, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Gav Thorpe.

Sunday

At 12pm, before the banquet, there will be a mass signing, and I’m planning on being there. I’m not sure if they will have copies of Battlemage for sale, hopefully they will, so I guess we’ll I’ll turn  up and find out!

Even if you don’t fancy coming along to see me there are some fantastic guests of honour and all sorts of panels, book launches and readings. Hopefully I will see some of you there wielding a copy of Battlemage with intent!

Some interviews and things

So recently I’ve been asked to do a few interviews on some SFF blogs and website. People all over the world are starting to discover Battlemage, and alongside reviews it’s nice to get a bit more info from the author and try to work out what the heck was going on his brain when he wrote it and what is coming next. Or sometimes they just want to know what I like to drink, which is also cool.

Below are some links to the interviews, plus below that a few more photos of Battlemage out there in the wild.

Mogsy interviewed me over at the Bibliosanctum, which was very kind of her. We talk about characters and magic and my chances of survival during a zombie apocalypse.

João also interviewed me over at Fantasy Literature where they are doing a giveaway if you are in the UK or USA. We talked about the origin of the book plus my influences, a little bit about what is coming next in in Bloodmage, the second book in the Age of Darkness trilogy and also my favourite kind of drink.

Someone in Sydney, Australia sent me a tweet saying they’d just finished reading Battlemage, which was super cool, but a good buddy and cartoonist, Luke Foster, sent me a photo of the book in Manchester, Connecticut, which is the furthest away  from the UK I’ve seen. If you can beat that, let me know!

@SteveAryan At Barnes and Noble in Manchester, CT. pic.twitter.com/1T7q49mivS

— Spooky Luke Foster (@CartoonistLuke) October 8, 2015

Another really awesome was a lovely bookseller called Vicki in Waterstones in Swindon, put my book alongside Neal Asher and Andy Weir’s Martian on the recommended table. So thank you very, very much to Vicki for that.

Your book is on the recommended table at Waterstones Swindon @SteveAryan pic.twitter.com/OTIRoqkCSe

— Adrian Faulkner (@Figures) October 8, 2015

If you’re somewhere further west in America than CT or somewhere in Europe and you’ve seen a copy of Battlemage in your local bookshop, then take a picture and let me know!

Battlemage launch

Last week was the northern launch of Battlemage at Waterstones in Leeds, my local bookshop. It was a weird and wonderful night. Weird because I’ve gone to so many similar events in the past, sat in the audience, and listened to an author talk about their book and their world. So when I arrived and saw all of those chairs in front of those Waterstones banners a part of me was waiting for the writer to arrive.

 

It turned out to be a lovely event, and it was great to have so many local friends come out to see me, hear me talk about the long journey to getting the book published, and of course getting a copy signed.

This week marked the London launch of my book, which began with a signing event at Forbidden Planet where some of my family attended, making it very special. Danie and the staff there were kind and looked after me very well. I signed some stock, shook some hands, took some photos and had a great time. So if you want a signed copy then take a look here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that I went across to the Grange Holborn Hotel to the Sky Bar for the September Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, hosted by the most excellent Den Patrick and Jen Williams.

I gave a short reading from Battlemage, and then there was a Q and A session which seemed to go really well. I was pretty nervous to start with, but once it got going my nerves disappeared and I had to just try not to speak too quickly. It really helped having my family there, and so many friends and familiar faces in the crowd.

The venue was really lovely as well with amazing views across London, and later in the evening when it was dark I saw the London Eye and other landmarks all lit up. I’m probably in London two or three times a year maximum so it all added up to make it a bit special.

So, Battlemage is out there now in the wild. In America,  all across the UK (as people have been sending me photos of copies in their local bookshop) and  by now all around the world.

In the next few of months I’ll be at a couple of events, starting later this month at Fantasycon in Nottingham, and then in November I’m a guest at the SLEDGE-LIT one day event in Derby. After that it will be Christmas before I realise, then in the new year, the cycle begins again as we build up to the launch of Bloodmage, book 2 in the Age of Darkness trilogy! But for now….I’m going to have a bit of a rest.

Battlemage in the wild

Battlemage comes out in a couple of days, but already a number of stores have copies available and on sale. I’ve been to my local Waterstones in Leeds and I saw it on the shelf which was weird and cool and exciting and scary.

 

A friend in York has mentioned it’s on sale there too and the image below was taken at Bradford Waterstones. Battlemage is keeping some very good company there wedged between Brent Weeks, Sir Terry Pratchett, and with Trudi Canavan, Robert Jordan on top and Neil Gaiman on the bottom. It’s all starting to feel a little more real now! If you see a copy of it anywhere in your local bookshop in the UK, or in Germany as I believe it is due out there  very soon, then let me know.

 

 

The calm before the storm

Battlemage is officially published next week and at the moment I’m spending a fair bit of time reflecting. Not only looking ahead to what is about to happen with my first launch event at Waterstones in Leeds, and London the week  after, but I’m also looking backwards into the past.

I was going to write about how long it’s taken me to get to this moment, but I think I covered that previously in my posts about How I Found an Agent, part 1 and Part 2. The short version is, it’s been a long time coming. I’ve written many novels and had many rejections over the years before I got to this point.

From next week my first published novel will be out there in the world. It won’t belong just to me anymore and neither will the characters or the story. That’s a very weird feeling because for the longest time it has just been me talking about these characters, their thoughts and dreams, and soon I’ll hear other people talking about them in a familiar fashion. They’ll feel as real to them as they do to me. They will live in the minds of other people. I’ve not experienced this kind of thing before, so I think it’s going to take a little while to adjust. It’s also going to be fascinating for me to hear what other people think about certain characters, how they see them and find out which are their favourites and why.

Also, I kind of knew something already, but it really crystallised very recently. Despite it taking a long time to get here, this is actually just the beginning. For readers I’ve essentially fallen out of the sky and if they like Battlemage, they’ll look for more books in the future. So after that I have to deliver something new and if they enjoy it, continue delivering periodically.

Thankfully book 2 is well on its way to being totally complete, and it will be out in about six months. I’m now inches away from the end of the first draft of book 3, which will then be coming out in about 12 months time. So by this time next year, the Age of Darkness trilogy will be complete. Totally done and dusted. That’s kind of scary but also a cool thought. It will be amazing to see the three books together and see what people think of it as a complete story.

In about a month’s time, things should be a bit quieter and for the first time in three years I’ll start to properly focus and think about something beyond the Age of Darkness. It’s an exciting and slightly terrifying thought, but it will also be a bit of a reset moment and a step back in time because I won’t have a deadline or people asking to see it. Not just yet anyway!

Next month I’ll be at Fantasycon in Nottingham and then I’ll be a guest at SledgeLit in Derby in November. Take a look at the events page for more details.

Battlemage…signed copy silent auction

Battlemage is being published in two weeks time, in the US and UK. However, I am aware from a few comments I’ve seen online that although it is going to be published in other languages in due course, some people would still like to read it in English, but they don’t live in the UK or USA.

So, for the next seven days, from today until Tuesday 15th September I am going to run a silent auction to win 5 signed and personalised copies of the US version of Battlemage. I will personalise, sign and post out a copy to you, anywhere in the world, and you will get it a week before the official date of publication.

All money raised will be going to my local cat rescue group. Why them? Well, there’s more info below for those who are interested.

Also, please note the more you pledge, the more swag I will send you, in addition to a copy of Battlemage. I’m a lifelong comic book fan and I will send you books and comics that I think are awesome. These will not be single issues, or volume 7 of a series, these will be the first and/or second trade collections, so you can read the beginning of something and see if you like it.

Again, all money goes to a charity, so please be generous. The top 5 pledges will receive the swag and my hearty thanks. Please title your email ‘Silent Battlemage’ so I know what it’s about, and send your name and your amount in pounds sterling.

Email your pledges to stephenaryan56 [at] gmail [dot] com

Thank you for your support and generosity.

Why your local cat rescue shelter?

Leeds Cat Rescue are a local group of volunteers who are completely  funded by donations. As well as rehoming abandoned and unwanted cats found on the street, they also work very hard to reduce the numbers of stray cats by offering low cost neutering services for local income households. They also trap and neuter feral cats in wild colonies, to try and have a longer impact on the number of unwanted kittens being born in the area. They witness horrible animal cruelty on a daily basis and they are all wonderful people doing very difficult work for the love of animals.

If you’ve made it this far and are not interested in the silent auction but still want to help, they have a wishlist on Amazon UK (just search for Leeds Cat Rescue), where you can buy cat food for them, as well as other stuff they sell to raise more money for the cats.