Heather Child's Blog, page 3
July 10, 2019
Win a signed copy of THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT
Be the first to get your hands on this new mind-bending novel. There’s a signed copy waiting for the lucky winner…
Please enter below (details will be used for this competition only and not passed to any third party).
Competition closes Friday 9 August.
Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
The post Win a signed copy of THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT appeared first on Heather Child.
Book Launch: Five things you won’t regret
Finally The Undoing of Arlo Knott is hitting bookshops, and where better to launch it than the fabulous Storysmith books in Bristol? I’ll be talking to Cheryl Morgan of Wizard’s Tower press on the themes of the book, and on ‘Five things you won’t regret’ (according to Arlo Knott!)
Heather Child: The Undoing of Arlo Knott
Thursday 1st August, 6:30pm, £5 (includes a glass of wine and 10% off featured books)
Arlo Knott develops the mysterious ability to reverse his last action. It makes him able to experience anything, to charm any woman and impress any friend. His is a life free of mistakes, a life without regret.
Come along and enjoy some literary chit chat with a glass of wine… you won’t regret it!
Cheryl Morgan is a Hugo Award-winning publisher and science fiction & fantasy critic. She owns and runs Wizard’s Tower Press. Cheryl is also a co-host of the Women’s Outlook show on Ujima Radio. You can read more about her at Cheryl’s Mewsings and follow her on Twitter as @CherylMorgan.
The post Book Launch: Five things you won’t regret appeared first on Heather Child.
May 6, 2019
Cover launch – THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT
At last, the beautiful cover of my new book is out in the world!
The designer, Ellen Rockwell of Orbit UK, has done an amazing job capturing the surreal, heightened reality of Arlo’s life. The snake is reminiscent of what he grapples with, his powerful, fabulous ego, and the scales seem to disintegrate almost as though some of his peculiar power to ‘undo’ things has leached into the image.
I really like the pizzazz and glamour of this cover, and think it perfectly captures the spirit of the book.
The post Cover launch – THE UNDOING OF ARLO KNOTT appeared first on Heather Child.
February 19, 2019
EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU – Paperback Launch This Week!
STARBURST MAGAZINE
Gone Girl for the VR generation . . . when the book is released ask Alexa to order you a copy. But be careful she doesn’t read it before you do, she may just tell the delivery drone that we’re onto them.
The paperback of Everything About You is finally here! It will be launched at Foyles bookshop in Bristol, on Thursday 21st February – come along and enjoy a lively evening of speculative fiction.
Freya has been lucky enough to get hold of a virtual assistant which knows everything about her and will fulfil her every desire . But there is something strange about its voice…
Futures Far and Near: Gareth L. Powell and Heather Child in Conversation
This is a joint book launch with Gareth L. Powell, author of the acclaimed Embers of War, a thrilling space opera featuring living ships, sentient forests, compelling characters and big questions about the nature of war. He will be launching the sequel, Fleet of Knives, at this event.
I’ll be talking about Everything About You, the future that is just around the corner, and how much control we are happy to concede to AI and automation technologies. What’s the worst that could happen, should you hand over your decision-making to an intelligence smarter than your own?
In these times of huge uncertainty, and with Brexit just around the corner, questions of identity loom large, and science fiction is perhaps the only clear lens we have with which to examine them.
Don’t miss out! Join us on Thursday 21 February, 7.30pm – 9.00pm.
Foyles bookshop, Cabot Circus, Bristol.
https://www.foyles.co.uk/Public/Events/Detail.aspx?eventId=3832
Discover it… before it discovers you
MORE ABOUT EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU
The post EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU – Paperback Launch This Week! appeared first on Heather Child.
November 7, 2018
Small publishers gather in Bath
This weekend I was in Bath with Writers Unchained, meeting lots of other writers’ collectives, small presses and other creatives.
It was a good chance for all the publishers based in the Westcountry – like Tangent Books, Wizard’s Tower Press and Silver Crow Books – to come together, get to know one another and share their wares with the public.
The post Small publishers gather in Bath appeared first on Heather Child.
October 26, 2018
MCM Comic Con London
This will be my second appearance at MCM Comic Con at London’s excel centre. This is where I’ll be if you want to say hello:
Saturday
14:00pm – 14:45pm – Creator Stage: Literary Young Guns – Writing a novel is tough work. Getting one published is even tougher. Join Moderator and debut author Tade Thompson (Rosewater) Tasha Suri (Empire of Sand) Leo Carew (The Wolf) Heather Child (Everything About You) Nick Setchfield (The War in the Dark) and Jeanette NG (Under the Pendulum Sun) as they discuss their journey from finished novel to publication
14:30pm – 15:00pm – Forbidden Planet SIGNING – Steven Erickson (Rejoice) Marieke Nijkamp (Before I Let Go) Tim Pratt (The Wrong Stars) Nicholas Eames (Bloody Rose) Heather Child (Everything About You)
18:00pm – 18:45pm – Creator Stage: Sci-Fi Scribblings – The field of science-fiction is filled to the brim with variety, from space operas to hard science. Science-fiction authors Claire North (84K) Jamie Sawyer (The Lazarus War Series) Tim Pratt (The Wrong Stars) Heather Child (Everything About You) Tom Toner (The Tropic of Eternity) as they discuss what makes great science-fiction.
Sunday
12:00pm – 12:45pm – Creator Stage: Orbit Presents – Orbit Authors Nicholas Eames (Bloody Rose) Tasha Suri (Empire of Sand) Mike Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts) Tade Thompson (Rosewater) Heather Child (Everything About You) RJ Baker (King of Assassins) Stephen Aryan (Mage Born) talk all things Orbit
13:00pm – 13:30pm – Forbidden Planet SIGNING – Mike Carey (The Girl with All the Gifts) Nicholas Eames (Bloody Rose) Tade Thompson (Rosewater) Tasha Suri (Empire of Sand) RJ Baker (King of Assassins) Heather Child (Everything About You)
The post MCM Comic Con London appeared first on Heather Child.
September 26, 2018
Everything About You featured on BBC Radio 4
A lovely surprise to find Everything About You mentioned on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book as one of Peter F. Hamilton’s top six science fiction books. Peter F. Hamilton is the bestselling author of numerous sci-fi novels including the Greg Mandel series and the Night’s Dawn trilogy.
Everything About You was one of the more contemporary books among his six choices, a look forward to the data age when the internet knows everything about everyone.
You can listen to the show here (with the book mentioned at 23:04) https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/b0bg...
The post Everything About You featured on BBC Radio 4 appeared first on Heather Child.
July 11, 2018
Talking AI at the Dystopian Book Club
James Smythe’s dystopian novel I Still Dream, is also about an artificial intelligence, and deals with many of the same themes as Everything About You. Thus it was no problem launching into a lively and in-depth AI debate when I joined him in London – along with Rachel Heng, author of Suicide Club – at the Dark Societies dystopian book club.
One topic that seemed to strike a particular chill in the audience was the idea of AI clones of people being able to continue their lives after death. We discussed the (now defunct) @LivesOn Twitter service, which would digest a person’s tweets and then continue to interact as they would, even after they are gone.
It was a great event, marred only by having to compete with the World Cup semi-final… which really separated out the true fans of sci-fi fiction!
The post Talking AI at the Dystopian Book Club appeared first on Heather Child.
May 26, 2018
Fabulous book display at Forbidden Planet Bristol
Local authors for local people: Forbidden Planet Bristol set up this excellent table display…
You can see Everything About You reviewed in the Daily Mail, Sunday Sport and Guardian. One of my favourites is this intelligent and insightful review from Blue Book Balloon.
“We can, if we want, keep the option of living our own lives, rather than just following the choices the algorithms make for us…”
The post Fabulous book display at Forbidden Planet Bristol appeared first on Heather Child.
April 26, 2018
Everything About You – launch!
Launch day!
Everything About You finally hit the shelves today, and signings took place at Goldboro books in London and Forbidden Planet London and Bristol.
The post Everything About You – launch! appeared first on Heather Child.
