Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond - Posts Tagged "slipstream"
What the Wind Brings
Looks as if I’ll be starting the new year on a promising note. I’m going to make a deal with Pulp Literature Press, an up and coming Canadian small publisher, for my big historical novel (with slipstream elements), What the Wind Brings.
This is a big deal for me, in that the novel is pretty much a life’s work.
It’s based on incidents I first heard about in 1971 or 1972, as a footnote in a university textbook. The core gist: shipwrecked African slaves melded with the indigenous peoples of coastal Ecuador in the mid 1500s, and together they fought the Spanish colonial power to a standstill, to remain independent, basically, for centuries.
After more than forty years of thinking about the story, I was lucky enough to receive a C$25,000 Canada Council grant to write the book. I did five drafts, which is three more than I usually do. It’s a hell of a story, my magnum opus, the one I want to be remembered for.
We’re probably looking at a summer 2019 release. I’ll keep updating on the process and trying to stimulate pre-orders. As I say, it’s a meaningful event for me — not financially, but in terms of my being able to think I’ve done something worthwhile.
This is a big deal for me, in that the novel is pretty much a life’s work.
It’s based on incidents I first heard about in 1971 or 1972, as a footnote in a university textbook. The core gist: shipwrecked African slaves melded with the indigenous peoples of coastal Ecuador in the mid 1500s, and together they fought the Spanish colonial power to a standstill, to remain independent, basically, for centuries.
After more than forty years of thinking about the story, I was lucky enough to receive a C$25,000 Canada Council grant to write the book. I did five drafts, which is three more than I usually do. It’s a hell of a story, my magnum opus, the one I want to be remembered for.
We’re probably looking at a summer 2019 release. I’ll keep updating on the process and trying to stimulate pre-orders. As I say, it’s a meaningful event for me — not financially, but in terms of my being able to think I’ve done something worthwhile.
Pre-order page for What the Wind Brings
Pulp Literature Press has set up a pre-order page for the hardcover limited edition of What the Wind Brings, my big historical novel that I waited more than forty years to write. There will also be a trade paperback and an ebook, down the road.
If you’re just tuning in, WTWB is a novel based on a series of events that happened in coastal Ecuador and the Andean highlands in the middle of the sixteenth century, when shipwrecked African slaves combined with the local indigenous people to form a new society. They fought off successive invasions by the Spanish colonial power and finally won their freedom.
I consider it the most important piece of writing I’ve ever done. It’s the work I want to be remembered for.
In about a month, Advanced Reading Copies will be ready to go out. George R.R. Martin, Bernard Cornwell, Cecelia Holland, and David Gerrold have all agreed to take a look at the book and consider giving it a blurb.
BTW, the cover is a placeholder. Pulp Literature Press has yet to commission the cover.
If you’re just tuning in, WTWB is a novel based on a series of events that happened in coastal Ecuador and the Andean highlands in the middle of the sixteenth century, when shipwrecked African slaves combined with the local indigenous people to form a new society. They fought off successive invasions by the Spanish colonial power and finally won their freedom.
I consider it the most important piece of writing I’ve ever done. It’s the work I want to be remembered for.
In about a month, Advanced Reading Copies will be ready to go out. George R.R. Martin, Bernard Cornwell, Cecelia Holland, and David Gerrold have all agreed to take a look at the book and consider giving it a blurb.
BTW, the cover is a placeholder. Pulp Literature Press has yet to commission the cover.
What the Wind Brings -- The Opening
Here are the first 7,000 words of What the Wind Brings.
Caveat: the text is still in the editing process. No copy edit has been done yet.
Caveat: the text is still in the editing process. No copy edit has been done yet.
