Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 11
March 7, 2016
"Epiphanies" available for pre-order
"Epiphanies," the fourth and probably final Luff Imbry novella from PS Publishing, is now available for pre-order from the publisher.
We'll also be doing a launch of some kind at Mancunicon in Manchester over the Easter weekend. PS is working with concom to find us a good slot in the schedule.
In other news, I've spent the past week editing Door into Faerie, the fifth and concluding volume in the YA fantasy series, Shards of Excalibur, by fellow Canadian author Ed WIllett. It's about two plucky Saskatchewan teens chosen by fate and genetics to find and reforge the shattered pieces of Arthur's magic sword, while the evil, would-be world-ruling sorcerer, Merlin, tries to beat them to it.
If you like YA fantasy quests, or know someone of an age to appreciate them, the Shards series is pretty snappy stuff.
Now that the edit is finished, I'm about to turn my attention to the third draft of my forty-years-in-the-making historical novel about the founding of the Zambo state in 16th-century Ecuador. The working title is: What the Wind Brings.
By the end of this month, I hope to have it in the hands of a major literary agent, to whom I was introduced by the legendary (well, if he isn't, he ought to be) Canadian fantasy author, Dave Duncan.
We'll also be doing a launch of some kind at Mancunicon in Manchester over the Easter weekend. PS is working with concom to find us a good slot in the schedule.
In other news, I've spent the past week editing Door into Faerie, the fifth and concluding volume in the YA fantasy series, Shards of Excalibur, by fellow Canadian author Ed WIllett. It's about two plucky Saskatchewan teens chosen by fate and genetics to find and reforge the shattered pieces of Arthur's magic sword, while the evil, would-be world-ruling sorcerer, Merlin, tries to beat them to it.
If you like YA fantasy quests, or know someone of an age to appreciate them, the Shards series is pretty snappy stuff.
Now that the edit is finished, I'm about to turn my attention to the third draft of my forty-years-in-the-making historical novel about the founding of the Zambo state in 16th-century Ecuador. The working title is: What the Wind Brings.
By the end of this month, I hope to have it in the hands of a major literary agent, to whom I was introduced by the legendary (well, if he isn't, he ought to be) Canadian fantasy author, Dave Duncan.
March 1, 2016
"Telltale" reviewed in Locus
In the March Locus, Gardner Dozois reviews the January/February issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and singles out my Raffalon story, "Telltale," as “...the best of the issue’s fantasy stories."
He says, "Matthew Hughes gives us another story of Raffalon the Thief in ‘Telltale’, as Raffalon tries to reason his way out of another of the complex and very sticky magical situations he’s always getting himself entangled in, this one even more difficult to extricate himself from than usual.”
He says, "Matthew Hughes gives us another story of Raffalon the Thief in ‘Telltale’, as Raffalon tries to reason his way out of another of the complex and very sticky magical situations he’s always getting himself entangled in, this one even more difficult to extricate himself from than usual.”
February 26, 2016
Another Raffalon fan
In the latest SF Crowsnest, Patrick Mahon reviews "Telltale," the Raffalon tale in the January/February Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: " I have to admit that whenever I see Matthew Hughes’ name on the contents page of an issue of MF&SF, that’s the story I go to first. I’ve read at least four Raffalon stories over the last couple of years, I think, and each of them has been as enjoyable as the last. The character is an eternal ‘Jack the Lad’, with the style and charisma to carry the role off. Hughes’ prose seems effortless and these stories always provide an interesting and convoluted plot that maintains your interest from beginning to end."
The prose is effortless, I suppose. I certainly enjoy writing picaresque stories. And I never know, when I start one of those convoluted plots, exactly where it's going to end up, but they always go somewhere interesting.
The prose is effortless, I suppose. I certainly enjoy writing picaresque stories. And I never know, when I start one of those convoluted plots, exactly where it's going to end up, but they always go somewhere interesting.
February 23, 2016
"Epiphanies" cover art
Here's a link to the cover art for "Epiphanies," the fourth (and I think final) Luff Imbry novella from PS Publishing. It's by Ben Baldwin, who has done the covers for the previous three novellas as well as some of my self-published backlist books. I think he captures the feel of the Imbry stories perfectly.
I think we're going to do a launch of the novella at Eastercon (Mancunicon) in Manchester in late March. I'll update with more info as I get it.
http://www.matthewhughes.org/wp-conte...
I think we're going to do a launch of the novella at Eastercon (Mancunicon) in Manchester in late March. I'll update with more info as I get it.
http://www.matthewhughes.org/wp-conte...
February 22, 2016
Launching new character: Baldemar
Back in November, I was invited to submit to Gardner Dozois's upcoming theme antho, The Book of Swords. So I wrote up a 10,000-word story about a wizard's henchman named Baldemar, who is sent out on a job that goes wrong. But it bounced: publishable but not good enough for a prestige anthology, Gardner said. So I rewrote it, and now it has sold.
I've since written an origin story for Baldemar and submitted it to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, my favorite market. If it sells and if the readers like the character -- a hardboiled operative in an archetypal fantasy world -- I'll write more of them. That's what I've been doing with a character called Raffalon the thief, originally conceived for the Dozois/Martin-edited antho, Rogues.
Ultimately, I'll gather all the Raffalon stories into a collection and self-publish them in ebook and POD paperback. I've done that with three of my other continuing characters, Henghis Hapthorn, Guth Bandar, and Luff Imbry -- and it seems to be a workable strategy. If Baldemar catches enough interest, I'll do the same with him.
I've since written an origin story for Baldemar and submitted it to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, my favorite market. If it sells and if the readers like the character -- a hardboiled operative in an archetypal fantasy world -- I'll write more of them. That's what I've been doing with a character called Raffalon the thief, originally conceived for the Dozois/Martin-edited antho, Rogues.
Ultimately, I'll gather all the Raffalon stories into a collection and self-publish them in ebook and POD paperback. I've done that with three of my other continuing characters, Henghis Hapthorn, Guth Bandar, and Luff Imbry -- and it seems to be a workable strategy. If Baldemar catches enough interest, I'll do the same with him.
February 2, 2016
Catching up
I've just checked the copy edit of Epiphanies, the fourth Luff Imbry novella that will be published by PS Publishing in two limited editions in April. I believe Ben Baldwin will do the cover art, as he has for the others. He does very fine work.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've relocated from a housesit near Cassino, Italy, to a new one in Tipperary, Ireland. The weather's not of the best, but it will be a relief not to have to stumble on in my rudimentary Italian whenever I go out. Now I can have conversations in supermarket check-out lines and not be struggling to work my way around gaps in my vocabulary.
A bonus: the Irish have exactly the same sense of humor I do, me having been born in Liverpool as a typical Scouser mongrel. A Liverpool joke: why do they put fences around graveyards? Because people are dying to get in.
Or this one: They say money talks, but the only thing it ever said to me was "Bye, bye!" It's funnier if you smile and wave.
Speaking of good jokes, after I got set up in the new sit, I had an odd impulse to write a near-future what-if story set in America and Canada of 2017, after Donald Trump becomes president. I finished the draft yesterday -- 7,300 words. And what does Trump do: blows his lead in Iowa. Thanks a lot, Donny boy. Was it so much to ask?
I'm going to wait to see if he wins in New Hampshire; if he does, I'll send the story out quickly, before it can turn into a pumpkin.
I've applied to be the Vancouver Public Library's 2016 Writer in Residence, from August through November. If I get it, I'll need to find somewhere to live, if anyone has a spare room to rent.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've relocated from a housesit near Cassino, Italy, to a new one in Tipperary, Ireland. The weather's not of the best, but it will be a relief not to have to stumble on in my rudimentary Italian whenever I go out. Now I can have conversations in supermarket check-out lines and not be struggling to work my way around gaps in my vocabulary.
A bonus: the Irish have exactly the same sense of humor I do, me having been born in Liverpool as a typical Scouser mongrel. A Liverpool joke: why do they put fences around graveyards? Because people are dying to get in.
Or this one: They say money talks, but the only thing it ever said to me was "Bye, bye!" It's funnier if you smile and wave.
Speaking of good jokes, after I got set up in the new sit, I had an odd impulse to write a near-future what-if story set in America and Canada of 2017, after Donald Trump becomes president. I finished the draft yesterday -- 7,300 words. And what does Trump do: blows his lead in Iowa. Thanks a lot, Donny boy. Was it so much to ask?
I'm going to wait to see if he wins in New Hampshire; if he does, I'll send the story out quickly, before it can turn into a pumpkin.
I've applied to be the Vancouver Public Library's 2016 Writer in Residence, from August through November. If I get it, I'll need to find somewhere to live, if anyone has a spare room to rent.
January 15, 2016
Helping a dreamer
A dedicated Canadian sff fan by the name of Richard Graeme Cameron is looking to start up a new online science fiction and fantasy zine to be called Polar Boreal. It will feature reprints from established pros and original stories from newcomers, but only from Canadians. And it will only pay a penny a word, which these days is less than seven tenths of a US penny and less than half a British one.
It will be free to readers, however, and if it works as Cameron intends, it will offer plenty of starting-out Canadian sff writers a chance to make their first sale.
That being so, I've kicked in to his crowd-funding campaign, because where would we be without dreamers. Anyone else who feels inclined to do so can go here: https://www.gofundme.com/jwj3dzgc
It will be free to readers, however, and if it works as Cameron intends, it will offer plenty of starting-out Canadian sff writers a chance to make their first sale.
That being so, I've kicked in to his crowd-funding campaign, because where would we be without dreamers. Anyone else who feels inclined to do so can go here: https://www.gofundme.com/jwj3dzgc
January 2, 2016
"Telltale" Review
Nice to start the year off with a good review. At SF Revu, Sam Tomaino reviews "Telltale," the new Raffalon story in the January February issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: ". . . another delightful tale from Hughes."
And never too late, here's a blogger's review of "Bye the Rules," a Guth Bandar tale that ran in the December 2006 edition of F&SF. It gets an "excellent/vg" rating, which allows me to remind people that all the Guth Bandar stories are collected in The Compleat Guth Bandar available wherever ebooks and POD paperbacks are sold, including my own website.
And never too late, here's a blogger's review of "Bye the Rules," a Guth Bandar tale that ran in the December 2006 edition of F&SF. It gets an "excellent/vg" rating, which allows me to remind people that all the Guth Bandar stories are collected in The Compleat Guth Bandar available wherever ebooks and POD paperbacks are sold, including my own website.
December 31, 2015
Another sale to F&SF
I've sold another Raffalon novelette to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. "Genius" is a long one -- 14,000 words -- and features Cascor the discriminatorbudding thaumaturge. It's about politics, graft, and old crimes coming to light. It should run in 2016 and when I know which issue it will appear in, I'll post the info here.
This is my twenty-eighth sale to F&SF and the first since new editor Charlie Finlay took over. "Genius" will probably be my next-to-last Raffalon/Cascor tale. Added to the others, it makes a total of 91,000 words, enough for a collection. When the magazine's six-months after publication exclusivity period ends, I'll write a new one that will only appear in the collection and self-publish it as a $3.99 ebook and $12.99 POD paperback.
Down the road, I may put Cascor and Raffalon into a novel but for the moment I'm happy with them just being episodic characters.
#
In the meantime, between drafts of the historical novel, I'm 7,500 words into a novelette to submit to Gardner Dozois's invitation-only anthology, The Book of Swords. Just as I originally created Raffalon for the George R.R. Martin/Gardner Dozois theme antho, Rogues, I've made myself a new roguish picaresque character called Baldemar (the name may change).
#
I'm in London right now, having finished a three-week housesit in a little village outside Banbury. Tomorrow it's back to Italy to wind up the sit there. Then we'll load up the Vauxhall station wagon and drive to Cherbourg to catch a ferry to Ireland, where we're looking after a house-with-cats in Tipperary through to the end of April.
In May, it's back to the US west coast, sitting at a country acreage on the Olympic Peninsula. It's the same place where we tended nine standard poodles (in the house, not kennels!) back in 2010, but there will be no dogs this time -- although there may be some horses to shovel for.
#
Happy New Year to everybody.
This is my twenty-eighth sale to F&SF and the first since new editor Charlie Finlay took over. "Genius" will probably be my next-to-last Raffalon/Cascor tale. Added to the others, it makes a total of 91,000 words, enough for a collection. When the magazine's six-months after publication exclusivity period ends, I'll write a new one that will only appear in the collection and self-publish it as a $3.99 ebook and $12.99 POD paperback.
Down the road, I may put Cascor and Raffalon into a novel but for the moment I'm happy with them just being episodic characters.
#
In the meantime, between drafts of the historical novel, I'm 7,500 words into a novelette to submit to Gardner Dozois's invitation-only anthology, The Book of Swords. Just as I originally created Raffalon for the George R.R. Martin/Gardner Dozois theme antho, Rogues, I've made myself a new roguish picaresque character called Baldemar (the name may change).
#
I'm in London right now, having finished a three-week housesit in a little village outside Banbury. Tomorrow it's back to Italy to wind up the sit there. Then we'll load up the Vauxhall station wagon and drive to Cherbourg to catch a ferry to Ireland, where we're looking after a house-with-cats in Tipperary through to the end of April.
In May, it's back to the US west coast, sitting at a country acreage on the Olympic Peninsula. It's the same place where we tended nine standard poodles (in the house, not kennels!) back in 2010, but there will be no dogs this time -- although there may be some horses to shovel for.
#
Happy New Year to everybody.
December 18, 2015
Ecotones -- an SFF World anthoogy
That Kickstarter-funded ebook anthology from the people at SFFWorld.com has come into existence. It's called Ecotones: Ecological Stories from the Border Between Fantasy and Science Fiction.
On the Table of Contents are Ken Liu, Lauren Beukes, and Tobias S. Buckell, and I contributed the comic relief effort, "Not a Problem," that first saw light in Gordon Van Gelder's theme antho on global warming, Welcome to the Greenhouse.
It's on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Ecotones-Ecolog...
It's also on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
On the Table of Contents are Ken Liu, Lauren Beukes, and Tobias S. Buckell, and I contributed the comic relief effort, "Not a Problem," that first saw light in Gordon Van Gelder's theme antho on global warming, Welcome to the Greenhouse.
It's on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Ecotones-Ecolog...
It's also on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
