Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 13
October 2, 2015
Where I'll be next year
From late January through the end of April, I'll be housesitting in Tipperary, Ireland. Doesn't that sound lovely? Of course, it will actually be during the tail end of a North Atlantic winter, but the Guinness will be good.
Starting in mid-May, I'll be in Washington State until December, just a ferry ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island. I'll be able to observe the American election at close range and I can run for the border if civil war breaks out.
Since I'll be close to BC, I'll visit family and friends. I'll also attend the Creative Ink Festival, a writers conference, in Burnaby (where I went to high school) May 6th through 8th. I've give a presentation, probably on story mechanics, and do some blue pencil cafe sessions.
And, god help me, I will attend the 50-year class reunion of Burnaby South High School's class of 66. The only reason I attended BSHS that year was because I was thrown out of Burnaby Central for unacceptable behavior, but I actually do remember some of the people I went to school with.
In August, I'll be at WorldCon in Kansas City, if the aforementioned civil war hasn't broken out yet. If you're going and you've got books you'd like signed, bring then along.
Starting in mid-May, I'll be in Washington State until December, just a ferry ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island. I'll be able to observe the American election at close range and I can run for the border if civil war breaks out.
Since I'll be close to BC, I'll visit family and friends. I'll also attend the Creative Ink Festival, a writers conference, in Burnaby (where I went to high school) May 6th through 8th. I've give a presentation, probably on story mechanics, and do some blue pencil cafe sessions.
And, god help me, I will attend the 50-year class reunion of Burnaby South High School's class of 66. The only reason I attended BSHS that year was because I was thrown out of Burnaby Central for unacceptable behavior, but I actually do remember some of the people I went to school with.
In August, I'll be at WorldCon in Kansas City, if the aforementioned civil war hasn't broken out yet. If you're going and you've got books you'd like signed, bring then along.
September 22, 2015
Nice review of "Curse of the Myrmelon"
Fletcher Vredenburgh (isn't that a great name?) is the short-fiction reviewer for the Black Gate blog. He's reviewed the stories he read in August that he thought were worthwhile. And one of them is the Raffalon/Cascor story "Curse of the Myrmelon" in the July-August Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
He says, "Hughes is a master at creating Vancian-style stories . . . Like the preceding [Raffalon] stories, this one is filled with humorous turns of phrase, clever plot twists, and a vividly colorful setting."
He says, "Hughes is a master at creating Vancian-style stories . . . Like the preceding [Raffalon] stories, this one is filled with humorous turns of phrase, clever plot twists, and a vividly colorful setting."
September 18, 2015
Sold a crime story
Besides fantasy and science fiction, I've also written crime fiction -- even won an award from the Crime Writers of Canada some years ago. I had one little short story -- "Sealed with a Kiss" -- on my hard drive that I had never sold. I sent it out to Hitchcock's and Ellery Queen years ago and got no nibbles, and after that it just sat there. I would notice it every few months and think, "I ought to do something with that one."
Today I got an acceptance on it from an editor who is putting together an anthology of Canadian crime fiction. When I checked my emails I found out I'd submitted it in November of 2013. I'd completely forgotten. Now I can truthfully say that I've sold every crime short story I ever wrote, which is gratifying.
I'd sold all the sf stories, too, except for a 500-word flash fiction piece called "Ant Farm" that, as with "SWAK," I sent out to only a couple of places. I included it in the sf collection "Devil or Angel and Other Stories," so there's no place sending it anywhere else now.
The crime fiction antho will be out in the next few months. I'll announce it when I know the publication date.
John Vance, son of Jack, runs Spatterlight Press, which has been producing ebooks of his father's works, using the authoritative Vance Integral Edition texts which restored all the good bits cut by pulp magazine editors obsessed by page counts. I've mentioned that I've been writing and narrating the promotional copy for videos produced by Koen Vyverman for the Jack Vance YouTube channel.
Well, now Spatterlight is expanding into the publishing of print-on-demand paperbacks. The first title is Emphyrio which, by coincidence, is the Vance work I usually recommend for those who haven't read him yet. And I've just written the back-cover "About the Author" blurb and an enthusiastic preface which was a great pleasure to write.
Today I got an acceptance on it from an editor who is putting together an anthology of Canadian crime fiction. When I checked my emails I found out I'd submitted it in November of 2013. I'd completely forgotten. Now I can truthfully say that I've sold every crime short story I ever wrote, which is gratifying.
I'd sold all the sf stories, too, except for a 500-word flash fiction piece called "Ant Farm" that, as with "SWAK," I sent out to only a couple of places. I included it in the sf collection "Devil or Angel and Other Stories," so there's no place sending it anywhere else now.
The crime fiction antho will be out in the next few months. I'll announce it when I know the publication date.
~~~~~
John Vance, son of Jack, runs Spatterlight Press, which has been producing ebooks of his father's works, using the authoritative Vance Integral Edition texts which restored all the good bits cut by pulp magazine editors obsessed by page counts. I've mentioned that I've been writing and narrating the promotional copy for videos produced by Koen Vyverman for the Jack Vance YouTube channel.
Well, now Spatterlight is expanding into the publishing of print-on-demand paperbacks. The first title is Emphyrio which, by coincidence, is the Vance work I usually recommend for those who haven't read him yet. And I've just written the back-cover "About the Author" blurb and an enthusiastic preface which was a great pleasure to write.
~~~~~
For those keeping track, I'm 136,000 words into the historical novel. Two more chapters should see the first draft finished, then it will be time to pull it all together. Should be done by Christmas.
September 6, 2015
Reviews of "Curse of the Myrmelon" in Locus
In the current edition of Locus, there are a couple of good reviews of “Curse of the Myrmelon,” my latest Raffalon/Cascor story in the July/August issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Gardner Dozois says, “Matthew Hughes gives us another entertaining Vancian sword and sorcery adventure.”
And Rich Horton says, “This is, as with most of Hughes’s work, very good fun in a quite plausible version of one aspect of Jack Vance’s voice.”
I’ll take comparisons to Jack Vance any day.
And for anyone who's counting, I'm back at work on the historical novel and am just past 130,000 words.
Gardner Dozois says, “Matthew Hughes gives us another entertaining Vancian sword and sorcery adventure.”
And Rich Horton says, “This is, as with most of Hughes’s work, very good fun in a quite plausible version of one aspect of Jack Vance’s voice.”
I’ll take comparisons to Jack Vance any day.
And for anyone who's counting, I'm back at work on the historical novel and am just past 130,000 words.
August 29, 2015
Inn of the Seven Blessings Review
There's a new review of my Raffalon story "The Inn of the Seven Blessings," from the 2014 cross-genre antho, ROGUES, at the Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together blog. And I like it a lot.
The reviewer, who may be famous in fandom (the blog came in 12th in the Hugo runnings this year) identifies herself only as Tia. And Tia really gets what I'm trying to do with what I'm writing. She says:
What I like most about this story is that it is full of classic fantasy tropes, but does not feel contrived or forced. . . Sure, I love when books successfully push the boundaries of the genre, challenge pre-conceived notions, and subvert tropes, but it is also refreshing to see that the foundations of the genre can still be done well and are still entertaining.
I couldn't agree more. I have nothing against boundary pushers. They sometimes cause problems, but that's part of life. Yet, without boundary pushers, we'd still be chipping flints and wondering which one of us the lions would pull out of the tree tonight.
I believe there's plenty of room left in the old mansions to move the furniture around and come up with new arrangements that please and gratify. That's what I feel like doing with my talents and abilities. I don't expect it to make me rich and famous, but I really respond when someone comes by for a visit and says, "Hey, that's a room I'd like to spend some time in."
A small ambition, but mine own.
The reviewer, who may be famous in fandom (the blog came in 12th in the Hugo runnings this year) identifies herself only as Tia. And Tia really gets what I'm trying to do with what I'm writing. She says:
What I like most about this story is that it is full of classic fantasy tropes, but does not feel contrived or forced. . . Sure, I love when books successfully push the boundaries of the genre, challenge pre-conceived notions, and subvert tropes, but it is also refreshing to see that the foundations of the genre can still be done well and are still entertaining.
I couldn't agree more. I have nothing against boundary pushers. They sometimes cause problems, but that's part of life. Yet, without boundary pushers, we'd still be chipping flints and wondering which one of us the lions would pull out of the tree tonight.
I believe there's plenty of room left in the old mansions to move the furniture around and come up with new arrangements that please and gratify. That's what I feel like doing with my talents and abilities. I don't expect it to make me rich and famous, but I really respond when someone comes by for a visit and says, "Hey, that's a room I'd like to spend some time in."
A small ambition, but mine own.
August 25, 2015
James Nicoll's review of Devil or Angel
The indefatigable James Nicoll has reviewed Devil or Angel and Other Stories in his usual comprehensive way, with a summation and a pertinent comment on each story. And this general recommendation: "You generally cannot go wrong picking up Hughes’s books and this is no exception."
He confirms my hope that knowledgeable readers will recognize these sixteen non-Archonate (except one) pieces as stories that might have appeared in Galaxy or Astounding fifty years ago.
And he delights me by saying one of my stories might have been penned by William Tenn or Fredric Brown.
I acknowledge an old debt to James because I believe that, as a winnowing first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club, he would have been the one to recommend my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, to Andy Wheeler, the club's editor. The novel and its sequel were reprinted as an SFBC omnibus, Gullible's Travels and gave me to believe that I was well launched on an sf writer's career.
He confirms my hope that knowledgeable readers will recognize these sixteen non-Archonate (except one) pieces as stories that might have appeared in Galaxy or Astounding fifty years ago.
And he delights me by saying one of my stories might have been penned by William Tenn or Fredric Brown.
I acknowledge an old debt to James because I believe that, as a winnowing first reader for the Science Fiction Book Club, he would have been the one to recommend my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, to Andy Wheeler, the club's editor. The novel and its sequel were reprinted as an SFBC omnibus, Gullible's Travels and gave me to believe that I was well launched on an sf writer's career.
August 24, 2015
One for the Nooksters
I hear that tomorrow, in the US only, Barnes and Noble will be offering The Damned Busters in their Nook format tomorrow for $1.99. It will be part of a B&N promotion aimed to get people to buy the first of a series.
The book is the first volume of a trilogy called To Hell and Back, in which a high-functioning autistic actuary accidentally summons up a demon, causing Hell to go on strike. He ends up as a costumed crimefighter with a wise-cracking demon as his helper.
It's funny, people say. It's also my attempt to understand why the universe is so obviously a rough draft.
The book is the first volume of a trilogy called To Hell and Back, in which a high-functioning autistic actuary accidentally summons up a demon, causing Hell to go on strike. He ends up as a costumed crimefighter with a wise-cracking demon as his helper.
It's funny, people say. It's also my attempt to understand why the universe is so obviously a rough draft.
Samples now on Archonate webstore
Thanks to my invaluable webpage manager and book designer, Bradley W. Schenck, the Archonate bookstore now offers samples of most of the titles available for sale.
In the fall, I'm going to put two more of my suspense novels up for sale: Downshift and Old Growth. They recount the adventures of Sid Rafferty, a freelance speechwriter living on Vancouver Island in the 1980s and 90s who gets drawn into mystery and murder. Any resemblances between Raff's life and my own experiences as a Vancouver Island-based speechwriter are not coincidental.
If you can't wait, both are available as ebooks and POD paperbacks from Five Rivers Press.
In the fall, I'm going to put two more of my suspense novels up for sale: Downshift and Old Growth. They recount the adventures of Sid Rafferty, a freelance speechwriter living on Vancouver Island in the 1980s and 90s who gets drawn into mystery and murder. Any resemblances between Raff's life and my own experiences as a Vancouver Island-based speechwriter are not coincidental.
If you can't wait, both are available as ebooks and POD paperbacks from Five Rivers Press.
August 20, 2015
Interview at SFF World
I've done an interview with Dag Rambraut at the SFF World site. Lots of info about how my Archonate universe developed and how I write.
August 7, 2015
Say what?
Okay, this one's got me puzzled. A few years ago, I wrote an "urban fantasy" trilogy for Angry Robot Books. I didn't know that urban fantasy meant vampires and werewolves, so I wrote about a high-functioning autistic actuary who accidentally summons a demon. Hijinks ensue and he comes out of it as what he's always wanted to be: a costumed crimefighter whose superpowers come from a wisecracking demon assigned to help him.
The series was called To Hell and Back and although I thought it was pretty skookum, it didn't resonate well with people who expected vampires and werewolves. But those who like their cosmology mixed with a hefty dose of ironic humor said nice things about the books.
They still sell a few copies a week but I figured that was the end of that. Now I see that Penguin Random House, who distribute AR books in the US and Canada, have apparently prepared a teachers guide to the middle book, Costume Not Included.
This has only happened to me once before, when Maxwell Macmillan published a teachers guide to my first novel, Fools Errant. It contained questions about the text that even I couldn't answer.
I'm assuming the PRH teachers guide listing is a mistake by someone in the cataloguing department. I tried following a link to order a copy of the guide and ended up at the Amazon listing for CNI itself.
The series was called To Hell and Back and although I thought it was pretty skookum, it didn't resonate well with people who expected vampires and werewolves. But those who like their cosmology mixed with a hefty dose of ironic humor said nice things about the books.
They still sell a few copies a week but I figured that was the end of that. Now I see that Penguin Random House, who distribute AR books in the US and Canada, have apparently prepared a teachers guide to the middle book, Costume Not Included.
This has only happened to me once before, when Maxwell Macmillan published a teachers guide to my first novel, Fools Errant. It contained questions about the text that even I couldn't answer.
I'm assuming the PRH teachers guide listing is a mistake by someone in the cataloguing department. I tried following a link to order a copy of the guide and ended up at the Amazon listing for CNI itself.
