Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 18
November 23, 2014
Tweeting for followers
My middle son assures me that the way to develop a lot of Twitter followers is to tweet interesting bits of wit and pith. I'm giving it a try, one a week. My first two:
They say money talks. Only thing it ever said to me was, "Bye!"
Funny thing, back in the day, nobody said back in the day.
I'm prepared to use Tome Swifties, if I must.
They say money talks. Only thing it ever said to me was, "Bye!"
Funny thing, back in the day, nobody said back in the day.
I'm prepared to use Tome Swifties, if I must.
Tweeting for followers
My middle son assures me that the way to develop a lot of Twitter followers is to tweet interesting bits of wit and pith. I'm giving it a try, one a week. My first two:
They say money talks. Only thing it ever said to me was, "Bye!"
Funny thing, back in the day, nobody said back in the day.
I'm prepared to use Tome Swifties, if I must.
They say money talks. Only thing it ever said to me was, "Bye!"
Funny thing, back in the day, nobody said back in the day.
I'm prepared to use Tome Swifties, if I must.
November 22, 2014
Lots of stories coming up
Lots of things to report, since I've been off-line almost two months:
"Enter Saunterance" is the latest installment in the serialized novel, The Kaslo Chronicles, now up for a free read at Lightspeed Magazine.
This month also saw the reprinting of the first Rafffalon tale, "Wearaway and Flambeau," in Sean Wallace's anthology, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WARRIORS AND WIZARDRY.
I've turned in the last episode of Kaslo, so Lightspeed will be running the remaining chapters through to the end of the novel sometime in 2015.
"Prisoner of Pandarius," another tale of Raffalon, my archetypal journeyman thief, should run in the January/December issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction . Gordon van Gelder has two more Raffalon stories in inventory, which should run in 2015.
I'll do at least a couple more Raffalons to make sure I have a collection's worth. Then I'll self-publish them as an ebook and POD paperback, once they've all run. I'll include the actual first-written Raffalon story, written for George R.R. Martin's and Gardner Dozois's cross-genre anthology, ROGUES, which made the bestseller lists and is a bargain at Amazon where it's discounted about forty percent.
Something I'm particularly proud of is a Jeeves and Wooster pastiche in OLD VENUS, the next Martin/Dozois antho coming out in March.
And I'm thinking of reviving my corpulent master criminal of the Archonate, Luff Imbry, in a few stories and offering them to John Joseph Adams at Lightspeed. BTW, my self-pubbed Imbry collection, THE MEANING OF LUFF AND OTHER STORIES, did not win the Endeavour Award earlier this month, but making the shortlist of five out of a longlist of forty-five is not bad.
For Imbry fans, "Of Whimsies and Noubles," the third in the trio of novellas published by PS Publishing in the UK, is now available in two limited editions, one of them signed.
"Enter Saunterance" is the latest installment in the serialized novel, The Kaslo Chronicles, now up for a free read at Lightspeed Magazine.
This month also saw the reprinting of the first Rafffalon tale, "Wearaway and Flambeau," in Sean Wallace's anthology, THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WARRIORS AND WIZARDRY.
I've turned in the last episode of Kaslo, so Lightspeed will be running the remaining chapters through to the end of the novel sometime in 2015.
"Prisoner of Pandarius," another tale of Raffalon, my archetypal journeyman thief, should run in the January/December issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction . Gordon van Gelder has two more Raffalon stories in inventory, which should run in 2015.
I'll do at least a couple more Raffalons to make sure I have a collection's worth. Then I'll self-publish them as an ebook and POD paperback, once they've all run. I'll include the actual first-written Raffalon story, written for George R.R. Martin's and Gardner Dozois's cross-genre anthology, ROGUES, which made the bestseller lists and is a bargain at Amazon where it's discounted about forty percent.
Something I'm particularly proud of is a Jeeves and Wooster pastiche in OLD VENUS, the next Martin/Dozois antho coming out in March.
And I'm thinking of reviving my corpulent master criminal of the Archonate, Luff Imbry, in a few stories and offering them to John Joseph Adams at Lightspeed. BTW, my self-pubbed Imbry collection, THE MEANING OF LUFF AND OTHER STORIES, did not win the Endeavour Award earlier this month, but making the shortlist of five out of a longlist of forty-five is not bad.
For Imbry fans, "Of Whimsies and Noubles," the third in the trio of novellas published by PS Publishing in the UK, is now available in two limited editions, one of them signed.
November 20, 2014
New versions of my ebooks
Hardware malfunctions have kept me from updating here since late September, but now I'm back. I have a number of things to post about but 'll do them one at a time over the next few days so as not to be constantly tugging on your sleeve.
My gifted book designer and webmaster, Bradley W. Schenck, has sent me new and improved versions of my self-published ebooks, Fools Errant, Fool Me Twice, Template, The Meaning of Luff, The Complete Guth Bandar, 9 Tales of Henghis Hapthorn, and Paroxysm.
If you've bought them on Amazon, the updated content will automatically come through. If you haven't bought them, now would be a good time.
My gifted book designer and webmaster, Bradley W. Schenck, has sent me new and improved versions of my self-published ebooks, Fools Errant, Fool Me Twice, Template, The Meaning of Luff, The Complete Guth Bandar, 9 Tales of Henghis Hapthorn, and Paroxysm.
If you've bought them on Amazon, the updated content will automatically come through. If you haven't bought them, now would be a good time.
September 17, 2014
New Kaslo episode in Lightspeed
"Under the Scab," the seventh episode in The Kaslo Chronicles, is now available for a free read at Lightspeed Magazine. Here's the intro blurb:
As a new age of magic dawns amid the ruins of the former technological civilization on Novo Bantry, wizard’s henchman Erm Kaslo is on the trail of the horde of multi-legged creatures that carried off the survivors who had taken shelter at the castle of his employer, the wizard Diomedo Obron. The tracks lead to an interplanar portal into the Seventh Plane. Kaslo has no idea what awaits him there, but knows that he must go through.
The six previous episodes are available in Lightspeed's archive.
I've now written and turned in the final episode in the serialized novel.
As a new age of magic dawns amid the ruins of the former technological civilization on Novo Bantry, wizard’s henchman Erm Kaslo is on the trail of the horde of multi-legged creatures that carried off the survivors who had taken shelter at the castle of his employer, the wizard Diomedo Obron. The tracks lead to an interplanar portal into the Seventh Plane. Kaslo has no idea what awaits him there, but knows that he must go through.
The six previous episodes are available in Lightspeed's archive.
I've now written and turned in the final episode in the serialized novel.
September 9, 2014
The Other ebook $4.99 on Amazon
September 1, 2014
Amazon reviews
My books have been attracting a few more reviews on Amazon lately. To those who have posted them, I greatly appreciate the kind words and, sometimes, interesting perspectives and insights . If anyone would like to add to their number -- and they don't have to five stars -- I'd be grateful for the encouragement.
August 26, 2014
WorldCon and other happenings
A round-up post . . .
All in all, I had a pretty good time at WorldCon in London last week. I didn’t get invited onto any panels – not even the one about Canadian sf – but I got to see some old friends.
Gordon Van Gelder and I had a beer together, I exchanged a few pleasant words with George R.R. Martin, and went to dinner with the legendary Brian Aldiss (courtesy of Pete and Nicky Crowther).
I had two delightful encounters: multi-award-winning author Michael Swanwick came over to the PS Publishing table when I was signing books, to tell me I was an excellent writer; and I got to meet mega-critic John Clute and give him a copy of the Luff Imbry collection.
We also launched, unofficially, Of Whimsies and Noubles, the third and long delayed Luff Imbry novella from PS Publishing. The unsigned limited edition is now out and available. The signed edition will come later, once I receive the signature pages, sign them, and send them back. Next year, there will also be an omnibus edition of all three novellas, to which I will contribute a new, original Imbry story.
I arrived back in France to find a box full of signature sheets for a Subterranean Press limited edition of Rogues, the bestselling George Martin/Gardner Dozois cross-genre anthology.
Between bouts of wearing out my hand signing my scrawl of a signature, I finished the last episode of The Kaslo Chronicles, a serialized novel that Lightspeed Magazine has been running. Down the road, once the last episode has appeared in the magazine, I’ll tidy up the narrative and self-publish it as an ebook and POD paperback.
I’m now about 2,500 words into another Raffalon novelette, but in this one the lead character is Cascor the former provostman turned magic-wielding private eye. As I usually do with a detective story, I started with the character encountering an unusual situation that triggers an investigation – but I have no idea who the bad guy is or how things are going to work out. Still, piece by piece, the guy in the back of my head feeds me scenes and insights, and I write 500 to 1,000 words a day. By the end of the tale, it all pretty well hangs together. I am very grateful to that part of me that actually creates the work.
I’m a member of SF Canada, the association for Canadian sff professionals, and I’ve contributed a story to a new SF Canada feature: free online fiction by our members. I’ve supplied the first story – “Not A Problem” – which was written, tongue firmly in cheek, for the global-warming-theme anthology, Welcome to the Greenhouse, edited by Gordon Van Gelder.
All in all, I had a pretty good time at WorldCon in London last week. I didn’t get invited onto any panels – not even the one about Canadian sf – but I got to see some old friends.
Gordon Van Gelder and I had a beer together, I exchanged a few pleasant words with George R.R. Martin, and went to dinner with the legendary Brian Aldiss (courtesy of Pete and Nicky Crowther).
I had two delightful encounters: multi-award-winning author Michael Swanwick came over to the PS Publishing table when I was signing books, to tell me I was an excellent writer; and I got to meet mega-critic John Clute and give him a copy of the Luff Imbry collection.
We also launched, unofficially, Of Whimsies and Noubles, the third and long delayed Luff Imbry novella from PS Publishing. The unsigned limited edition is now out and available. The signed edition will come later, once I receive the signature pages, sign them, and send them back. Next year, there will also be an omnibus edition of all three novellas, to which I will contribute a new, original Imbry story.
I arrived back in France to find a box full of signature sheets for a Subterranean Press limited edition of Rogues, the bestselling George Martin/Gardner Dozois cross-genre anthology.
Between bouts of wearing out my hand signing my scrawl of a signature, I finished the last episode of The Kaslo Chronicles, a serialized novel that Lightspeed Magazine has been running. Down the road, once the last episode has appeared in the magazine, I’ll tidy up the narrative and self-publish it as an ebook and POD paperback.
I’m now about 2,500 words into another Raffalon novelette, but in this one the lead character is Cascor the former provostman turned magic-wielding private eye. As I usually do with a detective story, I started with the character encountering an unusual situation that triggers an investigation – but I have no idea who the bad guy is or how things are going to work out. Still, piece by piece, the guy in the back of my head feeds me scenes and insights, and I write 500 to 1,000 words a day. By the end of the tale, it all pretty well hangs together. I am very grateful to that part of me that actually creates the work.
I’m a member of SF Canada, the association for Canadian sff professionals, and I’ve contributed a story to a new SF Canada feature: free online fiction by our members. I’ve supplied the first story – “Not A Problem” – which was written, tongue firmly in cheek, for the global-warming-theme anthology, Welcome to the Greenhouse, edited by Gordon Van Gelder.
August 21, 2014
"Avianca's Bezel" cover story in Sept/Oct F&SF
My archetypal thief, Raffalon, gets another workout in the upcoming September/October issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. The novelette, "Avianca's Bezel," is also the inspiration for the cover illustration.
Lois Tilton has already reviewed the issue for Locus, and likes the story (although she got the title wrong). She says, "Hughes is always a lot of fun. The series here is happily one that requires no backgrounding in the previous episodes for readers to enjoy fully. Plots and complications, as always, pile up satisfactorily..."
Lois Tilton has already reviewed the issue for Locus, and likes the story (although she got the title wrong). She says, "Hughes is always a lot of fun. The series here is happily one that requires no backgrounding in the previous episodes for readers to enjoy fully. Plots and complications, as always, pile up satisfactorily..."
August 12, 2014
Signing, etc., at WorldCon
I haven't got a lot of scheduled activities at WorldCon, although I may shamelessly crash a panel or two. I did that at Melbourne's WorldCon and it worked out well.
Officially, I've got two signings on Saturday: an all-comers event from 11 to noon at the convention autographing area; and one for PS Publishing at their table in the dealers room from 2 to 3 pm.
I'll be spending some time in the convention hospitality room and in the bar. Feel free to come and say hello.
I'm also going to bring some copies of my Endeavour Award-nominated collection, The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories, to give away. They're intended for winning new readers, but I'd probably give one to a devoted fan.
Hope to see you there.
Officially, I've got two signings on Saturday: an all-comers event from 11 to noon at the convention autographing area; and one for PS Publishing at their table in the dealers room from 2 to 3 pm.
I'll be spending some time in the convention hospitality room and in the bar. Feel free to come and say hello.
I'm also going to bring some copies of my Endeavour Award-nominated collection, The Meaning of Luff and Other Stories, to give away. They're intended for winning new readers, but I'd probably give one to a devoted fan.
Hope to see you there.
