Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 2
August 7, 2019
A God in Chains opening
I’ve posted on Curious Fictions the first 4500 words of A God in Chains, my new Dying Earth adventure/fantasy novel, published last month by Edge SF and Fantasy Publishing.
Here’s a link.
Here’s a link.
Published on August 07, 2019 12:22
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Tags:
a-god-in-chains, dying-earth, matthew-hughes
July 29, 2019
Warms my heart
Some fifty years ago, when I was a dedicated reader of historical fiction, I came across a novel by a young American woman. The title was Until the Sun Falls, about a general of the Mongol army in the aftermath of Genghis Khan's death. The book absolutely captured me, and I went looking for other titles by the author, Cecelia Holland.
I found plenty of them,, set in many different ages and cultures. I soon noticed that she had the ability to absorb and project the worldviews of people who lived long ago in lands far away. The truth of L.P. Hartley's famous line -- The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there -- came through, time and again. Cecelia Holland became one of my favorite historical novelists and remains so today.
I had the chance to meet her at a World Fantasy Convention in Tempe, fifteen years ago, and asked her advice about the big historical novel I intended to write some day. She kindly gave me some useful advice.
Well, now I've written that novel, What the Wind Brings, and it will soon be published by Pulp Literature Press. I sent an Advance Reading Copy to Cecelia Holland and asked her for any comments she night care to meet. The result: I have a cover blurb. She called it "a triumph."
Try to imagine: someone whose work you have admired for decades praises a piece of work that you consider the most important thing you've done. Wonderful.
Here's where you can pre-order What the Wind Brings:
Hardcover limited edition: http://pulpliterature.com/product/wha... $39.95 (US$30, UK£23)
Signed hardcover limited edition: http://pulpliterature.com/product/wha... $70.00 (US$52, UK£41)
I found plenty of them,, set in many different ages and cultures. I soon noticed that she had the ability to absorb and project the worldviews of people who lived long ago in lands far away. The truth of L.P. Hartley's famous line -- The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there -- came through, time and again. Cecelia Holland became one of my favorite historical novelists and remains so today.
I had the chance to meet her at a World Fantasy Convention in Tempe, fifteen years ago, and asked her advice about the big historical novel I intended to write some day. She kindly gave me some useful advice.
Well, now I've written that novel, What the Wind Brings, and it will soon be published by Pulp Literature Press. I sent an Advance Reading Copy to Cecelia Holland and asked her for any comments she night care to meet. The result: I have a cover blurb. She called it "a triumph."
Try to imagine: someone whose work you have admired for decades praises a piece of work that you consider the most important thing you've done. Wonderful.
Here's where you can pre-order What the Wind Brings:
Hardcover limited edition: http://pulpliterature.com/product/wha... $39.95 (US$30, UK£23)
Signed hardcover limited edition: http://pulpliterature.com/product/wha... $70.00 (US$52, UK£41)
Published on July 29, 2019 10:02
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Tags:
cecelia-holland, historical-fiction, matthew-hughes, what-the-wind-brings
July 27, 2019
WorldCon (Dublin): where I'll be
Here's my schedule at WorldCon in Dublin:
It starts with a kaffeeklatch. That's where readers and fans sit down in a small group with an author and talk about whatever moves them. I'll be hosting one on Saturday, August 19, from 14:00 to 14:50. The location, at the Dublin Convention Centre, is Level 3 Foyer.
Later the same day, I'll be on a panel entitled "A gun, a gut, and three ex-wives: the appeal of the gumshoe in SFF." That one takes place in Wicklow Hall 2B, from 19:00 to 19:50.
Then on Sunday, August 18, they're giving me twenty minutes to do a reading, from 20:00 to 20:20 in Liffey Room 3.
And, finally, they've got me scheduled for an autographing session, the afternoon of Monday, August 19. But by then I'll be on a plane back to Canada. I should be able to move it to a better time.
But feel free to stop me anywhere, anytime, for a chat, to sign a book, for a picture, or to stand me a beer.
It starts with a kaffeeklatch. That's where readers and fans sit down in a small group with an author and talk about whatever moves them. I'll be hosting one on Saturday, August 19, from 14:00 to 14:50. The location, at the Dublin Convention Centre, is Level 3 Foyer.
Later the same day, I'll be on a panel entitled "A gun, a gut, and three ex-wives: the appeal of the gumshoe in SFF." That one takes place in Wicklow Hall 2B, from 19:00 to 19:50.
Then on Sunday, August 18, they're giving me twenty minutes to do a reading, from 20:00 to 20:20 in Liffey Room 3.
And, finally, they've got me scheduled for an autographing session, the afternoon of Monday, August 19. But by then I'll be on a plane back to Canada. I should be able to move it to a better time.
But feel free to stop me anywhere, anytime, for a chat, to sign a book, for a picture, or to stand me a beer.
Published on July 27, 2019 12:03
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Tags:
dublin, matthew-hughes, worldcon
WorldCon (Dublin): where I'll be
Here's my schedule at WorldCon in Dublin:
It starts with a kaffeeklatch. That's where readers and fans sit down in a small group with an author and talk about whatever moves them. I'll be hosting one on Saturday, August 19, from 14:00 to 14:50. The location, at the Dublin Convention Centre, is Level 3 Foyer.
Later the same day, I'll be on a panel entitled "A gun, a gut, and three ex-wives: the appeal of the gumshoe in SFF." That one takes place in Wicklow Hall 2B, from 19:00 to 19:50.
Then on Sunday, August 18, they're giving me twenty minutes to do a reading, from 20:00 to 20:20 in Liffey Room 3.
And, finally, they've got me scheduled for an autographing session, the afternoon of Monday, August 19. But by then I'll be on a plane back to Canada. I should be able to move it to a better time.
But feel free to stop me anywhere, anytime, for a chat, to sign a book, for a picture, or to stand me a beer.
It starts with a kaffeeklatch. That's where readers and fans sit down in a small group with an author and talk about whatever moves them. I'll be hosting one on Saturday, August 19, from 14:00 to 14:50. The location, at the Dublin Convention Centre, is Level 3 Foyer.
Later the same day, I'll be on a panel entitled "A gun, a gut, and three ex-wives: the appeal of the gumshoe in SFF." That one takes place in Wicklow Hall 2B, from 19:00 to 19:50.
Then on Sunday, August 18, they're giving me twenty minutes to do a reading, from 20:00 to 20:20 in Liffey Room 3.
And, finally, they've got me scheduled for an autographing session, the afternoon of Monday, August 19. But by then I'll be on a plane back to Canada. I should be able to move it to a better time.
But feel free to stop me anywhere, anytime, for a chat, to sign a book, for a picture, or to stand me a beer.
Published on July 27, 2019 12:00
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Tags:
matthew-hughes, worldcon
July 19, 2019
A God in Chains available for pre-order
A GOD IN CHAINS, my new Dying Earth fantasy, is now available for pre-order in paperback and Kindle editions.
And here’s the blurb:
He calls himself Farouche, after a character from legend, but his reality is that his memories and identity were stolen from him by a secret enemy.
In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, he finds himself trailing a wealthy merchant’s caravan across a dusty plain. Possessed of a soldier’s skills, he hires on with the merchant and begins to build a life. But his efforts to discover his past reveal a dark prospect: was he a participant in a notorious massacre of innocents?
Will Farouche come to know the truth? Will he survive the journey across a lawless land to the remote city of Olliphract, ruled by half-mad thaumaturges? And when he finally lays bare the plot in which he has been ensnared, will it be too late?
Matthew Hughes delivers another dark fantastical adventure set in a decadent Dying Earth, where men and half-men and even the gods themselves contend for earthly power and unearthly prizes.
Here’s a link to the Amazon listing: https://t.co/4fNfdPapYt?amp=1
And here’s the blurb:
He calls himself Farouche, after a character from legend, but his reality is that his memories and identity were stolen from him by a secret enemy.
In a far-future world of wizards and walled cities, he finds himself trailing a wealthy merchant’s caravan across a dusty plain. Possessed of a soldier’s skills, he hires on with the merchant and begins to build a life. But his efforts to discover his past reveal a dark prospect: was he a participant in a notorious massacre of innocents?
Will Farouche come to know the truth? Will he survive the journey across a lawless land to the remote city of Olliphract, ruled by half-mad thaumaturges? And when he finally lays bare the plot in which he has been ensnared, will it be too late?
Matthew Hughes delivers another dark fantastical adventure set in a decadent Dying Earth, where men and half-men and even the gods themselves contend for earthly power and unearthly prizes.
Here’s a link to the Amazon listing: https://t.co/4fNfdPapYt?amp=1
Published on July 19, 2019 11:53
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Tags:
a-god-in-chains, dying-earth, matthew-hughes
July 1, 2019
New sale to F&SF
Got up this morning and was surprised to find a Paypal payment from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction for "The Last Legend," a fantasy novelette set in the Dying Earth That was relatively quick, only two months in the submissions queue.
The story was originally written for the anthology, The Book of Legends, that Gardner Dozois was assembling when he died. It's my thirty-eighth sale to F&SF, a fact that causes me to stand with mouth agape in wonder, and my ninetieth short fiction sale altogether.
The story was originally written for the anthology, The Book of Legends, that Gardner Dozois was assembling when he died. It's my thirty-eighth sale to F&SF, a fact that causes me to stand with mouth agape in wonder, and my ninetieth short fiction sale altogether.
Published on July 01, 2019 08:50
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Tags:
dying-earth, fantasy, gardner-dozois, matthew-hughes
April 22, 2019
Couple of story sales
I've sold "Air of the Overworld," the last in my series about a wizard's henchman named Baldemar, to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction -- my thirty-eighth sale to the mag whose back copies I used to buy for a nickel in used bookstores fifty-odd years ago. And some of them were very odd.
And I've sold "Stopover at Meech's World," a space opera that revives the lead characters from my 2008 space opera novel, Template, to the also-revived Amazing Stories. Delighted by a less than 27-hour turnaround between submission and acceptance.
And I've sold "Stopover at Meech's World," a space opera that revives the lead characters from my 2008 space opera novel, Template, to the also-revived Amazing Stories. Delighted by a less than 27-hour turnaround between submission and acceptance.
Published on April 22, 2019 15:08
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Tags:
amazing-stories, baldemar, matthew-hughes
March 31, 2019
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.
Published on March 31, 2019 10:38
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Tags:
historical-novel, matthew-hughes, pulp-literature-press, slipstream, what-the-wind-brings
March 30, 2019
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.
Published on March 30, 2019 13:35
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Tags:
historical-novel, matthew-hughes, pulp-literature-press, slipstream, what-the-wind-brings
February 28, 2019
Ask me anything
A reminder: tomorrow, Friday, March 1, I’ll be doing an ask-me-anything on the Facebook page, Rock the Cauldron. I’ll probably start in the morning, Pacific time, and keep going until I sense I’ve exhausted the interest of whoever dials in.
Here's where the action will be: https://www.facebook.com/groups/18519...
I’ll also be giving away an ebook: my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, in mobi and epub formats. I’ll post a link where anyone who wants a free read can download the file.
And I’ll kick things off with a little dissertation on why my main characters tend to be oddballs.
Here's where the action will be: https://www.facebook.com/groups/18519...
I’ll also be giving away an ebook: my first Archonate novel, Fools Errant, in mobi and epub formats. I’ll post a link where anyone who wants a free read can download the file.
And I’ll kick things off with a little dissertation on why my main characters tend to be oddballs.
Published on February 28, 2019 13:18
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Tags:
ask-me-anything, matthew-hughes, rock-the-cauldron, shereen-vedam