Matthew Hughes's Blog: barbarians of the beyond, page 4

New Baldemar story for F&SF

I've sold "A Geas of the Purple School," another novelette about Baldemar the wizard's henchman, to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Also, editor Charlie Finlay tells me that the Baldemar story, "The Plot Against Fantucco's Armor" will run in the March/April issue, and the final Raffalon story, "Sternutative Sortilege" should appear in the May/June ish.

Ghost Dreams sold

PS Publishing wants my novel, Ghost Dreams, a contemporary fantasy novel about a commercial burglar haunted by the ghost of a woman who was railroaded into an insane asylum back in the 1940s. We'll make the deal after the holidays.

This is the fourth novel I've sold to PS, one of the UK's foremost small presses, and my twentieth sale overall.

I am grateful to my Patreon patrons for supporting me while I was writing Ghost Dreams. Their pledges make it possible for me to write longer works, instead of short stories and novelettes to sell to magazines for nine or ten cents a word.

I'm about to finish the first draft of a Dying Earthesque fantasy novel about three odd characters -- one of them a kind of god -- and all three of them unreliable narrators. It's been an interesting experience shaping the story. Again, Patreon pledges made it possible for me to do another novel-length work.

If you would like to be my patron, please visit my Patreon page.

Henghis Hapthorn is back!

“Hapthorn’s Last Case,” a 10,000-word novelette that carries on from the end of the third Hapthorn novel, HESPIRA, is now available for a free read in Lightspeed magazine.

There is also a podcast audio version.

http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

Novel-writing workshop at VCon

I’m going to be doing a novel-writing workshop at VCon, Vancouver’s annual sf con, the weekend of October 5 – 7. Charles Stross may be doing it as well (he’s GoH at the con).

Participation will be limited. Prospective participants need to send the first 3,000 words of their novels to the organizer, Canadian megafan, R. Graeme Cameron at polar(dot)borealis(dot)magazine(at)gmail(dot)com as soon as possible. Deadline for receiving submissions will be September 7.

Don’t send anything to me.

Off to WorldCon

I’m off to WorldCon in the morning, will be there until Monday. If you’re attending and want something signed or just to get acquainted, consider me approachable.

Interview on F&SF blog

I've got a Dying Earthesque story in the July/August issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I've done an interview with Stephen Mazur about the story's unusual genesis.

Interview on F&SF blog

As the latest story about Baldemar the wizard's henchman runs in the May/June issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, I've done an interview with F&SF's Stephen Mazur.

PW review of One More Kill

Publishers Weekly has given a positive review to my suspense novel, One More Kill, now shipping from UK publisher PS Publishing in a high-quality hardcover. A paperback edition and an ebook are waiting for a deal with a North American publisher, with whom I hope to get something finalized soon.

PW review highlights: “Intriguing plot twists drive this page-turner from Hughes . . . does a masterly job of making a cold-blooded killer sympathetic.”

George R.R. Martin also kindly gave me a blurb: "Fans of Lawrence Block's Keller stories are going to love One More Kill. I certainly did. Matt Hughes kept me up all night, turning pages.

One little hitch: PW thinks I'm the same Matt Hughes who used to be a mixed martial arts champion. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I've sent them a correction.

 

Fourth Hapthorn novel?

In December, John Joseph Adams invited me to send him a story for the 100th issue of Lightspeed in April. I remembered that it was John, then slush reader for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, who would have been the first person in the world to read a Henghis Hapthorn story. He passed “Mastermindless” on to Gordon Van Gelder, who made it my first sale to F&SF.

So it seems appropriate to bring old Henghis back onto the stage. I’ve just sent John a 10,000-word novelette, “Hapthorn’s Last Case,” which picks up his story a couple of weeks after the end of the third Hapthorn novel Hespira. The long-dreaded change from science to magic now looms in the offing.

I hope John likes it.

As I was finishing the draft, it occurred to me that those 10,000 words could make the opening of a fourth Hapthorn novel. That’s one of the projects Patreon may make possible if I draw enough patrons.

I’ve arbitrarily set a total of $1,000 in monthly pledges as the level at which I could afford to stop writing so many short stories for mags and anthologies and go back to mostly writing novels. But I may lower that bar as time goes by. I’m still feeling my way into this new kind of relationship with my readers.

If you’d like to be my patron, here’s a link.

One More Kill ready for pre-order

My suspense novel One More Kill, is now available for pre-order from PS Publishing as a £20 hardcover. There is also a signed, limited (100 copies) edition for £35. An ebook will follow in the next few weeks.

The novel is an extrapolation of a short story by the same title that won me the Arthur Ellis Award (the "Canadian Edgar) from the Crime Writers of Canada several years ago. At the beginning of next month, I will put up the original story as a free read for those on the mailing list for my monthly newsletter. If you're not on the list and would like to read it, you can sign up from my web page.

I don't usually blow my own horn, but I think the novel is some pretty spiffy storytelling.