Cate Gardner's Blog, page 29

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Costume Department

It's apt that my tour should find its way to Simon Bestwick's blog today as I met up with the dude in Liverpool yesterday evening for another Twisted Tales event (more on that in another post). Today's post is another cautionary tale - The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Costume Department - on what happens to those who find employment in the theatre.

Simon's second novel 'The Faceless' is published next week by Solaris (I shall be haunting the postman until he brings my copy which according to Amazon is on the way). In the meantime, for those who can't wait, you can purchase his short story collection 'A Hazy Shade of Winter' (Ash-Tree Press). I'm reading it at the moment and it is delightfully chilling.

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: The Thirsty Man

For the next stop on my blog tour we head over to Gef Fox's blog with a cautionary tale: The Travelling Theatrical Tour: The Thirsty Man. Please ensure you are fully hydrated before clicking the link.

As well as allowing me to invade his blog, Gef kindly reviewed Theatre  back in November. Gef's blog is not just a wonderful resource for book reviews, you'll also find movie reviews and movie marathons. You should bookmark it.

Other stops on the blog tour:

Diary of a Horsewoman at Mark West's blog
Things That Will Never be Again at Anthony Rapino's blog
Dreaming the Impossible at Aaron Polson's blog
Interview by Mary Rajotte
From a Single Thing at Jim McLeod's blog
That November Spell at Ray Cluley's blog
Interview by Simon Kewin
Twitter Rules at Bloody Bookish
Freedom at TTA Press
Inspiration at Deborah Walker's blog

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Diary of a Horsewoman

We're entering the last days of the blog tour (who yelled, 'Thank God' at the back?), and today I'm sneaking over to Mark West's blog Strange Tales with 'The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Diary of a Horsewoman' which pretty much does what it says on the tin.

I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing one of Mark's stories last year in a collection titled 'Ill at Ease' - how awesome is that cover? And I really need to check out his latest story 'The Mill' which is getting rave reviews.

Also, when I'm feeling less lazy, I'm determined to check out my old collection of small press magazines from the 1990s and see if we shared any TOCs.






Other stops on the blog tour:

Things That Will Never be Again at Anthony Rapino's blog
Dreaming the Impossible at Aaron Polson's blog
Interview by Mary Rajotte
From a Single Thing at Jim McLeod's blog
That November Spell at Ray Cluley's blog
Interview by Simon Kewin
Twitter Rules at Bloody Bookish
Freedom at TTA Press
Inspiration at Deborah Walker's blog

Shaking the Six Demon Bag

The amazing Josh Reynolds invited me over to his blog for a wee interview. You can read it here...if you are so inclined.

Josh's book 'Knight of the Blazing Sun' is released by Warhammer this March, and you can read an extract over at The Black Library website.

It's been a week of interviews, with others over at This is Horror and Bloody Bookish. The blog tour continues this week with posts at Gef Fox, Mark West, Simon Bestwick and Chris Gerrib's place. Guest blogs will be on the way to you wonderful folk this weekend.

Today, after the dreaded supermarket visit, I shall edit a short story and then get back to the novel. Of course, that's if I ever get dressed.

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Things That Never Will Be Again

And so the blog tour continues and this time I'm visiting Tony Rapino's blog with a post titled, The Travelling Theatrical Tour: Things That Never Will Be Again, in which I talk about all the madcap things that once inhabited my novella, Theatre of Curious Acts. If you've ever participated in NaNoWriMo you'll understand how madness can creep into a first draft (and possibly stay around longer than it should).

Tony's first novel 'Soundtrack to the End of the World' is released this year by Bad Moon Books. Really can't wait to read it. I mean, seriously, seriously, looking forward to it. In the meantime, Tony is releasing a collection of short fiction titled 'Welcome to Moon Hill'.


And today, there is also an interview with me by Michael Wilson over at the wonderful This is Horror site.


Other stops on the blog tour:

Dreaming the Impossible at Aaron Polson's blog
Interview by Mary Rajotte
From a Single Thing at Jim McLeod's blog
That November Spell at Ray Cluley's blog
Interview by Simon Kewin
Twitter Rules at Bloody Bookish
Freedom at TTA Press
Inspiration at Deborah Walker's blog

WIP Wednesday - Starlings, Kidnap and Libraries

After a year of thinking about the book, a handful of weeks working on a plan, and several minutes staring at the blank screen, I've finally started work on my next book, provisionally titled 'Cobweb Strings of The Rotting House'. I say provisionally titled because as much as I love it and am sure it would make a kick-ass short story title, I'm not certain it's memorable enough for a novel. I wonder about this after...

...hearing a couple of people in real life trying to remember the name of my novella, Theatre of Curious Acts. Maybe I need something shorter next time. More direct. Something you can't forget. Or perhaps they just never remember anything. I appreciate that last sentence.

I've left my WIP with HausStarlings fluttering about my Pearl and Miranda, and one of them is about to be stolen and forced onto the stage. I do wish the floorboards would stop creaking but I guess we'll save that problem for the next draft.

And in awesome news, a library in Columbus, Indiana has a copy of Theatre of Curious Acts. As a kid, I loved going to the library and never could have imagined I'd have an actual book in one. It would be bloody fantastic if my local library had a copy on their shelves, of course it would also be bloody fantastic if it still had shelves and a viable roof. The place is home to weeds and rats now. Boo! Hiss!

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: On Dreaming the Impossible

Today's stop on the blog tour is Aaron Polson's blog where I talk about aiming for the seemingly impossible and never giving up despite the odds. One of Aaron's latest publications is 'This House was Never a Castle' which appears in Shimmer magazine - a hard won and much deserved achievement. The post is titled "The Travelling Theatrical tour: On Dreaming the Impossible."

I've known Aaron for a few years now and I'm a huge fan of his work. In fact, once upon a time I started the Aaron Polson Fan Club (you will find the proof on the bottom right of this blog). I'm still the president and I'm sure Natalie Sin is the treasurer. I don't think we have any funds though, or cool things like badges or bookmarks. He should sack us. Aaron has a ton of books available to buy at Amazon (and possibly other fine retailers) - my favourite is The House Eaters.

Thanks again to Aaron for allowing me to invade his blog.


Other stops on the blog tour:

Interview by Mary Rajotte
From a Single Thing at Jim McLeod's blog
That November Spell at Ray Cluley's blog
Interview by Simon Kewin
Twitter Rules at Bloody Bookish
Freedom at TTA Press
Inspiration at Deborah Walker's blog

A Bloody Bookish Interview

Over at Bloody Bookish there's an interview with me conducted by Mary Rajotte. We talk about British horror, titles and Swan Ecklund (the cad!). I hope you'll check it out, Mary asked some wonderful questions. We even play a little violin.

The blog tour continues tomorrow, when I'll be heading over to Aaron Polson's gaff, and then on Friday I journey on over to Tony Rapino's blog. I've never travelled so much in all my life.

And don't forget, there's also a competition over at Bloody Bookish, where you could win a copy of Theatre of Curious Acts.

A Season in Carcosa

First story acceptance of the year.

"Yellow Bird Strings" will appear in Joseph S. Pulver's A Season in Carcosa an anthology of The King in Yellow tales to be published by Miskatonic River Press this summer.

Other folk in the anthology include Gary McMahon, Simon Strantzas, Michael Kelly, Ally Bird, Joel Lane, Joe Pulver, Richard Gavin, Don Webb and many others.

And of course, the stunning cover art is by Danielle Serra.

The Travelling Theatrical Tour: From a Single Thing

Day six of the blog tour journeys to Jim McLeod's Ginger Nuts of Horror blog where I talk about prompt words and how we all interpret the world in different ways, thus making our fiction unique (we hope). The post is here: The Travelling Theatrical Tour: From a Single Thing.

Jim's blog is an excellent resource full of author interviews, horror news and reviews. He kindly interviewed me back in November in which he persuaded me to talk about rats, pirate ships, and my first published short story.

And Jim doesn't just interview (and review and share horror news), he allows folk to also probe him. Here's an interview with Jim by various horror writers. And, I believe this interview with Jasper Bark is one of Jim's favourites.

Other stops on the tour:
That November Spell at Ray Cluley's blog
Interview by Simon Kewin
Twitter Rules at Bloody Bookish
Freedom at TTA Press
Inspiration at Deborah Walker's blog

And in some *breaking news* (which is a cheat as the news broke yesterday and it's possibly not news news, but I thought it was superb): Peter Tennant of Black Static magazine has chosen Barbed Wire Hearts as the best novella of 2011. Theatre gets a mention too.