Joshua Palmatier's Blog, page 36
July 30, 2013
Book Review: "Elisha Barber" by E.C. Ambrose
This is E.C. Ambrose's debut novel from DAW Books and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. As suggested by the cover, it's a dark, bloody, realistic look at what a "barber" would have had to deal with in that time period, and yet it wasn't too dark or grim or gritty.
The premise: Elisha is a barber in a version of England (not quite our own England) who is accused of a crime he didn't commit in order to protect the soul of his brother. His execution is commuted . . . if he's willing to work as a barber on the battlefield of the siege of a nearby duke who has angered the king. In the hospital, with wounded dying right and left, Elisha is forced to confront his own horrendous by necessary actions, which lead to the accusation of murder, his gift as a barber, which includes more than simply patching up and healing the wounded, but also his own brush with magic at a young age . . . and the legacy of magic that he has yet to discover about himself.
As I said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I honestly went into it thinking that it was going to be too dark and gruesome, even for me, who writes dark epic fantasy and doesn't shy away from being realistic when it comes to wounds, torture, etc. And this book was solidly real, with Elisha dealing with battlefield wounds and other gruesome tasks. All of the medical situations were described with just the right level of detail, so that the reader knew exactly what was going on, even though it wasn't being described in excruciating exactness. The author left the worst parts up to the reader to imagine, and as I've found in my own writing, the reader's imagination is plenty gruesome enough.
But what I found most appealing was that the author didn't stop by describing Elisha's work realistically. Besides saws and knives and bandages, the author also focused on the fact that healers have to deal with emotional wounds. They need to have empathy for their patients, and they have to focus on making certain the patients want to live as well. Elisha is more than just a barber, he is a healer, and the distinction is made clear with the contrast between his actions and those of most of the other surgeons in the book.
But of course Elisha is more than a barber or a healer. It wouldn't be a fantasy novel otherwise. *grin* The magical aspects of the book were also handled well, and Elisha's discovery of his magic was well played. The magic wasn't what grabbed me and kept me reading though. It was Elisha and his circumstances and how he would deal with the convoluted plots he finds himself enmeshed in, even though all he really wants to do is heal those wounded on the battlefield unimpeded.
My only real complaint is that at a few points in the book I felt that Elisha was perhaps a little too passive about what was happening to him. There were moments where he could have spoken up in defense of himself and saved himself some pain and torment (both physical and emotional), but he seemed to just accept what was to come as if it were his due punishment. I can see this reaction in him for a few of the situations in the book--he does believe he's there for penance--but not ALL of the situations. I felt he should have defended himself more, even if it wouldn't do any good in the end.
But that was a minor quibble in an otherwise great book. So, yes, this is a dark book, filled with a realism that I think is necessary in a fantasy novel, but there was a decided balance between being realistic and telling a good story. It takes the reader down a road dark circumstance, from which Elisha fights for survival, and it's Elisha himself and his own battle that keeps the reader involved and interested in the book. A strong debut from an author that I'll certainly watch for in the future.
The premise: Elisha is a barber in a version of England (not quite our own England) who is accused of a crime he didn't commit in order to protect the soul of his brother. His execution is commuted . . . if he's willing to work as a barber on the battlefield of the siege of a nearby duke who has angered the king. In the hospital, with wounded dying right and left, Elisha is forced to confront his own horrendous by necessary actions, which lead to the accusation of murder, his gift as a barber, which includes more than simply patching up and healing the wounded, but also his own brush with magic at a young age . . . and the legacy of magic that he has yet to discover about himself.
As I said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I honestly went into it thinking that it was going to be too dark and gruesome, even for me, who writes dark epic fantasy and doesn't shy away from being realistic when it comes to wounds, torture, etc. And this book was solidly real, with Elisha dealing with battlefield wounds and other gruesome tasks. All of the medical situations were described with just the right level of detail, so that the reader knew exactly what was going on, even though it wasn't being described in excruciating exactness. The author left the worst parts up to the reader to imagine, and as I've found in my own writing, the reader's imagination is plenty gruesome enough.
But what I found most appealing was that the author didn't stop by describing Elisha's work realistically. Besides saws and knives and bandages, the author also focused on the fact that healers have to deal with emotional wounds. They need to have empathy for their patients, and they have to focus on making certain the patients want to live as well. Elisha is more than just a barber, he is a healer, and the distinction is made clear with the contrast between his actions and those of most of the other surgeons in the book.
But of course Elisha is more than a barber or a healer. It wouldn't be a fantasy novel otherwise. *grin* The magical aspects of the book were also handled well, and Elisha's discovery of his magic was well played. The magic wasn't what grabbed me and kept me reading though. It was Elisha and his circumstances and how he would deal with the convoluted plots he finds himself enmeshed in, even though all he really wants to do is heal those wounded on the battlefield unimpeded.
My only real complaint is that at a few points in the book I felt that Elisha was perhaps a little too passive about what was happening to him. There were moments where he could have spoken up in defense of himself and saved himself some pain and torment (both physical and emotional), but he seemed to just accept what was to come as if it were his due punishment. I can see this reaction in him for a few of the situations in the book--he does believe he's there for penance--but not ALL of the situations. I felt he should have defended himself more, even if it wouldn't do any good in the end.
But that was a minor quibble in an otherwise great book. So, yes, this is a dark book, filled with a realism that I think is necessary in a fantasy novel, but there was a decided balance between being realistic and telling a good story. It takes the reader down a road dark circumstance, from which Elisha fights for survival, and it's Elisha himself and his own battle that keeps the reader involved and interested in the book. A strong debut from an author that I'll certainly watch for in the future.
Signal Boost: "Heart of Briar" by Laura Anne Gilman
Hey, all! Just a little signal boost here for Laura Anne Gilman's latest book, Heart of Briar. It's a new release from Harlequin and is a loose retelling of the Tam Lin story. You can read a little bit more about it through the link, as well as find out about signings and reading she'll be doing for the book. Check it out!
July 29, 2013
New Book Discussion!
I've just posted the book discussion for Sean Russell's The Initiate Brother Duology, an omnibus edition of the series which includes The Initiate Brother and Gatherer of Clouds, over at the DAW Books blog (
dawbooks
)! Stop on by and check it out!
dawbooks
)! Stop on by and check it out!July 25, 2013
Book Review: "Lord of the Isles" by David Drake
I've been meaning to read this series for a LONG time. I have all of the books, in hardcover, I just never got around to picking this first one up and starting it. (I have far, far too many books owned that I have not yet read. Someone should smack me.) In any case, I finally decided to dive right in.
The premise of the book is that a small sheep-herding community on the edge of one of the Isles that make up this world gets disrupted when first a strange woman appears on some flotsam, followed by the arrival of a trireme of soldiers and nobles in search of a long lost heir, and then a lord arrives ostensibly looking for sheep to wrangle back to his homeland. These three occurrences completely disrupt the small community and end up dragging some of its members--Garric and Sharina, Cashel and Ilna--away from their sheltered lives, where they get caught up in the politics, magic, and intrigues of the rest of the Isles, including the personal struggles of the long-dead King Carus and The Hooded One.
This has some of the basic tropes of an epic fantasy novel in it--long lost heir found in a farming village, young men and women heading off into the world and high adventure, etc. I'm a huge fantasy fan, been reading it forever, so this didn't bother me at all. What makes a fantasy novel is the world and the characters. Either the world is intriguing and you want to explore it just as much as the main characters do, or the characters catch you up and drag you along with them because you want to find out what happens to them.
This book succeeded on both levels . . . but only to a point. I was really interested in how the author would use the fact that the world was basically simply a ring of scattered islands. Obviously there would have to be more of a focus on ships as transportation, etc. And you could have a bunch of different cultures for each island. But we only really ended up visiting two of the main islands, and seeing really only three societies (two of which were incredibly similar). So there was some disappointment there. However, we did get to see some interesting aspects of the world that were intriguing, such as the island that had inexplicably risen with the insectoid race and the culture that lived exclusively on boats surrounding an iceberg. So on the world level, the two extremes evened out.
The same more or less happened with the characters. I liked a few of them and was interested in what would happen to them--Garric and Cashel in particular--but I didn't become attached to Sharina at all, which was a significant plot thread, and Ilna only became interesting after her disastrous attempt to follow Garric. So I wasn't as attached to the characters as I should have been. Because of this, I wasn't as caught up in the danger and intrigue of the plot. I found I wasn't interested in any of the secondary characters at all, and I should have been.
So my final rating for this is really 2.5 stars. I wished I'd gotten more caught up in the characters and their plight, but it just didn't happen. There were some interesting elements, and I'd hope that the next few novels explored the world in more depth, but I'm not rushing to read the second book at this point.
The premise of the book is that a small sheep-herding community on the edge of one of the Isles that make up this world gets disrupted when first a strange woman appears on some flotsam, followed by the arrival of a trireme of soldiers and nobles in search of a long lost heir, and then a lord arrives ostensibly looking for sheep to wrangle back to his homeland. These three occurrences completely disrupt the small community and end up dragging some of its members--Garric and Sharina, Cashel and Ilna--away from their sheltered lives, where they get caught up in the politics, magic, and intrigues of the rest of the Isles, including the personal struggles of the long-dead King Carus and The Hooded One.
This has some of the basic tropes of an epic fantasy novel in it--long lost heir found in a farming village, young men and women heading off into the world and high adventure, etc. I'm a huge fantasy fan, been reading it forever, so this didn't bother me at all. What makes a fantasy novel is the world and the characters. Either the world is intriguing and you want to explore it just as much as the main characters do, or the characters catch you up and drag you along with them because you want to find out what happens to them.
This book succeeded on both levels . . . but only to a point. I was really interested in how the author would use the fact that the world was basically simply a ring of scattered islands. Obviously there would have to be more of a focus on ships as transportation, etc. And you could have a bunch of different cultures for each island. But we only really ended up visiting two of the main islands, and seeing really only three societies (two of which were incredibly similar). So there was some disappointment there. However, we did get to see some interesting aspects of the world that were intriguing, such as the island that had inexplicably risen with the insectoid race and the culture that lived exclusively on boats surrounding an iceberg. So on the world level, the two extremes evened out.
The same more or less happened with the characters. I liked a few of them and was interested in what would happen to them--Garric and Cashel in particular--but I didn't become attached to Sharina at all, which was a significant plot thread, and Ilna only became interesting after her disastrous attempt to follow Garric. So I wasn't as attached to the characters as I should have been. Because of this, I wasn't as caught up in the danger and intrigue of the plot. I found I wasn't interested in any of the secondary characters at all, and I should have been.
So my final rating for this is really 2.5 stars. I wished I'd gotten more caught up in the characters and their plight, but it just didn't happen. There were some interesting elements, and I'd hope that the next few novels explored the world in more depth, but I'm not rushing to read the second book at this point.
July 24, 2013
New Book Discussion!
We're talking about Terry A. Adams' The D'neeran Factor over at the DAW Books blog (
dawbooks
)! This is an omnibus edition of the two books Sentience and The Master of Chaos. Stop on by and check out the book. Or leave a comment if you've already read it!
dawbooks
)! This is an omnibus edition of the two books Sentience and The Master of Chaos. Stop on by and check out the book. Or leave a comment if you've already read it!Guest Post: April Steenburgh on Working with Us on MODERN FAE
Today we have a guest post from April Steenburgh, a friend who not only pimped our books at the local bookstore when she worked there, but also submitted a story to The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity and was accepted. Since then, she'd been totally corrupted by Patricia Bray and I and has since run her own Kickstarter and put together an anthology or her own called Fight Like a Girl. You can find the anthology at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in ebook format--a collection of twenty stories from unpublished (until now) authors. Check it out!
Here are some thoughts from April about what it meant to submit, get accepted, and work with Patricia and I on the Modern Fae project. And if you're interested in supporting the next anthology project, swing on by the Kickstarter for CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE and make a pledge!
April:
Josh and Tricia asked me what it was like, what it meant for my writing career, to have been a debut author in their anthology A Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. I had been on the receiving end of rejection letters before, but they were all from editors I did not know, apart from by reputation. Submitting to folks I knew was a whole different monster.
There was also something terribly intimidating about submitting to an anthology stocked with authors I had read and enjoyed. Especially knowing there were only a few spots open for us unpublished hopefuls.
But, it was a theme that I was pretty damn confident writing something for, and was honestly excited about. I laugh as I explain to folks that I treated it like a graduate school paper--waiting until the last minute to finish it up and hand it in. But that is honestly what happened--the theme of the anthology was the paper topic in my head and I always have written best under pressure . . .
I sent it off to Tricia, wished I hadn’t (there were so many little things I could have changed! It wasn’t ready. It wasn’t good enough. Oh, the things that go through your head as soon as you hit send . . .) and went back to dealing with the kerfluffle of life that was 2011.
I desperately wanted that acceptance email, but I wasn’t expecting it. That does not mean I didn’t engage in a silly sort of dance when I received it. It was my first acceptance letter in a vast sea of (very polite and helpful) rejection letters.
That little bit of encouragement, a suggestion that I was good enough, when I put my brain to it--that was what I needed. Once I got over being stunned I made it in, and more or less got over the fact I was surrounded by authors I used to sell or run signings for while managing my bookstore, I realized this was something I could do.
I couldn’t tell you if it was easier or harder, submitting a story to people I knew, but it did make the acceptance letter something magnificent. I knew they would not hesitate to reject my story if it did not fit the project or if it still needed work--they are excellent editors like that. Having folks I knew and respected think my writing was good enough for their book was all the confidence boost I needed.
Fast forward a bit, and I am still writing, and have even launched my own anthology. I had, and continue to have, excellent mentors in the field after all. Josh and Tricia turn out magnificent anthologies--I definitely take a bit of pride for having my first publication nestled in one of their projects. For a new author, they were spectacular at walking me through the whole process, edits to publication. And it is a process.
I wanted other folks to have that chance, an editor willing to walk them through the process of being in an anthology from submission to publication, which ended up with me running my own Kickstarter for an anthology earlier this year, a book that was made up of all unpublished authors. I blame that project soundly on Josh and Tricia--they made quite the impression on me when I was just starting out.
Here are some thoughts from April about what it meant to submit, get accepted, and work with Patricia and I on the Modern Fae project. And if you're interested in supporting the next anthology project, swing on by the Kickstarter for CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE and make a pledge!
April:
Josh and Tricia asked me what it was like, what it meant for my writing career, to have been a debut author in their anthology A Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity. I had been on the receiving end of rejection letters before, but they were all from editors I did not know, apart from by reputation. Submitting to folks I knew was a whole different monster.
There was also something terribly intimidating about submitting to an anthology stocked with authors I had read and enjoyed. Especially knowing there were only a few spots open for us unpublished hopefuls.
But, it was a theme that I was pretty damn confident writing something for, and was honestly excited about. I laugh as I explain to folks that I treated it like a graduate school paper--waiting until the last minute to finish it up and hand it in. But that is honestly what happened--the theme of the anthology was the paper topic in my head and I always have written best under pressure . . .
I sent it off to Tricia, wished I hadn’t (there were so many little things I could have changed! It wasn’t ready. It wasn’t good enough. Oh, the things that go through your head as soon as you hit send . . .) and went back to dealing with the kerfluffle of life that was 2011.
I desperately wanted that acceptance email, but I wasn’t expecting it. That does not mean I didn’t engage in a silly sort of dance when I received it. It was my first acceptance letter in a vast sea of (very polite and helpful) rejection letters.
That little bit of encouragement, a suggestion that I was good enough, when I put my brain to it--that was what I needed. Once I got over being stunned I made it in, and more or less got over the fact I was surrounded by authors I used to sell or run signings for while managing my bookstore, I realized this was something I could do.
I couldn’t tell you if it was easier or harder, submitting a story to people I knew, but it did make the acceptance letter something magnificent. I knew they would not hesitate to reject my story if it did not fit the project or if it still needed work--they are excellent editors like that. Having folks I knew and respected think my writing was good enough for their book was all the confidence boost I needed.
Fast forward a bit, and I am still writing, and have even launched my own anthology. I had, and continue to have, excellent mentors in the field after all. Josh and Tricia turn out magnificent anthologies--I definitely take a bit of pride for having my first publication nestled in one of their projects. For a new author, they were spectacular at walking me through the whole process, edits to publication. And it is a process.
I wanted other folks to have that chance, an editor willing to walk them through the process of being in an anthology from submission to publication, which ended up with me running my own Kickstarter for an anthology earlier this year, a book that was made up of all unpublished authors. I blame that project soundly on Josh and Tricia--they made quite the impression on me when I was just starting out.
July 23, 2013
Steampunk Human vs Alien Deathmatch!
Fellow writer and co-editor for a few anthologies Patricia Bray is running a CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE-themed poll over at her blog. Basically, who would win a steampunk human vs alien deathmatch! The deathmatch today is Captain Nemo vs the Daleks. Who do you think would win? Swing on by and vote for your choice! And if you don't know what CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE is, check out the Kickstarter project which is raising funds for the steampunk vs aliens anthology as well as helping to set up a new small press called Zombies Need Brains that will bring similarly themed anthologies to the SF&F crowd for years to come. Help make this anthology and small press successful from its inception!
July 22, 2013
Kickstarter: CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs ALIENS!
So, as you all probably know by now, I'm doing something out of the box and running a Kickstarter to do two things--get funds to produce a new anthology called CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS (click here to go to the Kickstarter page) with such authors as Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Gail Z. Martin, Gini Koch, Bradley Beaulieu, Ian Tregillis, and Caitlin Kittredge AND at the same time help set up a new small press called Zombies Need Brains LLC founded by me that will hopefully be bringing new anthology like CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE to people for years to come. April Steenburgh asked me why I created the small press and here was my response:
The answer to this is easy: BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FUN! I got into editing anthologies with Patricia Bray a few years ago and we had a blast wrangling authors and deadlines getting the two anthologies—AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR and THE MODERN FAE’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY—into tip-top shape. Doing the first anthology was just a whim. “Seven authors walk into a bar . . .” ended up not being the start of a joke after all. With those authors’ help, we crafted the AFTER HOURS “magical bar traveling through time anthology,” and in a fit of “Why not?” I proposed it to Tekno Books, who pitched it to DAW, and the rest was history. MODERN FAE quickly followed.
Unfortunately, Martin Greenberg, head of Tekno, passed away. It looked as if there wouldn’t be any more anthologies, at least in the near future. Patricia and I sat on that for a while, hoping things would work themselves out. But I finally got antsy. We wanted new anthologies now! So I decided the best way to do that was by forming a new small press. Zombies Need Brains was the perfect name for it, because brains are tastier when they’re well-read, and zombies do only want the tastiest brains.
So I formed the small press, legally and mentally, and now we’re ready for the first book. Starting a press isn’t cheap though, so we decided the best way to make certain the project succeeded was to use Kickstarter as a crowdfunding resource. This has two advantages—it raises money BUT it also gave us a way to judge whether the readers were excited about a project or not, since if they weren’t interested, they just wouldn’t fund the project! But I think our first anthology concept is awesome. It’s called CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS. When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers!
Cool, huh? Swing on by the Kickstarter to check it out in more detail and then help fund it! And please spread the word about the small press and the Kickstarter to your friends by blogging, posting, tweeting, etc. We’d appreciate it.
There is, of course, a more serious reason for creating the small press. Both Patricia and I feel that the short story market has been steadily shrinking for a while now. One of our reasons for getting into the anthology business earlier was to help keep it alive. It was struck a horrible blow with the death of Martin Greenberg. We want to keep the short story market going, and the best way to do that is to start producing stellar anthologies with awesome authors and jaw-dropping cover art. Zombies Need Brains will do that.
But really, it’s just too much fun NOT to do it! So check it out. And if you can, back us. You’re not just backing a cool anthology concept with some great authors already signed on (Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Gini Kich, Ian Tregillis, Bradley Beaulieu, Caitlin Kittredge, Gail Z. Martin), BUT you’ll also be helping to create a new force in the publishing industry with Zombies Need Brains!
www.zombiesneedbrains.com
www.facebook.com/zombiesneedbrainsllc
@ZNBLLC on Twitter
Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology
The answer to this is easy: BECAUSE IT WOULD BE FUN! I got into editing anthologies with Patricia Bray a few years ago and we had a blast wrangling authors and deadlines getting the two anthologies—AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR and THE MODERN FAE’S GUIDE TO SURVIVING HUMANITY—into tip-top shape. Doing the first anthology was just a whim. “Seven authors walk into a bar . . .” ended up not being the start of a joke after all. With those authors’ help, we crafted the AFTER HOURS “magical bar traveling through time anthology,” and in a fit of “Why not?” I proposed it to Tekno Books, who pitched it to DAW, and the rest was history. MODERN FAE quickly followed.
Unfortunately, Martin Greenberg, head of Tekno, passed away. It looked as if there wouldn’t be any more anthologies, at least in the near future. Patricia and I sat on that for a while, hoping things would work themselves out. But I finally got antsy. We wanted new anthologies now! So I decided the best way to do that was by forming a new small press. Zombies Need Brains was the perfect name for it, because brains are tastier when they’re well-read, and zombies do only want the tastiest brains.
So I formed the small press, legally and mentally, and now we’re ready for the first book. Starting a press isn’t cheap though, so we decided the best way to make certain the project succeeded was to use Kickstarter as a crowdfunding resource. This has two advantages—it raises money BUT it also gave us a way to judge whether the readers were excited about a project or not, since if they weren’t interested, they just wouldn’t fund the project! But I think our first anthology concept is awesome. It’s called CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS. When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers!
Cool, huh? Swing on by the Kickstarter to check it out in more detail and then help fund it! And please spread the word about the small press and the Kickstarter to your friends by blogging, posting, tweeting, etc. We’d appreciate it.
There is, of course, a more serious reason for creating the small press. Both Patricia and I feel that the short story market has been steadily shrinking for a while now. One of our reasons for getting into the anthology business earlier was to help keep it alive. It was struck a horrible blow with the death of Martin Greenberg. We want to keep the short story market going, and the best way to do that is to start producing stellar anthologies with awesome authors and jaw-dropping cover art. Zombies Need Brains will do that.
But really, it’s just too much fun NOT to do it! So check it out. And if you can, back us. You’re not just backing a cool anthology concept with some great authors already signed on (Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Gini Kich, Ian Tregillis, Bradley Beaulieu, Caitlin Kittredge, Gail Z. Martin), BUT you’ll also be helping to create a new force in the publishing industry with Zombies Need Brains!
www.zombiesneedbrains.com
www.facebook.com/zombiesneedbrainsllc
@ZNBLLC on Twitter
Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543968884/clockwork-universe-steampunk-vs-aliens-anthology
July 19, 2013
New Book Discussion!
We're talking about Diana Rowland's latest White Trash Zombie novel, White Trash Zombie Apocalypse, over at the DAW Books blog ([Unknown LJ tag])! Stop on by and see what it's all about! I loved the first two books in this series and can't wait to get to this one.
Kickstarter: CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS
Hey, all! So, I decided that I wasn't busy enough doing the day job teaching thing and writing my own novels and short stories . . . so I started a new small press. It's called Zombies Need Brains LLC and it's goal is going to be to publish anthology projects, initially funded by Kickstarters. (This is not self-publishing, I'm going to produce books by other authors. DAW is still publishing my own books.) Here's the cool logo for the press:
Our first anthology project is called CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS and it will be edited by Patricia Bray and myself. We already have a great list of participating authors, including Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Gini Koch, Caitlin Kittredge, Bradley Beaulieu, Ian Tregillis, and Gail Z. Martin. And that's only HALF of the anthology! I think this is going to be a great project . . . if we can get it off the ground. To do that, we're running a Kickstarter. You can find the entire details of the project through this link. I'll give you a summary of the anthology concept here though:
Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens: When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers.
We've also already contracted for the art we'll use to create the cover of the anthology, which I think rocks. It's called "Steampunk Octopus" by Alex Broeckel:
If that doesn't draw your attention, I don't know what will. *grin*
In any case, if you'd could help me spread the word about the Kickstarter project, I'd greatly appreciate it! And if you can help fund it--because it's a cool idea for an anthology and because we've got some great authors already--I'll thank you in advance. Spread the word! I'd love it if this little dream of mine got off the ground.
Our first anthology project is called CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE: STEAMPUNK vs. ALIENS and it will be edited by Patricia Bray and myself. We already have a great list of participating authors, including Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Gini Koch, Caitlin Kittredge, Bradley Beaulieu, Ian Tregillis, and Gail Z. Martin. And that's only HALF of the anthology! I think this is going to be a great project . . . if we can get it off the ground. To do that, we're running a Kickstarter. You can find the entire details of the project through this link. I'll give you a summary of the anthology concept here though:
Clockwork Universe: Steampunk vs. Aliens: When aliens reach Earth, they encounter the clockwork mechanisms and Victorian sensibilities of a full-blown steampunk civilization. Inspired by the classic science fiction adventure tales of the nineteenth century, leading fantasy and science fiction authors will bring us tales of first contact with a twist, as steam power meets laser cannons . . . and dirigibles face off against flying saucers.
We've also already contracted for the art we'll use to create the cover of the anthology, which I think rocks. It's called "Steampunk Octopus" by Alex Broeckel:
If that doesn't draw your attention, I don't know what will. *grin*
In any case, if you'd could help me spread the word about the Kickstarter project, I'd greatly appreciate it! And if you can help fund it--because it's a cool idea for an anthology and because we've got some great authors already--I'll thank you in advance. Spread the word! I'd love it if this little dream of mine got off the ground.
