Cameron Johnston's Blog, page 8
December 6, 2017
Cat Is Out Of The Bag
I guess the cat is out of the bag now!
My good friends over at Fantasy Faction have posted the news that Angry Robot will be publishing my debut novel, The Traitor God in June 2018. You can find the announcement and a fancy guest post from me here.
Would you like to know more?
The Traitor God
A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast, or lose everything, in this crushing epic fantasy debut.
After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magus Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the mageocracy who rule the city. He failed.
Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods – Walker will burn them all if he has to.
After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god...
Now I'd better bandage all the wounds caused by trying to keep the cat in the bag and get back to writing.
My good friends over at Fantasy Faction have posted the news that Angry Robot will be publishing my debut novel, The Traitor God in June 2018. You can find the announcement and a fancy guest post from me here.
Would you like to know more?
The Traitor God
A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast, or lose everything, in this crushing epic fantasy debut.
After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magus Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the mageocracy who rule the city. He failed.
Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods – Walker will burn them all if he has to.
After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god...
Now I'd better bandage all the wounds caused by trying to keep the cat in the bag and get back to writing.
December 5, 2017
2017 Fiction Picks
It's that time of year when I look back to the fiction I read in 2017 and try and pick out which ones I most enjoyed. So here are the ones that leap to mind, in no particular order:
The Ninth Rain - Jen Williams
The Core - Peter V. Brett
The Memoirist - Neil Williamson
City of Miracles - Robert Jackson Bennett
Blackwing - Ed McDonald
Planetfall - Emma Newman
The Seven - Peter Newman
The Fall of Dragons - Miles Cameron
Chaosmage - Stephen Aryan
Hammers on Bone - Cassandra Khaw
Kings of the Wylde - Nicholas Eames
Extinction Game - Gary Gibson
Drake, Dominion, Damnation - Peter McLean
Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic - Brian McClellan
Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding
I'm totally missing a handful of others out though...I'll need to root through my book stacks to find out which.
The Ninth Rain - Jen Williams
The Core - Peter V. Brett
The Memoirist - Neil Williamson
City of Miracles - Robert Jackson Bennett
Blackwing - Ed McDonald
Planetfall - Emma Newman
The Seven - Peter Newman
The Fall of Dragons - Miles Cameron
Chaosmage - Stephen Aryan
Hammers on Bone - Cassandra Khaw
Kings of the Wylde - Nicholas Eames
Extinction Game - Gary Gibson
Drake, Dominion, Damnation - Peter McLean
Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic - Brian McClellan
Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding
I'm totally missing a handful of others out though...I'll need to root through my book stacks to find out which.
November 10, 2017
Argyll Adventure
I recently took a few days off and ventured to the west coast of Scotland to explore the wilds and ancient sites of Argyll. We stayed in a castle in the village of Kilmartin, and with more than 350 ancient sites within six miles of the village (150 being prehistoric) we were not going to be short of things to see and do.
Unfortunately our first night away coincided with the arrival of gale-force winds of Hurricane Ophelia hitting the west coast. So that wasn't great. Except, it seemed to have gone further south than forecast and instead we got a brief period of breezy weather and a half hour of pounding rain. I call that a win! We were more than happy to sit in the castle by a crackling log fire, reading books (Chaosmage by Stephen Aryan, highly recommended), listening to vinyl records and sipping Laphroaig whisky.
The weather was incredibly atmospheric. A little drizzle and a lot of low-lying mist up in the hills and forests makes for some awe-inspiring views.
There are some spectacular ancient sites in Kilmartin Glen. Standing stones, cup and ring marked rocks, cairns and stone circles abound. A fantastic place to explore Scotland's distant past.
Unfortunately our first night away coincided with the arrival of gale-force winds of Hurricane Ophelia hitting the west coast. So that wasn't great. Except, it seemed to have gone further south than forecast and instead we got a brief period of breezy weather and a half hour of pounding rain. I call that a win! We were more than happy to sit in the castle by a crackling log fire, reading books (Chaosmage by Stephen Aryan, highly recommended), listening to vinyl records and sipping Laphroaig whisky.
The weather was incredibly atmospheric. A little drizzle and a lot of low-lying mist up in the hills and forests makes for some awe-inspiring views.
There are some spectacular ancient sites in Kilmartin Glen. Standing stones, cup and ring marked rocks, cairns and stone circles abound. A fantastic place to explore Scotland's distant past.
October 31, 2017
Quiet Around Here
It's been a bit quiet around here lately. And there are reasons for that. Delicious, wonderful, amazing reasons that I can't quite discuss at the moment.
More information will be forthcoming...
Meanwhile, I'll be back to posting all sorts of other nonsense shortly.
More information will be forthcoming...
Meanwhile, I'll be back to posting all sorts of other nonsense shortly.
August 12, 2017
Sale to Far Fetched Fables
What a week! I just received a lovely email from Far Fetched Fables accepting my short story, The Economist and the Dragon, for their podcast. I'm really looking forward to hearing their audio adaption :)
August 7, 2017
Sale to Kzine
An acceptance email is always guaranteed to brighten up a writer's day!
My short story 'Surviving Life' has been accepted by the excellent Kzine. They have a lot of horror at the moment so it will be a while before my story sees publication, probably late 2018 or early 2019.
After a glut of rejection emails for various stories (boo! hiss! mope!) it's great to get an acceptance.
My short story 'Surviving Life' has been accepted by the excellent Kzine. They have a lot of horror at the moment so it will be a while before my story sees publication, probably late 2018 or early 2019.
After a glut of rejection emails for various stories (boo! hiss! mope!) it's great to get an acceptance.
July 4, 2017
James White Award Winner
So I didn't win the James White Award in the end, but it's still a great thing to have been shortlisted in the first place so I take heart from that.
The winning story, 'The Morrigan' by fellow Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle member Stewart Horn is an excellent and well-deserved winner. I'll look forward to seeing it in print in a future edition of Interzone.
The winning story, 'The Morrigan' by fellow Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle member Stewart Horn is an excellent and well-deserved winner. I'll look forward to seeing it in print in a future edition of Interzone.
June 19, 2017
James White Award Shortlist
This morning I awoke to some good news - my short story The Dying Glass has been shortlisted for the 2017 James White Award.
The stories that have made it through to the final selection are:
Don – Steve DuboisMay the Pain Guide You Home – Daniel RoyThe Morrigan – Stewart HornSkin and Bone – Beth PlutchakThe Cut – Elsie WK DonaldThe Dying Glass – Cameron Johnston
My short story has some really good company on that list :)We should find out soon who the winner will be *fingers and toes and eyes all crossed* *falls over*
The stories that have made it through to the final selection are:
Don – Steve DuboisMay the Pain Guide You Home – Daniel RoyThe Morrigan – Stewart HornSkin and Bone – Beth PlutchakThe Cut – Elsie WK DonaldThe Dying Glass – Cameron Johnston
My short story has some really good company on that list :)We should find out soon who the winner will be *fingers and toes and eyes all crossed* *falls over*
June 14, 2017
Special Effects
I am finding myself a little bored of all the CGI special effects in movies at the moment. It feels like they are all too often sacrificing character, plot and dialogue for whizz-bang spectacle.
While I enjoyed Wonder Woman I was switching off during the third act with all the lingering on big fancy explosions and magical effects. I would much rather have seen more of that screen time devoted to the Amazons and more of Diana exploring the modern world. It was the same with The Avengers, which I loved, and the countless CGI enemies in Avengers: Age of Ultrabore - I'd much rather have had more character interactions than yet another mashing of an anonymous metal face. Man of Steel was interesting to begin with and then quickly descended into a one long, drawn-out duel with buildings exploding everywhere. Lots of spectacle and some amazingly cool visuals, but at what cost?
Practical special effects and clever puppetry have always appealed to me more than CGI, things like Gremlins, The Terminator, Aliens, Dark Crystal and Robocop. Heading further back, I will always watch Ray Harryhausen animations.
May 4, 2017
On Submission
The editing and rewrites have all come to an end annnnnnddddd my agent has sent the manuscript out on submission.
Phew! So, what now I hear you ask? Waiting...mostly waiting...and hoping...and trying not to check my email every now and again...knowing that realistically very, very few books ever get picked up and published, but also that hoping bit is back again...
I'm finding this wait a little different to my short story submissions. Partly because there is a much larger chunk of time, effort and imagination invested, and partly because if this novel does get picked up then I'll have books in shops and libraries - something younger me had dreamed about ever since I first set foot in my local library. I frequently left that hallowed hall with shaking arms holding ten books at a time, and I would be delighted to find my own writing fuelling other people's imaginations in the same way.
I suppose we will just have to wait and see, and hope.
Phew! So, what now I hear you ask? Waiting...mostly waiting...and hoping...and trying not to check my email every now and again...knowing that realistically very, very few books ever get picked up and published, but also that hoping bit is back again...
I'm finding this wait a little different to my short story submissions. Partly because there is a much larger chunk of time, effort and imagination invested, and partly because if this novel does get picked up then I'll have books in shops and libraries - something younger me had dreamed about ever since I first set foot in my local library. I frequently left that hallowed hall with shaking arms holding ten books at a time, and I would be delighted to find my own writing fuelling other people's imaginations in the same way.
I suppose we will just have to wait and see, and hope.
