Tim Maughan's Blog, page 2

#Burgerpunk, awards, interviews and hacking QRcodes

Right, no messing about – time for a quick round up of things that have happened:

I have a very short piece – #Burgerpunk – up on The Orphan as part of their latest issue. It was originally the opening of Flight Path Estate, but was cut free due word count limitations. Hopefully it still works on its own.

I was very stunned and flattered to find out last night that my article “La ciencia ficción está aquí, pero está mal repartida” (“Science Fiction Is Here, It’s Just Not Evenly Distributed”) has been nominated for the Ignotus Awards, which are the Spanish equivalent of the Hugos or BSFA awards. It’s a huge honour and a real surprise, and I’d like to send much love and thanks to everyone involved, particularly Elias F. Combarro and Miquel Codony Bodas for their support and for translating the piece. You can read the original English version at the World SF blog as well as in the Speculative Fiction 2012 anthology.

Guide 2 Bristol has just posted the third – and final – part of an interview with me (you can still read parts one and two) over on their site. Again huge thanks to Philip Bates for the thoughtful questions and for putting my ramblings together into a surprisingly coherent form, as well as to Rudy ‘Rudeboy’ Millard for organising the whole thing.

And finally – last week Google revealled that the live beta of their Glass wearable computer had been hacked using just a QRcode. Which might sound familiar to anybody that has read Paintwork. I wrote a few words about it for Tor.

OK, that’s it for now. Got a few more things about to pop up over the horizon, some of them kinda big, will let you know more details when I can. Laters.

Flight Path Estate – new fiction for Adventure Rocketship!

This week sees the blast off launch release of Adventure Rocketship!, a new anthology-slash-magazine by the science fiction critic and journalist Jonathan Wright. The first issue, Let’s All Go To The Science Fiction Disco, is about the intersection between music, SF and the counterculture.

Highlights include:

• New fiction from Lavie Tidhar, Liz Williams, Martin Millar and Nir Yaniv

• New essays by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, David Quantick, Sam Jordison, NK Jemisin and Jason Heller

• Interviews with China Miéville, Michael Moorcock, Mick Farren, The Orb and Bill Nelson

• Cover art by Stanley Donwood, of Radiohead album art fame

Oh, and me. I’m in there too, with a brand new short story called Flight Path Estate, a strange example of what happens when you try to write science fiction while obsessing over the media coverage of Occupy, Anonymous, Pussy Riot and US drone strikes. It also sees the return of a character from Limited Edition, if anyone is paying attention.

Apparently there is a blast off launch release event in London tonight, which is great and everything – but the real party will be right here in Bristol on Saturday, where myself, Liz Williams and Rob Williams will be signing copies at Forbidden Planet from 1pm. If you’re about make sure you come down and say hi.

Speculative Fiction 2012 and other news

I’m very honoured to announce that my rant essay ‘Science fiction is here, it’s just not evenly distributed’ has been included in a new non-fiction collection Speculative Fiction 2012, which ‘celebrates the best in online non-fiction – the top book reviews, essays and commentary of the year. This first volume, edited by bloggers Justin Landon (Staffer’s Musings – US) and Jared Shurin (Pornokitsch – UK), collects over fifty pieces from science fiction and fantasy’s top authors, bloggers and critics.’

I say honoured because well, wow – look at that line-up: Joe Abercrombie, Niall Alexander, Liz Bourke, Maurice Broaddus, Niall Harrison, Dan Hartland, Kameron Hurley, Thea James, N.K. Jemisin, Paul Kincaid, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Jonathan McCalmont, Martin McGrath, Aidan Moher, Abigail Nussbaum, Christopher Priest, Adam Roberts, Maureen K. Speller, Aishwarya Subramanian, and Lavie Tidhar among many others. Phew. Basically it’s a big fat book stuffed full of clever stuff by clever people that know a lot more about this shit than I do.

Print copies are out now on Amazon UK and Amazon US, with ebook versions to follow soon. Plus the profits all go to the excellent charity Room to Read, so if you don’t go and buy one right now you’re history’s greatest monster.

In other news, the Paintwork short film we made has been going gangbusters. We passed 20,000 views earlier this week, so all I can say is a massive thanks to everyone that checked it out. It also had nice things said about it by Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling and some guy called William Gibson. Mental. If you’re in London next weekend and fancy seeing it on the big screen it’ll be being shown as part of Sci-Fi London’s Mirror Mirror event on May 5th – more details about that in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.

Paintwork – the movie

So we made this really short, low budget film based on Paintwork (watch it in full screen if you can):

This morning I was trying to piece together how this happened. It certainly wasn’t something I’d been planning. I think it started in November of last year, when I was having a drink with the editor of New Scientist, Sumit Paul-Choudhury. He was here, in Bristol, where the two of us were checking out the Kode9/MFO/Miss Haptic homage/remix to Chris Marker’s La Jetee. It was pretty good. Anyway, I might have had a drink or two, and I mentioned in passing that I had wanted to do a Marker tribute myself, a simple thing with still images and some CGI, but I probably wouldn’t bother now. Plus I wouldn’t know where to start. It was just a random idea. Some bullshit you say in the bar after a couple of drinks.

Anyway, a few weeks later I had an email from Sumit’s cohort Simon Ings, the editor of Arc. He asked me if I wanted to go to Sonic Acts in Amsterdam with him in February, as Arc had been asked to do a panel there. A paid trip to Amsterdam? Obviously I said yes. I’d probably just have to do a reading or chat some shit about the future, standard procedure.

And then he asked me if I could show this short film I’d been talking about. For some reason, before really thinking about what it involved, I said yes to that too.

What it did involve, it turns out, was not just a lot of hard work and self-doubt but also working with some insanely talented and committed people. Like Alan Tabrett for a start, one of my best friends, how did all the heavy lifting on the project as well as supplying never-ending creative vision. Then there’s Laurie Eagle, who took the photos. And Koast, who gave us the voice over that fits the film so perfectly and convincingly. And just as important in making the whole thing work is Pete Thomas, AKA Forsaken, who not only gave us a perfectly suited piece of music, but inspiringly re-aranged and edited it to fit the visuals. Oh, and I can’t forget my wife, Bobi, who found herself on acting duties.

I can’t thank them all enough, really.

Anyway, let us know what you think. If you like it and what to share it around, or embed it on your site then please do. You can download a press release here, and right here are some promo images. Or if you need anything else give me a shout.

Back home

Well, don’t know about you guys, but 2013 has been interesting so far. And we’re only in what..March? Feels like I’ve done a year’s worth of stuff in two months.

Though, to be fair, I am usually quite slow moving. But less so for the last few weeks.

The end of February saw me flying out to Amsterdam as a guest of Sonic Acts, an arts festival that has been running since 1994 and ‘has a strong focus on contemporary and historical developments at the intersections of art, technology, music and science.’ Much of this manifests itself in evening performances of experimental music and film screenings, but a large component is also the daytime conference consisting of a range of talks and discussion panels covering everything from sociology and economics to the environment and cosmology. I was there as part of a panel put together by New Scientist’s Arc magazine, comprising of Arc’s editor and novelist Simon Ings, the very entertaining/scarily clever science writer Frank Swain and some science fiction writer you might have just heard of called Alastair Reynolds. Oh, and me – who was nervously screening the Paintwork short film we’ve made for the first time – more on that to follow.

I don’t really know where to start heaping praise on Sonic Acts. A fantastically organised event, run by passionately enthusiastic, friendly and professional staff, that just happens to be in one of my favourite cities in the world. Despite nerves at my own tiny contribution the whole event left me feeling enlightened and inspired. I can’t recommend it enough.

Back in Bristol for about 48 hours, I managed to squeeze in an appearance on local radio station Ujima. After a great chat with the show’s hosts and station staff about the issue of getting boys to read, I also got to talk about my own work, Bristol and science fiction in general. You can listen to the audio here, and many thanks to Cheryl Morgan and the super-friendly Ujima crew for having me on.

And then I was off again, this time over the pond to Albany, New York State where I was a guest at Genericon – a non-stop 48 hour science fiction, anime and gaming con run by the students of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Again, words fail me* in knowing where to start describing how much fun I had, and especially in praising the professionalism and warm-hearted enthusiasm of the event’s organisers – even after days without sleep. It was my first in-at-the-deep-end dive into American fan culture, and thanks to the friendliness of everyone around me I loved every second of it. A large part of that was getting to hang out with people I’ve known online for a while but never before met in the flesh – excellent human beings like Ink, Vinnie, Reverse Thieves’ Alain Mendez, this year’s con-chair Evan Minto, Vertical Inc‘s main man and all-round manga gangster Ed Chavez as well as my fellow guests – stand-up comic Uncle Yo and the legendary voice-actor Kyle Hebert. Basically it was 3 days of geeking out and jokes, punctuated with talks to nerve-wrackingly large audiences and peanut butter orientated food. Again I can’t recommend it enough, and hope I get to go back one day.

*Yes, I am a writer.

Read Paintwork and Limited Edition for free

Here’s one way to cheer up your Monday – a couple of my stories are now up to read for free on the interwebs.

First off publishers Tor have bought the rights to reprint the title story from my collection Paintwork on tor.com. If you’ve not read it already it’s a perfect chance to give it a look without having to buy the full collection – which of course you can still do if you so wish.

UPDATE: as one third of Paintwork is now out there for free, I’ve just slashed a third off the price of the ebook at Amazon (with other stores to follow) – just $1.99 in the US for example.

And secondly – following it’s shortlisting for the BSFA short fiction award – Arc have generously published Limited Edition for free up on their site.

So enjoy some Monday freebies, and let me know what you think when you’ve read them.

Appearances, interviews and awards

The problem with being addicted to Twitter is that I tend to neglect this site, which I really should be updating with my news. I mean, that is kind of why it exists. Anyway, here goes.

Got a couple of very interesting appearances coming up. First off at the end of February is Sonic Acts 2013 in Amsterdam, where as part of a panel put together by New Scientist’s Arc Magazine I’ll be presenting a secret project we’ve been working away on for the last couple of months – a short experimental film based on a scene from my story Paintwork. I’ll post some more details nearer the time, but you can get a peek at some images from it over on the Sonic Acts website.

And then just a week after that I’ll be a guest at Genericon 2013 in Troy, NY. I’m very honoured to have been invited over, and it’s the first time I’ve ever attended a con in the US, so should be interesting and will hopefully give me the chance to catch up with some of my American friends. Again I’ll post details of what I’ll be doing there shortly.

I’m also honoured to have been interviewed by philosophy professor Evan Selinger for the Huffington Post. It’s quite an in depth one, where we discuss my thoughts on culture, information and augmented reality amongst other things. Thanks to Evan for the very stimulating questions.

Also last year – back in November, which seems so long ago now – I was interviewed by Odo for Sense of Wonder. Again, some brilliant questions that made me really think hard about my views on science fiction, politics and the future. You can also read the interview in spanish at Literatura fantástica. Many props to my Spanish fam for all the support.

2013 got off to a great start with the news that Limited Edition (which you can now read for free over at Arc) had made the shortlist for the BSFA short fiction award. It’s a very strong list, with great stories in particular from Aliette de Bodard and Ian Sales, as well as something from some geezer called China Mieville. No idea who he is, but I think he had something to do with Moby Dick.

Oh, and I nearly forgot – Happy New Year!

Paintwork – signed copies

Nothing says Merry Christmas like moody near future, urban wasteland science fiction! So treat your loved ones – or yourself – to something special this festive season!

I’ve a limited number of print copies of Paintwork sat here, waiting to be signed and shipped out, so grab one quick. They’re just $10 including free worldwide postage, and I’ll even throw in some equally limited Paintwork stickers.

Just hit the PayPal button below:

Review: Amour (2012)

Michael Haneke’s Palm d’Or winning Amour opens with the discovery of a body, an elderly woman’s, sealed into what appears to be an abandoned but well maintained Parisian apartment. It’s a standard device for certain genres of film – the murder mystery or the gritty crime drama – but a few brief scenes later it’s clear that not only is Amour neither of those, but that Haneke has a supreme, if subtle, confidence and that we will not be in for an easy ride.

The body’s discovery is a flash forward. The following scenes introduce us to Anne and George, retired music teachers, now apparently in their 70s or 80s. By the third scene Anne has suffered a stroke. Over breakfast she stops talking almost mid sentence, she appears to be frozen. George tries to revive her her with a damp cloth, fails, in his panic he leaves a tap running as he heads out of the apartment to find help. In the hallway he is putting on his coat when he is interrupted by the sound – or lack there of – of the the tap being turned off. Anne is moving again.

The next scene reveals that Anne has had surgery, and it has not gone as well as could be hoped for. She makes George promise he will never take her back to hospital. Across these three described scenes the entire plot of the film is laid out in front of the audience, and we have been watching for less than ten minutes. We know the inevitable is coming, we can even make a good guess at the nature of its arrival.

Under a lesser director this set up would be an almost pandering device. Under a lesser director we would be in for an overly sentimental journey – one tainted in emotional blackmail and smothered by a heartstring-tugging soundtrack – Amour has no soundtrack – the only music we hear is played on the piano or from CDs, and sometimes it is too painful for us to hear in full, and is instead cut short. It is music that tugs at the character’s heartstrings, and ours only by proxy. Under a lesser director the camera and cast never leaving the confines of the couple’s apartment would be lazily claustrophobic, but instead it at times feels secure, homely, loving. Under a lesser director there would be nothing but an inevitable descent into Anne’s decline, but somehow Haneke gives us so much more, rejecting sentimentality and remorse for realism and human nature.

Of course praise must be piled also on Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, whose performances in the leading roles are staggering in their subtle, effortless accomplishment, but really Haneke’s direction and writing are the stars of this film. He has ultimate mastery over the flow of information, providing exposition and introducing outside characters in the most elegant of ways. By the end our initial fears have come true – it is by no means an easy ride – but it is a beautiful, thoughtful and enriching one; a journey through sadness, memories, trust, dignity – and above all – love. It is a fantastic accomplishment.

This review was based on a press screening at the Watershed, Bristol. The movie is playing there – and nationwide – from Friday 16th November.

Bristolcon 2012: more details

It’s that time again: the UK’s best one day science fiction event Bristolcon is back this Saturday – the 20th October. I’ll be there amongst many other, better known guests – and I’ve just received word of what panels and other stuff I’ll be doing:

10.00 – 10.45: The influence of SF on Technology

Hugo Gernsback had a plan. By telling thrilling stories about science he would teach boys and girls to think scientifically, and encourage them to become scientists when they grew up. Did it work? Does reading SF really encourage an interest in science? Do authors still try to teach, or have they given up? Are there technological developments that would not have happened without science fiction?

With Jonathan Wright (mod), John Hawkes-Reed, Cheryl Morgan, John Meaney, Tim Maughan

14.00 – 14.45: Signings

Things I will be signing: books, body parts, prosthetic limbs, comically plastered arm/leg casts, million pound book publishing and/or movie development contracts. Things I will not be signing: cheques.

15.50 – 15.55: Reading

I’ll be reading something. No idea what yet, but I’m sure it’ll be amazing and might involve me doing the voices. Unless I can find a bit with no dialogue in.

16.00 – 16.45: Apocalypses – how many ways can we destroy the planet?

As life becomes ever more interdependent and science gets the fuzzy end of the lollypop, can we scare ourselves sensible by showing how many ways we can go down or shall we sanitize with the absurd?

With Juliet E McKenna (mod), Michael Dollin, Janet Edwards, Tim Maughan, John Meaney

So hopefully see you there, come and say hello. I’ll even let you buy me a drink because I’m approachable like that. It’s hard to believe but I’m just some guy, really.