Tim Major's Blog, page 10
August 18, 2020
MACHINERIES OF MERCY now available
My YA SF novel MACHINERIES OF MERCY is published by Luna Press today! It’s a bit Westworld, a touch Battle Royale, a smidgen Existenz… but set in a tranquil English village that’s really a virtual-reality prison.
You can buy it direct from the publisher here, or from Amazon UK here, or from Amazon USA here, or even better, you could order it from your favourite independent bookshop.
July 30, 2020
MACHINERIES OF MERCY author copies
Author copies! This is the smart-looking new Luna Press edition of my YA SF novel, MACHINERIES OF MERCY. Elevator pitch: Westworld meets Battle Royale/Tron/Existenz/the Doctor Who serial ‘The Deadly Assassin’, but in a sleepy English village.
You can find more info about the book here, and you can preorder direct from the publisher (at a reduced price) here.
July 29, 2020
British Fantasy Awards eligibility
*Deep breath before self-promotion*
Voting for the British Fantasy Awards is now open, and I have a bunch of things that are eligible, several of which are already listed in the crowdsourced eligibility list. The main ones are SNAKESKINS, eligible for the Fantasy Novel category, and AND THE HOUSE LIGHTS DIM in the Collection category. I had 9 short stories published in 2019 and two of them were listed in the crowdsourced list: ‘Hangers-on’ from Shadow Booth Vol 3 edited by Dan Coxon, and ‘O Cul-...
July 24, 2020
HOPE ISLAND articles from around the web
A bunch of HOPE ISLAND articles have appeared online in the last couple of days:
Five of the biggest influences on HOPE ISLAND, including books, films and music – at The Dreamcage.
My ‘favourite creepy children’ – that is, my favourite books and films featuring creepy children, all of which influence HOPE ISLAND to some degree – at The BiblioSanctum
An interview covering my inspirations, my introductions to genre fiction, the state of the industry and future projects – at The Civilian Reader.
July 5, 2020
Hope Island reviewed in The Times
I’ll be honest, I hadn’t expected this. Yesterday my new novel, HOPE ISLAND, was reviewed in The Times! There it is, alongside books by David Mitchell, Cixin Liu and Chris Beckett. I’m very chuffed, not least because the write-up is so positive. It concludes:
“Tim Major is not yet a 21st-century Alan Garner but he’s getting close, creating an unusual mystery centered on the island’s soundscape, a thing of whispers, screams, susurrations, keenings and — thanks to the presence of the artists’ comm...
June 23, 2020
BSFA reading
Click here to watch the video via the BSFA YouTube channel.
By the way, the book is available right now! From bookshops and everything!
June 8, 2020
Guest post on John Scalzi’s blog
I’ve written a fair few articles to support the publication of Hope Island; they’ll be popping up around the internet during the next couple of weeks. The first two have appeared today:
The first is a big one for me: SF writer John Scalzi allowed me to write a ‘Big Idea’ piece for his ‘Whatever’ blog. I wrote about how parenthood can affect writing, and how I’ve managed to write despite parenthood, and the ways in which Hope Island is a product of my parental fears. Read the article here.
The s...
June 7, 2020
Book birthday: HOPE ISLAND
Book birthday! HOPE ISLAND is published today in the UK.
It’s obviously not the ideal time to be launching a book, and it feels really strange that none of us can wander into a bookshop right now. So, here’s a convincing simulation of HOPE ISLAND on the shelf, not least so that you can appreciate Julia Lloyd’s terrific spine design. (I don’t normally alphabetise my books, FYI.)
Here’s the back-cover blurb:
Workaholic TV news producer Nina Scaife is determined to fight for her daughter, Laurie, a...
June 5, 2020
Best of British Science Fiction 2019
I’m very proud that my story ‘Concerning the Deprivation of Sleep’ will appear in Best of British Science Fiction 2019, edited by Donna Scott, published by NewCon Press in July 2020.
The story was originally published in Synth #2, and it’s about a father transferring his rationed sleep credits to his young son. I wrote it when I was badly sleep-deprived myself, if that wasn’t already clear enough…
You can see the full line-up and preorder the book from the NewCon Press website.
June 1, 2020
Interview: writing in lockdown
Simon Bestwick was kind enough to invite me to take part in his series of lockdown interviews with writers. So, click on through to Simon’s website for talk of Doctor Who (and my thwarted attempt to win a Blue Peter badge), routes into writing, creativity during lockdown and a hint of my work-in-progress.
