The Winterbirth hardback well has run dry. Okay, that’s not strictly true, since there’re no doubt still some in circulation out there in bookshops and on the internet, but Transreal Fiction, who’ve been selling the signed hardback, are getting an ‘Out of Print’ message from the distributors. Should anyone for any reason think a signed paperback of Winterbirth would be nice, or make a nifty Xmas present for someone, Transreal can still supply those, but it looks like no more hardbacks will have to suffer the indignity of being defaced by my scrawlings.
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I’m still getting an occasional query about signatures, so just to clarify: last I heard, somewhere in the Orbit UK offices there’s a pile of bookplates that I signed a while ago. If you’d like one to stick into your copy of Winterbirth, drop them a line and they might be able to help you. The only other option if you want a signed copy is to buy one, I’m afraid: if you order Winterbirth from Transreal Fiction - they can still get hold of the UK hardback as far as I know – I can sign (and optionally dedicate, date, whatever) it before it’s shipped out to you.
I am, on a more or less experimental basis, on Facebook. To be honest, I really don’t get this whole social networking lark. I have a niggling, grumpy old man suspicion that it’s all a bit Emperor’s New Clothes, but let’s ignore my no doubt ill-informed misgivings for now. If you’re in there too and want to do the friend thing, feel free, but please bear the following in mind:
(a) if I’ve never heard of you, any friend request is likely to fall on deaf ears unless you include a message that you’re a Winterbirth reader, or some similarly plausible excuse for getting in touch;
(b) I’m not actually likely to do much in the way of social networking in the foreseeable future (I know, why be on Facebook, then?). For the time being at least my visits to Facebookland are infrequent and brief, and
(c) don’t be surprised – or offended – if one day I have up and disappeared completely. It might just happen, if one too many people try to turn me into a pirate ninja zombie vampire or whatever.
I spent two very pleasant hours listening to the Starship Sofa guys talking about Interzone magazine. It’s the usual rambling, diversionary discussion, taking in everything from Goth bands of the 1980s through the merits of various Star Trek: TNG characters to Michael Moorcock’s cat and its contact lenses. There’s a good interview with one of the Interzone editors in the second hour, too. You can get the mp3 (episode 60) here.
Next week there’s a Blog Action Day when bloggers are invited to post about environmental issues. I’m not really into this kind of stuff – arbitrarily selected collective action days of dubious efficacy, that is, rather than environmental stuff, which on the whole I am into – but I might participate. Haven’t decided yet. In the meantime, here’s an arbitrarily selected (and gently photoshopped) picture of some wildlife, to see if I can get myself in the mood: an eider duck I snapped on the Isle of May way back in the Spring. Probably the coolest duck in the world. In so far as any duck could be said to be cool.
I inadvertently watched some of a CSI Miami episode last night. Coincidentally, it’s just been identified as the most-watched TV show in the entire world. Now CSI Miami was OK when it started, but some time ago it not so much jumped the shark as harpooned it, hauled it up onto the beach, slapped some lipstick and a dress on it and took it out on a date with a view to producing lots of little human-shark hybrids. It’s entered such extreme realms of ludicrous improbability and self-caricature that it’s almost reached the level of surreal, comedic art. I mean, seriously: the biggest TV show in the world?!? You people are nuts. All of you.
It occurred to me there might be one or two new visitors to the site, what with UK paperback and imminent US publication of Winterbirth. Also, thanks to the miracles of modern technology, this blog is now syndicated on Amazon.com, so maybe some folk will stumble across it over there (waves to anyone who happens to be reading it over there!). All in all, I thought a little welcome and orientation might be in order, so this is it. Hello and Welcome.
This blog is a fairly random mix of news, rambling, links to things elsewhere that I find of interest. Entirely normal bloggish stuff, in other words. I mentioned some reasons why I blog here, but if you like you can also regard it as my indirect means of answering the frequently author-targeted questions ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ and ‘What are your influences?’. Partial and vague answers are scattered throughout this blog, a bit like bones buried around a garden by an over-active and forgetful dog. (Do dogs actually do that outside of cartoons? I’ve never owned one, so I don’t know whether it’s a myth or not.)
There is a feed thingy, to which you might want to consider subscribing (and if you’re not using those things yet, why on Earth not? I love my feeds, I do. Whoever invented RSS should get a Nobel prize, or a knighthood, or something.)
Elsewhere on the website, the Gazetteer section has some (spoiler-free) info that fills in a little of the background to events described in the books. Stuff gets added to it now and again – in fact it’s just been updated with a note on the Kyrinin clans. Another new addition is something that’s almost but not quite like a cover gallery: all the covers so far stuck onto Winterbirth can now be viewed on this page deep in the bowels of the website, which is also the place to go for anyone who’s curious about non-English language editions.
Should you be yet to buy the UK paperback, and be tempted by the thought of a signed copy (or a signed copy of the UK hardback, which is still available and might actually be of more interest to those of you who like signatures on their books), see here for details.
Oh, and interviews with me have been sprouting across the internet like an infestation of pernicious mushrooms recently. Should you not yet be sick of the sight of me rambling on, there’s one here: part one and part two, and another one here.
And that was the Welcome Message. Consider yourself welcomed, and thanks for listening.
The interview is at A Dribble of Ink. The longest one I’ve done to date, as far as I can remember. I was feeling talkative evidently, but despite that it turned out reasonably well, I think. There’s a lot of other good content at A Dribble of Ink, so have a look around while you’re there.
The signed books are at Transreal Fiction. Anyone who would for some reason like a signed (and optionally, dedicated, dated, whatever) copy of the Winterbirth paperback can order one from Transreal – details on their website, or you can e-mail enquiries[at]transreal[dot]co[dot]uk for more info. Cost is cover price plus p&p.
To my surprise, interest in signed copies of the hardback hasn’t quite died down yet either, so just to confirm: you can still get signed hardback Winterbirths from Transreal too, although I’m not entirely certain how long it will remain available now that the paperback’s out, so now’s the time to buy if you’re so inclined.
The UK paperback of Winterbirth has definitely been released into the wild. I know this because I have seen it there with my own eyes, looking all pale and pristine and appealing on the bookshop shelves. (And because Amazon is uttering those delightful words ‘In Stock’.)
In other news, Reader’s Paradise bookshop in Cape Town is running a Fantasy Feast for the next couple of months. They’ve managed to assemble signed bookplates from a whole heap of authors – me included, along with a lot of rather more high profile folk like Tad Williams, Neil Gaiman and Charles Stross (it’s an sf feast too, see) – so there’s a veritable mountain of signed books available, along with various other goodies. It looks like a great event (and a great shop), so now anyone who’s in Cape Town in August or September knows where to go …
And here’s a link to a photo that illustrates very clearly why I won’t be going swimming in the Mekong River this lifetime.
Just before I get to the point of this post, since it has an American theme: people keep saying George W. Bush is now a lame duck, so what might a lame duck President find to do with his time? Answer here.
So, to our main story. A bit slow out of the blocks with this news, since it’s been agreed for a little while now, but: I’m delighted to say a deal’s been done for Winterbirth to be published in the USA. Getting published in the UK and various European countries would, to be honest, have been enough to keep me happy for a long time – adding the US to the list is a fantastic thick crust of icing on the cake.
The US edition will be one of the first books to appear from Orbit in the USA, making it part of one of the more ambitious undertakings seen in sf/f publishing for a while. Orbit’s turning itself into a globe-spanning genre empire, with a foot in each of the three biggest English-speaking markets (which I suppose makes it a tripod – a form with a noble sf heritage).
Same continent, different country, and look: I’m being given away for free. (EDIT to update: that competition’s finished now, so the freebies are no more, I’m afraid)
And here, one more time, is the info on how to buy a signed copy of the UK edition, in case anyone’s still toying with that idea.
Just in case any non-Brits are visiting (and very welcome you are, if so), it might be worth mentioning that there are to be translations of Winterbirth. Dutch, German, Russian, Polish and Romanian editions are in the works so far – exciting stuff for your average first-time author who thought just trying to get a UK publishing deal was being optimistic!
The first to see the light of day is likely to be the Dutch edition from M, scheduled for around April 2007. Current plans are for the German edition, from Piper, to hit the shelves in Autumn 2007. I am in awe, by the way, of those who have the skills to translate a novel. Being functionally illiterate in any language but English myself, their abilities seem almost magical to me.
And for anyone toying with the idea of buying the good old-fashioned English language version of Winterbirth, a reminder that if you contact Transreal Fiction they can sell you a signed (and optionally personalised!) copy, as reported in this post. It may be an enormously valuable heirloom one day. Or a handy signed doorstop. Never know when you might need one of those.
So … I said a few days ago that there were only two ways to get my signature in a copy of Winterbirth:
(a) ask Orbit to send you a signed bookplate thingy for insertion into your copy, and
(b) search the bookshops of Edinburgh for the signed copies that most of them have (or certainly did have a week or two ago).
Well, now there’s a third rather more user-friendly option that works even for those who don’t live anywhere near Edinburgh: contact Transreal Fiction, Edinburgh’s specialist sf/f bookshop, and they will be happy to sell and post you a signed copy. There might be ever so slight a delay, since I will have to actually pop in there to sign the thing, but it’ll only be a few days. A (very simple!) personal dedication or inscription should be possible if you ask for it.
I believe Anderida Books, a specialist seller of signed first edition books of all kinds, also has a few signed copies in stock at the moment, or will do very soon (as well as whole host of other tempting offerings for the discerning book collector).
Got a couple of questions via the website, the answers to which may be of wider interest, so:
When are the second and third books in the trilogy going to be published? The plan is for a roughly annual schedule, so Book 2 should be out late 2007, Book 3 late 2008. Plans are fragile things of course, but that’s the one in place unless and until something changes. Titles are to be confirmed – I think I know what Book 2′s called, but at the moment I’ve got title block over Book 3 …
How can I get a signed copy? I’m afraid for the time being there are only two ways, and one of them’s relevant only to a few readers. The first is to contact Orbit ( Orbit(at)littlebrown(dot)co(dot)uk with the (at) and (dot)s replaced as appropriate, of course ), and ask them to send you a signed bookplate that you can put into the copy you’ve already bought. The second applies only to those geographically fortunate enough to live within easy reach of Edinburgh: most of the bigger bookshops have signed hardbacks for sale (unless they’ve improbably sold them all already).
And finally … got my first report of Winterbirth-induced bloodshed: “In an incident as freakish as it was dramatic, at 6am this morning I managed (in my sleep) to knock my newly acquired hardback copy off the shelf above my head and deliver a gash to the forehead … Luckily I wasn’t blinded but I think I will gain a black eye.” Obviously I regret any pain and suffering caused, though a little bit of collateral damage is probably inevitable in the cutthroat world of publishing. And it does seem strangely appropriate, given the not-unbloody cover art.
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