I have been asked to make a showing at Nerd East, the Larp fair at Durham on 9th June 2012. There may be some manner of speechifying. The speech may include recycled elements from my Picocon speech. See how green I am? I'm constantly trying to reduce my inspiration footprint. Anyway, I shall be there, and I shall be happy to sign stuff, answer questions, receive drinks and the like.

After that I am one of a host of names at Edge Lit on 14th July 2012 at Derby Quad. No idea what I'm doing there but ditto the signing and the questioning and also probably the drinking.

I have another short story on the way into print, too. I'm not a prolific ghost story writer, but I'm very proud of my creepy little piece, Not a Cat Person, which will be coming out soonish in Newcon Press's Hauntings anthology. I'm also working my way through their back catalogue at the moment. I can strongly recommend Ian Watson's new collection, Saving for a Sunny Day.

Finally, there's this: Waterstones and Amazon are exploring a new Book Coprosperity Sphere . I will freely say that I honestly don't know enough of the ins and outs of the business to make any comment as to whether this will work for Waterstones (or Amazon, but one kind of feels that Amazon will be selling books to the cockroaches long after we're gone (1)), or what other considerations are going to rear their heads, but as I am very much in favour of high street bookshops, I do hope this means that we might have the last chain left for a little longer. It's also potentially a step towards the strategy that was being talked about at last year's Fantasycon, the idea that you could buy the physical book at a store and get the ebook in the same purchase (meaning you could have your library and home, in pleasing paper, and also cart it around conveniently, without having to buy everything twice). Now this current deal is a long way from that, but what it is, is infrastructure that might conceivably lead to it. Anyway, we'll see.

(1) And you know me well enough by now to know that I genuinely mean it in a good way.

However:

This is phenomenal :

This is the work of Rene Sears from her Nerdbroidery blog, and I love it beyond words.

More blog stuff soon.

So, aside from finishing one chapter and starting another (just past the 2/3 mark on the first draft now), and also writing about 1,000 words on Super Secret Unpublishable Project Force (2) I went to see Cabin in the Woods, a film that has been Wowed beyond Wow by reviews that are maddeningly unable to talk about the Wow without spoiling the film for you. So, yes, Wow. And I myself am now not going to spoil the Wow, save to say that, as I am not a habitual horror moviegoer, the stuff that scared the bejeezled crap out of me probably wasn't actually all that, on a scale of one to Cannibal Holocaust. The ideas and the thought behind the film, as well as the crazygonuts fantastic third act, make it a definite must see if you've got the nerve though.

Although… and this is a weirdness… I wrote part of that film in a weird and totally non-litigious way. Not actually the part that is the point of why the film is so very interesting, but there is a point where Cabin runs on parallel tracks for just a tiny bit with my own story The Dissipation Club, which I had out in Miskatonic River's Dead But Dreaming 2. So, great minds, y'know (4).

(1) Tad Williams and GRRM have both produced (very good) volumes long enough that they had to be split up for the paperback release. I am waiting for some wit to write something so long that the ppb is in itself a trilogy. That will mark some sort of Mayan Apocalypse of fantasy novel memes, I think.

(2) It's like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers except nobody cares (3)

(3) Sorry, it's like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers except even fewer people care.

(4) Please don't sue, Joss.

Did a couple of decent panels — the first was "not another f*cking elf" where the four of us had no moderator whatsoever, and ran everything quite satisfactorily as a socialist commune. This explored a lot of good ground on fantasy tropes, and especially the different way that elves and other races are used — we got onto orcs, too. I contended that there was little ground between Tolkien's "orcs" and the lower class "oiks" but Paul Cornell stuck up for Professor T on that one. There was also a suggestion that orcs have now migrated to the noble savage archetype and everyone wants to show how lovely and misunderstood they are, which does seem to be a think with orcs.

Sunday's panel was diversity in fantasy — we managed to cover gender, sexuality and race under the able helming of Mark Charan Newton. As someone pointed out after, we didn't look at disability, which was true and a shame. Still, much was said, and the general conclusion is that the genre is at least having a go at broadening its demographic — both in terms of characters, authors and hopefully readership.

Also got to see some other fun stuff — nice SF panel — "is SF dead", which as was pointed out contrasted nicely with last year's "has SF taken over the world". Next year: "SF has risen from the grave."

On the subject of SF, I would like to think that I have in some small way diversified myself into that sister-genre by getting a (very) short story accepted for the Nature magazine Futures section — this prints brief stories dealing with a speculative treatment of real science, and I'm very chuffed to have something accepted (hint — it wasn't the first time I tried it). No idea what issue it'll be in, but the story is called "21st Century Girl" and more details as and when. I've submitted a few other stories to various anthologies that have been on the hunt, and so crossed fingers for some more shorts news in upcoming months.

Last up: I have now registered formally as an author on Goodreads. This appears to have a kind of forum-like thing in its Q&A sessions, and so I will probably set something like that up. For now I'm busy giving good ratings to all my books. Yes, even that one.

Arrived lunchish Friday in the company of Justina Robson, fellow Leeds-based writer, and was treated to sumptuous lunch by my agent at MacDonalds (3) where we discussed The Plan. He and his minion have both read the draft of War Master's Gate, and they are in favour, which is just as well. I didn't make the fight demonstration (fail on [2]) but did squeak into "Pushing the Boundaries of Genre" (Gillian Redfearn of Gollancz moderating Paul Cornell, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Sophia McDougall and Robert Reddick.) This was my first sight of Paul at the con, who was not only one of four guests of honour, but was also giving awards, nominated for awards, and filling in  as a volunteer setting up and taking down and generally being sufficiently indispensable that it was a wonder they didn't it COrNell and just have done.

Missed the "Archery on screen" (fail [2]) but did at least tick [1] by making the launch of Newcon Press' Dark Currents anthology, for which I contributed a story, and got to meet Ian Watson in the flesh, a writer whose own short fiction has had a big influence on me.  From that I got to the genre "Just a Minute" (Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan, Jo Walton and Donna Scott, chaired by Paul Cornell (4)) which was just as good (5) as the SFX version, and is apparently now a regular feature of the con circuit.

There was a picture circulating on Facebook a while back of "people you see wandering about conventions" and it's quite true, hence, at some late hour, the man himself does wander on into the bar and I do get as far as buying him a drink before the awestruck fanboy social inadequate part of me ensures that I then fail to make any impression or say anything of any use, so that's the first (of several) fails on [3]. By that time, after hooking up with Sophia McDougall and David Anthony Durham (both of whom I met at previous conventions) and a host of others  — and FYI, the cliché is true, and late on in the bar is absolutely the place to hang around if you wish to meet an author, editor, agent or similar — I make the call to go to bed at around 1pm, because I've a panel first thing on Saturday.

I am reliably informed that, presumably about 5 minutes after I've headed off, George turns up and spends until the small hours generally passing the time with whoever remains in the bar at that point. So that's fail number 2.

To be continued…

(1) Bonus points for spotting the Jonathan Coulton title I'm shamelessly stealing.

(2) Or, let's be honest, writer to Writer.

(3) You see how we celebrities live?

(4) It's like a drinking game

(5) I think I entered some kind of contract with Sarah Pinborough and Joe Abercrombie about using other comparative terms.

And for those who saw this before the correction, no, I have no idea what a "Tog blog" is either.

As pointed out by Mark Guest in a comment to the last post, the 8th book of Shadows of the Apt will be out 2nd August, meaning I should start thinking about signings for around that date (and Fantasycon 2012's just a month later, for that matter).

This is of course the beginning of the end, in that it's the first volume of the final plot arc. We've had the first Wasp war, ending with the treaty signed at the end of Salute the Dark. We've had all the fallout, the stories of Che, Stenwold, Seda and Tynisa that have occupied the attention of Scarab, Sea Watch and Heirs. Now the Empire has got its act together. Compare and contrast with Mr Brooks' cover to Empire (out now, I believe).

As chance would have it, I'm on the final proofs for Air War right at this moment. It's pleasant to be able to get to this stage, which is often when the book is starting to seem like a house guest that just won't get the hint and leave, and still find the story zipping along quite nicely. Things explode. What's not to like?

There has been a lot of scuttlebutt (1) circulating about the PR for this film, or lack of same, much of it placing the blame on Disney who are releasing it(2). Certainly, although it's a project that various filmy sort of people have been talking about since just about forever, the actual film seems to have snuck up on us, and until this week I'd not actually seen any kind of advertising for it or much suggestion that it even existed. I stumbled onto the trailer by chance, and there's been a second trailer recently, and they have both blown me away. I will most definitely be watching this come Friday.

Burroughs' (3) John Carter books are some of the early gems of genre fiction — the series is one of the most enduring and influential ever, and truly deserves a good outing on the screen — with modern effects it's absolutely doable. Of course, trailers have lied to us before, and the film may follow Conan down the road to mediocrity, but seriously, I have not wanted a film to be good so badly for a long, long time. Expect a bitter, bitter post next Friday if it's not.

(1) Not the name of a character in John Carter to my knowledge.

(2) Unless this is all party of a cunning reverse psychology stunt by Disney to get people rooting for the film of course!

(3) Edgar Rice, not William. If William Burroughs ever wrote any books about people on Mars… actually possibly he did. Maybe that's what all of his books are about.

There is a schedule up now for Alt Fiction, which has some good-looking stuff in it. It's an event I've much enjoyed in past years, and looking good this year too.

Somewhat late with this one, but I have a blog post up at the Tor blog here where I basically have a further rant about world building and Shadows of the Apt in particular. Anyone at Picocon may recognise some of this, as it was written at the same time as some of my talk. It's not the "how to write a generic fantasy epic" though, although tbh that went down quite nicely so I may yet recycle it.

Finally I am very excited about the upcoming launch of Dark Currents (1) from Newcon Press — it's got one hell of a lineup of writers behind it, and my own story, The Fall of Lady Sealight, is one I'm particularly fond of. Click on the link and you can pre-order a copy too. It's going to get its launch at Eastercon, so that's probably a good chance to get copies signed.

(1) No dried fruit jokes, please.

And, yes, they say make your blog entries short and pithy, but when I get my rant on it's hard to stop, Explains why the books tend to break the 200,000 word barrier, certainly.

And before I start, the Shadows of the Apt Wiki has just had a superb facelift, so go check it out!.

OK, apropos of nothing save my recent Christopher Priest binge, secondary worlds for real, or for make believe:

Getting past any initial objections about considering the reality of fictional worlds, when sundry children found their way into Narnia this was presented as a real place. You’d have to stretch the text past breaking point to find an interpretation where it was all, as Edmund originally claims, just a game, imagination by consensus. Narnia exists, insofar as the books are concerned. It’s a real place, as real as the “real world”, and indeed set within a wider multiverse of linked worlds (and aren’t those parts of The Magician’s Nephew actually more intriguing than actual Narnia itself?).

There are similar stories where the balance of probabilities tilts strongly the other way, though: that the fantastic world is the product of imagination, or even mental disorder. This can also be found in work intended for a younger audience. The film Bridge to Terebithia, for example, is pretty much impossible to interpret as a genuine fantastical encounter. Although we see the world the children “visit” it’s  explicitly all in their heads.

Or the reality of the secondary world is up for grabs. Of the “big three,” for example, Wonderland could go either way, although as it is essentially a satire (indeed a mirror, in the 2^nd) of the real, a “realist” argument possibly carries more weight. On the contrary, Neverland and Oz are both presented as very real (save perhaps in the best-known filming of Oz, where they chicken out) and both Barry and Baum go as far as to present their fantastic worlds as superior and preferable to the actual one. It’s a bold move that I think would cause difficulties today – the idea of children retreating into a fantasy world being a good thing would catch a lot of flak from conservative critics (1).

Fiction aimed at adult/older audiences also shows this uncertainty. Leaving aside Walter Mitty(2), whilst the phenomenal film Pan’s Labyrinth looks on first viewing to be about a child escaping a traumatic home environment by taking refuge in her fantasies, it’s quite possible to watch through on the basis that it’s all real, and arguably that brings a more satisfying (certainly less depressing) closure to the film.

For me, I’m an unregenerate fantasist. A secondary world presented as a therapeutic tool or delusion to be escaped from in order to find wholeness is always a bit of a let down for me – “it was all a dream” sort of thing. Terebithia was a well-made film, and heavy with meaning and poignancy and all that, but at the same time the Scooby Doo of it left me feeling empty. Just my personal take, but I’ll go some distance to find a reading that will give that world reality.

Iain Banks pulls some interesting sleight of hand with some of his early “mainstream” books. On the face of it, The Bridge is a look into the damaged mind of an accident victim trying to find his way out of his own injury, and that’s the standard reading I think. The world of the Bridge that we’re presented with, however, is fascinating and bizarre, a kind of mix of Kafka and Gormenghast stretched over the unending structure of the title – it seems almost too much to be just a fleeting construct. The world is a satisfying one in its own right (lord knows there have been straight out secondary worlds with less depth (length, breadth?) than that of the bridge.)

What precisely is going on in Banks’ Walking on Glass is even more uncertain. It’s like Lao Tzu and the butterfly – anyone’s guess as to who is dreaming who. Banks, of course, has something of a unique relationship with the bookshelf, having his two personas, ostensibly genre and non-. Whilst a number of his “non-M” books are solidly rooted in the real world, one wonders how much of a sly game he’s playing with the critics. Transitions, the latest “non-M”, has a great deal of topical relevance, but although it sits there on the general fiction shelves it’s surely a stretch to read it as anything other than flat out world-switching science fiction. With that in mind, it’s worth a re-reading of The Bridge and Walking on Glass with an eye to the reality of the fantasies presented.

The secondary world can also decline in reality as a series goes on. M. John Harrison’s Viriconium sequence, for example (3), kicks off with some epic far-future dying earth fantasy that could link arms with Jack Vance or Michael Moorcock, but each iteration of the setting brings more uncertainty and a greater distance. The very reality of the world is explicitly malleable, the issues at stake become more nebulous and less epic, the heroes less classically heroic, until we are left with “A Young Man’s Journey to Viriconium”, locked out of the world that we have known, left with nothing but the real, and maddening, unfulfilling whispers. At the end of our journey, we are forced to ask if any of it was actually real, or just our own delusion (4).

But it can go the other way. I give you Christopher Priest’s The Affirmation, where the main character is a Londoner who has a breakdown and ends up torn between the demands of the real, and the fantastic “Dream Archipelago” as he tries to address his own past and identity. Simple. Except it’s Priest, so it’s not at all. The protagonist has written an ‘autobiography’ that is not only inaccurate but takes place in the Archipelago, another world. The “him” in the Archipelago has memory issues and has to rely on an account he wrote that is set in our world. Although I suspect the mainstream reading of the book is “real world man with mental health issues suffers from delusions” it can be read the other way, it really can.

And then Mr P brings out The Dream Archipelago, and, very recently, The Islanders, the first a collection of stories set in the Archipelago’s fully detailed world (with no concessions at all to the real one) and the second a purported travel guide interspersed with short fiction, much of which relates to the stories and characters of the original, making the whole enterprise something remarkable and possibly unprecedented as a literary endeavour. But the Archipelago has its own reality, however much it cannot be mapped or quantified.  It is that rare thing, a modern secondary world – not an alternate history, not a possible future, but a world that (post-Affirmation) has no concrete link to ours, and yet is recognisably on a par with our 20^th/21^st century existence (5). Indeed — and with the caveat that, like Gene Wolfe, you can’t take anything Priest writes at face value — arguably Islanders is more fantastic than Archipelago – there’s one story pair, mentioning no names, where the Archipelago original seemed to be strongly indicative of repressed traumatic memories in the narrator, but where it’s Islander “counterpart” pretty much says, “No, that horrifying crap was real.” Priest has therefore given us a world that has gone from a dream of mental imbalance to a self-contained reality over three volumes. Of course, his next one, should he revisit the islands, might turn it all on its head again.

(1)   Unless, possibly, that fantasy world had strong Christian overtones.

(2)   Unrelated, but it is an odious thing when someone is described in the press as “something of a Walter Mitty character,” because this seems to be wheeled out specifically to describe a shyster who has taken advantage of other people and ruined their lives, but whom we are apparently supposed to dismiss as a harmlessly deslusional/loveable rogue. Digression over.

(3)   Firmly on my list of “You Must Read This” books/series.

(4)   The reworking "A Young Man's Journey to London" (in Things that Never Happen) is cited by some reviewers as Harrison 'making peace' with his earlier genre work, and though I can't comment on this, not being up on the history, it's a welcome reading but not what I took away from the story. To me it seemed to be continuing the trajectory of the original story, taking us further out and killing/excising Viriconium altogether. I found it an unsettling read but I'd be happy to find I was reading it wrong.

(5)   There is a whole extra post in this topic.