Midlands Marriage

Had a couple of days down in the Midlands for Father's and Yvette's wedding. I must say it all went very well, my speech much appreciated (and laughter in the correct places) with even the snow falling in such a way as to resemble confetti. It was good to see family and friends and my little nephew who is growing up so quick.

We spent the night at a hotel on the edge of East Midlands Airport which was comfier and quieter than I was expecting and allowed Madam Vin and me to continue drinking without worrying where we were going to spend the night. As it was we had an early dinner, a relaxing night and very late morning...so I've definitely caught up on my lost sleep this weekend. The plane was delayed on the way back (as every good piece of bank holiday weekend transport should be) so we didn't get back to Edinburgh until late afternoon.

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Just finished the chapter entitled 'The Gloom'. That's a new chapter added and means I can spend the rest of this week revising it and those that surround it. I want everything sorted before the end of September so I can mention it as completed to anyone I meet at 'FantasyCon'.

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Savage Membrane is the sort of book that I like to read between meatier works. It's short, faced paced and full of dark humour and wit. Called a 'Cal McDonald mystery,' it plays homage to Chandler but moves the action to a US where the dead have very much returned. It's a great romp and I'll be looking for the others. It is also illustrated with light, pencil grey artwork which adds to its comic book roots.

Read this week:

Savage Membrane by Steve Niles

Back in Business

Well I'm pleased to say that we're back in business and that 'The Missing' is once more to be published by Libros International. No idea when the book will the hit the shelves (12 - 18 months is a good bet) but it will at some point make it out into the real world like all good children (Frankenstein monsters) must.

At least it will give me plenty of time to complete the new book, currently entitled 'Dark Father', which comprises book one of 'The Chronicles of the Gap'.

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After the lacklustre book version of Constantine's adventures (see previous blog) I moved back to his comic book roots and read 'The Gift'. Here the Hellblazer actually ends up in hell fighting for the soul of his sister while at the same time being used by the demon Nergal for his own nefarious aims. It's probably one of the best I have read so far with Carey pulling out all the stops to display Constantine's wit and desperation.

Also read the first of my Subterranean Press books, Lye Street. It's a good novella that finished all to quickly. It takes place years before 'Scar Night' and feels as if it might have once formed part of the original manuscript, or a failed start at the novel that was ditched. The writing is good, but not as good as the novel. That said, its a book worthy of adding to the 'Scar Night' mythos.

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Read this week:
Hellblazer: The Gift by Mike Carey and Leonardo Manco
Lye Street by Alan Campbell

Hitting it Back and Forwards

I am currently in negotiations with the publishers of 'The Missing', with them outlining what they plan to do with the book. This contact is allaying my fears but I still have a difficult decision to make as to what I do. Finding a publisher is hard slow work, but then a book deserves the best you can do for it. I'll keep you posted on how things are progressing when I have some more news.

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In the mean time here are a few book reviews:

Subterranean By John Shirley: The character of Constantine, a mage living in London through the Thatcherite 80s and into the 90s is one of the modern days comic books survivalists. His exploits have been recorded in comics since Alan Moore created him back in Swamp Thing and even after the disaster of the movie version the character has continued to enthrall. Subterranean, a 300 page novel should then be full of the dark wit and adult horror that the comics have so carefully crafted over the last twenty years. Unfortunately not. All I can assume is that Shirley had no time to sit down and write a carefully crafted novel so instead wrote a stream of consciousness adventure leaving in all the dreadful parts to keep people amused.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde: A classic pure and simple. He might not have invented the horror genre on his own but this short novel goes someway to establishing the dynamics and structure for all future authors. Part of the One City: One Book programme in Edinburgh, I was astounded about how much this book forms part of a collected consciousness. The story I thought was well known, but it seems most people (myself included) have a strange hybrid version of the story lodged in our minds. The real version is much darker, much more psychological then any Hammer Horror movie ever pertained to.

The Museum Vaults is a sumptuously drawn graphic novel from Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Part of a series of books co-produced with the Louvre museum this fantasy sets Monsieur Volumer on a journey deep under the museum as he attempts to catalogue the different basements and artifacts hidden below Paris. Created in monochrome, the drawings are simple yet the art work depicted is sumptuous. I can't praise this enough.

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I've also picked up the new IDW comic Locke and Key written by Joe Hill which hopefully will be as exciting as his novel. They are certainly as good as, if not better produced than DC's comics.

Read this week:
Subterranean By John Shirley
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert by Marc-Antoine Mathieu

Rescind of Contract

I have today written one of the most considered and deliberated upon emails ever to be sent in the history of the interweb.

After months of hard work, time and money, to be offered a contract with a small publishing house was all I ever wanted. I have at this time rescinded that contract and have once more become publisherless.

What foolishness is this I hear you cry! Has Adam been spending too much time sniffing the cleaning products kept under the sink. Alas, I have to say I am in a perfectly stable and balanced state of mind.

I decided after much deliberation that I was much better off without the small publisher, feeling that they were not interested in representing the book in its best light. This is not arrogance or self importance but came down to remarks made by one of their other authors who said that those she was glad her novel had been published she just wished that it had not been published by that particular company (paraphrased and names not given to protect the innocent).

Therefore I am once more free and single and on the look out for a good publisher / Literary Agent interested in representing a dark urban fantasy set in the UK.

If you're out there - Get in touch!

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Read this week:

Subterranean by John Shirley