So, now that I’ve got some decent sleep…

Spent the afternoon of yesterday at the BF’s PhD defence: he was working on quantum physics (entangled-photon sources, to be precise). I knew just enough quantum physics that the defence was somewhat familiar, but sadly not enough to actually understand most of what was going on. The question session lasted one hour (at which point they lost me completely), but in the end they awared him his PhD, with a Very Honorable Mention–which was pretty much the highest grade they could give him, so much happiness.

Then there was the cocktail, and the evening with drinks at Matthieu’s place–and I went to bed completely knackered. Slowly emerging now 🙂

-Sent revised version of Foreign Ghosts (the Xuya novel) to agent, and am now working on an appealing blurb they can use for marketing (and struggling a bit since this is multi-character in a weird setting).
-Updated the Servant of the Underworld page. I can haz blurbs!
-Got my synopsis for Book 2 of Servant of the Underworld approved by Angry Robot towers: it will tentatively be called Harbinger of the Storm. After much brainstorming, it looks like the series title has settled onto Obsidian and Blood.
Looks like book 2 of Obsidian and Blood is going to be the next project on my plate (right after I tackle the revisions for Servant of the Underworld).

Have I mentioned the bit where I feel perpetually swamped? I had some inkling that might be the lot of the novelist, but I didn’t think it would come quite that fast…

Dario Ciriello (friend, Clarionite, and founder of my writing group Written in Blood), has also founded Panverse, a small speculative fiction publisher. Their main project right now is Panverse, a series of anthologies of novellas–for which there are very few good markets available.

I’m pleased to announce that you can now order the first fruit of Dario’s efforts: Panverse One, featuring novellas by Andrew Tisbert, Uncle River, Alan Smale, Reggie Lutz, and Jason K. Chapman. Cover design is due to another Written in Blood buddy, Janice Hardy (whose MG book The Shifter has just been released)

If you want to read quality longer fiction, why don’t you give it a try?

Two novels by friends have recently come out:

• the first is Ken Scholes‘s Canticle, sequel to his awesome Lamentation. It’s already received rave reviews in many places, and I’m not surprised (I was lucky enough to read a draft of this, and it was already amazing at this early stage). Ken merges political and religious intrigues in a setting reminiscent of a Canticle for Leibowitz, where the order of the Androfrancines painstakingly gathers the knowledge that was lost during the Age of Laughing Madness…

  

  Come back to the Named Lands in this compelling sequel to Ken Scholes amazing novel Lamentation.

  It is nine months after the end of the previous book. Many noble allies have come to the Ninefold Forest for a Feast in honor of General Rudolfo’s first-born child. Jin Li Tam, his wife and mother of his heir, lies in childbed.

  As the feast begins, the doors of the hall fly open and invisible assassins begin attacking. All of Rudolfo’s noble guests are slain, including Hanric, the Marsh Queen’s Shadow. And on the Keeper’s Gate, which guards the Named Lands from the Churning Waste, a strange figure appears, with a message for Petronus, the Hidden Pope.

  Thus begins the second movement of The Psalms of Isaak, Canticle.

• Second up is John Brown‘s Servant of a Dark God, which boasts splendid cover art. The book has a fascinating concept: what if the days of your life could be harvested, and used by someone else?

  

  Young Talen lives in a world where the days of a person’s life can be harvested, bought, and stolen. Only the great Divines, who rule every land, and the human soul-eaters, dark ones who steal from man and beast and become twisted by their polluted draws, know the secrets of this power. This land’s Divine has gone missing and soul-eaters are found among Talen’s people.

  The Clans muster a massive hunt, and Talen finds himself a target. Thinking his struggle is against both soul-eaters and their hunters, Talen actually has far larger problems. A being of awesome power has arisen, one whose diet consists of the days of man. Her Mothers once ranched human subjects like cattle. She has emerged to take back what is rightfully hers. Trapped in a web of lies and ancient secrets, Talen must struggle to identify his true enemy before the Mother finds the one whom she will transform into the lord of the human harvest.

Now go forth and read. I know I will 🙂

I’ll be attending my first ever Utopiales in Nantes: the BF and I need a break (he defends his thesis tomorrow, and we both could use a bit of rest after the wringing the PhD has put us through). No programming, though: just enjoying the con, and seeing some friends.

(I’m attempting to get a professional pass by virtue of being an author; we’ll see how it goes 🙂 )

Er, yes, there will be a Villa Diodati report. That, however, would require full use of my brain, which is still lost somewhere in the boonies…

Instead, I’ll leave you with Lavie Tidhar’s editorial for the World SF blog, which does a tremendous job of articulating how I feel about the quality of stories, and in a much better way than anything I could write.

(courtesy of Thalys wifi link)

Graph of SF themes in TV, over time. Fascinating stuff.

Via Karen Meisner: Fantastical Wildife, the Child Empress of Mars. Amazingly detailed figure, which will be donated to the Interstitial Arts Foundation’s upcoming auction.

How not to hijack a ship: Somalian pirates mistake French flagship for cargo vessel. Uh-uh, not a good idea…

12 stories do not a collection make: Marty Halpern reflects on putting together an Alastair Reynolds collection.

Time for Villa Diodati again: starting from tomorrow, I will be sharing a house with Sara Genge, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Stephen Gaskell, Ruth Nestvold, Jeff Spock, and Deanna Carlyle
(and Floris Kleijne, albeit briefly, as Floris is currently awaiting the birth of his first child and can’t make the whole weekend). As usual, we will eat like princes, share gossip and learn from each other.

However, the house does not come with an internet connection, so expect to see very little of me on the web until Monday (there might be a brief interval of connectivity while I’m in the Thalys, as they have wifi). Blog’s going dark again.

Meanwhile, if you happen to be anywhere near London on Saturday, my publisher Angry Robot is having their UK launch party at Forbidden Planet from 12:30 onwards. Authors like Colin Harvey, Dan Abnett and Andy Remic will be there to sign books and answer questions (the AR crew will be there too, as well).

(I only found out about this after VD was already booked, otherwise I would have had to think long and hard which of the two events I was going to…)

We’ve had this brewing for a while, and now it’s gone live: Dario Cirielllo (who, in addition to being a good friend, is also the founder of my writing group Written in Blood and the editor and owner of Panverse Publishing) has interviewed me at IROSF. Check it out:

Ghosts and Demons: an interview with Aliette de Bodard

Hum, it would seem to be plug day…
Check out the trailer of Stephanie Burgis‘s upcoming A Most Improper Magic:

Stephanie is holding a competition with a Regency pack as the main prize (and “Everything’s better with highwaymen!” buttons). Check the rules here!

You know that feeling you have when you’ve finally figured out what the %% was wrong with your reasoning and things seem to come together, all of a sudden?

That’s when I remember why I like being an engineer. Today I finally figured our why something wasn’t working in my algorithms, and finally got to see results, and they were shiiinnyyyy…
(of course, it’s only a matter of time until some other problem comes along, but the rush of adrenaline when you solve stuff is kind of addictive)