Folks, my website will be down for some maintenance over the next few days, on and off. Watch this space for something snazzy!
I've just seen John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) advertising butter on TV.
Butter.
Er ...
I'm a bit ....
Well, disturbed and ....
OK. I can barely talk. I'll think this through and post again tomorrow.
Just returned from Cornwall, where I spent a few days drinking some splendid ale and eating some equally splendid pasties. I'm working hard to finish my new Hellboy novel right now (Hellboy: The Fire Wolves), but expect a longer posting here sometime over the weekend ...
The second Novel of the Hidden Cities, co-written with Chris Golden, is up for pre-order at Amazon now. THE MAP OF MOMENTS is set in New Orleans several months after Katrina. For anyone who enjoyed MIND THE GAP, this is a darker, more intense journey into a city's magical past.
My good mate Chris Golden came to stay with us for a couple of days after his Guest of Honour stint at Fantasycon. We were both tired from the weekend - add on top of that Chris's jet lag - so we decided to have a leisurely day on Monday in Hay on Wye. For anyone who's never heard of it, it's a small town in the Welsh hills with about 35 bookshops.
Yes, you read that right.
And of course, what we both needed after a weekend at Fantasycon was the opportunity to spend more money on books.
But Chris insisted. It's all his fault, really. That's what I told my wife, at least. I'd bought about ten books at Fantasycon, and in Hay I bouth another twenty (you just can't not buy them!). At my current reading rate that's about 8 month's supply, on top of the probably 1,000 books I haven't yet read. Do the math in too much detail, and it all gets a little depressing ...
Recent acquisitions include books by Ken Bruen, Ed Gorman, Walter Mosley, Dennis Lehane, Mark Chadbourn, James Lee Burke, and Joe Lansdale. Oh yes.
We had a great couple of days. We got some work done, too, though most of it consisted of chatting over current project THE SECRET JOURNEYS OF JACK LONDON in the car or over drinks. (The book, by the way, is progressing extremely well, and it's going to be a fantastic looking publication ... more details as and when the time comes).
It's been a good couple of weeks. On top of all this, I sold some more novels, details of which I'll post here as soon as the ink's dry and I get permission from the publishers. Suffice to say, I'm a happy puppy, and anyone who enjoys the collaborations I write with Chris, or my solo fantasy novels, will be happy too.
Ahhh, Fantasycon. I've been to lots of conventions, but this one always seems to be the highlight. This time last week I was just about to leave, and it already seems like many weeks ago. This one was particularly fun because my mate Chris Golden was over from the USA as Guest of Honour, and I had the pleasure of interviewing him on stage (the whole interview was filmed, and will be available online soon - I'll post details here).
I was on a good panel about Trends in Horror, along with Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough, Joseph D'Lacy and Bill Hussey, and it was a refreshing change being on a panel where the overall feel for horror in this country was positive. Bill and Joe are writing for Bloody Books, a fine new outfit, and Adam Nevill, editor at Virgin, was in the audience, providing some insight into their line as well. Very positive.
There was the usual curry on Friday evening, and a very civilised bedtime of 2:30. Saturday evening was the banquet (where they served food I'm certain I saw the year before ... really, I wrote my name on a carrot to see if I get it again next year), and then the awards. I didn't win either award I was up for, but I was delighted to see my mates Conrad Williams and Joel Lane beat me. After the awards, the raffle, hosted by Guy Adams and Sarah Pinborough. Started off OK ... but even their sparkling wit and presentation couldn't save it from becoming tedious and soul-destroying by the end. Really, let's have twenty really good prizes, instead of 300 books that few people really want.
More beer, more wine, then home. I brought Golden home with me for a couple of days ... but that'll wait for another blog post.
Also subject of a future post ... I sold three new novels this week (hoorah!), which I'll tell you about when the contracts are signed.
Metallica's new album has taken a long time to grow on me. Sometimes when it takes me this long to get into an album, it's because it is, in fact, crap. Other times, it's because the album is destined to be a classic, rediscovered and replayed again and again over the years. I'm pleased to say that mostly, Death Magnetic falls into the latter category.
Let's face it, it's been a long time coming. St Anger infuriated a lot of people - I was one of those who initially loved it beause I felt it needed loving, and then I've fallen out of love with it over the years. Can't recall the last time I played it. And after the embarrassing, painful mess that was Some Kind of Monster, Metallica really needed to pull something out of the hat with this album.
What they've done, and mightily successfully, is to remember that they're a rock band. Hetfield's singing (not shouting) has never sounded better. Ulrich has rediscovered how to play the drums, dispensing with the terrible sound from the last album. Hammett is allowed to play guitar again, and Trujillo fits in as if he's always been a part of Metallica.
As for the songs ... they're all a fuck-you-MTV seven or eight minutes long. And they are HEAVY. My favourites so far are Broken, Beat and Scarred, which carried a thunderous chorus that'll shake your granny's dentures loose for sure. All Nightmare Long is a stormer, Cyanide is an obvious crowd-pleaser ... they all have quality, and though I find the instrumental a little tiresome - mainly, I think, because I'm so taken with Hetfield's singing once again - it's still worth a listen.
So, in summary: it's not the best album they've ever done. But it's fifty thousand miles from the worst. It's safe to say that Metallica are back, and that makes me a very happy puppy.
Okay, loads of news to catch up on, so I'm going to do so in a few posts over the next few days. Fantasycon was last weekend - I'll write a more in depth report on that over the weekend - and I had two book launches there, launching three books in total.
The first was on Friday night for my new novella THE REACH OF CHILDREN. It looks utterly fabulous, as you can see here, and there are a few reviews incoming over the next few weeks. Mike Marshall Smith, who wrote the wonderful introduction, says:
Lebbon has written one of the best and most emotionally convincing stories about death that I have ever read .
This is one of the most personal stories I've ever written, and I'm actually quite nervous that it's out there now ... there's so much about me here, and stuff I've gone through, that it feels as if I've offered something private up for view. But I've also found the writing of the novella very satisfying and rewarding, and I hope you enjoy it. If you're interested, check out the details here.
Also launched at Fantasycon, my two books from Allison & Busby, FALLEN and THE EVERLASTING. FALLEN just had a great review in the latest issue of SFX magazine, giving it 4 out of 5 and saying:
If Lebbon continues writing the Noreela stories to this high standard, the series could be as exciting as George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire novels - definitely a series to watch.
Which is nice.
More postings here over the next few days, including:
Death Magnetic
More horror books
Hay on Wye, and why I must never go there again
Chris Golden, and why he must never come here again
Fantasycon, or The Zoo that is Nottingham
... my news from the British Fantasy Convention, among other things. It's been a busy time here, but watch this space!
It's definitely growing on me. Definitely better than St Anger, that's for sure. I shall give it a couple of uninterrupted listens tomorrow on the way to Fantasycon.
Full report - about Death Magnetic, and Fantasycon - next week!
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