At the end of every year I check over the list of books I've read and pick my favourite three. Last year I read 26 books, and my favourite three were THE TERROR by Dan Simmons, THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins, and THE SERVANTS by Michael Marshall Smith. Three very different books, but all well written, challenging and entertaining.
So, what's to come in 2008? It's been a very productive year for me - my first as a full-time writer - and that's reflected in the schedule for next year:
AFTER THE WAR is out now from Subterranean Press. It's a volume of two novellas based in my fantasy world of Noreela, and it's gathering some great reviews.
A WHISPER OF SOUTHERN LIGHTS is the third, and longest novella in the Assassin Series from Necessary Evil Press. It's set at the fall of Singapore during WWII, and I think it's the most powerful novella yet. It also ends with a couple of lines that have already caused a reader to threaten me with violence ... Release date: imminent.
FALLEN is the new novel set in the fantasy world of Noreela. It's a stand-alone novel taking place 4,000 years before the events of DUSK and DAWN, and it involves the early years of exploration of the vast land of Noreela, and two competitive explorers risking everything for the greatest prize. Release date end of April.
MIND THE GAP is the first Novel of the Hidden Cities, the new series I'm working on in collaboration with Christopher Golden. It's set on and below the streets of London ... but a London where the truth of things lies between the spaces of our lives, and beneath the veil of reality. Release date end of May.
CHILDREN OF THE NEW DISORDER is a novella written in collaboration with Lindy Moore (pseudonym of a popular children's writer). It's a brutal apocalyptic tale, and quite unlike anything I've ever written.
There are also several exciting project not yet officially announced or still awaiting contracts, including:
a brand new short novel from one of the biggest and best indie presses
a massive volume of short fiction, containing a brand new novella and short story (release date: imminent)
a new novella from one of the most exciting indie presses around
a new novella as part of a four-novella volume
and .... well, other stuff. Lots of it.
So please keep visiting here to check out updates on what's coming next. And to everyone who continues to buy and read my work ... a heartfelt thank you, and please continue to spread the word.
A happy 2008 to everyone!
Tim
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AFTER THE WAR, the volume of two novellas set in my fantasy world of Noreela, is out now! It's had some fantastic reviews so far, so to check them out - and perhaps order a copy - visit the Subterranean Press page here.
Coming in the next day or two, some hints of what you can expect from me in the next 12 months, including novels, novellas ... and a few surprises, too.
In another utterly ridiculous indication of the politically correct nightmare we're slowly descending into, we're now being asked to decide - indeed, asked to vote upon - whether a medical website exploring the human body should also include genitals. Check it out here.
Apparantly, they're worried about kids seeing images of things they already have. And we're voting on this?!?! Reality TV has a lot to answer for.
Quite frankly, I'm seriously offended by feet. They invariably look ugly, big toes grow errant hairs, and they're always kept under wraps, so when I see them ... euch! They cause offence. So I think these computer models should be complete right down to the ankles, where they should then be cut off completely.
Anyways ... this might be my last posting before the Big Day, so I wish you all a happy holiday season, and a pleasing and healthy new year. Feet, cocks and pussies included.
Someone likes DUSK and DAWN ... check it out here!
Too late to buy these for Christmas, but you can always use those book tokens Aunt Hilda buys you at Amazon!
Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Fantasy Magazine have all given my forthcoming book from Subterranean Press glowing reviews. Check them out here.
AFTER THE WAR is a volume of two novellas set in my fantasy world of Noreela, The Bajuman and Vale of Blood Roses. I'm very proud of both stories, and hopefully they'll whet your appetite for the new Noreela novel FALLEN, due from Bantam Spectra in the spring.
Off to London tomorrow for lunch with my very excellent agent Howard Morhaim, then a pint with my UK sub-agent Caspian Dennis. If you're in London tomorrow, I'm the bald one with the goatee.
Permit me to sound like a miserable bastard for a few paragraphs ...
Last Friday Tracey and I had a day out. I jokingly called it my work Christmas do. We went to the cinema to see BEOWULF in 3D, ate some Chinese food, came home for the evening to crack a couple of bottles of wine and watch 28 WEEKS LATER ... and we had a fun day. The food was splendid, the wine was equally palatable, and both movies were very entertaining in their own way. BEOWULF had Ray Winstone promising to 'kill your monstah!', and 28 WEEKS LATER was wonderfully grim, just how I like my horror movies.
But I'm not here to talk about the movies, not really. Let's go back to the cinema for a bit...
We were the only ones in the 12:10 screening of BEOWULF. Got there in plenty of time, as I always enjoy the trailers beforehand. Bought our sweets. Took our seats. But we didn't get trailers to begin with. We got adverts.
I don't mind two or three adverts at the cinema. You get used to it. They want you to drink coke, so they have some overpaid celebrity adding to their vast fortune by drinking a can of Coke and pretending they're enjoying it. They want you to eat Mars Bars, so they show you how great they are in the hope that you'll pop out to the foyer and buy one before the movie starts.
But last Friday, they wanted us to do a whole lot more. Smell good, wear nice clothes, drive fast cars, book a holiday, drink whisky, eat party food, shop in M&S ... And that's Christmas for you. It's invaded the fucking cinema now as well.
We sat there for twenty-five minutes watching adverts before the first trailer came on. Twenty-five minutes of my life. Wasted. Thing is, I know what whisky I like to drink. I know what clothes I like to wear. And last Friday, I didn't fancy a Mars Bar.
Fuck off and let me watch the movie I came to see.
Happy Christmas, UGC Cinemas in Newport. You owe me half an hour of my life (because fuck it, I'm charging interest).
I finished writing late yesterday, at about 10:30. Wandered into the living room where Tracey was surfing some TV, and she paused on a programme called CAN FAT TEENS HUNT? Cool, I thought. With a title like that, it must be a new alternative comedy series, perhaps a sketch show, surreal, maybe some satire thrown in. So I sat, and I watched, and I realised that ...
... it was a programme about fat teens.
And whether or not ...
... (you know where this is going, don't you?) ...
... whether or not they can hunt.
And I went to bed in despair at the world we live in.
And lo, I dreamed up some new reality TV shows that will make me a fortune. WILL DAMPENED MODELS MELT? WHEN SPORTS STARS SHIT. CELEBRITY BUTT WAX.
I have to go. I have meetings with every TV exec in the land.
Here's the first review for A WHISPER OF SOUTHERN LIGHTS ... and it's a scorcher!
The 3rd novella in the Assassin Series, A Whisper of Southern Lights, is now up for pre-order from Necessary Evil Press. This is the best Assassin novella so far, and Caniglia's artwork is just stunning. The last two novellas sold out pre-publication, so get those orders in quickly! Here's NEP's official release:
From New York Times Bestseller Tim Lebbon comes an all new novella - and the third book in the Assassin Series - featuring all new cover art and interiors by Caniglia and an introduction from Gary A. Braunbeck. Release date early 2008.
In the Hell of World War Two, in the grisly chaos and ruin of Singapore, Gabriel at last sees a chance to discover more about the origins of Temple, and the demon's sinister purpose...and perhaps a way to finally put an end to Temple's existence and the carnage that follows him like a shadow.
But Fate is a playful watcher, and war has always been Temple's playground.
As Gabriel and Temple face each other once again, this time in the sweltering Asian jungles that drip pain and blood, a weary soldier finds himself the pawn in their endless game of death. What he knows and does may change the teetering balance of their timeless conflict...and the fate of the whole world.
Last night, my wife and I watched the end of Season 3. Wow. Some of what I was expecting happened ... but so much more happened that I wasn't expecting. This is my favourite TV of the last few years, without a doubt. Quality stuff. Roll on Season 4!
Tomorrow, Tracey and I are heading out for the day, a sort of Christmas do for work (although as I work on my own now, it's lucky I've decided that wives can come along, otherwise I'd be pretty lonely). American Gangster, Chinese food, and then home for the evening to watch 28 Weeks Later and drink some ale. No one, ever, tell me I don't know how to show a lady a good time.
Sometimes even a writer needs a day off ...
Today I drove down to Cardiff to be interviewed by Phil Rickman, for his radio show Phil the Shelf that goes out on Radio Wales. I've known Phil for quite a few years - we keep in touch via email - and it was fun chatting to him again. Main thrust of his interview was how my fantasy novels can go into multiple printings in the USA, win the British Fantasy Award, and still not find a UK publisher. No easy answer was discovered. Maybe one day.
When I left the BBC Wales offices, I decided to pay a visit to my ex-workplace to catch up with some of the people there. Weird experience. I was there for a couple of hours and had good chats with a lot of old friends, but it definitely isn't the place I used to work anymore. I left with the very definite feeling of things having moved on, in my life as well as theirs, and that's a gooo thing. I worked there for .... hell, too long to tell you. And when I was asked if I had any regrets about leaving ... Nope. None.
A bit of Christmas shopping, back home for a splendid roasted pork chop with roasted veg courtesy of my missus, and tonight we're watching the final two episodes of Battlestar Galactica Season 3. I have an idea of what may happen ... I'll let you know if I was right.
I'm thrilled that my short story DISCOVERING GHOSTS, from Postscripts 10, has been nominated in the Dark Scribe Magazine's first annual Black Quill Awards This is the hardest story I've ever had to write ... anyone who's read it will know why. So it's nice to see it recognised here.
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