Let’s not choose sides by Aliya Whiteley

This week, my guest blogger at Muskets and Monsters is Aliya Whiteley, author of Witchcraft in the Harem (out now from Dog Horn publishing)

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I should be writing something here about how great small publishers are, but that’s not what I want to write.

Although I should start by admitting that my publisher, Dog Horn, is doing a brilliant job. My collection of short stories, Witchcraft in the Harem, was properly edited, and there’s been a big effort made towards marketing, both online and in the real world. I suggested an idea for the cover and Dog Horn made it happen, and I love it. There’s even going to be a launch event at Victoria Library, London, on Monday May 13. At six pm I’ll read a story from the collection and thank everyone who got the book out there, particularly my publisher. It’ll be a fun night, made possible by people who are passionate about getting good books to a wider audience.

But the truth is, I’ve had a similar experience with a large publisher. My first two novels, Three Things About Me and Light Reading, were published by Macmillan, and there were launch parties and input on the cover and brilliant editors. I enjoyed feeling cherished by such a prestigious organisation, for the short time when I was a more commercial writer. But then I realised I didn’t want to be a crime novelist, and I discovered that literary fantasy doesn’t really fit with the big boys, so we went our separate ways. And I’m glad. But I found the editors, cover designers and marketers to be equally as passionate as the small press people.

And, to round off the trilogy, I’ve had the same experience with self-publishing. I’ve released some of my work, in particular my first novella Mean Mode Median, as an e-book. I’ve been edited by good friends, and I’ve proofread my own work. It was great to get the work out there, and own it in a way I hadn’t before. My friends and I are passionate about writing too. And I think that’s the key ingredient to modern publishing – believing in what you’re doing, no matter where you fit in the big picture.

I’m not sure why I’m meant to advocate one of these methods over another. Doesn’t that belong to another age of publishing, when we were meant to think of big publishers as the pinnacle, and everything else as dross? That wasn’t even true fifty years ago, and it’s certainly not true now. My publishing career isn’t set in stone. I’m not one type of writer, so one type of publishing is not going to fit me.

I don’t think we’re entering a new age of publishing so much as giving up the fixed ideas we had about what writing is, and what an author is. It suits the commercial aspect to claim that writers write only in one genre, so you know when you pick up a book by them that you’ll be getting crime, or romance, or the same plot recycled over and over again. This idea is so powerful that writers end up taking pseudonyms for each aspect of their writing.

I’ve never wanted to do that. I don’t believe people need to be signposted and corralled to that extent. They can read the first page rather than make a decision based on the name and the colour of the cover. Big publishing traditionally gets the book out to as many people as possible, but small press and self-publishing allows for less straitjacketed prose. They free the writer to create in whatever direction they wish, and that’s better for creative ability. It’s also good for the reader. Make your buying choices based on what you like, not on what you’re told you like by a marketing department.

So I don’t choose a side. I want to write in the direction that calls to me, and right now it’s fantasy. Dog Horn sees something good in that, and are applying their passion to getting it out there. Publishing is more about choice than ever before.

You, as a reader, don’t have to choose a side either. You don’t have to buy the new crime novel with a black cover or the new historical romance with the woman in a pretty dress on the cover. You can if you want to. Those books can a really good read. I hope you try the first page before you buy, though. Put faith in the prose.

My stories are really good reads too. Maybe just not what you were expecting. Choices can lead you to surprising places sometimes. That’s the best thing about them.

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Aliya blogs extensively on Still Writing in Longhand; Witchcraft in the Harem is available from all good bookstores now. 

Lavie Tidhar, author of the award winning Osama, described reading the book as ‘being waterboarded by an angel. Shocking, heartbreaking and laugh-out-loud funny, this is some of the best writing I’ve ever seen. If you like Aimee Bender or Etgar Keret, you will love Witchcraft in the Harem.'

Paper Planes to the Moon

"Can you read this?
Then paper planes is for you ..."

So says the back cover for Sandcastles on the Moon.

And what an amazingly simple idea Paper Planes is. The mission statement from its creator is found on the inside of each book:

"Paper Planes is for anyone who wants to read a good story.

Our objective is to offer a new style of book: modern English Literature for an international audience.

When you read this story, it is not important that you understand every word. Relax, continue reading, and let the author take you on a voyage.

We hope you enjoy the flight.

- Rupert Morgan"


Last year, Rupert approached me to write a science fiction novella for Paper Planes, part of Editions Didier (which is part of Hachette Livre). No arm twisting was required to accept the commission. The money was good, sure. Hell, any money is good when you're a fledgling writer, but that wasn't it at all.

It's this, I guess, summed up by my own experiences:

When I was about ten years old, I picked up my parents' copy of Frank Herbert's Dune, a doorstop of a book that would be intimidating to adult readers let alone a child. What drew me to the book in the first place was the elegant cover by Bruce Pennington, but also the blurb, a story about battles and adventures on a far away planet. The perfect adventure story for a boy fed on a diet of Star Wars and Star Trek, and Flash Gordon. I turned the first page and started out on what was an incredible adventure, perhaps the first adult adventure of my young life.

It took me months to read it. Much longer than it took my friends to read the Hobbit, but then this wasn't a race, or even a marathon. It was an adventure. And the best adventures tend to be like wines, they take time to mature, and then to savour. In my case, I had to concentrate on every word, because there was much I did not understand. For a nine year old there is much about Dune that feels like it is written in a foreign language. The names for example (Muad'Dib, Thufir Hawat, the Bene Gesserit), were completely alien and unlike anything else I had read or heard of. The religions, philosophies, reference to other worlds and the language spoken, was confusing; but far from bewildering me, I was awed, believing I was somehow learning something important, albeit fictional. For the year or so I read Dune, I was being educated again, but lovingly so.

From Dune, I read Brian Stableford, Michael Moorcock, Stephen King and on and on. I graduated with Frank Herbert's book and never did I let those fancy words (pretentious or author-created) stop me from enjoying a book or even intimidating me. The language of story-telling is universal, and that's why Paper Planes appeals to me. Yes, being able to read English is required, but having a fluent grasp of the written word is not a pre-requisite to enjoying the books Editions Didier publishes. You can get by with not knowing every word. In fact, you might even enjoy it more, revelling in the exotic sentences, the nuance of alien words, even looking up those that are not familiar but somehow appeal so that you might use them yourself someday. It all comes down to the story though, and that's what Paper Planes is: the story stripped down to story-telling.

Even though this is aimed at an international audience, I realised recently that it isn't just about a French student learning English, or a German student or Spanish student. Its about anyone learning about stories regardless of how they come upon them or how they are written. Like me, reading Dune, or even the pages of Metal Hurlant (French original version of Heavy Metal), the words are there to be looked up, absorbed, even by English students.

My own novella, Sandcastles on the Moon, is written for people who like stories. It is written for people who will at nine years old or even thirty years old or sixty, will pick up a copy of Dune for the first time, because they like the blurb, they like the cover and they believe they will have an adventure, and it doesn't matter who they are or where the come from.

And if you still want persuading, here's the blurb to the Sandcastles on the Moon:
"The moon of Prollyx is lifeless, but rich in mineral deposits. Hemmingway Goode and his family join a group of pioneers, hoping to make their fortune there. But the moon is no place for humans.
The prospectors have made a terrible mistake.The question now is how many will survive?

From the imagination of science-fiction author Matt Curran comes a story rich in tension, poetry and horror..."

And there are plenty of other books to choose from too, if science fiction is not your bag. So then, what do you have to lose?

"Can you read this?
Then Paper Planes is for you ...!"

Damn right.

(Sandcastles on the Moon is released through Paper Planes, Didier Editions in paperback+MP3 audio download, 22nd May).

And a merry time for you all

Now this is Christmas, and things are going to be a little bonkers for a while, so I would just like to wish you all a good festive time whatever you are doing. I'm taking a well earned break from it all, until the new year when I start the new books. 

Next year my science fiction novella, The Sandcastles on the Moon, will be published under Paper Planes, a pretty cool initiative headed up by fellow writer Rupert Morgan with Hachette Livre publishing. Initially it will be published in French only, but my agent and I will put our heads together to find the best way to get it out in English in the coming months. So watch this space.

Also on the cards, is the novella Those Grey Test Hits, and I hope to have some news on the non-Secret War novel, The Black Hours.

But first it's time to recharge the batteries and gear up for writing The Blood on the Seine (Secret War book II) and the SF novel Shadows of the Hive. 

The Secret War (revised edition) is still available to buy from Amazon for the Kindle, by the way, for a paltry £1.99 or $3.22, a snip for just 500 pages or so. 

And Kobo and iBooks readers should not despair as it will be coming to your e-readers soon too at some point in January.

Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all

x

On the 13th day of Christmas, my true love sent to me...

... One free copy of The Secret War ebook (and no partridges in a pear tree ...)

Yep, until 18th December, the revised edition of The Secret War is available for the price of air on the Amazon Kindle, to celebrate the run-up to Christmas.

For the UK offer, click here.

For the US offer, click here.

And in the new year, The Secret War will be available for Kobo and iBooks users too!

It's a meme-or-e-thing

Roger Morris tagged me for this meme - The Next Big Thing - that's been doing the rounds on the internet, a meme that's had me scratching the ol' brain matter for a day or so. You see, I feel like I'm out of training, publicity wise, not to mention getting it on with a full blown writing project, which is what this meme is about.

I guess you could say that recently my "media" hasn't been that social. I've had a lot going on; it's been a difficult time just to keep a thought in my head. A really tough time for writing.

The main reason for this was our littlest, who was rushed into children's A&E last month due to problems with his breathing. He was put on oxygen for five days, and it scared the shit out of me. It happens to young children all the time, but when it happens to your own, it's very different. It's taken weeks to just get over that little episode, and when I can concentrate, I've been working on a little project that should see publication next year. (I'll say more once it's official ;) ). So it ain't all doom and gloom.

This year has been a strange one for me. I've not completed a single draft of a novel, only completed one novella, a short story, and edits on the revised edition of The Secret War. It's been a fractured writing year really, of projects (Thirst eDition Fiction), renewed publicity, finding talents I didn't think I had (composing music and cover design) and of course family life which takes up most of my energies at the moment. I won't go into the day-job here; it's something that pays the bills, helps a few people but is hampered by lofty decisions that I do not agree with in the slightest.

So, when this meme from Roger dropped in my inbox, it got me thinking. So I've used it as a spring-board for 2013 - a year when I'll be making up for 2012. A year for two projects. Yep - crazy - but I've done the maths, and it can be done. One book will be on a faster track than the other, but in theory I'll have two books completed by 2014.

Wanna know more?

Then read the post below ...

The Next Big Thing (meme)

So, here goes - my thanks to Roger for sending this over...

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1) What is the working title of your next book?

Well, there are two at the moment:

The Shadows of the Hive

and the next Secret War novel: 

The Blood on the Seine

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

The Shadow of the Hive comes from my love of SF and good stories. I recently went back to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and was reminded how simple, yet compelling the book was. The themes are so timeless. It's more about human nature and the ability to better one's self under traumatic circumstances than anything else, and could be written about any place or any time. So it got me thinking about how To Kill a Mockingbird would read if set in the far future. That's what Shadow... is, essentially, a book about human nature dealing with trauma and the stress of living on this floating and aimless ghetto in space, called the Hive, and how that can put a stress on our humanity. It might sound bleak, but it will actually be a very optimistic and uplifting book.

The Blood on the Seine: Secret War Bk2 is a natural progression from the first book. What I wanted to do was explain a little about what happens to the main character, William Saxon, between The Secret War and the Hoard of Mhorrer (which was originally published as Secret War book 2 in 2009 by Pan Macmillan, but is now in effect book 5/6). There's five years of experience in fighting demons and other undead that changes the man - I wanted to show some of that. Then it's onwards to two or maybe three more books before the events of the Hoard of Mhorrer.


3) What genre does your book fall under?

The Shadow of the Hive is science fiction

The Blood on the Seine is historical fantasy


4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Not sure about The Shadow of the Hive; I'm still feeling my way into the characters, but one of the main characters, Dallas (the father) needs to be played by an actor of quiet, humble gravitas, but big physical presence perhaps Hugh Jackman or even Tom Hardy. The narrator - a nine year old girl - would need to be largely unknown, but gifted actress, possibly the next Dakota Fanning or Natalie Portman.

The Blood on the Seine is easier to cast as the series has been in my head for the last 15 years. Since his turn in the new Star Trek reboot, I thought William Saxon should be played by Chris Hemsworth (who also acted well in the Thor movies). As the film would be set in Allied occupied Paris in 1815, the rest of the cast will be English, Scottish stalwarts of cinema and TV, while the character of Juliet Baudin would be played by Eva Green.

5) What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

The Shadow of the Hive:

"A family existing in the chaos and aimless existence of a floating ghetto in space, are faced with a new danger, when inexplicably the people of their Hive turn on a minority section of their society: the Adapted, people who have been surgically altered to survive the rigors of space."

The Blood on the Seine:
"While serving his exile in a remote village in Italy, William Saxon is recalled by the British Army for what might become his final mission: to hunt down eight French deserters in Paris, but events run out of control as one by one the deserters are brutally murdered and William suspects an agent of Hell might be, once again, involved."


6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Both books will be agency represented, but initially it is expected that Blood on the Seine will be self-published as an ebook to generate interest.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

They are both still being written - but I expect much of this year and the next will be taken up by these two projects in total, with first drafts completed by the summer.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Shadow of the Hive is as suggested above, To Kill a Mockingbird in outer space.

The Blood on the Seine is a gothic, mystery and adventure novel. There's a bit of Sherlock Holmes in this, a bit of Dracula, and huge dollop of Edgar Rice Burroughs too.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The Shadow of the Hive was inspired by a series of events: being thrown into the wilderness of publishing, the belief of my agent, and Rupert Morgan who has reignited my love of SF through his venture, Paper Planes.

The Blood on the Seine was inspired by the first book in the series, and interest from fans. I wanted to do right by them.


10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The Blood on the Seine is for everyone who loved The Secret War, and even The Hoard of Mhorrer (despite being set five years before the second book). It is an adventure novel above all else, with sword fights over mist-shrouded bridges in Paris, chases across rivers and down streets, and plenty of demons, vampires, blood-letting and peril. Lots of fun!

The Shadow of the Hive has less action, but is more about people and what they do in exceptional circumstances, against a back-drop of an immense folly that is both organic and steam-punk influenced. The Hive is a fantastic setting of vertiginous layers of walkways, cabins suspended on cables and ledges, and people who have learned to live in this great canopy-like of vessels. On this stage is played the most basic of human reactions: fear of the unusual, and what it drives men to do, often violence, against the most marginalised of society. In this drama, one man and his family are brave enough to stand up against that fear, leading to tragedy as well as redemption.

Halloween Offer Ends Tonight!

The launch offer for The Secret War (that's 50% off folks and undead folks!) ends tonight. 

The ebook even has a brand-spanking new cover too:

From the 1st November, the Kindle ebook version will revert to £1.99/$3.16, so get 'em while you can:

UK Kindle readers click here

US Kindle readers click here

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In other news, the iBooks enhanced version of The Secret War (Revised Edition) took another step closer this week. The publication for the iBooks ebook is scheduled for Monday 7th January 2013 and will feature a musical score for the book, videos, previous cover art, and may even include the original book, typos and all.

As ever watch this space ...

Out now on the Amazon Kindle:

The revised edition of the best-selling historical fantasy novel The Secret War:

“For thousands of years a secret war has been fought between Heaven and Hell. Daemons and angels, knights and vampyres (known as the cambion), clash for the future of mankind, and as the two sides wage war across the world, innocent people are caught up in the conflict – men like Captain William Saxon and Lieutenant Kieran Harte, two great friends who have recently survived the horrors of the Battle of Waterloo.

But now they face a greater struggle, against the daemonic forces of Count Ordrane, and the clandestine ambitions of the Vatican. They must try to survive assassination attempts, political machinations, epic battles on land and sea, and above all the power of a mysterious bronze pyramid – the Scarimadean – that brings everlasting damnation too all who come into contact with it. Their only allies are an old man, a fading secret organisation in the Church, and an enigmatic warrior, who may hold the key not only to the friends’ fates, but to the fate of all mankind…

The year is 1815, when angels and daemons walked our streets…”

What they said about the original book published in 2007 by Pan Macmillan:

“Curran has an engaging style which has produced a very entertaining book…Curran’s talent is in ascension, and I for one cannot wait to read the sequel…” Prism – newsletter of the British Fantasy Society

“…its gripping and above all it’s a tale that will suck the reader in from the first page… Definitely an author to watch although I wouldn’t leave this offering on the shelf for long, one of our tips to pick up and get into before the masses learn of them.” Falcata Times

“…Just the sort of book I love, a historical novel shot through with the elements of the fantastic to pump up the action and the scope.” Rick Kleffel’s Agony Column

“The Secret War is great fun and a terrific read, an interesting take on a familiar idea that falls somewhere between epic fantasy and boys-own adventure it’s a heady mix that’s well worth investigating.” The Disgruntled Writer

“Well written, especially for a first novel, the early-19th-century setting is realised in grimy detail and the battle scenes are very graphically described.” Otago Daily Times

“Worth the read if you like your warfare bloody and brutal…” Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review

“Curran has produced a debut novel that’s tremendous fun…” Historical Novels Review

“Impressive for any writer, but considering this was his debut novel, this makes it even more worthy of note…” The Bookbag

“It’s well written and well paced with the mud & blood of battle coming through strongly without obsessing over the gore. …it’s an excellent read and thoroughly absorbing.” Un:Bound

“The Secret War is well written and an easy page-turner…” Chronicles

Out now:

Click here if you are a UK Kindle owner

Click here if you are a US Kindle owner

Where I am: have I lost my mojo?

I’m not sure if this counts as a mid-life crisis, but in the last year or so I think I’ve lost my mojo.

In 2008 I felt on top of my game, on a steep learning curve, but one that I was forging up at quite a rate I might add. In 2009 there was a significant event which kinda scuppered that: fatherhood. Now, yeah, it was self-inflicted, but it had a significant impact on my ability to keep a thought let alone throw my entire concentration onto the page. In the the past 3 years this situation hasn’t changed, in fact it might have gotten worse. My concentration has been beaten up by a three year old looking for attention and a baby who is damn cute, but needs constant care (we’ve been to A&E twice already this year with no.2 son).

So my writing has certainly been a casualty of fatherhood. I’m not saying that it contributed to what happened with the split with Pan Macmillan – I think the cracks were showing before my first son was born – but the time I have to write and the energy I have to concentrate on it has been greatly reduced. I’ve suffered RSI (partially due to using the keyboard, but significantly contributed to by constantly picking up said children); I’ve had more child-introduced illnesses in the last two years than I had in the ten preceding them (due in no small part to the breeding ground that is the nursery – your pandemic’s incomparable ally!), not to mention untold sleepless nights due to restless kids wanting comforters or with fevers etc.

And then there’s the lack of time with Sarah, and my laughable social life (which is on life-support – I’ve been out five times so far this year, and 2 of those occasions were a wedding and a stag-do). I haven’t been to a writers’ convention in a couple of years and it’s doubtful I’ll get to one in the next year or so either.

And, of course, it’s hit us financially.

None of this is a surprise. Not really. Though perhaps I didn’t think it would hit the writing so hard. What I’m going through is what any new family goes through, and there will be sacrifices. I’m lucky that I haven’t had to sacrifice my writing completely. Sarah has been very understanding. But what I put down on the page takes longer to construct and I make more mistakes. With all the things I’m involved in at the moment, it might seem that my productivity is as high as usual, maybe higher, but all the hours of the day are being spent getting it there.

The edits of The Secret War have taken longer than expected, due to me taking on more responsibilities. Little projects have been marginalized - like "Our Writing World" for example. I wanted to do more with that, make it a bigger thing than it was, involving more writers and presenting it on a separate blog. But all the work involved made it prohibitive, even though it would have been really interesting.

It's these little losses that make my shoulders slump and wonder what I could have achieved if I wasn't going through fatherhood.

So ... do I regret it?

Actually, no, I don’t.

In fact it’s something I can live with quite easily. Because firstly I’m a father, secondly I’m a husband, and at some point down the line I can call myself a writer. It’s still very much what I do, and I get off on it – writing that is. I can still make some money from it, maybe not enough to say “sayonara” to the day-job, but enough to justify the time being spent on publicity and the non-writing stuff. And that’s okay. As long as I don’t burn myself out – which is the risk, especially when you can’t rely on your mojo to get you by.

But my family is everything. Every time I shout at my son for interrupting me while I write, I almost immediately go back and apologise to him for being angry. Because they are what is most important to me.

Yeah, I might have lost my mojo, but what I’ve gained is a family and that’s a sacrifice worth making – even for a writer.

Music in the words: Scoring The Secret War (Secret War files No.7)

One of the things I’ve been looking into over recent weeks is the possibility of an enhanced e-book for The Secret War by the end of the year, or in the early weeks of January 2013.

The e-book of the revised edition is about to hit the Kindle in a couple of weeks, but that limits the book to just one platform, something that I’m not entirely happy about. My view is that one e-reader shouldn’t dominate the market, so with that in mind I’ve embarked on a parallel project to publish via iBooks Author too. Not just a carbon copy of the Kindle version, but something that utilises the iPad/iPhone platform and Apple’s flexibility.

It won’t be the first Thirst eDitionFiction book on iBooks, but The Secret War will be the first enhanced e-book that Thirst eDition Fiction will be putting out. The difference between the Kindle version and the iBooks version will be content – the iBooks version will have a video interview,including author interview, readings of the book as well as never seen footage of the original book launch. It will also feature animations at the beginning of each part; for the iBooks edition, the book will be split into three parts – each part will have an animation, and also a musical score.

And it’s the score that has been occupying me of late. I would never consider myself as a renaissance man, more a writer who has been forced into artistic DIY due to financial circumstance. The cover, for instance, was designed and put together by this author, and the copy-edits have been done by someone I know. The formatting of the book will eventually be done by me, as will all the other marketing, publicity etc. To pay someone to do all that would have cost four figures or thereabouts, and this is a project that aims to demonstrate that one person can do all this themselves on a small budget.

That includes the theme music for the enhanced iBook version. I’ve always been interested in movie music (I have around 50 soundtracks to various movies, kicking around thehouse) so armed with a nice bit of software on the iPad I’ve been scoring a couple of tracks for the book. After a little tinkering, I’m now in a position to preview these tracks on this blog:

The first track is more of a stoical, adventure theme, aiming to be simple, brooding, and perhaps a little sad. It's called "William and Kieran's Theme":

This track, or a variation, will form the score for each of the three parts, though probably cut down. The last theme is for the end of the book, again a poignant piece about loss more than anything, but also about a new beginning (I won’t spoil it for those yet to read The Secret War).

~

Again, this might be cut or altered; both themes are working pieces. But scoring The Secret War has made me look at the book again in a different way. There is a melody in writing, a movement in the words akin to music and getting that mood and rhythm right has been paramount. Too whimsical and it feels disposable. Too serious and it becomes turgid. There is a balance needed. I’m not sure if I’ve got that right in the music– I am still an amateur when it comes to composing – but I’ll be busting my own balls to get it right for the writing, believe me...