Double Whammy in May – in a good way

The sequel in the ARIA trilogy has May 31st 2013 as the release date! ARIA: Returning Left Luggage is in the final stages of proofing, the art has been painted by Award-winning Andy Bigwood, and the promo engine is cranking up. By sheer coincidence May 31st is the day a while ago that my wife, Gaynor, was born. Luckily, she smiled when I mentioned her birthday is on the same day as the release of ARIA 2. Not so much, as poet, artist and writer Catherine Edmunds comments, a competing celebration – more using my book release as part of Gaynor’s birthday celebration. Yeay!

ARIA: Returning Left Luggage cover art by Andy Bigwood

Of course reading the sequel would make more sense if you read the first book in the series – ARIA: Left Luggage – links at the bottom of this page. Not unique but unusual for a science fiction trilogy is that the first volume has NO aliens, no battles in space, no Earth people going on interstellar travels. I believe it helped making the book more enjoyable as a medical mystery with the infectious amnesia for non-SF readers, although such plot aspects weren’t needed for book one either.

LL-Publications have asked me for a 800-word excerpt to hook readers and media into book 2. It was easy to do this for Left Luggage because the beginning was just right. The prologue told of Jack, who caught the infectious amnesia (ARIA) at work then spread it on the bus home. It was unique – and amazingly the idea of infectious amnesia still is unique in the fiction (and non-fiction) world. A reader tells me she lost some memory and other brain problems when she contracted meningitis so that is a kind of amnesia that is infectious but not retrograde, nor with everyone catching it within a few yards. Any day I am expecting an experienced science fiction reader to say, hey I read about infectious amnesia in this book in the 1950/60/70s by Niven/Heinlein/Asimov but they haven’t yet… Would it matter if they did? No, because it isn’t possible to have original ideas in absolutely every story – tens of thousands come out each year. Each story is unique because of the blend of characters, sub-plots, settings, writing style and factor X. Even so, it is rather cool to have an original idea and to have it published. Come on film makers, contact LL-Publications and buy the movie rights!

The 800-word excerpts for Returning Left Luggage is proving harder to pick. There are many many scenes that I like very much and whittled them down to five. One is of an ARIA victim trying to find his wife in an abandoned port in the South Pacific. It illustrates much of the dystopian problems and scenery created by ARIA. Butbutbut it involves shooting dogs. They are feral and maddened by starvation but even so, it might alienate [sic] dog-loving readers so while it remains part of the whole book it will not appear on the press releases! The others are too long so whichever I choose will involve even more lacerating than in the proofreading. I have enlisted the help of the Orbiter critique group, who helped me edit ARIA and still do so for volume three. So I’ve sent three possible excerpts to Mark Iles, James Odell, Chris Riley and James Steel for a poll on the one they think is best for a hook. Thanks – I’ll let you know the outcome. Daughter voted for a scene where Manuel seeks food in an abandoned shop and is caught – maybe.

I am slowly building up a twitter following at http://twitter.com/geoffnelder but I notice that some people have over 100,000 followers yet only follow a few hundred. Then I discovered that you can BUY thousands of fake twitter friends, youtube likes, and other social media connections. Such falsehood is probably excused by some a marketing ploy but it’s not one with which I would feel comfortable. It’s not much different to those authors who have fake identities to create their own ‘brilliant’ reviews on Amazon and fake blogs. I don’t have many followers on twitter – around 800 – the number goes up and down daily – but at least they are real. I think!

My shorts on Ether Books

I found my horror gangster story is in the top 10 at Ether Books – to be read on mobiles and handhelds. download the Ether App and find Doppelgangster – http://bit.ly/bpvC84 but only if you have a mobile phone, iPad or similar that can read it. Interesting idea.

Besides Doppelgangster – a short story about a gangster who finds his double is in town messing up his life, there are other stories of mine on Ether Books such as:

Goliath – he was a misunderstood, maltreated child; In Absentia – a man thinks he has amnesia but is a little girl’s imaginary friend. Ether are still deciding on accepting Don’t Bite My Finger – a Zen Buddhist story.

update among other things

So much is happening: final proofreading ARIA; finding images and working with Kim McDougall of Blaziing Trailers, to create a video trailer for ARIA; working on final proof with Dave Haslett of ideas4writers of a 50 page booklet on how to win short story competitions; reading like mad for the Chestesr SF Book Group in the library today; and and and.

One of the pleasurable ‘ands’ is to mention Ben Bamber’s new novella, Super Red. It’s target is teen to adult readers of science fiction and thrillers with a message. Ben is philosphical and so his books and story make you think. Fair enough. Buy his Super Red from the link on the book’s page at http://www.vagabond-unlimited.co.uk/#!super-red Just imagine the sun going nova before it should. Suppose you have a year or so before the Earth becomes subsumed by the sun’s expansion. What would you do? Apocaluyptic and yet there is positive thinking in there too.

ARIA endorsements

It is always a tricky thing to ask professional and famous authors to endorse the work of an unknown writer even if published. However, I am bowed with humility by the graciousness of the greats who have responded to my request for a publishable comment on the science fiction book, ARIA – volume one: Left Luggage – being published by LL-Publications this year. So far I have had positive endorsements from

Brad Lineweaver: Geoff Nelder asks all the right questions (He refers to the issues in the novel where people have difficult decisions to make about what aspects of life is most critical).

Jon Courtenay Grimwood: Geoff Nelder wears science fiction like other people wear clothes.

Robert J Sawyer commented that Left Luggage is a fascinating project.

Mike Resnick: ARIA has an intriguing premise, and is written in a very accessible style.

Dan Simmons wishes me luck and success with ARIA but was too busy to read the manuscript – no problem, I quite understand.

Years ago I would not have dreamed of talking to and writing to the best and admired SF writers in the world and yet they are real people and remarkably accessible. The warmth is tangible. Thanks too to the Chester SF/F rebel book group meeting tonight. We discussed Greg Bear’s Hull Zero Three and although we disagreed in many ways, we are glued by a common admiration of the genre.

Then back home to write more paragraphs on ARIA volume three.

Launch day

Today we launched Escape Velocity: the Anthology. At least it was for the e-book version. The print comes out later in the month. Strange and unique day. I spent most of the morning sending PayPal payments to authors who’d contributed to the EV antho – not done that before! It felt soooooo good adding the paypal message to thank them for their stories.
I was frustrated at not finding the paypal emails or addresses (for cheques) for some contributors – I’d sent emails requesting such weeks ago but no response. Tonight, I was still working on tracking missing authors and responding to facebook and email requests when my wife pulled at my elbow. “We’re going to the pub.” I tried to say no but remembered we’d arranged a retirement evening for a colleague. Damn. But it was great in the end to chat with not-wriitng friends. I’ve given up mentioning my writing to them and talk about our kids, holidays etc. One is an English teacher but although he enjoys our chats about Chekhov, he seems to switch off if I talk about science fiction or fantasy. Oh well, we are an esoteric lot, aren’t we?

For British readers who’d like to see the Kindle version of the Escape Velocity anthology, the link is here, while for Amazon.com users it is here.

Science Fiction reviewers please get in touch with me at geoffnelder(AT)yahoo.com

Left Luggage opening wins award

Left Luggage is the working title of my science fiction trilogy. My agent, Rebecca Pratt, is handling it and has sent it to lucky publishers for appraisal.

While I waited for the months to go by, I sent the opening scene to a
competition called Strong Scenes. The result today is that mine is one awarded an Honorable Mention for May 2010. here
http://www.strongscenecontest.com/ about half way down.

Pleasurable busy-ness

Besides the enormous gratification of helping my wife to look after our grandson every Tuesday, I’ve had my nose to the keyboard so much I have a permanent smell of plastic in my head. This month I’ve somehow managed to: Finish another edit of the second volume of my SF trilogy, Left Luggage. It’s with Rebecca Pratt, my US agent to tease publishers.

I’ve written a new short story, The Future and Up One, and had it critiqued at the BSFA Orbiters – thanks guys and gals for tough, fair and favoured notes. In return I’ve been critiquing their stories — inspirational, every one.

I’ve started content-editing a fascinating novel based in China and New Zealand by Michael S Fletcher.  Michael, like me was a former client of the sham literary agent, Christopher Hill. We Beyond Hill writers like to help each other out.

My nephew, Ben Bamber, wrote an insightful futuristic thriller a few years ago and available on the web – The Vast And Gruesome Clutch of Our Law. Great title, and now he’s transposed it into a screenplay, and I’ve been editing that. Brian Withecombe, another former Hill agent, has also given advice on it based on his own experience of writiing screenplays. 

I’ve read and advised on a synopsis and first three chapters of a hilarious chicklit novel, Babes and Balls by Kate McCann  – another survivor of shamed literary agent, Christopher Hill. Kate isn’t the same woman whose daughter was tragically abducted in Portugal, but a writer living in the Wirral, not far from me in Chester.

Now I have a small window to write an article for Kalkion, an online SF and horror ezine who have been serializing my SF novel – Exit, Pursued by a Bee at http://kalkion.com/node/645

Good job it’s quiet Friday!

Exit, Pursued by a Bee is serialized

My science fiction mystery is available in weekly chapters free for readers at Kalkion at

http://kalkion.com/node/646

 

Sam Smith’s Science fiction

Towards the unmaking of Heaven

Balant: A Beginning

By Sam Smith

Paperback: 212 pages

Publisher: The EBookSale Publishing (1 May 2009)

Language English

ISBN-13: 978-1906806996

Reviewed by Geoff Nelder

I can never tire of visiting alien planets, their populations, and wondering if they are doing me good or evil. While many contemporary science fiction hide from planetary exploration and delve instead into quantum introspection, Smith delights us with this tale of discovery and survival. Yet for those intent on intellectual contemplation there are opportunities to engage with Pi when he approaches each conundrum with delightful logic and consequence prediction. As Smith declares, this is a Boys Own adventure – perhaps too literally as I believe the lack of a female main character disenfranchises many female readers. I know a young woman is a protagonist in Happiness, the next in the series, so women readers stay on course!

The adventure is told through the eyes of Pi Pandy, who’s had a sheltered life but made to grow up real fast surviving the jibes of his two friends, insect bites, space criminals, savages and a series of mechanical breakdowns he is clever enough to repair. This is more than hard scifi, Pi has to learn quickly the wiles of a spectrum of humanity. He has integrity in bucketfuls but wise enough to  develop discretion then use his knowledge at the right time – not just for his own survival but for friends and other needy people. 

The wide scale of ideas, space and human emotions, even though for young adult takes this novel into a Robert Heinlein-for-teens sub-genre. Sam’s poetry background shines through the exquisite narrative. A page turner fit for any imaginative young adult’s bookshelf.

Lutz Barz reviews Exit, Pursued by a Bee

Lutz Barz is the Australian owner of rspublishing, a source of good science fiction. He possesses a lateral thinking way of writing and after reading Exit, Pursued by a Bee has etched this zany review. It contains typos and warts and somehow it doesn’t matter because it is the product of a coruscating mind, whose fingers are slower than synapses. Hence his review is like no other.

The review location is Open Salon, a kind of news blog for all sorts. Similar to Newsvine. And who do I see there? Brian Porter! Another DDP author who somehow is wherever I e-travel. Good to see you there too, Brian.

Lutz Barz (what a great name – it screams science fiction) publishes science fiction and fantasy at http://rspublishing.com.au/