Adventures in the SF trade

Important Announcement: New Website Address

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:48:00 +0000

*As from today, this blog will no longer be updated.*

I have moved all its content over to my spiffy new website: www.garethlpowell.com

Please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds accordingly.

The site itself looks fantastic – come and have a look!

www.garethlpowell.com

Interview In Interzone

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:37:00 +0000

A little while ago, I was interviewed for Interzone by Paul F Cockburn. That interview will appear alongside a review of my book The Last Reef in issue 218, which will be out on 11th September.

For more details, see: http://ttapress.com/517/interzone-218-out-on-september-11th/

Friday Flash Fiction 43

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:24:00 +0000

HOT RATS
By Gareth L Powell

The four rats appeared high in the upper atmosphere. For a few seconds, they burned like meteors. Then they were back in the lab, smoking and smelling and setting off every alarm we had.

You see, we tried to send them into the past but we forgot: the Earth is rotating at around 1,000 miles per hour, and moving around the Sun at about 67,000 miles per hour. Plus the sun itself is rotating around the centre of the galaxy.

We sent them a couple of minutes into the past. They travelled in time but they stayed in the same physical location - a location the Earth hadn't reached when they arrived. It hadn't got there yet. It was still spinning around the sun, a few minutes behind.

But it was coming.

The rats were tumbling through space at 67,000 miles per hour when the Earth's gravity caught them. There were four of them in the cage. They hit the upper atmosphere at many times the speed of sound.

It's amazing we got anything back at all.

Jetse de Vries Resigns From Interzone

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 06:58:00 +0000

I'm sorry to hear that Jetse de Vries is resigning as co-editor of Interzone due to "musical differences". It was Jetse who picked my short story "The Last Reef" from the slush pile and later, wrote the introduction to my short story collection of the same name.

Full story here: link

Pores do sol e Hambúrgueres

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:44:00 +0000

I have just been sent a copy of the latest issue of Phantastes magazine, containing a Portuguese translation of my short story "Sunsets and Hamburgers". The translation is by Luís Guerra and there is an accompanying illustration by Woon Bing (pictured).

The translation begins:

"O meu primeiro pensamento é de que não me lembro de morrer. Dizem-me que ninguém se lembra. É como tentar apanhar o momento exacto em que adormeces; quando acordas, desapareceu. Podes lembrar-te de estar cansado, podes até lembrar-te de começar a adormecer; mas não te lembras da transição, o momento preciso em que passas de um estado para o outro."

Future Bristol Anthology: TOC

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:20:00 +0000

Colin Harvey has sent through the table of contents for his forthcoming anthology, "Future Bristol", due from Swimming Kangaroo Books in April next year. It looks like a good line-up, with some intriguing titles. And of course, in eighth position, there's me...

Liz Williams ~ Isambard's Kingdom
John Hawkes-Reed ~ The Guerilla Infrastructure HOWTO
Stephanie Burgis ~ After The Change
Joanne Hall ~ Pirates of the Cumberland Basin
Nick Walters ~ Trespassers
Christina Lake ~ A Tale of Two Cities
Colin Harvey ~ Thermoclines
Gareth L Powell ~ What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?
Jim Mortimore ~ The Sun In The Bone House

Colin (who is editing the anthology) says: "The standard of fiction has been astonishingly high, and I'm really proud of the way the book is shaping up."

The Last Reef Soon Available As An Audio Book

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Through a deal between Elastic Press and Action Audio, my short story collection The Last Reef will shortly be available as an audio book:

"Elastic Press... are three times consecutive winners of the BFS Best Anthology award. Action Audio are delighted to be working with Elastic Press in taking their outstanding anthology collections and making them available to an audio audience. More details on specific authors and works to be announced soon…"

Full details here: http://www.actionaudio.co.uk/?page_id=12

The Last Reef Available As An eBook

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:00:00 +0000

My short story collection "The Last Reef" is now available as an ebook from Fictionwise. This means that if you're unable to get hold of a printed copy of the book, you can now purchase it as an electronic file to read on your computer or ebook reader.

The download is priced at $6.80 (around £3.50 in the UK) and can be found online here: http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/eBook71799.htm?cache

New Interzone Story Sale: Memory Dust

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:20:00 +0000

I am very pleased to tell you that I've just sold another short story to Interzone, the long-running British SF magazine

"Memory Dust" is a high octane space opera set against the same background as my earlier story "Six Lights Off Green Scar" and features the exploits of Caesar Murphy, another "random jumper". It weighs in at just less than 5,000 words.

This is my third sale to the magazine, and I hope it is as well received as the previous two - "The Last Reef" and "Ack-Ack Macaque". It certainly has a lot to live up to because, as regular readers will know, "Ack-Ack Macaque" came top in last year's Interzone Reader's Poll.

Audio Flash Fiction

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:59:00 +0000

I've been experimenting with recording my fiction. Here are two works-in-progress for you:

Sci-fi Online Review Gives The Last Reef Top Marks

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:38:00 +0000

Charles Packer reviews my short story collection on Sci-fi Online and gives it 10 out of 10:

The Last Reef and Other Stories is a new collection of science fiction short stories by Gareth L. Powell. It’s a worthy collection worth every pound of your hard earned dosh as the stories are universally well written.

One of the things that you first notice about Powell’s work is his apparent belief that it is women, rather than men, who act as the agent of change - a proposition that any resident of Troy would have agreed with. This is a refreshing idea from a male writer, who as a species have mostly put males at the centre of the action, and gives Powell's work an individual voice.

Like the majority of good writers Powell presents a balance of ideas within each of his short stories. Some of the stories are interlinked, so the Monkey computer program which causes so much havoc in Ack-Ack Macaque is also referenced in A Neckless of Ivy, though in truth these mini tales of armageddon are really love notes to the women which appear in the stories.

Not everything is a love note to strong women as in The Long Walk Aft and Cat in a Box where Powell shows a playful and dark side to his humour. Both stories involve choices. The first is that age old problem of finding enough biological matter to restart your food replicator when all you have is a spaceship full of your sleeping shipmates. The second poses the problem of having a box which might grant immortality, though there is one catch, the box has a cat in it, if the cat’s dead then so are you, so would you open it?

One of the nice things about Powell’s writing is his ability to conjure whole worlds in a limited number of lines; his characters are not just ciphers there to push a clever idea forward. Having said that, the book isn’t short of these either. I was especially impressed with the idea of rogue computers which spin out of control, evolving past sentience used in The Reef and its companion stories Flotsam and Hot Rain. I feel there may be a novel in Powell yet.

As well as big ideas, comedy and world construction, Powell also does a nice turn at subtlety. This is especially evident in my two favourite stories in the collection Sunsets and Hamburgers and Distant Galaxies Colliding, though I think that Sunsets represents Powell at his best with a big idea - reconstructed humans at the death of the universe - played against both hope for the future and the depiction of a realistic relationship. The main pleasure with the story is that it treats its reader as intelligent. Powell paints just enough to get the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks, thus engaged, you are able to enter further into the experience than the role of voyeur would allow.

In total the book contains fifteen of his short stories and there is not a dud amongst them. Buy this book and do your brain a favour; you know it will love you for it.

10/10

Full review: http://www.sci-fi-online.com/2008_reviews/book/08-08-01_last-reef.htm

Ack-Ack Macaque Rides Again

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Just for fun, I've been toying with ideas for a sequel to "Ack-Ack Macaque". These are the titles I've come up with so far:

Ack-Ack's Back and He's On Crack!
Ack-Ack Macaque and the Terror of Monster Island!
Ack-Ack Macaque and the Space Vampires!
Ack-Ack Macaque versus the Surf Nazis!

Friday Flash Fiction 42

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:06:00 +0000

ROSWELL
By Gareth L Powell

So there we were - me and this kid - sitting beneath a fizzing neon sign in an otherwise empty bar in New Mexico. We were both in uniform, and it was one of those clear desert nights where the moon's a pickled egg and the air's sharp enough to cut you.

We'd borrowed a jeep from the base and it was parked out front. I had five dollars and a harmonica in my back pocket. The kid – whose name was Eric – had a comb, a pack of cards, and a picture of his high school sweetheart. He sat looking at it, smoothing it out on the table.

"Where are you from, anyway?" I asked him.

"Banner County, Nebraska, sir."

"Who's the girl?"

He touched the face in the picture and his shoulders slumped. It was the first time since we'd left the base that I'd seen him relax.

"Her name's Luanne. I've known her since we were eight years old."

There was a cow's skull on the wall above the door. I said: "Is she waiting for you?"

He shook his head and the light caught the scars on his face.

"We haven't spoken in five years. The last letter she sent me, she'd met this guy from Harrisburg – a meat packer, I think - and they were talking about getting married."

A song came on the jukebox – blues on guitar and piano. He picked up his glass and the ice cubes clinked.

"I still think about her, though."

He closed his eyes. A car passed on the highway. The stars were bright and hard. I looked at my reflection in the window, counted the stripes on my sleeve.

I said: "Yeah, life's like that."

New Story Sale

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:26:00 +0000

I've just sold a short story called "What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?" to Colin Harvey's forthcoming anthology Future Bristol, due from Swimming Kangaroo Books in April next year.

Book Launch Report

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:05:00 +0000

On Saturday, we drove up to London for the launch of my new short story collection, The Last Reef.

The event took place from 2pm in the front bar of the Citte of Yorke Inn in Holborn - an olde worlde pub a few short steps from Chancery Lane tube station.

I don't know how many people were there, but the room was packed and many copies of the book were being sold.

As it was a joint launch with Chris Beckett's new collection, The Turing Test, both Chris and I read passages from our respective books (I read my short story "Sunsets and Hamburgers") and answered questions from the audience. Then, the formal part of the event over, the rest of the afternoon was spent signing books and socialising.

The audience were very enthusiastic and I'm extremely grateful to everyone who made the effort to come along and show their support - especially those who travelled a long way in order to be there. You all made me feel like a celebrity for the day.

For me, the major highlights of the day (from a day packed with highlights) were:

1) Meeting writers Eric Brown and Chris Beckett and editor Ian Whates.

2) Seeing a large turnout from the Friday Flash Fiction posse, including: Paul Raven, Shaun Green, Justin Pickard and Neil Beynon (and Gemma)

3) Spending time with so many friends and relatives, including: the publisher Andrew Hook, my brother Huw and his partner Beata (our hosts for the night), my wife Becky (the first time we've both been away from the kids overnight), Liz and Pete (travelled up from Bristol), Trish and Simon, Will (stopping off en route from Edinburgh to Devon), Duncan, Conrad and Dijana, Lindsey, Rick and Dawn, Joanne and Chris from the BFSFA, Caroline and Simon (and their baby), Christian, Mr Higgins, Gary Couzens, and many, many others...

4) The reading and the Q&A session that followed. I wasn't nearly as nervous as I expected to be, and the audience seemed to respond very well to the story I read. The questions they asked afterward were interesting and I managed to answer most of them intelligently.

The event wound up around 6pm and a few of us went for dinner at an All Bar One near St Paul's Cathedral, and then on to a party in Fleet Street, where I met one of the writers of The Chap magazine.

Book Launch Tomorrow

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:17:00 +0000

No flash fiction this week, for one reason or another. But if you'd like to hear me read my award-winning short story "Sunsets and Hamburgers", come along tomorrow to the launch of my short story collection, The Last Reef.

The event is free to attend and also sees the launch of another collection, The Turing Test by fellow Interzone author Chris Beckett.

The fun starts at 2pm at the Citte of Yorke pub, 22 High Holborn, London. The nearest tube stations are Charing Cross or Holborn.

Transmissions From Beyond

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:02:00 +0000

TTA Press have just announced their new podcast site, Transmissons From Beyond. Every other Monday, they'll broadcast a new story taken from one of their magazines - Crimewave, Black Static or Interzone.

I have already been working with Pete Bullock to produce audio versions of my two Interzone stories - "The Last Reef" and "Ack-Ack Macaque" - and they will both make an appearance on the site in due course.

Warren Ellis Calls Time On The Printed Short Story Market

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:10:00 +0000

Once again, Warren Ellis exposes the falling number of subscriptions in the printed SF&F short story market.

"Cases are always made that in fact these magazines are on strong — or at least survivable — financial ground. Even ignoring the fact that the money they offer for fiction is pitiful, I think that matters less than that they are reaching massively fewer people every year."

2nd Century Roman Elvis Goes On Sale

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:40:00 +0000

An auction house sells off an 1800 year-old statue bearing an uncanny resemblance to Elvis Presley, giving some to wonder if the "King" partook in time travel: Link

Friday Flash Fiction 41

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:51:00 +0000

THREE THINGS HE REMEMBERED ON HIS DEATH BED
By Gareth L Powell
1.

When he was sixteen, he almost drowned. He lost control of his kayak at the head of the rapids at Symonds Yat, overbalancing where the green river water met the first black rocks.
2.

He saw his first dead body at the age of twenty-two. He was working in a pet food shop in Gloucester. He heard a noise outside. When he went to investigate, he saw there had been an accident in the street. It was a hot summer's day. People were lying smashed and bloodied in the dust.

3.

He was in the kitchen of a friend's house with Lisa, fetching the dessert. He was forty years old. She had offered to give him a hand. The other guests (including her husband) were drinking wine around the dining table on the patio.
'I want you,' he whispered.

She squeezed his hand. 'I really want you too. But you know if we do this, we can never, ever tell anyone.'

Just Write The Fucking Thing

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:51:00 +0000

Someone contacted me via the comments on this blog and asked for advice on how to start writing a story. For those that missed it (and in the hope other people will find it useful) this is the response I sent:

"I will give you the best piece of advice I was ever given: just write the fucking thing. Getting the words down on paper is the hard part. And it doesn't matter if your first draft sucks. All first drafts suck. The important part is that you write the story. Then, when you've finished it, you can go back and edit it, polish up the text to make it shine. Editing is easier than writing. So, if you have a story to tell, just write it down without worrying how it sounds. You will not hit perfection first time. But you will get a completed first draft that you can then work on, to bring it up to professional quality. A lot of people make the mistake of trying to edit as they go along - of trying to make each sentence perfect before moving on to the next - and that is deadly. Just write. Tidy up later. Go for it"

Advice For Writers

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:07:00 +0000

Over at Velcro City, Paul Raven has a gargantuan list of links to excellent advice for writers old and new. Check it out: http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/the-writing-advice-links-they-are-legion/

World Wide Web Week

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:41:00 +0000

As part of his "World Wide Web Week", My ugly mug is currently on display on Warren Ellis's website: http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=6202

The Last Reef Is Here!

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:09:00 +0000

The hardback and paperback editions of my new book, The Last Reef arrived in the post from the publisher this morning - and they look great!

There are more pictures and details of the book launch on my Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gareth-L-Powell/15852124165

The New Interzone Generation

garethlpowell@btinternet.com (GLP) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:24:00 +0000

There's no flash fiction this week because I've been busy with other things. Beside celebrating the first review of my short story collection over at The Fix, I'm in the process of being interviewed for a forthcoming issue of Interzone, and have just participated in the recording of audio versions of two of my most popular short stories: The Last Reef and Ack-Ack Macaque.

Also today, there's a new press release up at TTA Press, entitled: 'Exciting Times For Interzone Authors', which mentions both the launch of my short story collection in August and the launch of my novel next April, and includes me in the new "generation" of writers to have used the magazine as the launch pad for their careers:

"Over Interzone’s 26 years, several generations of new writers have emerged via its pages... within a few years Geoff Ryman, Kim Newman, Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, Eric Brown and others were discovered, so I’ll call them the first Interzone generation.
By 1990, a second generation was developing nicely; Charlie Stross, Ian Macleod, Keith Brooke, Alastair Reynolds, Richard Calder, Chris Beckett, Ben Jeapes, John Meaney, and Sarah Ash. The 3rd generation introduced Liz Williams, Tony Ballantyne and (to English language readers at least) Zoran Zivkovic plus, no doubt, others who have yet to produce a novel.
Now, a new generation is starting to come through with Tim Akers and Gareth Lyn Powell, so can Karen Fishler, Jason Stoddard and others be far behind?"

This is just a snippet from the release. You can read the whole thing at TTA Press: http://ttapress.com/479/exciting-times-for-interzone-authors/