Thursday, March 01, 2012

News for March, 2012

If I could do anything else and enjoy it half so much, I would. That is, I’d do that, and then give away the stories I’d inevitably write for free. But I can’t. I shouldn’t be allowed out on my own, to tell you the truth, so it’s safer for me and for everyone else if I stay at home and work that way.
It’s been brought home to me again, how strange this world is, and how unpredictable. Or maybe I’m just thick. I’m in more demand than ever in some places, and I can’t get my foot in the door in places I used to call home. Ah well, I don’t make the rules, and as far as I’m able, I’ll follow them.
I’ve just sent a post through to The Good, The Bad and The Unread on that topic, and I hope some of you will read it, and more importantly, give your opinion. I don’t know exactly when it will go up, but it usually isn't very long. It’s a big blog with a lot of contributors, and one I’m excited to belong to.

To other matters. I got a release date for “Rendezvous at Midnight” and it’s just before RT! I’ll tell you more about it next month, just before I leave for the States. Chicago, how exciting!

Did I tell you about Nightstar? That’s my new series from Ellora’s Cave. It’s another rock band series, yay! It’s a six book series, one story for each member of the band, and it’s about change. The band, Murder City Ravens, is about to break big. They’ve had two albums out, but a change in personnel has made that invisible something click, and now the band is headed for the big time. It’s not all roses. Some of the members have other interests, and have to choose between that and continuing with the band. Which do they love best? And when they meet their soulmates, do they put that person first? (hint – I write romance!) Do they want to put up with that level of fame?
The band is a kind of infernal cross between Radiohead, Massive Attack, the Chemical Brothers and Oasis – a willingness to experiment, edgy music with a basis in solid rock.
Just to show you what I mean, or to confuse you further!
But of course, the beauty of writing about music is that you can imagine the kind of music you like best! If you want them to play the Rach 2 (one of the characters reveres that concerto) then go ahead, there’s nobody to stop you, least of all me!
The first book is written and sent in, and the second written and awaiting revisions.

And a new release for March! “Rubies of Fire” is a Dept 57 book that was out years ago, and is now reissued. But this is one of the series that I’ve rewritten heavily for its rerelease. It belonged in a specific place in the Dept 57 series, and now, with the reissues, that doesn’t work any more, so I’ve rewritten it to fit better into the new order. It’s sexier, too. I don’t think there’s a sentence that hasn’t been rewritten!
It was a joy and a shock to revisit the book. A shock to realise how much my writing style has changed, for the better, I hope, although it was pretty okay then, and a joy to realise that it still holds up well.
It’s about vampire Andreas Constant, sent by Dept 57 undercover to discover a Department mole in the DIB, the Department of Internal Business, and Roz, a vampire sent by her family to follow clues as to who killed two of her relatives two years before. Although it’s complete in itself, it also provides a lead-in to Sorcerer Fabrice Germain's book in “Diamonds of Ice.”  “Rubies of Fire” is out on March 20th.

And don’t forget that “Maiden Lane,” the seventh Richard and Rose book, is now out in print!

I’ll be in Chicago and Texas next month, part of it for the RT Booklovers’ Convention. If you’re around, please call!

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