The Auden Interviews

New blog at Wordpress

2010-05-01T09:08:00.001+01:00

Head over to Word Press - I've moved....

S

So long and thanks for all the fish

2010-04-29T21:35:00.002+01:00

Blooger are making some changes on May 1st and since this site has been hosted on a friend's server for some while, it's about time I gave him his space back.

Henceforth, you'll find me over on Facebook.

See you there,
Sandy

2010-04-12T22:47:00.002+01:00

Greetings everyone,

I managed to make it to World Horror Con in Brighton at the end of last month and what a wonderful event it turned out to be. Ok, the hotel wasn't the cleanest I've stayed in but the attendees, the panels and the parties and free booze more than made up for it. Well, maybe not the free booze so much cause I can't drink these days but I came away having throughly enjoyed myself and with virtually no voice from talking too much.

It was lovely to meet up with so many friends at the con. More than one person enquired as to why I didn't post on my blog very often and I don't have much of an excuse except lack of time. To be honest I didn't think many people dropped by here at all, let alone ones that would give me a polite slap about it at a convention, so it was a pleasant surprise to be moaned at really. And here I am, posting so it must have worked, at least for now. No promises for the future but we'll see how we go.

I moderated a panel at WHC while I was there and had a lovely time with five lovely writers - Tanith Lee, Sarah Pinborough, Dan Brown, Samantha Lee and a fifth writer lady whose name escapes me just at this moment. But we had fun discussing how to keep teenagers reading after Harry Potter even though we didn't come to any ground breaking conclusions.

It was also wonderful to see Neil Gaiman turn up to interview James Herbert and I managed to get a quick chat with Neil about the con for my write up in SFX magazine. The write up should be out in the mid-April issue but don't hold me to it.

Talking of SFX, my co-writer Nick Knight and I had our Supernatural season five article in SFX a couple of issues back and we've been covering the new Ghostfacers spin off for the news section too. It's always a pleasure working with Nick and if you haven't got his Official Companion books to the Supernatural TV series and you're a fan then go out and buy them, they're great.

I also did a news item about Guy Gavriel Kay's new novel, Under Heaven, for SFX. Kay is one of the best writers around at the moment and if you like historical fantasies then give Under Heaven a go. My review will be in Interzone magazine issue 228 (I think).

Apart from that, I've got a number of interviews on the bubble including Conrad Williams, John Meaney and Jasper Kent. As usual, keep an eye on SFSite.com and my news column for details.

Oh, and I hear Kevin J Anderson and ProgRock Records boss Shawn Gordon have a new CD out that ties into the new volume of Anderson's fantasy series. Again, should be more on that on SFSite.com coming up soon.

Think that's most of what's been happening. See you at the Clarke Awards if you're there.

Take care and be kind to each other,
S

New stuff around the net....

2009-08-09T15:55:00.002+01:00

All,

Had some new articles posted here and there around the net.

You can regularly find me at SFSite.com but here's pointers to the latest articles:

Powers: Secret Histories interview - John Berlyne, Tim Powers, Pete Crowther, Dirk Berger.

John Berlyne's Powers: Secret Histories is so much more than just a bibliography of Tim Powers' stories -- it's a unique insight into the writing life of one of the most respected fantasy authors around. The project has been a huge undertaking for Berlyne, taking nearly a decade to complete, and here he is joined by the book's artist Dirk Berger, the publisher Pete Crowther and Tim Powers himself to discuss how the book came into being, the problems with designing it, the artwork, the bodies buried in the garden and spilling beer.

You can catch up with my latest book news columns here, including a very special column about Kevin J Anderson's latest fantasy book and accompanying CD project.

Plus my report on the David Gemmell Legend Award night is here.

All for now - happy reading peeps!

Mike Carey and Kate Griffin Signing at Forbidden Planet

2009-03-05T20:17:00.003Z

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by Mike Carey and Kate Griffin. They will be signing Thicker Than Water: A Felix Castor Novel and A Madness of Angels at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday 26th March 6 – 7pm.

Mike Carey is an extremely popular and well-respected author who has written on several top comics titles such as Lucifer as well as the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. Thicker Than Water returns us to the life of Felix Castor, where memories thought left in Liverpool resurface in London. Childhood memories, family traumas, sins old and new come back to torment the city’s favourite freelance Exorcist. Things go from bad to worse until the only question left is – just how much will Fix have to pay..?

Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author, Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. A Madness of Angels is a book about the power of London, Urban Magic, ebbing and flowing with the rhythms of the city, making runes from the alignments of ancient streets and humming with the rhythms of trains and buses. This is the London of Matthew Swift, where rival sorcerers do battle for the soul of the city.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE VENUE BEFORE TRAVELLING

To find out more about signings at Forbidden Planet, go to their signings page at Forbidden Planet Signings

Raymond Feist Tour Dates - UK

2009-03-03T18:53:00.002Z

All,

I get quite a few press releases about signings and events. I don't currently have anywhere else to put them so I'll post them on here in future.

First up, the lovely Raymond Feist is in the UK signing for his new book.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE VENUE BEFORE TRAVELLING.

Monday 9th March
6.30 – 8.00pm: Nottingham Waterstones
TALK AND SIGNING
1-5 Bridlesmith Gate
Nottingham
NG1 2GR

Tuesday 10th March
1.00-2.00pm
Birmingham FP
SIGNING
38 Priory Queensway
Birmingham,
B4 7LA

7.00pm:
Waterstones,
Manchester Deansgate
TALK AND SIGNING
91 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 2BW

Wednesday 11th March
6.30pm:
Waterstones
Edinburgh East End
TALK AND SIGNING
13-14 Princes Street
Edinburgh EH2 2AN

Thursday 12th March
1.00pm–2.00pm:
Forbidden Planet
Bristol
SIGNING
Clifton Heights
Triangle West
Bristol BS8 1EJ

6.30pm:
Forbidden Planet London
SIGNING
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR

Saturday 14th March
1.00pm:
Easons,
Dublin,
SIGNING,
O’Connell Street

Where to catch my work

2009-03-01T09:00:00.002Z

I admire everyone who posts regularly to their blog - it seems to be something I struggle with constantly and usually fail to do.

2008 was phenomenally busy for me - change of (proper job) employer, reviewing, interviewing, researching articles and starting my first book.

So I've given up any pretence of trying to do regular updates here and instead I shall ask interested parties to check out SFX magazine or visit SFSite.com to catch up with my book news, reviews and interviews. At least there you'll see regular updates.

For my news columns, you can link directly from here: SFSite.com News Spotlight

If anyone wants to catch me in person I'll be attending Eastercon, Fantasycon and San Diego Comicon this year. See you there!

A breathing space

2008-02-02T10:26:00.000Z

Well, Christmas came and went in a mad rush of parties and packing!

We went skiing on December 20th so before we went we had several Christmas Days around family and friends through December. I love getting together and opening presents three or four times over the festive period - it's much better than doing it all on one day!

The skiing - in Canada - was awesome! Snow was deep and soft, weather was blizzardy and the light was flat (which means you can't focus your eyes on the snow you're skiing on, a very strange sensation that leads to falling over very quickly!) But the change of pace was welcome and the celebrations were warm and fun.

Arriving back, things went ballistic. In summary:

Central heating not working
I develop a new respect for people who live in cold conditions with no heating
Brrrr

Hot water then breaks
Smelly repercussions

Mother-in-law and neighbours offer support
They're all so sweet and we're very grateful!

I'm asked to do two lectures on Communication in the Digital Age at a local Uni
Huzzah!

Car needs MOT'ing
Boo

It passed!
Yay!

Work makes unsettling announcement
Boo!

Car needs taxing
Sigh

Problems with the measurements for the new fireplace we're buying
Boo!

Work makes worse announcement
Boo Hiss!

Get builder in to advise on fireplace - he knows what he's talking about
Yay!

Now we're waiting for the fireplace to be delivered and the house renovations will take another step forward. Next will be the carpet and new sofa - as and when funds allow - followed by ripping out the bathroom and replacing it with a new suite.

Wish us luck eh? We'll need it!

Meanwhile, I've been reviewing for SFX magazine and doing my Starburst book news column too. And I've found time to review Clive Barker's Mister B Gone for SFSite.com.

I'll be at Eastercon, Alt-Fiction in Derby and Fantasycon this year. Will do the Clarke Awards too. Come over and say hello!

Happy New Year to everyone!

2007-12-09T12:43:00.000Z

With the long winter nights upon us, there's nothing better than curling up on the sofa and immersing yourself in really good book.

I didn't get too much chance to indulge myself in this practice over October and November. We're having some extensive work done on the interior of the house and if a room doesn't look like a building site, then it's crammed with the stuff removed from the rooms being done up. My study has survived with minimal disruptive but my time has been redistributed to preparing for the work and cleaning up after it. October and November disappeared in the blink of an eye but I have at least sorted out my book collection and reacquainted myself with some awesome titles that I'd forgotten I had.

Meanwhile, I've squeezed a few titles into my lunch hour that are worth mentioning here:

Confessor by Terry Goodkind is a very fitting end to the Sword of Truth series and has moved itself into the top position for having the best opening line:
"For the second time that day, a woman stabbed Richard."

The Solaris Book of New Fantasy edited by George Mann is an ideal read if you're looking to try out new authors without committing to a whole novel. Some excellent quality stories in this one make it very good value.

Ian Irvine's The Curse on the Chosen continues his Song of the Tears series with much derring do and cliff hanger action. He's not a good idea for people who like closure at the end of the stories but the ride is rather good fun.

And finally, Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone was an entertaining and unnerving read that I really enjoyed. No where near as gory or weird as some of his previous titles, it's a light, very well-written story.

Happy holidays everyone. May you get your heart's desire from Santa.

Russian Bite

2007-09-15T18:26:00.000+01:00

With Sergei Lukyanenko's TWILIGHT WATCH just out in trade paperback and the adaptation of the second book in the series, DAY WATCH, about to debut on DVD, it's been a good couple of months for werewolves, vampires and light magicians in chilly Moscow.

I've been really impressed with the intelligent stories in this series. Nothing is what it seems, the mysteries are not predictable and there's a lovely exotic feel to them (due to the Moscow backdrop).

It was my great pleasure to be able to interview both Sergei Lukyanenko and the english translator Andrew Bromfield for the UKSFBookNews.net website a short time ago.

You can read the results here: Lukyanenko & Bromfield on the NIGHT WATCH series

I do enjoy a good short

2007-09-15T18:09:00.000+01:00

I've long been a short fiction fan (it started when I was travelling huge distances to work and back, when I need an SF/F fix but didn't have the time for a novel length epic) and I've been dipping into that arena again.

I've read Zoran Zivkovic's 12 COLLECTIONS & THE TEASHOP published by PS Publishing and marvelled at the author's clear skill with the short form. Delightful piece of work.

I've made a note to look out for his name in future....

Sleuthing Grannies

2007-08-19T15:50:00.000+01:00

I've just finished reading the first two volumes of Paul Magrs new series set in Whitby, following the exploits of Brenda, an old lady who runs a B&B in one of Whitby's side streets. Brenda loves cleaning her house, cooking for her guests and solving supernatural mysteries. Everyone, but everyone who's living in Whitby has a secret past (including Brenda) and discovering some of their skeletons in the cupboard is a great deal of fun.

Well worth a look these:

NEVER THE BRIDE
and
SOMETHING BORROWED
By Paul Magrs
Published by Headline.

I'll post the link to my full reviews soon.

John Clute talks about The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror

2007-08-18T16:12:00.000+01:00

In The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror, John Clute wields his considerable talents to give us an insight into the Horror genre, into what the genre does and why it is important. It's a significant book, small in dimensions but large in voice and captivating in content.

But how does a book that analyses the Horror genre come to be written?

"In the beginning, there was no book like this in view," said Clute. "For a year or so I'd been grappling, in the end unsuccessfully, with a contract I'd signed with Scarecrow Press to do a short Historical Dictionary of Horror, which was intended by Scarecrow to make up a set with the two they commissioned from Brian Stableford, and which have both now been published, one on science fiction and one on fantasy.

"Both of these latter regions of discourse, had, of course, already been traversed and their practical limits defined and the basic descriptive terminologies established, and Brian ploughed right into the task with the Will of Brian, and - though I thought his discourse on the nature of fantasy was pretty airhead - did a thoroughly competent short-dictionary-like job of his remit. I wasn't as lucky, nor am I Brian.

"I found the assortative discourse on horror both boring and inutile, and found that the entries I was beginning to write, quite a few of them in the end, were hugely too long for the dictionary format Scarecrow needed, and full of exploratory neologisms. At the same time, I found myself beginning to draft theme/motif entries in order to make some sense of the exploratory lunges and lurches of those author entries. By the beginning of 2006, however, I saw the handwriting on the wall: the motif entries I was writing were totally inappropriate to the remit I'd been given, and the author entries were, as I said, hugely too long to fit into the wordcount requirements Scarecrow had reasonably laid down, so I cancelled the contract.

"A few months later Brooks Peck asked me if I had anything fairly short and unusual that might conceivably fit into the list he and Jacob McMurray were constructing for the small firm, Payseur and Schmidt, they had begun to operate.

"On impulse I looked at my motif entries from the aborted project, about 11,000 words of material, and bundled them off, with the suggestion that I could add another 8,000 or so words of connecting definitions, which might make a plausible little book. Brooks said yes. So I rewrote those 11,000 words to liberate them from any surviving rigidities of context, and added (in the end) another 15,000 words of new material – the mostly definitional entries of HORROR, AFFECT HORROR, SIGHTING, THICKENING, REVEL, AFTERMATH, DOUBLES, SERPENT'S EGG, etc. And that is The Darkening Garden.

"Another answer as to why I put the book together was to get horror, as a genre or mode (I've been excoriated by, I think, Richard Bleiler, for using both terms in a single sentence, but tant pis, frankly), into my working vocabulary. And pass that vocabulary on, mercilessly, to anyone who reads me."

It takes a deep knowledge of a genre to create the kinds of definitions in The Darkening Garden, but it also takes a special kind of brain. "I don't advocate what I call my thinking process, or the mental process chez moi that comes as close to thinking as I come," said Clute modestly. "It is a very lateral-thinking, metaphor-driven kind of cognition. Some of the terms in The Darkening Garden, like HORROR, obviously pre-exist this process; others, like THICKENING - which came to me as a pretty obvious opposite process to the THINNING which I made a central descriptive/grammatical/definitional term in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) - are close to neologism.

"In fact, HORROR, was probably the most difficult definition. It was written almost at the end of the process, and needed to work as a centre from which other entries could depend, a compact home base from which other entries could be understood. By the way, the only use in the book of any form of its title comes in the final sentence of HORROR. Which means (to me) that the final sentence of that entry is the point from which the whole book unfolds...."

Another important point in the book is the year 1750. "It is 1) an arbitrary date, but 2) a rough date used by quite a few writers to designate a point when it all begins to change," said Clute. "It is a bit earlier than Horace Walpole's Otranto (1764), or the inception of the Sturm und Drang movement in Germany, but Voltaire's Candide (1759) is only a few years away. So, as I said, the precise date is an arbitrary convention, but the times were a changing.

"It is from this point that what Nick Gevers calls "the utter inclemency" of the world begins to show its face in us. I love Gevers's phrase: it says exactly what I meant to talk about in The Darkening Garden in a nutshell."

The Darkening Garden: A Short Lexicon of Horror is out now at all good book stores.

New SFSite.com Review

2007-08-16T19:23:00.000+01:00

Bugger me, it's been ages! Stop me at a convention and ask me what's been happening, I can't mention it here yet. I'll buy you a drink and explain, won't take long but it's been keeping me very busy.

Meanwhile, I have a new review online on SFSite.com, here:

In A Town Called Mundomuerto by Randall Silvis

Nice little yarn it was too.

Stars of the Show – FantasyCon 2006

2006-11-06T10:20:00.000Z

This year's Fantasycon was an absolute blast – a weekend of endless conversation, drink and enjoyment.

As unofficial photographer, it was my job to get as many shots of people as possible and there was no shortage of opportunities.

Of course, the stars of the show were the Guests of Honour and they were most patient when it came to flashes going off in their eyes…

Clive Barker reduced the Banquet audience to awed silence after a singularly inspirational speech.

Neil Gaiman didn't really need his name badge over the weekend – his black t-shirt and leather jacket were iconic enough for most fans.

Raymond Feist gave an insight into why his latest novel, Into a Dark Realm, is so much darker than the previous volumes.

Strongly representing lady fantasy writers, Juliet McKenna brought a feminine touch to proceedings.

And last but never least, Ramsey Campbell (left) entertained everyone (including Neil Gaiman (middle) and Graham Joyce (right)) with tales of Curry Houses in Nottingham.

Of course, there were a number of notable other attendees as well – like Simon Clark, Tim Lebbon, Mark Chadbourn and Stephen Jones – and there will be pictures of them shortly. But next up will be a series of photos of the conventions unsung heroes, the people who make it happen behind the scenes. Watch this space….

American Werewolf in London Interview at SFSite.com

2006-11-03T10:40:00.000Z

I'm just putting some Fantasycon photos together for your enjoyment but while I iron out a few creases in the HTML, SFSite.com have posted my inteview with werewolf extraordinaire, David Naughton, who played the doomed David Kessler in the 1982 movie An American Werewolf in London.

Read the Naughton interview here.

Fantasycon and new interview posted

2006-09-17T11:05:00.000+01:00

I've been deep into my preparation for Fantasycon over the last couple of weeks, where I'll be interviewing Raymond Feist on stage. He's a lovely chap and a talented writer and it's going to be such fun! I've also read and reviewed Raymond's latest novel, Into a Dark Realm for the next issue of SFX magazine (150), but you'll have to get the mag to see what I thought of it!

Meanwhile, SFSite.com have run my interview with Screenwriter and Producer Dennis Bartok. Dennis' new movie is called Trapped Ashes and is a collection of wonderfully twisted horror tales in the tradition of movies like Tales from the Crypt.

You can read the full Trapped Ashes lowdown here..

Next update will be the post-Fantasycon news. See you then!

Tom DeFalco and Sarah Zettel and Other News

2006-08-21T09:30:00.000+01:00

As promised, I'm posting a bit more often now.

Scroll down for interviews with Tom DeFalco and Sarah Zettel.

In the other news department - the next issue of Interzone magazine (206) has my double-headed interview with David Naughton (who played David Kessler, the werewolf in An American Werewolf in London) and Camden Toy (who played a number of villains in Buffy and Angel). They're talking about their experiences in the make-up chair - Naughton in 1981 and Toy (20 years later!)in 2001. My thanks go to both gents for their enthusiasm and for being so damned nice.

I've also got a new interview coming on September 1st on SFSite.com. This one is with writer and scriptwriter Dennis Bartok, who is talking about his new horror movie Trapped Ashes. The movie certainly looks like one-to-see and has its World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 12th 2006, as part of the Midnight Madness horror/genre showcase. And Dennis is another nice man too!

There's more stuff in the pipeline of course, so see you soon!

Tom DeFalco Interviews Comic Creators About The X-Men

2006-08-21T09:17:00.000+01:00

With the third X-Men movie reaching cinemas on the May 26 2006, now is the perfect time for an in-depth history of the Marvel X-Men's comics career, from their birth in 1963 to their unparalleled success in the present day.

Comics Creators On X-Men features interviews with every major talent involved in Marvel's X-plosive series, including Stan Lee, the original co-creator, and writers and artists from Roy Thomas and Chris Claremont, through John Byrne and Dave Cockrum, to Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Chris Bachalo.

This 256-page book traces the creation of the X-Men, in a chronological exploration of their most resonant adventures and villains. Along the way, interviewer Tom DeFalco, former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, uncovers the brainwaves, conflicts and legends that shaped X-Men into one of the world's most popular series of comic books.

Surprisingly, the book didn't take long to put together. "Titan and I first began discussing Comics Creators On X-Men in early 2004, along with Comic Creators on Fantastic Four," said DeFalco. I did CC on FF first and began working on CC on X in the early summer of 2005. Actual research, interview, transcription, editing, approval and production time took about ten months."

Having also done CC on Spider-man, DeFalco now has a trusted approach to these books. "First," he said, "I pull out my old comics, hunt down new ones and write up a bunch of questions. I do some research on each of the interviewees - even if I've known them for years. I have to do a lot of research because I don't trust my memory. I'm almost as bad as Stan Lee when it comes to remembering anything. Once that's done, I arrange a convenient time to chat. I prefer talking to my subjects, rather than the question and answer method that's so commonly used in the age of the Internet. This allows me to react to statements and follow tangents.

"The actual interviews can run anywhere from one to five hours in length and are usually filled with digressions, gossip and even the occasional cooking recipe. (Hey, most of us are freelancers who spend a lot of time at home!)

"Then I have the interview transcribed by a couple of lovely and patient young ladies. I usually end up with a rough manuscript that can run anywhere from fifty to a few hundred pages in length which I boil down.

"After that my editor - Simon Furman - takes a pass at the interview and we send them back for approval. Once it's been approved, Simon works his magic and printed book appears on my doorstep a few months later."

The process has its high and low points for DeFalco. "I love talking to the various creators and getting their views on our wonderful craft," he said. "I wish I could have been reading these Comic Creators books when I was first starting out as writer. They would have been very helpful.

"The transcribing stage is harder though. Transcribing a tape recording can be a very tedious process and I really don't have the patience for it. And the editing stage can also be quite painful. A creator will go off on a tangent that I find fascinating, but really has nothing to do with the subject at hand. I'm always torn between including and deleting these gems."

The X-men have been popular for over forty years, so what does DeFalco think is behind its longevity? "I think the series is about traumas that come when you possess a special talent (or passion) and that's a theme that everyone can identify with. I also think the X-books have been blessed with some of the finest creators the comic book industry has even seen."

Tom DeFalco is currently working on the monthly adventures of Spider-Girl and producing another five-issue limited series for Marvel called Last Planet Standing. He's also done a couple of Kolchak stories for Moonstone and contributed to the new Marvel Encyclopedia from DK Publishing, which will go on sale this summer.

Sarah Zettel talks about Camelot's Sword

2006-08-21T09:04:00.000+01:00

Sarah Zettel's latest Arthurian romance, Camelot's Sword, has been released by Harpercollins. Another stand alone tale, this time Zettel is looking at the lives of the people on the fringe of the famous royals, who don't seem to have it any easier than Arthur and Guinevere…

The book opens at Castle Cambryn, where Lynet's father Kenan is Cambryn's Steward - holding Queen Guinevere's lands while she rules with Arthur in Camelot. But the lands are coveted by Morgan Le Fey and she uses her magic to influence Kenan's ambitious son Colan, who murders his father and is promptly outlawed.

Facing local turmoil and possible civil war, Lynet leaves her sister hostage at Cambryn and embarks to fetch Guinevere to resolve the mess. The journey brings revelations about Lynet's ancestry, and introduces her to Squire Gareth. Already dishonoured for past misdemeanours, Gareth must redeem himself by putting aside his womanising ways and help Lynet bring peace to Cambryn.

The roots of Camelot's Sword reach deep into the past. "They go back to the original stories (although I use that term advisedly) in Malory, "said Zettel. "In Gareth's tale in Le Mort d'Arthur, Lynet and her sisters are sorceresses, so, I just adapted that story." Arthur has always enthralled readers hasn't he? "I think it's because it's not one story, but many. It's not just Arthur, it's all the knights and all they did, and those adventures can be changed and updated and turned around into something that has interest and meaning for the audience of any age, and still have the resonance that goes so far back you feel connected to its deep, deep roots."

Sword's characters are as haunting as the tale but as always, it takes hard work to achieve apparent effortlessness. "Gareth was the most difficult character to write," Zettel admitted "I've never written about such an unfinished hero before. He had to do a lot of growing up during the course of the book, and I wanted to be able to portray that as believably as possible. Lynet was easier, I think. She was in many ways just a young woman setting out on her own for the first time, and I've been there in my own life."

Giving her characters a vivid setting didn't take too much research for Zettel. "I had the basic shape of the legends in my head, and did sort of brush-up reading on that end. But I kind of research as I go. I'll read a book or two to get some basic facts and then I'll jump in. When I run into something in the plot or setting I'm not sure on, then I'll do additional research on that point, and go on. Having written about alien worlds I've never been to, the ancient landscape of someplace I've actually walked just didn't seem like it was going to be that difficult."

Will there be other Zettel tales set in Arthur's world? "There might. I've written a novelette set in my version of the Arthurian universe that will appear in the first installment of the new on-line publication Jim Baen's Universe later this year. I'd actually love to do Arthur's mother, Ygraine's, story. Morgan and Guinevere have been done repeatedly, but no one ever writes about Ygraine. But right now, I'm in the middle of the last book in this series, tentatively titled Camelot's Blood, which will be the story of Lynet's sister Laurel, and her marriage to Sir Agravain."

For more information about the author, visit Sarah Zettel's website.

The year so far…..

2006-08-06T10:54:00.000+01:00

I hadn't intended to have the updates this far apart on my blog, but sometimes life just takes over and you find you're not really in the driving seat anymore.

It's time to put some kind of update out now - especially as some really nice folk (John, Neil you know who you are) have been hassling me for updates.

So what's been happening?

January brought an invite form Andy Cox to join the Interzone magazine team as Book Reviews editor. I thought long and hard about taking him up on the offer - once I'd got over the blushing sense of flattery. The problem wasn't because of the job he was offering but my dwindling amount of spare time. But it seemed too good an offer to pass up so I re-arranged my workload and went for it.

It was the right decision. It's a new challenge for me, stretching me in ways I hadn't expected and teaching me things about reviewing and language with every issue. The review team are a great bunch of experts who make my job really easy and the Interzone team are a hoot.

Something had to give though and you'll find a lot less of my reviews going online this year. I'm still reviewing for SFX magazine and of course I get a review in Interzone now and then. But it's not completely over, there's still my news items on The Alien Online website and my interviews and some reviews are still going online at SFSite.com. New additions at SFSite.com include Jon Courtenay Grimwood's excellent 9Tail Fox and an interview with Tom Lloyd, author of The Stormcaller.

There's been lots of other stuff going on too, of course. The finished DVD from the Memorabilia event at the NEC arrived and cameraman Mark from the Dysfunction Group company did a fantastic post-production job on the interview footage he shot, combining it with various shots of the event, to produce a slick end product. I've been going to the Memorabilia event at the NEC for many years now and it just keeps getting better. The next one is August 12th and 13th 2006, so go give it a try.

John Aitken and I have just completed the Fantasycon trivia quiz - 36 questions about SF, Fantasy and Horror that always earns us loads of earache from the competitors at the BFS's Fantasycon event.

I'm also reading, re-reading and researching author Raymond Feist - who will be a guest at this year's Fantasycon in September along with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker and Juliet McKenna. I'm interviewing Raymond on stage and looking forward to the event with a mixture of nerves and extreme pleasure. If you haven't got your ticket yet, why not.

I've also had the great pleasure to interview actors David Naughton and Camden Toy this year. David played David Kessler, the American tourist turned werewolf in my one of my favourite horror flicks, American Werewolf in London. The movie celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year and the full interview will be appearing on SFSite.com in the upcoming months. Meanwhile, I've combined David's experiences in the make-up chair in 1981 with Camden Toy's experiences in the same make-up chair 20 years later. Camden played four wicked villains in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. He's a wonderfully animated speaker and if you get the chance to see him at a convention, do it. The article about their claustrophobic traumas will appear in the next Interzone magazine (issue 206).

There's also a new DVD out from Red Dwarf star Robert Llewellyn (Kryten). Watch out for an interview with him coming soon to SFSite.com but meanwhile, drop in at his website, it2i2 and check out his take on Artificial Intelligences.

I'll be posting some back interviews onto this site over the next week or so and hopefully a recommendation or two for some really good books.

See you soon.

Sandy

Sandy Auden is currently working as an enthusiastic reviewer for SFX magazine; a tireless news hound for Starburst magazine; a diligent book reviews editor for Interzone magazine and a combination interviewer/reviewer for SFSite.com and TheAlienOnline.net. She spends her spare time lying down with a cold flannel on her forehead.

New interview and review links posted...

2006-01-14T08:44:00.000Z

It's been sooo busy since last October that my head has only just stopped spinning!

Last November saw me joining the Dysfunction Group camera crew (Mark and Paul) at the Memorabilia event at the NEC. Our mission was to create a promotional DVD for the event and I was helping out with the interviewing. It was great fun to do and we got to talk to some great people including George Romero, Gerry Anderson, Ray Harryhausen, Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear) and many others.

Then Christmas was upon us and the celebrations started in early December and didn't finish till early January!

And so a New Year begins. This time I find myself involved with the brand new newsletter from Fantasy writer Mark Chadbourn, and there are some other projects bubbling under the surface too.

And while all this has been happening, SFSite.com have been gradually posting more of my interviews on their website (bless 'em).

New in this update are: Raymond Feist, Tad Williams, Kevin Anderson, Simon Clark, James Barclay, Jon Courtenay Grimwood, and Gwyneth Jones. There's also a new review at SF Site for Hawkes Harbour by S E Hinton.

Check out the links under SFSite on right.

Sandy

Latest Update - links

2005-10-18T18:50:00.000+01:00

I had the pleasure to talk to Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch (Apollo) at the Memorabilia show at the NEC in August.

You can find out more about his latest projects at the Alien Online website but he was also talking about his worldwide professional hobby - lecturing about How To Unlock Your Creative Potential. He's very passionate about this hobby and I wanted to share his words here.

I've also recently added in new links to the Mark Chadbourn Hounds of Avalon review and the interview about the entire Dark Age series below - well worth a read if your looking for some really good fantasy.

Mark Chadbourn interview.
Hounds of Avalon Review.

Enjoy,
Sandy

Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch on developing your creative potential

2005-10-18T18:24:00.000+01:00

"As well as being an actor and author, I also teach and lecture in Communications all over the world - particularly about Releasing the Power of Creative Vision," said Hatch. "I teach at colleges, universities, and business organisations. It's a professional hobby of mine and I've been speaking for the last 30 years.

"I love inspiring people and you always share what you learned the hard way. I don't believe in blowing smoke up people's… I do believe that we have unlimited potential. The problem is that most people don't have enough faith and trust in our own abilities to do anything about it. People are so full of fear that we can't even begin to tap or touch our true abilities.

"Generally speaking the direction where our greatest passion lies also brings up our greatest fears and insecurities which is why most people avoid the very road that will lead them where they want to go.

"You can't do anything until you get gut-level honest with yourself - stop blaming the world, stop blaming everybody and anything else. Look in the mirror and take responsibility for the decisions you have made in life, both consciously and unconsciously, that have led you to where you and realise that you created your own situation through your own choices. Unfortunately most of them were unconscious and most of them you didn't take responsibility for, but once you take responsibility you can choose to create again. New choices that will lead you in a direction that'll bring you greater happiness. As opposed to more pain, trauma and failure.

"The whole process is to stop working against something and start embracing, because that's the same as loving it. If you take a child who is angry, and crying and frustrated - which is like that inner voice of yours that keeps yelling out - the key is to stop pushing it away and to listen and embrace it. And the voice will slowly subside and become calm. The thing we most need is love and attention. When you finally give love to the part of your being that's crying out, that part starts to feel a sense of I'm ok, I'm valued, I'm loved."

"Everybody is gifted in one way or another, the key is finding out what those abilities are and learning how to deal with fear, learning how to build self-worth and then learning how to take small steps towards doing what you really want to do in life rather than wasting a lot of energy doing what you don't want to do.

More details about Richard Hatch's lectures at
RichardHatch.com.

Williamson and Wilson on the Nova Scotia anthology

2005-08-20T08:40:00.000+01:00

New anthology, Nova Scotia, was launched by Mercat Press Ltd last weekend at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) in Glasgow in 2005, with editors Neil Williamson and Andrew J Wilson in attendance.

A showcase anthology of stories by both established and up-and-coming writers, Nova Scotia represents a definitive portrait of the Scottish imagination. Among those contributing are Edwin Morgan; Hugo- and Nebula-Award-nominated authors Ken MacLeod and Charles Stross; Ron Butlin; Jane Yolen and Matthew Fitt.

The book attempts to address the nature of Scotland and Scottishness from many imaginative angles, so how did the editors select the stories?

Williamson: Well, as it's a collection of Scottish speculative fiction, we imposed two basic qualifying rules: 1/ the authors had either to be Scottish by birth or residence, and 2/ the stories had to feature some aspect of Scottish life, history or culture. The second of these criteria was, we admit, fairly arbitrary, but as the saying goes, we knew it when we saw it.

Wilson: We also wanted to cover a wide range in terms of genre, style and subject matter, and everything we accepted had to be top-drawer material with fascinating ideas, engaging characters, and tight, muscular writing.

Williamson: Weren't asking for much, were we?

The two editors are longstanding friends and working as a team on the anthology was an easy extension of their relationship.

Williamson: It was a fairly straightforward process, with both of us reading all of the stories and then comparing notes. Fortunately we pretty much agreed on all of the ones we liked, and all of the ones we didn't like. So, it was actually fairly easy to draw up a short list, and then choose the final selection.

Wilson: It was weird - we'd both been prepared to have disagreements, and had even had a "wild card" rule from the start, meaning that, if one of us really loved a story that the other hated, we could include it, but only for one story. In the end, neither of us had to play the Joker. Far more difficult than making the final cut was working out the best order to run the contents... We agreed on that too!

What aspects of Scottishness have they tried to articulate through the collection?

Williamson: I think it's more a case of us looking on to see what aspects the writers chose to highlight. There's everything in there from literary history (Burns, Johnson & Boswell) to contemporary office life, from the presbyterian religous ethic to 17th century witchery, from the engineering idealist to the closure of the traditional industries, and from the remembering of our war heroes to the difference in outlook that we have on current wars compared to, say, the Americans. We've been quite surprised at the breadth of subject.

Wilson: The book is more about Scotland as a state of mind than a nation state. I think people from all over will see reflections of themselves in these stories. "We're a' Jock Tamson's bairns," as we say .

Why do they think that Scottish authors have become such a influential presence in speculative fiction?

Williamson: I'm not sure that's the case, or if they have, that there's any real reason other than geographic accident. I don't think there's anything in the water or the genes or anything like that. Certainly you could point at Alasdair Gray and Iain M Banks and Ken McLeod and try to make a case, but of those who have recently joined them Richard Morgan and Charlie Stross are only Scots by residence, so perhaps any argument you might make would fall down there. Of course, there have been a bunch of writers plugging away in groups in Glasgow and in Edinburgh and Fife that have made it into the limelight recently. So perhaps they are the generation inspired by Banks and Gray, picking up their torches and running with them.

Wilson: I take another view. For a long time, Scots put themselves down privately while showing a rather silly bravado and nationalism in public. Times have changed, and now many are just 'getting on with it'. I think that attitude is attractive to the many people who have come to settle in Scotland. Devolution meant that it was time to deal with our problems ourselves, not moan about the English, and - more importantly - then expect them to bail us out!

Williamson: I hadn't thought about that. There's definitely been more of a cohesive national ideal that has arisen been the post-Thatcher days and the settling in to devolution - a who-we-are, not what-we're-not. That's certainly been an empowering change in other areas of the arts - the music scene for instance. The same may well be true for writing.

And finally, can they suggest which aspects of the collection they think will be of most appeal to the speculative fiction fan?

Williamson: Hopefully the variety of the tales. There's a real spread of different sorts of stories in here: supernatural tales alongside planetary SF, posthumanism cheek by jowl with contemporary horror. Something for everyone.

Wilson: The top-notch writing, the fact that there's quite a lot of humour and the electrifying mix of approaches.

Williamson: There's also the chance for readers to pick up short stories by established authors better known for their novels - how often do you get your hands on a new Ken McLeod story? - and by new authors they're just starting to hear about.

Wilson: Yes. What he said too!

For more information about Nova Scotia, visit the Mercat Press website.