Tag Archives: Publishing

Attention, book lovers!

By

Posted on

The agony of editing!If you enjoyed our interview with Kieran Mathers about his forthcoming fantasy novella, The Darkness Embraces, you might be wondering what happened to the new series of articles we promised you, charting his journey from first draft to publication.

Well the good news is, they’re already happening! But as we’ve decided to draw Impossible Podcasts to a close this year, you’ll find them at Bell, Book & Candle – the blog about reading, writing and the life in between, managed by our Stories In Print editor, P.G. Bell. The column, called ‘Mundane Adventures’, is updated every Saturday morning and is already proving popular as Kieran wrestles with the challenges of getting a book ready for market – from misunderstandings with his cover artist to rising above the sea of rubbish straight-to-Kindle titles. It’s fascinating and insightful stuff but don’t take our word for it – check out Part 1 and Part 2 for yourself. And we can promise some fascinating twists and turns in the next few weeks!

Friend of the podcast, Simon Kurt Unsworth

Meanwhile, Simon Kurt Unsworth’s occasional column ‘The Bellows’ also has a new home at Bell, Book & Candle. The World Fantasy Award-nominated author is preparing his own novel for publication, but it’s a very different journey to Kieran’s. P.G. will be re-posting the first four instalments over the next few weeks to bring new readers up to speed, before starting on the brand new material.

Lastly, P.G. recently announced that his blog is going to host a brand new podcast of its own. If you enjoyed our interview with Philip Reeve, you’ll want to hear Bell, Book & Podcast – a monthly interview with a notable writer, editor or publisher. The first instalment is due out in July, so keep those ears peeled!

If you’ve ever wondered how words get out of a person’s head, onto the page and then onto bookshelves, Bell, Book & Candle is worth a look.

The Next Big Thing – ‘The Darkness Embraces’

By

Posted on

Skyrim DungeonWe’re all about the writing this week, as our reviewer and sometime podcaster Kieran Mathers takes us on a whirlwind tour of his forthcoming fantasy novella.

What’s the working title of your book?

‘The Darkness Embraces’

Where did the idea for the book come from?

Bizarrely enough, the idea came from playing Skyrim. In that, you often explore great underground tombs and temples, either on your own with a companion. While I was thinking about this general fantasy trope, I found it interesting to imagine what would happen if, instead of a small group fighting another small group, you had entire armies underground who were trying to prosecute a military campaign. So it was a narrative leap into the darkness of the cave, and the very first title was actually Legion in the Dark. Plus, I was raised in Yorkshire, and we’ve got massive caverns and a great tradition of caving there, so I tried to bring some of what I know about that to the book as well.
The book was actually my attempt at NaNoWriMo, the National Write a Novel in a month contest, but it turned out so well that I thought I’d continue it towards publication.

Continue reading →

The Bellows #4 – Life, and other Exciting Pursuits

By

Posted on

A beard makes everything betterAuthor Simon Kurt Unsworth has had a very difficult few months. How will his change in circumstances affect his writing?

Read Simon’s previous articles here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

This is how it happens.

At the end of November, I finally finished all the amendments to the novel, was really happy with it and sent it off to John Berlyne. ‘Don’t expect anything fast’, he told me, so I didn’t, trying to forget about what might potentially happen next, about whether he’d like it or not, about whether he might be able to sell it to publishers. It’s not easy to clear something like that from your mind, though, and every day I opened my e-mail hoping to see something back from John. In the last month of last year, to be honest, I was making myself more than a little stressed about it, until I managed to find a way of stopping worrying about the novel. So, how did I do that?
Continue reading →

The Bellows #3 – On How a Novel, If Not its Author, Matures

By

Posted on

Novelist at Work

Horror writer extraordinaire, Simon Kurt Unsworth, brings us up to speed on the life of his new novel. And he’s had some very exciting news…

I shouldn’t have been so cocky.

It all felt like it was going so well; I’d sent the novel off and I was proud of what I’d accomplished in it. The final draft felt like it worked as a thriller and as a horror, I was happy with my imagery and its pace, and I liked my characters enough to have some emotional investment in them. I had two writing courses lined up to teach which I was set to be paid for, and life felt good. And then things started to, if not go wrong exactly, then at least yaw. I like the word ‘yaw’; it’s got a dizzying, oscillatory sort of feel to it, and it’s pretty much exactly how life’s felt these last months.

Continue reading →