BOOK IS BELONG TO KITTY

My proof copy of Heavy Ice came. It has a new owner. No, really. Maybe I should get her a copy of The Good, The Bad and The Furry: The Brand-New Adventures of the World’s Most Melancholy Cat and Other Whiskery Friends instead?

Out-Take Friday, 1

I’ve decided that in the month running up to Heavy Ice’s launch I’m going to post an extra Requite snippet every Friday. These aren’t excerpts from the book, they’re extras – some out-takes, some newly written. Here’s the first one: From ClanFerah Reyes Gaby to her good cousin representative of those who carry the Emperor’s […]

Heavy Ice has a launch date!

Heavy Ice is coming on December 1st. In 650 S.F the world changed. For Raj Cordoval: for Prince Vane-Egypt Considine, recently made Considine Prime: for the man calling himself Zak Liang, whose name wasn’t Zak or Liang either: but most of all for Kallisty Hawkwood, who very nearly didn’t survive long enough to notice. For […]

No megafauna were harmed in the making of this post.

I’m a little over three-quarters of the way through editing the second draft of Heavy Ice, and… somewhat less than that… of the way through breaking in a pair of lace-up boots that were originally a pair of ice skates. The two processes aren’t that dissimilar, though those of you who have been there all […]

Today’s random quotation from Heavy Ice…

… which has got into the ‘The subplots! They’re breeding!’ stage of the plot: Idrian favoured all of his cousins with a look of bored disdain that was usually only seen in professional legal advocates and elderly cats. “You have no idea what exponential sequence means, do you? I’m surprised Ushantih hasn’t already bankrupted you […]

Sounds Of Steam: Let’s Get This Show On The Road

The excellent people at Sounds Of Steam are running an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for outside broadcasting equipment. If you don’t know them, they’re a steampunk radio show bringing music, interviews and discussion of what they’re drinking to the world. All of the archived shows are available as podcasts and they’re well worth a […]

Things I Already Know People Won’t Like About Heavy Ice

My characters aren’t speaking English and yet they sometimes make puns or mishearings that rely on English to work. I realise that a lot of people find this annoying, and all I can do is follow in the hallowed footsteps of Tolkien and say think of it as a free translation from the original. Requite […]

Here we go again!

Today’s quote from the Heavy Ice rewrites: ‘Most of us get one try or less at founding a civilisation’ I know it should be one try or fewer, but Facade Blue doesn’t care.

Point of View

So, today I’m thinking about point of view. I’ve noticed that my natural inclination when beginning books is to start off writing in omniscient POV and then drop into third person when the person whose viewpoint the first scene is in shows up. I did it with Heavy Ice, and I’ve found myself doing it […]

First Contact

So, Heavy Ice is lying fallow until I’ve got enough perspective to see the shape of it and turn it into a second draft, and I’m busy with research for the new thing. Well, I say ‘research’ – for every hour of’Exactly what shape was this particular building, and where can I find an etching […]