Dark Fiction Magazine

I had the following press release bounce into my inbox today and I'm thoroughly excited by the idea. Check it out!

Dark Fiction Magazine (www.darkfictionmagazine.co.uk) is pleased to announce the launch of a new service for fans of genre fiction. Beginning Oct 31st (Halloween), Dark Fiction Magazine will be launching a monthly magazine of audio short stories. This is a free service designed to promote genre short fiction to an audience of podcast and radio listeners. A cross between an audio book, an anthology and a podcast, Dark Fiction Magazine is designed to take the enjoyment of short genre fiction in a new and exciting direction.


Dark Fiction Magazine publishes at least four short stories a month: a mix of award-winning shorts and brand new stories from both established genre authors and emerging writers. Each episode will have a monthly theme and feature complementary tales from the three main genres – science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Co-founder Del Lakin-Smith said: "I love reading short stories, and with the increased uptake of mobile and portable devices this really is a growth area. But like many I find I don't have as much time as I would like to read, so I tend to listen to many podcasts on the go. The idea of replacing my podcasts with high quality, well performed audio short stories is something I find highly appealing, so Sharon and I set about making that a reality."

Sharon Ring, co-founder of Dark Fiction Magazine, said: “From technophobe to technophile in less than two years; I spend a great deal of time working online. To while away those hours, I like to listen to podcasts and drink copious amounts of strong coffee. Now, while I don’t recommend you drink as much coffee as I, I do recommend you check out what Del and I have created. We love podcasts; we love genre fiction; we built a site to bring the two together.”

The theme of Dark Fiction Magazine’s first episode is The Darkness Descends and will feature four fantastical stories:

* ‘Maybe Then I’ll Fade Away’ by Joseph D’Lacey (exclusive to Dark Fiction Magazine)
* ‘Pumpkin Night’ by Gary McMahon
* ‘Do You See?’ by Sarah Pinborough (awarded the 2009 British Fantasy Society Short Story Award)
* ‘Perhaps The Last’ by Conrad Williams

Lined up for future episodes are Pat Cadigan, Cory Doctorow, Jon Courtenay, Grimwood, Ramsey Campbell, Rob Shearman, Kim Lakin-Smith, Ian Whates, Lauren Beukes, Mark Morris, Adam Nevill, Gareth L Powell, Jeremy C Shipp, Adam Christopher, and Jennifer Williams, among others.

With a team of dedicated and passionate narrators, a central recording facility and a love of genre, Dark Fiction Magazine delivers a truly outstanding aural experience.

Dark Fiction Magazine will also be producing special editions with seasonal stories and topical issues, competitions, flash fiction episodes and novel excerpts. Each episode aims to shock and delight, to horrify and confound as Dark Fiction Magazine takes its listeners on an aural tour through the world of genre fiction.

Dark Fiction Magazine is a collaborative project, created and developed by Del Lakin-Smith and Sharon Ring. For further information, contact Del or Sharon at
editorial@darkfictionmagazine.co.uk

***END***

Good, huh? I wish Sharon and Del all the best in their new endeavour!

Comfort Reading

Following on from my post yesterday, a lot of people have been suggesting to me that I pick up a comfort read - something familiar and beloved, that I am able to read and yet not read at the same time.

My main comfort read is David Eddings - fun, with little comedic flourishes, and a happy ending. Not a single challenge to be found within the pages. The good guys are good and the bad guys can be recognised by their black hats.

My question is: what are your comfort reads and why? Those books you return to in times of heartache?

Not Reading

Those who know me in a more personal capacity will have realised by now that I've been left pretty devastated by some news from the weekend.

I'm going through the usual not eating, not sleeping routine. What is more disturbing to me is I'm also struggling to read.

It is almost amusing that there have been times in recent weeks when I would have given anything for more time to myself to read - and now I don't want to.

Over the years reading has always been a massive source of comfort to me. It is what I turn to when I want to just forget the world and escape elsewhere. To not be able to do that leaves me feeling a little lost.

What I want to ask you, my readers, is: have there been times when you have lost the reading mojo? If it isn't too private, what caused it? How did you get it back?

P.S. I hope you can all understand that the blog might suffer for a few weeks. I hope to keep up posting, but, if there is less to read, I do hope you'll stick around and be back when I feel more capable.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

We start the book following Mikael Blomkvist as he is tried in court thanks to a libelous case he brought against an industry giant with a murky past. His name is brought to the attention of Henrik Vanger, the head of the Vanger Corporation - a man who is plagued by a possible murder that occurred forty years previously. Vanger offers Blomkvist the job of investigating the disappearance of Harriet Vanger. Gradually Blomkvist is drawn into what he believes is an impossible case - with the help of the enigmatic and delinquent Lisbeth Salander, he starts to believe he might bring light to the events.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been a phenomenal success, hyped by many, and I was interested to see what Stieg Larsson actually achieved with the Millennium trilogy. We all know those books which receive hype, and are subsequently disappointing. I'm happy to report that in this case the hype is deserved.

That is not to say this is an easy read. The first 200 pages or so were a struggle to get through at times, and I found it all too easy to put the book down. In the second half of the book the pace accelerates to a driving rhythm which whips you through the rest of the tale. It becomes an absolute page turner (which is a horrible cliche - in the words of Michael McIntyre, that is really the least you should expect from a book, surely? *grins)

I found the prose stilted at times, but I don't know how much of this is to do with the translation of Larsson's original work. Give great credit to the translator, in the most part this felt like a very natural read with very little confusion. I would just say that I didn't appreciate the odd occasion where Larsson appeared to quote word for word the catalogue entry for various pieces of technological equipment.

Lisbeth Salander is a truly startling character - not someone I ever expected to love come the end of the novel. She is spiky, sassy, fiercely intelligent - but also annoyingly private and tolerating of virtually no one. Her upbringing is hinted at, and is made out to be fairly horrific. I wanted to read about Salander - she was totally fascinating and owned the book. I also liked Blomkvist a great deal - with these two leads the book had a strong central core.

At times the rest of the cast of characters could, at times, be mixed up. The Vanger clan was rather large, and led to some moments of 'who was that again?' There was a family tree at the beginning, but I wonder whether a detailed dramatis personae would have worked better?

The plot was intricate and detailed, with a fabulous jigsaw puzzle style - slotting each piece of information into place just at the right time to keep you reading and intrigued. I loved trying to work out ahead of time who might have committed the crime, but I totally failed to put the clues together! It came as a complete surprise, which I'm also pleased about - the book felt clever and not at all by the numbers.

I do want to mention some of the rather harrowing and graphic scenes within this novel. We are dealing with some rather nasty individuals and their behaviour at times was sickening. There is one truly horrible rape scene, which helped to show Salander's attitude and delved a little into her past, but I really didn't appreciate the dark quality of it. There was also a pretty horrendous event involving a cat, and this made me feel physically sick. I deemed this to be a strength of Larsson's writing - his prose made me feel nervous and sickened and as though I was genuinely involved.

Startling, dark and tremendously skilled prose - this novel is an incredible read. Not always easy, but well worth the effort. Recommended.

The Chainsaw Gang

What is The Chainsaw Gang?

A chainsaw-wielding, gore-loving gang of brand new YA horror writers who've had enough of vegan vampires, cute'n cuddly werewolves and romantic zombies. New wave writers, old school horror. Ladies and gentlemen, start your chainsaws...

Who is involved in The Chainsaw Gang?

(as snitched from Alex Bell's website)

First up, Sarwat Chadda (unofficial leader of the gang – and the one with the Templar warrior heroine):



Stephen Deas (the dragon man of Gollancz):



Sam Enthoven (writer of fantastical action thrillers):



David Gatward (lots and lots of DEMONS!):



Steve Feasey (writer of ferocious werewolves):



William Hussey (who writes about ancient horrors):



Jon Mayhew (demons plus fog-drenched Victorian London = a double win in my book):



Alex Milway (he writes about yetis! And I agree with Sarwat on this – there just aren’t enough yeti books out there):



Sarah Pinborough (aka Sarah Silverwood – writer of murder, madness and the Knights of Nowhere):



Alexander Gordon Smith (yes, there are three Alex’s in the gang. At a future date I may stage a mutiny and attempt to rename the group The Alex Gang . . .) He writes about an underground prison run by demons! What more do you need to know? :



And Alex herself, as introduced by Sarwat: an escaped law student, and a collector of big dogs, neurotic cats, and crazy hats. She dislikes the heroic, selfless, goody-two-shoes heroes of recent YA fiction, and far prefers anti-heroes who lie, cheat, swindle and steal all the way to the top. Her young adult Lex Trent books are about a teenage thief, conman and adventurer; battling monsters, chasing treasure, breaking all the rules – and getting away with it.



Where can you get more information on The Chainsaw Gang?

Each of the members is web-savvy and has a website, where they are currently posting reviews on each other's novels and detailing where you can go and see them in real life. Check it out. The Chainsaw Gang is also on Facebook.

These are some incredibly talented authors, writing excellent old-school horror and adventure - go and make friends!

Embargo!

On 2nd November one of the most hotly-anticipated fantasy books of the year is being released. The 13th book in the Wheel of Time - Towers of Midnight - is causing a frenzy of excitement as fans wait the last couple of weeks before getting their hands on what will be the penultimate novel in this long-running series started by Robert Jordan and continued by Brandon Sanderson due to RJ's untimely death.

For many fantasy readers, this release is beyond exciting - they just want to get their hands on the book and devour the new events, without having anything spoiled for them.

Hence, the limited amount of pre-release ARCs that went out to bloggers were embargoed. As in, bloggers were not supposed to release reviews of Towers of Midnight until 2nd November, so that everyone had the same chance to read the novel without risk of spoilers.

Embargo = a restraint or hindrance; prohibition


However, one particular blogger thinks that he is not restricted in the same manner as other bloggers. Most people have been respectful but there has been a certain amount of boasting about events/scenes in the book by one blogger - and I find this enormously distasteful.

Rules are rules, and there for a reason. Bloggers were asked to keep the lid on reviews til 2nd November - to go against this (even under the heading of "not a review - thoughts so far") is rude to the publishers who provided the early book and rude to the other bloggers who have managed to abide by the rule.

When Mockingjay came out, it was embargoed for EVERYONE until release day. Again, some people couldn't resist boasting about having secret copies, and spoilers were put on Goodreads that ruined it for many people.

Bloggers have a privilege of early copies. I have a copy of The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. I have been asked to sit on my review until much closer to the release date, and it is not in my nature to spoil anyone else's reading experience of this novel. I am abiding by the rules.

If one blogger breaks this rules, there is a chance that publishers will become more chary about allowing this privilege of early copies for *ANYBODY*.

My opinion is that embargoes are only given on few books - and bloggers should follow the rulings given. If a person breaks embargo, they should have their privilege stripped. It is a matter of ethics - the same as when people sell ARCs, even when asked not to by the publishers. I am angry that this is likely to go unpunished.

What do you think? Major over-reaction?

Winner! Book Video Awards 2010

I invited you to vote on your favourite of the four trailers for the Book Video Awards, before the award was given last Friday (15th October).

A few of you stepped up and duly voted - in your majority you picked Hypothermia as your favourite trailer. The winner on the night was the trailer for The Snowman!

And now I have picked my winner for the four books that were being voted on. There were a lovely seven people who voted and left me a comment - thank you to all of you (I know that crime fiction is not the usual to feature on my blog!)

In order you were:

Mieneke
Joe
Esther
Mihai
Antony
gnostalgia
Tintmylf

I ran this through Randomiser and received the following result:



If you peer very closely, you can see that #1 came out as the winner so:

MIENEKE

You are my winner! Congratulations to you and commiserations to everyone else!

China Miéville is not on Facebook and wants you all to know!

China Miéville has discovered that people are impersonating him on Twitter - and he's not happy about it. Here is a letter that he sent to Facebook, after receiving no prior response, appealing to them to SORT IT OUT!

Here is a copy of his most eloquent letter:

Facebook
1601 S. California Avenue
Palo Alto
CA 94304
USA
6 October 2010

Dear Facebook People,

URGENT COMPLAINT– PLEASE READ, MORE ACTION TO FOLLOW SHORTLY

1) The short version:

At least one person, if not more, is/are impersonating me on Facebook, with (a) fake profile(s) claiming my identity. Despite me repeatedly bringing this to your attention, you have taken no action to remedy the situation. And I’m getting very annoyed.

2) The full version:

This thing you hold is called a letter. This is the third time I’ve contacted you, and I’m doing so by this antiquated method because, and I realise this may shock you so brace yourself, I have no Facebook account. Which means it is nigh-on impossible for me to get in touch with you. Kudos for your Ninja avoidance strategies.

Back when you had a button allowing me to alert you to a fake profile despite not having an account myself, I contacted you that way. I was answered with a resonant silence. Subsequently, when the problem persisted, I hunted lengthily for, found and left a message on the phone number you go out of your way to hide. Absolutely nothing happened. So here we go again: third time’s a charm.

I am being imitated on Facebook. I believe the only reason anyone is bothering to do this is because I’m a novelist (published by Macmillan and Random House), a writer and broadcaster, with a minor public profile. I think there are one or two community pages about my stuff on Facebook – that of course is very flattering and nice of people to bother. The problem is that there is or are also pages by someone(s) purporting to be me. This is weird and creepy. What’s worse is I know for a fact that some readers, friends and colleagues are friending ‘China Miéville’ under the impression that it is me, and that others are wondering why ‘China Miéville’ refuses to respond to them. And I have no idea what dreadful things or ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes’ are being claimed as mine, nor what ‘I’ am saying.

I know lots of people enjoy being on Facebook. Great. More power to them. Vaya con Dios. Me, though: not my thing. I have absolutely no interest in it. I am not now nor have I ever been a Facebook member. Short of some weird Damascene moment, I will not ever join Facebook – and if that unlikely event occurs, I promise I’ll tell you immediately. In the meantime, though, as a matter of urgency, as a matter of courtesy, as a matter of decency, please respond to my repeated requests:

• Please delete all profiles claiming to be me (with or without the accent on the ‘é’ – last time I looked, I found one ‘China Mieville’, and one more accurately rendered).
• Please do not allow anyone else to impersonate me. I have neither time nor inclination to trawl your listings regularly to see if another bizarre liar has sprung up.
• And while you’re at it, please institute a system whereby those of us with the temerity not to sign up to your service can still contact you on these matters and actually get a [insert cuss-word] answer.

I appeal to you to honour your commitments to security and integrity. Of course as a multi-gajillion-dollar company I have absolutely no meaningful leverage over you at all. If David Fincher’s film doesn’t embarrass you, you’re hardly going to notice the plaintive whining of a geek like me. All I can do is go public. Which is my next plan.

I’m allowing a week for this letter to reach you by airmail, then three days for you to respond to me by phone or the email address provided. Then, if I’ve heard nothing, on 16 October 2010, I’ll send copies of this message to all the literary organizations and publications with which I have connections

…

some of the many books bloggers I know; and anyone else I can think of. I’ll encourage them all to publicise the matter. I’m tired of being impersonated, and I’m sick of you refusing to answer me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,
China Miéville

His letter certainly prompted me to wonder at some of the people I have "friended" on Facebook - are they who they purport to be?

Anyway, don't "friend" China Miéville on Facebook - if you already friend him, then defriend - because it IS NOT HIM.

POST EDIT: LOOKS LIKE THE FAKE PROFILES HAVE NOW BEEN REMOVED! POWER TO THE PEOPLE AND ALL THAT :-D

Is it not time to kiss and make up?

Okay, I'm fed up. In the last few days (actually, weeks, months and years) there have been discussions like this and statements like: Proposition: We read SF to show how clever we are. We read litfic to show how clever we *think* we are. I've seen people ask: Are we, as SFF readers, our own worst enemy in marginalising our own genre?

At the same time, I've also been looked down on for participating in X Factor discussions on Twitter. People sneer at the fact I like entertainment shows. They've also said (not the same people) that I feature far too much literary fiction on my blog (which is odd considering my blog is called Floor to Ceiling Books!)

I think it is time for us to kiss and make up! I recently wrote this post, declaring my love for all books, and struck a chord with a few people. I also did a review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - a literary book rather than SF but one that absolutely should be read as widely as possible.

There are awesome literary books. There are fabulous SF books. In my opinion X Factor has as much merit as Newsnight in entertainment terms. I want us to join collectively and declare our love for BOOKS. (You don't need to declare your love for X Factor - I just want you to accept that everyone likes different things!)

All books are literary - they are literature. I am tired of having my book choices analysed and criticised. I am tired of all these barriers. Some authors such as Michael Marshall Smith are writing fabulous novels that cross all genres and enrich the lives of anyone who reads them. They might never win an award (although I think MMS has?) but who cares? I recognise them for being excellent, thought-provoking and enjoyable.

Okay, it seems as though it is my turn to rant! But I reiterate: can't we all kiss and make up?

Entangled by Cat Clarke

It isn't often that I remark on book covers during book reviews (since I believe it is the contents of the book that are important) but in this case I really have to! The cover to Entangled is simply beautiful and I'm sure will have people reaching for the book from the shelf.

And this is the story that they will read when they do: Grace is a rather bolshy teenager with her fair share of problems. However, they seem to have faded into significance rather when she wakes up in a featureless white room, kidnapped by a mysterious individual called Ethan. While she is kept captive, she is provided paper and pen and starts to write her recent history as a way to pass the time, telling the reader about her best friend Sal and her gorgeous boyfriend Nat. As the story reaches its conclusion, we learn the truth about Grace and her relationships in heartbreaking fashion.

This is not an easy book to read. It has funny moments, and the voice of Grace is strong and snarky, but it is more in the vein of Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma than anything more light-hearted - dealing in delicate matters with great sensitivity.

Cat Clarke writes the voice of a teenage girl perfectly, with all of the paranoia, and sulks, and constant feelings of being misunderstood, as well as the attitude and cheek and fun. Grace is a hard character to like in the beginning - she is spiky and rebellious, enjoys fun with boys a little too much, and cuts herself... It takes the course of the book to understand Grace and her motivations, and the ending, when it comes, is truly harrowing - as well as somewhat hopeful.

To start with I wasn't at all sure about the sequences involving Ethan - I didn't know why he would have kidnapped Grace. As the mystery unfolds, I found myself gripped and then I admired Clarke's method of delivering the rest of Grace's tale via flashbacks as she writes down what had happened. By the end, Ethan is a very integral part of the novel and I couldn't see how Clarke could have achieved the same without him.

The one part of the novel I struggled with was Grace's friendship with Sal - I know that Sal was going through tough times during the course of the novel, but I honestly couldn't see why Grace would really like Sal. Of course, I might be forgetting the way that I made friends as a teenage age - simply orientating myself with those who liked the same things I did - but I do wish we'd seen more of Grace's and Sal's friendship beginning and then growing before the events of the book happened.

Also, as mentioned, I did find myself wanting to shake Grace at times - I guess I can attribute this to the skill of Clarke's writing, but it does make it hard to care about a character when they are so stubborn and bitchy.

The prose was delivered in first person, which ended up driving the plot forward at a sharp pace. I read the book in just one sitting, and found myself compelled to discover the mystery of Ethan and just what had happened to put Grace in her position. Clarke has delivered a very current, fresh debut novel and I look forward to reading more of her output.