Monthly Archives: November 2012

The Next Big Thing

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I have (apparently) been tagged in the Next Big Thing meme, in which authors answer set questions about their next (intended) work. So, with the disclaimer that anything could happen between now and finishing the puppy, including abandoning it altogether if certain other projects come to fruition and occupy all my time and attention, here it is:

What is the working title of your next book?
It’s a reversion to what Phoenicia’s Worlds was originally called. That book has two worlds joined together by wormhole. This assumes the starship Phoenicia has continued its mission, stringing together a line of worlds, one at a time – so, Phoenicia’s Line.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
For this book, this particular book, the idea came when I learned Phoenicia’s Worlds was going to be published and I wanted to keep my foot in the door. But the idea of the Line itself, which is the underpinning conceit … I honestly can’t remember. I have a vague link in my head between resolving to write a series about the Line and (concurrently but unrelatedly) working in medical publishing – and I last worked in medical publishing in 1999. So, nope, can’t remember. Getting old.

What genre does the book fall under?
Science fiction. Sub-genre, space opera.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Toughie. The only fixed character in my head at the moment is a middle-aged Hispanic type, but Antonio Bandaras would be too ruggedly handsome. There are also a couple of brother-and-sister younger roles, but a movie wouldn’t be made for so many years that whoever ends up playing them would be ipso facto too young now to be famous.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
The past catches up with the future.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Solaris are publishing Phoenicia’s Worlds so I’ll give them first dibs. If uninterested, I’ll give it to my agent. If he’s uninterested … dunno.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your book?
I’m 7500 words in after two months. Ask me again in 30 months time.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Gareth L. Powell’s The Reckoning, most of Alastair Reynolds’ output … I just say this because they’re all great space operas and I want this to be one too.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The email from hero editor Jonathan Oliver saying ‘We want to publish Phoenicia’s Worlds’ – and realising that I actually could follow it up.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
“Oh look, a sequel to that book we read so many glowing reviews about. I wonder what happens next?”

Who am I now tagging to continue this?
Anyone interested. You shouldn’t need to be asked …

Does a Crime Commissioner get to commission crime?

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I am all conflicted over tomorrow’s elections to the post of Police and Crime Commissioner.

On the one hand, I can see what is intended. It’s well meaning. On the other hand, looking at some of the candidates, I doubt that’s what we’ll get. It’s all a bit like New Labour policy or Catholic theology – as long as everyone acts precisely as the legislators intended, what could possibly go wrong?

Hmm.

On the one hand, a good friend who is in a Position to Know recently posted on Facebook exhorting everyone to spoil their ballot papers – a much more effective way of registering displeasure than just not turning up.

On the other hand, even if it does all turn out to be a colossal waste of time, it’s probably not going to go away so maybe should be engaged with.

At the weekend I heard an interview with a woman who expressed extreme frustration with the whole selection process, which she had found cumbersome and overly complicated. She  missed the deadline to apply by five minutes, whereupon she cried. I too hate overly complicated bureaucracy, but  if someone who is going to be reduced to tears can come within spitting distance of applying for this particular position then the process is already flawed.

My candidates might of course be made of tougher stuff, so let’s take a peek.

UKIP guy is right out. He has staring eyes and his statement talks about “bringing common-sense, fresh ideas, accountability and accessibility to the role”. I’ve been around long enough to know that people who talk about common sense as though it were a subjectively measurable quantity are nutjobs who think the Daily Mail is too woefully liberal.

One of the independents looks sweet enough. Her statement declares: “I have relevant, transferable skills having worked, as a front office cashier, teacher, insurance marketing executive, banker, software tester, Capacity Planner, Project Manager.” No, sweetie, you undoubtedly have skills and all power to your elbow, but they are not relevant and transferable to this particular position.

One of the LibDem candidates has been “22 years a Magistrate in Oxfordshire … Financial experience in the public, voluntary and private sectors, including running my own company … National experience of criminal justice system … Been a victim of crime, including a stabbing and several burglaries.” Now that’s more like it. That is pretty transferable, and I do like the way he slipped that last bit in, just to make it clear he’s not going to be soft on the ASBO brigade.

And yet, and yet …

Maybe I should have stood myself. Transferable skills? I  can mostly make Excel work, though conditional formatting is still a bit of a bugger. I would greatly ease the burden of the  bobby on the beat by making sure that all the paperwork was nicely designed and correctly formatted. I’ve watched a lot of The Bill and (many years ago) most of Juliet Bravo. The latter in particular taught me that dark evil can lurk at the heart of even the most idyllic RADA-populated rural communities. Sometimes you could even feel there are people who deliberately put the cats up the trees. It also taught me – along with the even older Z-Cars – that what any successful police force needs is a march-time theme song.

Theme songs. That’s it. I missed the boat this time, but come the next round of elections my theme will be up and running.

Still got to decide whether I’m voting tomorrow, though.

The new New World Order

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In January 2011 I got one of those emails every author likes to get from time to time, from a fan saying how much he liked The New World Order, my deliberately Turtledovian take on the English Civil War.*

Oh, and he was John Wakefield, Head of Speech Broadcasting at University Radio York, and would I mind if he adapted it as a radio drama?

Hmm, decisions, decisions. One of those things for which you really need to go on a long walk, indulge in a couple of cold showers, maybe sign up for a meditation course to put you into the right frame of mind for weighing up the pros and cons … Okay, it took about 1.5ms to say yes. Rather, yes in principle, but sadly you ought to be asking the rights department of Random House, not me.

Which he did, and they said yes, and everything went quiet for a while … until now. Part 1 will be broadcast this Sunday, 11th November, by URY and part 2 on the 18th. That means it won’t be heard on the air outside the university campus, but as far as I can tell from their website, it’s streamed. Just saying.

I’ve had the pleasure of a preview of both parts and it is excellent. I find it hard to believe these are fresh-faced students. It has a specially composed score and a cast of tens. It was odd to hear someone else’s interpretation of what a Holekhor accent ought to sound like, and I always imagined Oliver Cromwell as sounding like Bernard Matthews, and sadly my dream cast of Russell Crowe, Kate O’Mara and Philip Madoc (in his War Chief role) were unavailable and in one case dead – but against that are some pitch perfect performances. I must single out the actor playing Prince/King Charles who manages exactly the right mixture of affability and spite, plus a suitably wobbly adolescent voice in the first half. My hero Daniel is cleverly played as both a 12 year old and a 17 year old by the same actor. And I was carried away by the sound effects, not least the adrenaline pumping excitement of an airship taking off – all clanging bells and shouted orders and roaring engines.

Some of the dialogue seems to be mine – which is nice, as it suggests I can actually write it – and some is revised for the purposes of the show with no discernible join, which is as it should be. A couple of scenes here and there are condensed or elided but again you can’t tell if you don’t know. I wondered if they would assay the epilogue, which describes real events in both our world and the world of the Holekhor and makes it obvious (to us) exactly who they are, but that bit was omitted – probably for the best.

It’s a shame it’s a one-off performance; I hope John and the rest of the team can use it in a portfolio for a future career. I wish them every well-deserved success.

(* Summary: dimension-hopping technologically advanced Neanderthals return from whence their ancestors disappeared to thousands of years ago and interrupt the events of 1645.)