One of the things that intrigues me as a writer is the question: “And then what happened?”
That’s one reason why I’m so excited to be writing The Fallen Kings Cycle for Orbit, carrying my characters and world from The Chronicles of the Necromancer into all-new adventures. It gives me the chance to ask, and answer, my favorite question and to share that answer with readers.
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The Unit by Terry DeHart has a pretty straightforward concept: it’s about a family fighting to survive the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse. It’s a very violent, gritty book, and it reads like an action movie, so we wanted to give the cover a very cinematic look. The “Unit” of the title is a bit of a play on words, as it’s a family unit that must turn itself into a military unit in order to survive. I could go on about the “nuclear” family having to face “nuclear” holocaust but then you’d all groan and go read someone else’s blog post here. (sorry, couldn’t resist)
The cover is a collaboration between the fabulous designer Chad Roberts and myself. He really gets all the credit for establishing the look and typography, but the original had more graphic, as opposed to photographic, figures of the family. After the final manuscript came in we realized the book was a little more gritty than the graphic look communicated, so yours truly took the template for the characters Chad had designed and found more realistic images we could then backlight and do fancy photoshop magic on to make them look like they were totally all standing together in front of a big fireball waiting to spring into action. (A.K.A. “Designer Magic”)
Gail Z. Martin kicks off her annual Days of the Dead International Blog Tour this week! You can find her tour stops here.
Gail is writing a new series for Orbit that is set in the same world as the Chronicles of the Necromancer, so we caught up with her to find out what readers can expect next… (more…)
Sci-Fi-London are putting on a fascinating programme of events this weekend at their own special brand of Oktoberfest. And Philip Palmer will be adding to its fascinating-ness, as he is taking part in their keynote debate A Space of Waste tonight, along with other notable genre authors and experts.
The debate promises to be lively and will take the form of a panel discussion on whether science fiction authors are wasting their time writing about interplanetary travel, space colonisation and the spread of mankind across the universe (…certainly not, we bridle in indignation!) given everything science has taught us about the realities, possibilities and costs of doing so. They will discuss whether science fiction should be more concerned with what’s happening right here and now on Earth such climate change, global pandemics and population growth or is space-based science fiction always going to be relevant just because people love good stories.
As recently reported here, Philip Palmer’s fabulous Red Claw is out this month, so the subject will be particularly close to his heart right now!
Winner of officially the hardest cover of the season to nail: Feed by Mira Grant. I don’t want to give too much away on this one, because it’s one of those books that sounds a little odd in the describing, but then blows you away when you read it. There are a lot of layers going on in this book and it’s really smart. It’s an adventure, a political drama, a medical thriller, a character-driven almost first-person memoir style book that sucks you in and you literally cannot put down. And there’s zombies. Yes, a smart book about zombies. But don’t get hung up on the zombie thing. this book is not a joke, or a gimmick. Seriously people, I literally teared up at the end, I got so into the characters. I don’t do that for a lot of science fiction books. (Okay, I cried at the end of Endymion Rising. And Ender’s Game. but that’s it, I swear.)
As I have said before, liking a book a lot before you start designing is a bit of a curse, because you kind of put a lot of pressure on yourself to do a good job. That was definitely the case with Feed, but even worse it was a book that had to combine so many things into a smart package: zombies, politics, blogs, science fiction, horror, and a real world this-could-happen-to-you kind of impact. Tall order. (more…)
One of the best parts—and hardest parts— of my job is getting to match up artists with a new book or series. You have a big responsibility to get the image “right” — there’s nothing worse to me as a fan than reading a book and picturing it in your mind and loving it, then having an image on the cover that just doesn’t capture the depth or feel of the book. This can be true of a cover whether it’s designed or illustrated, but there’s something about an illustration that locks the image of the character or world in your mind, and it’s unshakeable. So you want it to be RIGHT.
The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee was definitely one of those books that begged to be illustrated. And the editor and I both thought Sam Weber had the perfect style for the book—both for his beautiful but haunting figures, and for his stark backgrounds. We thought he could perfectly evoke that arctic wasteland feeling, while giving us a compelling but accurate picture of the main character and her spirit form. That’s the tricky thing about hiring an illustrator also—you don’t just want them to paint a scene straight from the book—you want them to add something to it. Another layer, a feeling, it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you see it. It’s a very elusive quality, and one of those things that makes Creative Directors tear their hair out in their sleep. (more…)
Jeff Somers continues his examination of the writer’s life on YouTube with a new video about his experiences reading his works in public. See also: Jeff on drinking and writing, Jeff on the futility of writing, Jeff on why everything sucks, and Jeff on self promotion.
Things keep getting stranger here. In fact, they are now positively surreal.
If you’ll remember from my last post, Dan’s packaging device was having some unintended consequences.
Those consequences have broadened out a great deal in the past few days.
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I know you’re all abuzz about the first Alexia Tarabotti novel, Soulless, but I thought I’d fan the flames a bit and introduce the cover for the next book, Changeless by Gail Carriger.
I know I’m not supposed to have favorites here at Orbit, but there are a few series I get very excited about continuing to work on as the new books come in. Nicole Peeler’s Jane True is definitely one, and Gail Carriger’s Alexia Tarabotti is absolutely another. What can I say? I have a soft spot for quirky and well-crafted heroines. And well-imagined settings with a lot of detail. It certainly makes the covers easier to picture in my head.
Also, this kind of illustrates how strangely ahead of present Art has to be. In “real-time” Soulless has just launched and is flying off the shelves and gaining great reviews from industry and fans alike. However, in “Art-time” the cover for Changeless is already done and I am already getting ready to work on Book #3 as soon as the first draft of the manuscript comes in. A little bizarre, I know, but heaven for the fan inside this Creative Director. (more…)
*warning: contains Monsters! Aliens! and Robots!
Now October is here, a reading essential is the fabulous Red Claw by the talented Philip Palmer, out this month (UK I US). We’d already had a heap of interest in this title, not least from the Guardian, who said ‘Red Claw is that rare treat, an intelligent action adventure replete with intellectual rigour, human insight and superb storytelling’.
While such praise is always hugely welcome, we can’t say we’re entirely surprised as we expected great things after Debatable Space (UK I US)! Red Claw is another fast-paced package that somehow manages to contain within its straining covers a rollercoaster of a plot with some big explosions, a plethora of strange new aliens grown in the vat of the author’s imagination and some entertaining philosophizing. It’s also dark and gritty with flashes of strangeness to counterbalance Philip’s great sense of fun. All in all, a unique mix of elements woven together to make something pretty special. (more…)
