Showing posts with label Samit Basu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samit Basu. Show all posts

The Next Big Thing Meme

I've been tagged in The Next Big Thing Meme by the lovely Helen Hollick who writes wonderful historical fiction and (Hawt) pirate-based adventures. And since I'm so lucky (eek, sorry for the Kylie earworm . . .), I've also been tagged by the amazing Sarah Pinborough who writes fabulous supernatural stories, fantastic films, and awesome TV stuff (very precise, I know, so check out her website for details :-D)

So, what's the meme about, I hear you ask!
(I have very good hearing ;p)

Well, you're so lucky (cue Kylie again!), because it's all questions about ME!


What is the title of your next book? 
The Hidden Rune of Iron. It’s the fifth book in my Spellcrackers.com series and this one sees Genny Taylor, the main character of the books, looking for an Iron Rune (unsurprisingly, given the title :-D) for more than one reason (no spoilers here!), but the main one is she needs to find the Rune to help her friends.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
It comes from where Genny's story needs to go next after The Shifting Price of Prey. Each of the Spellcrackers books have a complete story that sees Genny dealing with a problem and a ‘baddie’, and with Genny coming up with a way to kill, err, sorry, deal with both the problem and the ‘baddie’. But the series as a whole has an overarching plot that moves on towards a point where Genny will be [redacted for spoiler *g*].  And The Hidden Rune of Iron is the next story towards that point :-D
(Yep, I know, I haven't really told you anything . . . what did you expect? Oh, and baddies aren’t necessarily bad, well, not in their own eyes, anyway. Plus, yesterday's baddie could always be tomorrow’s hero, who can tell . . . other than the author, obviously. Yep, I’m messing with you. *winks*)

What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Hmm, I don't usually picture actors when I write characters and, even when I look for ones that might fit, my internal image of them changes day to day, but here are today's possibles:
Genny – Cassidy Freeman (Sage who made Damon (Woot!) in The Vampire Diaries).
Malik – Jon Foo an English actor and martial artist who starred in Tekken.
Finn – Jensen Ackles (with longer hair, and horns - oops, where did they come from, as here).
Tavish – Ryan Gentles (if he was slightly greener *g*)





Pictures all sourced from the actors' pages on IMDb with thanks.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Genny has to travel to find The Hidden Rune of Iron in order to save her fae friends. (I could say more but, you know, spoilers!)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Gollancz.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still writing it but hoping to finish it soon . . .

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Can I say my own? Well, I have now, so . . . if you like the other Spellcrackers books, then I think you’ll love this one (*hints* lots of page time for a certain vamp . . . *g*)

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My love of all things vamp and fae, and I wanted to find out what happens next with Genny and Co. :-D

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
Genny’s going to be coming up against some characters who appeared briefly in previous books, some of whom she gets to know better, and some she doesn't want to *insert evil author cackle*, along with some brand new characters and, of course, she’s going to have to deal with the fallout from The Shifting Price of Prey. Dum dum dum DUM!

And that's enough about me, so here are the other authors tagged by Sarah (first 3) and Helen in their own words (copy and paste is a wonderful thing :-D).

Bill Hussey is an awesome YA author whose grisly Witchfinder series is well worth reading! Kids everywhere love it – adults too. Strange that someone so chirpy can write the death of children so well. That’s probably why I like him.
Jonathan Green is a prolific fiction and non-fiction writer who has covered a range of styles and genres in his time. He’s a steampunk king and a disco diva. I heart him.
Alexandra Sokoloff is a kick ass writer who grabbed my attention with her first novel The Harrowing, and we have been firm friends ever since. She’s blonde and mental in all the best ways. What’s not to like?;-)
Debbie Young : Her new book is Sell Your Book - hints and tips for new writers on how to get your book noticed
David Ebsworth : His novel Jacobites' Apprentice was nominated UK Indie Editor's Choice for the Historical Novel Society Indie Review
Richard Denning : Historical Adventure and Fantasy writer for young adults
Beachy Books : Excellent interactive books for young children - ideal Christmas Gifts!


And here are the lovely authors I've tagged to tell you about their Next Big Thing on the 21st Nov!


Tom Lloyd
Tom's a great pal who writes the epic and glorious Twilight Reign fantasy series, about Isak, a white-eye, who's born bigger, more charismatic and more powerful than normal men… but with that power comes an unpredictable temper and an inner rage.(You can bet there are fireworks, and battles, and all sorts of bloody, gory stuff in these books *g*)

Leigh Evans
My lovely Canadian friend Leigh writes the awesome Mystwalker urban fantasy series about Hedi Peacock. Her first book - The Trouble with Fate - is out at Christmas (US) and New Year (UK). I've read it! It's brilliant! You'll want to read it too!:-D

Elspeth Cooper
The wonderful Elspeth writes the superb fantasy, The Wild Hunt Quartet, with witches, church knights, the Hidden Kingdom, and the Songs of the Earth in which novice Knight Gair can hear music no one else can, beautiful, terrible music: music with power. (And you can bet that doesn't go well for him *g*)

And I tagged Samit Basu, writer of superheroes (such a great writer, damn him!), but someone else nabbed him first! *curses*. His Next Big Thing meme is here!

My thanks to Helen and Sarah for Tagging me.

The Steel Seraglio, Turbulence and Other Books (+ giveaways)

So a (really) short update of Fantasycon* - I had a blast and, more importantly, our cupcakes and biscuits raised £215 for National Literacy Trust. Woot!!

Huge thanks to my fab, fellow bakers Adele, Louise, Rhian, Michaela, and Andrew, with extra thanks to Michaela and Andrew who ended up doing most of the selling/organising.

Some pics of cakes (if you want to drool) are here! (Mostly mine as I had con camera-fail as usual) And even HUGER thanks and virtual hugs go to everyone who bought and devoured the cakes, and to those who managed to resist temptation but were cake-tastic and still donated. Thank you!

Now onto books (and giveaways - details at the end of the post)! These are some that have come to live with me recently. Death's Rival is #5 in Faith Hunter's fantastic Jane Yellowrock/Beast UF series, which I adore. Anton Strout's Alchemystic is the first in his new Spellmason Chronicles series, which looks like it's going to Rock*! And I was lucky to nab two copies of Nicole Peeler's awesome Eye of the Tempest at Fantasycon! Yay! Jane True FTW! (And one's in the giveaway!)


Another book that came home with me from Fantasycon is The Steel Seraglio by Mike Carey, Linda Carey, and Louise Carey. Mike is one of my all time writerly heros (LOVE his Felix Castor books!), so I was thrilled when he gave me a signed copy of The Steel Seraglio co-written with his wife and daughter. I'm two thirds of the way through reading it and, WOW!


The third book that I have thanks to Fantasycon, and my lovely pal Ben who introduced us, is Samit Basu's Turbulence. We three had a wonderful writerly chat about writing (;p) and characters and how as authors we love to be evil! *g* At the end of which I forced my first book on Samit and insisted he read it and demanded he give me his asked Samit if he might want to swap books! He said yes! Yay! I haven't started Turbulence yet but I did sneak a quick read of the first page! Awesome beginning!


TURBULENCE is a hyper-real novel set in an over-the-top world. It features the 21st-century Indian subcontinent in all its insane glory – F-16s, Bollywood, radical religious parties, nuclear plants, cricket, terrorists, luxury resorts, crazy TV shows – but is essentially about two very human questions.

How would you feel if you actually got what you wanted?

What would you do if you were given the power to change the world?

‘For wicked wit, for post-modern superheroics, for sheer verbal energy and dazzle, Samit Basu doesn’t so much push the envelope as fold it into an n-dimensional hyper-envelope, address it to your hind-brain and mail it with a rail gun.’- Mike Carey (X-men, Lucifer, the Felix Castor series)

‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll gasp and you will demand a sequel.’- Ben Aaronovitch (Doctor Who, Rivers of London)

Onto the GIVEAWAYS

Giveaway 1 - Eye of the Tempest - Jane True #4 - Nicole Peeler
Giveaway 2 - The Steel Seraglio by Mike Carey, Linda Carey, and Louise Carey
Giveaway 3 - Turbulence by Samit Basu

How to enter:

Leave a comment with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice books.
1st name drawn gets their first choice of book, 2nd name drawn gets their 1st/2nd choice book, and 3rd name drawn gets the book not chosen by the previous two winners.
Winners drawn by Random.org.

Giveaways are international where Book Depository deliver and end Midnight (GMT) Oct 17th, 2012.


* Many thanks to Marie and Paul, everyone else who did a grand job organising the con, and all the brilliant redshirts!
*Gargoyles and rocks . . . sorry, couldn't resist . . . *g*
*My only sadness is I missed their reading and didn't get to ask how they worked out their collaboration. (I stupidly got my timings wrong and arrived at the end) :-(
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...