On the short story front I have a few tales appearing in the following venues:
“Bartholomew Burns and the Brain Invaders” in Aethernet.
“Diamond Doubles” in Daily SF.
“The Ice Garden” in Improbable Botany.
“Emotion Mobiles and Sally” in Starship Seasons.
“Iris and the Caliphate” in Fifteen.
Infinity Plus Books will be bringing out my episodic novel Salvage, which will feature the following original stories: “The Manexan Exodus”, “To All Appearances”, “Salvaging Pride”, and “End Game”, featuring Salvageman Ed, Ella and Karrie.
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Friend and fellow SF writer Chris Beckett has won the 2013 Clarke Award for his fabulous novel Dark Eden. I’m sorry I won’t be at the Pickerel in Cambridge to celebrate, Chris, but I’ll be raising a pint in spirit. Well done! The sequel to Dark Eden, Gela’s Ring, is being serialised in Aethernet, and will be published by Corvus.
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The 2013 Philip K Dick Award was won by Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor Books), and a special citation was given to Lovestar by Andri Snær Magnason (Seven Stories Press). Congratulations to both writers. My Helix Wars and Keith Brooke’s alt.human were short-listed.
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The new online serial SF magazine, Aethernet, edited by Tony and Barbara Ballantyne, was recently launched at Eastercon in Bradford. It’s full of excellent work by the likes of Chris Beckett, Ian Whates, Philip Palmer and others. A long tale by me will be running in later issues. For more information: www.aethernetmag.com
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Welcome to my revamped website – and a big thanks to Keith Brooke for setting it up and being patient with my IT ineptitude.
Speaking of Keith Brooke… While the website was down, I heard the happy news that my novel Helix Wars and Keith’s alt.human (Harmony in the US) have been short-listed for the Philip K. Dick award. So I have two shots at winning… or that’s how it feels, at any rate. Keith is a great friend, and I feel privileged to have been among the first readers of alt.human. The winner will be announced in Seattle on the 29th March.
It’s been a busy few months on the writing front, and the next few months will see a few books hot off the presses. Later this month my first foray into crime is due out. Murder by the Book (Severn House) breaks new territory: it’s a crime thriller set in London in 1955 and features thriller writer Donald Langham and his literary agent Marie Dupré, and their involvement in a series of murders in the London crime writing scene. It was fun to write – I could use simile and metaphor with much greater freedom than I have when writing SF, and it was nice to write in a ‘real’ world known to the reader. I’ll be writing the second book in the series later this year.
Also later this month comes the sumptuous Drugstore Indian Press edition of the collected Starship novellas, Starship Seasons, with a great… laid back, let’s say… cover from Tomislav Tikulin. Later this year will appear the hardback edition containing an original long short story, wrapping up events at Magenta Bay…
In May is the big one, The Serene Invasion, from Solaris, about aliens who invade, peaceably, and change things on Earth for ever. It’s about non-violence and hope, and was the hardest thing I’ve had to write for years. It’ll be graced by a wonderfully atmospheric cover by Dominic Harman.
And later this year the second book in the Weird Space series, Satan’s Reach, is released from Abaddon Books. This one was great fun to write and whistled out, and tells the story of telepath Den Harper and the bounty hunter he’s running from across the expanse of the Satan’s Reach.
Later this year Infinity Plus Books will bring out the collected Salvageman Ed stories, fixed up to read as a novel. I’ve yet to settle on a suitable title for this; so it’s simply Salvaging at the moment.
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And this has just come in from my agent, John Jarrold…
PRESS RELEASE – SOLARIS COMMISSION ERIC BROWN STEAMPUNK NOVEL
Jonathan Oliver, commissioning editor of Solaris Books, has commissioned JANI AND THE GREATER GAME, the first in a new steampunk series by Eric Brown, set in India with a teenage female protagonist. The novel will be delivered in spring 2014, for an autumn publication. The agent was John Jarrold, and the deal was for UK/US rights.
Eric Brown said: “I’m delighted and excited to be doing a ideatively different novel set at the end of the nineteenth century. It’ll be my first novel-length venture into the exotic territory of steampunk, and I’m already pulling on my plus-fours and brass-studded thinking cap. I love writing about India, and in Janisha Chaterjee I have a strong female lead who subverts all the norms – this will be steampunk done with spice!”
Eric Brown 
Much enjoyed Xenopath and Necropath. Reviews here: http://theskinner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/xenopath-eric-brown.html and here http://theskinner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/necropath-eric-brown.html and Cosmopath is up on my shelf. Cheers!
Cheers, Neal – much appreciated, and thanks for the nice write-ups – Eric.
Many thanks, Neal. Much appreciated.
I remember summer 2009, stumbling into a market stall piled high with books of all genre and style. I remember a thought rushing into my mind that quite simply said “in this mound of books is a masterpiece I mist read.” I spent hours searching, almost losing hope, until I suddenly stopped running my fingers along the bindings and drew out Helix.
That was it, a single moment and I’d discovered the greatest novel I have ever read and perhaps ever will.
Having finished Helix wars, this very morning to be exact, I can admit that the depth of life that is Helix is truly a wonder that i hope many have enjoyed to the extent I have. I hope that one day we may read more of the Helix and the characters i can honestly say I’ve grown to love.
Now that I’ve finished my ramble that would probably be better saved for a review I’d just like to say I look forward to reading much more, especially the new steampunk series as it comes out.
Many thanks, Kyle. I’m delighted you liked Helix and the sequel. I have a third Helix book planned – just a matter of Solaris wanting it! Cheers!
Question: so, what about the cats?
I’m about halfway through “The Serene Invasion” and it occurred to me that cat reproduction would be a problem under the Serene system. Male cats have barbs on their members and, with these, they rake the vaginal walls of the female to stimulate ovulation. Without that, no more cats. Ever.
This is a painful and violent process, but it’s also quite natural. It is violent without malicious intent. So, would the Serene have an answer for this or would we have to be deprived of cats?
Can animals who die of old age or natural causes be eaten under the Serene set-up?
Just for the record, I would never trust any entity that forced me to give up meat. That alone would make me join the revolution.
Hi Kimberly. Well, you learn something every day. I didn’t know that about cats. I think I’ll have to write a sequel, or a collection of stories, to answer all the questions raised in TSI. As a vegetarian, I’d welcome the Serene… Cheers!
Just bought Starship Seasons but could not see “Emotion Mobiles and Sally”. I have the Novellas already, though this is a very good looking book.
Hi. “Emotion Mobiles and Sally” will appear only in the limited edition hardback from PS. I hope to collect it at a later date in a collection from Infinity plus. Cheers.
Will your book Salvage be released in mass market as well as trade size?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. No, Salvage will be out only as a trade pb. Cheers.
No problem. I had already bought it. I am currently reading the fourth book of yours this year starting with The Helix Wars then The Devil’s Nebula, Engineman (including all the short stories in my copy) and now about 1/4 of the way through The Serene Invasion. Oh yeah.. I also read the novella In Transit from Parallax View. You have quickly become one of my favorite SF authors ever since I picked up Helix several years ago b/c the description sounded intriguing. I have also read in the past Approaching Omega, Kethani and The Guardians of the Phoenix. And I own copies of some of your other novels and collections and hope to someday have copies of all of your SF novels and collections. Looking forward to what will be out next! Take care!!