Interview with Kat Richardson

Kat Richardson is the author of the Greywalker parnormal detective series. UNDERGROUND, the third book in the series, was released August 5--it's her first hardbound book and she's very excited about it. You can learn more about Kat and her books by visiting her website (http://katrichardson.com/) or blogs (http://katrich.wordpress.com/ or http://katatomic.livejournal.com/)


1) Why this book? What made you want to write this story?

I had a couple of things I wanted to do: I wanted to write a "monsters in the sewer" adventure and I wanted to expand a little on the character of Quinton, Harper's mysterious tech-geek friend in the Greywalker series. So I combined the two interests into one book and this was the result.


2) Which authors inspire you? Has that changed over time?

Oh, it's definitely changed over time. My tastes change, and there are always new writers coming on the scene who surprise and excite me. I love classic writers of excellent English, like Shakespeare, Austen, and Kenneth Graham as well as their contemporary colleagues like Patricial McKillip who make language a joy. I also really admire groundbreakers like William Gibson, Richard K. Morgan, and Ken Bruen. I'm a total fangirl of quirky writers like Cherie Priest--and she only lives a few miles away!--Liz Williams, Jasper Fford, and Victor Gischler. I've let a lot of writers drop off my reading list for lack of time, not lack of interest.


3) Why genre? Is there something special about science fiction or fantasy that draws you to write in the field?

I like the "what if" that underlies SFF. It's a challenge not only to style, craft, and story but to raw imagination. It's the quintessence of invention and curiosity that drives humans to strive. If it were not for "what if" would Gallileo have invented a telescope to look at the stars? And you see where that led.


4) What do you find most interesting about Harper Blaine? her various adversaries? Why these characters?

I lover Harper's toughness. I don't just mean that she carries a gun and talks like Sam Spade; it's her sheer drive to keep going in the face of any and every adversity that makes her intriguing. She had a nice, settled life that she's worked hard to build and when it was suddenly upended, she hated it, but she rolled with it and keeps on going. She's learning more in each subsequent book about her abilities, but also about herself and what really drives her and what ultimately satisfies her. Her adversaries change in each book but in the end there is always the problem of making peace with herself and living with her challenges.

I have to say that my favorite of her adversaries is yet to be fully revealed. I'm working up to it in a future book. Suffice to say, he has a plan and it is Not Good. But writing about it should be tremendous fun.

As to why these guys... Well, they just seemed like the right group to complicate Harper's life.


5) You're a writer. What else are you? What are your interests? Hobbies?

I'm a former magazine and technical editor, so I'm kind of an English and History geek, but I'm also fond of sailing, computer games, swing dancing, ferrets, target shooting, and motorcycles. I used to work at a renaissance faire as a dancer and actor. I've read the Sunday funnies for a radio service for the blind. I work on the Northwest regional board of the Mystery Writers of America, and before I got into journalism in college, I majored in vocal music. I'm also a bit of a science geek: I love to read physics books and biology, I used to write technical course material about diamonds for the Gemological Institute of America, I hand-code my own website (which explains the very plain design), and I poke my nose into all kinds of tech-y subjects whenever I have the time.


6) Did you have to do any special research for this book? What did you need to know in order to write it that you didn't know before? Do you have some special preparation you do general to writing?

UNDERGROUND required quite a bit of reading as well as interviewing. I spent a lot of time in my library reading about local Indian tribes and legends, local history, local architecture, and then I tracked down the historian for Seattle's underground tour and picked his brains, too. Research is one of the things I love about writing--I always find some weird detail I hadn't thought of that can be useful. I've found information on crimes, earthquakes, people--even buildings--that have turned out to be fascinating and useful. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 made it into GREYWALKER, POLTERGEIST utilized information and locations from Washington's most notorious mass murder, and the collapse of a building in Pioneer Square in 1897 became an important clue in UNDERGROUND.

7) I see a lot of information about the homeless in this book. Is that something that really interests you? Or is it more driven by the needs of the story?

It was more story-driven, but I have to admit that after doing the research, my awareness of the homeless, and the situations that surround them, has gone way up. Some really have given up on getting out of their situation--it can be really bleak and crushing--but most are trying very hard to re-enter the mainstream, to get jobs and homes and stop living on the street. There are some surprising grass-roots organizations out here--like Peace for the Streets, Women in Black, and the Coalition for the Homeless--trying to help these people get off the street and back to living lives that aren't haunted by a constant state of fear and hopelessness and raise the awareness of people like me.


8) So, if you were Harper Blaine and someone introduced you to a zombie, as happens UNDERGROUND, what would you do?

Me? I'd freak right out. I am so much not Harper Blaine. Babbling... yeah... that would be my most likely response.


9) What are you writing now?

I'm working on Greywalker #4 which has just been retitled VANISHED. It's a continuation of the arc that started in GREYWALKER and it will wrap up a lot of questions as well as posing some new ones to be answered in Book 5.

I'm also working on an SF Police thriller novel I'd like to finish and sell and I'm noodling with a bunch of other ideas. But that's pretty much the way all writers are--noodling constantly.


10) How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you be surprise?

It was a bit of a surprise. I'd always wanted to be a singer or a dancer or maybe an ice skater--very girly. But when I was heading for college, I realized I'd been writing all my life--my first short story was written for a class when I was eight--and I thought that was a huge clue that maybe I should just do that, instead of being a music teacher.


11) Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?

I do and I don't. I start with ideas either under a deadline or something that has just jumped to the front of my brain and won't shut up. Then I try writing it out for a while. Eventually I get stuck and have to fall back and outline. After that I can usually go ahead, although I've been known to write up to four outlines of 35 pages or more each before I can comfortably finish a novel so it's a bit more complicated than "I just write." I write my novels with a Mystery structure where timing and placement of clues is vital, so what I'm really doing when I outline is working out ahead of time a lot of the issues that would normally come up in revision. That doesn't mean I don't revise, but it's not usually too heavy. With shorts or novellas, I tend to just jump in with an idea and thrash around, revise a couple of times, and then finish it up and ship it. I don't have much of a routine per se, I just get up, clear off the housework and paperwork, mess around until I feel like I've wasted enough time for one day, and then write until I can't stand any more, or I've reached a good stopping point. And I write pretty much every weekday and do things like this interview on weekends.


12) Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite? How does the environment you write in affect your production? Your process?

I don't have much space, living on a sailboat. I just plop myself down on the dinette bench, pop open my laptop and work. I like being at home where I can blast music, look after our geriatric ferrets, or pace around and talk out the dialog aloud, so I'm not really comfortable in coffee shops or libraries. I do occasionally have "playdates" with Richelle Mead and other SFF writers in the area whom we've started calling "Team Seattle" where we sit in her living room and work because we're too embarrassed to let the other one see us not working.


13) Is there anything you especially like to work on in a book? Anything you hate?

I hate writing sex scenes, which is why I never do them. There's one in UNDERGROUND and it was the worst thing I ever had to do. Ugh! I'd rather write an action sequence, or even revise, than do that again! What I love is making the past come alive, letting the setting and the ghosts flow out--that's just too much fun!


14) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?

Right now, only the Greywalker series: GREYWALKER, POLTERGIEST, and now UNDERGROUND, but I have a werewolf Christmas short story coming out in an anthology in October called WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE that was edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner. A Harper Blaine novella will be out in January 2009 in the collection MEAN STREETS and I'm really looking forward to that, since the collection is just four of us from Penguin's fantasy noir side: Jim Butcher, Simon R. Green, and Thomas Sniegoski.


15) Do you see fiction as having a purpose? Generally? How about your own work?

My work is mostly entertainment, but I hope that readers do occasionally see the depth of history in it, and the way in which human beings shape their worlds by what they believe--good or bad--as much as by what they do. That's a bit of a recurring theme in the books, along with the idea that you can control and shape your own life, no matter what gets thrown at you.

In general I think fiction should sneak ideas into our heads--not bludgeon us. It pretends to be entertaining, but it should tickle our minds to thought, if possible.


I'm excited that the UNDERGROUND is out in hardcover and I hope it does the series proud. It's been an interesting book to research and write and I'm looking forward to seeing it "in the wild" at last. It's a Roc book, so it's available from major booksellers all over the US, Canada, and the UK and you can get one online--I'll even sign it if you ask--from one of my favorite independent booksellers: Seattle Mystery Bookshop, or find an independent bookseller near you, or order from Barnes & Nobel.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Interview with Gregory Frost

Gregory Frost is the author of, most recently, LORD TOPHET, the sequel to the acclaimed fantasy novel, SHADOWBRIDGE (both from Del Rey Books). Shadowbridge is a world dreamed into being, as its creation story--included in the first volume--makes clear. It's an accretion of our myths, legends, folk and fairy tales but they've all altered in the translation somewhat, and taken on lives of their own. Everything in Shadowbridge thus sounds familiar and alien at the same time.

1) What was your inspiration for writing these books?

The answer is, there's no single inspiration. The idea of this world of bridges was one I kicked around for years. I talked it over with other authors, like Michael Swanwick who threatened to steal it if I didn't do something with it (nothing like that sort of terror to push you into action). One inspiration might be Gormenghast. Another is surely M. John Harrison's Virconium stories. And Hadawy's translation of The 1001 Nights. The Trelawney translation of The Ocean of the Streams of Story by Somadeva. But you won't find any direct reference to these things. Samuel R. Delany has a concept he calls "received language" and to a degree, I think that's what happens with all of us--we absorb, we receive, and bits and pieces accrete, and this thing emerges. It's original, it's us, but it's also all this stuff we've read, seen, heard, thought about. This is one reason why as a writer you absolutely must read beyond your narrow genre or you're going to be boring.


2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

Roger Zelazny, Philip K. Dick, Fritz Leiber, Walter M. Miller, Mikhail Bulgakov, Homer, T.C. Boyle, Donald Westlake, Jack Williamson, Kelly Link, Shirley Jackson, Ian Fleming, John Irving, Alexandre Dumas, Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Rafael Sabatini, Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Chandler, Carlos Fuentes, Julio Cortazar...I don't know if this is anything like a definitive list, but it comprises the names of writers whose work I treasure and can come back to time and again and be rewarded.


3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

I think, as a kid, it was the 'gosh-wow' factor. Fiction that took me away from where I was, and at the same time sort of wryly commented on where I was. I loved its strangeness, its otherness. Really, I wallowed in reading it. I never thought I would be writing it.


4) How did you come to make Leodora your protagonist?

When Mr. Swanwick threatened to run off with my world, I immediately went out and wrote a story called "How Meersh the Bedeviler Lost His Toes." I created the "Coyote" figure for all of Shadowbridge, and in the frame of that tale created a storyteller named Bardsham (which is a Shakespeare joke of sorts--the faux bard). Bardsham was based on a real shadow-puppeteer I'd met. But when I came to the prospect of a novel, I didn't want to write about him. At some point, I arrived at this vision of a girl, Leodora, standing on top of a bridge support tower, high above the city, and looking at her world. What I said about about things coming together out of all the material you read, things you see...I don't know where she came from, where that moment came from. The view from Arc de Triomphe, or from a railroad bridge I'd climbed as a kid, or looking down from the Palatine Hill in Rome? I have no idea. Maybe it's all those things at once. But it pushed the book in a direction, and the rest unfolded from there.


5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?

I've been an avid cyclist for (shudders to admit it) 38 years. This is the first summer, in fact, in all that time, I haven't been on a bike (I had a serious leg injury last fall and I'm still working that off). I studied aikido for ten years, under the tutelage of sf/fantasy author Judith Berman. Used to sing in three garage bands (not at the same time of course). And I tremble to admit it, but I like to read research.


6) What sort of research did you do to write the Shadowbridge books?
What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?

Frankly, every book requires a different amount of and sometimes entirely different kinds of research. I got hooked on that element back in the 1980s, researching for TAIN and REMSCELA, which comprise the retelling of the Tain Bo Cuailnge and subsequent events in the life of the Irish hero Cu Chulainn. A lot of sociological research into bronze-age Celts went into those books. Research into Druids, and into mythology. Shadowbridge has been more of the same, but now it's not just one branch of mythology, it's all of them shoved in a blender and pureed. But my first novel, LYREC...I did no research at all. That book came, whole-cloth, out of my head. I heard Jeffrey Ford say the same thing about The Physiognomy, too--to my amazement. He just invented that world and ran with it. Didn't do a lick of research, and those three books are just sodding brilliant.


7) How much of you goes into the characters? How much is Leodora like you?

They're all me, aren't they? Villains, heroes, heroines, lovers and fiends. She isn't "like" me. How could she be? She's herself. I think that writing fictional characters is akin to acting. You adopt the role of the character and try to inhabit it while that person's on stage. Then you try to become the next character, and so on. To a degree you have to know these people before you pick up the pen and write (sorry, I still use a fountain pen so that's my metaphor). You have to know what motivates. You have to know at the very least what they want. Even if they want nothing at all--wanting nothing is a state of being. It tells you something about the character and how she'll react. It sounds horribly pretentious, but it's not. It's ridiculously basic. Creating characters is understanding on some intuitive level what they want right now.


8) What are you writing now?

A supernatural mystery (no, there are no frickin' vampires in it, so stop asking now). Contemporary, and set on the Main Line outside Philadelphia. As far from Shadowbridge as one could get...which is no doubt why I have no career at all. I just can't stay in one place long enough to concoct a series.


9) Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?

I thought I wanted to be a comic book illustrator. I wrote and drew comics all through junior high and high school. Showed them to nobody, really. But I'm not one of those who says "Oh, yeah, I popped out of the womb knowing I was going to be a writer." Great, man. Love ya. Not me, I had no damned idea at all.


10) Why genre? Is there something special about science fiction or fantasy that draws you to write in the field?

I think it's hard-wired into me. The first book I can remember ever choosing on my own from the library was a retelling of The Odyssey. I grew up on Captain Midnight and Superman and The Twilight Zone and Commander Cody. And comic books. I was utterly fantasy oriented, and story ideas when they come are invariably fantastic or horrific. I don't think in terms of "people paralyzed by angst at recognizing the human condition." Sorry, just not my cup of hemlock.


11) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?

That would depend on where I am in the book and whether or not I know what the next part looks like. First drafts are hard, and crappy and fragmented. Revisions just seem to last forever. Different parts of the brain and different processes, and so different lengths of time. But I now write far more often in coffee shops than I would ever have thought possible.


12) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?

Before this was FITCHER'S BRIDES, a reworking of the Bluebeard line of fairy tales. The serial-killing husband. Dark, nasty, and great fun to write. There's a collection of short stories out from Golden Gryphon Press called ATTACK OF THE JAZZ GIANTS & OTHER STORIES--I've been publishing short fiction since 1981. I mentioned already the early novels. There's also a science fiction novel, THE PURE COLD LIGHT, that was a Nebula nominee back in the mid-'90s.

The Shadowbridge books are available pretty much everywhere, but I recommend purchasing them through Powells.com simply because I support independent booksellers.

If you want to order Shadowbridge, go to http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780345497581-0
If you want to order Lord Tophet, go to http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780345497598-1
If you're interested in Attack of the Jazz Giants go to http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9781930846340-0
If you're interested in Fitcher's Brides, go to http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780765301956-0

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Signed copy of Hal 4 up for grabs

For your chance to win a signed copy of Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch, as well as some rather good prizes*, visit http://www.aboygoesonajourney.com

* Did you see what I did there? ;-)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Interview with Jackie Kessler

HOTTER THAN HELL is the third book in the Hell on Earth series (August 2008). Don't be fooled by the "paranormal romance" tag on the spine; this book is, perhaps, a love story, but it's much more urban fantasy than a romance. For one thing, there's no traditional happily ever after. For another...well, no, that'll do it. Unlike the first two books in the series, HOT stars the incubus Daunuan (pronounced "Don Juan," sort of).

Jackie Kessler is the author of the Hell on Earth series, published by Kensington/Zebra Books. She's also written numerous short stories and is the coauthor of the upcoming BLACK & WHITE, a dystopian superhero novel to be published by Bantam Spectra in 2009. Jackie lives in Upstate New York with her Loving Husband, two Precious Little Tax Deductions, two geriatric cats, and 8,000 comic books. She's not really a succubus, and despite all the rumors, you'll never catch her stripping on stage. For more about Jackie, please visit her website. And remember: love your inner demon.

1) What was your inspiration for writing HOTTER THAN HELL?
I knew that I wanted Daun to have his own story. After the events in HELL'S BELLES and THE ROAD TO HELL, I had a good idea what it would be. Heh, heh, heh. Daun's still pissed off at me.

2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
Now: Neil Gaiman, Chris Moore, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, George RR Martin.
Then: Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis, JRR Tolkien

3) What is it about fantasy that attracts you?
There's something about the nature of Good and Evil that fascinates me. Maybe it's because the two are so close to each other. Maybe it's because the dark side has cookies. But man, it's that burning drive to fight against the forces of darkness--or, from the other end, to blot out the light of the world--that is compelling. Give me the dynamic villains, the tortured heroes.

4) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
Fun? Fun? What is this "fun" of which you speak? Hmm. I enjoy reading, long walks on the beach, the sunset, kissing in the rain...Wait, is this getting too personal? Okay, then: good music, good friends, good wine. Me = happy.

5) What sort of research did you do to write HOTTER THAN HELL?
Among other things, I did a lot of research on Mozart--who plays an important role in the story. Fascinating man.

6) What are you writing now?
The fourth book in the Hell on Earth series, HELL BOUND. The protagonist/POV is back to Jesse, the former succubus.

7) Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
I used to want to be a comic book artist. Then I wanted to write comic books. Then, once I was in college and started taking creative writing courses, I realized that I wanted to write books. Or, really, book: I had this one idea, and it was going to be my Great American Novel. So, er, 20 years later, that book still isn't published (although a version of it is currently on submission, eek). But I have three novels and one novella published, with three more novels and one novella to come in the next year. Life is good.

8) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
Usually, I get the bulk of my writing done first thing in the morning, before the day job, or after the Tax Deductions are in bed for the night. When I'm on a deadline, a pot of coffee is my best friend, and I'm lucky to be in bed before 1 am.

9) Where do you write?
My home office. I can (and do) write on the train, when I'm traveling from Upstate New York to NYC. But I prefer to be at my desk, on my computer, with the Internet right here to distract me. Wait, no, not that last part. Er, next question...

10) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there.
The first two books in the Hell on Earth series focus on the former demon Jezebel. The first book, HELL'S BELLES, is the story of why Jezebel runs away from Hell, as well as her adventures hiding on Earth as a mortal stripper and falling in love, while avoiding the demonic bounty hunters on her trail. (Sex, strippers, demons -- what's not to like?) The second book, THE ROAD TO HELL, continues the story: now Jezebel (known as the human Jesse Harris) needs to return to Hell to save the lives of those she loves. (If she'd known love was this tough, she would have remained a demon of lust.)

HOTTER THAN HELL summary:
Daun loves his job: seduce a lot of mortals, bring their souls to Hell, party at the best interdimensional pub this side of the Astral Plane. But when the King of Lust makes him an offer he can't refuse, Daun has to give up all the tricks of his trade to properly befriend—and bed—Virginia Reed, a woman who's meant for Heaven. If he can get her to love him for the incubus he really is, and if he can avoid the rogue demons that are hell-bent on destroying him for reasons unknown, Daun will become the First Principal of Lust, second in line to the King. But Daun learns that love is more than a four-letter word, and that maybe, just maybe, demons really do have feelings after all...

You can buy HOTTER THAN HELL at Amazon.com, and all good bookstores.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre mini-con

The Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre SF Group is planning a mini-con for 21 September. The group's first mini-con, held in 2006, was an outstanding success, with several score people attending. The panels, readings and inexpensive lunch all contributed to the day’s success, and this year's effort pormises to be even better.

Confirmed panelists include Adrian Bedford, Janet Blagg (my editor), Lee Battersby, Lyn Battersby, Hal Colebatch, Stephen Dedman, Russell Farr, Simon Haynes (me!), Elaine Kemp, Alisa Krasnostein, Martin Livings, Dave Luckett, Ian Nichols, John Parker and Tehani Wessely.

The one-day mini-con, which starts at 10.00am, will be held at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre, Old York Road, Greenmount, Perth. Gold coin admission, lunch available.

(From Horrorscope: http://ozhorrorscope.blogspot.com/2008/08/news-katharine-susannah-prichard.html)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Reactions

Not sure whether anyone else does this, but if I drop something my instinctive reaction is to try and cushion the fall with my foot. I've saved many a mug, glass and bowl like this, but there is a downside. A few years back I managed to save an old 5 1/4" floppy drive with my bare foot, which then needed stitches. The cost of the medical treatment worked out to be three times the value of the disk drive, and I would have been well ahead had I just let the thing smash into the floor instead.

(My wife does something similar, only SHE managed to save a carving knife with HER foot, and I think that weaned her off the practice. The kitchen looked like a scene from Saw VI - Utensils Fight Back.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Hal 5 FAQ

I just updated the Hal 5 page on the Spacejock.com.au website, adding a bunch of Frequently Asked Questions which keen Hal readers might find interesting.

You're welcome to ask more questions in the comments. I'll pick some out and answer them on the page.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Conflux virtual mini-con

Just a reminder that the Conflux Virtual Mini-con "Prepare to Dream" will take place this weekend on the Conflux website: http://www.conflux.org.au/forum

For a full list of guests and appearance times visit this page. (I'm on at 4pm AEST.)

AEST = Australian Eastern Time

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Couple of things

First, I just signed the petition against age banding of books. This is a battle being fought in the UK, but you can bet Australia will be next. (There's nothing we love more in this country than a good classifying, preferably administered by half a dozen overlapping government departments.)

I don't intend to go into age banding here, but if you don't have a clue about the problems it might cause, visit the site above and find out.


Second, I just noticed Planet Fantastic's Bestselling Books of All Time, and the first three Hal books are all present. (Hal 4 was their #1 bestseller last month, so it's a bit soon to expect to see it in a list covering over three years of sales.)

First, this is the top ten:

1...Temeraire, by Naomi Novik
2...A Feast for Crows, by George R. R. Martin
3...Thud!, by Terry Pratchett
4...Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman
5...Never Seen by Waking Eyes, by Stephen Dedman
6...Black Powder War, by Naomi Novik
7...Judas Unchained, by Peter F. Hamilton
8...Shadow Box, edited by Shane Jiraiya Cummings
9...Knife of Dreams, by Robert Jordan
10..Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

then the Hal books take up these positions:

#25...Hal Spacejock, by Simon Haynes
(...)
#57...Hal Spacejock: Second Course, by Simon Haynes
(...)
#86...Hal Spacejock: Just Desserts, by Simon Haynes


Congrats to everyone on the list.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Hal Spacejock thuds down in Scotland

Sarah Wise from The Creaking Shelves Bookshop in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, was so determined to see Hal Spacejock available in the UK that she ordered in a whole batch of Hal books to sell through the shop.

Due to freight costs they're a little more expensive than locally printed titles, but she's cut the price as low as she can without actually losing money on each book.

You'll find her blog post about the arrivals here, including a link to the shop's website and ordering info.

If you live in the UK and have been hanging out for Hal, this is your best chance to get hold of the books. I know it's a cliche, but stocks really are limited and some of the copies have already been pre-sold.

EDIT: I forgot to mention they're all signed copies.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Animated lunacy

(This is what my 10-year-old daughter put together after school tonight. Shared with permission.)



I've just lent her my SLR and a cable release for the sequel. I'm half expecting Guineazilla.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Hal 4 bangs down in the States

Powell's books are showing Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch (book #4) in stock, and that means Amazon should follow suit within the next day or so.

No news on overseas publishers, I'm afraid. There are frequent rumbles from all points North, but I reckon most are due to those famous lunches we hear so much about.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Review & Plane

First, US Fantasy/humor author & occasional Andromeda Spaceways publishee Jim C. Hines reviews Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch. No spoilers here ... you'll have to drop by his blog to find out what he thought of the book. (While you're there, why not add him as an LJ friend? You get writing tips from a multi-published author PLUS goblins. What more could you ask for?)

Second, I've put the plans for the world's deadliest paper plane online. This thing nearly killed me when I was a kid, and it's still the best thing I've ever done with a sheet of paper.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

New review of Hal 1 & 2

We Read Science Fiction just posted their review of Hal Spacejock books 1 & 2. (The blog author discovered the books via the download version of Hal 1, and requested the whole series for review purposes.)

Couple of snips from the review:

• Australia's Simon Haynes successfully lampoons the bedrock of science fiction themes and doesn't take himself seriously. At all.

No kidding!

• First, you will need to read these books with an open mind and an understanding of why they were written to enjoy them. If you try and take them too seriously you'll hate them, but if you grok Hal, you'll love them. Second, they are great for teenagers who you want hooked on SciFi. Remember that if you don't have the mind of a teenager.

I've seen a couple of comments around the place from people who tried to take Hal seriously, and it wasn't pretty. Fortunately, the other 99.99% of the population still has a sense of humour.

One of the most interesting comments in the review was that Hal 2 was a lot better than Hal 1. I hear that a lot (usually followed by 'Hal 3 is better than Hal 2' and 'Hal 4 is better than Hal 3'), but I really don't mind at all. Getting better as the series goes along means I'm growing as a writer, and my goal of fifteen Hal novels isn't completely loopy. (Oh sure, people laugh at my bold claims now...)

Anyway, feel free to descend on the We Read Science Fiction blog and comment on the review. The site encourages this sort of reader reaction.

(You'll also find a lot of other book reviews - perfect reading for a lazy weekend.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Comp of interest to WA parents, teachers & librarians

Just thought I'd give you advance notice of a competition which will appear in the West Australian early in August. Teachers & librarians ... perhaps a chance for a class effort? Parents ... get your kids reading!

ED! Magazine in The West Australian are giving primary and secondary students the opportunity to win the complete set of Hal Spacejock novels by Simon Haynes.

The competition involves writing a 150-word review of any book in the Hal Spacejock series. It doesn't matter whether the review is based on the free ebook of Hal Spacejock book one or any of the other books in the series. I'm guessing 150 words is approximate, too.

The best entry will be published in ED!

So, you might like to keep an eye on the ED! supplement of the West Australian for entry details.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Newbie's guide to publishing

JA Konrath's all-inclusive writing book - over four years in the making, filled with more than 750 pages of tips, tricks, and advice. And it's 100% free.

You can read more on the freebie and download your copy via this post on JA Konrath's blog.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Conflux virtual mini-con

Conflux will again be holding a virtual mini-con on the weekend of August 2 and 3. What’s a virtual mini-con, I hear you cry? Well, it’s an online convention, a gathering of friends and fans that follow a program to spend an hour chatting with a special guest. Best of all, it’s completely free!

(Taken from here - visit for more details and the full list of guests.)

I'm happy to be participating, and my guest slot on the forums is 4pm EST (2pm Western Australian time and - wake up! - 2am in New York.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

More on openings

Blogging super-agent Nathan Bransford just wrote about flash-bang starts, slower starts, and the point in the novel by which time SOMETHING has to be set in motion. Worth a read for everyone who participated in the comments on my blog over the past couple of days: You've got 30 pages, pal.

(That's 30 pages of double-spaced 12pt Times, each of which is roughly equivalent to a page in a published novel. If you're counting single-spaced pages you only have 15.)

Out of interest I dragged Hal books 1-4 off the shelf and checked to see what I'd managed to throw at the reader by page 30. In each case they've hit the end of chapter two and several plot threads have been set in motion. Since I make a point of finishing just about every chapter with a hook of some kind, it's likely they'd want to read on to see What Happens Next.

So, regarding the opening scenes of Hal 5, it looks like I can build it up and introduce all the plot elements in my usual fashion, as long as the boulder is rolling downhill by the end of chapter two. No sweat!

How about you? Are the events leading up to page 30 of your manuscript enough of a hook to keep your readers interested? (And yes, Fantasy authors, that twelve page prologue with the Entire History o' your Universe is included in the 30, even though I've never read a prologue in my life.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Interview with David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman's debut novel Infoquake was released by Pyr in 2006. Barnes & Noble Explorations called the story of cut-throat software entrepreneurs in the far future "the love child of Donald Trump and Vernor Vinge" and later named it their SF Book of the Year. The book was also nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best Novel, and Edelman was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer on the strength of that novel. Infoquake has just been re-released in mass market paperback by Solaris Books with a fancy new cover by Stephan Martiniere.

This week, Pyr is releasing book 2 of David's Jump 225 trilogy, MultiReal. The book continues where Infoquake left off, and has already been called "a thoroughly-successful hybrid of Neuromancer and Wall Street" by Hugo nominee Peter Watts.

BIO: In addition to writing novels, Dave has also programmed websites for the U.S. Army, the FBI, ExxonMobil, and Rolls-Royce; taught software to the U.S. Congress and the World Bank; written articles for the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun; and directed the marketing departments of biometric and e-commerce companies. Dave is well-versed in PHP, Ruby on Rails, WordPress, ColdFusion, HTML, Javascript, XML, and CSS, and is an expert in web usability, web design, search engine optimization, and writing for the web.

1) What was your inspiration for writing Infoquake and MultiReal?

Infoquake and MultiReal are two parts of a story I started writing in late 2000 about my dot-com experiences in the '90s. I'm a marketing guy and web programmer by trade, and I saw a number of crazy things during the dot-com bubble. Mostly I was interested in the personal dynamics -- how charismatic schemers like my protagonist Natch convinced so many people to invest in so many worthless companies.

So in 2000 and 2001, I wrote a novel titled Jump 225.7, which you might call a far-future satire of the dot-com era. I literally finished the first draft of it on September 10, 2001. Then suddenly the next day, satire seemed the wrong way to approach the story I was trying to tell. So when I started rewriting it, the story became much darker and more serious in tone. I tried to ask all the big questions about capitalism, about Western society, about human nature and greed and what the long-term prospects of the species were. The end result was the Jump 225 trilogy, starting with Infoquake and continuing with MultiReal.

2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

Growing up, my favorite author had to be J.R.R. Tolkien (unless Stan Lee counts). I'm sure I read the whole Lord of the Rings saga (including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) half a dozen times. Then in adolescence I fell in love with Kurt Vonnegut, with a special reverence for Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. College brought John Barth to my attention, and I've been running the biggest fan website for his books since about 1996 or so. If I had to name my favorite author since college, I'd have to pick either William Gibson or Thomas Pynchon.

3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

I think for me it's the ability to rethink absolutely everything about the world, down to the smallest nanoparticle. I'm a worldbuilding addict, so I like being able to examine and reconfigure the politics, the history, and the sociology of my world to suit the story I'm trying to tell. For the Jump 225 trilogy, I considered all of those things and more -- I even got down to the level of thinking up new building materials and trying to invent ways that people would move goods from place to place in the absence of trucks and an interstate system. I can't really think of any other genre you can do that in.

4) Why did you decide to make Natch a software entrepreneur?

When I started writing the Jump 225 trilogy, I followed the axiom of writing what you know. I'd worked for several high-tech start-ups run by young, charismatic, slightly unhinged software entrepreneurs. And so that's who I started with.

The supporting characters are also based on character types I'd met in dot-coms. Horvil is the heavy-set, brilliant engineering guy who prefers to run things behind the scenes and leave the politics to the boss. And Jara is the serious, no-nonsense marketing woman who has something of a love/hate relationship with the company.

5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?

I'm incredibly boring. I read. I putter around on the computer and tinker with my websites. I watch a lot of movies, and I keep up with the news. I'm looking forward to having children so I can have the excuse that I'm "spending quality time with my family."

6) What sort of research did you do to write these books?

Infoquake is heavily concerned with biologic software (or "wetware," as it's sometimes called). I know something about software, but I know very little about biology or physiology. So I certainly had to do some basic research into how the human body works. The main technology behind MultiReal also involves quantum physics, so I had to beef up on that a bit too. I admit that I don't tend to delve very deeply into the subjects that I research; mostly it's just your basic Wikipedia and Google searches, combined with long involved discussions with subject matter experts I know.

7) Natch is a compulsive workaholic. Are you that way too?

Absolutely not. I'm actually not very much at all like Natch or Jara, the two main protagonists of the novels. Although I suppose I do share certain characteristics with them. If I had to name a character who was closest to me in temperament, I'd have to say Horvil, the fat cheerful engineer who's always putting up with Natch's crap.

8) The political factions in the Jump 225 trilogy are divided between governmentalists and libertarians. If you were a character in the books, which would you be?

A lot of people who've read Infoquake assumed that my sympathies lie with the libertarians, because that's where Natch's sympathy lies. But I'm definitely more conflicted in my politics. I like to pick and choose among the different parties and philosophies. I have some definite liberal tendencies but a number of conservative ones as well.

You'll discover in MultiReal that the political situation is much more nuanced than Natch makes it out to be in Infoquake. The central government, which really seems like the epitome of evil in Infoquake, is a conflicted organization itself with some do-gooders working in the fringes. And the libertarians are full of self-interested schemers who'll stab you in the back.

9) What are you writing now?

I'm currently about 80,000 words into Geosynchron, the third and final book of the Jump 225 trilogy. I'm a very slow writer and I write a million drafts, but I'm hoping to finish the whole thing by the end of the year.

10) Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?

Yes, I always wanted to write, ever since I was a little kid. I wrote my first "novel" when I was about 6 years old, and I spent much of my childhood building up a pantheon of superheroes with my brother. I studied creative writing in college at Johns Hopkins, and tried to write a novel in my early 20s. It wasn't until I had given up on the writing and spent half a dozen years in the trenches of high tech that I came up with an idea that I could follow through on. And that was the Jump 225 trilogy.

11) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?

I've never been very good about setting a concrete writing schedule. Maybe that's why it takes me so long to finish anything. I typically work about three days a week at my part-time web programming job, and then write whenever I have the free time and the inclination.

12) Where do you write?

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I'm one of the guys you see sitting there at Starbuck's with his laptop for hours on end. For some reason, I find it easy to write with background chatter. But when I'm not writing there, I'm sitting on my couch at home with one dog on the back of the couch behind my head and one dog nestled between me and the armrest.

13) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

The hardest thing for me as a writer is discipline. I have an easy time coming up with great ideas, and I find it very easy to sit down and start pecking on those first few paragraphs. But then I quickly burn out. If you're ever going to finish anything, you need to be able to batter your way through those burnout times, and I have a difficult time with that. And then I'm so rarely satisfied with what I write, it always takes me to forever to finish.

More about David Louis Edelman: http://www.davidlouisedelman.com

More about Infoquake: http://www.infoquake.net

More about MultiReal: http://www.multireal.net

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Backstory vs Buildup

You all know the in media res rule: start your novel in the middle of an action sequence, throw the reader in the deep end, make your first sentence, your first page, your first chapter as gripping as possible and fill in the details as you go along.

I know the rule too, but I have one or two problems with it.

First, I think it's relevant when you're trying to hook an agent or a publisher. You need to stand out from the crowd, and the attention-grabbing opening does that. Of course, if you DO secure a publishing deal there's plenty of time for rewrites ;-)

It's also relevant if you're trying to hook new readers (and who isn't?) If someone is scanning the first page of your novel in a bookstore, deciding whether to buy, don't you want to hook them in?

Well yes, but I have to confess I've never stood around in a bookstore reading the first page of anything. I'm drawn to new books by the spine (maybe the author's name rings a bell, or the title sounds promising), the front cover if it's face-out (title & author again, the cover art & any visible blurbs), or the fact the bookshop staff have just pressed the thing into my hands.

Once I'm holding the book I'm only interested in two things: the back cover teaser, and blurbs. These can be on the back or printed inside, but they DO influence my decision to buy. If there aren't any blurbs but the teaser is good, I'm in. If there are lots of positive blurbs from authors or reviewers I'm familiar with, that's also a plus but I won't buy a heavily-blurbed book if the teaser doesn't interest me.

You'll notice that none of my purchase decisions are based on the quality or style of the writing - for that I put my trust in the author, their editor, and the publisher.


The second problem I have with the 'action opening' is this: The author now has to fit in all that lovely backstory, and since it's already happened, it often boils down to characters telling each other things they already know just to bring the reader up to speed. Alternatively you get a flashback or three, sometimes lasting the entire novel, and you wonder why the author didn't just set the novel in the flashback era so the thing could play out in real time.


The third problem I have with in media res? It can play havoc with pacing and tension: You get a big BANG and then pages & pages setting up the hissing fuse. Me, I like to start with the hiss.


I'm not blogging about the problems with big openings because I think they're always the wrong choice ... hell, no. It's just that I like it when things start perfectly normal and gradually go wonky, so that by the end of chapter one (or perhaps chapter two), the freight train is rushing towards the rockfall or the helpless spaceship is drifting towards the asteroid field. Ideally you want the reader spotting things before the characters do, which not only has them anticipating problems but also willing the characters to spot them, discuss them and deal with them.


So, what prompted this blog post?

A couple of weeks ago I began plotting Hal 5 in my usual fashion, introducing the characters, the location and the setting before piling bigger and bigger problems onto the hapless characters. The plot grew and grew, until the spiderweb covered many pages.

Then, just this morning, I decided to play with it. I took a copy of the plot and started dragging & editing branches in Freemind to see how it would look if I started the book further in than usual. And, having made all those changes, I've ended up with a ton of stuff filed under 'backstory' which would normally be the first chapter or two of the novel. That's why I'm here, posting about it, because I'm weighing up the pros and cons, and trying to decide whether to stick with it or fall back on my comfortable opening chapter or two.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Wonderlands

Wonderlands is a new social networking site for Fantasy & Spec Fic writers, readers, fans, etc. At first I thought 'oh no, another one', but after seeing it posted and reposted on several blogs belonging to writers, editors and agents I'm acquainted with, I caved in and signed up.

You'll find me here. Hope to see you over there!

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Ebay stuff

I've listed my entire collection of Asimov's SF on ebay in multiple lots, if anyone's interested. There's also a bunch of other SF mags, some books, a couple of Tintin comics & a large amount of UK Tiger/Scorcher/Roy of the Rovers comics.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Incubation times

This post was prompted by recent discussion on Nathan Bransford's blog, in which the following question was raised: what do you feel about authors trying to keep up with a book a year, or more, to satisfy their publisher and their readers? (paraphrased from memory)

Personally I believe the author should demand enough time to finish the book properly. Problem is, a book isn't a roll of toilet paper or a loaf of bread ... it's an artistic endeavour, and it's finished when it's finished.

Over time, most authors find a schedule they're comfortable with, and provided they stay on track they can write novels to that deadline. For me it's about 8 months from start to finish, and when you add in the publisher's side of things that's about one book every 14-16 months. (Hal 4 was the first book I've written for this publisher from scratch, and having done that one I'm confident I can repeat.)

This doesn't allow for writers block (Pah! No such thing!) and backtracking heavily to fix those major cock-ups we suddenly unearth near the end of the novel. That's why we invented extensions.

Just out of interest, these are the time scales for each Hal book, from my writing the very first word to their appearance in the shops with Fremantle Press:

Hal Spacejock: 11 years
Hal Spacejock Second Course: 4 years
Hal Spacejock Just Desserts: 4 years
Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch: 1 year (with a 1 month extension)

Hal 4 is a bit of a special case because I wrote the first bits of the novel in 2004, and also wrote two versions of it for NanoWrimo in 2005 and 2006, but so little of those efforts made it into the final version it was effectively written from scratch.

There's also quite a bit of overlap in the figures, because I started Hal Spacejock book 1 in 1994.


A long gestation period can give the writer time to dot every i and cross every t, to shine and polish until every single word belongs. Although if you believe this you clearly haven't read Hal 1. Even after all those years of editing and polishing, I can still open it to any page and see things I'd like to change. That's the sort of education you get from writing three or four additional novels.

Also, by the time you finish your one-book-a-decade half the book reps have moved on, stores don't remember you and fans have all found another writer to idolise.

On the other hand, writing a novel in 8 months can lead to consistency - plot, character, dialogue ... even the writing. You're not blending passages you wrote a decade ago with sentences you just crafted last week. There's a certain attraction to single-mindedly pursuing one goal over a relatively short time span, excluding minor distractions like your health, earning capacity, and your family.


So which is really better? Which do readers prefer?

Yesterday there was a reply to one of my recent posts which said something along the lines of 'Hal 4 has less of the one-line belly laughs than earlier books in the series, but it's my favourite so far' (Paraphrased from memory)

I think this is true of most comedy series (apart from the 'fave so far' bit - that varies), and there are several reasons for it.

First, there's the fact the author has probably been chasing a publishing deal for years, and during that time he/she has been tinkering with the novel in question. (What you should be doing is writing the next - and I did, twice. But that still doesn't prevent tinkering every time a new rejection or four lands in the mailbox.)

Second, to stay original and fresh with each book means NOT repeating yourself. Gags, dire situations, one-liners, plot points .. Personally, I err on the side of caution, avoiding anything which has echoes of earlier books. You tend to lose the freewheeling, carefree, have-at-it nature and become a bit more precise, and with each Hal book there are less irrelevant side trips just to fit in a funny scene I couldn't let go. Scenes are written to fit the plot, because I don't have time to let my brain wander too much ... or if I do, I'm happy to save it for a later book in the series, which was a luxury I didn't have when writing book #1.

Finally, with each book you want to grow as an author. You don't want to throw away a hard-earned readership with an artsy renegade volume of second-person stream of consciousness with no punctiation, but you don't want to put out the same-old, same-old either. For example, one of my goals is to fold one or more genres into each Hal book. Hal 1 was SF humour with satire. Hal 2 was an alien civilisation and corporate evildoers. Hal 3 was espionage and goverment coverups. And for Hal 4 I dug deep into the bucket and came up with mystery, crime, romance, horror and a bit of police procedural. (I wasn't sure whether it would be the last Hal book, so I threw everything in.)

By the way, whether No Free Lunch is the last Hal book or not depends on whether enough people buy a copy next time they're browsing in the local store. I'm working on Hal 5 now, but there are no certainties in the publishing game, whether you write one book a decade or three every year.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

My favourite indie bookstore in the whole of Australia

Fantastic Planet!

Sadly I don't get to visit, since they're in the middle of Perth and I don't go near the city. But they do bring a smile to my face with every Hal Spacejock release ;-)

June's Bestsellers
1...Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch, Simon Haynes
2...The Sharing Knife 2: Legacy, Lois McMaster Bujold
3...2012, edited by Alisa Krasnostein & Ben Payne
4...Newton's Wake, Ken Macleod
5...The Sharing Knife 1: Beguilement, Lois McMaster Bujold
6...Making Money, Terry Pratchett
7...The Last Argument of Kings, Joe Abercrombie
8...Reaper's Gale, Steven Erikson
9...The Workers' Paradise, edited by Russell B. Farr and Nick Evans
10..Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2007 edition, edited by Angela Challis

You'll find their website here

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

BBC on Youtube

How cool is this? BBC has an official Youtube channel. Over 2500 official videos. Fun ;-)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

20 most popular SF sites on the net

Not sure what to make of these figures ... the results are measured from people who use the Alexa toolbar

According to Alexa, these are the 20 most popular SF sites:

1. Wizards of the Coast
2. SCIFI.com
3. Bantam Spectra
4. Fantastic Fiction
5. White Wolf
6. Science Fiction Weekly
7. Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
8. SFF Net
9. Baen Books
10. Science Fiction & Fantasy World
11. The Trek BBS
12. Del Rey Books
13. SFF Net People
14. Nielsen Hayden, Patrick and Teresa
15. SF Signal
16. Locus Online
17. Pournelle, Jerry
18. Tom Doherty Associates (TOR)
19. The Heinlein Society
20. Hal Spacejock

Yeah, right.

And for more laughs, the Top 10 most popular SF author sites on the web

1. Fantastic Fiction
2. SFF Net People
3. Nielsen Hayden, Patrick and Teresa
4. Locus Online: Science Fiction News, Reviews, Resources, Pers.
5. Pournelle, Jerry
6. The Heinlein Society
7. Hal Spacejock
8. Charlie's Place
9. David Peter (Official)
10. JMSNews

So now I can retire a multimillionaire and give the writing game away. Huh.

(I note more than half those on the second list aren't even authors. If the rankings are as suspect as the categorisations there's no wonder it's stuffed.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Video games meme

While I'm distracted working on the plot for Hal Spacejock 5, here's a meme for the games players amongst you.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have played

2) Underline the games you LOVE(D).

3) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've played 6 and force games (and probably emulators) upon them.

Note - I'm a PC gamer so console games are usually an automatic no. My comments are in []

100 - River City Ransom (aka Street Gangs)

99 - Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss

98 - BattleToads [Sinclair Spectrum version]

97 - F-Zero

96 - Mafia

95 - Herzog Zwei

94 - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

93 - Quake II

92 - Dragon Warrior (aka Dragon Quest)

91 - Virtua Tennis

90 - Master of Orion

89 - Alone in the Dark

88 - Final Fantasy VII

87 - Thief II: The Metal Age

86 - Final Fantasy X

85 - Prince of Persia [Original 286 version]

84 - Ultima VII: The Black Gate

83 - Contra

82 - Gunstar Heroes

81 - Freedom Force

80 - Baseball Stars

79 - Shining Force II

78 - Star Wars (Arcade)

77 - Archon: The Light and The Dark

76 - Tetris Attack

75 - Crimson Skies

74 - Syndicate

73 - Return Fire

72 - Galaga

71 - Half-Life: Counter-Strike

70 - Pokemon Red/Blue

69 - Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs

68 - Starsiege: Tribes

67 - Rayman 2: The Great Escape

66 - Homeworld

65 - MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat [Loved tricking out the robot with 8 machine guns]

64 - Advance Wars

63 - Sonic the Hedgehog

62 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

61 - Sam & Max Hit the Road ["You'll fry like a Pork Sausage." Oh yes.]

60 - Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

59 - Bionic Commando

58 - Super Smash Bros. Melee

57 - Mike Tyson's Punchout!

56 - Final Fantasy III (VI)

55 - Fallout

54 - Panzer Dragoon Saga

53 - Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

52 - Metroid Prime

51 - Grand Theft Auto III

50 - Wing Comander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi [I was an Atari ST gamer at this point]

49 - Grim Fandango

48 - The Secret of Mana

47 - NHL 94

46 - Super Mario World

45 - Battlefield 1942

44 - Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

43 - Soul Calibur

42 - Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

41 - System Shock 2

40 - Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution

39 - DOOM [Got an SB card for my wife's new 486DX2 just so I could play this]

38 - Madden NFL 2004

37 - Wave Race 64

36 - Command & Conquer: Red Alert

35 - Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

34 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

33 - God of War

32 - Resident Evil 4

31 - SimCity 2000

30 - Halo

29 - GoldenEye 007

28 - Half-Life 2

27 - Burnout 3: Takedown

26 - Final Fantasy II (IV)

25 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

24 - Tecmo Super Bowl

23 - Super Mario Bros. 3

22 - Half-Life

21 - Deus Ex

20 - Ms. Pac Man

19 - Metal Gear Solid

18 - ICO

17 - Star Control 2

16 - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

15 - Super Mario Kart

14 - Rome: Total War

13 - Chrono Trigger

12 - X-COM: UFO Defense

11 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

10 - Super Metroid

9 - Star Wars: TIE Fighter Collector's CD-ROM

8 - Street Fighter II

7 - StarCraft

6 - Sid Meier's Pirates!

5 - Super Mario 64

5a - Lego Star Wars

5b - The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

4 - Sid Meier's Civilization II

3 - Tetris

2 - Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1 - Super Mario Bros

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Andromeda Spaceways Issue 35

Another destination reached, not too many lives lost.

Andromeda Spaceways, specialists in intergalactic passenger misplacement, pioneers of rude interstellar inflight service, justly acclaimed for the inventiveness of their fine-print responsibility disclaimers, and credited with having provided the five best textbook examples of spaceliner crash landings, are not content to rest on their laurels. Or anybody else's, for that matter. Laurels, after all, can be a mite uncomfortable. But anyway ... yes, now I remember. New inflight magazine issue out now (!) Edited by visiting Betelgeusian anthropologist-gourmand Arrrrarrrgghl Schlurpmftxpftpfl (!!) Stories by nine Earthlings, sampling ASIM's patented blend of SF, fantasy and horror (!!!)

ASIM issue 35. Available in print or pdf, or from your nearest intergalactic inflight magazine stockist. Buy it. Read it. Eat it. (Consumption recommended only for Andromeda Spaceways steerage-class customers. May contain traces of nuts.)

Feel free to share this press release!

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Free software you cannot miss

First, if you're sick of Adobe Reader bloat, with the huge installer to download, mysterious services running in the background and long, long loading times, then the free Foxit PDF reader is for you. I uninstalled Adobe and bunged this nice light (under 3mb) program onto my machine instead. PDFs open so quickly it's almost like the golden days of Adobe 3 & 4.

Second, the giant killing web browser Firefox 3.0 is out today. I've been running the beta on my laptop, where it was noticeably faster than Firefox 2.x, but I've now upgraded my desktop PC to the stable release and it's lightning quick. Be sure to install the Adblock Plus and NoScript extensions and your browsing will be safe and pleasurable. (With adblock plus you select the subscription option at the top of the list. With NoScript, you'll need to enable Javascript for each of your regular websites - online banking, news sites, blogs, etc - but none of the other websites you might come across.)

Third, OpenOffice 2.4.1 is out. This fully-featured office suite is a large download (around 120 megs), and while it's not all that nippy to start up it's still a pleasure to use. I gave up on MS Office after using the '97 edition for years, and OO does everything I need - you get a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation app (similar to Powerpoint) and a DTP program for brochures, flyers, etc.

Finally, if you're looking for an antivirus solution, try AVG 8. There's an unrestricted free edition for personal use, although the first thing I'd do is switch off the safesearch browser plugin, since it's a drain on your bandwidth.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Plotting a new book

I'm not sure how many authors sit down with a blank page (or a blank mind), and start thinking about their next book from scratch, but I'd guess it's almost none of them. We all have folders full of half-finished stories, bits and pieces of novels that went nowhere, great ideas we never bothered to develop, wonderful short stories which editors weren't smart enough to snap up and publish ...

It's not wasted effort, though. In fact, all this stuff is essential to me, because THAT'S where I get my ideas from. Not just the ideas, but the situations and the oddball characters who will be struggling with all the problems I'm about to unload on them.

This passion for raw material is one of the reasons I've participated in NanoWrimo over the past three years. Some 'real' writers turn their noses up at it, but not me. You get one month to bash out 50,000 words without a peep from your internal editor, and that 50,000 can produce a nice rich vein to mine later. (Looking back, I believe the only thing I used in Hal 4 from my 2005 effort was the surname of one of the characters. Everything else was dropped or edited out during rewrite after rewrite. But it was a GOOD surname, and I still have the other 49,999 words to use in the future.)

The point is, there's no harm in writing for the sake of it. It's much easier to build a bridge if you've just spent a year making steel beams and rivets, rather than a year tinkering with the plans.

The same applies to ideas. I keep a folder for each Hal novel (they go up to 8 at the moment), and when I get an idea or a situation which might suit one of them, I open up the relevant file and paste it in. Will I use all the ideas? Certainly not. But at least I'll be able to pick and choose.

Which brings me to the plot of Hal Spacejock 5. I was writing a book called Hal Spacejock: Legacy back in March 2004, when the publisher signed me up for the first three books. I thought I was going to use Legacy for the current Hal book (No Free Lunch), but I was wrong. I also thought I'd use it for NanoWrimo 2005, 2006, 2007 but I was wrong there, too. (Hence eight Hal plots.) Instead, the idea has been bubbling away for the past four years while I worked out who the antagonists might be, how the story might unfold, and how Spacejock and Clunk get caught up in it.

I think I'm ready to tackle the Legacy plot now, although I'm still fond of the artist plot and the military plot. So, I'll take a couple of pens and a clipboard full of blank paper, and I'll spend two or three weeks scribbling furiously at all times of the day and night. Some of it will be ideas, some will be snatches of conversation or situations, and all of it will help to shape the plot outline. The question is ... for which book?

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Deja Vu

I just watched Stargate SG-1 season 8, episode 19 (Moebius Part 1) In brief, the team goes back 5000 years to get hold of an artifact, and during the mission Dr Jackson decides to hide the artifact in a location which he knows will be dug up in the future. Dr Jackson then makes a comment that when it's dug up again, their future selves won't actually need to go back in time to hide the item, since they'll already have it in their possession.

I believe the episode first aired in 2003 or 2004. Three years earlier I had a flash fiction piece published in Antipodean SF, an online webzine. (The same story has since been reprinted in Flashspec Volume 1)

I'm posting the whole piece below for the benefit of all those writers out there who read or see something which they're certain has been pinched from their own ideas. Sometimes, coincidence IS the only explanation.




Pastimes by Simon Haynes
Published in Antipodean SF May 28, 2000

National Library of Australia archive of the issue



Miles looked thoughtful. "A one-way trip?" He glanced at the android standing near the end of the workbench. From a distance of five metres or so, it was indistinguishable from a human. Any closer and the hair and skin were obviously modern synthetics. It was wearing a backpack over loose white robes, with a minicam gripped in one hand.

Reynolds cleared his throat. "It's the only way. We send the robot back in time, it records the stuff we want then hides the data cube."

"Where? Where would it be safe for five thousand years?"

Reynolds glanced out the window. The sun was setting behind the Sierra Bernia range, throwing the slopes of the jagged mountains into deep shadow. "Up there."

"What happens to the robot once it's hidden the cube?" asked Miles.

"It will self-destruct."

"Won't the university board object to that?"

"Not when we show them the data on the cube."

#

Miles panted hard as he walked the last few meters over the hot, dusty ground. He stopped for a moment, sucking in air and flapping at the persistent flies as Reynolds glanced at the jumbled rocks nearby.

"Somewhere here would be good."

Miles nodded. "Program the exact coordinates. Wouldn't want to dig all this up to find it."

Reynolds walked towards a huge slab of rock that had been rounded by thousands of years of harsh weather. "Ideally you'd want it under something like this," he said, patting the rock. To his surprise, it moved. He heard a gasp and turned round.

Miles was staring at him, his face white.

"What is it?"

"Think, man! You're going to get the robot to put the cube under that rock, right?"

Reynolds nodded.

"Have you positively made up your mind?"

"Yes," said Reynolds sharply. "What's your point?"

"Don't you see?" Miles' voice tailed off as he stared at the rock. "The robot is going back in time to hide the data cube under that rock. If it succeeded, it must already be there!"

Comprehension dawned on his collegue's face. "All we have to do is dig it up." He dropped to his hands and knees and started scooping at the loose dirt. Miles joined him, and within five minutes they had found a dusty cube. When Reynolds held it up to the sun, it glowed amber as the light shone through it.

#

Five minutes later they were walking down the narrow, rocky track as they headed back to the lab.

"You realise that now we've got the cube, there's no need to send the robot back in time?" asked Miles.

Reynolds stared at him. "Of course we have to send it back. If we don't, we'll have created a paradox."

Miles laughed and patted his pocket. "We can't have done, the cube's right here." A strange looked passed over his face. "Hey, it's gone!"

"What has?" asked Reynolds.

- END -



(Now, I must dig out my short story about the boy with the funny shaped scar ...)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Hal 4 review

Simon Haynes is a very talented author who takes what could be a predictable plot, adds twists and turns and a unique sense of humour, and produces an adventure that will hold your attention from beginning to end.

Read the rest here

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Back scratching

Word of mouth, publicity, blog buzz ... it's all good news for a book, and with that in mind Clunk just whispered a cunning plan in my ear. (Hal's idea doesn't bear repeating.)

So, if you'd like the chance of a signed copy of Hal 1, 2, 3 or 4, just do a blog post about the free Hal Spacejock ebook and leave a link to your blog in the comments trail below. In a week or two I'll pick someone at random as the recipient of a signed novel. (I'll post it anywhere in the world, too!)

I haven't mentioned the ebook for at least 12 hours, but if you're a new visitor to the blog or you've already forgotten what the ebook release was all about you can refresh your memory (and pinch bits to cut & paste) right here

(If you've already posted about the Hal ebook ... thanks! You can still leave a comment with a link because the comp is open to all.)

Thanks Clunk - I can see why Hal keeps you around ...

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Odd Man Out

I had an email from a US high school teacher this morning, who was just checking whether the Hal Spacejock ebook was a temporary thing, or whether it would be available permanently. Reason being, she'd added Hal to her list of recommended summer ebooks for the students, and she didn't want it vanishing before they could get to it.

The ebook should be permanent, barring multi-million dollar offers from overseas publishers, so I reassured her on that point. However, what made me laugh was the composition of the list (all freely available ebooks, remember). Talk about being the odd man out ...


A Double Barrelled Detective Story by Mark Twain
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Emma by Jane Austen
Hal Spacejock by Simon Haynes


I wish my school teachers had been that cool.


(EDIT: The Hal ebook makes no concessions to US readers, by the way. It's "as published in Australia" with British/Australian spelling, colloquialisms, lifts, boots, colours, pavements and all.)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Published twice in one day

Sort of, anyway. I just got the latest issue of Australian PC User magazine and they've run my letter on using Gmail plus your regular ISP address plus my yMail software to keep spam to a minimum.

And, of course, Hal Spacejock 4 just came out.

Hence seeing my name in print twice in one day. Sort of.

*EDIT* Make that three times. The local paper just came out, and they've published an article about Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch and the Hal 1 ebook.

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

On the serious side of funny

I know, I know ... Hal is a loon, he crashes his ship into things, he's over-confident, he couldn't make money as a crude oil salesman. Laughs, disasters, mayhem.

However, there's another side to the Hal books, and one which I rarely see recognised in reviews and comments. Rest assured I'm not going to go all 'comic actor aspires to play Hamlet' on you - entertainment is my game, and in my novels I'll always choose funny over sending a message - but it's nice when someone picks up on the satirical aspects of Hal.

Because I DO use the books to flag concerns about the nature of humanity, our throwaway society, greed, racism, more greed, self-interest and so on. It might only be a throwaway line buried somewhere in the text, but it's there all the same. (I didn't earn two degrees and learn three languages just because I was quick with a quip. There's something ticking away behind the half smile ...)

So it was nice to see SFFworld's comment in their news release regarding the Hal Spacejock ebook: "Deliberately mixing anachronisms with futuristic gadgets, Haynes pokes wicked fun at our own Ipods and cellphone obsessions, while looking more seriously at issues of identity, friendship and freedom."

Spot on.

Unfortunately, comic SF has top billing in the sugar-laden artificially-coloured breakfast cereals category. It's quick, tasty and sweet, so it can't possibly contain any goodness. Then again, if you're trying to tempt kids who refuse to eat breakfast ...

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Cat & Muse Hal Spacejock interview

Jackie Kessler asked former demon, JEZEBEL, to interview Hal Spacejock for Cat and Muse, the blog where characters take center stage.

The results just went up (so to speak): This ain't the love boat, alas

My favourite snip:

JEZ: Which is better: sex or chocolate?

HAL: I’ve had chocolate once or twice over the past year. Alas, I can’t say the same about sex.

(Chocolate sex? Oh boy. When google gets hold of THIS post my blog reading demographics are going to change rather a lot. Or not, as the case may be...)

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)

Fantastic Planet & Creaking Shelves

Two bits of bookstore news, one in Australia and one in Scotland. (You had the US news yesterday - trying to share things around a bit!)

First, I just saw the new arrivals post on the Fantastic Planet blog, and they've now got copies of Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch (book 4 in the series)

A couple of weeks ago I agreed to go in and sign stock for them, so it looks like it's time for me to follow up on the promise.

(Fantastic Planet is in the city of Perth, Western Australia. Each of the three previous Hal Spacejock books has been a top 10 bestseller at one stage or another, so you can't fault their excellent sales team!)

In other bookstore news, The Creaking Shelves Bookshop (love that name!) in Wigtown (Scotland's National Book Town) has been in touch about stocking the Hal Spacejock series. They're talking to my publisher now, and fingers crossed they can come up with something between them because having an outlet or two in the UK would be fantastic.

One final note: would you believe the "Creaking Shelves" shop owner won a signed copy of Hal in a draw a year or so back, before she even owned a bookstore?

Simon Haynes is the author of the Hal Spacejock and Hal Junior series (Amazon / Smashwords / other formats)