In Morlock-related news, John O’Neill of (Black Gate fame) wrote me a while ago to tell me that he was taking two more Morlock stories (“Traveller’s Dream” and “Where Nurgnatz Dwells”, the latter featuring my favorite villain ever, but don’t let that bias you). Although they’re from roughly the same timeline (time horizon?) as most of the Black Gate Morlock stories (i.e. after Blood of Ambrose), they’re essentially standalones–not bad entry-points into the series for people who haven’t read any of the stories.
Also, there’s now an Amazon page for Blood of Ambrose. It’s a little bare at the moment, but I’m going to try syndicating my LiveJournal there to give the page a more lived-in look, and more stuff will be showing up bit-by-bit.
YAY!!!
Thanks!
I’m really looking forward to Blood of Ambrose. Is there a tentative release date yet?
Never mind, I scrolled down the Amzon page and found it. Now I can look forward to April.
I think that’s a solid date, too. There was some talk about making it even earlier, but April 21 is a great day for it. The traditional date for Rome’s founding, for one thing (even though it wasn’t built in a day).
This is great news James. Were the two new sales already in the mammoth slush pile that Howard and John have been sifting through, or were these on the back-burner waiting for them to catch up in producing issues?
Either way. It’s great to hear. I love picking up BG and seeing at least a few familiar names before I sit down to read.
Congrats.
Thanks!
I hope this isn’t too frustrating to hear, but Black Gate is one of the few places where I can jump the slush. John refers to this as the “back door” which is open to regular contributors. That doesn’t mean that Black Gate will take whatever I send them. (They rejected a sequel to “Book of Silences”, which I’m still hoping will see the light somewhere.) But it means I can usually at least query them if I have something I think might be up their alley.
That is smart business on John’s part. If they can pick up great stories to publish without having to read as much slush, why not. Someday I hope to submit something to them, but my first priority right now is the novel.
Kudos to those who get back door at BG and other places that are closed to subs. Hard work and good stories should pay off in some way.
Good luck is more like it, in my case: there are plenty of people writing well and working hard.
But I think novels are a good way to go. They’re a bigger investment of time by the writer, but there’s a lot of variety in the booklength fiction market these days; it seems like good work has a good chance of reaching a sympathetic reader.
Sings: Good news! There’s a chariot a coming. Good news! There’s a chariot a coming. Good news…
Anyway, good news. 🙂
–Jeff Stehman
Thanks!
There will be pie in the sky, also.
I wonder if Morlock’s making extends to baking. Somehow I suspect not, but he has surprised me before.
Hooray for more Morlock!
Thanks!
I just put Blood of Ambrose on the top of my Amazon wishlist. Really looking forward to it.
Thanks!
My editor mentioned the phrase “Amazon sales rank” to me recently, and I suddenly realized that there are whole universes of obsessive anxiety whose depths I haven’t plumbed yet…