Guest Post: Adventures in Authorland – Kathleen McCaul

As a writer, I’ve done some foolhardy things. I flew to Iraq, a week after my final university exams, to help set up a newspaper in newly worn-torn Baghdad. I’ve hopped on a bus to Srinagar, leaving London behind for a job on the Kashmir Observer. And there were times in these places where I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew.

When Saddam’s sons were caught and the whole country erupted in a celebratory gun shower, I thought it was the start of a civil war. As I tossed up between hiding in the wardrobe or under the bed of our tiny, insecure, house, I realized I had been a bit irresponsible and might cause my parents some grief.

“Fated” by S.G. Browne (Piatkus)

When Fate gets involved with his subjects…

Over the past few thousand years, Fabio has come to hate his job. As Fate, he’s in charge of assigning the fortunes and misfortunes that befall most of the human race – the 83 per cent who keep screwing things up. And with the steady rise in population since the first Neanderthal set himself on fire, he can’t exactly take a vacation.

Frustrated with his endless parade of drug addicts and career politicians, it doesn’t help watching Destiny guide her people to Nobel Peace Prizes. To make matters worse, he has a five-hundred-year-old feud with Death, and his best friends are Sloth and Gluttony.

And worst of all? He’s just fallen in love with a human. Sara Griffen might be on Destiny’s path, but Fabio keeps bumping into her – by accident at first, and then on purpose. Getting involved with her breaks Rule No. 1 – and about ten others – setting off some cosmic-sized repercussions that could strip him of his immortality... or lead to a fate worse than death.

Fated is a slim novel, with lots of fun and clever word play, and is frequently amusing. It’s not perfect, however. The story is a little predictable as Browne adheres to some of the romantic comedy formula. The novel casts a dark observational eye on human nature and its weaknesses, but offers signs of hope for our race towards the end. Overall, it’s quirky, fun, and quickly paced.

An Interview with David Chandler/Wellington

A little while back, I noticed on Voyager’s release schedule a mention of Den of Thieves by David Chandler. There wasn’t any more information available, so naturally I went hunting about on the internet, but was still not able to dig up much information. Some weeks have passed, and it was revealed that ‘David Chandler’ is the fantasy-writing alter-ego of horror author David Wellington – and not a world-renowned chemist, as Google would have me believe.

So, I contacted David himself through his website, to see if he might be able to shed some light on his upcoming fantasy series and his newly-published-in-the-UK vampire series. Thankfully, he was kind enough to fill me in on some details…