Interview with DANIELLE JENSEN

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Danielle Jensen?

Danielle is an unrepentant daydreamer, which is a highly undesirable attribute for most professions. Life might have gone quite poorly for her if she hadn’t discovered her knack for translating dreams into novels. 

Your debut novel, Stolen Songbird, is due to be published by Strange Chemistry in April 2014. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader? Is it part of a series?

Stolen Songbird is Book 1 in The Malediction Trilogy.  This is the blurb that will be on the back of the book:

For five centuries, a witch's curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realises that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time...

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for...

Cover Reveal: THE WOKEN GODS by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry)

I haven’t managed to keep on top of my Angry Robot/Strange Chemistry reviewing – certainly not as much as I would like. (They have had a considerable number of awesome-sounding titles coming out recently… I really should get my act together and read more of them…)

Nevertheless, one of my favourite debut reads last year was Gwenda Bond’s Blackwood. I was very intrigued, therefore, to learn about Bond’s next novel, The Woken Gods. I didn’t know much about it, but the cover certainly nabbed my interesting…

The US Congress, the All-Seeing Eye, Egyptian Gods…? Colour me intrigued. The Woken Gods will be published by Strange Chemistry in September 2013. Here’s the synopsis…

Five years ago, the gods of ancient mythology awoke around the world.

This morning, Kyra Locke is late for school.

Seventeen-year-old Kyra lives in a transformed Washington, D.C., home to the embassies of divine pantheons and the mysterious Society of the Sun. But when rebellious Kyra encounters two trickster gods on her way back from school, one offering a threat and the other a warning, it turns out her life isn’t what it seems. She escapes with the aid of Osborne “Oz” Spencer, an intriguing Society field operative, only to discover that her scholar father has disappeared with a dangerous relic. The Society needs it, and they don’t care that she knows nothing about her father’s secrets.

Now Kyra must depend on her wits and the suspect help of scary gods, her estranged oracle mother, and, of course, Oz–whose first allegiance is to the Society. She has no choice if she’s going to recover the missing relic and save her father. And if she doesn’t? Well, that may just mean the end of the world as she knows it.

I’m certainly looking forward to this.

Upcoming: “Playing Tyler” by T.L. Costa (Strange Chemistry)

I haven’t been very good at keeping up on upcoming releases of late. At least, I haven’t been as investigative about it, waiting instead for information to filter its way to me. (Bit lazy, but there we go.) Anyway, I first saw the cover for T.L. Costa’s upcoming novel in a press release from Strange Chemistry, and it’s really stuck in my mind ever since. It’s a pair of powerful images in a simple composition, that really grabs the attention…

I just really like that. Will I like the novel? Not a clue. But, I will be giving it a try pretty soon (I was lucky enough to get an eARC). Strange Chemistry has managed to hire some pretty great artists of late. Here’s hoping they keep up this string of strong cover images. (It’ll make all of our shelves look nicer…)

Here’s the synopsis…

When is a game not a game?

Tyler MacCandless can’t focus, even when he takes his medication. He can’t focus on school, on his future, on a book, on much of anything other than taking care of his older brother, Brandon, who’s in rehab for heroin abuse… again.

Tyler’s dad is dead and his mom has mentally checked out. The only person he can really count on is his Civilian Air Patrol Mentor, Rick. The one thing in life it seems he doesn’t suck at is playing video games and, well, that’s probably not going to get him into college.

Just when it seems like his future is on a collision course with a life sentence at McDonald’s, Rick asks him to test a video game. If his score’s high enough, it could earn him a place in flight school and win him the future he was certain that he could never have. And when he falls in love with the game’s designer, the legendary gamer Ani, Tyler thinks his life might finally be turning around.

That is, until Brandon goes MIA from rehab and Tyler and Ani discover that the game is more than it seems. Now Tyler will have to figure out what’s really going on in time to save his brother… and prevent his own future from going down in flames.

Playing Tyler will be published by Strange Chemistry in the UK, US and as an eBook at the beginning of July 2013. For more, be sure to check out Costa’s Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.

Interview with CHRISTIAN SCHOON

Debut author Christian Schoon was born in the American Midwest, and started his writing career in earnest as an in-house writer at the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, California. (Which is rather cool…) After moving from LA to a farmstead in Iowa several years ago, he continues to work as a freelance and also now helps re-hab wildlife and foster abused/neglected horses. An interesting fellow, I thought it would be a great idea to interview him. Apparently, along with writing, he was once shot by a hometown cop…

Let’s start with an introduction: Who is Christian Schoon?

Just another guy with a book… Grew up in the American Midwest, worked my way through college playing in rock bands, doing odd jobs; got a degree in Journalism, moved to LA, hired on as a copywriter at Disney, then freelanced, wrote some TV scripts for teen and kids’ sci-fi and fantasy shows; moved back to Midwest, bought an old farmstead, got involved with several animal welfare groups; wrote a sci fi series, found a great agent, he sold the series to a fabulous publisher. And voila.

I thought we’d start with your fiction: Your debut novel, Zenn Scarlett, was recently published by Strange Chemistry. How would you introduce the novel to a potential reader? Is it part of a series?

The novel chronicles an eventful, well, very eventful, interlude in the life of a young girl in her novice year of training to be an exoveterinarian. Zenn is specializing the care and treatment of alien animals at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic and school on a colonized Mars that’s been cut-off from contact with Earth. Her alien patients are often huge, occasionally deadly and always fascinating. She’s love her courses, but she’s got a few problems. An absent father not communicating, a local towner boy showing an unusual and distracting interest in her just as end of term tests begin, a sudden surge of incidents at the cloister where animals escape their enclosures or exhibit uncharacteristically violent behavior and, oddest and most disturbing: she feels that she’s started… sharing the thoughts of some of her alien patients.

This is the first novel in a series. The sequel is well underway and will be published early next year.

What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

The Zenn Scarlett series grew out of my earlier-mentioned work with several animal welfare groups and the awesome veterinarians I met; some of these vets have developed unique skill sets in dealing with large, exotic and sometimes dangerous animals. This, along with my deep geek-love for all things science fictional, made Zenn’s adventures a logical progression for me once I started looking for a fresh creative challenge.

How were you introduced to genre fiction?

Well, there was Rusty’s Space Ship back in grade school, followed up quickly by the work of Golden Age sci-fi masters like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Asimov, Heinlein and that school of writers.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

So far (knock on synthwood) my experience with the world of books and publishing has been solidly fab. My agent is a genre-savvy guy who immediately “got” Zenn and saw the book’s potential. My editor at Strange Chemistry is equally well-versed and has provided valuable feedback and made sure Zenn Scarlett was ready for release into the wild. As for work habits, I try to get as much of my writing as possible done in the morning. Afternoons are then used for any research and for wasting large chunks of time surfing favorite author and book sites.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

Writing appealed to me from a fairly early age since I could go off on my own and do the work, get feedback, do whatever polishing was needed and have the project completed. I’m not really a team-player sort. I like my space. My first challenging writing work was done as an in-house copy and scriptwriter in the home video division of the Walt Disney Company in Burbank, and yes I do look back on those years with great fondness. Even though this did demand that I buck up and “play for the team,” my colleagues there were a truly wonderful bunch of creative and warm individuals and they made my time at Disney a pleasure. But I never really encountered an office-type setting similar to this again, and quickly decided work-from-home freelancing was the thing for me.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

With all the publishing options available today there’s more great genre writing materializing before our eyes almost every day. The problem, of course, is winnowing through the surging tsunami of chaff to find the good stuff. And blogs like this one are often one of the most effective screening systems readers can turn to in order to track down their next read.

With any luck, my own writing will find its way to exactly this kind of platform and rise into the field of vision of those hungry-for-better readers and trigger some friendly word-of-mouth attention.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

My main effort just now is the sequel to Zenn Scarlett. I’m also mulling a streampunkish sort of TV series that I will hopeful be able to turn my attention to once Zenn’s follow-on adventure is nailed down.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I’m reading several great new Strange Chemistry titles just now: a riveting sci-fi thriller, Playing Tyler by T.L. Costa and an eerie interpretation of a classic SF tale, Tainted by A.E. Rought. In non-fiction, I’m just about finished with Britain After Rome: The Fall and Rise 400–1070. This is a great glimpse into the real-world dystopia that was Britain in the wake of Rome’s collapse. It’s also very Game of Throne-ish, of course.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I was once shot at by the police in my tiny Minnesota home town. Details on request…

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

No surprise here: the publication of Zenn Scarlett: May 7 in the US/Canada, May 2 in the UK. After that, I’ll start looking forward to the release of the sequel. Yeah, predictable.

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For more about Zenn Scarlett, it’s sequel and Christian himself, be sure to check out Goodreads, his Author Blog, his Twitter, and also his Strange Chemistry Author Page.

Upcoming: “Zenn Scarlett” by Christian Schoon (Strange Chemistry)

This is a stunning cover, and I have to admit that without it, the book may not have caught my attention. So well done, design team. I’m intrigued to see what this is like. Here’s the synopsis:

Zenn Scarlett is a bright, determined, occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17-year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. That means she’s specializing in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars will find her working with alien patients from whalehounds the size of a hay barn to a baby Kiran Sunkiller, a colossal floating creature that will grow up to carry a whole sky-city on its back.

But after a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school and other near-disasters, the Cloister is in real danger of being shut down by a group of alien-hating officials. If that happens, Zenn knows only too well the grim fate awaiting the creatures she loves.

Now, she must unravel the baffling events plaguing her school, before someone is hurt or killed, before everything she cares about is ripped away from her and her family forever. To solve this mystery – and live to tell about it – Zenn will have to put her new exovet skills to work in ways she never imagined, and in the process learn just how powerful compassion and empathy can be.

Zenn Scarlett will be published by Strange Chemistry in May 7th 2013.

Upcoming: “Emilie & The Hollow World” by Martha Wells (Strange Chemistry)

Another eye-catching cover from an upcoming Strange Chemistry release, this time for Martha Wells’s Emilie & The Hollow World:

Here’s the synopsis:

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

Sad to say, I haven’t read anything by Martha Wells at this point, but I’ve heard great things about Cloud Roads, Serpent Sea and Siren Depths. I hope to get around to them at some point.

Cassandra Rose Clarke: My Favorite Novel… (Guest Post)

I know that Margaret Atwood has an unsavory reputation in a lot of genre circles, but that hasn’t stopped me from reading her 2000 novel The Blind Assassin several times since the first time I read it in high school. And I rarely reread novels. Along with One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Blind Assassin is easily one of my favorite books of all time.

The Blind Assassin is a tricky book to pin down. It won the Man Booker Prize and was included on Time Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest English-language novels since 1923. It also contains a science fiction story (of the “talking squids in space variety,” even). The book is not science fiction in and of itself, but you’d have to be pretty determined not to read it, at least in part, as a love letter to the pulp SF novels of the ’30s and ’40s.

Interview with CASSANDRA ROSE CLARKE

An author who looks like she’s going to have a very good year – with a well-received YA novel already out (The Assassin’s Curse) and an upcoming adult novel (The Mad Scientist’s Daughter) that has also caught bloggers’ notice, Clarke’s work is generating a lot of interest and discussion online. It was, therefore, a perfect time to get in touch, and ask her about her novels, writing, genre-blending, and more.

“Blackwood” by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry)

A historical horror mystery

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

I blitzed through this novel. Bond’s writing is tight and her plotting fluid. Taking a North Carolina historical mystery and twisting it for a supernatural, horror flavour, Blackwood is a pretty solid YA novel. If you like your fiction with a dollop of suspense and an understated romance, then Blackwood is for you. This is a solid debut that has put Gwenda Bond onto my “Authors to Watch” List.

An Interview with GWENDA BOND

Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint for feisty publishing upstart Angry Robot Books, has a superb opening line-up. I’ve featured one of their authors already, but Gwenda Bond’s debut, Blackwood, has been on my radar ever since the cover artwork was released. Now, I know what you’re thinking – “How can he still be judging books by their covers?!” – but the premise of the novel sounds great, too. So, without further ado, and in advance of a review of the book (expect that soon), I got in touch with the author and asked her about the novel, future projects, her writing practices, and her inability to finish Lord of the Rings (which I don’t judge her for, because neither have I)…

“Shift” by Kim Curran (Strange Chemistry)

A fast-paced, entertaining debut

When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he’s not so average after all. He’s a “Shifter”. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made.

At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world quickly starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.

There seems to be a new sub-genre developing in YA fiction, focusing on various forms of time-travel or inter-dimensional travel. Recent great examples include E.C. Myers’s Fair Coin and Ian McDonald’s Planesrunner. Now we can add Kim Curran’s Shift to the genre’s growing ranks of quality novels. In her debut, Curran has written an intriguing world of limited time-travel (it reminded me a little of the dynamics in the Nicholas Cage movie, Next). It’s an excellent introduction to the setting and characters, and despite a couple of niggles, I certainly enjoyed reading Shift.

Strange Chemisty: First Experiments…

It was an exciting day when Angry Robot Books announced the launch of their YA imprint, Strange Chemistry. Doubly so, when we were told that Amanda Rutter would be the imprint’s editor – some, if not most, of you will remember Amanda’s excellent book and review website, Floor-To-Ceiling-Books. So, knowing that she has impeccable taste in books, this bode well for Strange Chemistry’s line of books. Now that the first five title have been announced, I thought I’d put together a single post about them all, providing synopses and artwork. It’s a nice clutch of novels.

Artwork: THE ASSASSIN’S CURSE by Cassandra Clarke (Strange Chemistry) + Giveaway!

Here we have yet another interesting cover for one of Strange Chemistry’s upcoming, first wave of releases. And I really like it – especially the designs around the edges that look like Arabic text (they remind me ever-so-slightly of the Turkish signatures I used to see when I lived in Istanbul – the beautiful intricacy, only pared back quite considerably in this instance). It’s not as immediately eye-catching as the previous two Strange Chemistry covers I’ve seen (for Shift and Blackwood), but it’s still really nice and the novel sounds pretty cool.

Artwork: “Blackwood” by Gwenda Bond (Strange Chemistry)

A bit late, but I only just saw this cover artwork  - for Gwenda Bond’s upcoming novel, Blackwood – for the first time today:

I really like this – atmospheric, “clean gothic”, and the snake’s pretty cool, too. The piece is by Steven Wood. The final cover was revealed today, and is below.

Here’s the synopsis for the novel:

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back.

Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other.

Editor Amanda Rutter talks Strange Chemistry

Earlier this year, Angry Robot Books announced their new Young Adult fiction imprint, Strange Chemistry (they have also announced a new crime fiction imprint). To find out a little more about the new imprint, I got in touch with Amanda Rutter, Strange Chemistry editor and former blogger on Floor to Ceiling Books.