The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum

Out tomorrow! The Unraveling, by Benjamin Rosenbaum

In the distant future, somewhere in the galaxy, a world has evolved where each person has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success are reliant upon instantaneous evaluations of how well each member conforms to the rigid social system.

Young Fift is an only child of the Staid gender, struggling to maintain zir position in the system while developing a friendship with the acclaimed bioengineer Shria—a controversial and intriguing friendship, since Shria is Vail-gendered.

Soon Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the center of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into a multilayered Unraveling of society. Fift is torn between zir attraction to Shria and the safety of zir family, between staying true to zir feelings and social compliance . . . when zir personal crises suddenly take on global  significance. What’s a young Staid to do when the whole world is watching?

I interviewed Ben for Black Gate, and you can watch it here: 

(Note, the links in this post are affiliate links. I make a very small amount of money on anything you buy from Amazon after clicking that link--at no extra cost to you)

My Interview of J. Barton Mitchell at the Jean-Cocteau Cinema

I had the privilege of interviewing J. Barton Mitchell at the Jean Cocteau Cinema a couple of weeks ago. In this interview, he does several readings from his latest release, The Razor (which I *highly* recommend. It is really a great book.)

My Black Gate post of this interview is here: https://www.blackgate.com/2019/03/26/j-barton-mitchell-reads-from-the-razor-with-audience-qa/

Or if you just want the video without the attached article that describes his book and such a bit more, you can watch it here:

LAUNCHED! Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire; Watch His Interview

A very exciting launch happened today, and no, I am not talking about my own book. What kind of egomaniac do you take me for? I'm obviously talking about Secrets of the Dragon Tomb by Patrick Samphire. This is a middle grade pulp adventure set in a British colony on Mars in the 1860's, with dinosaurs and dragons. Can you think of a more perfect book?!?! I didn't think so.

Lucky person that I am, I happen to know Patrick Samphire and he put up with me for an hour long Skype interview. In it we discuss not only this book, but his path to a writing career and his life in an all-writer household (he is married to Stephanie Burgis.)

So, first you probably want to go read Secrets of the Dragon Tomb, but once you've done that, come watch this interview. As always, if you click over to Youtube and expand the description, there are time stamp links that allow you to jump to the parts that interest you most.

EXCLUSIVE! Interview with The Expanse Actor, Elias Toufexis

I know I haven't said much about The Expanse, neither my visit to the set nor the cast and crew premiere here in Santa Fe the week before last. Suffice it to say, it's awesome. By now I hope you've watched the pilot at least???

I spent my time on set looking for someone to interview especially for my followers. That person turned out to be Elias Toufexis, who plays the character, Kenzo. I've heard several people freak out about this character because he's not in the books.

So Elias and I sat down over Skype to discuss the creation of this character. James SA Corey (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) were squarely behind the decision to create this character and even developed him specifically for Elias after seeing him audition.

Aside from his work on The Expanse, Elias has had a recurring role on Bitten and is playing the lead in both the latest Deus Ex and the latest Far Cry installments. We also discussed his performance capture work, and then just like with all my interviews, I asked him a bunch of really basic questions about building an acting career.

As with all my interviews, if you click over to YouTube and expand the description, there are hyperlinks that will jump you to whichever parts of the interview you want to see most.

My Black Gate Interview with Heather Hildenbrand

First, I suppose I owe everyone an explanation about why I'm late posting this. My explanation is... something I will tell you later. Because I'd be remiss if I took any attention away from the super-awesome Heather Hildenbrand and my interview of her on Black Gate. Seriously, this is one of the best interviews in terms of advice and services offered to indie authors.

Heather is a hybrid author, coach, and publisher. Aside from the services that she offers for a fee, there is also her Connective Collective, which anyone can join. There are no membership dues; it's just a free exchange of information.

Besides that, Heather is just a very cool person, and a lot of fun to talk to. So kick back, relax, and watch her interview. Actually, you may want to have a pencil and paper handy to take notes. As always, if you want to skip around, click over to Youtube and expand the video description. Your table of contents with timestamp links is right there.

   

My Black Gate Interview with Laxmi Hariharan!

It's been a crazy few weeks around here. I got the final draft of my next chick lit (which will come out under the E.M. Tippetts pen name) finished, and I'm now working on a science fiction novel that an agent has asked to see.

But during all the insanity, I also had the opportunity to interview Laxmi Hariharan for Black Gate. I had the privilege of meeting Laxmi through a mutual friend, and I can't help but be chuffed that I got an interview with her. She's an indie author and a professional marketer, and one of the first indie authors to successfully launch a book in India! Given the size of that market, this is a BIG deal.

The company she partnered with to do this is Read Out Loud, and she was one of their first clients. Her book, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer, is set in Bombay, where Laxmi grew up, and is a YA dystopia. It's unique setting and cultural world view really set it apart from the glut of other YA dystopias in the market. Ruby is a strong female character, unlike any you've seen before.

It's also part of a wider series, and the latest installment, The First Life of Vikram Roy, has just recently come out. Tune in to her interview below, and if you want to be able to skip to specific parts or topics, click the link to go to YouTube and expand the video description. Your timestamp links are there.

  

My Black Gate Interview with T.L. Zalecki

T.L. Zalecki was one of the first speculative fiction authors to be published via Amazon's Kindle Scout program. She was kind enough to sit down with me for an interview in which she details their selection process, the terms of the contracts they offer, their publishing timeline, and their marketing package.

If you're interested in keeping the control you have in self publishing, but gaining some of the marketing and distribution support you can get from a traditional publisher, definitely check out this program.

As usual, there are timestamp links in the description on YouTube.

You can nominate Book 2 in this series here: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/1N2IKWX60FK2L and get a free copy if it is selected.

My Black Gate Interview with Victor Milan, Dinosaur Master

This week I've posted my recent interview of Victor Milan on Black Gate. Vic was kind enough to sit down with me to talk about his new release The Dinosaur Lords, which I had the pleasure of reading as he workshopped it through our writers group. George RR Martin calls it "Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park," and that's a pretty good description.

Take a lost Earth colony which was seeded with dinosaurs, add some feudalism, and then toss in a dash of ancient religion proving to be shockingly real, and you've got The Dinosaur Lords. The book also has a lot of knights riding dinosaurs, and honestly, can you get cooler than that?

Check out our interview, and check out Vic's latest book!

Here's your Timestamp Table of Contents:

We begin with an introduction of Victor Milan (http://www.victormilan.com) and his newest releases, his short story in The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, and more importantly, his novel, The Dinosaur Lords.

We are in Page One Bookstore: http://www.page1book.com/ an independent bookstore that is very supportive of the author community.

The Dinosaur Lords

1:05 An overview of The Dinosaur Lords, "Game of Thrones meets Jurassic Park" - George RR Martin. First an overview of the world, Paradise.

3:38 We discuss the religion of Paradise, and the spiritual event that kicks off the plot.

6:15 How fantasy and science fiction blend in this series.

7:11 Vic introduces a few individual dinosaurs (some of the best characters in my opinion) and outlines his depiction of dinosaurs in general.

9:52 The political situation on Paradise.

11:51 A summary of the first book's setting and set up.

Victor Milan's Career To-Date

12:38 How to pronounce Vic's name.

13:28 Vic outlines his 31 year long career and lists off several of his pen names.

14:43 We discuss writing under house names and doing work for hire.

16:42 How Vic survived the publishing apocalypse of the 80's and 90's.

18:12 A summary of books under his own name and the early books he wrote.

19:32 We discuss Vic's pivotal role in the Wild Cards shared universe books.

22:40 Vic describes the process of relaunching his career of writing under his own name.

24:30 He outlines the process of selling The Dinosaur Lords books to Tor and having it edited.

25:46 The cover art, and why we love it.

26:30 Summing up The Dinosaur Lords one more time, including a discussion of a dinosaur with metallic paint.

Victor Milan's Bio:

I’ve been a professional writer of science fiction, fantasy, and other adventure tales my whole adult life – as in, forty years now and counting. I’ve also done time as a cowboy, semi-pro actor, computer support tech, and Albuquerque’s most popular all-night progressive rock DJ.

I live on Jupiter with my cats and a cat-loving dog named Emma. I serve as MC for Life for Archon’s unequalled Masquerade, as well as, apparently, for our fine home-grown con Bubonicon. I love reading, birding, games, recumbent cycling, firearms, hanging with friends, and walking Emma along the ancient irrigation ditches in Albuquerque’s scenic North Valley.

I’ve published over 100 novels, including the Prometheus Award-winning The Cybernetic Samurai, its sequel Cybernetic Shogun, CLD: Collective Landing Detachment, and numerous short stories. I’m a founding member of the Wild Cards shared-world project, which has a movie in the works.

My work appearing in 2015 includes the novella “The Seeker: A Poison in the Blood,” in S. M. Stirling’s anthology The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth (June 15th), based on his best-selling Emberverse series, and what is as of now the last-ever novel in the Deathlands action/adventure series, currently entitled Wrath Child.

The big news by far is that my long-awaited (not least by me) novel The Dinosaur Lords, first volume of an epic fantasy cycle, will be released by Tor on July 28th, 2015. It’s already attracting a great deal of buzz. I’m excited about it, to say the least. 

And thanks to all my friends and fans, whose love and support have literally kept me alive.

The Lost Citadel Kickstarter Campaign and an Interview with the Creator, C.A. Suleiman

I first met C.A. Suleiman (aka Colin) when I was doing a series for The Black Gate on Middle Eastern fantasy (and no, I did not just go email him because of his name, we were put in touch by someone who knew about my assignment ;-) For all who are unfamiliar with who he is, he's developed content and IP for franchises like White Wolf and Dungeons and Dragons and headed up the creation of Mummy: The Curse. Nowadays he is the Creative Director of Make Believe Games, Mark Rein-Hagan's game company (he's one of the co-creators of D&D). Their current property is I Am Zombie, a role playing game that turns the concept of zombies on its ear.

Because this is apparently not enough work for him, he's also spent the last three years developing The Lost Citadel, which is a post-apocalyptic take on Tolkein fantasy. Here's the nifty Kickstarter video about it:

Now go back the campaign already. 

Or if you're not yet sold, here's an interview I did with Colin - timestamp links to all of the topics we cover are below, so you can jump to whatever parts interest you. We discuss not only the Kickstarter, but Colin's career to date and the world of RPG development in general.

The Facebook Group for The Lost Citadel is here: https://www.facebook.com/thelostcitadel

Guide to the Interview

We begin with Colin introducing himself and outlining his career in gaming and IP development to date, including his stings at White Wolf and Dungeons and Dragons.

The Lost Citadel

1:16 Colin introduces the world of The Lost Citadel and its Kickstarter campaign, which was 3 years in the making. This is a shared world anthology set in a traditional western fantasy setting that has gone through an undead apocalypse. 

3:00 He explains the scope of this first anthology, Tales of the Lost Citadel, which will introduce people to the world of The Lost Citadel.

4:52 A discussion of the trans-media aspect of the anthology, and the art and music that backers can unlock if enough money is pledged.

5:21 The work done on this anthology as of the beginning of the Kickstarter, and a link to some teasers on Facebook.

6:00 Colin describes the expansive potential future for the Lost Citadel shared world, including more anthologies, role playing games and so on. A comparison to Thieves World.

8:12 The mechanics of the shared world, and the power the writers have to shape the milieu

8:47 A list of the rewards available to backers of the Kickstarter campaign, including art, a soundtrack, and a copy of the writer's bible that would be exclusive to writers and backers.

14:00 Going beyond the elevator pitch, a glimpse into the hard work that's already been put into this project.

C.A. Suleiman's Career to Date

14:29 How he got started writing game content and novels. 

15:39 He discusses his time at White Wolf and his first big break in the field.

17:26 Becoming the "undead guy," and his work with Dungeons and Dragons, then The Mummy (which he was the chair for).

18:32 Colin explains how the work in this field mixes mediums and formats, so a writer must be very versatile.

19:36 His work with Dave Arneson, the creator of the role playing game and co-creator of D&D.

20:25 Colin's work on Mummy: The Curse and his resulting award nominations

I Am Zombie, developed by Mark Rein-Hagen

20:55 The genesis of Make Believe Games and Colin's position as the Creative Director.

21:35 An introduction to the world and concept of I Am Zombie, a fresh take on zombies

26:55 Colin explains his role as Creative Director of a company staffed by telecommuters all around the world.

29:02 How Make Believe Games, and game companies in general, are structured, how many games they tend to develop and how many concepts the tend to focus on.

29:32 Make Believe Games science fiction take on zombies.

31:00 Colin discusses heading up two major projects at once, and working in the quickly evolving field of trans-media.

31:29 The philosophy of trans-media and what it encompasses.

33:28 Colin discusses the axiom system of I Am Zombie and gives us a peek at some of the very cool materials that are already out.

The Field Manual: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/146164/I-AM-ZOMBIE-Field-Manual

How to Get a Career in RPG design and IP Development

38:18 How to tell whether a job offer is worthwhile.

39:18 How to ensure you get good and interesting work to do.

40:08 How to pick winning projects/companies to work for.

43:01 Payment, how to set appropriate expectations without being taken advantage of.

45:26 Mentors and lessons learned in poor projects.

46:23 Where to get started finding a mentor or job in the field.

Restless Earth and Blessing Sky: Cover Reveal and Black Gate Interview of Raya Golden

 

Preorder on Amazon                               Preorder on Amazon

Or get the first book free if you sign up for my mailing list

Video Interview of the Cover Artist

These covers were designed by Raya Golden. Check out my interview of her below - if you click over to YouTube, there in the description is a detailed map of the interview so that you can click on the subjects that interest you the most.

About the Books

For over a thousand years, the Tanoa have relied on their line of Earth Shamen to bring rich harvests, temper stone tools and weapons, and imbue pottery with strength like metal. Now, though, the bloodline has dwindled to one Shaman, Tuwa, who is trapped high in the mountains, holding bedrock together to prevent a volcanic eruption while the rest of her people flee to safety. The only way to save the village is for her to sacrifice herself and buy them the time they need to evacuate.

But her grandson, Ahote, refuses to abandon her to die. Rather than do as she asks—marry and bear daughters who might inherit her gift—he sets out to find the one person who might be able to save Tuwa’s life.

Kasha is a Tanoa girl in who lives in Solace, a city of the pale-skinned Andalanos. If the Engineers Guild ever discovers her gender or race, they could order her execution—for in violation of the King’s law, Master Engineer Seamus trained Kasha as his apprentice. She is a genius in all things mechanical and earned her master certification when only fourteen years old. Since Seamus’s death, she has been discreetly working his job as the City Engineer.

No engineer in history could save Tuwa; it requires an invention unlike anything the world has ever seen. Kasha believes she can do it, but when Ahote breaks the Andalanos’ most sacred law, she is caught between worlds. Kasha must choose between her Tanoa heritage and her Andalano friends who have risked their lives to give her the only life she has ever wanted. Choosing one means betraying the other, and in this world, betrayal means death.

Black Gate Interview: Paolo Bacigalupi

My interview of Paolo Bacigalupi just went live on Black Gate. I'll also embed it below, here.

Paolo and I have been buds for over a decade now, since his very first science fiction convention ever. We timed this interview to coincide with the release of The Water Knife, his latest novel, which takes place in a mega-drought-stricken American southwest (which is where he and I both live, incidentally.)

For the first 20 minutes or so of the interview, we talk about The Water Knife and drought in general.

For those who are most interested in hearing the history of Paolo’s writing career to date, that starts at 21:50. 46:50 is where we discuss the specifics of how Windup Girl was published.

At the very end, my connection suddenly died, so sorry for the abrupt cut-off… Once you’ve had a chance to listen, go check out his latest book!

Black Gate: My interview of Professor Patrice Caldwell

This interview is about something near and dear to my heart, the Jack Williamson Lectureship, a little known gem in the science fiction calendar that takes place every April in Portales, New Mexico. The first year I went, the authors in attendance included:

Jack Williamson (of course!)

Fred Pohl

Robert Silverburg

Connie Willis

Quick quiz: what do they have in common?

They are all SFWA Grand Masters, and you rarely find four of those in any one place, unless you frequent a certain Dairy Queen in southern New Mexico. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Sadly, Jack has passed on and the Dairy Queen went out of business, but it's still my favorite event of the calendar.

Head over to The Black Gate to hear all about it from the organizer, Professor Patrice Caldwell.

Black Gate: My Interview of Susan Kaye Quinn

I know it's been a while, but I'm back to doing interviews on The Black Gate. This month's is an old interview of Susan Kaye Quinn. I'm still having technical issues, such as having only her chin show up on the video... it's just a still shot of her as the interview was audio only.

So, go ahead and laugh at me. But don't miss out on Susan's interview. She's the bestselling author of The Mindjack Trilogy, The Debt Collector Serial, and The Dharian Affairs Trilogy. These titles were all indie published, so she doesn't just have cool stories to tell about her fiction. She also has great advice on building a writing career.

Check out the interview here: www.blackgate.com/2015/03/29/susan-kaye-quinn-on-mind-control-cashing-out-souls-and-publishing-your-own-way/

Audio interview with Stephanie Burgis is up on Black Gate

Yes, I know I've been away from this blog for over a month. Not the new normal, I promise. The insanity that kept me away has blown over now.

And I have a new interview up with Stephanie Burgis on Black Gate. Those of you who know me, know that Stephanie and I go way back. To 2001, specifically, when we went to Clarion West together. Since then she's moved to the UK; married our classmate, Patrick Samphire; had a child; published the Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson trilogy with Atheneum in the US and Templar in the UK; and been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

It was great to have an excuse to sit and talk to Stephanie. Afterwards I shut off the recording equipment and we kept right on talking. She's got another baby due soon, and her latest novel has just been sent out to publishers by her agent.

Go listen to the interview to find out more about one of my favorite writers, who also happens to be a friend.

My interview of Ellen Datlow on Black Gate

Talk about a gorgeous cover. Check out Queen Victoria's Book of Spells, edited by Ellen Datlow. Actually, before you run off and buy that (or after, yeah you can go ahead because my associates code is in that link, just make sure to come back), go listen to my interview of Ellen on Black Gate.

As you'll probably be able to tell from the tenor of our exchange, Ellen and I have known each other for a long time, because my life is that cool. We met at Clarion West when I was a student in 2001 and she our Editor in Residence fifth week. She told me to keep at my writing and that I had promise, and has still never bought one of my stories, which really is okay by me. She selects the cream of the crop, so it may be a decade or two before I'm in the running.

Real quotes from the interview include Ellen saying, "Oh I hate that," to one of my questions. How often do you hear that from Ellen? She doesn't even say that in her rejection letters! As always, it was very cool to have an excuse to talk to her, and you should definitely go hear what she has to say.

My Interview of Howard and Sandra Tayler on Black Gate

Today's blogpost is over on Black Gate, and is my audio interview of Howard and Sandra Tayler, who are best known for Howard's web comic, Schlock Mercenary. I got to talk to them from my apartment in London via Google Hangout, and this was actually the first time I got to meet Howard.

In the interview, we discuss Howard's reward for the Acts of Whimsy fundraiser to support Jay Lake's cancer treatment. When the donations reached $37,000.00, Howard agreed to draw a cartoon of Jay Lake kicking cancer's ass. Here's the time laps video.

Now head on over to listen to the interview on Black Gate!

My interview with Kiini Ibura Salaam on Black Gate

My post today is about my interview with Kiini Ibura Salaam on Black Gate. Kiini and I were classmates at Clarion West, and I could try to express how awesome she is, but I'll let her do that with one of her promotional videos for her book, Ancient, Ancient. She recently earned out her advance on this book, which is really saying something, because not only is it a short story collection - and those can be very hard to sell - it's her first full length book that is all her writing (she previously did a collaborative novel with several other writers and has been featured in many anthologies.) She is also the creator of KIS List, an email list of her thoughts and advice on writing and building an artistic career, and a selection of these posts has been compiled into her nonfiction book: On the Psychology of Writing: Notes from the Trenches, which I highly recommend. I have a copy, and remember several of the posts from when I first read them on KIS List.

Head on over to my interview of her on Black Gate to hear more. The interview is about 45 minutes long, and finishes with us talking about Under the Needle's Eye, the Clarion West 2001 anthology, which we'll soon be releasing in other, non-Kindle formats. 

 

My interview with Ian Tregillis, on Black Gate

Today's post is actually a link to an interview of Ian Tregillis I posted last week on Black Gate, one that I am writing this corresponding post for now, after the fun disruption that was Ellen Datlow's Kickstarter campaign - which got funded in full, by the way!

I interviewed Ian when I was home in New Mexico this last summer, and it was one crazy interview because we kept cracking each other up and making jokes that were rather out there. He and I have spent WAY too much time alone on long car rides and hence have taken already lame jokes and dragged them out past the outer limits of absurdity.

So I did a lot of editing on this interview so that it's exclusively about our time together in Critical Mass, a writer's group of pros in northern New Mexico, and Ian's Milkweed Triptych, which is on of the most awesome novel series there is. And no, that's not a lame joke made absurd. I'm being honest there.

Head on over and listen to Ian and I crack each other up (and maybe you'll find us funny too), and then head over to the nearest bookstore or book website and buy Ian's books! Also, here is Ian's website.

Another plug for Ellen Datlow's Kickstarter campaign: a mini-interview on Black Gate

Ellen Datlow's Kickstarter Campaign is still underway, and to hear from Ellen herself about the project and the rewards, head on over to her interview on Black Gate.

Interview with Christy Marx up on Black Gate

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of talking to Christy Marx on Skype for an evening (which was around noon her time, as we are 8 time zones apart). We talked about her career, which means we basically talked about the history of video game design and development, women in comics, and animation script writing. She's done all of these, and is rightly considered one of the most influential women in all three media.

These days she is writing the Amethyst comic and working for Zynga. She may not be a household name, but that isn't because you've never heard of her work. Unless you're under the age of ten or were in a coma for a few decades, you've played one of her games, watched one of her shows, or read one of her comics.

She even created Jem and the Holograms. Remember them? Head on over to listen to the entire 40 minute interview on Black Gate!