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Category: BG Staff

Goblin Fruit: Autumn 2011

Goblin Fruit: Autumn 2011

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gfwolfieThe new Goblin Fruit is LIVE!!! It’s ALIVE, I tell you!

Now, I know I’ve said that before. Always the same way, too. “LIVE!!!” must be capitalized, with exclamation points, because, you see, I’m pretending I’m Frankenstein. I’m sure you knew. It’s not like it’s a secret or anything.

This new issue features poet Neile Graham, including an interview in which her poetry is described as “very green and very blue, full of cedar and rain and stone and sea.” Here is a hint, a taste, a tongue’s dip worth of her verse:

“…Hillfolk trade their cranky babes for our sweet sleepers. Tempt away

our pretty ones. Make deals we pay for. Seduce our poets
underhill for seven silent years then gift them with sore truth…”

– The Ones Outside Your Door

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The Road to The Heart of Darkness

The Road to The Heart of Darkness

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oath-of-sixIt took me years to complete the first draft of Oath of Six, the first volume in my fantasy series The Heart of Darkness.

I wrote the prologue pretty much straight through, but then lost steam. After muddling through chapter one, I skipped ahead to the epilogue because I was more sure of the ending than the beginning. I then returned to working on the second chapter, only to jump to the end again, and then back to the beginning. My productivity was even more inconsistent than it sounds since I would stop writing for weeks at a time.

After I did finish, the readers of my first draft kept saying the story started off too slowly. I had to admit there was a lot of backstory and world-building in the early chapters. However, isn’t that the norm in fantasy novels, I argued. An author spends almost as much time creating the world as he does fleshing out the characters and storyline.

Interestingly, my initial readers unanimously agreed that the early material bogging down my story didn’t include the earliest part — i.e. that prologue that I wrote so easily. They were referring to the first eight or so chapters where I was dithering my way through, stopping and starting, jumping around. No doubt my readers had sensed my original inability to immerse myself in my storyline.

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Alyx Among the Dandelions: Exploring Joanna Russ and Ray Bradbury

Alyx Among the Dandelions: Exploring Joanna Russ and Ray Bradbury

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My copy looked like this. A far cry from John's vintage original.
My copy looked like this. A far cry from John's vintage original.

I think our book club should have a name. It’s that cool. It consists of our Mighty Robot Overlord John O’Neill, awesomely chill Chicago author Geoff Hyatt, our own Dread Patty Templeton and myself. Four people make for a nicely balanced book club, in my opinion.

Now, we may not meet in the most consistent fashion ever (our two meetings had a wee gap of four months between them), but we do read SPIFFY BOOKS. Or at least… discussable ones.

I mean, we started out with The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, which was written up by Mr. Hyatt back in May. Then we decided to get our claws into some Joanna Russ and vintage Bradbury. Next we’re going to do Fritz Leiber’s Swords against Death and China Mieville’s Iron Council.

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Bill Ward’s four-part story “The Box” begins at Pathfinder Tales

Bill Ward’s four-part story “The Box” begins at Pathfinder Tales

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pathfindertalesBlack Gate Reviews Editor Bill Ward is a multi-talented gent.

Not only is he one of the most energetic editors in the field, with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of Who’s Who in modern fantasy, but he’s also a very talented writer in his own right.

And Paizo Publishing has given him an opportunity to show off some of that talent by commissioning him to write a story for their Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction line — a weekly presentation of multi-part adventures featuring the exploits of daring denizens of the Pathfinder world.

Bill’s 4-part story is entitled “The Box,” and here’s what he tells us about it:

When a supposedly easy theft goes bad, Kostin Dalackz finds himself caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy centered on a mysterious, magically locked box. Enlisting the aid of a diverse group of adventurers and rogues, Kostin strikes out to settle accounts — and re-acquire the twice-stolen property. ‘The Box’ is a journey through the seedy underbelly of the city of Magnimar, part of the Pathfinder world setting of Golarion.

Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction are completely free adventure tales that provide a taste of the thrills in Pathfinder Tales novels. Past contributors to their growing online library include Howard Andrew Jones, Dave Gross, Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, Robin D. Laws, Erik Mona, Monte Cook, and many others.

Part I of “The Box” appeared on Wednesday, Sept 28; Part II is scheduled to be posted tomorrow.  The tale awaits you here.

Tangent Online reviews Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael”

Tangent Online reviews Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael”

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yearsbest2011Reviewer Nader Elhefnawy at Tangent Online offers a detailed review of the latest volume of Rich Horton’s The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2011, including Matthew David Surridge’s story from Black Gate 14, “The Word of Azrael.”

In Matthew David Surridge’s “The Word of Azrael” (which first appeared in the Winter issue of Black Gate magazine, an excerpt of which can be read on the magazine’s web site), warrior Isrohim Vey encounters the Angel of Death on the battlefield. Having seen the Angel’s smile once, he spends the rest of his life pursuing another glimpse of it – a colorful, wide-ranging, action- and adventure-filled epic journey in the tradition of Conan the Cimmerian and Elric of Melnibone. The resulting piece is one of the strongest heroic fantasies I have seen in years.

Fine praise indeed, for a terrific story that’s been one of the most acclaimed pieces we’ve published in recent years.

You can read the excerpt from “The Word of Azrael” here, and the complete Black Gate 14 Table of Contents is here.

And you can read more about Rich’s excellent The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2011 here.

Art Evolution 2011: Chuck Lukacs

Art Evolution 2011: Chuck Lukacs

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fire-lukacs-255

Ok, so I work as Art Director here at Black Gate L.A., and that means I get to see a good amount of really fantastic art, especially where Art Evolution is concerned. That being said, it’s not often I get introduced to talent on the magazine that I wasn’t previously aware of. Still, it does happen, and one such artist is Chuck Lukacs.

Now that’s not to say Chuck is new to the fantasy industry, far from it, but as I’ve never been a Magic the Gathering player, and with the mass of D20 D&D books hitting the shelves since 2000, you can’t always identify every artist you see.

Chuck, however, was doing his due diligence during the 2000s, and his talents were recognized by many youthful minds along the way. He’s graced the pages of dozens of RP books, as well as Magic collections, and his art finally made it to me as I read the tales of Morlock the Maker which appeared in the pages of Black Gate’s print edition. Here, Chuck helped define James Enge’s character that would eventually go on to produce full novels in his own right.

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Book Jewelry by Emily Mah Jewelry Designs

Book Jewelry by Emily Mah Jewelry Designs

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pendantEmily Mah Jewelry Designs is a company I formed when I decided that raising two small children; writing speculative fiction short stories, romance novels, and jewelry making articles; taking classes in new jewelry media; selling jewelry on Etsy; and figuring out how to stay within my husband’s student stipend budget in London weren’t keeping me busy enough. I was merely overstretched, not fully flirting with insanity, and as a Clarion West survivor and law school graduate, I found that abnormal. So I decided to make use of my law degree, Clarion West connections, and jewelry making skills.

I contacted my workshop-mate, Stephanie Burgis, author of The Un-ladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, a middle grade fantasy trilogy set in Regency England. The first book, Kat Incorrigible came out this year in the US (it was released last year in the UK as A Most Improper Magick). Though Steph and I are both Americans, we live as ex-patriates in the UK – me in London and she in Wales. She was immediately in support of the idea and has been the ideal business partner, which is to say, she’s maintained her enthusiasm and been endlessly forgiving as I hit dead ends, overrun self imposed deadlines, and bumble my way through this whole venture. I send her what free jewelry I can to show my gratitude.

Draft pendantAnd now, months later, our collaboration is taking shape. I’ve produced three designs, a pendant that I released at the same time that Kat, Incorrigible hit bookstores, a pair of earrings that debuted at the launch party for the second book, A Tangle of Magicks (this will be released as Renegade Magic in the US next year), and a charm bracelet that just went on the market about an hour before I sat down to write this post. One might ask, how big is the market for book tie-in jewelry like this? I have no idea. Ask me in a year or two. What I can talk about, though, is how we started this venture. …

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SEVEN PRINCES – Cover Launch

SEVEN PRINCES – Cover Launch

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sp-coverOrbit Books just did a cover launch for SEVEN PRINCES on their official site today: http://www.orbitbooks.net/ I’ve wanted to share this with BG readers for months, and the day has finally come…

Artist Richard Anderson did an amazing job, giving us a silhouette of each prince, evoking the golden sun of a battlefield, the waving standards of ancient armies, and leaving just enough detail to the imagination.

Richard will also be doing the covers for the 2nd and 3rd Books of the Shaper, i.e. SEVEN KINGS and SEVEN SORCERERS. More of Richard’s cutting edge artwork can be found at his own site:  http://www.flaptrapsart.com/

Amazon is taking pre-orders for SEVEN PRINCES right here: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Princes-Books-Shaper-Fultz/dp/0316187860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317091065&sr=8-1

Peace!
John

Them Old Submission Blues: On Blogging, Writing Communities and Keeping Spirits Up

Them Old Submission Blues: On Blogging, Writing Communities and Keeping Spirits Up

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bgdeskDear Black Gate Readers,

Something really cool just happened over on LiveJournal.

Since I’m sort of still grinning about it, I thought I’d take this opportunity to write about the importance of finding or creating a community of friends and artists who — even if they can’t do anything about your stack o’ rejections, those self-imposed deadlines you keep failing to make, or the number of times your head thumps a desk (in my case, the wall. I don’t know why, but I just find walls more… thumpable… somehow) — are there for you, in whatever way they can be. Even across the miles. Even across state lines! Or oceans!

This is a great age for long-distance friendships, isn’t it? I love it.

Writing is lonesome. And, you know what? THAT’S WHY IT’S APPEALING! You’re one on one with yourself, dueling with your demons, exploring your dreamscapes, loaded to the max with your Tools of Toil: laptop, fountain pen, coffee mug (in my case, tea cup, ’cause coffee? GROSS!), notebooks, dictionary (or dictionary.com), and nothing to disturb you except maybe the dishes, the laundry, the kids (well, NOT in my case, but I know plenty of writers who are parents), the bills, and everything else we have to deal with.

That great escape into lonesomeness is one of the best things about writing.

But sometimes you get discouraged, maybe. And maybe that’s when the lonesomeness is not so great anymore.

So you go to your community. Maybe you post about it on your blog. Anything to make the burden lighter.

And then, in the midst of your writer pals’ commiserations, something like this might happen…

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Adventures Fantastic Reviews Black Gate 3

Adventures Fantastic Reviews Black Gate 3

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bg_3_cover_254Keith West, mastermind behind the excellent Adventures Fantastic review site, took advantage of our Back Issue Sale to lay his hands on some of our rarer back issues — including the nearly-out-of-print Black Gate 3, a star-studded issue featuring Harry Connolly, Ellen Klages, Darrell Schweitzer, ElizaBeth Gilligan, Elaine Cunningham, Mike Resnick, Don Bassingthwaite, and the first published story by Todd McAulty. He covers the issue in detail in his review:

I decided to start this series with Black Gate 3, Winter 2002 because I like this publication.  It’s published some great fiction over the years by people who have gone on to have successful careers.  I can’t think of a single issue that hasn’t been a winner.  By the third issue, BG was beginning to hit its stride and had developed a clear editorial style… BG 3 clocks in at 224 pages, with approximately 150 pages of fiction and accompanying illustrations, the rest being devoted to reviews and articles, the ToC, an ad for subscriptions, and an editorial.

Keith calls out several stories for special attention, including the sequel to “The Whoremaster of Pald” (BG 2) by a new writer named Harry James Connolly:

Harry James Connolly, who has since gone on to publish several novels as Harry Connolly, returns from the second issue with another story set in the city of Pald.  “Another Man’s Burden” is a heartbreaking tale of what happens when we try to realize our dreams by any means possible.

Harry’s recent novels include Child of Fire, Game of Cages, and the just-released Circle of Enemies. Keith also had words of praise for another short story writer who has since gone on to considerable acclaim, including a Nebula Award, and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction for her first novel, The Green Glass Sea:

In “A Taste of Summer,” Ellen Klages (Portable Childhoods) tells the story of a young girl and a very special ice cream shop.  This one was highly reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s Green Town stories, and it took me back to the summers of my childhood, despite the fact they weren’t much like the one in the story.  Of all the stories in the issue, this one moved me the most.

He closes with:

All in all, BG 3 is a solid issue, with a great deal of exciting fiction to recommend it.  There’s something here for everyone.  From sword and sorcery to near contemporary to futuristic, from quiet and thoughtful to humorous to horrifying. You can’t go wrong.  And although they may disagree with me, it’s fun to see some of the early efforts of some of the rising stars of the genres.

You can read the complete review here. Keith’s previous review, of the Warrior Women fiction of Black Gate 15, is here.