New Book Day!
Delighted to announce that my character novel Aestred Thurga: Pyre of Faith is up for pre-order, and I’m really looking forward to seeing it loosed upon the world!
It’s a very special book, not only because of Aestred herself and the Auto-Tapestry, a character and a relic that I had a huge amount of fun exploring, but because of the world that this tale is set upon. I can’t give too much away, because spoilers, but it was a concept that I’d been waiting to explore for many years, and gave me the opportunity to make a character from the planet itself. I always enjoy world-building and this one had so many layers, so much history and nuance, that it’s perhaps one of the creations that I’m genuinely most proud of.
While researching, and then writing, I did a lot of digging (not literally) into the history of London, from Roman times up to the very modern, specifically on the layers of death that lie beneath our streets (little clue, there), their histories and the tales (and indeed cults) that have sprung up around them. I went to Highgate and to the North London Cemetery, to St Dunstan, and to find the city’s lost rivers, the Fleet and the Tyburn.
And, as with any story, it’s those threads of truth that give its fabric credibility, and how you weave one through the other. They’re just like the Auto-Tapestry, the layers of tales it caried upon it, and why they are there. A reflection of character in background and background in character isn’t new, but can be quintessential to really making a narrative work, giving it that resounding echo that makes it last.
So, it’s a huge thank you to the BL for letting me play with this one, and (seriously) the book is just so pretty. I can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on it!
Reading: Rob Rath’s The infinite and the Divine, giving fleshless robots all the love they deserve. It’s a genuinely gorgeous book, incredibly visual, and would make a fabulous animation.
Watching: Invincible, in anticipation of the new season. And wow, I’d forgotten just how fantastically brutal is really is. It’s also interesting seeing the difference between the TV series and the original comics, and they seem to mark how Kirkman has grown as a writer – stuff like Amber being dark of skin and very much person in her own right, rather than just Mark’s GF. And yes, I’m all for it.
Playing: Our hapless D&D crew are in the mist of detective scenario, desperately trying to piece together the clues to capture a killer, and to unravel the plots and politics that surround them. I hear rumours of post-its, so I think this going to be a doozy…