Saturday 1 December 2018

Steampunks in Space, Editing the Novel - and, er, Henry VIII

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Since my last update, I've been up to lots of things, mainly good....


Good




On the 23rd of November, I went up to the Space Centre in Leicester (yes, Britain has one!) for Steampunks in Space. This event does pretty much what it says on the tin (although it's not actually held in space), and involves all sorts of steampunk things, including books, talks, making things, exhibitions and an evening booze-up (presumably involving gin).


I was selling books on a stand with George Mann and Mark Latham, both of whom are very nice guys and have worked for Games Workshop. Much interesting discussion followed! One of the highlights was meeting a chap who had enjoyed all the Space Captain Smith books. Really nice to hear that. It also helped that I sold about 12 copies to him and his mate. They must have a lot of wobbly tables that need propping up in style!

I was also interviewed about writing and comedy by Mr Ilya Rostov, who started out by reading out some of my more "unusual" Goodreads reviews. There are some delights on there! The audience for once outnumbered the people on stage several times over, and we had a really interesting discussion.

As ever, there was some splendid artwork on display. My pictures are fairly crappy at the best of times, but I was able to visit the model-making stand of Herr Doktor, whose scratch-built machines are just amazing.



Also present was cartoonist extraordinaire and top bloke Dr Geof, who has probably given more thought to how to make a cup of tea than anyone, alive or dead, and actually has a museum about it.



And finally, I really should comment on the outfits. There were some amazing outfits, as ever, demonstrating real creativity. In particular, I was struck by this lady and gentleman. He had come as a brass stormtrooper, and she was dressed as the Death Star. Awesome, and so much better than my own attempt to dress as a fully-operational battle station. If you're out there, let me know, so I can give you the credit you deserve*.


Awesome work!


It's always a lot of fun, but I think this was the best Steampunks in Space I'd been to. I went home a happy man, with the vague sense of disappointment that comes from returning to reality.


And then I got gout.

Bad

Huh?


What? Gout, the signature disease of Henry VIII and overstuffed merchants from the Regency? Yes, that gout. Apparently, it just happens to some people, and one of them is me. So, I spent most of this week with my foot up, taking powerful drugs and laying off the port and venison.  Don't get gout, kids. It sounds ridiculous and it's really painful. I'm definitely on the mend, but I feel cheated to have got the damn thing without the over-eating.


Good again

There are limits as to how far I will go researching the Renaissance. Anyhow, I have done the last sweep of Up To The Throne, and I've moved from thinking "This book is complete arse!" to "I'll be getting that Booker prize after all, then". (For authors, there isn't really a middle ground. It's either drivel or brilliant).

So that leads me to the last bit. I think Up To The Throne will be coming out on either the 17th or 20th of December. I just need to decide which. The 17th is a Monday, but the 20th is a nice round number...


* My sources (thanks guys!) tell me it's Carol and Martyn Raynor. Credit where credit's due!

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