| Author |
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al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 06:46 am: | |
I thought what I'd do here is set up a wee thread to let folks know a bit more about my upcoming debut, Vellum, and to post up news as and when it comes. Anyhoo, I'd be curious to find out how many other writers do this sort of thing when they're working on a novel, but I know I had a lot of fun trying to come up with a blurb. Hearing that movie trailer voice in your head can make you come over all silly solemnity, but actually trying to summarise a 180,000 word Modernist, metafictional, mosaic novel with a 3D theory of time underpinning the narrative... well it's an interesting writing exercise. So...
It's 2017 and angels walk the earth, beings that were human once, now unkin, remade by the ancient machine-code language of reality itself. Now, with the very book in which reality is written lost somewhere in the Vellum - the vast realm of eternity on which our world is just a scratch - the unkin are gathering for war.
On one side there's Metatron and his Covenant of angels, out to create Heaven on Earth even if it means an apocalypse to clear the way. On the other, there's the splinter-groups of ancient gods still hungry for the power that was once theirs, bitter enough to destroy the world if they can't rule it. And caught in the middle of it all are a handful of refuseniks still young enough to remember what it's like to be human... and to want to stay that way:
There's Phreedom Messenger, trailer-park tomboy, searching for her brother, Thomas, on the run in the Vellum. There's Seamus Finnan, the draft-dodging Irish angel hiding out in the desert, friend and mentor to both of them, who taught them just a little too much for their own good. And then there's Jack Carter, Covenant footsoldier, pawn of Metatron, a sleeper agent who doesn't even know he's unkin, who doesn't know that when he answers the phone, hears a certain word, another part of him takes over, and who doesn't know why he's haunted by a face he doesn't recognise, the face of someone he's been ordered to hunt down and kill... Thomas.
As Phreedom tracks her brother through the twisted timespace of the Vellum, determined to save him from the Covenant even if it means her own destruction, Jack, a time-bomb waiting to go off, is also on his trail. In the Vellum, a falling angel and a renegade devil are about to come to blows. In the Vellum, blood magic made in hell is about to come face to face with nanotechnology forged in heaven. Past, present and future will collide with other worlds and ancient myths.
And the Vellum will burn. |
neilw
| | Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 07:06 am: | |
I think that's a fair summary of Vellum, well done.
We talked about this recently, and I agree that creating a blurb for the book you're working on is a useful tool. It helps you encapsulate the overall story you're trying to tell and also gives you a valuable readers-eye angle on how the finished book might look.
I tried this recently for the book I'm blundering my way through and discovered that there was a rather sizeable gap in the logic the way I'd originally imagined it. This probably says more about me than anything else. But in general I'd say, yeah, a useful tool when you're a decent way into the writing process, not just a summary sketched up at the end. |
gary gibson
| | Posted on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 11:59 am: | |
It's like coming up with what's effectively the Hollywood pitch, no more than a short paragraph, no less than three words. Four word summary for Angel Stations - 'An Existentialist Space Opera', right? Three, if you drop 'An'.
Not that I'd necessarily stick that on the front of the book. I didn't manage on my own, though, to come up with something short and snappy for the front cover of either 'Stations or Against Gravity, but Peter Lavery came up with some ideas, and I went with them.
For Vellum, it sounds like '2017, and angels walk the earth' might pretty much do the job. It might not sum up the story in its entirety, but it's got atmosphere. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 04:15 am: | |
Yeah, I've got the Hollywood pitch too, in that sense: Anti-War Epic Fantasy. "Epic Fantasy" carries some baggage that's a little misleading, maybe, but it's a good reference point in relation to the "Anti-War" aspect. Guess I'm sort of defining the novel as the battleground between those two opposing ideas, since I'd argue that most (or at least much) epic fantasy is fundamentally pro-war. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Saturday, December 18, 2004 - 11:46 am: | |
After JeffV's recent posting of some manifestations of Shriek in this world, I thought I'd follow suit (or just nick the idea rather), and dig out some of the source material for Vellum and Ink, parts 1 and 2 of The Book Of All Hours.
So, I won't say too much about the strange artefact known as The Book Of All Hours, but here's a few snapshots and snippets which might give some sense of what that book might be. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 04:03 am: | |
It's not the finalised image - I think there's some changes to be made with typography - but this is the basic cover design for the bound proofs. Might not even be what ends up on the bookshelves, but I think it's rather bloody good meself.
|
KeithB
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 04:27 am: | |
Very nice indeed! |
JV
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 06:09 am: | |
That's fucking brilliant.
JV |
John Klima
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 06:13 am: | |
I can't wait.
JK |
al duncan
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 07:13 am: | |
Wow. Fuck me! The bound proofs just arrived in the post this morning, numbers 1 to 5 of 600. And they are gorgeous beyond belief. Fucking GORGEOUS. The cover has a matt, textured finish that makes even the feel of them something special. |
StephenB
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 07:54 am: | |
Looks good Al. Is it part of a series? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 08:15 am: | |
Hi Stephen. It's a two-parter. Vellum will be followed up with Ink next year; the two of them together make up The Book Of All Hours.
After that, though, I'm planning a series of individual novels which all relate tangentially to the background established in Vellum (where the premise is that time has its own three dimensions - forward and back linearity, side to side alternate worlds, and up/down strata of "sedimentary" time, previous worlds, more metaphysically primitive underneath our own). There's enough overlap of ideas that I think of it as a series called Folds, but each novel will stand on its own in terms of plot and character, and it won't be tied to a particular realm. Think Moorcockian multiverse, I guess. |
StephenB
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 08:40 am: | |
I like the premise. The set up and characters sound pretty fucking good too. It seems epic in scope. I'd like to check it out. This is your first novel right? Do you have much short fiction out?
There's just so many books that look good and that I know will be good comming out in the next few years.... |
al duncan
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 09:01 am: | |
Yep, this is the first one. I don't have anything out in the magazines at the moment, but there'll be a short story of mine in the WorldCon issue of Electric Velocipede and it looks like another will be in an anthology available at the same time (I won't name it cause I think that would be jumping the gun).
Epic, indeed, and a bit trippy, so from yer posts elsewhere, I think ye might well like Vellum. I would say that though, wouldn't I? No American deal yet though (fingers crossed) so if yer based Stateside ye'll have to pop up to Canada in August, or better still come on over and party like the Scots at WorldCon. |
StephenB
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 09:21 am: | |
I'm Canadian, born and raised, so that's no problem. I'd love to go to the WorldCon in Scotland, I think I have relatives in Scotland (that I've never met), and I've never been to a con or Scotland. You seem like a cool guy and I've been interested in your work based on the few brief conversations we've had. I may wait for the paperback, just because I'll be buying new hardcovers from guys like Lucius Shepard (as an example), whos work I know and love, before I buy a hardcover from an author I've never read, even if I have a feeling I'd really like it. If I like it, I'd probably buy the next one in hardcover. I guess it all depends on the cash I have at the time. But I will definitely read it eventually. |
StephenB
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 10:10 am: | |
or better still come on over and party like the Scots at WorldCon.
That'd be fun. I've heard you have good beer and ale over there. Then of course there's the scotch. My buddy, who has relatives there, went over to Scotland over a year ago. He's a total pot head and said that people over there only get hash (which can be good) and often mix it with tabaco. I wouldn't be able to smoke that tahasho because I've quite smoking tabaco. He also said he got a blow torch and introduced blades over there (which gets too harsh after a while). If I could, i'd bring over some Candaian pot for you guys, Western Canada has some of the best in the world. To bad about the damn PoPo searching people. (at least in this case).
|
StephenB
| | Posted on Saturday, March 05, 2005 - 04:23 pm: | |
Poe-Poe would be the proper spelling, instead of Po-Po, right? |
StephenB
| | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 12:57 pm: | |
You know the Scottish slang I'm referring to, right? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 02:56 pm: | |
Actually, I can't say I've ever come across the term Po-Po. I'm assuming ye mean the police though (or polis in proper Scots vernacular). Anyhoo, the stop-and-search thing isn't too dangerous; a lot of police aren't going to be arsed stopping some Boho student-type who might have a whole quarter ounce on them, shock horror. It's a waste of police resources as far they're concerned. So in the park round the corner from me, on a hot summer day, for instance, yer almost bound to pass students lying on the grass, happily smoking roll-ups with a certain recognisable aroma. There's even been at least one place around the country where the police chief brought in a deliberately relaxed policy of not arresting users, if I remember right, just dealers. One or two attempts to open up green cafes. Give it 5-10 years and it might even be decriminalised.
Till then of course, there's always Amsterdam. Where all my knowledge of such matters comes from, of course, since I'd never knowingly participate in any illegal activity such as smoking pot, dropping acid, eating mushrooms, or any other form of recreational drug use. Oh no, your honour. Not I. It was a long, long time ago. I didn't inhale. I deny everything. A big boy did it and ran away, sir. Oh no. It's strictly absinthe for me, these days. Mmmm, pretty colours. |
StephenB
| | Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2005 - 04:06 pm: | |
Yeah, my friend who visited Scotland said that's what people -- where he was at, at least -- call the police over there. Obviously it's not as widespread as he made it out to be. But it's the wrong term to use in that context anyway. I wouldn't really be worried about getting caught smoking pot by the local police. I know they don't really care, for the most part. It's getting the drugs through customs that would be the troublesome part. It'd just be nice to bring some Canadian pot and mush (which are high quality) over -- for both myself and to share with the locals. I just ate some mushrooms last night actually. Absinthe is pretty strong. What kind do you get over there?
I'll probably stop with recreational drugs, for the most part, eventually. Especially if I want to make it as a professional writer. But I don't think they're necessarily bad for writing.... |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 - 02:24 am: | |
Best absinthe you get over here is a French brand called La Fee; it's the real deal, wormwood and all (mmmm... terpenoids), whereas most of the Czech brands have just added mugwort (pah!) and upped the alcohol content. Which is, incidentally, why those Czech's invented the whole setting-fire-to-it thing, to burn off some of the alcohol. That's nonsense, of course, a waste of perfectly good alcohol; as any absintheur worth his salt will tell you, the correct way to drink absinthe is to pour a wee measure into a glass, balance your absinthe spoon (one free with each bottle) on the rim, sugar lump on top, and dissolve the sugar by dribbling just enough chilled water over it to louche the Green Fairy. And the great thing is the active ingredient, thujone, builds up in your system over time even at just, say, a glass or two a night. Why, it's the hallucinogen that keeps on giving!
Is it obvious I'm trying to get a sponsorship deal here? |
StephenB
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 09, 2005 - 06:56 am: | |
Hmm, that's good to know. We get Czech absinthe over here, which my friend claimed has the green fairy, and I figured was just really strong alcohol. The way we'd drink it is in the Czech fashion. Pour some in a glass (mixed with a bit of water), then pour some more absinthe over a spoonful of sugar (over the glass) and then light the contents of the spoon on fire, blow it out, then dump it in. Then you just shoot the whole thing back. I'll look out for La Fee, but I doubt we get it over here...
And I take back what I said about writing and drugs. I think drugs can be great for writing. Especially in the conceptualization stage. |
Steve Grove
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 03:01 am: | |
Am really looking forward to reading Vellum when its published.
Is there a release date for the book yet?
Regards
Steve |
al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 11:29 am: | |
Hi Steve,
Cheers! It should be coming out on the 5th August this year. I'm hoping to have one helluva launch party at WorldCon, so if yer in Glasgow for it, come along. I'll be posting any details about it here if and when it gets arranged. |
Steve Grove
| | Posted on Friday, March 18, 2005 - 01:47 am: | |
I am hoping to be able to get to the WorldCon this year.
Thanks for the info about the book.
Thanks
Steve |
al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, March 31, 2005 - 03:55 am: | |
I'm happy to say that a Russian publisher has just made an offer for translation rights for Vellum, and I have, of course, accepted. Should be out within the next 12 months.
Cyrillic Vellum... coooool. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 02:20 am: | |
Rick Kleffel has some nice things to say about Vellum at his Agony Column.
And it's probably a much better description of the content than I could come up with in less than 5000 words. |
Tamar
| | Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 03:53 am: | |
Very nice, H/Al! |
neilw
| | Posted on Friday, April 01, 2005 - 04:34 am: | |
Cautiously positive, I would say. :D
Nice one, dude. |
Marcus Gipps
| | Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 10:22 am: | |
Hi there. My thoughts on Vellum, if you have any interest whatsover in a random bookseller's musings: www.livejournal.com/users/marcusgipps.
Comments, thoughts, shouts of "Oh fuck, the idiot's completely missed the point" all welcome.
You going to be down in London for signings etc? If so I'll have a word with my Macmillan rep, get you to come in.
Cheers
Marcus |
al duncan
| | Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 11:24 am: | |
Hi Marcus.
I think that review's pretty fair actually (and besides, I've taken a solemn oath not to make a fool of myself with the Anne Rice strategy of rabidly berating anyone who might not -- shock horror -- completely get it). It is after all... hmmm... SF?... Fantasy?... Literary Experimentalism?... fuck it, I tend to just mumble something about the book being a "Cubist fable" when I try to describe it. Guernica, the novel. With orgone pistols. So thanks for the write-up! (And Ink will give you the closure you're looking for, cross my heart.)
No plans to visit London yet, but I'll be more than happy to do a wee signing tour if MacMillan are up for it. I'm sure I'll be noising up my editor to see if he'll let me loose on an unsuspecting public nearer the publication date. |
AliceB
| | Posted on Monday, April 11, 2005 - 01:40 pm: | |
Al, will Vellum be released in the US at some point? Or is it too early to tell? (I may end up resorting to Amazon.uk.)
Best,
Alice |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2005 - 03:27 am: | |
Hi Alice. Too early to tell yet, I'm afraid. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the ARC's will do the business in the US. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 09:10 am: | |
Wahey! I'm pleased (as punch) to announce that Vellum now has a US deal; it should be released in the States next year, I understand, from Del Rey books. So I look forward to working with ye, Minz, if ye're out there. |
John Klima
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 09:24 am: | |
Sweet! Looking forward to it (although I'll probably pick up a copy in Scotland first...)!
JK |
neilw
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 09:26 am: | |
Said it before today, but can't resist saying it again... you dancer! |
Tamar
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 - 12:29 pm: | |
Congrats! |
Minz
| | Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 10:59 am: | |
Hey Al, congrats. |
AliceB
| | Posted on Thursday, April 28, 2005 - 02:12 pm: | |
Whoopee! |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, May 13, 2005 - 12:25 pm: | |
Looking forward to your book hitting US shores.
-A fellow Guinness drinker
Rob B.
http://blogorob.blogspot.com |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 03:24 am: | |
Ooh! Ooh! Look! Look! Pretty Flash animation! Extract from the novel!
Yes, the Vellum website is now online. |
John Klima
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - 08:22 am: | |
Fucking cool, man.
JK |
Alistair
| | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 06:50 pm: | |
Watch it with the lights out. It's truly scary.
Possibly scarier than Doom! (What a thing to say!)
A very beautiful site. Congrats, Al D..
|
gary gibson
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 05:55 am: | |
It's not scarier than Doom. Al's dilapidated bathroom, however, is. |
Tamar
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 01:49 pm: | |
That's one of the classiest sites I've ever seen.
And - er - don't know quite how to ask this, Al, but... were you a musketeer in a past life? |
Alistair
| | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 03:13 pm: | |
Now that you've said that, Gary, I have this image in my head that Doom is actually based on the experience of going into and trying to get out of Al's delapidated bathroom.
I'm not sure if that's a fair assumption, but I do know that it's going to give me nightmares for the next week or so.
And I agree wholeheartedly, Tamar. I thought this site is one of the best I've seen and couldn't resist passing comment. |
neilw
| | Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 - 01:11 am: | |
I think "pirate" would be closer, T... and whaddya mean a PAST life? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 - 05:39 am: | |
John, Alistair, Tamar: Cheers, guys. I think it's just plain gorgeous, meself. Dead chuffed.
Gary: Toilet? What about my - LOOK! It's the Goodyear Blimp! Over there!
As fer the musketeer/pirate question... the two aren't mutually exclusive, ye know. The "All for one! And one for all!" ethic seems entirely in keeping with the anarcho-syndicalism of the Articles. So if one were to, say, get drummed out of the musketeers for, say, muttering about poncy bloody Louis the Umpteenth looking better in a bloody iron mask, the inbred chinless wonder, well, a life of mutiny and matelotage on the high seas might well be a logical career progression. But I cannot say, I fear, for I remember naught of my former life before the day I woke upon that beach in Bermuda. Aye.
Drink up, me hearties, yo ho! |
gary gibson
| | Posted on Monday, June 20, 2005 - 12:53 pm: | |
Makes me yearn for the days when I still had long hair and could remove certain teeth at the drop of a hat, for that special 'bottle of rum' look. |
Lucius
| | Posted on Monday, June 27, 2005 - 07:53 pm: | |
Al, I really enjoyed Vellum. Nice work! You did good. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 01:11 am: | |
Cool! Thanks, Lucius! (I think this is where I revert to fanboy mode and do a wee happy dance to "Lucius Shepard liked my book... ") |
Lucius
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 05:35 am: | |
Don't do that.
I was reading it while working on book, which meant I had little time or patience for anything other than my own work -- but I found Vellum totally absorbing. |
Minz
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 06:10 am: | |
And while I'll happily use "Totally absorbing" for a blurb, if you feel like getting more verbose, drop me a line. (I'll make certain it gets to Hal and Peter as well, if you don't have their email addresses.) |
John Klima
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 06:21 am: | |
Lucius:
E-mail me if'n you want a copy of Electric Velocipede #9 featuring a fine story from Mr. Duncan (among others).
JK |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 02:22 am: | |
Hey hey! Nice way to start the morning with a fine review of Vellum up at Fantasy Book Spot. |
Jay
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 07:44 am: | |
Thanks for the mention, Mr. Duncan. I also want to note the interview is up as well - and thank you for making both the review and interview possible.
Jay |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 06:29 am: | |
Another stonkingly good review -- this one by Cheryl at Emerald City. My favourite line is about my "desire to take the very foundations of genre literature and re-shape them in geometries so alien that most fans will go mad if they look at them too closely."
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Wait'll ye see the next one. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 08:12 am: | |
And a review and interview at Outland, The Ottakar's SF magazine...
"Vellum is an extraordinary feat that combines a rush of ideas with a style that produces gems of language and scene on every other page"
Cooooooool! |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 01:49 pm: | |
In all the hurly-burly of Worldcon, I didn't even get a chance to report that Vellum has just been picked up by Polish publisher MAG, whose stable includes Clive Barker, Neal Stephenson, Gene Wolfe, Robin Hobb, and William Gibson.
Hurrah! |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 01:59 pm: | |
Also, a great review over at SFRevu
"Hal Duncan's extraordinary debut tells of a war between Heaven and Hell and stands as one of the most important releases of the year. A dense, detailed novel that will mystify and take your breath away."
And I wish I could link to the 3-page feature in The Book & Magazine Collector that describes reading the book as "akin to sliding down a helter skelter that is rotating in three axes, or riding a jet powered rollercoaster. A rollercoaster that has no safety bars, no brakes and only a three-legged stool for comfort..." and ends with the line "Vellum delivers like a nitrous oxide injected milk float with after-burners."
Oh yeah!
That be the first Infernokrusher novel, mes amigos. |
mastadge
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 02:35 pm: | |
When's the Polish translation coming out? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 04:00 pm: | |
I only have a vague timescale at the moment, so I'll post up some more specific details when I get them. |
AT
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 04:04 pm: | |
Can't wait to drink this nitrous oxide injected milk float, though some consumers association is likely to bite your arse re no warning on the book about those unsafe after-burners. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 04:40 pm: | |
I think they were talking more about one of these, but fuel-injected and with these attached.
But funny enough my first thought was a nitrous oxide smoothy too. Lemonade, ice cream and laughing gas. Now that's what I call a cocktail! |
gary gibson
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 05:42 pm: | |
Ooh, afterburners. Want one.
I've been thinking about nitrous oxide powered aliens, you know. No, really. Ask me on Saturday night, Al. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 01:59 am: | |
I will.
I've been thinking about nitrous oxide powered Al now. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 03:44 am: | |
And the march across Europe goes on!
We've just struck a deal for the German rights for both VELLUM and INK, with Fantasy Productions bringing out HB and Heyne bringing out the MMPB. No word yet on timescale.
Al is, al is, uber deutschland! |
Jason Erik Lundberg
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - 09:02 am: | |
LOL! Congrats, man! |
JV
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - 11:39 am: | |
Congrats!
JeffV |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - 11:42 am: | |
Cheers guys! |
AT
| | Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 06:41 am: | |
Around the world in .. days! |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 - 06:43 am: | |
Dear Hal,
just thought I'd let you know that copies of VELLUM have already made their way into German bookstores. I bought a copy yesterday in Münster, Germany. Can't wait to start reading!
Olaf Keith |
kellys
| | Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 - 04:45 pm: | |
Hi Hal,
I just finished Vellum yesterday and loved every moment of it (except for the ending--I want more!). Its brilliance inspired me to write a short review on my blog. Hope you don't mind me posting it here.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/kellyshaw/ |
al duncan
| | Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2005 - 05:02 pm: | |
Cheers, cheers and cheers!
Great to know it's out in Germany, Olaf; I have a cousin over there at the moment who'll be chuffed to bits that she can point it out to her friends. (Thankfully, I won't be there to look embarrassed about this.)
And hell, Kelly, given that you nail exactly what I was going for in terms of a "sympathy for humanity, which underpins the entire narrative", I'm pleased as punch about you linking to that review! Glad you liked the book! |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 13, 2005 - 07:55 am: | |
Thought I'd search for you at the Guardian, in case I'd missed a review: no such luck, but the search came up with a mention in an article about the London Book Fair ( 1440264%2C00.html,http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1440264,00.html )
"In fiction, the names to look out for in 2006 include Esquire fiction editor Adrienne Miller, young US writer Ronlyn Domingue, thriller author Hal Duncan and screenwriter Charlie Fletcher."
Chaos and spikey bits, indeed.
Cheers,
Michael |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 08:07 am: | |
Vive le France! Yes, those eminently tasteful people over the Channel, with their fine wines and haute cuisine, have bought the rights to VELLUM and INK. Looks like there'll be a first trade edition with Lunes d'encre (Denoël), followed by a mass-market edition with Foilo (Gallimard).
Magnifique! |
Spencer
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 11:25 am: | |
I would love to read VELLUM and INK, but are they published in the U.S. yet? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 04:27 pm: | |
VELLUM will be out from Del Rey next year, Spencer -- April 25th is the scheduled release date, I think. |
Spencer
| | Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 10:44 am: | |
Great! It sounds like a heck of a novel. |
jeff ford
| | Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 08:41 pm: | |
Al: Congrats on the French sales. That's great news.
|
Bob Urell
| | Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 10:16 am: | |
Congrats! |
AT
| | Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 05:27 pm: | |
Wonderful. It's great fun thinking of the challenge. How, for instance, will this be translated? But even if we wurnie brothers . . . Haud on now. |
al duncan
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 07:01 am: | |
A Czech deal now. Polaris have picked up the rights in the Czech Republic. No word on when it will come out, but I'm hoping that they'll pay me in Budvar... and require me to collect my royalties in Prague. |
Jason Erik Lundberg
| | Posted on Friday, December 09, 2005 - 08:05 am: | |
Excellent! Maybe you could go to Prague anyway. |
Neal Asher
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 02:36 am: | |
Hal, I just met (I believe) your German translator, Hannes Riffel, in is bookshop in Berlin. Check out the miscellaneous under the gallery: http://freespace.virgin.net/n.asher |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 03:35 am: | |
Oh, yeah! Cool! Hannes is indeed the guy translating VELLUM (also "The Chiaroscurist" for a German mag; but that's another story, as they say). So that's what he looks like! If I'd known ye were meeting him I'd have asked ye to say "Hi" from me. Ach well.
Berlin, though? Sounds like fun. |
Neal Asher
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 03:48 am: | |
Fucking cold. Did you see the other picture there of the river? But it was good fun; we went there for my birthday but also included a bit of business by visiting Hannes' bookshop. Easy to travel round, interesting sights (Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag ... though we never got to stand in that carpark over Hitler's bunker, not on the tourist map for some reason ho ho). And the Berliner's couldn't have been more helpful. Have you got Hannes' email? |
al duncan
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 04:22 am: | |
Did you see the other picture there of the river?
Aye. Pretty in a "Christ, that looks like brass monkey weather" sorta way.
Have you got Hannes' email?
Sure. If yer looking to get in touch with him, drop me a line at hal_duncan AT hotmail DOT co DOT uk. (I'm guessing he wouldn't appreciate me posting it up here for the world and its uncle to see). |
Neal Asher
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 04:48 am: | |
No problem, I've got it. I just wanted to check that you have it, since translators don't necessarily get in contact. But having met Hannes and heard his enthusiasm for Vellum, I suppose it rather unlikely he did not get in contact. |
Javier Bernedo López
| | Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 02:30 pm: | |
Hi, Mr. Duncan
I´m spanish and I began to read Vellum because Richard Morgan highly recommend me but...It´s a too complex novel for my english (I have read a lot of books in english but Vellum defeated me).
I quit at 150 pages, and I was really enjoying (well, what I understood).
Is Vellum going to be published in spanish? When?
Thank you very much! |
Hal Duncan
| | Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 07:19 am: | |
Sorry to hear that, Javier.
There's no Spanish translation planned at the moment, I'm afraid, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed, obviously. |
Javier Bernedo López
| | Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 11:55 am: | |
ok.
Thanks for the answer. |
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