Arkship Prophecy revealed!
- At December 04, 2018
- By Niel
- In Artwork, Writing
0
The Arkship Saga continues with book five, Arkship Prophecy, which is now available to pre-order! Members of the Arkship Saga Facebook page have already seen the cover, but if you’re not a member then you can see it for yourself now! Just click this link!
What’s it all about? Well….
As the Church of the Infinite forces its doctrine on the survivors of humanity, the battle-weary Prince Halstead finds himself torn between his desire for peace and the growing tide of resistance, led by his estranged wife Bara. As the survival of humanity hangs in the balance, Halstead must finally decide what the Infinite Gods want him to do, a decision that could change the balance of power across the Cluster forever.
Meanwhile, the followers of the prophet Gofal, in hiding from the brutal forces of the Church’s Inquisitors, work towards a better future, one that may demand the ultimate sacrifice of their outlawed cult.
Past and future collide in this fifth volume of the explosive Arkship Saga. If you liked Battlestar Galactica, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series or The Expanse then this might be the series for you!
Creating a book cover
- At October 16, 2018
- By Niel
- In Advice, Artwork
- 0
Want to see how I went about creating the cover for Tobin Artichoke and the Queen of Heaven? Take a look at this short video on YouTube for in insight into the process.
And if you want to read the book you can find it here!
Go Brazil!
- At June 18, 2014
- By Niel
- In General
- 0
Some people love football. They love everything about it! The highs the lows, the… er, goals. People who love the game enthuse about their favourite teams, arrange their entire lives around watching it on the TV, debate it with fellow fans. They’re obsessed, passionate supporters.
Then there’s me.
Hate is a strong word I rarely use, and I wouldn’t go so far as to use it against football. But my interest in it runs to a big fat zero. Yes, I was one of those guys waiting to be picked for the school kick-about. Yes, I’m short sighted and could never kick the ball in the right direction. Yes, I’m not very good at football, all right! I’ve had good reasons to dislike it from an early age.
But right now football is pretty hard to avoid. There’s some sort of competition going on in Brazil that seems to bring out the flag-waving nutter in the nicest of people. But it’s not the only thing to get excited about in that part of the world: Sorrowline is soon to be published in Brazil, and here’s the cover!
It’s using some of the elements from the UK cover by James Fraser but with a new twist. It’s interesting how each new territory has their own take on the cover. Here’s a comparison of the original UK version, then Germany, Thailand and Brazil. Even the title is different! I think my favourite is still the UK one, with the German comic-book approach coming a very close second.
So if you’re like me and not the biggest fan of the beautiful game then there is an alternative: spend the summer learning a new language! Might I suggest German, Thai or Brazilian Portuguese?
Judging a book by its cover
- At December 03, 2013
- By Niel
- In Awards, Events/News
- 1
We all do it! We’re not supposed to but we DO judge books by their covers. If we didn’t then why would publishers spend money commissioning artists and designers to create works of art to represent the book’s contents? It’s the closest books come to having film-style trailers. They’re there to intrigue you, to make you pick up the book and (hopefully) buy it.
I’m a big fan of classic movie posters of the 70s and 80s, especially the work of Drew Struzan. I love the way his work encapsulates the essence of a movie, its main characters and themes, into one bold image. Stephen Lavis‘ beautiful cover paintings manage the same trick, making you want to read the book immediately. I wanted to capture something similar with the covers for my books and luckily designer James Fraser did exactly that!
You might have heard me mention about Timesmith being in competition in Mr Ripley’s Book Cover Wars this week. Well, I’m delighted to say that it won! Given the excellent competition it was up against it makes it a particularly thrilling victory! The voting went right up to the 12 midnight deadline (far too late for this sleep-loving monkey) and there were only 2 votes in it! It could so easily have gone to the excellent Terminal by Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams. Praise must go to all the finalists and their books:
Alexander Gordon Smith – The Fury – Published by Farrar Straus Giroux – 23, July 2013 – Cover by Christian Fuenfhausen. Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams – Terminal – Published by Chicken House – 2, May 2013 – Cover by David Wyatt. Thomas Taylor – Dan and the Caverns of Bone – Published by A&C Black Children’s – 6th June 2013 – Cover by Thomas Taylor. Ian Johnstone – The Bell Between the Worlds ( The Mirror Chronicles) – Published by HarperCollins – 6 June 2013 – Designed by Blacksheep UK.
Thanks to Mr Ripley and all the other competing covers. The end result for all of us is that we’ve been exposed to covers – and writers – that we might not have seen before, so even a beauty contest like this can be a good thing for the words hidden under the covers.
Cover Reveal – Sorrowline Thailand edition
- At September 16, 2013
- By Niel
- In Writing
- 0
Not only is Sorrowline being published in the UK, it’ll be out in Germany next month and Thailand soon after. So I’m delighted to be able to share the Thai variant cover with you!
It’s by Thai artist Gratuaidong and even features a nod to my Northern Promise Award! I’m sure New Writing North will like that!
I can’t wait to have a copy of this and the German edition to put on my shelf next to the UK version. There’s also a Braziliian version to come some time in the future. What do you think? Which is your favourite cover?
The Big Reveal!
- At August 25, 2013
- By Niel
- In Writing
- 2
It might seem like a long time to next March but it’s amazing how far ahead publishers have to work. They need time to promote a new title and sell it in to the shops so even though it’s more than six months away my next book, Timesmith, is finished, copy-edited and typeset. Even the cover is done! And here’s the proof!
Like Sorrowline the cover was designed by James Fraser with art direction by Kate Grove at Andersen Press. It captures the book’s mood really well and, hopefully, makes the reader want to know more. It’s going to look great alongside it’s predecessor. But what do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
Jack Morrow and the Grave of Time!
- At May 01, 2013
- By Niel
- In Events/News, News, Writing
- 1
One thing I’ve learned is that things take a long time in publishing! Way back in September 2011 the German publisher Heyne (part of Random House) bought the German rights to Sorrowline and Timesmith. This was my very first book deal – the UK rights sold a few months later. So you can imagine I’ve been keen to see how my work translates into another language. Well, here it is! It’s Sorrowline, but not as we know it! It’s called Jack Morrow und das Grab der Zeit, or Jack Morrow and the Grave of Time. Not only is the title different the cover is too! Take a look:
German edition of Sorrowline
It’s refreshingly different to the UK edition – I love them both! But what do you think? It’s due out on the 28th October this year and is already listed on the German Amazon site.
Sam Youd AKA John Christopher (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012)
- At April 22, 2012
- By Niel
- In Writers
- 0
I have only just heard of the death of author, Sam Youd, known to most as John Christopher. He passed away on February 3rd.
When I was a brand new teenager John Christopher’s books were the hot ticket in the school library. His mix of future dystopia, science fiction and boys own adventure made his books required reading. He’s best known for his Tripods Trilogy, which was made into an ambitious but incomplete BBC sci-fi series. But he produced a great number of books on a wide range of subjects, including the Lotus Caves, about two young boys mischievous adventures on the moon, and the Prince in Waiting Trilogy (also know as The Sword of the Spirits Trilogy), a brilliant mix of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and Arthurian Medieval sword play. This trilogy is less well known, but is as least as good as his Tripod books. And those covers! Yes, they’re very 70’s, but they’re so evocative! They just begged to be read.
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