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TRIMMING THE VERGE

A Blog for Creative Minds

Philip Reeve Interview &                                                            'Night Flights' Feature

12/1/2018

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At the heart of all great genre fiction you will  find a great premise. Back in 2001, author Philip Reeve created a a marvelously original world set in the far future where our civilization has gone and is replaced with cities which have been rebuilt as massive vehicles that hunt smaller cities and towns. In this world,  centuries after a devastating '60-minute war', life has changed and societal structures reset  to such a great extent that much of human history, aside from discovered and 'rediscovered' technological innovations, has been largely forgotten. I speak of course of Mortal Engines.

Publishing simultaneously with the release of the Mortal Engines motion picture is the prequel novella, Night Flights, which explores the back story of Anti-traction League Agent and airship pilot, Anna Fang. For the full interview and story feature, please read or download the Scribd Document below.
Philip Reeve's current written project is a sci fi trilogy which follows the adventures of the rebel and thief, Zen Starling, who hails from a backwater industrial town. He travels to other planets to purloin wares  via  sentient trains which travel on a hyperspace railways that lead through man made 'K-gate' portals. But soon his luck begins to change when he finds himself employed by a mysterious figure called Raven.

 The trilogy begins with Railhead and is followed by books two and three: Blacklight Express and Station Zero. All books, including those written in the world of Mortal Engines, are currently available in all bookstores.
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Read more on philip-reeve.com
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'The Harder it Gets the Softer We Sing'                      Novella by Steven J Dines

6/25/2018

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Sometimes, no matter how great a writer’s talent, a story deflates through emotional turbidity. It wintles short of being elemental. Of being deemed necessary reading by our creative peers.

Yet there is something to be celebrated about Steven J. Dine’s novella: 
‘The Harder it Gets the Softer We Sing’, published in Black Static, Issue 63. There is a quiet energy that draws you. Above all the action and alluring mystique we find tend to find in pulp fiction, it enthralls through its use of symbolism and ‘second story.’ Reading it through twice, the words audibly wrangle, signaling to readers that they’re mere guiding marks to the raw crux of the tale being told: a story filled with pain and self abandonment...

If you are interested in serious writing in the horror genre, then head on over to SFFWorld for the full review: The Harder it Gets the Softer We Sing Novella Review
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Publisher: TTA Press; Cover Art by Richard Wagner
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Kevin J Anderson Interview &                                                     'The Dark Between the Stars' Feature

6/10/2018

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For this interview, I reached out to Internationally acclaimed author, Kevin  J. Anderson, to talk about  his short fiction, how he got started publishing professionally and how he tames the writing monster. 

Besides an impressive career, which includes writing in the expansive worlds of the Star Wars EU, X Files and the Dune Series, KJA has helped create many other fictional worlds . He's  published around 150 short stories, has worked on comics, graphic novels and anthologies, and has produced his own novel-sized adventures such as  his sequel space opera trilogy, The Saga of the Seven Suns. 

To discover more, scroll down to read  the interview and 'The Dark Between the Stars' Feature.  For more fantastic fiction by Kevin J Anderson, you can follow him on Twitter @TheKJA, like the official Facebook Page, Kevin J. Anderson, or contact him through his publishing website wordfire.com

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Published by Tor Books; Cover art by Stephen Youll
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John Coulthart:                                                                                    Portrait of an Artist

4/25/2018

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Art has the ability to influence our perception of story settings, heroes, heroines and villains. Done with earnest passion and creative insight, they often leave a stamp on our minds which we sometimes recall far more vividly than anything else.

​John Coulthart is an award-winning fantasy artist who was recently nominated for the Gemmell Award for his work on Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng. His art has appeared in many publications including Barnes & Noble, Tor Books, and  Angry Robot. 
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​Aspiring artists and writers alike can find out more about his impressive contributions by reading the written interview-feature below on Scribr. Or alternatively, click the featured cover art to find out more information about the books. 

You can view his collection of work in its entirety at johncoulthart.com

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Jasmine Gower Interview & 'Moonshine' Feature

4/18/2018

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Publisher: Angry Robot; Cover Art: John Coulthart
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 From the very beginning of Moonshine, we are plunged into an alternate timeline of America’s roaring twenties. Ashland’s Soot City is wreathed in the otherworldly. The atmosphere is all volcanic smog and watercoloured nights. Gas lit alleyways shine light on the clientele spilling out of disreputable establishments at twilight. Jalopies race through the streets. Spells are cast. It’s a veritable breeding ground for cloak and dagger and morbid crimes done in the dark.

What is most impressive about Jasmine Gower’s debut fantasy romance is the magic weaved into every sentence. The imagery lingers and character’s motives keep readers guessing.  To read more about this spellbinding novel set in a warped version of Chicago, check out the full interview and feature below. 

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Jeannette Ng Interview &                                                            'Under the Pendulum Sun' Feature

3/13/2018

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Publisher: Angry Robot; Cover Art: John Coulthart
View on Amazon
Jennette Ng's descriptive powers helped to build the mist-wreathed, mysterious land of Arcadia. There are times when the 'real' crosses over into delightful absurdism that reminds readers of the work of Lewis Carol or Hayao Miyazaki. But above all one of the most captivating elements of this book is its novel and alluring premise: Victorian missonairies travel to the Faelands to convert the fae folk to Christianity.

Under the Pendulum Sun is a newly-released Victorian Gothic fantasy, published by Angry Robot. The story follows Catherine Helstone who travels from Yorkshire to Arcadia to find out what happened to her brother, the resident Reverend of Gethsemane castle. Scroll below to read the full author interview and discover more about this unusual tale in the feature article.
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'The Music of Ghosts' by Paul Jessup

2/7/2018

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Publisher: TTA Press. Cover art by Dave Senecal
Clockwork ghosts and the patterns of departed souls comprise a techno-synergetic society. A microcosm of human habitation flies across the vast loneliness of space. Generations aboard it live and die. So long have the people travelled that to them time and history and people of Earth recede into phantom remembrances. Memories collect in the Library of the Dead – so many. Thousands. Until even the oldest among them fade and are kept alive in a second life – memories of memories.

In this story, Paul Jessup writes about the lives of our future kind. Check out the full review at: The Music of Ghosts by Paul Jessup, a short story review.

 
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Zachry Wheeler Interview & Transient Feature

12/1/2017

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Immortal creatures have forever lurked in the darkness. These undead were once considered myths. Old legend said they called crypts and tombs their resting places. They were said to possess terrible strength and incredible regenerative powers. Their living presence has transmuted from folklore to some of the most popular writing of the 20th century. In some of the world's greatest stories, such as Anne Rice’s contemporary classic, Interview with the Vampire, Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot, and the cult film, Blade, staring Wesley Snipes as the Daywalker, the vampire archetype has continued to be re-imagined in new ways. 
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Now there emerges a new story that rebrands these creatures as 'eternals.' Several hundred years from now, they hold complete dominion over the Earth. It is up to the human transient spies to infiltrate the biter factions of the NExUS government and gather reconnaissance 
information that is vital to their survival and will ultimately  be used as a weapon against  their enemy. 
To find out more, read the interview and feature below.
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Publisher: Zachry Wheeler
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'The Transmuted Child' by Michael Reid

11/6/2017

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Our curiosity knows fathomless depths when exploring other worlds. Great stories can manifest with an Earth setting. But take the culture of that planet and use it as a narrative device when communicating with alien species with their own customs, and it makes an incredible story on its own. Films like Arrival and Stargate have touched on this theme, where humans and extraterrestrials build an understanding of the other by learning each other’s language and ways.  In Michael Reid’s short story, ‘The Transmuted Child,’ which appears in Issue 268 of Interzone, he makes his own indelible mark on this by prompting the question: what happens when thousands of Earth people accept a gift from an alien culture that modifies their children beyond recognition?
See the full review at: 

https://www.sffworld.com/2017/11/short-story-review-the-transmuted-child-by-michael-reid/​
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Publisher: TTA Press. Cover art by Dave Senecal
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Jeffrey Thomas Interview & Haunted Worlds Feature

10/9/2017

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What do travellers like to do? 'Real' travellers? Explore. They willingly enter into worlds unknown with their hearts in their hands. They don’t know if they’re going to get lost, waylaid or subdued by the encroaching sprawl of city and its people. Some might say that’s horrible. Others yet
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gain would say its part and parcel of the experience.
Writer's lead us to explore unknown worlds. Their tales can tear us up, leave us cold, take us to new heights and blow our minds. The writing of which I speak is the cross-genre work of author, Jeffrey Thomas.

Recently, I invited  the author to talk about his work and promote his latest collection of fantastically weird fiction, Haunted Worlds. You can read the full interview and feature below.
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Publisher: Hippocampus Press. Cover art by Kim Bo Yung
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