Jim Blaylock’s credentials and achievements are almost too many to list! He is the author of nearly twenty published novels and numerous shorter works. His 1978 story ‘The Ape-Box Affair’ is acknowledged as the first Steampunk story and the many further adventures of his much loved character Langdon St. Ives, in both shorter and longer forms (notably in the Philip K. Dick Award winning novel HOMUNCULUS and LORD KELVIN’S MACHINE) have made him the central figure in the original Steampunk triptych alongside Tim Powers (also represented by Zeno in the UK) and K.W. Jeter. He continues to collaborate with Powers, maintaining a partnership that has lasted since the two met in college back in the mid-70s and one only occasionally hampered by the interference of William Ashbless.

Blaylock has received multiple nominations for the World Fantasy Award, winning it on two occasions – for short stories ‘Paper Dragons‘ and his collection ‘Thirteen Phantasms‘. Over the years his work has consistently ranked the highest positions in the annual LOCUS Magazine poll and his story ‘Unidentified Objects‘ was included in Prize Stories 1990, the O. Henry Awards.

‘I have admired Jim’s work for over two decades now,’ says Zeno agent John Berlyne, ‘In fact – gushing fanboy that I am – I realise I’ve read every word of  his published fiction! Aside from being, by a country mile, the best short fiction writer I’ve ever come across, he is, and remains, a truly original voice – unique in fact – and a hugely respected and cherished genre figure.’

James P. Blaylock lives in Orange, CA with his wife, Viki. He teaches creative writing at Chapman University where he is Assistant Professor of English.‘Blaylock’s evocative prose and studied pacing make him one of the most distinctive contributors to American magical realism’ — Library Journal,

‘James P. Blaylock has proved himself to be among the front-running authors working in speculative fiction’ — Rick Kleffel

‘Blaylock is a singular American fabulist’ — William Gibson

‘Blaylock allows us to see the mundane world through new eyes, to perceive the familiar as strange, and therefore exciting’– Charles de Lint

It’s looking increasingly likely that I’ll be attending Aussiecon 4 later in the year – volcanic ash permitting! My intention, having schlepped all that way, is to return with the pick of genre talent in my agently pocket, thus we’ve decided to open for submissions, but only for authors who will be attending the con. (Don’t try and hoodwink me – as I’ll be checking the membership roster to see if you’re on it! If you’re not going to be at Worldcon, your submission will not be considered in this window.)

What am I looking for? Well, all areas of genre fiction basically. That means SF, Fantasy and Horror and the various combinations/permutations thereof. As always, the salient factor is that of the excellence of the writing and the commercial hook, rather than how many rockets or wizards or ghosts appear in the story, so look to our Submission Guidelines and the About Zeno page to gauge our tastes.

Come on Australia and NZ – let’s see what you’ve got!

Samit is a very much a rising star on the scene in India – his Gameworld Trilogy, hit the best seller lists over there and he joins Zeno having sent his novel Turbulence into us – a novel which both Johns absolutely loved. It’s an extremely clever and terrifically inventive take on the Superhero genre and one with a very fascinating Indian slant. Full of energy, intrigue, action and verve, Turbulence packs a serious punch and its central plot poses two key questions… How would you feel if you actually got what you wanted? And what would you do if you could really change the world? Turbulence is due to be published in the Autumn by Hachette India.

Instinctively creative, Samit is established in other markets too – he has had a number of works for children published by Scholastic and is extremely active in the world of comics graphic novels (with work published by Virgin Comics). He has recently completed a GN project with Mike Carey and is working on a number of Bollywood screenplay projects.

We’re very much looking forward to working with Samit and to introducing his wonderful work to a wide international audience.

• Visit Samit’s Page on the Zeno Web Site

Zeno has taken on Ben Aaronovitch as a client and we’ve already got some excitement going on for his novel RIVERS OF LONDON, the first book in a quite superb fantasy crime series that I’ve been pitching as “NEVERWHERE meets  THE SWEENEY“.

John Berlyne says “Ben’s arrival proves that the system works  and should give hope to all unagented writers out there. His book came in during the last round of submissions and the process followed the proscribed protocols in textbook fashion. I received an enquiry letter which intrigued me, asked for an elevator pitch which excited me, then received an excerpt which impressed me and finally a manuscript which floored me. It’s exactly the scenario that both parties – writer and agent – long for.

RIVERS OF LONDON is one of the most exciting and commercial prospects I’ve seen in a good while and ticks every box. John Parker and myself are enjoying working with Ben enormously and can’t wait to get this series out into the world”

• Check out Ben’s page on the Zeno web site for more info.

SECRET HISTORIES is now available from PS Publishing, and one significant thing that occured to me whilst I was working on it was that, with only minor exceptions, Powers remained out of print here in the UK for almost the entire time I was writing about him -  a project I began in the previous century!

Given my expert knowledge on this particular subject, I decided to set about addressing the issue and it is with tremendous personal and professional pride that I am delighted to be able to announce that Zeno, in association with Russell Galen of Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency, has just completed on a FOUR book deal for Tim with Nicholas Cheetham at Corvus Books, the new imprint at Grove Atlantic.

Corvus is a perfect home for Powers, who has for many year’s been confined to the genre ghetto. However, the wider readership is nowadays far more receptive to genre-friendly, mainstream-cross-over novels in the wake of the Dan Brown phenomenon and the runaway success  in recent years of novels such as The Historian and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.  Publishing Director Nic Cheetham says of the imprint “Corvus takes a particular delight in patrolling those fertile zones of convergence at genre borders, where the best stories are to be found, where entire worlds – historical, psychological, fantastical – are built just to tell stories,” which makes things sound pretty much tailor made for Powers!

The Corvus deal sees publication both backlist and frontlist titles, bringing Powers back to a British and Commonwealth  audience with a fanfare that this extraordinary author truly deserves. Their programme begins with a mass market paperback edition of DECLARE – Tim’s 2000 World Fantasy Award winner, described as a “…transcendent thriller that re-writes the espionage fiction rule book as it reveals the terrible secret at the heart of the Cold War…” and scheduled for publication in June 2010. It’s hard to believe that this will be the first UK publication of this novel. Note that the image to the right is merely a design rough from the Corvus catalogue and may well change in due course. (I like it though!)

Nic Cheetham: “Everyone is a Tim Powers fan, but just not everybody knows it… yet. We’re looking forward to changing that in June with the publication of Tim’s World Fantasy Award-winning spy novel DECLARE.”

Following DECLARE will be another first UK publication, this time of THREE DAYS TO NEVER (format to be confirmed) currently scheduled for a January 2011 release, though subject to change. Corvus and will then publish a brand new Powers novel sometime later in that year. THE LIGHTS ALONG THE SHORE is set some years after the events of THE STRESS OF HER REGARD, to which it is a loose sequel.  STRESS will also be reissued as part of the deal.

So, there you have it folks – Powers is back in the UK with a new publisher, a new book and ready to find a new audience. Happy days!

First up is a two book deal for John Meaney, who of course is already widely known as a Science Fiction author of immense talent (Robert J. Sawyer says that he’s ‘One of the most original voices, and most insightful thinkers, the genre has ever produced‘) and ABSORPTION,  the first novel in his new Space Opera sequence is due out from Gollancz next February.  Writing under the name Thomas Blackthorn – John will have two near future thrillers, EDGE and POINT published by Angry Robot, the first next February and the second in August 2010. Here’s what Angry Robot publishing Director Marc Gascoigne says of these…

‘[In EDGE] …we find ourselves in a decaying UK. The government’s response to decades of uncontrollable knife crime has been to legalise duelling, turning fighting with blades into a legitimate activity. The pinnacle of this new “sport” is the primetime TV show Knife Edge, in which have-a-go members of the public can compete against trained knifemen for ever greater rewards. So you know just what our ex-soldier hero Josh Cumberland will have to do to get to the bottom of his hunt for a missing child…

Its equally extraordinary sequel, POINT, takes us deep into the razor-wielding world of the Cutter Circles. But even in these Last Days, who the hell would want to deliberately cause the UK’s teenagers to self-harm and commit suicide? It’s up to Josh Cumberland to find out.’

We also delighted to have negotiate a three-book deal on behalf of Matt Hughes, a writer whom I’ve admired since my reviewing days. Matt’s recent releases in the US – the Henghis Hapthorn books published by Nightshade are a massively enjoyable mix of P.G. Wodehouse, Sherlock Holmes and Jack Vance’s Dying Earth, and I am hoping to find a home for them in the UK before too long, especially in the wake of the current Jack Vance renaissance. Matt has however, changed hats somewhat with these new books for Angry Robot which as yet are untitled. Here’s Marc Gascoigne again…

‘[Matt]… brings us a trio of novels featuring mild-mannered actuary Chesney Anstruther. After he accidentally summons a demon (as you do), the canny Anstruther refuses to go ahead with any soul-selling, which leads through various confusions to, well, Hell going on strike. Which means that nothing bad ever happens in the world… with disastrous consequences. When Satan offers him his heart’s desire to sort the whole mess out, our hero seizes his chance, and becomes a caped crimefighter, with a very unwilling demon for a sidekick.

Volume one of Anstruther’s outrageous shenanigans will be with you in August 2010, with at least two more to follow at six-month intervals. The titles themselves… well, we’re going to keep you in suspense a little longer on those. Bring it on!‘

Bring it on indeed! Congratulation to both John (or Thomas, if you prefer) and Matt and of course to Angry Robot. More on these releases in due course.

Ian has, of course, been in the news recently having scooped the coveted Arthur C. Clarke Award last month for his wonderful novel Song of Time, published by PS Publishing. His superb backlist is also no stranger when it comes to receiving gongs – he has twice received both the World Fantasy and the Sidewise awards and has also been placed first in the Asimov readers poll and won the LOCUS award for best first novel. In addition to all this, he has made the short-lists for the Hugo, the Nebula, the BSF, the Sturgeon, the John W. Campbell and the Tiptree awards!

John Berlyne says “I’ve been a fan of Ian’s for years! He is a truly exceptional talent and one-man showcase for all that shines in British science fiction. John Parker and I are looking forward hugely to working with him.”

• Ian’s client page on the Zeno site
• Ian R. MacLeod’s home page

Colin has recently sold two books to Angry Robot, the shiny new genre imprint at HarperCollins headed up by Marc Gascoigne, and we were delighted to have been involved in steering the deal through. Congratulations Colin!

Here’s a link to Colin’s Blog in which he talks about Winter Song, his novel due to be published by Angry Robot in October 2009.

John Berlyne says “Aliette’s reputation as a rising star of genre fiction had reached me long before I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at last year’s World Fantasy Convention in Calgary. That reputation was well founded – her work is both delightful and ingenous, her voice distinctive and her feeling for history and the ancient civilisations where she sets much of her work is instictive, thorough and a credit to her extensive research. No longer can she be considered merely one of the Writers of the Future (she was a winner of that competition on 2007) – Aliette is a very much a writer of today and one that is going to be around for a long time to come.“

Stephen Volk is giving a talk on the creating and writing of his award-winning TV drama series Afterlife at ‘Fantastic Writing – science fiction, fantasy and magic: Writing the future, the past and other worlds‘, a one-day event for budding scriptwriters taking place on Saturday 7th March 2009 at De Montfort University’s Leicester City campus.

The day also includes a keynote speech from acclaimed novelist Graham Joyce (The Facts of Life, DOOM), Q&A sessions with guests such as Phil Ford (Sarah Jane Adventures, Dr Who, Torchwood) and James Moran (Dr Who, Torchwood, Spooks), and a presentation on writing for on-line drama.

Tickets for the event are £65 per person including lunch, refreshments and car parking. For more information or to book a place, please contact:

Promotion & Recruitment Centre
Faculty of Humanities

Tel–0116 250 6470
Email – pghums[at]dmu[dot]ac[dot]uk

And here is the direct link to the event web site.