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Houston, we have lift-off...

31/7/2013

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And we are well and truly launched!

The Front Line launch shindig went ahead last Saturday night, 27th July, in suitably rousing fashion – many thanks to all who made it so!
PictureCuriouser & Curiouser with shinies!
The warehouse setting in the Old Print Works at the back of the Ort café was an incredibly atmospheric setting, perfect for welcoming the machines of death.  It looked a little spartan at first, but with the arrival of the traders (Curiouser & Curiouser, Belle Epic, The Oncoming Storm, DeVelvet Empire, Steampunk Workshops and of course, The Last Line publishing house) it was soon teeming with shinies and pretties – and it wasn’t long before the bands arrived to add even more colour.


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First up was Crimson Clocks, who will (I hope) need no introduction to readers of this blog.  Dressed in an understated little robot/borg/Tron number, I opened the event and we launched into Crimson Circus… it was great to see people dancing and singing along; and particularly pleasing that new tracks ‘Shadow’ and our cover of ‘Master of the Universe’ got a good response!

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Next up was Dr Agamemnon When, dressed in an understated little khaki number, who proceeded to debut his stand up act (yes, that was his debut!) to loud guffaws (and some slightly disturbed expressions – Victorian porn?  I say!).  An actual Victorian joke book full of *hilarious* japes from yesteryear rounded off the act, ably assisted by Crimson Clocks’ Steve providing the ba-dum-tish! needed  to cue people in to when they should actually laugh (yes it was that kind of joke book).  Marvellous, I say, marvellous!

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Then it was time to cut the hilarity as we officially launched The Front Line.  The sound of mortar fire and gunshot echoed through the room as Reading4u.co.uk’s Steven C. Davis, dressed in an understated little officer-type number, read my poem, ‘We are not men’ – an extract from a fallen soldier’s pocket-book.  I explained what The Home Front and The Front Line were all about; and we concluded the launch section with more readings from Steven and from Dr When, and a final passage read by myself, accompanied only by the beautifully haunting sound of Crimson Clocks’ Jo on the violin….

PictureBirthrite!
Then we cranked the volume back up!  First up were Birthrite, with their own inimitable style, Erazamus Voss dressed in a veritable succession of understated little jacket-y numbers, bare-foot on the cold floor (risky!).  A fantastic performance (as always) from the black country quartet was followed by yet anther superlative performance from the wonderful Gladstone.  With Amy Teacake dressed in an understated little headdress-and-shorts number (yes, and a top), and the rest of the band equally understated, the warehouse rang with the sounds of Twisted Lip and even God Save the Queen.  Sterling, chaps, simply sterling!

PictureGladstone
As previously mentioned – many thanks to all who came, to all traders, to the bands, to Bike Man Dan who turned out to also be Sound Man Dan and did a great job for us all (including getting his girlfriend to fetch his laptop so I could play the launch sound effects!); to Josie and all at Ort Café.  Special thanks go to those who made the book itself possible – Iain for military advice, Colin C, Colin H, Dave and Amanda for proofreading duties, Dave for photography and Colin C for filming, and especially to Jim and The Last Line publishing house…

Right, better get on with the next one!

(Thanks also to Angus Poiselamppe and Steve Joliffe for the photos used in this blog!)


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2 days to go & more radio...

25/7/2013

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... so a quick mini-blog just to keep you in the loop!

Tickets for the launch event on Saturday 27th will be available on eventbrite until Friday 26th July - but there will also be some tickets available on the door.

And today I was interviewed by Adrian Goldberg on BBC Radio West Midlands - if you missed the show because of some paltry excuse like you were at work or something, you can listen again for the next 7 days on the BBC i-player.

My interview is in the last half hour, for about 10 minutes.

I have to say that Adrian was very nice and professional in the few minutes I spent talking to him off air; and Natasha (and Natalie who I spoke to earlier in the week) were very helpful and friendly too - great trick in what is actually a very fast paced environment!  Thanks, all!
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Countdown to launch

24/7/2013

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So the launch is nearly here and the automata will soon walk amongst us.  I thought I'd celebrate the nearly launch by sharing some new stuff - firstly my new author profile picture, which was taken by the lovely Mr Dave Frith (commissions accepted!) as part of a photoshoot with Crimson Clocks.  I'm rather pleased with how it came out...





Secondly - may I present the back cover blurb for The Front Line for your delectation, if you fancy knowing what this one is going to be about...

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And finally - can I make you aware that tomorrow morning, fingers crossed, between 11am and 12, I should be making an appearance on BBC Radio West Midlands to talk about the book, the launch party, and to explain what steampunk is to a bunch of bemused West Midlanders...

Then, it will be only 2 days til launch.... hope to see you on Saturday.

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They're heeeerrrrrreeee...!

19/7/2013

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...and I am very proud to present a preview of the cover for Volume 2 of 'The Automata Wars':
The Front Line.

The Front Line continues the tale that began with The Home Front.  The very talented Mr Ben Henderson provided the cover art for both The Home Front and now also The Front Line...

The Front Line will be available at next week's launch event at Ort Cafe, Birmingham (Saturday 27th July).  There will be readings from the book, and also music from Crimson Clocks (well, I'm hardly not going to play at my own book launch!), Birthrite and Gladstone, plus comedy from the legendary Dr When.... It's promising to be a great night, in a superb (and cool!) venue; hope to see you there!

In the meantime, watch this space for more preview-y type things next week...

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Internet outage - grrrr

11/7/2013

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Just over two weeks to go now until the second volume of The Automata Wars launches... I’m excited and just a little nervous. Finding myself suddenly without broadband internet access for a fortnight (hence lack of recent bloggage) in the midst of this means that I was abruptly cut-off from The Last Line publishing house; and have yet to see the finalised book cover! Nooo.... control freak breakdown!

It’s strange to think how quickly the internet has become a necessity. I seem to be unable to do anything or go anywhere without checking it online first. While I was off-line, I was unable to download my monthly bank statement and pay my monthly bills, amend my grocery shopping order to include some items I’d forget; order No1 Cat’s medication; submit my essay for university essays; or even apply for a job.

I rang the internet provider to ask about my order, to be told that I would need to supply the last two digits of my bank account before I could be given any information. I bank online, and paperless-ly. I explained that I couldn’t get the numbers without going online. It took the man at the other end of the phone quite a while before the penny dropped, in that I was ringing because I couldn’t get online...

This is probably the beginning of the end. It can only be a matter of time before Skynet becomes self aware and launches that last final attack (yes I know it’s already supposed to have happened!). Then the automata will advance.. oh, wait a minute, I may know a story about that....

So before the world ends, let me remind you that The Front Line launches at Ort Cafe in Birmingham (UK) on 27th July 2013. There will be music (Gladstone, Birthrite & Crimson Clocks) and merriment (Dr When). There will be reading of selected passages from the book by persons august (or me & some others, anyway). There will be purveyors of fine steampunk things...

And everyone will have a jolly fine time.

Tickets are £6.50 available from eventbrite, and you can also join the facebook event here

(PS – if you want some advice, this might be a good time to start collecting books on how to do stuff, for, you know, when Google Goes Bad...)
(PPS – look out for some cheeky pre-launch previews in the next few weeks...)

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    Author

    I'm a writer of steampunk/ fantasy fiction, singer/musician and writer at LM Cooke Music, singer in the parody band Mediaeval Biaetches, occasional historian,  and co-presenter of the Gothic Alternative Steampunk and Progressive web radio show.  Here I will ramble vaguely about stuff.  Friends, countrymen, and people who aren't countrymen, lend me your ears...

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