Booklife

Meet John Tintera.  You might not recognize the name, but if you’ve been in a bookstore, lately, you’ve probably seen his work and the work of his team. I was introduced to Tintera by Matt Forbeck, whose Amortals and forthcoming Vegas Knights are published by Angry Robot.   Tintera is the Sales and Marketing Director for the Osprey Group, which includes the imprints Osprey Publishing, Shire, and Angry Robot.

What does that mean?  It means Tintera is one of the team-members who loves books and who talks numbers, marketing plans, and release schedules.  It also means that he does the stuff they didn’t teach us in creative writing workshops—the business, the promotion, the P&L [profit and loss] reports. (more…)

In the opening chapter of Amortals by Matt Forbeck, a man in black shows Secret Service Agent Ronan Dooley video of him—Dooley—tied to a chair and being killed.  “’Give them your life,” the man in black taunts, “’they only ask if they can have another.’”  On the surface, this is a really cool opening scene of a near-future thriller about a man who is brought back from the dead in order to hunt down his own killer.  Let that sink in.  And give your “Sense of Wonder” meter time to calm down.

Next, you might start wondering…  what is Forbeck really saying, here, about the nature of corporate employment, about the nature of “day jobs”?
(more…)

Scott Nicholson has been writing professionally for a while now.  His first collection came out back in 1998, his first novel in 2002.  Since then he’s written a dozen more novels, three more collections, and diversified into comics, screenplays, and children’s books.  His most recent novels include Disintegration and As I Die Lying.

In November, I spoke with Nicholson about his free e-book, Write Good or Die, which is a collection of essays about everything from craft to the business of writing.  Nicholson gathered the essays from some of popular fiction’s biggest names and offers it up free as a way of thanking all the writers who’ve helped him throughout his ever-changing career.

Last week, Nicholson went full-time freelance.  It wasn’t really a plunge or a leap, so much as the culmination of a well-thought out plan.  Below, he talks about how things are going. (more…)

By day, novelist Jim C. Hines works for the state of Michigan.  Five days a week he goes to work to answer phone calls and e-mails.  He’s a problem-solver, a trouble-shooter.  It’s what he does.  It keeps him busy and pays the bills.

By night and by lunch break, Hines writes fantasy short stories and novels.  He’s written a trilogy of novels about Jig the Goblin and four novels re-imagining faerie tale princesses.  Red Hood’s Revenge came out last summer and The Snow Queen’s Shadow is due out this summer.  Hines’ prose crackles with wit, irony, and a brand absurdity that has most certainly been influenced by years of dealing with bureaucracy and administrivia.
(more…)