Hey, you there, writer so-called! Quit it!

Y’see, I has a problem. I’m writing a superhero novel, and for the moment (just for the moment), I’m calling it New Gods. It’s catchy, it rolls off the tongue, it’s a really cool title.

Thing is, some dude called Jack Kirby happened to have come up with that title back in 1971, when he moved from Marvel to DC. Having created practically the entire Marvel universe with Stan Lee, he set about constructing Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. Yep, his name is in the title. That’s how he rolled.

So with the Fourth World, he created the New Gods, and gave us the twin planets of New Genesis and Apokolips, and the characters of Highfather, Orion, and the ulimate DC Comics villain, Darkseid. Darkseid is such a bad-ass that he even killed Batman.

And Jack Kirby’s Fourth World rocks the damn boat.

When I was looking for a title for my superhero novel, I ran through a variety of unbearable options – ‘Power’ (meh) and ‘The Angle of Power’ (what?) being two of the less awful (but awful) alternatives. Then New Gods came to mind, not just because of the Kirby connection, but because it’s a perfect title.

My novel (let’s call it New Gods, just for now) is about a good guy (Tony) who is sick of the bad guy (The Cowl) and the fact that the so-called protectors of the West Coast – the New Gods – let said bad guy get away with it in the otherwise pleasant California city of San Ventura.

The New Gods in question are a seven-member superhero league/society – three men, three women, one robot – and while the novel doesn’t entirely focus on them (and it’s told from Tony’s PoV anyway), the title ‘New Gods’ sums the whole story up very well indeed. Needless to say, New Gods doesn’t refer just to the New Gods, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

But that’s why it fits.

So back to Jack Kirby. Kirby is a legend, and I would not dream of having my mediocre, mostly crappy writing associated with his greatness. A working title is one thing, but a proper title (and name of a superhero league) is another entirely.

New Gods has got to go.

Which brings me to: competition time!

Here’s the deal: come up with a title for the novel, which is not only damn cool, but sums up the whole premise of a superhero league, the fact that maybe there are other forces in the universe that we don’t know about, and that maybe, if you’re lucky/unlucky (take your pick), you can become part of it all yourself.

The criteria: It needs to be short – two words is best. The Something Something of Something is too long and too dull. Be imaginative – remember, this needs to be a short, sharp, memorable hook, because it’s the title of the novel.

The prize: Full credit for the title and name with dedication in the finished product. Plus, a character in the novel will be named after you, and will suffer a truely gruesome and bizzare death at the gloved hands of The Cowl.

So get those thinking caps on, and tell your friends!

Oh the irony. The day I stop worrying about wordcount, the day I finally go over what was my old daily target. Lesson learnt and full steam ahead to March 31st.

Anyway, I’m pleased to report that not only has Prince Albert made his one and only appearance in the novel (although in a sequence which may need extensive revision when I’m done, as looking back at the synopsis for this chapter it seems I left an important element out… then again, this actually might be worth a chapter of its own, which would give government man Macmillan Brown another fifteen minutes of fame… hmm, I like it!), but Bellamy, Clarke and Zoe have finally made it off that damned airship and have arrived at the chaos of the abandoned – or should that be empty? – army camp. Now it’s time to get some good old plot progression down before they wander off again.

Meanwhile, the days are counting down to the launch of The Devil in Chains eBook. Unfortunately I can’t do an actual countdown, as tremendously exciting as it would be, as once the iPhone/iPod touch application is submitted to Apple, they actually review and approve it. While this should only take a few days, there is no way of knowing when the eBook will actually appear on the iTunes applications store for sale, short of checking it every day. But hey, maybe we can have a PDF and Kindle countdown. Sounds good!  So once we’re all set and the iPhone thing is submitted, the party can begin.

In the meantime, I’ll see you tomorrow when I’ll introduce you to Legends, the exceedingly nifty eBook application for the iPhone/iPod touch. Good times!

Time to kick-start this blog with some news!

I’m pleased to announce that the first part of my Dark Heart novella, The Devil in Chains, is now available:

Pantechnicon 8 - download it now!

The Devil in Chains is an almost-prequel to Dark Heart – it’s no directly tied into the main novel, but details the first meeting of two of the main protagonists, Dr Jackson Clarke and Colonel-Commandant (as he was then) Alexander Bellamy.

The story opens as Dr Clarke, news magazine science correspondant, is sent to the Isle of Man to investigate the tale of a talking poltergiest. But he is soon caught in a conspiracy of missing scientists, zombie soldiers, and a dark evil buried deep in the hills.

Pantechnicon is a free, downloadable PDF magazine, and issue 8 is out now. Go grab it and read The Devil in Chains part one! Do let me know what you think!

I’m very lucky to have been given the cover of Pantechnicon, which features a superb rendering of one of the Royal Navy airships from my story by Bristol-based artist Rob Spry.

Speaking of artists, I am forever indebited to Alistair Hughes, who has bravely embarked on a series of illustrations to accompany Dark Heart. The first is a sketch of our three heroes – Dr Clarke, Alexander Bellamy, and his sister Zoe – which is now the banner of this blog. And there is more to come!

Pantechnicon 8 also features an interview I conducted with Doctor Who and Faction Paradox novelist Daniel O’Mahony. Daniel gave a fascinating interview, and his latest book Newton’s Sleep is available from Random Static and any good SF bookstore.

Happy reading!

Now if only I had a microphone like Kermit used to have…

Lost Metropolis footage found! Well now, there’s something nobody thought would ever happen. Fans of Fritz Lang’s 1927 magnum opus will be dying for the footage to be restored all crisp and shiny-like and Blu-rayed as soon as possible (can I use Blu-rayed as a verb?). Speaking of shiny, Pantechnicon has a nice, new, clean look, and a new issue as well – go and grab the entirely free PDF of issue seven, and while you’re about it, check out the forum, where you’ll find me as Carnacki. Actually I’ll have something coming up online in a week or two, and I’m also pleased to say that my short novella prequel to Dark Heart, The Devil in Chains, will be published in two parts in the PDF edition of Pantechnicon, starting with issue 8. I’ll be blogging more about that when the time comes and offering delicious samples of voodoo steampunk goodness here, of course. And staying with publishing and writing, I was talking to Gwen Gades from the quite frankly hot Dragonmoon Press, and she mentioned a few rather interesting titles they’ve got coming up. If I were you I’d visit the site and load up your shopping cart. And another book you should all be snapping up is Wiffle Lever to Full by my friend Bob Fisher – if you ever want to really, REALLY know what goes on at Robin of Sherwood conventions (I’m entirely serious), then this no doubt the definitive tome. Bob will be launching his book at PM2008, a one-day celebration of all things related to The Prisoner, being held on Sunday July 13th at – my favourite place ever ever – Portmeirion. Oh boy! I’ll be there representing the Detroit Ninja Academy, so do feel free to challenge me to a quick bout of Kosho should you see me lurking around Hercules Hall looking for trouble.

Oh, and with 90 days to go until my deadline Zoe came along and told me she needed her own chapter about her midnight adventures in the ice fog. Nothing like adding another 2000 words to your list when you haven’t opened Scrivener in weeks!