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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Hinterland - SPOILERS

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12:16 / 18.02.05

I too have only just seen this thread. This is WOEFUL since I am a Books moderator. I blame on the life work balance myself.

Sax, that is so, so cool, and such a good thing for eveyone here to hear because its inspiring. I'm going to go and read it now.

10:21 / 22.02.05

Aw, thanks Olulabelle, and others.

I feel dirty doing this, and I know you won't respect me in the morning, but when you've got the urge upon you...

You can pre-order Hinterland here and here.

Sorry it's a bit pricey. Small press etc. Not my doing.

11:02 / 24.02.05

I've just had it confirmed that a launch party for Hinterland will be held at Waterstone's Wool Exchange branch in Bradford on Friday April 1 at 7pm. It's free but by ticket only, so if you're in West Yorkshire around that time and would like to come and see me sweating through a reading and Q&A sesh, PM me.

There will, of course, be cheap plonk out of plastic cups.

Whisky Priestess

16:40 / 26.02.05

Guess what I just picked up in a charity shop?

Sax's labelmate's novel, that's what.

Sample sentence:
"If she'd been human he would have found her captivating."

Back of jacket blurb:
"The ballerina Violette Lenoir has fallen victim to the bite of the vampire Charlotte. Her fire and energy have fuelled a terrifying change and led her to a dreadful realisation; that she has become Lilith, the demon mother of all vampires.

Haunted both by what she has done and Violette's dark sensuality, Charlotte and her immortal lover Karl are drawn towards Violette and the terrible destiny that has fallen on her shoulders.

But other, far more dangerous shadows are gathering around Violette including the vampire Sebastian,terrified by the havoc Violette could wreak to his plans to bring all mankind underneath his dark wing."

First one to PM me with their postal address gets it!

07:13 / 28.02.05

No Amazon warrioresses on big cats, I'm afraid:

07:17 / 28.02.05

And not to be outdone by Freda Warrington, here's a sample quote from Hinterland:

"Ooh, me Chalfonts..."

Haus of Mystery

10:48 / 28.02.05

Should that cover not read 'Hinterland' by Sax? Who is this David Barnett?

Whisky Priestess

22:18 / 28.02.05

NICE cover. Streetsign an inspiration.

But someone's going to take that hyphen between "genuinely" and "skewed" out before publication, right? I hope so, or else you're going to have Lynne Truss on your arse so fast ...

22:19 / 28.02.05

Oy, Barnett ?

NO!!!

You slag et ce-ter-ah

06:22 / 01.03.05

Whisk, yeah, that's just a quickie cover with some wording thrown on it.

21:26 / 10.03.05

hey, i'd forgotten 'bout this. woot! can't wait. when's out?

m.

10:45 / 11.03.05

Three weeks today! Come to Yorkshire and see me stumble through some choice readings! Or buy on Amazon now!

13:44 / 11.03.05

I'm only coming to the reading if you promise to turn up drunk and insult everybody then storm out.

14:39 / 11.03.05

And that would be different from every other social function I attend..?

Whisky Priestess

22:17 / 11.03.05

... in that we'd all have bought your book rather than your drink?

23:24 / 14.03.05

busfare from Melbourne to Yorkshire's a bit steep for me. I'm going to have to be there in spirit, Sax. But I demand photos.

m.

Regrettable Juvenilia

08:36 / 15.03.05

"These are the mysteries which set a young journalist lurching away from the normal, everyday life he leads and into a night-marish world he never knew ex-isted. yet which hides in plain sight all around him. And at the heart of it all, a nightclub where those who walk paths unknown to the rest of us party on, through day and night and towards the end of the world. The blurred edges of this strange, mythic world are brought into sharp, horrifying focus as one man discovers that scratching the surface of normality can throw up all kinds of surprises - and not all of them pleasant. Whether the enigmas herald a terrifying conspiracy that threatens the lives of innocent people who just happen to take too much notice of the world around them, or are simply the signposts to drug-fuelled insan-ity, the question remains: Once you've noticed just how weird life really is, can you ever go home again?"

Is this book the thinly-veiled story of your relationship with Barbelith, Sax?

17:06 / 15.03.05

Nice cover. I'll be ordering my copy soon (waiting for my income tax check to arrive so I can buy stuff that isn't food and gas.)

18:50 / 16.03.05

The solitary Justice League/crop circles fan in the delapidated old house in the bad part of town, who the narrator's other friends are always telling him to stay away from, would, I fear, certainly tend to support that conclusion, PS.

Good stuff though Sax, having finally got round to, y'know, actually reading it, rather than posting ill-informed nonsense after one and a half shandies at 2Am - I particularly liked the hum'rous asides.

I was a bit concerned about this upthread though;

They're by a guy called Z Robinson, who I know nothing about, but, if I could afford him, I'd probably get him to do something.

They don't make you pay for the cover design out of your own pocket, do they ? I can appreciate it'd be a bit much to ask for a Ralph Steadman original, say, at least first time out, but wouldn't that be the company's decision ?

10:07 / 29.03.05

No, I didn't have to pay any money for the publication of hte book. Obviously, I would have run screaming from any publisher that even suggested that.

I think I was using "afford him" in the, y'know, wrong sense. Probably meant "if Immanion could afford him" but couldn't be bothered to type "mmanion".

And thanks for the kind words.

Book's out on Friday, although about 50 copies managed to escape from the printers about two weeks early and found their way into Waterstone's in Bradford.

Big launch on Friday night. Do come for a plastic cup of wine if you're in the area.

12:00 / 29.03.05

I've finally got around to it and ordered my copy, how exciting! I'm going to save it to read on the plane to Australia. I've got three books for the flight - Ian Banks, Joyce Carol Oates and Sax. It'd better be good!

Wish I could come to the launch - I hope it goes well and there's a queue of eager buyers winding out the door.

07:50 / 30.03.05

So you're the one who's pushed my amazon ranking up to 79,845!

11:11 / 30.03.05

For a moment there I thought you meant you'd sold 79,000 copies in Amazon! Do you know how many have been sold?

13:58 / 30.03.05

About ten, probably. But it isn't officially out until Friday, and once the reviews roll in over the next couple of weeks things might pick up.

11:57 / 31.03.05

Good luck for tomorrow Sax.

Whisky Priestess

21:49 / 01.04.05

'Ray, it's out! If you're sending a copy to the TLS let me know - one of my mates works on the paper and although I can't promise a jacket quote, I can at least ask him to pluck it off the review pile and give it a once-over.

23:13 / 03.04.05

Just finished it. Lovely stuff, genuinely haunting (scary weirdness on islands in park duckponds is one of those things that, as a kid, you just know and, as an adult, forget). I read it in a oner this weekend, and liked it a lot (even if the psychotherapist woman deserved a bit of a slap).

Who's the Alpha Geek, though? Grant?

10:11 / 04.04.05

Yeah, I half thought I should have run the psyche stuff by you first. But I didn't,and it got too late. Sorry if it was a crap representation (she wasn't NHS though, so could conceivably have been a quack).

But, you bought it. I feel a soppy gratitude bordering on the offering-of-sexual-favours type towards anyone who shells out for it. So thanks.

And grant as the Alpha Geek? Unintentional, but now you mention it... bet he wouldn't be too chuffed with the physical description, mind.

13:46 / 04.04.05

I haven't got mine yet, though it should arrive soon. Will I manage to keep it till the end of the month and my flight to Australia? Maybe not. I'll have to stop reading this thread though, for fear of spoilers!

14:50 / 04.04.05

Sorry if it was a crap representation (she wasn't NHS though, so could conceivably have been a quack).

Ach, these private shrinky-come-latelys...

S

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I really really liked the Island of Lost Women plot strand: that struck major chords of eerieness with me (based on childhood speculation on islands in park ponds, coupled with a nagging 'hmm, that could just-about happen' feeling over the rationale). Other favourite bits included the description of the attempt to puncture Segg Way (hideous pun, BTW), the incredibly evocative quite-big-town psychogeography and the rolling sense of things falling apart. The ending was also extremely satisfying, even though I was half expecting it.

Verrry nice. And bits of the story have continued to haunt me throughout today.

You've definitely employed a hair double to give the bookshop presentation, though, haven't you?

11:52 / 05.04.05

S
P
O
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L
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R

I love you.

21:30 / 10.04.05

A DAMN GOOD READ! Fair rattling through it but have just reached the point where... Better wait till I finish to critique.

15:08 / 12.04.05

Due to non-work/non-money happenings, I have just ordered a copy for my local library to get into stock, may have to wait 8 bloody weeks to read it though, but at least I'll get to read it, and then after me others, many, many others from Wandsworth.

21:53 / 12.04.05

Finished it last night (well, 2 a.m. with a heavy morning ahead) and all very satisfying. Not going to post any spoilers but I think I know Mrs Marbles particularly well.

Hmmmm, hero's a northern journalist called Dave who treats the ladeez mean and has speed for breakfast... hohoho.

Go on, write another one. I'm finding The Trial of Dr Spock a lot less pacy.

06:19 / 13.04.05

Glad you liked it, Xoc. Working on three more at the moment.

And Benny - ordering from libraries is A Good Thing. I might be wrong, but if someone requests a book from a library they're duty bound to order one in, so I encourage everyone to do it.

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