Since the original Star Trek TV show, people have wished we had transporters so they could go to The Ivy in London for Sheppard’s Pie. Or maybe that’s just me. But they might rethink their dinners plans after reading Peter Clines’ The Fold (hardcover, digital), in which some scientists invent a transporter they call The Albuquerque Door. Though in talking Mr. Clines about his new novel, it’s clear his inspiration for this sci-fi tale went beyond wanting to eat British food.
Last year, writer Chris Beckett explored the idea of a new Earth, one without a sun, in his sci-fi novel Dark Eden. But in his sequel, Mother Of Eden (hardcover, paperback, digital), Beckett continues the story of this human world not by picking up where he left off, but two hundred years later. Which, as he sees it, was a much more interesting way to continue this now ongoing saga.
While Dan Henk has made a name of himself as a tattoois and illustrator, he’s also often expressed himself as a writer of both fiction and non-. With Permuted Press recently reprinting his 2011 novel The Black Seas Of Infinity (paperback, digital), I spoke to him about the origins of this horror novel, as well as how this new edition compares to the original.
Though she learned to speak English from watching Scooby-Doo, there’s nothing cartoony about the scary writings of Ania Ahlborn. With her new book, Within These Walls (paperback, digital) hitting stories, I spoke to her about what inspired different aspects of this novel.
Every week for the last four years, Henry Rollins has written a column for the L.A. Weekly, a free alternative weekly newspaper in Los Angeles. And almost every week, some editor cuts something out or changes the title.
But while you might think this would send him into some Hulk-like rage — especially if you don’t know much about the man and his professionalism — Henry instead just saves the originals for an ongoing series of books he calls Before The Chop, the first volume of which is available both physically and digitally .
With the second, Before The Chop II (digital) now out, I sent him some questions via email to ask how much his editors change his work, if these changes have impacted how he writes for them, and why — after twenty years of writing about music, his life, and other real things — he’s never penned a work of fiction.
According to the Anxiety And Depression Association Of America, “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18% of U.S. population).” In his new book, Anxiety As An Ally: How I Turned A Worried Mind Into My Best Friend (paperback, digital), writer Dan Ryckert — who I and other people know best as a senior editor of the video game website Giant Bomb, or from his previous gig as the senior associate editor of the video game magazine Game Informer — talks about how he’s found a way to live as one of those 18%.
When the original Star Trek series was cancelled in 1969, it cut short the Enterprise’s five year mission. But thanks to such writers as Tony Daniel — the author of the new novel, Star Trek The Original Series Savage Trade (paperback, digital) — Kirk and co. have been able to fulfill their obligations to Star Fleet. Though in talking to Daniels about the book, it seems like he wasn’t just interested in telling another story of Kirk and co.
Funko have announced that they will release the second series of Game Of Thrones Mystery Minis action figures this April.
With a planet where genetic experiments have run amok, the sci-fi novel Prime (paperback, digital) has been likened to — and sometimes by its own authors — Jurassic Park…In Space! But in talking to authors Chris Kluwe (yes, the former punter for the Minnesota Vikings) and Andrew Reiner (yes, the executive editor of Game Informer magazine and gameinformer.com), while Prime may be an intergalactic take on Michael Crichton’s sci-fi disaster tale, both note that there are a lot of other influences at work here as well.