New Policy Regarding Self-Published Works

Due to an excessively large pile of review copies, increased work load at the office and a lack of time to read just for fun, I am changing my policy regarding reviewing self-published works. Just to be clear, I personally don't have any issue with authors who take that route. I have in the past read both good and bad self-published works, but because of the reasons mentioned above I will no longer accept review copies of self-published works.

HOWEVER, I still want to support all alternate historians and their endeavors. That is why I am willing to feature a guest post promoting your work. This policy has generally been in effect for the last few months, but now I am making it official. So if you are a self-published author who has published an alternate history, steampunk, historical fantasy, dieselpunk, counterfactual, etc. work of fiction, you can now promote it on The Update.

Here are the guidelines:

• All entries should be between 500-5000 words (although entries close to 5000 may be split).
• Authors will be allowed to promote themselves and their work with links, pictures, plot summaries, blurbs, etc., but the guest post should be more then an advertisement (general rule of thumb: if I removed all mention of yourself and your book I would still have 500+ words of content to use)
• Send guest posts to ahwupdate at gmail dot com. They can either be included in the body of the email or attached as a Word document.
• All pictures should be attached to the email with instructions on where to put them in THE guest post. DO NOT embed them in a Word document.
• I reserve the right to edit your guest post for spelling, grammar or flow, but any content edits will be discussed with you beforehand.
• I reserve the right to reject any guest post that does not meet the subject matter of this blog or else is otherwise inappropriate.

If you need some ideas, check out A Brief Summary of the Alternate History Genre in Hungary by Bence Pintér and Rethinking the War of 1812 by Bill Weber. Both are good examples of informative guest posts that still manage to promote their author's work in an unoffensive manner.

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. I look forward to reading your upcoming submissions.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new short story "Road Trip" can be found in Forbidden Future: A Time Travel Anthology. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Interview: Michael J. Martinez

I now present my interview with author Michael J. Martinez. With years of experience in journalism and communications writing, Mike now has taken a stab at writing his own stories and The Daedalus Incident is the result. Check out our talk below:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Well, I’m a professional writer working in the greater New York City area. And by professional, I mean more along the lines of journalism, media, communications and marketing. I actually never wrote a novel before. But I’d like to think two decades of other writing were enough to get the ball rolling. Seems to have worked out so far.

What is a normal day like for a professional writer? 

I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask, because while I've been a professional writer for the past two decades, the vast majority of that's been in journalism and, as of late, corporate communications. So in terms of my life, it's pretty much like anyone else's: Get up, hit the elliptical, drink coffee, commute to work, write various pieces for my company, commute home, quality time with wife and daughter, a little TV, maybe a bit of fiction writing, then bed.

Now, in terms of fiction, I tend to squeeze it in when I can, which is primarily on weekends. I just got back from a vacation, though, in which I was able to bull through 20,000+ words. And that was awesome.

What is The Daedalus Incident about?

The Daedalus Incident is about a 22nd century Martian mining colony that stumbles across nothing short of a cross-dimensional rift – one that leads to an alternate history in which the 18th century Age of Sail plays out amongst the planets of our solar system. The heroes in both dimensions must come together to seal the rift before an ancient evil is unleashed.

Mars is a popular place to find evil. What do you think it is about the Red Planet that terrifies us?

First off, it's one of the very few lights in the sky that's unabashedly red. And red is the color of blood, of anger, of war. Why do you think we named the red wanderer after the god of war?

And then, on further examination centuries later, Mars was found to be our closest neighbor. It was also found, at one point, to have things that looked suspiciously like canals, huge ones that criss-crossed the entire planet. How terrifying is that, to see our closest planetary neighbor possibly in possession of technology superior to our own? Think about when these theories came out, especially in the 19th century. The world grew much smaller in that century thanks to the locomotive and the telegraph, and the "other" became a serious consideration no matter where you were. And there were a lot of "other" people right here on Earth that terrified folks. Add to that an advanced civilization on Mars, and...well, it's no accident H.G. Wells chose Mars as the source of his invaders.

Even now, Mars threatens to upset our comfortable mental status quo. What if the rovers find signs of past life on Mars? What if they find something actually still living on Mars? That's absolute confirmation that humanity is not alone in the universe, or that we may not even be so very special in our very own solar system. That's very heavy stuff. I have no doubt Mars will continue to make us uncomfortable for years and years to come -- and as a fiction writer, that thrills me to no end.

I have seen your book described as alternate history, historical fantasy and steampunk. How would you describe it?

It’s very much historical fantasy.. The “engine” of sailing the Void between worlds is Alchemy, which can best be described as “mystic science” and utterly fantastical. I know it’s been called steampunk before – I think any alt-history with fantastical elements gets called that at some point – but that’s pretty inaccurate. That said, should things progress, I could see some steam entering into the timeline in the 1800s and combining with Alchemy to produce some…really interesting things.

I should say one of the two settings is historical fantasy. The other is a hard-SF near-future setting. I’d like to think it’s well grounded in modern research, but there’s nothing alt-historical about it.

What inspired you to write the story?

It came out of a lot of different things. There was a rash of sailing/pirate movies about ten years ago that helped plant the seeds. But in terms of alternate history, I think the novels of C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian were the heaviest influences. I always liked how their heroes were very much “normal” folks. There aren’t any Chosen Ones there, just normal people doing their duty. That I liked, and wanted to see that transposed into a space opera setting.

What sources were particularly helpful when researching for the novel?

I literally have a bookshelf lined with historical references that helped with this novel, and future ones as well. I have a biography of John Paul Jones, another of Lord Nelson. I read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. There’s a great book called The World in 1800 which was very helpful in terms of where things might end up, and another called Broadsides which details the Age of Sail quite well. Still, the original letters sent by people of the era are always helpful, especially in gauging character voice and motivation. And when I was in San Diego a while ago, I got a chance to walk the deck of HMS Surprise, the replica used in filming Master and Commander. That was about as good as it gets, really.

Do you have any other projects you are working on?

I do. I've been serializing a novella called The Gravity of the Affair on my website, which details the first command of Lt. Horatio Nelson in my historical fantasy setting. And I think it’s no secret that I've been plugging away at the sequel to The Daedalus Incident. It’s not contracted for, but…well, I’ll keep folks posted as things develop!

What are you reading now?

In terms of history, I've been kind of hesitant to show my hand, since I’d like to keep folks guessing as to what might come next in the worlds of The Daedalus Incident. But let’s just say I've been on a Napoleon kick lately. I've also been delving into the early history of Alchemy, and some of the latest research into Saturn. My bookshelves keep getting more eclectic as time goes on.

Do you have advice for would-be authors?

I feel woefully underqualified to answer this, but since you asked, I’ll try. I do think individuals have varying degrees of natural aptitude for creative writing…but I also believe it’s a skill that can be taught (even self-taught) and honed. And as with anything, practice makes perfect. So if you want to be an author, there is no substitute for getting your butt in a chair and writing. Writing takes self-discipline, and the key thing is to just get the story out. Once it’s out on the page, you can revise and revise until it’s right. But until something’s on the page, there’s nothing to hone. So my advice? Write. No matter how bad you think it is, write!

Writing the Outside Context Problem Series

Guest post by Christopher G. Nuttall.

The term ‘Outside Context Problem,’ invented and defined by Ian M. Banks, refers to an encounter with something that exists outside the known universe.  His example was of a small tribe, with nothing more advanced than wind power, suddenly encountering an ironclad ship from a far more advanced society.  Historically, such encounters have been devastating; China, Japan and the Native Americans all suffered badly when they realised that the world was so much larger than they had supposed – and that their new foes were far more advanced.

It’s also something that may impinge on alternate history writing.  Let us assume that the Aztec Empire never comes into existence.  This does nothing to avert the arrival of Cortes and the Spanish.  They will still arrive in Mexico – they will just encounter a radically different world.  There is no way for Mexico to avert this date with destiny – and disaster, simply because everything that made the Spanish invasion occur took place completely outside their context.

Outside of an encounter with wizards and magical creatures, alien invasion would be the ultimate OCP.

Alien invasion has always fascinated me.  When I was a child, I read a series entitled Hood’s Army, a story about an alien invasion of Earth.  Although the series was quite childish in many respects – no sex, for example – and dated in others, it left quite an impression on me.  As I grew older, I read The War of the Worlds, Footfall, The Posleen War and many others.  I also read a great deal of UFO literature and wondered what might happen if they really were watching us.  How would we, as a society, react to them?

We are barely able to send probes to the moon or another planet in our solar system.  Any alien race capable of reaching Earth will, by definition, be able to cross the gulf between stars, a sign of far more advanced technology than our own.  Even if the aliens are limited to sublight starships only – as in Invasion or Footfall – they will still have more advanced tech and, presumably, weapons.  The more advanced the aliens, the greater the shock we will receive when they arrive.  And, for that matter, the harder it will be to close the technological gap.

However, wars generally don’t happen without a reason.  Why would the aliens invade?  The blunt truth is that Earth has very little that might appeal to a technologically-advanced race.  Raw materials?  They can be obtained from the asteroids – which aren't populated by natives who might shoot back.  Water?  There’s billions of tons of the stuff drifting around the solar system.  (I had to mark Battle: LA down for the suggestion that the aliens wanted our water.)  A new home?  Slightly more reasonable.

So, when I started writing the first version of Outside Context Problem (which some of you might remember from AH.COM) I decided that the aliens wanted a new home – one where those pesky humans were either under control or enslaved.  Does this seem ruthlessly inhuman?  Mass migrations have plenty of precedent in human history – and this can be unfortunate for anyone living on desirable land, if someone with more force decides they want to take it.  As I outlined the aliens themselves for the second version, I reasoned that they would want humanity’s genetic heritage as well, tying it in with the various stories of alien abductions that have been floating around for decades.

The aliens themselves would have a caste system, one far more pronounced than our own – and this would have an effect on their society.  Human caste systems have traditionally been based on skin colour – but we are all alike under the skin.  The aliens would have far better reason to believe in their caste system; their birth would predispose them towards certain roles within their society.  It would also account for their willingness to regard humanity as just another caste, rather than something completely separate from themselves.  They’re used to dealing with beings of different shape and form.

So far, so good.  But what about the story itself?

I started with the memory of an image I recalled from my early UFO days; a flying saucer, crashed in the American heartland.  (It was a very impressive picture.)  That would serve as the start of the story; a UFO had crashed near a military base and humanity (or at least the American Government) was suddenly aware that there was a new threat out there.  This wouldn't be a Russian spy plane, although that would be alarming too; this would be something totally outside their frame of reference.  Even if there are plans for alien invasion, they wouldn't be based on reality.

What would they do?  I think there would be a frantic attempt to determine just what the hell was actually going on – and deal with it before it became a problem.

But I also didn't think that the aliens would stand still and let the human race do their research.

One problem that pops up a lot in alien invasion books and movies – generally movies – is that the aliens are stupid.  If you watch Independence Day, you’ll notice that extremely-advanced aliens lose a craft fifty years before the movie ... and then allow the craft to fly into the mothership without bothering to check just who is trying to fly it.  Where were the crew for the last fifty years?  All right – if the aliens hadn't been stupid, the movie wouldn't have ended with a human victory.  But it still gnawed at me.

I wanted aliens who would think and plan, aliens who would realise that losing the craft meant that their cover was blown – and take steps to deal with their sudden exposure.  And how would we react to that?

Human geopolitics tend to fall into predicable patterns.  Add in an OCP and those patterns will shatter.  What would the aliens be able to do if they played on human disunity?  I reasoned that they might be able to gain allies, even isolate the United States from the rest of the world.  The mere fact that the US saw fit to keep the crashed UFO to itself would destroy faith in the American government.  Everyone else would see it as a crime against humanity – and they’d be right.  Americans outside the circle of people in the know would see it as treason – and they’d be right too.

I didn't just want the invasion to take place in America – or London.  An OCP would have global repercussions and I wanted those repercussions to be explored.  How many lids would blow off how many pots if America was suddenly attacked by alien forces?  What would happen if there was suddenly a new player in the game?  And what would happen if that new player was quietly encouraging the humans to destroy each other?

Divide and conquer is one of the oldest maxims in the book.  Why shouldn't the aliens use it?

The series also touches on many other themes.  What sort of people sign up with the aliens – or another occupying force – and work with them?  How many of them do it out of idealism, or because they believe they have no choice, or because they want power for themselves?  What sort of people carry on the fight when all seems lost?  What happens to ordinary people, caught in the middle?  How might we adapt our weapons and tactics to fight back against an awesomely powerful foe?

Last week, I completed The Slightest Hope of Victory, Book III in the Outside Context Problem.  In order to promote the book, copies of Outside Context Problem – Book I in the series – will be free from Monday 13th to Wednesday 15th.  Go here for a free sample and then download the book from here.  If you like it, please leave a review.

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Christopher Nuttall is a long-standing alternate history fan and writer, author of The Royal Sorceress (alternate history/fantasy) and numerous Kindle books.  His webpage can be found here.  

How to Write and Publish a Novel in Eight Easy Steps

Guest post by Chris Nuttall.

Recently, I was asked how someone could start writing.  It wasn't an easy question to answer, truthfully; everyone has their own method of writing and their own approach to the issue.  This is mine, but don’t feel that you have to follow it completely.  You will probably find your own way of working if you keep doing it seriously.

Still, there are a few things that should be said first.

Writing requires discipline (this goes double, if not triple, if you happen to be trying to earn money writing).  I’m not saying you can't have fun – I have lots of fun – but discipline is important too.

Writing is also a skill, one that needs developing.  Yes, there are people out there who have a knack for writing brilliantly, but most people have to learn the hard way.  There’s a general rule of thumb that says that each writer has to write upwards of a million words before writing something readable, if not publishable.  I look back at my early work and wonder WTF I was thinking – so does pretty much every other writer in the world. Don’t despair – you can push through it.

Writing requires both ego and a thick skin.  You need the confidence to show your work to other people, particularly people who don’t feel an obligation to be nice.  You need the thick skin to deal with their comments.  Trust me – write on just about anything and someone will be very critical.  The temptation to blast them will be very strong, but it is ultimately pointless.  You need a very thick skin.

Step One: The Idea

Each novel requires a core idea that serves as the base.  It doesn't have to be very complex – ideally, you want it as simple as possible – but you have to have it firmly fixed in your mind before you continue.  For example:

“Time-travellers give AK-47s to the CSA.”

“A single warship is all that is left to defend a ragtag fleet fleeing an implacable foe.”

I’m sure you recognise where both ideas come from...<grin>

Step Two: The Background

When you’re writing a novel set in the present day, or the very near future, you don’t need to tell people much about the background, because you can reasonably assume that they already know it.  When your novel is set further away in time, or in a SF/fantasy universe, you need to sort out what the universe can and cannot do before you start writing.  So build your universe first!

For example, just what are the capabilities of advanced future technology – or magic.  How to starships get around?  Can they go faster than light?  What weapons do they use and how do they work?  How many of the weapons do they have?  Can they be replaced?  How does the magic system work?  Can you turn someone into a frog or would that violate too many laws?  Does magic have a price?

Building the universe requires more than just those details.  If you have a future world, how does the government work?  Who gives the orders and why?  How does your state relate to other states?  ARE there other states?

I rarely show my advanced world-building notes to anyone and you don’t have to do it either.  But consistency is important right from the start.

If you’re writing a story set in the past, do your research.  If you make a mistake, chances are that someone will point it out – and that can be embarrassing.  Do your research and think about the implications.  For example, it was vanishingly rare to have women serving as anything other than camp followers (wives and prostitutes) in a pre-1900 military.  Or, for that matter, getting from London to Edinburgh TODAY takes no more than an hour on the plane; in days of yore, it took days, even weeks.  Do the research.

Step Three: The General Plot

There are writers who plot out each and every little detail and writers who prefer to write by the seat of their pants. (I’ve done both.)  However, the general plot outlines what actually happens in the story, providing for the ending.  For example:

“On the verge of defeat, the CSA is given AK-47s by time travellers, which they use to surge forward, take Washington and force the USA to accept their independence.  The time travellers, however, have their own plans for the CSA, culminating in an attempt to assassinate President Lee when he makes plans to end slavery.  The attempt fails and the CSA manages to capture most of the time travellers, as well as ending slavery.”

Why is this important?  If you don’t have an ending in mind, you may find your plot going all over the place.  That’s bad.  <grin>

Step Four: The Characters

The characters are what makes the story actually work, or not.  You can draw up pretty much any kind of character, although it can be harder to make an obviously bad guy a sympathetic character.  The most important detail, again, is consistency; draw up the background information for your characters and stick to it.  This can be as detailed as you like – if the character is the main POV character for your work, I’d suggest being very detailed.  A simple outline might look like this:

“Name: Emily Sanderson.  Born 1990 to Gary and Jane Sanderson, Georgia, USA.  Gary killed in an accident in 1995; Jane remarried in 1996 to Hamish McLain.  Joined USMC in 2008; promoted to Lieutenant in 2010, earned purple heart in 2011 in a firefight in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.”

If you add details later in the story – for example, Emily and Rupert knew each other from Fredrick High School – make sure you update your character notes.

When dealing with lesser characters, make a note of their names – again, consistency is important.  For example:

“Bart Simpson.  Pupil at Springfield Elementary, 2nd Grade.”

Step Five: The Detailed Plot

You know your characters...now, what are they going to do, specifically?  Think of it as writing out a synopsis of your book.  What character does what, when?  Again, you can be very detailed or just write out a bare outline, depending on the book you intend to write.  However, it is a very important step.  For example...

“When the story opens, General Lee is writing a letter to President Davis outlining the Confederate Army’s supply difficulties...”

This is very important if you’re writing a detective novel and you need to leave clues scattered throughout the text.  What happened?  Who did it?  What did the others do?  What are you going to use as red herrings?

The specific plot can be modified – I’ve had plenty of stories that have developed in ways I didn't expect, once I got into the swing of writing.  However, make sure you keep one eye on the ending at all times.

As I see it, there are basically two types of story; character-driven and event-driven.  Harry Potter is very much a character-driven story; Footfall, Lucifer’s Hammer and Moonfall are event-driven stories.  (A movie example might contrast Battle: LA with Independence Day).  Both can be great fun, but they’re very different types of story.  If writing the former, concentrate on your main character(s); if writing the latter, concentrate more on what’s going on.

Step Six: The Writing

Everything you’ve done so far was the easy part.  Now for the hard part.

I’d love to give you a brilliant way to write, but the truth is that you have to put your head down and start writing.  Some people write while listening to music; some people prefer absolute silence.  Some people write like demons for a few hours; some people write a few paragraphs, go have a break and then get back to work.  Some people have something to drink while writing; some people prefer to avoid distractions.  Find out what suits you and do it.

Set yourself a target – say, 1000 words a day – and stick to it.  Once you’ve mastered that, up the ante a little and move on to 2000 words.  Then 3000...don’t push yourself too hard, but you should try to write the set amount every day.  Remember, you’re training a muscle, just like running; you won’t do so well at first, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get.

Don’t worry about little details like chapter lengths and suchlike.  You get to set your own rules; I’ve seen chapters that were barely 300 words and a 120,000 word book that effectively had only one chapter.  Instead, concentrate on your writing.

And write.  And write.  And write.

Step Seven: Editing

So you’ve written...say...100,000 words and the novel is complete, right?  Good for you.  Here comes the hardest part: the editing.

Authors have problems editing their own work.  They know what it is supposed to say, so they don’t notice problems when it doesn’t.  If you are serious about writing, you need someone to beta-read for you.  Go to various forums and find someone who might be interested.  There are plenty of people who are prepared to volunteer – just remember, a good editor is like gold.  Treat them well.

A good critic is equally important.  This can be something along the lines of ‘your method for defeating the dark lord makes no sense because...’ or something as simple as ‘you depict the Eurofighter as travelling at Mach 4, but the Eurofighter cannot fly so fast.’

Writers have a tendency, I suspect, to hate the critics.  Our books are our babies and critics invoke parental or maternal feelings in us.  But a good critic can save us from falling flat on our faces in front of the publishers later on.

Bad critics, on the other hand, are worse than useless.  A bad critic will attack the writer, rather than the book.  For example;

“You use the word ‘nigger’ in your books.  Therefore, you are a racist and worthless.”

“Your villains are Islamic terrorists.  Therefore, you are a racist and worthless.”

The bad critic isn't trying to help you.  He wants his fun and he gets it by provoking you.  Ignore him.

Learn to tell the difference between a good critic and a bad critic, and then listen to the good ones.

One word of warning; you can't please everyone.  I was once told that I built a book up too slowly; ten chapters went past before the fun started.  I therefore wrote a book where the fun started at once and people complained that I didn't spend enough time on the characters.  Put bluntly, you can't please everyone.  There isn't an author in the entire world who pleases everyone.

Listen to the good critics, consider their words, and edit your books.

Step Eight: Submission

All right, you have a completed manuscript.  Now what?

The blunt truth is that getting published is very difficult.  (Tom Kratman once compared it to Ranger School.)  If you want to put it online as a Kindle document, that’s simple; getting a professional publisher is a great deal harder.  And so is getting a literacy agent.

Find agents (and publishers who take unsolicited MSs) and start submitting.  Read their instructions carefully and FOLLOW THEM.

And then start writing your next novel while waiting.

Another word of warning; there are plenty of scammers out there.  People want to be published and there are bastards who will take advantage of it.  (Think of it as a movie producer who hold auditions on the casting couch, but without the sex.)  It is rare for a genuine literacy agent to ask for any money in advance, so if one does KEEP AWAY.  Don’t give them any money in advance, ever.  Chances are that you will get nothing in return.

Conclusion

Writing can be rewarding.  Believe me, if you write, you’ll learn a great deal about all sorts of things.  But you have to work at it.  Have fun!

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Chris Nuttall blogs at The Chrishanger and has a website by the same name. His books can be found on Amazon Kindle. Check out his new book The Royal Sorceress.

January 2013: The Month of No Americans

Ever seen a map like this before?

It is meant to be funny, but it does highlight the average American's lack of knowledge of the outside world. Or as author Mark Twain put it: "God created war so that Americans would learn geography."

Alternate historians are no exception to this American-centric mindset. Consider that one of the two most written about subjects in alternate history is the American Civil War. Even the classic works of WWII alternate history, like The Man in the High Castle or Fatherland, are either set in America or feature prominent American characters.

Here at AH Weekly Update, we are taking it upon ourselves to correct this grave error by marking the month of January 2013 as the month of no Americans. We are requesting submissions of essays, reviews and maybe even some original alternate histories involving histories besides the United States of America. Here are the rules:

• Submissions should be between 500 to 1500 words. We are open to accepting submissions over 1500 depending on their quality.
• Submissions period begins today and posting will begin January 3rd. The submissions period ends on January 30th.
• All submissions must be sent by email with something either in the subject or body of email stating this is for January 2013's theme.
• All submissions must meet the theme. America or Americans don't have to be completely absent from the submission, but they should have a minor presence at best.
• We will not stop accepting articles for the month of January 2013 that do not meet the theme, but we reserve the right to postpone publication if we receive articles for the theme.
• All other rules regarding contributing to AH Weekly Update remain in effect.

To encourage you all to submit articles for this contest, the person who generates the most page views will receive a copy of Chris Nuttall's new novel The Royal Sorceress, published by Elsewhen Press. Also let me state that again: the person who generates the most page views will win the book. So if you submit more than one article, the total page views of all the articles will be totaled when determining the winner.

WARNING: Any suspected cheating will immediately disqualify the contributor and there will be no appeals.  You are encouraged to promote your work through social media, but if I see that someone has clicked a link to an article 100 times in a minute I am going to suspect foul play.

If you any questions email me at ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Interview: Ian R. MacLeod

I now present my interview with multiple Sidewise Award winning author Ian R. MacLeod:

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m from Birmingham, England, and grew up wandering the suburbs, reading SF and listening to prog rock when both were still thought pretty cool. In a way, I’m still recovering from these two obsessions. I always rather fancied being a writer. That, or a footballer, or a musician. But I was rubbish at both.

What got you interested in alternate history?

My early experience in reading SF broadened into liking many kinds of fiction, but one of my all-time favourite books remains Pavane by Keith Roberts. If any you haven’t read this masterpiece, which is one of the great works of post-war English fiction, you really should. Changing history seemed to me to be a way of turning a key into a strange and wonderful world, whilst leaving the door open to the characterisation, atmosphere and detail that you more often find in mainstream fiction. Nowadays, I don’t think “I’ll write this as an alternate fiction”. More that it’s a tool to finding something that I want to express and exploring an interesting and challenging world.

What is Wake Up and Dream about?

It’s set in the USA, and to a degree it’s about American fascism, just as my previous Sidewise-award winning novel The Summer Isles was about English fascism. In neither case were any invading Nazis, or much goose-stepping, involved. The setting is early 1940s Los Angeles, and the main character is a down-at-heel unlicensed private eye called Clark Gable. The guy once nearly made it as an actor, but a new technology called the "feelies", which essentially allows emotions to be recorded and transmitted for the purposes of entertainment, got in the way. Essentially, it’s a noir-ish Los Angeles conspiracy thriller with some wondrous science or supernatural mystery (you can really take your pick) thrown in.

How did the Liberty Party came to be in Wake Up and Dream?

The USA in the 30s was in political turmoil. There was a serious plot by senior Wall Street figures to overthrow Roosevelt because his New Deal was considered too "socialist" and put up some kind of unelected "national unity government" - this is well-documented. Then there's eugenics, and there was still black/white segregation in public places in many states. The nice new housing developments which were going up in places like Los Angeles had clear "no blacks and no Hispanics" policies. Oh, and have I mentioned the Klu Klux Klan? With all of this, and more, the idea of a right wing party taking a step towards electoral respectability, and in particular playing on staying out of the war in Europe in the hope that the Nazis would deal with communist Russia, was an easy step to take.

How easily do you think it is for a nation to swing that way politically?

It's when people start looking around from someone else to blame when things start to go wrong. Which can happen anyway, as it's really nothing but human nature writ large.

What inspired you to write the novel?

Partly, it was the idea of the feelies themselves. Although it doesn’t really happen that way, it makes a kind of sense to imagine we pick up basic feelings, from lust to anger to excitement to love, when we’re nearby others. Hence love at first sight. Hence the behaviour of crowds. So, I wondered, how would it work if these feelings could be recorded, and then replayed? The LA setting, once you start thinking in terms of the entertainment industry, seemed pretty obvious. Hardly new for this kind of thing, but the layering and approach of my book is, I hope, fresh and inventive. I love thrillers, and then, the idea of writing about something through the eyes of Clark Gable… who wouldn’t want to have a go at that?

What sources were particularly helpful when researching for the novel?

There’s a book called the A to Z of Los Angeles by two guys called Pitt, which was a very useful reference. That, and The Whole Equation, a History of Hollywood by David Thompson. And all those old black and white movies, and The Player by Michael Tolkin, which is one of the great Hollywood novels. Then, I have to say, Google. If I wanted to see a particular street, I could click right to it. Of course, things have changed since the 1940s, and my world’s an alternate one. So if reality got in the way, that wasn’t an insuperable problem.

Who designed the cover?

Ben Baldwin. That took a while to get right, but Ben was very receptive and imaginative, and I’m pleased with the result.

How did it feel to win the Sidewise Award again?

Well, I’ve been lucky enough to be nominated for and win quite a few awards over the years. But I’ve come to expect not to win, or be nominated, for the awards I might reckon a piece of mine could have a chance with, and to occasionally win awards which I’ve already decided I’m obviously not going to get. I’ve had SF awards and nominations for horror stories, fantasy awards for SF stories… You name it. Not that I’m complaining, of course. So, I was pretty proud of what I did with Wake Up and Dream. But, seeing as it really is an alternate history novel (although it’s other things as well) I was chuffed and surprised in about equal measure when it won the Sidewise Award.

Do you plan to write any sequels to Wake Up and Dream?

The end of the book, although things are wrapped up, does leave that door ajar, if not fully open. I don’t like repeating myself, but we’ll see — especially if people start money at me to do so!

Do you have any other projects you are working on?

Yeah — first of all, there’s a young adult novel which I’m currently looking for some beta-testing readers for. It’s called Lisa Moon and the Leonardo Timepiece. So, any adults and/or young people who are at all curious should get in touch and I’ll happily send them an extract with no strings attached other than a hope for a little feedback. Here’s the link to the contact page on my site, so just mail me through that to let me know...

Otherwise, I’m also at work on a big, dark, history-spanning vampire novel. Seeing as I don’t honestly believe in vampires, who are essentially magical beings, there are probably a few threads of alternate history in there as well.

Since you are working on vampire novel, have you read any of the Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman?

You've just reminded me that I should!

What are you reading now?

I’m just finishing The Sick Rose by Erin Kelly — a more than decent psychological thriller. That, and I greatly enjoyed White Bicycles by Joe Boyd — Boyd was an important figure in the British music scene in the 1960s, and also remembers enough to be able to write about those times.

Do you have advice for would-be authors?

Talent matters far less than application and drive. Most writers I've talked to agree that you do probably need some basic linguistic skills and a willingness to think a little outside the box, but the rest comes from wanting to write and get published to a stupid extent. When I get rejection slips (and, like almost all writers, I still do) my reaction is, somehow, to want to write something else, or improve on what I've already done. You really have to be determined and give it your all. Not that that’s going to get you fame and riches, but it might just get you a little noticed by someone else, somewhere out there in the big, wide, world.

I agree completely with wanting to write more after getting a rejection letters. I still have a few rejection letters saved in an email folder. Do you remember your first rejection letter?

Yeah - it was from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A standard one, when I was about 15, but the did have a nice colour print of a cover on the far side, which I was a neat touch.