Version 43
I've been longing to share this for some time - and here it see. Lauren Panepinto's cover design for my next book Version 43 (available in all good bookshops from October; or if you telephone me, I'll sell it to you a word at a time.)
Lauren has written some lovely stuff about her approach to this cover, and the whole issue of an author's 'look'. (In reality: scruffy, & ill coordinated - but I think she means the books).
Now I want to see the book on some actual shelves...
I love most if not all genres of writing....and before I wrote SF I mainly earned my living from crime.
With my third novel Version 43, I took a step forward in time from the events of Debatable Space and Red Claw, to a future world where all is peace and harmony, and there is no crime or injustice.
And then I thought - phooey! - and created the Exodus Universe, where all the outlaws and misfits and bad guys live. Much more my style.
In this lawless realm, the law is enforced by a small team of cyborg cops. And our hero is one such - known as the Cop.
This book grew out of my love of crime thrillers and pulp noirs, including and especially the books of the great Dashiell Hammett, whose Continental Op rivals Sam Spade, and could knock spots off Philip Marlowe.
But this is not a crime novel with a few SF trappings - it's very much rooted in its strange future world.
Here's a visual sample of the scary, genre-mashing dystopic vision that is Version 43. Don't take the images too literally - this is what's called in the film business a 'mood board'. These are images which inspired me, or spoke to me, or which resonated with me for reasons that aren't entirely logical.
And you can find out more about Version 43 when it's published, in autumn 2010.
