Author Archives: Peter Darbyshire
Caffeine+cold pills=October
October will be a busy month for me, as I try to finish edits of the third Cross book, The Apocalypse Ark, before the publication date rolls around. I’ll be making a few appearances as well:
I’m moderating the Weird Fiction panel at the 2015 Vancouver Writers Fest. The panel will feature Kelly Link, Jeff VanderMeer, Neil Smith and Robert J. Wiersema. Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8:30 p.m. at Performance Works.
Later the same week I’ll be at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference.
Friday, Oct. 23, 10 a.m. – Are You Talking to Me?
Are you talking to me? Dialogue is one of the most important parts of any novel or story, but it’s often the most overlooked thing in writing. Too often dialogue between characters is just a mundane conversation to set up plot points or reveal information. Dialogue can be and should be so much more, though. Dialogue can be a weapon for characters, and it can create tension and surprise. It can create characters or conceal their true selves. It can even control the reader. Peter Darbyshire draws on his theatre background to help you bring your stories to life through dialogue.
Saturday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. – Building Connections
With Jasper Fforde and Sarah Wendell, kc dyer moderating
How can you best use social media to make real connections with readers, colleagues, and friends without letting it take over your life? Our social media panel is here to help! This session is likely to be fast-moving and irreverent.
Sunday, Oct. 25, 11:30 a.m. – What’s Your Voice?
Voice is the most important part of any book. Do you write with the fallen angel lyricism of Raymond Chandler’s detectives? The storytelling magic of Annie Proulx? The pop culture playfulness of Cory Doctorow? Voice tells us what we need to know about the world of the book, who the characters are and what they want. Voice tells us what’s important to the writer — and that tells us what’s important to the reader. The hardest part of learning to write is finding your voice, but once you have it you’ve arrived. Let’s find your voice together.
I’d like to say I plan on sleeping in November, but I have a new book I need to be working on….
It’s like a book or something….
Staged car accidents? Corrupt cops? This news story may sound familiar to anyone who’s read The Warhol Gang. No word on whether or not it also involved secret clubs in the mall, though.
Doorways to awesomeness
I think I’ve talked a few times on this blog about how much Roger Zelazny‘s writing has meant to me. I don’t know how many times I’ve reread the Chronicles of Amber in my life — the only other books that come close are Steven Brust‘s Jhereg series, which have a similar feel. And maybe Lord of the Rings, which I read dozens of times in my early school years, although LOTR mostly has nostalgia value for me now. When I first started writing, I wanted to create unique, visionary worlds like Zelazny had, and I really wanted to blend genre fiction with literary style in the same manner. Not easy feats at all, as it turns out. But you do what you can.
I never expected to be compared to Zelazny, any more than I ever expected to be compared to Neil Gaiman. So it’s been a complete surprise and honour when that’s happened in reviews and such. And it was also a complete surprise and honour when a reader sent me a pic of two books she’d recently ordered — The Warhol Gang, which I wrote a few years back, and Doorways in the Sand, by Roger Zelazny. Thanks, Shara!
If my childhood self could see this pic, I think I know what he would say.
Cool!
Reimagine your world at the Vancouver Writers Fest
I’ve posted a piece about the Vancouver Writers Fest over at The Province. I’ll be moderating the Weird Fiction session starring Jeff VanderMeer, Kelly Link, Neil Smith and Robert J. Wiersema, and I’m already excitedly making notes. There are lots of other great panels — this year’s fest has more than 100 writers. In my latest Book Rogues podcast for The Province, I talk to VWF artistic director Hal Wake about the festivities.
But who will moderate me?
This should be fun. I’ll be moderating the Weird Fiction panel at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest. Starring Kelly Link, Jeff Vandermeer, Neil Smith and Robert J. Wiersema. Here’s the official description:
Normally, “weird” is an insult, but not for these authors. “Weird fiction,” says Robert J. Wiersema, “isn’t so much a genre in itself as a stripping away and blurring of conventions to create something entirely new.” Jeff VanderMeer describes weird fiction this way: “Just as in real life, things don’t always quite add up… and in that space we discover some of the most powerful evocations of what it means to be human or inhuman.” In Kelly Link’s short stories, it’s perfectly fine to encounter two lovers who reunite after death in a nudist camp. Their deep human sentiment is true, even if all else is fecund imagination. Neil Smith’s debut novel delves into the minds of 13-year-olds in an afterlife. Come tour worlds slightly askew, guided by some of their creators.
Come and get your minds melted!
Can I have an amen?
Over at The Province, I talk to Victoria author Robert J. Wiersema about the writing life, literary tattoos and why he loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer so damned much. We also talk about his new novel, Black Feathers, which is his most Stephen King-like yet!
Set sail for the apocalypse
ChiZine recently revealed the cover for my new Cross novel, The Apocalypse Ark. I love all the covers of the Cross books, but this may be my favourite so far. I mean, tentacles rising from the mysteries of the deep!
You may also be wondering what The Apocalypse Ark is about. Fear not — ChiZine has also revealed the secret plot of my most crazed Cross book yet! Click through to learn the dark secrets of the ark.
(Warning: Clicking the link may result in madness, night sweats, possession by the Great Old Ones and a deep dissatisfaction with the Christmas season because The Apocalypse Ark is not on sale until spring.)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water
The third book in the Cross series, The Apocalypse Ark, has a cover. And I am rather fond of it.
From barista to plumber!
I had a great conversation with Vancouver fantasy writer Sebastien de Castell about his new blockbuster book deal — eight books over four years! — and how he’s finally earning plumber money. Seriously, Sebastien is a great writer and a fun interviewee. Check out the article and the podcast!
Feverish dreams
I’ve been sick with a norovirus that swept through my household recently like, well, like a plague. I tried to avoid it by wearing a medical face mask and gloves while I tended to sick children and a spouse but eventually it claimed me. The unexpected bonus to lying in bed alternating between fever and chills and other such delights was that I had some crazy visions of new Cross adventures that would make awesome short stories. Very strange, very hallucinatory Cross short stories. So I’ve been working on those. I’ve written a story and a half so far, with notes for two other short stories. So there may be a Cross story collection at some point in the future.
Or maybe I’m still sick and just imagining all this writing stuff.
peter darbyshire 