No fooling this time...

April Fool's Day having long passed, here's some real, amazing news that's come my way. Rasputin's Bastards, my very long book about psychic spies during and just after the Cold War, is being picked up by Panini (France) for a French-language translation.

This is baby's first translation deal, and I think it's a big deal. Panini does a lot of graphic novel work (among others, they publish French language translations of Marvel Comics), and now they're getting into sf/f novels. Rasputin's Bastards is 186,000 words long, and it's going to be a big job for some poor translator. I am thrilled to see it (if not to read it; I am, ashamedly, uni-lingual).

Thanks to Ron Eckel at the Cooke Agency, who handled the sale on behalf of ChiZine Publications. And also, to the editors at Panini (France) for taking an interest in the book.

Just in time for Christmas!

Literally.

I'm pleased to announce that ChiZine Publications will be releasing my fifth book,  just in time for the holidays. And it's going to be a bit of a departure--if one can call coming home a departure.

Where previous books of mine have dipped toe in American history, espionage, Russian literature, new-age self-help doctrine and Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, the new one goes right back to my roots: mid-1980s paperback horror novels.

And this one's got everything: an evil doll; a bassinet; a mysterious stranger who has been walking the earth waiting for the doll and the bassinet to wake up and figure shit out; a creepy old caretaker who says things like 'fortnight''; and a burned-out bass player from an AC-DC cover band who crucially forgets his hearing aid when he meets with the creepy old caretaker at the huge old house he'll be renting for a fortnight, to work things out with his family.

So without further ado, may I present:
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CZP is so excited about this new project that they let me design the cover myself. I had complete creative control: I didn't even have to find a place to put the CZP logo. In fact, Brett insisted that I not find a place for the CZP logo...

 It'll be released December 24, 2013. If I can just find someone willing to typeset and copy-edit it...

Monstrous Affections, in your ears...

Some happy news for a freezing cold January morning: the good folks at Iambik have released a nine-and-change hour audiobook of Monstrous Affections, my 2009 story collection from ChiZine Publications. You download it from Audible.com (where you can also download an excellent reading of Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism, read by Oliver Nyman).

Monstrous Affections was read by Robert Keiper, and in the author's opinion he does a fantastic job of it.

If you feel like checking it out, click here.

The 'Geisters: June, 2013

Here, Yard Apes, be the cover for my upcoming novel, The 'Geisters. It's due out June 15, 2013. The book is very nearly ready to be edited, and already, ChiZine Publications' resident cover artist Erik Mohr has come up with this fantastic cover. This will be my fourth book with CZP, and my fourth cover by Erik.

My SFContario schedule this weekend

The time is coming for SFContario. Toronto's fall sf convention. This weekend, to be precise. And I'll be there, at panels and a reading and a kaffeeklatsch. Here are the details:

But I don't know any vampires Our English teachers taught us to "write what you know" But very few of us have been on a long space journey, met a vampire detective, or fought a fire-breathing dragon. Our panelists discuss how a little research and common sense can give you just enough background to really write about what you don't know. (Helen Marshall, Michael McPherson, David Nickle, Douglas Smith, Caitlin Sweet,) Saturday 11:00 AM, Ballroom A

Book Trailers Book trailers are one of the newer shinier ways to promote a book? Do they help? Can, and should, you make your own, and if so, what are the things to avoid? (Beverly Bambury (M), Helen Marshall, David Nickle, Adam Shaftoe) Saturday 1:00 PM, Courtyard

I Know That Place! How do you as a writer approach the challenge of using real places in fiction and how do you futurize a location while still leaving clues that allow the reader to recognize it? (Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, Susan Forest, David Nickle, Jo Walton) Saturday 2:00 PM Ballroom A

Reading – Sunday 10:00 AM Gardenview

Exploring Gender Roles in SF and Horror How do science fiction, fantasy, and horror explore beyond our existing gender roles? How often do we see authors fall back on traditional gender roles or just flipping gender roles? Or how often do we do it ourselves? Who has created unique roles separate from gender or dealing with gender beyond binaries? What would we like to see? (Chandler Davis, Susan Forest, Violet Malan, David Nickle) Sunday 11:00 PM, Ballroom A

Kaffeeklatsch – Sunday 1:00 PM Room 207

It's a funny old world...

You never want to make too much of co-incidence. Even when everything seems to line up in a perfect line that could only have been designed by a higher intelligence, chances are some other, less magical mechanism is at work.

And yet... It is a puzzler. When the new novel Rasputin's Bastards came out in June, there was a nice raft of generally disparate reviews that carried it through early August. And then the blogosphere got pretty quiet. Maybe one or two notices showed up, but in general, it seemed that the reviewing community had moved on to other things. Even the voracious bibliphiles at Goodreads kept their powder dry.

Until this past week. As I write this, four more reviews showed up within a space of days. It's not like they were written by the same writer--there was a fair diversity of opinion. Indeed, the only thing that they all agreed upon was that Rasputin's Bastards is quite long, hellaciously complex, and as such might prove a bit difficult for casual readers.

But they are good, smart reviews. Here is D.F. McCourt's take, at AEscifi. Adam Shaftoe at The Page of Reviews had this to say about Rasputin's Bastards, putting it in the newly-created Classic Russian Film category of novels. Martin Rose at Shroud Magazine recommended readers of spy fiction check out the book, right here.

And today,  the blogger who writes Mountaineer ina Flat Land offered up this review, here.

Like the subject line says: it's a funny old world.

Rasputin and Lord Simcoe...

It's been a bit over a month since the blog tour for Rasputin's Bastards, and for awhile it seemed like the reviews, mentions, and possibly sales, were going to dry up. But here on Simcoe Day (a uniquely Toronto August long weekend holiday, named after Lord Simcoe (who? This guy)), I can report a few very nice reviews to haul the Fat Bastard's fat from the fire.

First up, came Paul Goat Allen's shout-out over at the Barnes & Noble Book Blog. He writes in part,

"Rasputin's Bastards is an utterly unique novel; I’ve never read anything quite like it before. It’s a mind-blowing blend of science fiction, political thriller, and understated horror."

My hometown paper, The Toronto Star, chimed in with this review by Alex Good, in the Sunday paper. It's a short review (he also reviews John Scalzi's Redshirts, and the VanderMeers' Weird anthology) and he writes this about Rasputin's Bastards:

"Rasputin's Bastards is Toronto author David Nickle's most complex and ambitious work yet, and it's a challenge to keep up with the sprawling plot and large cast of characters. At least one reader will confess to getting lost a couple of times along the way. But it's hard not to warm to an SF thriller that has the fate of the world ultimately hinging on what happens in a remote fishing village in Labrador."

 And on Sunday night, a google alert interrupted a particularly intense episode of Breaking Bad on Netflix to show me this in-depth review in The Winnipeg Review, by Winnipeg author and bookseller Chadwich Ginther.

Ginther concludes (spoiler alert):

"While recognizably “genre,” whatever that may mean to the reader (and their prejudices about the same), Rasputin’s Bastards is not of a genre. Instead it’s an ambitious melange of them all. Nickle’s horror is the theft of body and will; the revelation that one’s father is “A cold, soul-dead killer.” His science fiction feels like 50’s pulps, his fantasy a dark-lensed fairy tale with literary heft. Rasputin’s Bastards is a testament to the fact Nickle can write anything."

So yes -- happy Simcoe Day! The only thing missing is a run (which I should probably go do now)...