James Lovegrove – author

Just a note to say that the 5 Lords Of Pain website is now live and online and doing what it does best, which is being full of publishing info, background facts, bloggery and general “DVD extra” type stuff relating to the series.  You can find it here.

The first book isn’t out till February 26th but the site is the place to go if you want to find out what the fuss is all about, who the Five Lords actually are, what the publication schedule is for the series, and where and when I’ll be popping up to promote it.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Just heard the word from Solaris that The Age Of Ra is due out in ebook format this Friday.  According to assistant editor babe Jennifer-Anne Hill, “It looks really good, we’ve kept the internal artwork and everything, even on the iPhone version.  Andy Severn is a bit of a genius that way.”  (Incidentally, “assistant editor babe” is not technically her job description and should not be taken to imply that she performs her duties in anything other than a superbly competent and professional manner.)  So if you haven’t yet purchased a dead wood copy — and why not? — then now’s your chance to snaffle up the sleek super-cool electronic version.

I would myself, if I wasn’t (a) a cheapskate, too mean to splash out on an e-reader, and (b) a confirmed, paper-loving bibliophile.

Here’s the cover image to be used on The Age Of Zeus.  I think you’ll agree that Mr Marek Okon has knocked it out of the park again.

What isn’t clear on the mock-up as is, is that there’s a Greek temple atop the mountain peak.  At the moment it’s hidden beneath the Bookseller quote, but I’ve been assured that the typesetting will be sorted out so that the temple is there, clear for all to see, on the finished article.

Also, the title will be embossed, which is cool.

Great series style been developed for these Pantheon books.  Can’t wait to see what Marek comes up with for The Age Of Odin.

Right, deep breath, here we go.  My first effort at posting, unaided, unsupported by webguy, stepping out onto the tightrope on my own, arms outstretched, wobbling a little, oh God it’s a long way down…

Busy year ahead, with no fewer than eight new books due out.  First up is the first volume of The 5 Lords Of Pain, which will appear in February.  Barrington Stoke are producing a microsite for the series, and I will be posting a link there as soon as it comes online.

To promote the books I am going to be doing several appearances at schools and libraries, most notably in mid-February at the  Bounce Into Books  festival in Yorkshire/Humberside. 

Then in April it’s The Age Of Zeus, and already I know I’m going to be recording a podcast for that with the fine folks at Rebellion/Solaris.  This book is a whopper, by the way.  700 pages of epic, myth-tinged mayhem.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: The Dirty Dozen, with gods and power armour.  What more could you want?

Around about the same time, PS Publishing will be putting out my second short story collection, Diversifications.  I’ve been in discussions with Pete Crowther about the jacket, and it’s going to look good.  I’ll post up an image soon as I have one.

There’s more to say, but this’ll have to do for now.  Vertigo’s setting in, and I don’t see any safety net below.

Hello, and welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the new-look website.  Hope you like it!

I’m thrilled with the design and layout, and I’m hoping that from now on there’ll be a lot more bloggery and interactive back-and-forth commentary-type doings than in previous times.  Please feel free to explore, browse, and share any thoughts you might have.  2010 is going to be a big and busy year for me, and here’s the forum where I’ll be taking you through it and you’ll be helping me along.

Everybody, I proudly present the cover images for the fourth and fifth volumes of The 5 Lords Of Pain, The Lord Of the Typhoon and The Lord Of Fire. These two are, in my humble opinion, the very best of the lot. The adjective Lisa Murray at Barrington Stoke and I have been bandying about is “kickass”, and kicking ass is what the series is intended to, and what Daniel Atanasov’s artwork certainly does. Mr Atanasov is also supplying illustrations of the main characters and of the martial arts weapons featured in the books for a microsite dedicated to the series. The microsite will launch this December, and I will, of course, supply a link nearer the time.

The sale of Solaris Books has finally gone through, hurrah, and the new owners are Rebellion Publishing; go check out the formal announcement. I’ve briefly been in charge with Rebel Leader Jon Oliver, discussing cover design for The Age Of Zeus, so it seems, encouragingly, that the baton has already been picked up and is being run with. As for Zeus itself, it’s turning into a bit of a behemoth, but in a good way, with gore and gunplay aplenty. I hope to have the MS done and delivered by November.

Review quotes for Ra are now available in the Books section. The cheerleaders are all going ra ra ra!