A couple of weeks ago, Chuck launched a Tumblr site, This is How You Die, a collaborative trans-media project intended to explore the themes of the novel by inviting readers to submit their own thoughts on death and dying.

Anyone is welcome to participate – instructions are on the site – and submissions (all of which are moderated and selected by Chuck) can take any form the contributor sees fit or feels most comfortable with. So far they’ve ranged from prose thought-pieces to literary quotations, photography, artwork, tweets, even songs. Methods of passing range from the peacefully mundane to the apocalyptic and the bizarre.

Challenging? Definitely. Thought-provoking? Certainly. Therapeutic? Possibly; as Chuck says: “This is a collaborative story and art Tumblr where readers are encouraged to confront their their fears and fantasies about death by submitting how they believe they will die.”

If you’re interested in submitting a thought-piece or anything else of your own, the place to start is: how-you-die.tumblr.com.

{Pic credit: ‘Kalierin’ on sxc.hu}

In July we’re publishing the first in Paul S Kemp’s exciting new fantasy series, The Hammer & the Blade. It tells of renowned treasure hunters and adventurers Egil (he’s the burly bastard priest with an uncanny way of getting believers to fall in line) and Nix (no lock unpicked, no treasure unsnaffled, no serving wench unfondled) and lo, here they are.

This stunning art is by the ever-lovely Richard Jones of Artist Partners. We were going to wait until it had some lettering on but frankly, we couldn’t contain ourselves.

You can read a great interview/live chat with Paul about the novel, plus an insight into his many bestselling Star Wars novels (skweeee!) over at Reddit.com.

PS, Lots more upcoming art to wonder over shortly.

Our very own Lee Harris has been interviewed by Spooky Reads as part of a new series of interviews with UK genre publishing folk about the current state of and future prospects for the publishing industry.

Jo Anderton‘s Debris has been named one of US periodical Library Journal‘s SF/Fantasy Books of the Year for 2011. Which deserves a cheer, we think: Yaaay!

Dan Abnett‘s Triumff is the latest AR title to feature in Red Rook Review’s “review every Angry Robot book, ever” series and here’s the verdict.

Justin Landon names Zoo City and Empire State in his SFSignal.com best of 2011 list, part I (technically, Empire State is a January 2012 book even though it’s on-shelf date in the US is December 27th, but we feel it might be rude to quibble, so we won’t). Lavie Tidhar is one of the contributors to that piece as well.

Lauren Beukes has been asking her friends what they’d recommend by way of ideal reading gifts this holiday season (this is just part one, part two will follow at the end of the week). And Zoo City has been reviewed by TheUrbanEagle this week as well, who conclded: “I can’t imagine a young South African and/or a fan of fresh absurdities in Urban Fantasy not enjoying this book.”

Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Portectorate series, has been chatting to a certain Mr Adam Christopher about such things as the Empire State drinking game, Adam’s writerly enivronment, his aberrant ice-cream preferences, Carrie Fisher c. 1977 and, of course, the vital importance of The Jacket. There’s all sorts of other weird and wonderful things thrown in for good measure. Go, read!

Adam has also posted details of where to find his Empire State playlist of tunes to accompany your reading of his superhero noir debut.

Guy Haley has some advice for writers and reviewers alike in a blog on reviewing and being reviewed entitled the agonies of criticism. Wise words from a self-confessed somewhat snarky former reviewer turned published writer and, therefore, review-receiver.

Liviu Suciu of Fantasy Book Critic is particularly looking forward to a number of titles in 2012, including Lavie Tidhar‘s The Great Game.

More advice for writers and would-be writers: Chuck Wendig‘s rather excellent “25 Things Writers Should Know About…” series continues with a sage and not-at-all-sweary piece on handling rejection. (Okay, we lied, it’s quite sweary. But still very, very good.)

And finally, the second in the apparently ongoing @KristalShaff Angry Robot Face Painting Series is a nifty bit of time-lapse artistry inspired by Andy Remic‘s Vampire Warlords:

That’s your lot for another week! Next week’s Robot Round-up might be posted on Thursday, might be posted on Friday, depending. The week after that we’ll all be taking a week off so there’ll be no Robot Round-up at all (please do try not to be too bitterly disappointed) and then we’ll be back on our regular schedule in 2012.

SFBook.com have announced the shortlist for their SFBook of the Year 2011 poll and two of those titles are ours: Dan Abnett‘s Embedded and Maurice Broaddus‘s King’s War. Both brilliant books, of course, and both deserving of at least few hundred more votes, we reckon. >cough< You’re still here..?

Meanwhile, Mr. Abnett‘s Triumff was on the receiving end of what can really only be described as a rave review, courtesy of Red Rook Review’s “review every AR book, ever” strand. And his comics writing projects were featured in a Beyond the Bunker Practicioners piece this week.

Jo Anderton has posted a selection of pics from the Debris launch party at UNSW on her blog, with a more extensive set on Facebook (warning: includes images of chocolate robots and cake that some viewers may find delicious – no licking the screen…)

Lauren Beukes‘s Arthur C. Clarke Award-Winning Zoo City (you know, we just never get tired of saying that) has been reviewed by Kristy G. Stewart for LooseleafLeaflets.

Another couple of Maurice Broaddus mentions: firstly as the star of the hilarious 97th SF Signal Podcast and secondly, a blog post from Maurice with details of his 2012 convention appearances.

Adam Christopher was the recipient of much love this week. First up (and the one that had Adam literally dancing around the room) was Billy (The Rocketeer) Campbell’s comments on Empire State, which went like this: “As it happens, I’m a sucker for hard-boiled retro sci-fi stories; rocket-powered superheroes, spunky dames, fedoras, Studebakers slewing round gritty Gotham street-corners on two wheels, and Adam Christopher sure knows his way around a tightly spun yarn – I was as happy as a pig in poop from page one! As they say: This story? She’s a real sweater-full, with a great pair’a getaway sticks… Watch out for this Adam kid, he’s nobody’s sap. He’s got a sharp nib and a sharper wit. He’d steal your last few hours before you could say ‘cat’s pajamas’, and you’d thank him for it.”

There was also a cracking review from ‘Bane of Kings’ at TheFoundingFields.com: “…what I found in these pages blew me away … I think we may be looking at one of the best debut authors of 2012 already!”

Aliette de Bodard was interviewed by Jacob Topp-Mugglestone Drying Ink blog and talked about breaking genre expectations, world-building, Aztec civilisation, human sacrifice and much more. Aliette also posted an article on writing technique entitled ‘Playing To Your Strengths, Playing to Your Weaknesses’ at The Night Bazaar.

Matt Forbeck has been talking to legendary geek webcomic Dork Tower about his ’12 for 12′ Kickstarter project (and they snuck in a mention for Amortals as well). And Producer Paul has posted his review of Vegas Knights.

Trent Jamieson‘s Roil was reviewed at Dragon Page by Laith Preston, who said things like: “Trent Jamieson’s Roil, the first book in The Nightbound Land duology, promises… and delivers.” Trent also runs through his Xmas book wishlist in a Book Corner Christmas Special (we’ll pass on the Cinzano thanks, Trent.)

Gary MacMahon‘s Dead Bad Things has been named on the Horror Book of the Year shortlist. Which is a Good Thing, we feel.

And there are a couple of early reviews in for Giant Thief (Feb 2012) by David Tallerman; first a mini-review from Publisher’s Weekly and also an elegantly minimalist review of the first line of the book from Mad Hatter’s Book Review: “This line did exactly what a first line should do: pull the reader in.”

Red Rook’s “review every AR book, ever” programme is back and this time it’s Lavie Tidhar‘s The Bookman that’s under review: “…an intelligent, clever book, that creates a wonderfully complex secondary world … as well-constructed as a Swiss cuckoo clock and as readable as any genre fiction being written today.”

And finally, that man Chuck Wendig has posted a few thoughts on the Seduction of Self-Publishing. Wise words from Chuck, there. Wise words.

Right, that’s all from AR HQ for this week! Have a great weekend. And remember: Be Good, and if you can’t Be Good, then Be Damn Sure They’re Not Going to Catch You.

Jo Anderton was interviewed by David Conyers on the subject of her short story ‘Out Hunting For Teeth’, which will be appearing in issue #6 of Midnight Echo, the Australian Horror Writers Association magazine.

In the wake of this week’s announcement of the Zoo City TV/Movie rights deal, Lauren Beukes has been speaking to Bizcommunity.com and The Mail and Guardian about the project.

An interview with Knights of Breton Court creator Maurice Broaddus was the main feature of the latest SpeculateSF podcast. Maurice also revealed the contents of his to-be-read book pile, including Chris F. Holm‘s forthcoming debut Dead Harvest (March 2012).

Adam Christopher‘s forthcoming debut novel, Empire State (January 2012) has been getting some attention this week, with reviews from fantasynibbles.com and Livejournaller Gill Polack. Plus, a top-10 shortlist mention in Kirkus’ Science Fiction and Fantasy for December 2011 watch-list, and The Ranting Dragon’s 5 Most Anticipated December Releases as well. Meanwhile, Adam has been telling The Night Bazaar about his lifelong love of Doctor Who stories.

Peter Crowther‘s first Forever Twilight instalment, Darkness Falling, has been reviewed by David Marshall for his ‘Thinking About Books’ blog, by and Silver Thistle for ‘The Bookshelf Chronicles’ and by Mike Chinn for The British Fantasy Society.

Nathan McKnight has produced an Obsidian & Blood glossary for the Kindle, to help Aliette De Bodard readers keep track of all those Aztec names and their meanings. Aliette was also interviewed by Jeremy L. C. Jones for Clarkesworld Magazine.

Back in November Chris F. Holm was interviewed by R Thomas Brown for Crime Fiction Lover about his love of crime fiction, his recent short fiction collection 8 Pounds and, of course, Dead Harvest (March 2012).

Paul S Kemp is posting a series of excerpts from his forthcoming (July 2012) fantasy saga The Hammer and The Blade (July 2012). He’s just posted the second one and the first is here if you missed it.

Over on her blog, Anne Lyle, author of The Alchemist of Souls (March 2012), reveals the cunning visual reference methodology with which she plots fight scenes (hey, I guess that’ll be the same bleeding-edge character animation software last seen in the truly epic Lord of the Rings movie battle sequences..? eh? What’s that? Not the fancy software? So what does she..? Playmobil figures? Cool..!)

A second round-up mention for reviewer Gill Polack; this time she’s posted her review of David Tallerman‘s forthcoming (February 2012) debut novel Giant Thief.

Matt Forbeck was interviewed by Rick Novy for his ‘Entropy Central’ blog, talking about writing, game design and his ongoing ’12 for 12′ Kickstarter project.

There’s much love for Chuck Wendig as Andrea Philips turns the Creative Spotlight on his projects past, present and, er, projected, for her ‘Deus Ex Machinatio’ blog.

And finally, a rollerskating duck. Oh, no, it’s our Marco, live and uncensored, in the Nottingham online magazine Left Lion.

…and that’s your lot for this week. Have a great weekend!

Jo Anderton‘s Debris made it into Library Journal‘s Top 10 SF/F of 2011 list, along with the comment: “An accomplished debut reminiscent of the visionary works of China Miéville.”

Debris was also reviewed at Dragonpage.com, where reviewer Laith Preston said: “I would highly recommend Debris to any fan of Sci-Fi or Fantasy. I am eagerly awaiting the release of the next book in the Veiled World Trilogy, Suited“.

It’s been a particularly busy week for Lauren Beukes. First off, Lauren was was cited in an Independent on Sunday article on tghe subject of How women are winning sci-fi’s battle of the sexes. Lauren said: “The stuff I was reading in my teens were books like the Dragonlance Chronicles, and there were really strong female characters in those… There is more of a stage now for female writers.”

Next up, an article by Richard Bowker of the Dictionary Unit for South African English posted an article on the use of South African English and multilingual slang in Zoo City.

Lauren was also interviewed for Pakistan’s City FM 89 radio’s City Cast View show and for the If You’re Just Joining Us podcast.

And finally, Lauren reported for the Mail & Guardian Zoo City themed art exhibition called ‘Dark City’ that “explores themes of xenophobia, city life, suburbia and paranoia” as inspired by the novel.

Adam Christopher was interviewed by The Qwillery on the subject of his forthcoming debut novel Empire State and the blending of science fiction and noir.

The Canadian podcast Squideye and The Bitter Guy talked to Matt Forbeck about his forthcoming Angry Robot title Carpathia and his 12 For Twelve Kickstarter project.

The new Paranormal Special Edition issue of SFX Magazine is on-sale now and features a short story by our very own Guy Haley.

Fantasy author Adrian Tchaikovsky posted an article on the resurgence of the thief-character in fantasy fiction and highlighted a certain dashing rogue by the name of Easie Damasco, star of David Tallerman‘s forthcoming Angry Robot debut, Giant Thief.

Fantasy-Magazine.com turned their author spotlight on Lavie Tidhar, mainly to talk to him about the short story he wrote for them but also to ask after his current and forthcoming projects, which include the third part of his Bookman Histories, The Great Game

Lavie is also featured, along with Aliette de Bodard, in this week’s SF Signal podcast on the subject of recommended international authors.

There’s an in-depth interview with Gav Thorpe on Stefan Fergus’s Civilian Reader blog, which covers his current Crown of the Blood series for Angry Robot and his Warhammer novels, as well as his influences, writing practices and his opinion of the genre today.

Kaaron Warren contributed to Sinescope.org article on Women Writing Horror by recommending a few of her favourite female horror writers.

SciFiBulletin.com has run reviews of both The World House (“An unusual and captivating tale of altered reality.”) and The World House: Restoration (“Complicated but eventually very satisfying”) by a certain Mr. Guy Adams, esq.

Meanwhile, over at Nerfreader, Chris has posted a review of the audio edition of Lauren Beukes Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Zoo City, which is read by Justine Eyre. “A fast-paced neo-noir journey through present-day alternate reality South Africa. With animal familiars!”

Google Alerts has just let us know that the mighty Maurice Broaddus was discussing his major influences and the inspiration behind his Knights of the Breton Court series (George Pelecanos, Elmore Leonard, Jungian psychology, the city of Indianapolis and more) on his blog, back in October.

Cover art critique blog Criminal Covers was quite enamoured of the artwork that graces our January 2012 title Empire State by Adam Christopher

Adam has also been interviewed for the latest issue (#216) of SFX Magazine and has posted a scanned clipping on his blog.

Aliette De Bodard guest posted on fellow Angry Robot author Kaaron Warren’s blog as part of Kaaron’s ‘Sparks’ series, talking about Aztecs, plot devices and the final part of her Obsidian and Blood trilogy, Master of the House of Darts.

Staying with Aliette, we’re all pleased as punch to report that Master of the House of Darts was one of YetiStomper’s books of the month for October.

Trent Jamieson, author of the genre-blending Roil, was interviewed last week about his writing and influences for the Kickboxing Roosters blog.

If you’d care to point your browser in the direction of Clarkesworld Magazine, you’ll be able to partake of an audio reading of a short story called ‘The Smell of Orange Groves’ by our own Lavie Tidhar.

Chuck Wendig has been interviewed by fellow author Rowena Cory Daniells and they cover all sorts of conversational territory; from Chuck’s forthcoming Angry Robot titles to his “profane, in-your-face, sharply insightful and funny” blogging persona to gender bias in fantasy publishing. Go, read.

Chuck also took a turn in the interviewer’s chair as he put the questions to Matt Forbeck, covering wrtiing, curse words, parenting, alochol, story-telling and lots more. Go, read this as well.

Another six Angry Robot Authors have been announced as attendees at next February’s SFX Weekender. Anne Lyle, Peter Crowther, Andy Remic, Gav Thorpe, Lavie Tidhar and David Tallerman, will be joining Dan Abnett, Adam Christopher and Guy Haley, who have already confirmed their attendance. Ticket information for what promises to be a cracking get-together at Prestatyn Sands, is available via www.sfxweekender.com/tickets.

Jo Anderton managed to grab an interview with Tanyana Vladha, leading lady of Debris, the first book in her Veiled Worlds series. And Debris has been reviewed by Cheryl Morgan over at Cheryl’s Mewsings, who concluded: “There’s lot of promise here, and I look forward to finding out where the series goes.”

Sci-Fi Fan Letter has been talking to Aztec afficianado Aliette de Bodard (and in case you missed it, here’s another recent interview / chat with thefastertimes.com). Plus, Aliette’s trilogy-finalé Master of the House of Darts was reviewed by Jacob at Drying Ink, who says: “This is an eclectic urban fantasy written with verve and style … if you’re looking to read outside the typical, this is an excellent choice.”

Maurice Broaddus has been talking urban fantasy, Arthurian legend, writing methodology and his future plans for the Knights of Breton Court universe with interviewer Bryan Thomas Schmidt, over at Grasping for the Wind.

Reviewer Bob Reiss has taken a listen to the brand new audiobook edition of Peter Crowther‘s Darkness Falling, [out now from Brilliance Audio on CD, MP3 CD and WMA Download] for The Guilded Earlobe: “…a novel with a fascinating Apocalyptic scenario, full of interesting characters and offering a lot of spine tingling creepiness…”

Back to Jacob at Drying Ink, who posted the first review (so far) of Adam Christopher‘s forthcoming (Jan 2012) noir-steampunk-superhero novel Empire State: “…a fast, likeable novel which aims not only to surprise, but frequently to confound – with intrigue, superheroic subversion, and a few robots playing into the mix!”

Guy Haley‘s Reality 36 has been reviewed by Stephen Theaker, who says things like: “The action sequences are exciting, the mysteries intriguing, the characters people whose conversations I enjoy, people I’d like to read more about.” We also spotted a second review, from blogger Kate Sherrod, who sums things up rather neatly: “It’s all very complicated and glorious.”

Morlock Night and Infernal Devices author, the legendary K.W. Jeter, took part in a World Fantasy Convention panel – dubbed, alternately, “Founders of Steampunk”, “Grand Old Men of Steampunk” or, as panel moderator Mr John Berlyne suggested: “Steampunk: It’s All Your Fault” – alongside the equally legendary Tim Powers and James P. Blaylock:

Reviewer Ross Warren has taken a good, hard look at Gary McMahon’s Dead Bad Things for readhorror.co.uk: “The story may be unremittingly bleak and darker than pitch but it is never less than gripping.”

Soon-to-be-published (Giant Thief, Feb 2012) Angry Robot author David Tallerman was part of a team who entered the 10th annual Two Days Later short horror film competition. As David recounts on his blog, their entry, ‘Match‘ won in four of the thirteen available prize categories: Best Sound, Best Director, Best Screenplay and the Audience Vote. Congrats to David and his fellow film-makers!

And finally, if you’re anywhere near Nottingham this weekend, be sure to pop by Novacon, the most venerable of the UK’s science fiction conventions. The frankly scary Thomas Blackthorne (aka John Meaney) is guest of honour and that nice Mr Ian Whates is going to be there too.

Well, the fine folk at Amazing 15 have put together a great blog post about their experiences when creating the awesome covers, below:

Head on over to Amazing 15 to read all about the birth and delivery of a cover.

So, pop the kettle on, put a couple of biccies* on a plate, and listen in.

Theme tune from the wonderful John Anealio.

To download this podcast, right click here and save.

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