Author Archives: Michael

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: John Wiswell Talks Someone You Can Build A Nest In

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words author interview where today I’m delighted to welcome the excellent John Wiswell, to talk about his fascinating new novel Someone You Can Build A Nest In – which is out now from Arcadia Books (UK)/DAW Books (US). This really is an intriguing book packed full of talking points, and I roped in my good friend (and increasingly regular Track of Words contributor) Fabienne Schwizer to help narrow things down to a manageable number of questions. So read on to find out more about Someone You Can Build A Nest In, its brilliant cast of characters, some of the themes explored throughout the book, and plenty more – and prepare to really want to read this book!

Continue reading →

Writer and Editor: Can You Be Both? (Kate Golden Guest Post)

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words guest post, where today I’m joined by Kate Golden, author of the Dawn of Onyx series, whose second novel A Promise of Peridot is out now via Arcadia Books. I’m always fascinated to hear from anyone who works across multiple writing-related disciplines, and in this case Kate is both a fantasy novelist and a TV and film executive. I was delighted when Kate agreed to write this guest post about the realities of balancing those two aspects of her life, and the end result is a fascinating piece about creativity, passion and the craft of writing. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, and whatever genre(s) you read, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did!

Continue reading →

RAPID FIRE: Victoria Hayward Talks Deathworlder

It’s been a while since my last Rapid Fire interview with a Black Library author, but I’m back with my first of 2024 and it’s a doozy – please welcome the fantastic Victoria Hayward to talk about her debut novel, Deathworlder! After several great 40k short stories, I’m sure I’m not the only reader who’s been looking forward to Victoria’s first novel (which goes up for pre-order from BL/GW tomorrow), and joining the ever-growing and consistently impressive range of Astra Militarum novels, Deathworlder promises to be a Catachan novel like no other. If you’re keen to find out more about what to expect, we’ve definitely got you covered with this interview.

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Sebastien de Castell Talks Play of Shadows

Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where I’m delighted to welcome back Sebastien de Castell to talk about his new fantasy novel Play of Shadows, which is out now from Jo Fletcher Books! Set in the same world as his Greatcoats series, this kicks off a brand new arc – and you definitely don’t need to have read the other books already, as I can testify myself (more on this later). I had a blast reading Play of Shadows, and I’d recommend it to any fantasy reader whether you’re a fan of the Greatcoats or, like me, new to this world. So read on to find out more about what to expect from Play of Shadows, its cast of characters, and the power of theatre in a fantasy world!

Continue reading →

Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary On The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg

I’m back with another Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words, where I hope you’ll join me in welcoming author Salinee Goldenberg, whose debut novel The Last Phi Hunter is coming out via Angry Robot on the 9th of April 2024! As always with these BTS posts, Salinee has kindly picked out an excerpt from her novel, and written an accompanying commentary, which this time focuses on the cinematic nature of The Last Phi Hunter. Salinee has chosen an excerpt from a couple of chapters into the book, so read on to find out more about this “mythic dark fantasy”, and in particular its central character pairing!

Continue reading →

Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Toxxic by Jane Hennigan

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post here on Track of Words – I’m joined today by Jane Hennigan, with an excerpt from her new science fiction novel Toxxic (out now via Angry Robot) alongside an exclusive commentary on the subject of sequels and narrators. The follow-up to 2023’s Moths – “a thrilling dystopia, in turns heart-breaking and heart-pounding”, Toxxic “extends the world and the story of Moths, exploring the nature of gender roles and feminism through warm characters in difficult circumstances.” It sounds fantastic, and Jane’s commentary offers a fascinating insight into the thought that goes into a book long before an author actually starts writing – really interesting stuff whether you’re a reader, writer or both!

Continue reading →

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jeff Noon Talks Gogmagog

Hello and welcome to Track of Words, where today I’m delighted to present an Author Interview with Jeff Noon, co-author (alongside Steve Beard) of Gogmagog, the first in a new fantasy duology from Angry Robot. Subtitled The First Chronicle of Ludwich, and featuring one of my favourite fantasy covers in a long time (from the incredible Ian McQue), Gogmagog is a bonkers but brilliant weird fantasy novel. I’ll leave it to Jeff to describe the book, but I recently read it myself and can confirm that it’s excellent, and I jumped at the chance to chat to Jeff for this interview.

Continue reading →

10 Years of Track of Words In Numbers

At the start of a new year I always take some time to look back at the previous 12 months of Track of Words in numbers, and this year is no different (I’ve already published my 2023 in Numbers post), except that I’m also marking the anniversary of 10 years running Track of Words! I published my first post (this one, if you want to check it out) on the 27th January 2014, if you can believe it. So with that milestone now passed, and especially as I’m drawing a bit of a line in the sand now after which I’m going to be slowing down on the site (see my Track of Words in 2024 post), I thought it would be fun to do a separate numbers post looking back over a decade of Track of Words.

Continue reading →

Behind The Scene: Exclusive Author Commentary on Simul by Andrew Caldecott

Hello and welcome to this Behind the Scene post, in which I’m delighted to present an excerpt from Simul by Andrew Caldecott, accompanied by an exclusive commentary by Andrew himself. Out now from Jo Fletcher Books, Simul is the second volume of the Momenticon duology, following on from 2023’s Momenticon, which has been described as “a perplexing and brilliant story full of literary and artistic rabbit holes and quirky characters.” The idea behind my Behind the Scene series is to ask authors to talk a bit about a scene or a chapter from their book and give an insight into their thought processes as they wrote it. Here Andrew has more than fulfilled that brief, with a fascinating commentary exploring the concept and purpose of Simul’s opening chapter.

Continue reading →