His last novel, WebMage, earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly. They said, "this is the kind of title that could inspire an army of rabid fans; it's a good thing a sequel is planned for 2007. " And here it is! I am proud to present the new novel from our very own blog buddy, Kelly McCullough. We know him as a tea-drinking, hard-working writer and blogger. But to a growing legion of fans, Kelly is the incredibly inventive creator of a whole new world. As Publisher's Weekly also said, it's a "delightfully skewed and fully formed world—much like our own, but with magic, paranormally advanced technology and Greek gods. . .McCullough handles his plot with unfailing invention, orchestrating a mixture of humor, philosophy and programming insights that give new meaning to terms as commonplace as "spell checker" and esoteric as "programming in hex." Booklist called it fast-paced and action-packed: "McCullough has done an excellent job of weaving myth, magic, IT jargon, and the English language into a bang-up story."And now here's the new one, just out this week, and sure to receive an equally glowing reception from critics and fans!
And speaking of a reception, Kelly will drop in and out all day to answer your questions and pass the champagne!
Kelly's books are available at DreamHaven (signed copies available) and Amazon.
45 comments:
I decided to set up the party tonight, in case I sleep late in the morning. Breakfast is not too soon for champagne, is it?
Yay, Kelly!
Congratulations Kelly!!!!
Wishing you very good fortune.
BTW champagne is good anytime of the day.
Keyword in PW review: Humor.
Can't wait to read these, Kelly!
Is the Dreamhaven Bookstore link the best way to go about getting signed copies of both titles?
Mazel tov, Kelly!
And good reading to all those people of impeccably good taste and obvious intelligence who buy Kelly's books. :)
If the homebrew was ready, I'd break it out. Champagne is for… yeah, breakfast. That's it.
Love that tag line: "Hades has a Hell of a firewall." But hacking Hades wouldn't be that difficult, would it? They're certainly an exclusive-Microsoft shop....
Congrats, Kelly!
I can't wait to read them, Kelly! Congrats! I hope this one is as well-received as the first. Good luck with the signings, the blogstuff, etc. etc.
Can I have OJ with my champagne? Do we have crudités, too? (Love that word.)
Congrats, Kelly - looks fascinating!
::pours a mimosa in celebration::
!! A new book! With Humor!
Kelly, Congratulations, I'll place my order for BOTH books tonight as soon as I get home.
Darn you Nancy, You know what champagne does to me when I drink it for breakfast!
Woo hoo!!
Congratulations Kelly!!
:D
Congratulations, Kelly. A starred review in PW is HUGE! You rock!
Wow, I did sleep late, and the party's rollin'! While I'm still stumbling around looking for my coffee cup, here's the first of some Q&A's with Kelly:
1) What was your inspiration for writing Cybermancy?
There are a number of reasons I wanted to write this. First, I wanted
to write something else in the WebMage universe (this was before
WebMage sold) because I really like hanging out with these fun, funny
characters, and I love the world. Second, there was unfinished
business left over from WebMage, most notably Shara's injury/death
which happens off screen. Finally, and maybe most important for the
arc of this book, the Persephone myth has always made me terribly
angry. Here is a young goddess who is condemned to be eternally bound
to her abductor and rapist, Hades the god of the dead. It's appalling
and the injustice of it something that I found that I really wanted
to write about.
Good morning all!
Thanks for all the congrats!
Ghostfolk, yes the Dreamhaven link is the best choice for that. Not only do I stop in frequently, but they're great folks-one of the best independent F&SF stores in the country.
Champagne and breakfast. Yum. Mimosas for everyone.
Ah, caffeine. It has put the capital M in WebMage on the front page, and added links to Amazon and DreamHaven.
Kelly, I love the fact that you wanted to address an ancient injustice. The myth that always sticks with me in that kind of way is the one about Daphne who had to turn into a tree in order to escape Apollo.
Nancy, First, thanks for the front page real estate.
Second, on Persephone. Yeah, I can't think about that story without my blood boiling. I hadn't thought about Daphne in ages. Hmm. That might make for a good short story.
Good morning, Kelly!
I was hoping you'd say the mention of Daphne inspired you to write something. . .:)
One more Daphne note. . .and then, THEN, they had the nerve to use laurel from her tree to make wreaths for the heads of male athletes who won races!
Okay, that has to go on the list.
Nancy, I'll have to dig through my back issues of Asimov's to find it, but there was a retelling of Persephone's story in which she was anything but a victim. Kelly might even remember it off the top of his head.
Far, I can't say that I've read that one, though I've seen a lot of portrayals of Persephone. Mine is not a "passive" victim by any means, though she's definitely been victimized.
¡Felicidades! Ordered my copy yesterday - Can't wait!
Thanks Manee!
Far, I just reread that last post and realized it might read snappish without the expressions and tone that are supposed to go with it. Picture a grin and an attempt to talk dramatically about the topic to go with the words, if you would:-)
Another Q & A with Kelly:
Q. How do you make an "unreal" world believable?
Believable and real
are not necessarily the same things. There are all sorts of things that happen in fantastic fiction that are completely unreal but believable in the context of the imagined world.
I really like playing make-believe.
That is such a great point, Kelly. All fiction is "unreal." Hell, half of the news we hear is unreal, and it's supposed to be non-fiction. But as fiction writers and politicians know, you can sell anything as real if you make it believable to your audience. I believe the word is verisimilitude, although I won't swear to the spelling. :)
Nancy, that's one of the things I talk about with my students in the context of character.
In my writing, real and believable characters are not at all the same thing. I've found (mostly through trial and error) that the more real I try to make someone, the less believable my readers seem to find them. At least from me, caricature reads more true than attempts at truth in character.
Hi checking back in with a little bit more breathing room. For those I missed responding to directly earlier.
Family Man, Thank you kindly, sir. I'm having a crazy day, perhaps I could persuade you to take a nap or otherwise slack on my behalf?
Andi, thank you, oh prophet of the blue dot.
Far, I hope the homebrew turns out most excellent.
Beth, the mimosas are such a lovely idea. It makes me wish I had that champagne now instead of for the RL launch on Saturday.
Maria Lima, thank you. I hope it pleases.
Katiebird, thank you for your comments here and over at big orange. BTW, the science songs are still bringing us much pleasure.
Olivia, so good to see you, and thanks.
Kimberly Frost, thanks! And yeah the PW review was a gift beyond price. I got very lucky there and everything in my publishing life after that has been easier.
Whew, I think that's everyone between this and the other posts. If I've missed anyone, feel free to chuck a rock at me to catch my attention--I'm a little fragmented today.
No prob, Kelly, I didn't take it as snappish at all. I'll see if I can find it again; maybe a title & author name will suffice.
The homebrew will be ready in a couple of weeks — I've arbitrarily picked Daughter Dearest's birthday as Opening Day....
Kelly, that's a really provocative and interesting idea, that for you caricature reads more true than attempts at truth in character. Why might that be?
Where is the discussion at Big Orange? Is it in an Open Thread or a diary?
FAR, I wish you could serve some of that home brew to us!
Hi Nancy,
Back after an interlude of dealing class stuff. The orange post is a diary.
On the character front, the short answer is (I think) that it's because I'm not like all the other monkeys. I went to an open school, was raised Taoist, and just generally grew up disconnected from the way most people do. One of the results, as far as I can tell is that I process a lot of information and emotion in a way that's about thirty degrees off center. I talk about it a bit here.
Kelly, that's a lovely diary. And wow, the things we learn about one another here!
Any discouraged writers reading here today? I highly recommend Kelly's Daily Kos diary as linked in his comment above. You don't have to be a "member" to go read it.
Thanks for the prod, Nancy. In POS mode today, so I'll check it out.
Ah, Beth. Consider yourself hugged.
I wouldn't count myself as "discouraged" so much as "got no freeking clue where to go from here." [Silly stuff deleted, email me at FARfetched58 at aim dot com if any of you want to hear the rest.]
Good diary, Kelly. Rec'ed and tipped (I'm dirtroad on dKos).
There's no 'silly stuff' here, Far - I can't imagine anyone would complain about your venting, whining, ruminating, gnashing, etc.
Maybe it's the full moon...
Thanks for the hugs, Nancy. Looks like Far needs them, too!
Ohhh, yummy. Kelly, your books sound exactly like the type I love to read. I'm heading over to DreamHaven...because I have nothing to read, of course. Except for the stacks of novels--well, never mind. But books don't spoil and there's always room for more (somehow). And they make great gifts, after I've read them (especially signed).
Congrats, Kelly!
Nancy, Far, thanks for the diary compliments. I'm going offline for a bit now to go get an oil change and do some other things to clear the deck for a writing blitz tomorrow. Will stop back when I get home.
Yeah, Beth, y'all are too polite for that. I just don't want to hijack Kelly's launch party.
Consider virtual homebrews to be passed around, even if I can't share the real stuff for a few more weeks....
Hi, Conda,
I'm hoping that over time we'll get to hold parties for a lot of blog buddies here. Hint. :)
Far, I e'ed you. I'll be here for another few minutes, then I'm gone until later.
Thanks Conda, much appreciated!
!! I just placed my order -- not from Amazon!
I can't wait!
Thanks Katiebird!
Wandering off to bed now. It's been a lovely party.
Sweet dreams, Kelly! I'm glad we could help launch your book. I hope it does REALLY well.
xxoo
I'm off for the night, too, I think. See you book lovers in the morning.
Congratulations, Kelly! Wonderful news!
Kelly's dKos diary made the "Rescued" list overnight.
Far, thanks for the heads up on Kos! I might not have noticed for a while. Gotta go see whether I need to do anything on that.
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