Stadt der Masken? Possible German publication of City of Masks

Now, this is at a very early stage, so my excitement is probably not well justified.

But I've just heard that an Italian agent wants to present City of Masks to some German publishers. Germans are huge readers, apparently, and there's a big demand for slightly unusual works from non-German authors.

So anyway. Wanted to let you know. Further bulletins as events warrant.

The Y People, Chapter 11: Project Bootstrap

There was another awkward silence for a while, then Kevin said, "We better take some of this down to Jane. She's not going to remember to eat."

Marie visibly swallowed a comment, but she did pick up a pizza box and tramp down the stairs after us. I carried the juice.

Jane had the machine disassembled and neatly spread out on a bench, almost like an exploded diagram or one of those "some assembly required" charts. She was pointing her laptop at it. The laptop flashed.

"What are you doing?" asked Kevin.

"Three-D scan," she said. She put the laptop down on another bench and fiddled with it, and a projected holographic image of the parts, several times life-size, appeared in the air above the laptop. She started moving the projected parts around by grabbing them with her hands.

I knew it wouldn't do any good to question how the laptop could do that. In her mind, that was what a laptop should do. I'd never seen her charge the battery, come to that. She didn't even seem to have a power cord. The power here was a different voltage anyway, and had different plugs, but that just didn't seem to be a consideration.

"We brought you pizza," Kevin said, approaching with a box.

"Oh," she replied, and picked up a slice. She took an absent-minded bite, then put it down and continued to fiddle with the projection. I got the impression that first bite was also going to be her last.

We put the pizza boxes and juice bottles down on an unused workbench and stood around watching for a little while as Jane reassembled an image of the machine in midair. Abruptly, Karen burst out, "I could really do with a shower."

We looked at her. She was right.

Marie took two steps to the nearest door and opened it without really looking, still distracted by Jane's projection. I poked my head in curiously.

"Hey, this is a Japanese bath-house," I said.

"You over-delivered," said Kevin. We walked in and looked around. It was all wooden slats and minimalism. There were two separate bathing areas, presumably for men and women.

Karen appeared hesitantly at the door. "I've read about these," she said. "You wash yourself down first and then soak, right?"

"Right," I said. I know my manga. "Which side do you want?"

Kevin had to repeat it before she heard, but she chose the left. She dragged Marie away from the light show and they vanished through the door.

Kevin and I went through our door and stripped off, washed and then climbed into the square wooden bath.

"Pretty nice," I said. "MIBs do good work."

"They do," he agreed.

We heard giggling from next door, and I tried hard not to think about Karen taking her clothes off. I recited some nonsense poetry in my head. It helped a little, but not much.

We sat and soaked for a while. We could hear the girls talking, though we couldn't pick up most of what they were saying, and we started chatting too. We'd just fallen silent for a moment when I heard Karen's Australian voice quite clearly through the wall.

"Who's Kevin talking to in there?"

"The other guy, uh..." Marie had forgotten my name again, but unlike Karen had at least remembered my existence.

I was just preparing a fulminating curse when Kevin gave a start.

"What?" I asked.

"Powers are off," he said.

"What the...?" I heard Karen exclaim. "My head just went quiet. It's like that... place."

"Jane!" Marie bellowed.

"Don't worry," Jane shouted back, "I just turned the machine back on."

"OK," called Marie. "You want a Japanese bath?"

"Why not?" Jane called back. I heard her walk in and stop in front of the two doors.

"Left-hand door," I called out, and she heard me without Kevin's help. I heard the other door open and the two other girls explain the wash-before-you-soak thing.

"What if we get attacked?" Karen asked nervously. "I mean, we're all in here with no powers. And, uh, no clothes." I started reciting nonsense poetry again until I realised that I didn't have to - she couldn't read my thoughts now.

"I've got a remote kill-switch right here. I'll rig it up to some motion detectors while we sleep."

"You're going to run the machine while we sleep?"

"I call it Operation Bootstrap. Tomorrow morning we should all have built up a power backlog, and I can use that to do the next step. I'm going to build a fab."

"A fab what?" asked Karen.

I could imagine Jane's glare. "A fabricator. A machine that makes machines. Then I'm going to use that to make us some miniature versions of the big machine so we can turn our powers up or down, store them - maybe even swap them over."

"Swap them? Between ourselves?"

"Yes, so we can all be a little bit telepathic, a little bit invisible, a little bit aware, a little bit gadgety - I'm not sure how well it'll work on your power, though, Marie, it's hard to imagine what a little bit of being able to open doors to whatever you need would look like. Maybe we could do that pocket thing instead, like when you pulled out the taser."

"But that was when I had more of my power."

"True. We'll have to experiment and see what happens."

Jane sounded happy, even almost friendly. She was even explaining in terms we could all understand. Maybe the bath was relaxing her, or maybe it was just that her project was underway.

We soaked ourselves prunelike, then dried off - there were some towels - dressed, and went upstairs to our improvised beds. Hot soaks are really relaxing. Despite the drawbacks of the air mattress, I slept like a rock.

When I woke up, it was because Karen had just landed on top of me.

The Y People, Chapter 10: Take Me To Our Leader

It turned out that when Jane said "Help me carry...", what that meant was that we carried and she opened the doors, in a distracted kind of not-very-helpful way. We got the machine set up on a bench downstairs, and stood there massaging our hands while she produced a screwdriver from somewhere and started to remove the case.

Once she could see inside, she seemed totally absorbed - it was like Kevin had suddenly gained my power as well. He jerked his head towards the door and we started to leave. But, without looking up, she called, "I'll need some electronic components eventually. Get Marie to come down and open a door."

"Is she autistic, or what?" Kevin asked as we clumped up the stairs.

"At least Asperger's," I said. We knew a few kids who were one or the other, and Sister Mary Anselm had given us a lecture one time.

"It's like everyone has your power in her world," he said.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that. Up until she needs something, anyway."

"Maybe she's just really, really self-centred."

"Yeah. Where are Karen and Marie?"

"Well, according to my sense they're on what feels like the other side of the city, that way." He pointed at an angle in the approximate direction of the warehouse part of the building. "So your guess is as good as mine."

We soon found them, though, through the only door that was ajar. They were in some windowless room eating pizza and drinking fruit juice. Karen looked a little more composed, but her eyes were still red.

"No Coke?" asked Kevin. He loves Coke.

"Only juice," said Marie.

"MIBs are health nuts," I said.

"Men In Black?" He cast me a raised eyebrow.

"Mysterious Invisible Benefactors. But yes, reference intentional."

"Nice."

Kevin and I have known each other for a long time, so we can usually work out what the other one is thinking. Since nobody pays much attention to our conversations, what with the John effect, we don't usually worry too much about including others, either. We have a lot of in-jokes.

"Oh, by the way, Jane wants a door opened," he told Marie as he sat down and helped himself to pizza.

"Jane can wait," said Marie.

"Are you the leader?" Karen said suddenly, to Kevin.

"What? No. We don't - there is no leader."

"But back in the, the place..."

"I always know where everyone and everything is," he said. "So in a situation like that, I had knowledge that everyone else needed. You've told her about our powers?" he asked Marie.

"Yes, I was just about to ask her about hers."

"You should be the leader," Karen told Kevin, overlapping Marie's sentence a bit.

"Why is that?"

"Why do we need a leader?" I asked. "Isn't it a bit 18th-century to assume that someone has to be in charge?"

Since only Kevin registered that I was talking, he repeated my first question.

"Of course you need a leader," Karen said. "It's dangerous, so someone has to be the one who takes charge when things get hairy. We can't just mill around arguing about what to do."

"Shouldn't we have some sort of election, at least?" said Marie. I could tell she wasn't delighted with the idea of Kevin as leader. Marie was the kind of person who automatically thinks she's the leader. Come to that, so was Jane, but she had no people skills - or, actually, a negative amount of people skills. A large negative amount. Karen clearly wasn't a candidate, and nor was I - no good having a leader who nobody notices.

"Well, I vote for Kevin," I said as loudly as I could, stepping forward. "Assuming he votes for himself, that with Karen's vote makes three, so he has a majority."

"Hold on, hold on," said Kevin. "We should have this discussion with Jane here."

"Good luck pulling her head out of that machine," I said.

"Look, can we shelve it for now? We're not under attack. We're sitting here eating pizza."

"All right. We'll talk about it later," said Karen.

There was an interval of slightly uncomfortable pizza-eating. Then Marie swallowed and said, "As I was saying - I've just been telling Karen about our powers, and I was about to ask her about hers."

"I bet you forgot to mention me and my power," I thought.

Karen turned and looked straight at me. "Yes, she did. What can you do?" she asked.

I stared at her for what seemed like several seconds. "You're a telepath," I said.

"Not exactly. I can only hear people's automatic thoughts, or the ones with a lot of emotion behind them."

"What do you mean by automatic thoughts?"

"You know the voices in your head? The ones that crazy people think are coming from outside them, but actually are your teachers and parents and stuff, or what you imagine they'd tell you? Those thoughts."

"So let me get this straight. You hear voices in other people's heads?"

"Well - I've never thought of putting it like that, but I suppose, yes?"

"So it was probably just as well that you didn't have your powers in that prison, then," said Marie.

Karen shuddered and went silent, looking inward. Marie's power of opening things extends, unfortunately, to her big mouth, and what's inside is frequently not what people need.

Kevin, on the other hand, knows exactly where people are, and jumped in to distract her. "John's power is that people don't notice him or remember him," he said, "which is why Marie didn't say anything about him. It's, um, kind of a mixed blessing."

"To put it mildly," I muttered, then blushed when Karen shot me a look. I'd just thought, "I'll never have a chance with a girl like Karen." It wasn't a completely unhappy look, which was something, though it wasn't like she was smiling either.

I would really have to watch my thoughts around her, and it wasn't going to be easy.

The Gift of Lit

Here's a little joint project by some Podiobooks authors, including me. In the lead-up to Christmas 2009, we'd like to suggest that you consider buying our books as gifts, or asking others to do so for you.

HORROR

NIGHT’S KNIGHTS by Emerian Rich

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $13.00)

Vampires on a quest for knowledge attempt to create the perfect offspring, but from the shadows an even more demonic evil threatens their immortality. Markham is a simple Irish immigrant striving for the American dream in 1860 when coach robbers cause his untimely death. Severina is an exotic beauty from the jungles of Brazil whose family is brutally murdered by the same man she later calls lover. Julien is a knight who serves as guardian angel to his family but has no clue about his predestined fate. Will a powerful mortal named Jespa be the one to save them all?

FANTASY

BRAVE MEN RUN by Matthew Wayne Selznick

Buy it here at << Amazon>> (starts as low as $8.98 new)

April 18, 1985 - Into a world already wound tight with the desperate tensions of the Cold War comes Dr. William Donner with a startling declaration: superhumans exist, they demand autonomy, and he has the reality-bending power to enforce their status. The traditional balance of power is thrown askew by the addition of not one super-powered human, but six thousand. Before the Donner Declaration, high school sophomore Nate Charters was just an outsider and self-proclaimed freak. His unusual appearance, hair-trigger reflexes, and overactive metabolism should have made him something special, but his differences and low self-esteem have long since marked him as a target for the jocks and popular kids. Now, just as his unique nature brings him the attention of a self-assured older girl, Nate must find his place in the world. Why is he the way he is? What really happened to his long-dead father? Why is his biggest rival suddenly interested in a private meeting? Is he part of a remarkable, powerful new minority… or just a misfit among misfits? Nate must discover the answers to these questions quickly, because those in power know more about him than he could ever imagine. And they’re closing in…

Mike's Endorsement: I have just finished listening to this in podiobook format, and it's really good. If, like me, you like superhero fiction (and don't mind it being a bit more realistic than the usual capes and tights), definitely check this out.

LOST GODS by Drew Beatty

Buy it here at << Lulu >> (starts at $15.50 new)

Kweku Anansi is just another member of the African diaspora, trying to make a place for himself in his adopted home of Toronto, Canada. He dreams of better days, of a time when he could stop running small-time cons just to make the rent. He dreams of the life he used to live, centuries ago when he was revered as a god. A chance encounter with a fellow con man with a dark and secretive past of his own plunges them both into the dark world of the lost gods, gods who would do anything to be worshipped again. Including destroying the world, if necessary. How far will Anansi go to reclaim his godhood? What will he give up to have true power again?

Mike's Endorsement: Another very good book which I highly recommend, well-written, well-plotted, amusing and exciting.

THE FOX by Arlene Radasky

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $20.99 new)

The Fox by Arlene Radasky is a historical romance and fantasy novel that looks at true courage and truly selfless acts. In this epic fiction that crosses centuries, Druid healers at the beginning of recorded time will be rescued from obscurity by an archeologist of the twenty-first century. Jahna’s clan lay in the path of destruction exacted by the Romans. Her fate is sealed unless a bargain is made with the Gods, which without a doubt means a human sacrifice. Two thousand years later, Aine MacRae is on their trail. A struggling archaeologist, she is on the verge of uncovering the village where they once lived. Encouraged by a ghostly visit, she will do whatever it takes to unearth time’s mystery. Greed almost triumphs leaving the truth and ancient stories buried forever, but an undying love is rekindled.

CHASING THE BARD by Philippa Ballantine

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $12.69 new)

Born into the human world with a gift; a gift that brings him to the attention of powers both dark and light from the World of the Fey, it is his burden to defend all the world. Sive, the goddess of battle, hopes that he may be able to change the fate of her people.The Fey are dying, killed by something beyond the boundaries of worlds, and Sive will do anything to save them. So she enlists the help of her trickster cousin Puck to guard the child, and watch him grow into his gift. But a dark power imprisoned by human and Fey, plots to destroy both worlds, and unmake all that they have created. Can one boy stop the destruction, even if he is William Shakespeare?

Mike's Endorsement: A fellow Kiwi author, and she writes extremely well. I was riveted to this. Get hold of it!

THE DAWNING OF POWER by Brian Rathbone

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $17.98)

The Dawning of Power is the debut trilogy in Brian Rathbone’s fantasy series: The World of Godsland. Echoes of the ancients power are distant memories, tattered and faded by the passage of eons, but that is about to change. A new dawn has arrived. Latent abilities, harbored in mankind s deepest fibers, wait to be unleashed. Ancient evils awaken, and old fears ignite the fires of war. In times such as these, ordinary people have the power to save the world . . . or destroy it.

THE WHITE SHADOW SAGA: THE STOLEN MOON OF LONDOR by A.P. Stephens

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $8.60)

The era of peace among the elves, men, and dwarves comes to an end when one of Londor’s twin moons disappears from the heavens. Without the moon’s balancing effect, evil forces grow bold, and warfare, sickness, and chaos threaten life itself.

Hearing the prayers of desperation that ride on the violent winds, the ancient wizard Randor Miithra, servant to the elf-gods, takes it upon himself to mend the world he has sworn to protect. The task will not be an easy one, though, for the wizard, too, has begun to feel the effects of the world’s imbalance. As Randor struggles to maintain some semblance of his powers, he meets a secretive band of colorful characters from all walks of life, drawn together by a common goal: to find the stolen moon, whatever the cost. It does not take Randor and his motley company long to see that someone or something does not want the moon returned to the heavens.

The road is perilous…the stakes have never been greater…will they find victory…or will they only find their deaths?

SCIENCE FICTION

THE VATICAN ASSASSIN TRILOGY by Mike Luoma

Buy it here at << Lulu >> (starts as low as $35.99)

This three in one omnibus edition collects all three novels in the “Vatican Assassin” Trilogy under one cover. “Vatican Assassin”, “Vatican Ambassador” and “Vatican Abdicator” are joined in this volume by an extensive appendix of previously unreleased background material. There are some early concept sketches by Mike Luoma, as well as “The History of The Future”: a timeline developed to extrapolate from today into the future setting for the story; “The Original Story Outline”; “The Story of The Project”; “The Alien Timeline” and more.

THE PIRATES OF SUFIRO by David Lee Summers

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $14.95)

The Pirates of Sufiro is the story of a planet and its people — of Ellison Firebrandt the pirate captain living in exile; of Espedie Raton, the con-man looking to make a fresh start for himself and his wife on a new world; of Peter Stone, the ruthless bank executive who discovers a fortune and will do anything to keep it; and of the lawman, Edmund Ray Swan who travels to Sufiro seeking the quiet life but finds a dark secret. It is the story of privateers, farmers, miners, entrepreneurs, and soldiers — all caught up in dramatic events and violent conflicts that will shape the destiny of our galaxy.

CRIME DRAMA

JACK WAKES UP by Seth Harwood

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $7.68)

In JACK WAKES UP, we are introduced to Jack Palms, a movie star turned drug addict, turned has-been who has been living off of the residual checks from Shake ‘Em Down, his one–and-only action movie. The money is drying up though, and this new clean, uneventful life is starting to become too much for Jack to bear. So when an old friend comes calling and asks Jack to use his former celebrity to show some out-of-town high rollers around San Francisco’s club scene, he’s happy to oblige. What Jack doesn’t know, however, is these “guests” are a pack of former KGB agents turned coke dealers out to make a big deal with Jack as their tour guide. Soon people are turning up dead, and Jack’s got too many gunmen after him to count—including a South American drug cartel, a mountain-sized Samoan enforcer, and a mobbed-up strip club owner with an army of thugs. That’s not to mention a gorgeous new girlfriend who may be planning on shooting him in the back and the homicide cop who’s just given Jack twenty-four hours to bring down the Bay Area’s biggest drug dealer.

But the thing that scares Jack the most? He’s starting to have fun.

FICTION

CITY OF MASKS by Mike Reeves-McMillan

Buy it here at << Lulu >> (starts as low as $9.97)

In the city-state of Bonvidaeo, by custom and law everyone must wear a mask and act in character with it, or face civil, social and religious penalties. Gregorius Bass is sent to Bonvidaeo as the Envoy of Calaria (primarily to get him out from underfoot). Masked as the Innocent Man, and in the company of his radical young Bonvidaoan servant, Bass stumbles into mystery, intrigue, heresy and murder.

Mike's Endorsement: What can I say? This one's mine. People keep telling me they like it. If you haven't checked it out, please do.

TECHNO THRILLER

7TH SON: DESCENT by J.C. Hutchins

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $9.21)

As America reels from the bizarre presidential assassination committed by a child, seven men are abducted from their normal lives and delivered to a secret government facility. Each man has his own career, his own specialty. All are identical in appearance. The seven strangers were not born, but grown — unwitting human clones — as part of a project called 7th Son.

The government now wants something from these “John Michael Smiths.” They share the flesh as well as the implanted memories of the psychopath responsible for the president’s murder. The killer has bigger plans, and only these seven have the unique qualifications to track and stop him. But when their progenitor makes the battle personal, it becomes clear John Alpha may know the seven better than they know themselves…

SPECULATIVE FICTION

DREAMING OF DELIVERANCE by R.E. Chambliss

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $19.99)

Five years ago when Lindsay Paulson, a naive college student and talented distance runner, was 18, she was convicted of drug smuggling. Now, halfway through a 10-year prison sentence, she begins having what seem to be dreams, in which she leaves her cell in the night and visits another reality called Trae. Dreaming of Deliverance tells of Lindsay’s experiences both in Trae, where she finds herself among people enslaved by terrifying creatures, and in prison where she tries to make sense of what’s happening in her sleep: Is she actually escaping from prison somehow or is she losing her mind?

FANTASY FICTION HISTORICAL

THE MARK OF A DRUID by Rhonda R. Carpenter

Buy it here at << Amazon >> (starts as low as $16.55 new)

Have you ever had a dream so real that when you awoke, it didn’t leave the recesses of your mind for days? Eve McCormick just did, and this experience will change her life and the lives of those around her permanently. A twenty-six year old hypnotherapist who oversees a research project based on discovering the answer to an age-old question, “Is reincarnation fact or fiction?” must learn to trust a Welsh stranger. An ancient Celtic prophecy and long sought-after revenge entangles the past with the present in the struggle for existence that threatens to destroy her project. A druidess and a shape-shifter must join as one to save the Druid way of life, while a Queen conspires to kill Erin’s only High King. Will the oaths and agendas of the past reach across the centuries to strengthen or destroy?

City of Masks review

Just found (via Google blog search, which I have fed into my feed reader) a nice review of the podcast version of City of Masks on Livejournal. The reviewer initially wasn't sold on my reading, until s/he (I think she) realized that I was "doing the voices" of the characters.

I don't have (and don't intend to get) a Livejournal account in order to comment directly on the post, but thanks, krazysidhe, for your kind words. I'm complimented that you thought of doing fanfiction, though I'm also glad you decided not to. And (if you find this), have a look at The Y People and see if you like that too.

Officially on hiatus

Obviously, The Y People has been unofficially on hiatus for a while. But I'm now admitting it.

There are unlikely to be more updates until November because of looming exams. December to February may be a bit patchy depending how demanding my summer semester study is (probably fairly demanding).

After February, though, I'm hoping things will pick up. Bear in mind that The Y People is an amusement for me and I have a lot of other things going on in my life, some of which are harder to justify shelving for an extended period. But I do plan to continue and I do want to continue, so please remain subscribed and normal transmission should (eventually) resume.

The Y People: A brief intermission

Greetings, Faithful Readers. As you may have guessed, I've been busy with other things lately - university assignment, conference talk, that sort of thing - and haven't updated The Y People as a consequence. I hope to do so soon.

I thought I'd say hi, though, and offer you the opportunity to interact. I'm very happy to receive comments on any post in The Y People - I know some of my fellow Goodreads authors are following, and your questions or critiques are very welcome.

On this post, though, I'm specifically inviting comments which suggest what power Karen might have. I do have an idea, but you might have better ones. We're going to find out in the next chapter, which I'm aiming to do on Sunday (NZ time, Saturday in much of the rest of the world).

I'm writing by the seat of my pants here. I seldom know how a chapter ends when I start typing it. I do know approximately what is going on behind the scenes (which is more than I knew when I started), but you and I are discovering stuff together. Is this experiment sustainable? Stay tuned and see.

And if you have ideas for Karen's power, please leave a comment.