Communities

Cambridge is a town well experienced in repelling would-be boarders. I have never managed to drive directly to any goal in this town, even when I’ve had a GPS, or SatNav as they’re known here. This time I had only some scribbled notes from the map on my new iPad, and although on my second…

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Writing a god

The God of the Hive was not the book’s original title.  My working title (and I won’t be giving any spoilers in this post, so don’t worry) was The  Green Man, but how we got from one to the other makes for a long and complicated explanation that is best boiled down to: My editor…

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Peripheral prizes

Want to know more about The God of the Hive?  Like, how on earth a person like Robert Goodman came to be?  You have a chance to win “Birth of a Green Man,” the illustrated short story about a key moment in Goodman’s history, by sending me the receipt for the book purchased from an…

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God of the Hive, day one

Today is publication day for The God of the Hive.  More than a year of labor from a lot of people, beginning with the author and going through a dozen departments in Random House, branching through a whole bunch of fabulous and committed volunteers who just love the books, the source of worry and the…

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(Re)Writing God of the Hive IV

The fourth excerpt for The God of the Hive is here. (The book itself is available on April 27.) For those curious about the writing and rewriting process, each excerpt has been followed by a brief explanation of the changes made. As always, I take care to avoid major spoilers, but anyone wishing to preserve…

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The God of the Hive, portion the fourth

The final excerpt of The God of the Hive (only a month to go until pub date!) is up (via the book page), in which Mary Russell hides behind milk canisters, and meets a gun. Come back here to Mutterings in two days for my comments on the rewrite process of this chapter, and a…

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(Re)Writing God of the Hive III

The third excerpt for The God of the Hive is here, with more to follow on March 27 (and the book itself April 27.) For those curious about the creative process, each is followed by a post showing scans of the first draft and brief remarks about the rewrite process. I take care to avoid…

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The God of the Hive, part three

A third excerpt of The God of the Hive has gone up, and can be found here via the book page: In which we are reintroduced to the man with several names. Also, a newsletter is going out today, full of News and Excitement–if you’re one of those who opens it up by Monday night,…

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Sparks of pleasure

Yesterday I mailed out three copies of the small “A Venomous Death” to winners from the newsletter list, Goodreads, and Twitter.  Three happy people—Elena, Janice, and someone whose name declares they will not make toast—will get a message from Russell in their mailbox this week.  One of the side benefits of being a writer is…

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Nine lads a-leaping?

Week nine of our Twenty Weeks of Buzz, with two items of interest: first, Saturday the newsletter goes out, we draw a name from those who open it for an ARC of The God of the Hive, and we post excerpt three of the book on the site—the first two excerpts can be seen here.…

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