Book Tour, UK Publishers, Pretty Stars, Giant Monsters!

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I can’t recall why I made this gif of Lovelace and Babbage as penguins a while back but it seems it set some spheniscidaelian vibes into the atmosphere because The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, papery edition, is now being published in the UK by Particular Books Penguin! An imprint which is officially described as: “This list is characterized by the particular, all-consuming passions of its unique authors for a whole range of subjects.” Well, yeah!

This explains the recent phenomenon some of you may have experienced of having your Amazon pre-orders mysteriously cancelled then (possibly) equally mysteriously reinstated. It OUGHT to be sorted out by the power of algorithms deep in the Difference Engines at Amazon but if it’s not the new and correct pre-order page for the UK is here (they might do a different cover, hence, no cover at present). Having a UK publisher is excellent news generally as not only are they lovely people but you’ll be able to pick up the book at your local shop a lot more easily here now.

I’ve also made a nice page for the Book here, please admire my pretty stars from the early reviews from Kirkus (“A prodigious feat of historically based fantasy that engages on a number of levels”) and Publisher’s Weekly (“…a must-have for anyone who enjoys getting lost in a story as brilliant in execution as conception… permeated by delightful illustrations, obsessive foot- and endnotes, and a spirit of genuine inventiveness, it’s an early candidate for the year’s best.”) which I am informed are VERY RARE AND COVETED STARS so yay! I have to say when one has spent years of one life doing a comic which in sober retrospect seems like an extremely weird exercise in idiosyncratic obsession, not having it instantly savaged is to put it mildly a bit of a relief.

In other news, Ye Olde Book Tour for the US is coming together for the beginning of May, currently featuring the computery towns of Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, and New York– Pantheon has the details down way more clearly than I do. There’s a few more places to follow I think. UK talks etc I dunno, I will talk to the Penguins. They will say “awk! awk awk!” and I will come back to you if this means I’m doing any talks.

In other OTHER news, Giant Monster (aka Day Job) intensity is unexpectedly freakishly high, which is why I haven’t dived back into comics now the the book is done and also why I have a slightly hysterical aspect to my person at the moment. It should clear soonish. Hectic times hectic times!

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15 Comments

  1. Aule on February 25, 2015 at 9:26 pm

    Please do something in the UK – talk, signing, whatever! So pleased for you getting this published by Penguin, and that gif is awesome.

  2. Ceridwen on February 18, 2015 at 6:28 am

    Congratulations!

  3. RPN on February 16, 2015 at 4:18 pm

    Pre-ordered (in hardback) by my parents (they’re so old they’ll do anything) for my birthday (which is on St. Patrick’s Day). Congratulations on getting an actual papery edition (the only thing that will fit comfortably on my shelves) of this published.

  4. Redshift on February 13, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    We’re computery here in the Washington, DC area, too!

    • Jim on February 17, 2015 at 11:57 pm

      Yes! Indeed we are! Don’t forget to visit!

  5. Yllaria on February 10, 2015 at 3:33 am

    Note to self: Take May 5 off. Do it as soon as you get to work. Do not forget.

    (PS to self: Consider side trip to Emperor Norton’s Grave in Colma.)

  6. John on February 8, 2015 at 1:26 pm

    Congratulations on the stars, and very pretty they are too, much redder than the originals.
    I must check with FNAC, and see if their difference engine has been updated through the interconnected web of Wheatstone telegraphs.

  7. Brian on February 8, 2015 at 6:31 am

    When you’re in Seattle, you should really take a moment to stop by Ada’s Technical Bookstore. You could have a tea and berate them for not having your book on display (assuming it isn’t).

  8. Dvon on February 8, 2015 at 4:33 am

    Excellent! Three things to cheer about – all involving people who want to give you money. Much nicer than the alternative, yes?

    Should you wish to add another corner to your tour, I’d suggest Austin, Texas. It’s centrally located with an active literary mob. Don’t worry about the distances; for much of the state it’s considered a day trip.

  9. maarvarq on February 8, 2015 at 1:27 am

    Congratulations on the publishing deal, but “spheniscidaelian”?! I Googled the word and got
    1. this article, and
    2. 2 links to this article. I presume this is an elaborate (sesquipedailian, even) expansion of “sphenoid”, i.e. “wedge-shaped, as the bone at the base of the skull behind the eyes”.

    • Yllaria on February 9, 2015 at 4:36 am

      It’s also “penguin-like” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin. For me, Google wanted to break it into spheniscidae lian, with the top link being to the Jackass Penguin. I’m sure that wasn’t what was meant.

      • Mental Mouse on March 6, 2015 at 1:56 am

        A good 25 days after the post, the only search hits on the word are still to this post, and sites quoting or scraping it. Congratulations, your text resists assimilation!



  10. Morris Keesan on February 7, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    You may want to let Pantheon know that they have the Massachusetts events listed in the WRONG CITY. Google and Porter Square Books are both in Cambridge, not in Boston.
    I’m attempting to navigate the Random House website to figure out if there’s someone I can contact about this, but it might be more effective coming from you.

    • Sydney Padua on February 7, 2015 at 9:57 pm

      I’ll let them know straight away! It’s always been “cambridge” in their communications with me so I guess there was a mixup down the line.

  11. John on February 7, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    Hm. Brooklyn is definitely possible.

    I’ll take it on faith that the UK publisher deal is something to congratulate, being not-in-the-UK…

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