essens:1 - Music Worth Flying For

I suppose that to some people it might seem a little mad to fly the length of the UK and back again in one day to watch a one-hour performace. I guess it depends how badly you want to see someone play live. In this case, very, very, VERY badly. :)

I've been following essens:1 since I friended one part of the eclectic duo on Facebook through his book page Who is Kai? I don't know a lot about classical music - I wouldn't know a piece by Mozart from one by Mendelssohn without looking it up - but I do know when I hear something that I like. essens:1 attempts to broaden the appeal of classical music and to put their own special stamp on it in a way that is both captivating and innovative. Using two laptops, an electric violin, an electric clarinet, looping, and a lot of talent and enthusiasm, essens:1 create their own unique twists. To prove their point, their performance at the Edinburgh Fringe this week was entitled From Mozart to Muse. Yes, you read that right. If you think classical music isn't your thing, these could be the guys to change your mind.


A live cover of Muse's Hysteria by essens:1 -- Ian Peaston (electric violin) and Per Johansson (electric clarinet). The entire piece is looped live, with all sounds produced electro-acoustically on violin and clarinet via Ableton Live. Not taken from the Fringe performance

From playing two pieces especially composed for them - Tobias Broström's evocative Dreamscape, and Stefan Klaverdal's pulsating Bach remix Misrau Ca - to film scores by Hans Zimmer and Yann Tiersen, and on to We Will Rock You by Queen and Muse's Hysteria (my personal favourite), the duo prove the versatility of their instruments, and their skill at using technology to play pieces that would normally require a full orchestra or fully equipped rock band.


Live at The Bongo Club 23rd August 2012

These guys love their music so much, and are so passionate about what they do that you can't help but be drawn in by their enthusiasm and their energy. They deserve greater recognition for it.

You can check out more of essens:1 work and forthcoming tour dates via their site here or their Facebook page here. You can also look up Ian's solo work as Violin Variations here, and for the scifi fans Ian's writing site is here. Also follow @elucian on Twitter.

essens:1 will be performing today and tomorrow at 14.30 at The Bongo Club, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh as part of the Fringe Festival. Go along with you!

News, News, and more News...

Last week was unbelievable! And I mean in a good way, before anyone thinks this is going to lead off into one of my rants. Sorry to disappoint anyone there... :-P

So what came first?

On Saturday 11th August we added to our family with three bantam pekins - Scoop (blue), Tails (buff) and Blaze (lavender). Yes, the kids named them. Could you tell?

Tails, Blaze and Scoop

They're settling in nicely, and already happy to take food from our hands. By next week we should be able to let them scratch around in the garden and handle them more. This breed is especially easy to tame and pet, although it will be a few more weeks before we get any eggs.

The second arrival was my first print copy of Keir in time for the story's third anniversary. I've said it before - I love digital and I love my Kindle, but there's still magic in holding a print copy of your book, perhaps especially when it's your first. I have to say a huge thank you to my publisher, Lyrical Press Inc., for deciding to offer it in print. As it's also Keir's third anniversary, I currently have two giveaways running for a paperback edition to celebrate. One is via Goodreads, and you can see the widget for entering to your left in the side bar. This is open until the 17th September. The second is on my blog and is only open until the 29th August - just comment here telling me how you'd most like to celebrate a special occassion and whether you'd like it signed. As a bonus you'll also get a bookmark. Both giveaways are open INTERNATIONALLY. But if you can't wait and want the paperback now, The Book Depository currently has it at a discount and ships worldwide.

The third surprise was something I'd been waiting on and mentioned in my post at the Spacefreighters Lounge last Wednesday. Having received a request for the full manuscript after querying with a partial, my YA scifi novella Gethyon has now been contracted to Champagne Books under their science fiction/fantasy imprint Burst. Woo hoo! Not only has this laid to rest one of my lingering doubts that somehow Keir was a one-off, but I've already had such a warm welcome from the publisher and my new fellow authors that it's blown me away. Champagne was recommended to me by friend, fellow author and SFR Brigader Misa Buckley, who not only has books contracted with Champagne but is also responsible for some of the gorgeous covers on their books. I need to say a huge thank you to her for pointing me in their direction.
BTW, this isn't the official cover to Gethyon but something I mocked up when considering self-publishing it. I will, of course, do a formal cover reveal when I have it, and currently Gethyon has a projected publication date of June 2013.

But that still isn't all. Oh, no. I received my first piece of FAN ART! Well, a piece of artwork that my wonderful friend John Robson commissioned, based on his interpretation of the opening scene in Keir and the talents of artist Jonathan Moore. Not only is it a beautiful piece of art that really captures the essence of that scene, but I'm overwhelmed by the thought of someone taking the time to do this, and fascinated to see how my descriptions are being seen. This is one of the biggest compliments I've been paid as a writer.

I have to say I'm especially pleased with the depiction of Quin. With Keir being on the official book cover, I felt she was missing out a little. :-P

In the meantime, my book trailer for Keir is up on the You Gotta Read site and I'd really appreciate some votes! Thursday I'm off to see Essens:1 perform live at the Edinburgh Fringe, and will finally get to meet Ian Peaston - eclectic violinist, scifi author, and someone who helped to inspire me on the road to publication. It's been three years since we met on Facebook, but this will be our first meeting for 'real'. And my first time on a plane in 15 years. And on my own. Eeek!

So while I'm flying high, shedding tears of happiness, and bouncing off the walls with excitment, do you think I have time for anything else? Of course not. But that doesn't mean I don't have anything to do. I'm still on target for finishing my campnanowrimo project, even though for the last couple of days I don't really know how I've come up with the daily word count needed. Reading some of it back this morning, I found myself thinking that perhaps it doesn't suck as much as I thought, but there's a long way to go yet. When Dark Falls, even if I complete the 50K for nanowrimo, will definitely be on the project list for next year. My projects for the rest of this year are:

1.Continuing to promote Keir.
2.Editing, and preparing the promotion for Gethyon.
3.Keeping the monthly Amazon tag parties going on the SFR Brigade blog.
4.Finishing the edits on Keir's sequel and submitting asap.
5.Preparing Tethered for submission.

Those are pretty major goals for the last four months, but all necessary. Of course that's not all I'll be doing. One thing I've learned about being published is once you start rolling, you can't stop. Onward!