Neil Vogler's Blog

I have a new book out on April 19th - hey, that's less than 2 weeks away! It's a comprehensive collection of (almost) all of my short work to date, presented together in one volume for the first time ever. It amounts to 25 of my short pieces, each about 1000-1500 words in length. A few of them come from the now-unavailable collection We Are Now, others from Deadly Sins (also no longer available) and still others from various different places that are too numerous to mention. Also featured are a couple of brand new stories that, no matter how exhaustively you've been monitoring my output, you'll never have read anywhere before.
I'm proud of Crash Bang Money and Other Stories, but it took a long time to put together. When you're compiling a collection like this one, that features stories with a broad range of subject matter, style and tone, you have to try and figure out how best to present them, and most importantly what kind of order to put them in. So I struggled for some time with best order for the stories to go in. I'm happy with how things ended up, though. There's a pathway from one end of the collection to the other. It's a twisted, winding, peculiar pathway full of digressions and distractions, but it's there!
So, here's a summary of what to expect:
25 short stories from the bizarre and compelling mind of author Neil Vogler, gathered together for the first time in one volume...

Some of these stories have a sci-fi flavour, some are set in the here and now... and all of them are unique, weird, and darkly funny.

Meet the pill-popping insomniac who believes the voice of his city is telling him who to save from harm; the former child actor who's now a desperate fame-seeker and is considering using a gun to get attention; the psychic employed by the police who may be more powerful than anyone imagined; the would-be victim of a serial killer who just won't die; the man with a taste for making love to scrap metal; and the TV worker who receives a very compromising video of his boss, and makes an extremely dangerous decision. All of them and many more are here in CRASH BANG MONEY and Other Stories.
I'm currently waiting on the first early reviews to hit, but I am lucky enough to have had Tom Vowler, editor of the prestigious Short Fiction journal and Scott Prize-winning author of the short story collection The Method, add his endorsement to the book, with this quote:
"Vogler's stories revel in scalpel-sharp wit and flair. Wonderfully imaginative and at times unsettling tales, which occupy a future that may already be upon us."
You can see the Goodreads page for Crash Bang Money and Other Stories here. The book will be available to buy on April 19th. 
I should also add that the cover was created by the excellent Susan Omand over at Omandoriginal.com. I urge you to explore her stuff, because she's a brilliant artist.  
Happy reading...

 

My local paper here in the UK, The Plymouth Herald, is admirably and pleasingly throwing its weight behind a campaign to celebrate the work of local authors and poets, and devoting numerous pages week on week to promoting the talent on its doorstep. I couldn't be happier with this development -- I used to work for the paper as a freelancer half a lifetime ago, and I know how hard it is to get anything non-news related a few column inches -- so I'm delighted to say that they're printing a brand new story of mine, They Are Everywhere, in the physical paper tomorrow.
However, should you be curious and yet not local, don't fret. The story has gone live on their website today, and you can read it for free here. 
In keeping with my usual highbrow subject matter, this story is about a man who thinks he's seeing tomato sauce bottles everywhere, and is terrified by the implications...
In other news that is mostly unrelated, Virulent Blurb author and fellow Garbage-File contributor Kneel Downe is putting together a new anthology of art and short stories to raise money for a children's charity, and I'm fully intending to contribute a story. I like Downe's attitude and it's for a great cause - but if you're someone who fancies writing something or creating some art around the theme "Stolen", you should definitely think about entering the competition at this link, because it could provide a nice bit of exposure to any of you out there in need of a little bit of light shone on your artistic output. 
Finally, in case you missed it, I recently posted a new 'Underappreciated' column over at Albie Media telling you why I think you should check out Blockhead's latest album Bells & Whistles. 
Until next time...

In the wake of the death of David Bowie, I wrote a piece for music and arts site Albiemedia.com this week, in praise of the great man's unique creative mindset. Anyone who knows me or my written work will know how influential a figure Bowie was in my own life. You can read the piece here.

I'll be back soon with another 'Underappreciated' column, an album recommendation this time. Stay tuned.

I'm over at movie/TV/books/comics site Garbage-File today, where my latest "Underappreciated" column is a ridiculously geeky post about the Marvel comic character Death's Head, who has been a favourite of mine for many years. Not only do I give you a bit of history about the character, but I also go right ahead and pitch a Death's Head movie ... and even fancast the main roles. Because I apparently that nerdy.
You can read the post here.

You may have noticed it's been quiet around these parts lately! It's not that I haven't been writing -- only that I haven't been writing blog posts. 
I'm working hard on the Tripler sequel at the moment (currently titled Tripler: Ruination) -- it's going to be suitably crazy, by the way -- and I'm also in the process of getting a brand new collection of short stories together, the central theme of which may surprise you if you only know me as a writer of SF. More on that particular project somewhere down the road...
In terms of what's coming down the pipe, then -- firstly, my short stories from both the Flash Fiction Fest books (that would be 2012's We Are Now and 2013's Deadly Sins) are due to be collected together soon into one volume, and I'm going to throw a couple of bonus stories in there too I've had lying around for a while. I'd say that's probably going to come out early in the New Year, depending on my publisher's yet-to-be-finalised schedule. Then, in late spring, my next short story collection of all brand new material should be out (title TBC). Hopefully, about November 2016 you'll see book 2 of the Tripler Trilogy.  
Elsewhere, I've become a regular contributor to UK-based movie/TV/books/geekery site Garbage-File, where they've kindly (foolishly?) given me my own column. It's called Neil Vogler's Underappreciated, and it's basically giving me free reign to champion and celebrate works that I think have been unjustly overlooked or undervalued in our collective cultural memories. So far, the column's proving to be enormous fun. 
There have been two columns so far - in my first one I tackled Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth, and you can read the whole piece here. 
The second column hit today, and in it I tell you why I think you should watch Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly. 
Finally, as ever you can find me on Twitter, where I am probably spending whatever energy I should have used blogging on tweeting nonsense instead. If you haven't already, by all means say hello.
Finally finally, a great big thank you to any interested parties out there who have supported me by reading / reviewing / sharing my stuff over these past few years. You are all top people and I'm deeply appreciative! 
I am still lurking in other people's blog spaces, by the way, even if I'm not a big commenter these days. 
Until next time, then...
  

Here we go, entry number #5 of my irregular series, "What Neil has been listening to lately". Now, anyone paying attention will note that these are quite singer-songwritery records, in sharp contrast to my normally more eclectic selection of genre-hopping, whacked-out audio fare. If you're wondering if there's a reason, some lurking existential crisis perhaps, then all I have to say on that is, Um... nah.
On a sidenote: I am one of those people who prefer to listen to whole albums, not just single tracks. I'm always looking for albums that can be enjoyed all the way through, from beginning to end, and that's what I think all of the titles on this list give you: an excellent, complete, enjoyable and layered full album experience.
So, to the list:

1. BEN OTTEWELL - RATTLEBAG



This came out in December and, as a fan of Gomez who was somehow unaware of Ben's solo output, it came as a genuinely great surprise to find out he's been putting out his own stuff. Hearing his voice again was like getting reacquainted with an old friend I didn't even realise I was missing. Ben's voice is huge, distinctive and weathered -- he fucking barks at you sometimes -- and he's never less than totally compelling all the way through this record. Broadly speaking it's acoustica, heavily influenced by Americana, but I urge a listen, because there are some beautiful songs on this album that gently work their way under your skin. 


2. DAVID GRAY - MUTINEERS



I've a long history with David Gray's output, and also I've seen him live. My favourite album of his is Flesh, which is an early entry into his discography, because it's so angry and raw and vivid. A surprising amount of people seem to think his noteworthy work begins and ends with White Ladder, the singles from which defined a whole era of turn-of-the-century lo-fi acoustica for a certain portion of the UK populace. But he's put out a lot of records before and since, and some of them are truly excellent pieces of work. Draw The Line, a recent album, was a bit of a return to form in my opinion, although Foundling, which followed it, puzzlingly made almost no impression on me whatsoever. Mutineers took me by surprise, because here Gray sounds reinvigorated, alive, willing to experiment, and somehow re-committed to his craft. You can feel him enjoying himself again on this album, and it's great to hear. One of the things I love about him as a songwriter are that he very obviously works things out through his songs. You can hear him thinking, reasoning, arguing with himself, coming full circle on some things, landing in surprising places on others. It's good shit, basically, and if you wrote him off a long time ago, now's the time to come back into the fold. 


3. GAZ COOMBES - MATADOR



I liked Supergrass, but I didn't love them. Their first album, I Should Coco, fun as it was, felt a little too lightweight and juvenile to me when it came out. The second album, however, was a real favourite of mine, and I played the hell out of tracks like Going Out and the track that gave the album its title, In It For The Money. After that they kind of fell off my "must listen" list, and their third album, Supergrass, for whatever reason, didn't get a lot of play in my house. They moved off my radar and I missed a couple of their releases, then I picked up Road to Rouen in 2005, which I felt was an interesting and thoughtful acoustic departure, but sounded a lot to me like a band who'd burned out and were trying to figure out where to go next. Supergrass faded away, and I'll admit my interest in them waned.
As it turned out, the end of Supergrass turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to Gaz Coombes' music. Matador is amazing, a layered, beautiful, dazzling, buzzing record that I could not stop listening to for weeks on end. Much like Ben Ottewell, I had no idea Coombes had gone solo, and it's a real delight to find out that not only has he been making music, he's been making astonishingly good music.In Gaz's case, what's on this record far surpasses anything he ever did with Supergrass. It's a pulsing, thrilling record that also somehow manages to come across as thoughtful, considered and mature all at the same time. This is a guy at the top of his game. Off the back of this I also picked up his first solo effort, Here Come The Bombs, which is really good too, but not quite as exquisitely crafted as this one. You should buy Matador immediately. 


4. BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW



Not exactly a new release, as it's been out for almost a year, but seriously, where the hell did this album come from? I'd flirted with BBC's music previously, but never really got into it. I bought Flaws when it came out a few years ago after hearing a couple of tracks played live at a festival, but I never really connected with the record. Then, in the last months of 2014, I kept hearing a couple of amazing songs getting radio play and thinking, "Who the hell are that band?". Turns out it was Bombay Bicycle Club, who it appears have become masters of the epic-sounding, multi-layered, intelligently-crafted earworm. 
This album is a rush from beginning to end, full of weird sounds, unique lyrics, and incredible beats. This, to me, honestly doesn't sound like the same band I'd heard previously. I bought this album and spent two weeks with it on constant replay. It takes a while to appreciate just how glorious this record is -  it's joyful and exhilarating without ever being cheesy. The craftsmanship on display on this record - and the musicianship - is staggering. Based on this I will get hold of whatever BBC decide to put out in the future. What an album.


So there you go, a collection of albums I wholeheartedly endorse. In my next post I might talk about a few albums that I've failed to connect with. Maybe we can also analyse why there are no female artists on the above list? That definitely wasn't deliberate - maybe I'll do a post about a whole host of my favourite female artists. Anyway, watch this space. At my current schedule, that particularly blog should be ready in ... oh, about four months. 

Introducing Future City Blues - three sci-fi investigators, now together in one volume, coming very soon to an e-reader near you...

Meet Charlie Madison, hard-boiled private eye with a heart of gold, and a champion of lost causes in a city controlled by a ruthless kingpin; Simms, a Genehunter paid to track down the DNA of the famous and infamous of history for his clients' private collections; and Harry Allwear, ex-soldier and specialist tracker working for an international organisation dedicated to wiping out "Triplers" -- virus-infected humans who can literally split into three.






Contains the following three stories:

Doppelganger's Curse by Milo James Fowler

A woman stalked by her double. A detective caught in a web of madness and murder...

In a city where the cops are on a mobster's payroll, private investigator Charlie Madison stands in the gap. When a wealthy young socialite asks Madison to help her catch a threatening stalker, he takes the case. But things aren't what they seem, and Madison has to act fast before he's framed for murder.

The Wrong Tom Jacks by Simon Kewin

Simms is employed to locate the genetic code of Tom Jacks. But not the rock star Tom Jacks, just an unknown namesake.

The job bugs Simms. Something about it is wrong. Someone is playing him. Problem is he doesn't know who or why. None of the illegal plug-in tech filling his brain is much damn use. And the one person who can help him is also the one person on the planet who never wants to speak to him again...

Tripler: The Beginning by Neil Vogler

In the near future an impossible virus is giving people the ability to summon two identical physical copies of themselves into existence at any time and in any situation – sending them violently insane as a side-effect. They call the infected 'Triplers'.

Harry Allwear is a specialist tracker, an experienced, highly-trained operative working for an international organisation dedicated to wiping out the Tripler menace. But after his latest mission goes badly wrong and a dangerous target gets the better of him, Harry regains consciousness to find his worst fear realised: he's been deliberately infected with the virus...

Future City Blues : hitting the neon-soaked streets soon, and available FREE as a multi-format ebook.

I’m over at one of my favourite sites on the internet today, SF Signal, where they were kind (and crazy) enough to let me write a very long piece for them all about writing effective action sequences.
I’ll tell you what, that piece could have been 10,000 words long. I, er, have a lot to say about writing action, after devoting fourteen months of my life to writing Tripler (and thinking about it for years beforehand). I love action on the page, and I love analysing action on the page. I had to really trim the piece down to make it a readable length, though – I had to cut quite a lot of chat about numerous other excellent action-based novels I read last year, and I also had to scale back the amount of praise I was heaping on a slew of recent and not-so-recent movies that I believe handle their action scenes amazingly well, and provide superbly illustrative reference material for writers.
In terms of the advice I give, I didn’t even get a chance to explore effective use of language, or subverting expectations, or exploding clichés, or any one of about seventeen other points I’d hoped to make, both obvious and not-so-obvious. But, if you’re the sort of person who’s thinking about writing an action-based novel, and you haven’t yet got a great deal of experience, then I hope at least some of the points I’ve made might come in useful and get your mind working.
One note about SF Signal, too – the guys that run that site, and I’m talking specifically about John DeNardo and Kristin Centorcelli, are fantastic people, really helpful, understanding, approachable and inclusive. (By email, anyway. I haven't had the chance to meet them in real life, what with the Atlantic Ocean and all.) Seriously, I wish more sites could be as enthusiastic and nurturing of genre writers as SF Signal is. 
Now, while I’m here – if anyone wants to make any recommendations as regards amazing but overlooked novels / movies from any era that contain incredible or exhilarating action sequences, please feel free to do so in the comments section. And if it ends up becoming an advert for your own piece of work, you know what? That’s fine with me too.   

So, Tripler: Book #1 of the Tripler Trilogy is now out across all major ebook formats.  I thought it made sense to list some of the most common places where you can obtain a copy in one post, so here it is: the information.
Here are the links! (Please note, if you're a non-UK or non-US Amazon user and don't see the link to your country listed, rest assured the book is available worldwide through your nationality's Amazon platform. Simply search 'Tripler' and it'll come up!)

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON AMAZON.COM
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON AMAZON.CO.UK
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON KOBO
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON iBOOKS

Many thanks to those people who have already purchased the book - I hope you're enjoying it. And rest assured, I'm hard at work on Book 2!
Finally, a reminder that, in case you haven't seen it and want to try before you buy, a free 34-page prequel to the novel is still available, called Tripler: The Beginning. See this post for details and download links.
Thanks for reading...

Pop Art TRIPLER Cover


In case you somehow missed my exuberant publicity barrage ... Tripler: Book #1 of the Tripler Trilogy came out this week across all major ebook formats. You remember hearing about it, right? My debut novel and all that? Anyway, I thought, what with this being my personal blog and everything, it made sense to list all the places where you can currently obtain a copy! 
Here are the links - I'll add more as time goes on, as the book becomes available via a couple of other platforms too.
  CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON AMAZON.COM
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON AMAZON.CO.UK
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON KOBO
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BOOK ON iBOOKS
 The first reviews and reactions are also coming in - see the Amazon.co.uk link above if you're curious - and the first full book blogger review is also in, courtesy of Kate Wilson over at One Day Perhaps I'll Know (SPOILER: she has some very nice words to say about it).
Many thanks to those people who have already purchased the book - I hope you're enjoying it. And rest assured, I'm already hard at work on Book 2!
Finally, a reminder that, in case you want to try before you buy, a free 24-page prequel to the novel is still available, called Tripler: The Beginning. See this post for details and download links.
Happy reading...