Andrew’s Comments (group member since May 02, 2012)

Andrew’s comments from the Amazon Kindle group.

It's been a busy year, and my third novel is out! Rudy On Rails: A Cyberpunk Adventure is a comedy cyberpunk tale, conceived as part of the Street Shamans mosaic novel. Hopefully my colleagues in the group will self-publish their own work in due course.

Set in 2040s Pittsburgh, a citywide hack has given some residents who were logged in at the time limited powers over smart technology.

Pursued by sinister corporate agents, Retro Rudy flees into the belly of the metro system, teaming up with the mysterious and near-mythical Train Man.

Together they must uncover the terrifying truth behind... Pittsburgh's trains running on time.

Slight disclaimer for people who have read my stuff before: given the setting, and abiding by the decisions of the group with whom this book was conceived, this is my first - and who knows, quite possibly last - book written in American English.

Available now in Kindle and paperback editions!

Chantecoq and the Père-Lachaise Ghost is out today!

1920s Paris. When ruthless American billionaire Jack Sorett's advances are rejected by the beautiful but virtuous Countess Michèle de Préfailles, he sets out to wreak the most callous vengeance on her and her husband.

Heartbroken and desperate, Michèle turns to the one person who can unravel the billionaire's schemes and prove her innocence...

Chantecoq. King of detectives. Master of disguise.

Translated into English for the first time by Andrew Lawston, this Chantecoq adventure is an intricate tale of family honour, intrigue, deception and true love.



Available on Kindle only for just $0.99 / £0.99.

Chantecoq and the Père-Lachaise Ghost

Hi! I love this old thread, full of my horrible original covers for my oldest self-published material, so it was an easy decision to come back to mention my latest novella, now available for pre-order.

Following the British zombie comedy tradition of Shaun of the Dead and Cockneys Vs Zombies, comes... Apocalypse Barnes.

First comes nausea... then unconsciousness... then the hunger.

After the leafy streets of affluent London suburb Barnes are overwhelmed with shambling, bloodthirsty creatures, two uninfected survivors struggle to escape the well-dressed undead hordes, via the wobbly green towers of Hammersmith Bridge.

Featuring combat juggling, a deadly farmer's market, and zombie Roger McGough, this comedy horror novella puts the "urrrrr" into "Gap yurrrrr"...

Apocalypse Barnes. Now available to pre-order on Kindle only for just $0.99.





Thank you!

Until 16 Feb, this translation of Casanova's 1787 classic memoir is just $0.99 on a Countdown promotion.

The Story Of My Escape - $0.99

Introducing... Something Nicer



Almost three years ago now, I self-published for the first time with Something Nice, a collection of ten of my best short stories written in my 20s. And it sold a few copies and had lovely reviews and gave me the confidence to take my writing to a more professional footing.

I'd started writing more short stories within days of the book going live. The first effort made it into A Splendid Salmagundi, of course, and then a couple were sold into professional anthologies.

Available exclusively on Kindle, Something Nicer is a story of my development as a writer. There are tales of horror, fantasy and very strange romance. There are drabbles and flash fiction pieces and one 8,500 word story that looked hell bent on becoming a novella at one stage. You will NEVER again look at a stepladder in the same way.

Something Nicer is full of stories that are sometimes horrible, often faintly disturbing, usually funny, but never ever boring.

Enjoy!

Short stories are a great playground for unfettered creativity, which is why I write them and also why I love to read them.

This week only, my translation of Giacomo Casanova's The Story of My Escape: The Story of My Escape from the Prisons of the Republic of Venice Otherwise Known as the Leads has been reduced to just £0.77 / $0.99 on Kindle. Bag it here at: http://bit.ly/1iuvUjj

Wit, adventure and philosophy, in the greatest escape story ever told, from the 18th Century's most notorious adventurer. Translated into English in full for the first time.

My film criticism book Killing Me Softly? An Examination of the Depiction of Violence in the Early Films of Jean-Luc Godard is on the last day of its free promotion. If you have any interest in French film or screen violence in general, do please take a look at this book at http://bit.ly/1dOkXH6

Here's a question:

I say, stout yeoman, what's horribly violent, profoundly philosophical, and free this week?

My good sir, I have no idea.

Why, Andrew K Lawston's MPhil thesis Killing Me Softly? An Examination of the Depiction of Violence in the Early films of Jean-Luc Godard (1960-1967), of course!

I did not wish to know that, kindly leave the stage.

Fine. For everyone else who's ever wondered about violence in films, though, do swing past the nice Mr Amazon's Books and Miscellania Emporium to procure your shiny digital rendering of said work for the knock-down price of utterly nowt [plus a review if you feel like it]. It can be poached from this 'ere link Killing Me Softly?.

Ooh, a lovely new review for Story of My Escape!

Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars.

I really enjoyed The Story of My Escape. Casanova's understated humour and tenacity are entertaining in particular. The guy was kind of a genius. I'd like to thank the translator, Andrew K. Lawston, for introducing me to a delightful work I never would have encountered otherwise. I think he did a great job, and the notes he provided are helpful without overwhelming the text.

I would definitely recommend this to any of my book loving friends. Don't be scared off by Casanova's foreword, it is easily the densest part of the book. If you get through it you'll sail through the rest.

I was so chuffed with this review that I actually left a comment, which generally I never ever do - so that's nice :)

A revised paperback edition (design only) of Story of My Escape will now be out by early May. This remains the most important thing I've ever written, and I'm desperately proud of it.

Paperback and Kindle versions now out and selling fast across the world! Casanova: Story of My Escape.

The only paperback of which I've disposed since buying my Kindle was The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, simply because having an electronic version of a book about an electronic book was far too cool for me to resist.

The book was donated to a mate.

What do short stories, film criticism and Casanova have in common?

Me.

I'm ridiculously chuffed to be bringing this classic book to a whole new audience, and a whole new century.



Europe's greatest adventurer. Thrown into an escape-proof prison for a crime he probably committed. The question is, which crime?

In 1755, the infamous Giacomo Casanova was locked up without trial in Venice's notorious Leads prison. Over 15 months he battled disease, madness, boredom, grotesque gaolers, bad books and fellow prisoners, before attempting the most audacious and typically flamboyant escape in history.

This is Casanova's own account of the escape bid that made him a celebrity across Europe, full of his unique wit and philosophy, translated into English in full for the first time.

This is a family-friendly Casanova, written a decade before his shockingly explicit memoirs, and locked up so that he couldn't get up to that sort of thing. Away from the pleasures of the flesh, a more complete picture emerges of one of 18th Century Europe's most important figures. Witty, resourceful, intelligent, and utterly ruthless, Giacomo Casanova was brought to the brink of despair in the Leads, but in this 58,000 word novel, shows his mettle.

Story of my Escape is now available on Kindle here, with a paperback edition also available.

Europe's greatest adventurer. Thrown into an escape-proof prison for a crime he probably committed. The question is, which crime?

In 1755, the infamous Giacomo Casanova was locked up without trial in Venice's notorious Leads prison. Over 15 months he battled disease, madness, boredom, grotesque gaolers, bad books and fellow prisoners, before attempting the most audacious and typically flamboyant escape in history.

This is Casanova's own account of the escape bid that made him a celebrity across Europe, full of his unique wit and philosophy, translated into English in full for the first time.

This is a family-friendly Casanova, written a decade before his shockingly explicit memoirs, and locked up so that he couldn't get up to that sort of thing. Away from the pleasures of the flesh, a more complete picture emerges of one of 18th Century Europe's most important figures. Witty, resourceful, intelligent, and utterly ruthless, Giacomo Casanova was brought to the brink of despair in the Leads, but in this 58,000 word novel, shows his mettle.

Story of my Escape is now available on Kindle here, with a paperback edition out next week. Enjoy.

And we're off! Killing Me Softly is free this week. Everything you've ever wanted to know about the depiction of violence in Jean-Luc Godard's early cinema but were afraid to ask!

That link: http://authl.it/B00GF1X9QK?d

After many false starts and broken promises, I present my second book... Fans of my short stories should rest assured that the fairytalk and festive horror are still forthcoming, but my publisher has been hit by certain unavoidable delays.

Jean-Luc Godard's early films - right up to the pivotal Weekend (1967) were determined to prove the old adage that all you need to make a movie is "a girl and a gun". Whether in crime thrillers like the era-defining A Bout de Souffle (1960) or philosophical science-fiction masterworks like Alphaville (1965), the Nouvelle Vague auteur alternates between romance, philosophy, and action.

Many of the violent acts that appear in Godard's early films seem 'muted' in some way, however, prompting this exhaustive study of the director's techniques for depicting violence. Gunshots and car crashes happen off-screen, bottles are smashed silently on victims' skulls, and fistfights are played for comic effect.

This academic but accessible book, by film scholar, linguist and actor Andrew Lawston, explores three possible explanations for Godard's singular approach to the depiction of violence. First, that on his notoriously tight budgets, he just couldn't afford the special effects and shooting time needed to film action sequences in the way he might have wished. The second possibility is that he was worried about his films being censored. Third, could there have been a conscious artistic reason for understating the considerable violence in his films?

Working with close reference to films including A Bout de Souffle, Vivre Sa Vie, Alphaville, Pierrot le Fou, Weekend and Le Mépris, Killing me Softly is a challenging academic study of the early work of one of the world's greatest living directors.

It is available in Kindle edition from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Enjoy.

After many false starts and broken promises, I present my second book...

Jean-Luc Godard's early films - right up to the pivotal Weekend (1967) were determined to prove the old adage that all you need to make a movie is "a girl and a gun". Whether in crime thrillers like the era-defining A Bout de Souffle (1960) or philosophical science-fiction masterworks like Alphaville (1965), the Nouvelle Vague auteur alternates between romance, philosophy, and action.

Many of the violent acts that appear in Godard's early films seem 'muted' in some way, however, prompting this exhaustive study of the director's techniques for depicting violence. Gunshots and car crashes happen off-screen, bottles are smashed silently on victims' skulls, and fistfights are played for comic effect.

This academic but accessible book, by film scholar, linguist and actor Andrew Lawston, explores three possible explanations for Godard's singular approach to the depiction of violence. First, that on his notoriously tight budgets, he just couldn't afford the special effects and shooting time needed to film action sequences in the way he might have wished. The second possibility is that he was worried about his films being censored. Third, could there have been a conscious artistic reason for understating the considerable violence in his films?

Working with close reference to films including A Bout de Souffle, Vivre Sa Vie, Alphaville, Pierrot le Fou, Weekend and Le Mépris, Killing me Softly is a challenging academic study of the early work of one of the world's greatest living directors.

It is available in Kindle edition from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Enjoy.

Really enjoying Babylon Steel after picking it up at the Andromeda One con in Brum last month.

It's a bit like iPods. The classic iPod and the original Kindle were design classics - they did one thing incredibly well. But marketers being what they are, subsequent models were packed with new features to act as selling points, to the point where one of the original strengths of the Kindle (being able to read digital text in sunlight without worries about eyestrain from a backlit screen) has been quietly ditched in favour of... backlit screens.

Perhaps I'm wrong. But ereaders have become more and more tablet-like to the point where people I know who own tablets (I don't have one either) no longer see any point in having both devices.

I like my... I think it's a K4? I've had it about 18 months. I don't know what I'll do when it finally gives up the e-ghost, though. Probably whatever equivalent of the Kindle Fire HD is doing the rounds by then. I suspect dedicated e-readers will disappear in the next few years, they're being supplanted by tablets.