I know, I know. It’s been a bit quiet around here lately. The quiet rasp of e-crickets, the odd tumbleweed blowing across this section of the information superhighway. No word for over two months. Almost as if I’ve gone, as if I’m…….not there.
And to some extent that’s true. I’m not there, I’m here:
Which, in turn, is roughly here
Well, my son does need an introduction to his mother’s culture. And more Vitamin D than it’s easy to get hold of under Glasgow skies in winter.
That’s my excuse, anyway.
And I would have got away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!
More specifically, I would have got away with it, if it hadn’t been for one Andrew Carter of Salisbury – hi there, Andrew! – a fully-paid-up Subterranean-Press-edition-owning fan of my books whom I ran into completely randomly at my local bar/restaurant in a tiny mountain hamlet out in (to quote a northern friend of mine) the back arse of nowhere. Mutual incognition on my and Andrew’s part – we were in conversation for a good twenty minutes before either of us made the connection.
So that’s a first for me – I’ve never just stumbled on a fan like that before. And after almost a decade of being published in the UK, I had to come all the way out to southern Spain to do it. Weird.
Anyway, since my cover is now blown, here’s a brief update of what’s been going on recently in my writerly life:
- 21st of this month, Electronic Arts and Starbreeze release Syndicate, the FPS re-boot of the classic nineties game of the same name. Multi-platform launch, and Yours Truly as lead writer. Prepare yourselves for amoral corporate mayhem, viscerally brutal anti-heroes, and a headlong SF narrative plunge.
- also this month, look out for an official announcement and status update on the Altered Carbon film deal – some very impressive names attached (none of which I’m at liberty to divulge right now, but watch this space….)
- meanwhile, Market Forces is in informal development with Forward Films – of recent Grabbers fame – in London. Forward’s Kate Myers has been a friend of my work for nearly a decade now; it was she who first mooted the idea of an Altered Carbon movie, back before anyone in Hollywood had had it brought to their attention, back before the book had even hit the shelves, in fact. Now, she’s bringing the same vision to bear on the wolf-eat-hyena world of future corporate finance and one Chris Faulkner’s blood-stained rise to power. So keep your fingers crossed.
- The Dark Defiles is up and running, with a surly, downbeat opening to match. Oh, a Questing we Shall Go, a Questing we Shall Go….. Sort of. I’ll be posting the first excerpts later in the year.
- another reason for being out here in southern Spain is to scratch a long-standing creative itch I’ve had since at least the late nineties; a vaguely Urban, vaguely Heroic Fantasy narrative set right here in Andalucia. Research is on-going (in-between nappy changes) and I’m now starting to see the shape this could take. Not sure yet if it might not work better as a comic-book sequence rather than a prose novel, actually. Hmm.
- oh, and The Cold Commands has been long-listed for the David Gemmell Legend Award (as was The Steel Remains before it). Now, since this is a voting-based award, and there are numerous heavyweights also on the list with readerships an order of magnitude or two greater than mine, I fear that I have about as much chance of winning as a gay female atheist does of taking up residence in the White House. However, if you’re feeling like making a grand gesture of solidarity in the face of overwhelming odds against – and many warm thanks if you are – then you’ll find the requisite ballot box here
Right, that’s all for now, folks. Got to get back now to the education of my son as a future Go master:
Thanks for the update! Exciting news.
I’m reading Woken Furies again right now and I think it would make an excellent film. I’m sure Altered Carbon will be a big success.
Cheers!
Yes, the tumble weeds were noticeable. Is this a permanent move or a back-and-forth job like mine? Is your Internet connection any good there or do you have to make a weekly trip to an Internet cafe? That can be a bind if it is the case, but I’ve also found it ups my production rate – turn the laptop on and there’s nothing to do but write.
Hmmmm re the Syndicate thing. I was all “forget this thing, it sucks, it is a travesty, how DARE they make it an FPS!” but Richard Morgan as head-writer .. hmmmmm.
OK, vote in the ballot box (of course) …
Richard, did you HAVE to mention sun & Vit. D? It’s freezing here in Scotland.
(Yes me again)
Cold Commands is also up on the Locus Online site for 2011 recomended reading – with positive noises from Liviu of FBC (where I picked this up)
So yet more celebrating Mr Morgan!
Neal, dude! It has been a long time! Good to hear from you. How are you getting on in Crete with Greek Anger at Austerity lashing out at all and sundry? Getting any sour looks from the locals?
In answer to your question, La Axarquia is a temporary state of affairs; we’re renting not buying, and doing some soul searching about where we want to be. I certainly want Daniel to plug into Spanish culture, but at the same time I don’t want him to miss out on being British. Despite the kick ass climate and quality of life, there are a number of downsides to life out here and an equal number of things I really miss about home.
Internet – for better or worse – is easy to come by; most of the time, my connection is better than the one I have with BT in Glasgow. It’s by hill-top beacon, so if you get very wet, foggy or cloudy weather, you can see your load times drop through the floor – but wet, fog and cloud aren’t things you see a lot of out here………
You think the internet is a distraction from getting any work done – try having a baby, man!!
Great update! Exciting stuff.
Well, this made my day.
We’re in Britain at the moment, Richard. It surprises people that we live here in the winter, but then they don’t realize how cold those sunny places can get in the winter and how that is exacerbated by living in a stone house with tiled floors, concrete roofs and no insulation.
No sour looks from the locals last year. They’re glad to have people there with money to spend and there’s not much in the way the bad side of nationalism. Generally their anger is directed at their own government and the EU. Admittedly they’re putting swastikas on the EU flag but most of that is mainland Greece/Athens. Crete is a much more laid-back place.
Doing this sort of thing is of course very different if you have kids – you have to think about their future. And yeah, I can imagine that having a baby might be a bit of a distraction. I don’t know if you have kids at school but that is or will be certainly something you need to consider carefully. Maybe lots of long holidays there?
Hey Richard,
Just finished Cold Commands, one of the best sequels I’ve read in a long time, now itching to get my hands on The Dark Defiles! How many more books do you forsee the story running to?
Have you any Kovacs novels on the back burner?
Has Neal Asher given you any tips on growing your own fruit and veg yet?
Cheers,
Bob
Your son is a very cute little bloke Rick, how many stone did he manage to eat?
Just read the news about Altered getting a new home for film production. I was sad about the limbo land the project had apparently dropped into with no progress made for a number of years, but this actually looks like a go. I’d love to see how Kovacs is realised on the big screen but I’ll be just as interested to see how Hollywood would deal with the changing face of one of my favourite sci-fi protagonists across the books/movies.
Keep up the good work and take care
Cheers,
James.
Richard you are falling down on the job. Allow me:
“Mythology Entertainment has acquired the feature rights and is actively putting Altered Carbon into development.
According to Variety, Mythology partners Laeta Kalogridis, James Vanderbilt, and Brad Fischer will produce, with Arnie Messer and Mike Medavoy. Kalogridis served as a producer on Avatar and also did some uncredited writing with James Cameron. She previously wrote the Shutter Island screenplay, while James Vanderbilt wrote Zodiac and the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man. Fischer is the connective tissue here, having produced both Shutter Island and Zodiac.
Kalogridis will co-write the Altered Carbon screenplay with David Goodman”
My god, the unthinkable has happened. Not only is AC finally going to get made but it now actually stands a real shot of being done right. A-list actors will be lining up around the block for the chance to play Tak but the most important question now is who will they get to direct? This team of producers has a pre-existing relationship with David Fincher. They could do a lot worse than hire him for the job.
The most exciting news so far is that Laeta Kalogridis will be adapting the book. Her adaptation of Dennis Lehanes Shutter Island was ultra-dark, intelligent, risky and faithful to the source material. What more could you ask for? Having also just served as an exec-producer on the almost 3 billion dollar earning Avatar she also has just a little bit of clout in Hollywood right now. Absolute dream result for Mr Morgan. Mass appeal awaits.
If David Fincher directed AC, I would live at the cinema for its running time.
Congrats with all the recent success
Definitely one I want to see … if it’s done right of cuorse.
of course, even
I hope the writers do a good job.
Having just listened to AC on disc for the third time I think it is a very convoluted plot. Not sure that 2 hours screen time will do justice to it. I wonder how much will have to be simplified due to time constraints.
So good to get an update, thanks Richard. And super exciting to hear there is movement at the station film-wise for both Altered Carbon and Market Forces. Fingers are most definitely crossed!
Just voted for David Gemmell Legend Award, hope you’ll win..as you deserve!
Fantastic…I will probably be getting all fanboy about this now! I too hope that the film does your work justice, or should I say does your worlds justice.
Richard, why did you put your name to Syndicate. I loved Crysis 2 but I just can’t play Syndicate it is so darned bad. I was looking forward to a good cyberpunk story from you but I just can’t get beyond the stupid fog and lens flare INSIDE the buildings of this game.
Oh well… wasted £40 it seems.
So, huge, Altered Carbon movie could be sweet.
But I’m a gamer so Syndicate is out and I’m wondering how much like a bitter man-shooting war machine the character in the game is like. I kind of envisioned it as “You get to pretend to be Kovacs.” Reviews are panning it already, but I could tough out mediocre gameplay for a storyline that kind of reflected Quellist-styled thoughts on the nature of power and society. So, I’m torn basically.
Richard, I am devouring The Cold Commands right now and am looking forward to the next book. My family is from Spain, so seeing these pictures makes me miss the Costa del Sol. I am eager to see the story you are thinking of doing in Andalucia. Will it include a cybernetic bull fending off a toreador?
Crysis 2 was piss easy, NeoMorph confirmed as a scrub.
So I just finished Neal Asher’s “The Voyage of the Sable Keech” tonight, and bought “Orbus” on Kindle right after. I was about to start reading it, but thought “I wonder what Richard K Morgan is up to?”, and head here to find the two of you chatting in the comments. Put a smile on my face
Hi Richard – I’m pleased that “Market Forces” could at last make it the screen. In some ways I prefer it over A.C – maybe for it’s shock value, but all good! I’ve just finished fellow Gollanczian Joe Abercrombie’s “First Law” trilogy after reading “The Steel Remains” (which for me acted as a Fantasy genre gateway drug) So there is something good to be said for S.F writers crossing into >the other side<. I look forward to your sequel books now that I am more comfortable around wizards. Cheers!
So, Richard, any plans for you and the Mrs to go to any of the Cons? World Con, DragonCon, etc?
I have sworn off Cons for the next (and previous) six months or so. Having a small baby makes the logistics too much of a nightmare (not to mention the impact it’s having on my writing productivity even without trips out!) But towards the end of this year, I imagine those pressures will start to ease, so depending on what work commitments I have and whether anyone is looking for a GoH….. Well, watch this space!
I have just started reading Broken Angels for the third time, and looking forward to reading Woken Furies again after that. I have to say, having gone back to them, they are still the most innovative sci-fi novels I have read in recent years. Is there any hope of another Kovacs in the future?
Veddy interesting! I had no idea you were the writer for Syndicate until seeing this post. The game publishers really should have emphasized that better in their advertising, as I think it would have been a significant selling point. I was disappointed by the game, honestly, but all because of gameplay issues. The writing and just the overall feel of the game were great from the few hours I played of it. Will you have the opportunity to do more game writing?
I’ll also echo the congrats on, and yearning for, a Market Forces film. I think that could be fan-freaking-tastic.
Last question: once you’re done with some of your current projects, will there ever be any more Takeshi Kovacs novels? I’m rereading them again and would absolutely kill to have some new anti-hero antics to chew through.
Thanks for all the great writing!
Dear Richard,
Just wanted to ask to see how much control you have over the movie, I’m guessing none? Well it looks like they’re going to rape Takeshi. Hollywood doesn’t seem to know its ass from its elbow right now. If they do make it it will no doubt be all shiny and with none of the real grit it needs to become a classic. The default nowdays is to put CG in it wherever possible. They ruined so much recently I couldn’t stand to see one of the greatest (in my opinion) sci-fi characters turned into a pile of shite for the ‘kids’.
Riddley Scott/David Lynch – maybe as a team – should be directing and it should be just as dark as Blade Runner でしょう？ And fuck Hollywood actors get someone right for the part for Quells sake. Goddammit I’m gonna burst.
Fuck it…
Richard, any chance of a 13 prequel. Would love to read about variant 13′s in combat.
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