So HERE is the news that I’d been holding back about, which then got overtaken by the release of VOIDSCARRED.
About two years ago, I left my former agent. I spent a while trying to find a new one, with no luck, so in the end I decided I would go it alone. I had the contact details of various publishers with whom I’d come into contact in my career in writing so far, and some of them – knowing who I was, and my track record – agreed to look at a manuscript from me even though they normally would only take submissions from an agent.
(this is an example of how once you’re through the first door, more doors open. Agents are the liaison between authors and publishers: not only do they work to get better deals for authors, but they’re a sort of quality control for the publisher. But if you have a publishing history, publishers are more likely to take a look at your wares without the need for an agent to represent you. Now obviously, you need to be confident that you can negotiate any resulting deal yourself, but that’s a problem that only comes if you’re offered a deal, which is already a better position to be in)
Anyhoo, publishing works slowly, and I didn’t hear anything back for a while. Then at Fantasycon ’24 I met Laura Bennett from Liverpool Literary Agency, and we got chatting, and she was interested in potentially representing me. Early this year, I signed with LLA, and Laura took over representing my manuscript to the publishers I’d already approached, as well as sending it out to a bunch of new ones I hadn’t had the details for. Time rolled on, but I’d already set a date in my head: if we hadn’t had any offers by then, I was going to use the information I’d been gathering over the preceding eighteen or so months and self-publish.
Then, just after Eastercon this year, offers finally came in.
Laura showed her agent chops, and we settled on a deal with Titan, which is a hugely exciting prospect for me. I met George Sandison at WorldCon ’24 (in fact he was on a panel I went to about the pros and cons of self-publishing), and I am absolutely delighted that he decided he wanted my novel. Anyway, here’s the article from The Bookseller that makes it official.
But unfortunately it’s paywalled, so if you’re not subscribed to The Bookseller you probably can’t read it.
SO
The novel is called THIS IS WHERE THE FUTURE BLEEDS, and it’s a fantasy adventure in a queer-normative world with gods and demons, fractured futures, sapphic romance, and giant wasps. It follows Kitt Carver, a diviner who finds destinies to sell on to the rich and powerful, who gets caught up in what might be a murder plot and might be something even worse, and has to extricate herself with the aid of a group of allies that is… makeshift, at best.
Quoting from the Bookseller article, editor Elora Hartway says “This Is Where the Future Bleeds centres on a smart-talking bunch of rogues and dropouts who are thrust into the destinies of empires, perfect for fans of Kings of the Wyld and Arcane.
“Reading This is Where the Future Bleeds for the first time was a joy. It had everything I wanted in an epic fantasy – and everything I didn’t know I needed. I got my magic swords, cinematic fights and sprawling worlds, but also an achingly earnest queer romance and giant wasps. Mike Brooks then added to that mix a heady dose of demons and gods and destinies, all strung together with enough wit, warmth and zinging humour to power the sun.
“It’s relatable and earnest, riveting and refreshingly original, but more than all that, it’s just fun. I’m so thrilled to be working with Mike on This is Where the Future Bleeds, and I can’t wait for readers to discover it and fall just as deeply in love with it as I have.”
My previous fantasy outing was The God-King Chronicles, which was a fairly serious epic trilogy. This is… less serious. I’m not going to say I went full Pratchett, but I definitely didn’t hold back as much as I sometimes have. I had a blast writing it, and while the novel certainly has a point to it – it’s set in a dying world where the powerful won’t do anything to stop that decline so long as they’re still comfortable – there was a lot less agonising about what fitted the “tone”. I just engaged the part of my brain I use to write [a certain IP faction with which I am often associated] and turned out a fantasy novel.
At the moment we’re looking at a probable release summer 2026, but things are fluid in the world of publishing and that could shift. More news as and when we get it. But in summary…