Simon Haynes is an up-and-coming SF writer whom, like myself, was born in the U.K. but has lived in this fair land for many years. He is the author of the “Hal Spacejock” novels, published by Fremantle Press. Titles in the series are #1 – Hal Spacejock, #2 – Hal Spacejock: Second Course, #3 – Hal Spacejock: Just Desserts, and the soon-to-be-released #4 – Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch. All of these titles are in-print, and can be obtained from various retailers in Perth and across Australia (#4 will be released on the 2nd of June). You can find a comprehensive list of places to buy Hal Spacejock on Simon Haynes’ website:
http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Shops.html
In fact, Haynes’ website is exceedingly useful, not only in terms of the Hal Spacejock series, but also as a resource for would-be and could-be writers. www.spacejock.com.au contains a number of useful articles on the practice and business of writing. Haynes addresses the perennial questions of how to get a novel published, how to find an agent, as well as technical matters such as how to plot a novel. This is highly recommended reading for anyone wanting to acclimatise themselves to the business of writing fiction.
As I said in my review of #2 - Hal Spacejock: Second Course, Haynes’ story is an inspiring one. And readers and booksellers alike are catching on. Hal #1 recently figured in Fantastic Planet’s Top 10 Bestsellers for March 2008. Who said science fiction was dead? Long live SF.
