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Black Horizon kickstarter launch party

Black Horizon, meet your backers!

Jamie Anderson, MG Harris and Lisa Milton (Orion) at the Black Horizon cover reveal
Jamie Anderson, MG Harris and Lisa Milton (Orion) at the Black Horizon cover reveal

August, 2014. It was meant to be discreet. Jamie and MG signing tip-in sheets on their dining room tables, getting together to sign the paperback Kickstarter edition, quietly sending out delicious packages to all our lovely backers. No publicity, no party.

A STEALTH LAUNCH.

But then Goldsboro Books, our exclusive retail partner for the collector’s edition of GEMINI FORCE ONE: BLACK HORIZON, decided to invite us to a party – Fantasy in the Court, their knees-up for LONCON3, the World Science Fiction convention. And…party! We couldn’t say no.

Orion Children’s Books very kindly threw in another small party, just for Team #GeminiForce1 and other friends from Orion Publishing Group.

The only teeny tiny problem was the date. I was going to be in deepest southern Spain that morning. It was going to take two moderately long car journeys, a flight and a train to get me there on time. Frankly I though there was no chance.

And yet, somehow. God is great, as they cry out from minarets, of a Friday. Or at least decided to look elsewhere that day when it came to random calamity. Thank you Lord.

Lovely photos here show Jamie, me and Lisa Milton from Orion, drinking fizzy wine and cheering for the first hardback copies of the book, as well as the exciting moment of cover reveal.

Look at our pretties!

Backer Rob Dyer's copy (photo by Rob too)
Backer Rob Dyer’s copy (photo by Rob too)

The story is pretty darn good too, you really can’t go far wrong with a classic Thunderbirds type rescue combined with family drama. Here are just some of the many lovely comments we’ve had on Facebook and our Kickstarter page from the first backers to read the book among our Kickstarter backers.

  • Angela GC Howard: “Reading Gemini Force One and just got past the first daring rescue…. I have no fingernails left!”
  • Nicole Dyer: “Well the first adventure is over for me.. I’ve finished the book (Gemini Force One – Black Horizon) it was absolutely amazing!!! I enjoyed every single page and can’t believe we got to be a part of something so awesome! Its all only just begun and I can’t wait to see where it all leads!!”
  • Richard Bailey: “So after a dull and miserable morning what cheered me up today…have a guess…reading Gemini Force One Black Horizon.”

In April 2015, you can all find out what the Kickstarter backers are so excited about. 🙂

 

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Black Horizon Gemini Force One kickstarter

Stand by for Action!

Black Horizon ms selfie with GF1 badges
Black Horizon ms selfie

A new era begins – and it all takes me back to the first days of THE JOSHUA FILES, when I posted a photo of the proof pages of INVISIBLE CITY.

We went on to have postcards, enamel badges, glow-in-the-dark wristbands and T-shirts too, but it all starts with a manuscript. For GEMINI FORCE ONE we’ve got the whole kit and kaboodle ready from the start – thanks to the Power Of Kickstarter. How proud I was to turn to the back of the pages and see the list of awesome Kickstarter backers who donated enough to get onto the Official Backers list. Everyone who backed us gets a gift of some kind, but the Official Backers list will go down in history. Thank you all, guys!

In fact there is even more on its way than shown in the photo – also in the works are embroidered patches, a GF1 jacket, postcards of original artwork from Andrew Probert and others. We might even have a poster. And verrry excitingly, a team of costume designers who’ve worked for the BBC on top genre shows have offered to design and make a full GF1 uniform as worn by the official crew, in time for display at LONCON 2014.

Meanwhile, how is the story coming along, you may ask?

Well, the first draft of book 2 (working title, GHOST MINE)  is about 80% completed. As far as Ben Carrington goes, as well as GF1, we’re still in Origin Story country here. Ben is finding his feet on GF-One, hoping to prove his worth to the elite team. But aspects of Ben’s personality make him a difficult recruit. Is it that he’s reckless, too eager, or does boy have a flippin’ deathwish? Either way, Truby has a tricky decision to make regarding the latest recruit to GEMINI FORCE.

I do find myself reflecting on the differences between Josh Garcia and Ben Carrington. We get to know Josh from a younger, perhaps more callow age. At just 13 when his adventure starts, Josh is more a reluctant hero. The end of the story sees him turned into a skillful pilot and fantastic problem solver, and a time-traveler to boot.

By contrast, Ben Carrington is 16 when we first meet him. There is nothing reluctant about his heroism. There’s a huge hole in his life where a family should be and he’s determined to fill it with something equally worthy and resonant. He’s more gleefully physical than Josh, far, far less adept when it comes to girls, but in one aspect, they are very similar. Reckless! Why? Because it is SO fun to write these boys into horrible situations, and then to help them find a way out.

Other firsts in book 2:

  1. A new teenage character is introduced to the base (read more about the process of writing teen characters in a Gerry Anderson world.)
  2. Ben steps up the official recognition of his role in GF1
  3. First mention of a character named after Gerry Anderson – his role in the evolution of GF1 is in the backstory but crucial.

We now have a date for the publication (7th August) of the special collector’s edition of GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE: BLACK HORIZON. You can only get this from Goldsboro Books, unless you were one of our £50+ backers. Numbers are strictly limited – order now to be sure of a copy!

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Gemini Force One Q+A: MG and Jamie Anderson

When it comes to details of the plot, vehicles and characters in Gemini Force One, we’re trying to keep our powder dry. If you’ve backed the Kickstarter project (thank you!) or if you’ve liked the GF1 Facebook page, you can also see updates including excerpts (read by me!) and character biographies (including head-and-shoulder sketch portraits).

This is a fully-planned book project that is ready to go into production. And although there’s a detailed plan for the entire first novel, if I get any even better ideas, they can still make it in. Last night, for example, after a two-hour plot workshop I led with the Group 2012 writers at Blackwell’s, Oxford, I came up with an additional plot twist. Oooh. Me like twisty plots.

Here’s a video of Jamie Anderson and I answering GEMINI FORCE ONE questions from backers and from Anderfans.

Over 75% funded now. WE STILL NEED MORE! Please visit our Kickstarter page, have a browse and maybe give us a few bob? Thanks!

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Black Horizon fangirling Gemini Force One kickstarter

Gemini Force One Kickstarter progress – 17 days to go!

fb kickstarter cover

Have you been watching my tweets and Facebook updates? If so, you may have seen some of the AMAZING progress made in the campaign to complete and launch an unfinished project by one of my heroes from childhood – Gerry Anderson. At the time of writing this, the wonderful Anderson fans have pledged £15,659 towards our target of £24,350.

In preparing to write GEMINI FORCE ONE, I had to do a lot of thinking. Not just about the plot but about how I, as a completely new writer to the project, would find my way into it. I’m not Gerry Anderson, after all. Even with the notes, audio fragments and chapters he’d left while working on the project in the last years of his life, it’s not the same as being able to talk to Gerry in person.

Before I could agree to take on the project, I had to know two things: something about Gerry’s inner reason for writing these stories. And to understand how they worked from the inside.

With the first thing: a writer doesn’t always know WHY they write about something. But talking to Gerry’s son Jamie, we were able to find reasons, from things that Gerry has said, and from things that have happened in his life, which may well be behind his particular fascination with the ‘formula’ behind so many of his TV shows.

(No I’m not going to tell you what we decided! That’s all part of the mysterious process by which we create!)

On the second issue, understanding how these stories work from the inside, I started to think about the parallels with my own work. A question I’m often asked is about my own influences. I make some guesses, but the truth is that a lifetime of influences go into a story. So with Joshua Files I may be conscious of trying to channel INDIANA JONES, JAMES BOND, THE BOURNE IDENTITY. But that’s not all that goes into the pot. You probably need to go earlier and younger into my set of influences.

When I sat down to think about it, there were many eerie similarities with THUNDERBIRDS and THE JOSHUA FILES. Things that no-one – including me – had spotted until now.

And I’m not the only one who owes a debt to Gerry Anderson…

Please BACK THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN NOW!

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Thrilling New Project revealed: Kickstarter, meet Gemini Force One!

The countdown . . . and the waiting . . .  is over!

The project I’ve referred to as Thrilling New Project is a collaboration – between the late, great, AMAZING Gerry Anderson, creator of classic sci-fi adventure shows as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlett, Space 1999, UFO and many more – and little ol’ me!

In the last few years of Gerry’s life he’d started working on something new – a series of books about a new rescue agency – GEMINI FORCE. He’d imagined a massive semi-submersible platform that would rise majestically out of the sea, beaming powerful blue lights into the sky – the secret base, GEMINI FORCE ONE. However, although he was able to draft story lines, chapters, character descriptions and an outline plot for the first adventure, Alzheimer’s disease soon made it extremely difficult for him to make any more progress.

It was one of Gerry’s last wishes to see GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE find its audience among new young readers as well as older fans of the TV shows.GF1-poster-AW-01

Gerry’s family wanted to fulfill this wish, so they began looking around for a writer who might be able to complete the first book and to continue the series with the same philosophy that imbued all of Gerry’s work – a blend of action, adventure, hi-technology, tension and ultimate human drama.

When the Anderson Estate asked me if I’d be interested in the project, I was thrilled beyond belief! Gerry was still alive back then (last year) and I was so excited at the prospect of meeting and maybe even working with such a master of entertainment. Not only that but I recognized just what a debt I and many authors like me owe to Gerry Anderson.

I can remember exactly what it felt like to watch his shows – my personal favourites were THUNDERBIRDS, SPACE 1999 and later, TERRAHAWKS. The spirit of adventure that imbued them, the production values and loving attention to detail, especially engineering and science, impressed me deeply. And inspired me!

SO – to have a chance to take over the work of such a tremendous, personal influence on my own work – can you imagine?!

I’ve been keeping this project under wraps for months now. Gerry’s passing was obviously a huge blow to the family. GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE, however, already had enough Anderson DNA to have a life of its own.

That’s why today at 9.30am, Anderson Entertainment launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money from Anderson fans, my readers, and adventure readers all over the world, to get GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE published just the way Gerry wanted – a contemporary sci-fi adventure series for the young AND the young-at-heart (meaning, people like me!)

For you or your Build-A-Bear - a GF1 mission patch.
For you or your Build-A-Bear – a GF1 mission patch.

Please follow our Kickstarter campaign to find out more about:

  • GEMINI FORCE ONE – regular video updates about the project, background and its future (all in your hands!)
  • Amazing rewards for our beloved backersAlso to give us feedback, please! We might be able to dig out more items for the rewards – just let us know what you might like. (within reason, please! We’re not going to be able to take you to Disneyland or anything like that…GEMINI FORCE ONE can only happen with YOUR help! IT’S YOUR DECISION. You can also help by letting all your friends know about GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE. Tweet with the hashtag #gf1Follow @GerryAndersonTV, @RealMGHarris and #gf1 Tweet it, everyone! Tweet like the wind!