I’m a writer, mainly of SF novels and short stories. You can find out more about my writing on my website www.tonyballantyne.com. This blog mainly deals with SF and music, hence the title.I grew up County Durham in the North East of England. I studied Maths at Manchester University before moving to London for ten years where I taught first Maths and then later IT.My first SF sale was “The Sixth VNM” which appeared in Interzone 138. Since then I have had short stories appear in magazines and anthologies worldwide. I have also written romantic fiction and satirical pieces for various non SF magazines.
My first novel, Recursion, was published by Tor UK in 2004. My fifth, Blood and Iron, was published by Tor in June 2010
I now live in Oldham with my wife and two children. My hobbies include playing boogie piano and the accordion, walking and cycling.
I am represented by Simon Kavanagh of The Mic Cheetham Literary Agency.
You can find out more at my website: www.tonyballantyne.com
Recent Interviewshttp://keithbrooke.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/snapshots-tony-ballantyne-interviewed/
Dear Tony,
I thought you would like to know that there is a very interesting mass market ANONthology just coming out:
http://www.anonthology.com/
A Nemonymitation?
Some interesting points about it and Nemonymous here:
http://fictionbitch.blogspot.com/2009/06/anonthology-and-nemonymous.html
I hope you are well and still remember your Nemonymous experience with some affection.
All the best, des
Interesting! I think that Nemonymous is closer to the ideal. I missed the point, I think, but were the submissions to ANONthology blind? If not, they were only half way there.
I remember Nemonymous with a lot of affection (and I still read my submission to audiences when out and about!) Any thoughts on another one?
Best
Tony
Hi, Tony, Nemo still keeps coming out every year…
No, I don’t think ANONthology reads blind as they said they asked their well known Harper Collinss authors for stories.
I’ve just reviewed ANONthology at the link on my name above. It’s a great collection of brief stories.
Regards, des
hi Tony, just ‘thought’ id leave a comment; just this past hour finished reading Divergence, and must say cant wait for Twisted Metal. Hamilton used to be my fave British author, but now your both up there lol.
I loved the reference to the ‘old guy from history’, and just wondered, you see, were you referring to the teachings about how we should all ‘do unto others’ etc…and were you comparing that message to FE?
cheers.
Hi Paul
Glad you enjoyed Divergence, and hope you enjoy TM too.
It’s also nice that you picked up on the parallels with the “old guy from history” and FE. I did think there was some comparison
… how about you?
All the best
Tony
Hello Tony
lol I think u must have intended the comparison, why else put it in the story. One other aspect of your writing is that you seem to possess the uncanny ability to actually know how the processing of thought actually arises i:e a mechanism that loops around and around inside our heads. With some deep thought i can actually see that working, but its not something i like to look at for long; as you can imagine its bloody scary and best not to dwell on it. I used to live in the US when i was younger and did some experiments with psycho-active drugs (mushrooms-freshly picked). I was pretty naive at the time and didnt realise that i was actually ingesting poisons into the system, but one journey i took may be of interest to you….i found myself inside my ‘brain/mind’, standing on a finite cube made up of squares-rather like the rubiks-but all black, and in the distance i could see 5 earths spaced out in the shape like the 5 on a die, with nothing but empty space all around. To me at that time it was all real, and on recounting my experience with a woman i met at a psychic fair in Tucson, was told never to go back there to that place in my mind! I only mention this because of the similarities between the cube and the shawl, plus the use of mind enhancing drugs MPTH/mushrooms and the fact that maybe our minds are just a virtual reality construct/looping mechanism which we are all blissfully unaware of…thank the virtual God lol
Take care man
Hi Mr. Ballantyne,
Just thought I’d drop you a quick line. I enjoyed reading your story, The Waters of Meribah, for Transmissions From Beyond. I found that having to read it out loud and having to take on the characters persona’s a little bit gives you some extra appreciation for the story! A truly odd and original piece.
Cheers!
David Rees-Thomas
Thank you! And thank thank you for you interpretation through the reading. It sounds superb.
No worries. If they have another story of yours up on the podcast in the future, hopefully I’ll get a crack at reading it. I used to buy Interzone on and off and subscribed for a while when I moved to Japan. I have slacked off a little of late but I do seem to remember reading a story of yours in an old issue, something to do with diseases with funny names, ah, my memory is not what it was. Anyway, cheers again for a great story.
David
Hi Tony
Realy enjoyed Twisted Metal, great book.
Wondering if I am likely to see you again in Interzone?
Hi Phil
Glad you enjoyed TM! Interzone – that reminds me. I sent them a story over a year ago and never heard back from them. I suppose I should give them a nudge…
The problem with our elegant robot friends has always been the power supply. Darpa (powered by google) seem to have come up with the answer in EATR, the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot. I do wonder if they protesteth o’er much when they tell us it is strictly vegetarian and wont be using it’s “end effector” (a hand made up of hydraulic claws and chain-saws) to dine on dead soldiers. A world where the forces of Artemis turn up in downtown Baghdad come one step closer.
http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=2410
Zombie robots, eating human brains?
What’s the point in trying to write SF when the real world is so much more interesting?
Hi Tony
Just finished Blood and Iron and wanted you to know I loved it, I would say it was even better than TW. Any news when number three is coming out, really looking forward to the conclusion.
Phil
Hi Phil
Glad you enjoyed it! No news on Number three yet, I’ll you know as soon as I know anything.
Tony
Hey, I just wanted to say, I recently read your story “Third Person” and you managed to disturb the *hell* out of me. Seriously creepy and shivers and an aghast gaping look. Very well done.
Glad that I managed to disturb you! Just doing my job…
Hi Tony,
I saw you speak recently at the Rise of the Machines event at the Royal Society. I’m a masters student at the Royal College of Art in London, interested in human-robot relations. At the event in London you mentioned your work with children using the Lego Mindstorm kit. I’d love to hear more about this. Would you have time for a chat about this?
Kevin Grennan
kevin.grennan@gmail.com
Hi Kevin
I’d be delighted to. I’ll email you separately with my details
Tony