A reprint of my surreal short story, "Thumbwood", has just sold to up-and-coming weird fiction webzine Esteban's House of Bizarro,
edited by Esteban Silvani.
May 3rd, 2010
SALE. After a pretty flat month, I received an email this morning from Esteban Silvani confirming that he is accepting a reprint of my story "Thumbwood" for publication in volume 2 or volume 3 of weird fiction webzine Esteban's House of Bizarro.
I normally don't favour online publication because the medium has such a feeling of impermanence about it, but this particular webzine intrigued me, and Mr Silvani is a pleasure to work with. Esteban's publisher, Dark Recesses Press, can be found here.
For those of you waiting for news of the novel, I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer. There's been another delay, and seeing as the situation is now largely out of my hands, there isn't a great deal I can do about it. My agent has, however, assured me that he is planning to send the manuscript out to potential publishers
this week. Watch this space ...
March 31st, 2010
SALE. Turned on my computer this morning to find an email from The Harrow Press stating that a brand-new short story of mine, "Carrington Cove", has been accepted for inclusion in their forthcoming Day Terrors anthology.
The publisher itself can be found here.
March 16th, 2010
Progress at last. I got back from my annual visit to the Tax Office this afternoon thinking that all I had to look forward to tonight was Chelsea v. Inter Milan live on the telly, but no! Happily, my agent sent me the email I've been hoping for all this time, and the news is good. Sam finished reading my novel this morning -- I'm keeping the title a secret for now, by the way -- and he thinks it's ready to go out to potential publishers. In fact, he described it as 'pretty splendid'.
This is a huge weight off my shoulders, and a massive relief. I can finally kick back and allow somebody else to assume
control for a while. There is one tiny obstacle, however. Like myself, Sam has been under the weather a bit lately, so I doubt he'll be submitting the manuscript anywhere this week; but it won't be long now.
This is incredibly exciting. Just the thought that various editors will be trawling through my manuscript, and, hopefully,
calculating what they are prepared to offer for it, is going to colour my days for some time to come.
Wish me luck ....
February 23rd, 2010
Editor JW Schnarr, currently of Northern Frights Publishing, has just released the planned Table of Contents for the upcoming NFP release,
War of the Worlds: Frontlines. My science fiction tale, "Usher", rounds off the anthology.
This is the first time a story of mine has closed out a book. Traditionally, the final slot in
a collection of this nature is the most highly prized -- and although the honour does feel a bit
counter-intuitive (your story is in last place, after all), I'm certainly not arguing with it.
Here is the TOC in full:
After Welles by Michael Scott Bricker
Weird Fruits by Camille Alexa
Killers by Vincent L. Scarsella
The Dodo Dragon by Sheila Crosby
The Virus of Memory by Gerard Daniel Houarner
What Makes You Tick by David Steffen
The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus by Mark Onspaugh
Common Time by Bruce Golden
Steve's Really Cool Movie Blog by RJ Sevin
Moth Tamuth Robotica by Kristen Lee Knapp
Empire of the Moon by Harper Hull
The Spacer and the Cabbages by Auston Habershaw
John's List by Brent Knowles
Tequila Sunset by Michele Garber
Gauss's Invitation by Gary Cuba
Another End of the World by Michael Penkas
A Sweetheart Deal by JW Schnarr and John Sunseri
The Rainmaker by Mike Barretta
News on the March by Edward Morris
My Beautiful Boy by Jodi Lee
To Love a Monster by Victorya
The Candle Room by James S. Dorr
Usher by Davin Ireland
February 20th, 2010
The weblog has moved!
As of today, the homepage will be used for writing-related news and updates only. All other silliness can be accessed using the 'Weblog'
link on the left or by clicking here.
January 22nd, 2010
Received an email from Karen Lee Field yesterday morning informing me that the Speculative Realms anthology is now officially an Ebook. This
superb collection of tales, which contains my supernatural thriller "The Widower's Tale", originally appeared in print in
December of 2008. The digital version can now be viewed here:
To quote directly from Karen's email: "The book has been listed for $US1.99, however, as a special promotion anyone who uses
Coupon Code ST94L at the checkout will get the book for only $US1. Please feel free to promote this wherever you can. The
offer expires on 31 January 2010."
One dollar? A measly, stinkin' buck for an entire Ebook? We must be crazy! Come on, folks, unlimber those big fat wallets. You just know you want to ...
Update: in unrelated news, my fridge door just fell off.
January 19th, 2010
Received my copy of The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One in the post today, and a very welcome addition to the library it is.
Edited by the ever-dependable Ellen Datlow, this impressive volume is the successor to the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series,
which Ms Datlow edited on a total of 21 occasions.
No
Honourable Mention for me this time, but considering I've only published a total of five short stories in the past two years (owing to an increased
focus on novel writing), I wasn't exactly holding my breath.
I did, however, uncover the following in the 'Summation 2008' section:
"The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories edited by Ian Alexander Martin (Humdrumming) is the follow-up to last year's promising anthology
and it doesn't disappoint. All fifteen stories appear for the first time and some are quite good, particularly those by Christopher Fowler,
Davin Ireland, Michael Kelly, Sarah Pinborough, Simon Strantzas, John Travis, and Conrad Williams. Unfortunately, the press ceased publishing."
Kudos to Sarah Pinborough, by the way, who bagged an HM for her short story 'Our Man in the Sudan'.
January 16th, 2010
It's starting to look as if 2008's Speculative Realms print anthology, which contains my supernatural
thriller "The Widower's Tale", will shortly be republished as an ebook.
Karen Lee Field, founder of the Speculative Realms website, has been working extremely hard to extend the existing contract, and
to prepare the book for publication in its new format. To gain an idea of what to expect, please visit the Smashwords website.
January 15th, 2010
SALE. My apocalyptic science fiction short story "Usher" has just been accepted by Canadian publisher Northern Frights for inclusion in their forthcoming War of the Worlds: Frontlines anthology. See the top of the page for details.
January 13th, 2010
In respect of the Haiti earthquake disaster, I've decided to forgo my planned (and admittedly rather crass) 'Happy New Year' bulletin in favour of something more practical. The link below will take you directly to Oxfam's disaster response page, where a quick and simple donation can be made.
