• Halloween in London

    I’m off to London today, and tomorrow I’ll be attending the première performance of The Hallowe’en Sessions in the Leicester Square Theatre. It’s a rather surreal experience to type those words. The effect of writing is often only felt many months (or years) after you have gestated and laboured over an idea. Due to the passage of time these projects can become rather abstract, especially as you continue to work on other stories. Then, whosh, it manifests suddenly as a concrete form, and you come to the work as fresh as everyone else (except with way more nervousness). Tickets have been selling well, and the closing night performance, and Hallowe’en…

  • recent round-up

    I’ve been remiss at pointing toward reviews of issue 1 of Róisín Dubh and Jennifer Wilde, the two comic book series I’ve written. Liam Geraghty and Craig O’Connor, the men behind the Irish comic book podcast, The Comic Cast, gave both issues the thumbs up. Lee Grice at the British podcast Small Press Big Mouth gave Jennifer Wilde a glowing review. James Bacon reviewed Jennifer Wilde for the Forbidden Planet International blog, which includes a mini-interview with me New Irish comic book web site Cosmic Treadmill has reviewed both Róisín Dubh and Jennifer Wilde Hilary Lawler reviewed Jennifer Wilde for Irish Comic News I’ve also been interviewed on two web…

  • Vic podcast is live

    Basketball court by Del Larkin-Smith

    Thanks to dynamic duo of Sharon Ring and Del Lakin-Smith at Dark fiction Magazine my short story ‘Vic’ is now available as a podcast in its latest issue titled ‘The Waste land’. The TOC is: The God of Rain by Tim Lebbon (read by Marty Perrett) Vic by Maura Mchugh (read by Kim Lakin-Smith) My Love Sick Zombie Boy Band by Damien G Walter (read by Sam Moffatt) The Ease With Which We Freed The Beast by Lucius Shepard (read by David Moore) ‘Vic’ previously appeared in Black Static issue 10 and Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, edited by Paula Guran. I always approach listening to a podcast…

  • Salon Futura podcast

    Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for inviting me to be part of her online magazine, Salon Futura, this month. I participated in a podcast in which we discussed the graphic novels and/or comic book series that were published during 2010, most of which are eligible for the Hugo for Best Graphic Story. This is a relatively new Hugo Award, so this is an excellent initiative by Cheryl to boost the profile of the many fantastic publications that could be nominated. My fellow comic book enthusiasts on the podcast are Cheryl, Joe Gordon of the Forbidden Planet International blog and David Monteith of Geek Syndicate. I’m sure there are some outstanding comics…

  • Vic podcast

    Dark Fiction Magazine

    Just before the dawn of 2011 I received word that my short story ‘Vic’, which recently appeared in the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, will be podcast in the April edition of Dark Fiction Magazine. DFM is a relative newcomer to the horror podcasting scene, since it launched just last October, but it’s already podcast a lot of quality work. I’m pleased that Del Lakin-Smith and Sharon Ring, who run DFM, want to include ‘Vic’ in their roster of horror short stories. The best thing about podcasting is that it allows stories to reach a much wider audience. Ultimately, that’s what most writers want: people to read/hear their…

  • The Campaign for Real Fear: the top twenty

    Christopher Fowler and I have announced the winning stories in the Campaign for Real Fear. It’s been a great deal of work, but we were determined to select the winners in a timely fashion. Due to the large number of entries, and the high calibre of the final group of submissions, Chris and I have decided to select twenty winning stories. You will be able to read the first batch of ten stories in the June issue (#17) of Black Static followed by the second batch of ten stories in the August issue (#18), and they will be podcast by Action Audio. Top Twenty ‘Copy Degradation’ by Gemma Files; Canada…

  • sun in the sky you know how I feel

    I’ve been getting a constant stream of birthday greetings from people via Facebook and Twitter today, and it’s lovely. Thank you all! People might grumble about social media, but it has its good uses too. I’m just about recovered from my two-week trip with back-to-back convention in the UK. World Horror Convention was probably the highlight because it was a well-run convention, and I met loads of new people at the event since the horror/dark fantasy crowd aren’t well represented at the likes of Eastercon (which focuses more on SF and Fantasy). It’s pretty much confirmed that I’ll have to start attending Fantasy Con in England, and I’ve already joined…

  • give us your fear

    Chris and I are already receiving submissions for the Campaign for Real Fear, so keep them coming! We say: “Give us your terror, your fear,Your horrid tales yearning to alarm,The wretched stories of your teeming brain.Send these, the disturbed, nightmare-tossed to us,We lift our laptops to behold their forms!” With homage to Emma Lazarus and The New Colossus. Also, it pleases me no end that the Australian Horror Writers Association has announced its finalists for the 2009 Shadows Awards and three out of the five entries in the Long Fiction Award are women. There are also three women out of five in the short fiction category, and two women co-editors…

  • Campaign for Real Fear

    Christopher Fowler and I have launched the Campaign for Real Fear: a horror short story competition. Send us your best 500-word story that explores horror in the 21st century. We want diversity of characters and themes, and beginner or pro can enter. The top ten stories will be published in Black Static, and podcast by Action Audio. The deadline for entry is 5pm GMT, on Friday the 16th of April. If you want change, you better write it. Information on how to enter is available on the Campaign for Real Fear web site.