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project updates
The good news is that issue 1 of Róisín Dubh is at the printers, and we’ve even got the proofs. Fingers crossed it should be available at the end of next week. It’s been a long road with this comic book series. Rob Curley of Atomic Diner pitched the idea to me in the summer of 2009, and I finished writing the last draft of the last issue a year ago. It feels rather unreal that I will be holding issue 1 in my hands quite soon. I’ve been posting some more images from the first issue on the RD web site, which will be familiar to those of you…
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Vic podcast
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…
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voices from the past
A new eBook publishing company, called H&H Books, has been created recently by writer Scott Harrison and editor Lee Harris. It will specialise in science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction, and will publish works to benefit a number of charitable causes. I’m pleased to mention that a story of mine will appear in the company’s first project, an anthology of flash fiction, entitled Voices from the Past. The table of contents will include writers such as Alastair Reynolds, Paul Magrs, Kaaron Warren, Jasper Fforde, Sarah Pinborough, Juliet McKenna and Paul Cornell. The cover art is by Vincent Chong. The anthology will be sold for just 59p/$0.99 through all major eBook…
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non-horrid Halloween news
The picture above is another delightful shop window decoration from Galway city this weekend. Last night the clock went back by an hour, so this evening descended with the swift snick of the guillotine blade. On my way home in the early darkness I had to drive through patches of dense fog in the lower-lying areas – such as on the winding country road to my house. It’s as if it was conjured up to put the official spooky stamp upon the night. Yesterday I received the news that my short story ‘Involuntary Muscle’ will appear in issue 35 of Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction, which is due out at the end…
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Black Static 17
Black Static, issue 17, has been sent to the printers, and you can expect to see it around June 11th. The cover is by Ben Baldwin. The first group of ten winners from the Campaign for Real Fear will be published in this issue: ‘Copy Degradation’ by Gemma Files ‘The Rude Little Girl’ by Kaaron Warren ‘Nice One, Truly’ by Alan Morgan ‘On The Beaten Path’ by Janos Honkonken ‘In The Night Supermarket’ by James Burt ‘Shades of Blue’ by Catherine MacLeod ‘This Is Mung’ by Christine Emmett ‘The Price’ by Jennifer Williams ‘The Flinchfield Dance’ by Mary Elizabeth Burroughs ‘Sanctuary’ by Katherine Hughes As well as the following stories:…
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year’s best
Horror editor Paula Guran has announced the Table of Contents for the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, which is being published by Prime Books in October. I’m delighted to confirm that my short story “Vic” has been selected for the anthology. “Vic” was first published in Black Static, issue 10, so a big thank you to editor Andy Cox for taking a chance with the story. It’s a thrill to see my story listed in the company of so many writers whose work I admire. The anthology will be 500+ pages featuring 38 stories (about 250,000 words) so there will be plenty to read. Quite appropriately the volume…
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Irish Free Comic Book Day 2010
This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day in Ireland. Free Comic Book Day started in the USA in 2002, and as the name implies, is a day when participating retailers hand out copies of comic books to their customers for free. Here is the list of shops involved in Irish Free Comic Book Day: Easons book shop in Heuston Station Forbidden Planet in both Dublin and Belfast Other Realms in Cork Sub-City Comics in both Dublin and Galway The Winding Stair in Dublin There will be five titles available: In Dublin City – preview Formation 7 – preview Freak Show, issue #1 – full copy Róisín Dubh – preview Vampire…
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news for the new year
I’ve some news I’ve been sitting on for no good reason, other than my motivation for blogging suffered a sap across the forehead late last year. In December I sold the audio right to my story “The Tamga” to Pseudopod. I’m delighted I’ll soon have another story up among their fine catalogue of spoken works. “The Tamga” was originally published in issue 6 of Shroud Magazine. My story, “The Secret Names of Buildings” is now available in M-Brane SF, issue 12, which is guest edited by Rick Novy. It’s another of my Clarion West stories, and this was written for week 6, when the brilliant sf writer Vernor Vinge was…
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waiter, is that horror in my sf?
The events of the previous week came at a time when I was busier than normal, so it’s taken me some time to catch up, and even out my workload. Except now I have the joyful task of sorting out my tax returns, ASAP. Hurray! So, it’s nice to hear that issue 9 of M-Brane SF has been released. It contains my horror sf story “Empty Mind Came Back with the Pearl”. When I began submitting it to publications I learned that a lot of markets aren’t so keen on horror in their sf; many expressly forbid it. It’s a pity, and certainly a factor to consider when writing a…
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a sale, and a shoot
Chris Fletcher, editor of M-Brane SF, informed me yesterday that he wanted to buy my near-future sf short story “The Secret Names of Buildings”. So I said yes! It will appear in issue 12, which is being guest edited by Rick Novy. Again, this is a story I wrote at Clarion West. It was during week six, my last week at the workshop, and we were being mentored by sf legend Vernor Vinge. Vernor is a hard sf writer, so I wrote something I thought might benefit from his expertise. Vernor, by the way, was very generous with his time, and enjoyed geeking out with us – all his conferences…
