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in the spotlight
The image on the right happened the night after I returned to my hotel room after the ZeBBie Awards in Dublin. Perhaps there was a version of “I feel pretty” playing in my head, as I don’t get the opportunity to dress up often. This started as a blurry picture of me without my glasses (rather appropriate), and as I do sometimes I began mucking around with the image. Of course I should have gone to bed, but after the buzz of a party I wasn’t in the humour to sleep. I ended up looking a bit like a comic book character, which dovetails nicely with what I’m writing at…
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Róisín Dubh 1 out
There’s been a lot of fuss and bother in Dublin over the last two days: roads closed and traffic diverted, which has made some people cross. On the same day royalty arrived in Ireland issue 1 of Róisín Dubh was delivered safely to Sub-City in Dublin despite the government kowtowing. If you wish to purchase it online it costs €5.00, plus €1.00 postage for Ireland, €1.50 for England and and extra €0.50 for other countries. Copies will be arriving in Sub-City in Galway by Monday, and in other outlets soon. Issue 1 is a limited run, so get your copies while you can! We’re already at the editing stage of issue…
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a busy period
I’m coming into a busy couple of weeks and I’m unsure of how much time I’ll have to allocate to blogging. While there is a certain requirement these days for people to blog/tweet/etc. on a regular basis, it does impinge upon my allotted ‘free’ time. Over the coming two weeks that free time is shrinking considerably as a large project with a tight deadline just landed with a thud on my desk. I also have two active projects that are simmering, with one of them coming up to a whistling boil. So, here’s a photo I took in Stockholm, during my recent trip. It’s one of a series of murals…
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Voices from the Past
Voices from the Past is a new e-anthology of flash fiction edited by Scott Harrison and Lee Harris from their fledging imprint H&H Books. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. There are two editions available to buy (in both ePub and Kindle formats). The standard edition costs £0.99 and the premier edition costs £2.99. The premier edition is identical to the standard one, but it allows people to offer more money to the Great Ormond Street Hospital if they wish, and considering how much fiction you’re getting for your money you might not mind opting for the slightly more expensive option. Here’s the…
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Jennifer Wilde
Here’s the cover of my latest comic book project, Jennifer Wilde. Like with Róisín Dubh, Rob Curley of Atomic Diner Comics approached me with a story concept, which I developed further with Rob and from that I wrote the comic book scripts. It will also be a three-issue comic book series. Our artist is Stephen Downey, and he’s not only doing all the interior art but the covers and the lettering too. The above art is the cover for the first issue. Stephen has been motoring his way through the script of the first issue but with no drop in quality. It’s been a joy to watch the evolution of…
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Vic podcast is live
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…
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Roisin Dubh 1
After a delay on the Róisin Dubh comic book we’re getting close to a release of the first issue. It’s a three-issue mini-series, and this is the cover of the first chapter of the story, drawn by Stephen Byrne. Stephen Byrne is doing all the lettering and covers, as well as the interior art for issue 2 and 3. We’re at the stage of adjusting the niggling little details of the first issue before it gets signed off and sent to the printers. All going well the first issue should be on the shelves by the end of the month. I finished the last draft of the last script on…
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women in comics in UK/Ireland – overview
There are occasions when perhaps it’s best not to promise a blog post on a subject. Regular readers might remember that in January I commented upon the utter lack of women comic book guests at the forthcoming Kapow! comic book convention in London. This was followed by an entry in which I posted a number of women artists/writers working in the field in the UK (and Ireland), with a promise to put together a much more detailed listing of women working in the field. The follow-up post has been a long time coming because: There are loads of women working in comics in the UK and Ireland People might remember…
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PCon VIII
The Phoenix Convention (4-6 March) is an annual event in Dublin focusing on Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction in literature and comics. This year the Guest of Honour is the multi award-winning Belfast writer Ian McDonald, and there will be a slew of other guests at the convention including me. Here’s my schedule: What is it bout Ghost Stories? Room 1: Saturday, 5pm The Growth of the Graphic Novel in Ireland Room 1: Sunday, noon Genre Demarcation – Laws or guidelines Room 2: Sunday, 4pm I’m looking forward to hanging out with friends and colleagues for the convention!
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mallorcan tree
I’m only a couple of days on Mallorca and I’ve already had blazing sun and blue skies, an afternoon of torrential rain and a nocturnal lightning storm. It’s mercurial and eventual staying on a Mediterranean island in February. I love it. The vegetation is amazing to my eyes – a variety of palm trees (tall, stubby, gnarled) with huge architectural fronds, a wide range of cacti, as well as pink, purple and violet flowers in bloom. And always the constant drumbeat of the waves pounding against the rocks. Most of the pubs, cafes and souvenir shops are closed. Santa Ponsa has a slightly forlorn feeling at times, but I don’t…
