Wednesday, December 22, 2010
The Man Who Killed a Whale
Thanks to Greg for the cool questions and general good times!
The short story Red Ice (formerly Last of the Kjett) now has a home on Smashwords after the awful experience earlier this year with a certain crooked publisher. Back to it's original title and available for less than a dollar! (#onlyjustmind)
I think all outstanding matters are now resolved, onwards into new waters!
A big and very sincere thank-you to anyone who has read any of my stories this year - that should be me done on here until 2011 :)
Monday, December 13, 2010
December is for Lovers
Hey all - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever you do and wherever you are I hope you are with loved ones this festive season
Been a while but a few updates to post!
First - check out this new literary blog, follow it and enjoy the daily updates from creator Abe -
aobibliosphere
He was kind enough to review my very short story Terminal Sunday and followed this up with a very fun interview last week - thanks Abe!
Next up - another new site you should bookmark and pay attention to - an online literary magazine named Fix It Broken
Issue 1 just went up yesterday and showcases 10 diverse and wonderful pieces of fiction. Every issue FIB is doing something very cool and different - picking one story to be turned into a t-shirt which is then sold in a limited quantity from the site. I was delighted to find out my story 'The Comfort of Dead Whales' was the winner for issue 1 and is now a wearable piece of fashionable fiction !
Thanks to all the cool cats at FIB for making me extremely giddy with that, and such a sweet idea, I look forward to future issues!
The newest edition of 52 Stitches has been released - flash horror stories, originally published online at a weekly rate throughout 2010 - and I have one in there. All proceeds go to the Jamie Eyberg fund - you may remember, writer Jamie and his wife were killed in a horrible freak accident earlier this year leaving behind 2 young children. Jamie actually has a piece in this book, one of the last things he wrote.
Finally, a link to one of the best collections I've read in a while - Terminal Earth! - stories from the end of the world. A lot of my favourite new writers are present in this one and it really is a great read from start to finish - recommended very highly!
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Concrete Dead and Other Myths
The October release of legendary quarterly magazine Bards & Sages is now available and includes my story about strange goings on in post-WW2 East Berlin called The Concrete Dead. Check out the Queen inspired cover too! (#ref for oldies)
Monday, September 27, 2010
No more Penny Dreadful
If you were one of the unfortunate, please contact me immediately.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Non-genre Goodness
The first, titled Fragility, will be appearing in .insidious. mag in the near future.
The second, snappily titled The Comfort of Dead Whales, will make an appearance in Fix It Broken magazine
I love writing straight fiction and hope to do more in the future along with the best genre pieces I can think up and express.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
I almost swerved off my chair...
But what fresh nightmare is this? Not all is lost for NIGHT TERRORS. Harper Hull’s shocker “Amy Lou’s Ice Cream Parlor” is an absolute sucker punch to the gut. The tenderness of Hull’s text is a trap that catches the reader in a swift six pages. By beginning with the all-too-familiar, painting a portrait of a pleasant ice-cream shop, Hull drags us down into the spectral depths of his protagonist’s heartbreaking depravity—and never brings us back. Discovering this story at the tail end of the collection is just about enough to justify the entire purchase price.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
E-Harper & the arrival of Lark, Investigator of the Unusual
I've been wanting to release an e-book for a while now, mainly just to see how it flies and what the experience is like. This week I decided that my paranormal investigator story The Watcher on the Walls would be the ideal test. The genre, the length, the fact it's the first in a series - all seemed like good reasons to let it loose and see what happened.
Yesterday, after a night of formatting 13K words which wasn't anywhere near as awful as I'd imagined, it went live on Smashwords and will hit the big name marketplaces next week.
It costs a measly $1.75 (about a quid in Britain) and is available right here!
You can download it for Kindle, Nook, Stanza, Sony Reader, PC, Mac, Palm - pretty much every piece of hardware you can imagine.
If you don't have an e-reader and hate reading plain docs as much as I do, I highly recommend this free application from Amazon - Kindle for PC
I'm happy with the way it looks and now just need to promote the story itself - here's the short blurb from the website
England, 1975. Neville Lark, self-proclaimed 'investigator of the unusual,' is drawn into a brutal murder case in the city of Chester. All signs point to an horrific incident from the past when an entire Roman garrison was slaughtered by supernatural forces, but who is resurrecting the ancient evil and why?
If you enjoy paranormal mysteries, historical supernatural tales or monster horror I think you'd enjoy this. Witches, satanists, Roman ghosts, mysterious church soldiers, golems and a foppish, self-destructive protagonist with a house full of skeletons are all at play in here!
The fantastic photo of Chester's famous Eastgate Clock which forms the basis of the cover was taken by Traci, my much better half, last year. I need to mention that so she doesn't sue me for my pennies.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Just what I need, a new obsession
Got back this evening from a brilliant week in the North Carolina mountains - it was just the two of us, way way up in the clouds in an enormous house that had 3 levels, 5 bedrooms and bathrooms, and a 'great room' that looked like the entrance to a church complete with stained glass windows from England and a dizzying ceiling height. We got to play Lord and Lady of the Manor and it was incredible. On our first morning there the clouds came in so heavy and thick that all around the house was nothing but white - a very strange feeling, and I couldn't help but think of 'The Mist' - especially when, as darkness fell, the biggest, strangest, most colourful moths and other assorted insects I have ever seen came swooping in to land on the windows, drawn by the outside lights. Entwine your thumbs, flap your hands and you get an idea of their size.
Anyway, this place had a big library/study, packed with books and films, and I saw the novel 'Cold Mountain' in there which is a book I've always wanted to read but never got around to. I demolished it over the next two days and being able to read it in the location where a lot of the events were set was quite the experience; it made everything sharper, clearer and more intense. Fantastic book, I loved it, and now I'm obsessed with reading stories in their actual settings, probably not something I'll get to indulge too often but I aim to try. I also now know that a peeper is a type of frog and a rabbit's butt is called a scut.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Superfantasticmeganewsupdate!!!!!!!
NEWLY AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE:
Sick Things (Comet Press) at Amazon US and Amazon UK
Through the Eyes of the Undead (LOTLD) at Amazon US and Amazon UK
Frontlines (Northern Frights) at Amazon US and Amazon UK
Last of the Kjett (Penny Dreadful Co.) no later than Monday direct from here - I'll blog more extensively about this baby next week
NEW SALES AND ACCEPTANCES
Sci-fi short 'A Symphony of Drones' will be appearing in a German-based sf magazine!
Horror tale 'Daddy Long-Legs' is lined up for the Day Terrors collection from The Harrow Press. Good, challenging anthology this - the brief was to write a scary story that takes place in daylight under bright sunlight. No hiding away in dark attics or forests, stick it right out there for all to see and make it work. The editors (Kfir and Dru) are fantastic to work with and I'm very happy to have made the cut. This is another southern-based horror heavy on the psychological elements and with (hopefully) a quite terrifying 'monster' for people to enjoy.
AUTHOR PAGES!
Now up at both Limey Amazon and Yank Amazon - the bio/photo there now are pretty much holders until I get around to sprucing it up properly.
If you're American, enjoy your holiday weekend - everyone else, be safe, be well.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Positive words for Amy-Lou
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Frontlines - now live!
'No one would have believed that in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched...
These words marked the beginning of H.G. Well's classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds...and marked the end of man's child-like belief that we are alone in the universe. Published in 1898, The War of the Worlds is one of the greatest works of science fiction ever written, and it cemented H.G. Wells' legacy as a founding father of science fiction.
A 1938 radio play by Orson Welles caused mass panic when it hit the airwaves, and frankly we haven't been able to trust aliens ever since.
Here now, are bold new visions of Alien and Human conflicts on many different fronts.'
1. After Welles by Michael Scott Bricker
2. Weird Fruits by Camille Alexa
3. Killers by Vincent L. Scarsella
4. The Dodo Dragon by Sheila Crosby
5. The Virus of Memory by Gerard Daniel Houarner
6. What Makes You Tick by David Steffen
7. The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus by Mark Onspaugh
8. Common Time by Bruce Golden
9. Steve's Really Cool Movie Blog by RJ Sevin
10. Moth Tamuth Robotica by Kristen Lee Knapp
11. Empire of the Moon by Harper Hull
12. The Spacer and the Cabbages by Auston Habershaw
13. John's List by Brent Knowles
14. Tequila Sunset by Michele Garber
15. Another End of the World by Michael Penkas
16. A Sweetheart Deal by JW Schnarr and John Sunseri
17. The Rainmaker by Mike Barretta
18. News on the March by Edward Morris
19. My Beautiful Boy by Jodi Lee
20. To Love a Monster by Victorya
21. The Candle Room by James S. Dorr
22. Usher by Davin Ireland
Friday, May 21, 2010
Comet Press - TOC/Author page now live
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Bullets That Point
* Two of my favourite unplaced shorts getting worked up - one a rewrite for a very cool editor, the other a snipping of 600 words to be submissible to a collection I really like the sound of
* The Surprise anthology is now on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions!
* Coming to the end of the first draft of a new story set in Hanging Rock
* Congratulations to last night's Nebula winners, the ladies really owned the awards this year!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Bovine Intervention and Available Terrors
Great news this morning! My story An Unfortunate Incident at the Slaughterhouse has been picked up by the wonderful Comet Press for their summer-release Sick Things anthology. The theme of the book is 'extreme creatures' and mine, as the title kinda sorta gives away, is about cows in England turning the tables on their human slayers. Bad Beef, Brazen Brisket, Sick Steak, all could have been working names for this one but it was actually written under the awful title of Bovine Intervention.
A June release looks likely, and I'm extra-excited about this one as the previous collection from Comet, Vile Things, included big-hitters Ramsey Campbell and Graham Masterton so I can't wait to see the line-up for Sick Things!
In other news, the Night Terrors collection from Blood Bound Books is now live on Amazon
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Quickie Updates Corner
The Pill Hill Press collaborative novel Undead, Kansas is nearing completion, down to the last few contributor's chapters now! I've deliberately stopped reading it since my final chapter so I can enjoy the ending when it comes out.
The first of two HG Wells tribute sci-fi anthos from Northern Frights Publishing - Frontlines - has gone to the printers and is very close to release. This should be a brilliant collection, and word from the publisher is that it looks amazing in proof form.
A new sale - my story A New England will be appearing in a future issue of Encounters magazine. This one is a supernatural piece inspired by the real-life killer fog that appeared in London in the 1950's.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Amy-Lou Finds a Home
The first real horror story I ever started writing - and one of the most recent I actually finished - will be appearing in the Night Terrors collection from Blood Bound Books. It's called Amy-Lou's Ice-Cream Parlor and is inspired by a store in the town I now live. I'm glad it found a good home :)
Monday, March 15, 2010
What can you say in six sentences?
I sent two pieces in for this so not sure which one made it - they were polar opposites so be interesting to find out - but my name is in the video (as is Rob's) so something made it!
Release date of April 2010, very cool.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Great Library in the Sky
Sometime last year I was reading the life stories of a number of my favourite writers and poets throughout history. It was amazing how nearly all of them had faced a life-and-death situation at some point and survived it. This led to an idea that became a short story titled God's Librarian. I'm very pleased that this piece will be making an appearance in the newest antho from Residential Aliens called While The Morning Stars Sing. ResAliens are making quite the name for themselves releasing spiritually-infused spec fiction and as well as the anthologies put out their own magazine. My story takes place in early 20th century Cardiff at the railway station, which should give you a clue who it's about.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Stat's the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it
Stat update as of today -
Pieces out in the scary town of Submissionville - 15
Shortlisted - 6
In progress - 1 novel, 1 novella, 3 shorts
Lots going on - it's clobberin' time!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Frontlines TOC announced
Some fine writing types in here! If I was you I'd order a copy.
1. After Welles by Michael Scott Bricker
2. Weird Fruits by Camille Alexa
3. Killers by Vincent L. Scarsella
4. The Dodo Dragon by Sheila Crosby
5. The Virus of Memory by Gerard Daniel Houarner
6. What Makes You Tick by David Steffen
7. The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus by Mark Onspaugh
8. Common Time by Bruce Golden
9. Steve's Really Cool Movie Blog by RJ Sevin
10. Moth Tamuth Robotica by Kristen Lee Knapp
11. Empire of the Moon by Harper Hull
12. The Spacer and the Cabbages by Auston Habershaw
13. John's List by Brent Knowles
14. Tequila Sunset by Michele Garber
15. Another End of the World by Michael Penkas
16. A Sweetheart Deal by JW Schnarr and John Sunseri
17. The Rainmaker by Mike Barretta
18. News on the March by Edward Morris
19. My Beautiful Boy by Jodi Lee
20. To Love a Monster by Victorya
21. The Candle Room by James S. Dorr
22. Usher by Davin Ireland
Northern Frights
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Ghosts of German Dead
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Lark in the Morning
Pushed everything to one side to start working on a new idea yesterday - a possible serial character named Neville Lark. It's 1975 and Lark is a north-west historian/investigator of the strange who lives in the magnificent City of Chester. In fact, he lives right by the famous Eastgate Clock for a very specific reason - in this photo the door on the left is his office-cum-flat. Why Chester? You look at the history of Chester and you get a microcosm of the history of England. It's also one of the most unique and unusual towns in the country, as well as where I grew up. Manchester, Liverpool, North Wales, all within spitting distance and filled with their own weird, bizarre tales and legends. I'll see where Nev takes me; for now his debut story is concerned with why Chester really has a wall built all the way around it.
And no, I won't really be using Alan Partridge-like titles :)
Fire up the Sunbeam Alpine and slam the Quo tape in! Weirdness is afoot!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Love Kills now on Amazon (US/UK) & Barnes and Noble
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Penny Dreadfuls, Then and Now
Great term huh? Penny Dreadfuls were pulpy, outlandishly-covered mass-market publications in Britain in the 19th century, often serialized stories, sometimes rewrites of famous novels. Some famous characters emerged from these publications on their own terms, including Sweeney Todd and Varney the Vampire. They cost a penny and contained often horrific and outrageous stories, hence the name.
There is a press based in England called The Penny Dreadful Company, founded and run by Neil Jackson, that releases 21st century chapbook versions of these publications. Some fantastic writers have put out stories with them, including David Niall Wilson and Willie Meikle, take a look at their catalogue here - Penny Dreadful Company
Neil does wonderful work and I am delighted that a story of mine will be appearing under the Penny Dreadul Co. umbrella later this year. More news closer to the time!
Friday, January 15, 2010
I'm gonna get inside you
My brutal little story All Your Pretty Things has been accepted for the Love Kills:My Bloody Valentine anthology from Pill Hill Press. This should be out for Valentine's Day and would make a perfect gift for all your ex's! Even the cover is mean, look at that! Awesome.
Never Stop Moving
Wow, couldn't be happier today - the sister anthology to Frontlines, named Timelines and inspired by HG Wells' The Time Machine, will include my story Perpetual Motion Blues! Completely different in style and substance to Empire, it was an absolute monster to write and get just so, and one I'm very proud of. Check out Northern Frights Publishing for more details, and also pick up their Wizard of Oz inspired collection Shadows of the Emerald City for a fantastic read. And how good are these covers? :O
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Lunar Joy!
One of the stories I was really, really hoping for good news on was accepted this evening! The title of the anthology is War of the Worlds:Frontlines from the brilliant new Canadian press Northern Frights Publishing
I was writing furiously as soon as this one was announced - stories inspired by the legendary H.G. Wells, what more could you ask for? My story is called Empire of the Moon and starts off in Scotland. Loved writing it, it was an immersive experience, and I hope its as fun to read. I officially consider 2010 begun now!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Ground broken on untitled sci-fi thing
The first 1000 words of a sci-fi novel I've been planning for a while are down. I am excited and need to hit a good work-rate on this one. Working title is The Culture Thieves but this will definitely change.
The entire thing was inspired by a short story I recently subbed to a particular anthology - no definite word back yet on it, 'tis on hold - and which I enjoyed writing way too much, falling in love with the characters and their world. Anyway, we'll see how this one goes...