Lee Moan's Steam-Powered Typewriter

A little while ago I undertook an inventory of my written work and discovered that in the four years from 2004-2008 I had written forty short stories. That's an avaerage of ten a year. How many did I write in the past twelve months? Three. (That's not including the short pieces I wrote on my Open University course last year.) The simple fact is that things in the short story department have slowed almost to a standstill. At my most productive I was working on one story with about two or three in my head bursting to be written. That's not the case anymore. My mind is consumed almost completely by longer works. I have just completed the first draft of the next Barclay Heath book, a follow-up to The Hotel Galileo, which is in the same novella-length range of over 30,000 words. I'm also on the final draft of my novel The Silver Sea which is the first volume in a series and I am bursting to write the next episodes for that. As for new short stories, there's really nothin...

Despite the treacherous British summer weather (it rained ALL DAY) the book launch party for The Hotel Galileo was a great success. I am so grateful and indebted to the people who braved the summer rain and visited the Torbay Bookshop on Tuesday to buy a copy. It was a very special moment for me, a celebration of what Matthew, the bookshop owner, likened to 'a birth'. I couldn't help thinking how strange it was to have spent so long working away at this project (and many others) without anyone knowing about it; and then, down the line, here I am - standing in a bookshop signing copies of the book. I received many messages of support also from people who were unable to make it to the launch. I'm pleased to be able to tell you that The Torbay Bookshop in Paignton are currently stocking signed copies of the book. So, if you are still interested in picking up a copy, please pop in when you have a chance and grab one. They can be found in either the SF & Fantasy section...