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Well, it's been a year since I made my last set of New Year writer resolutions. So, how did I do? 1) I will start/finish the damn book Did that. I completed my short novel 'The Hotel Galileo' back in August and sent it to small US small press Wolfsinger in early September. No response yet... 2) I will always have at least three stories on submission, while working on a fourth This has been a year for taking a breather, taking stock of the past four years and then going back into it with renewed energy. I see the last two stories which are still on submission as the end of a "first phase", and the new stories I'm working on are part of a new phase. Suffice to say I'm quietly excited about the new stuff. 3) I will attend at least one writer's conference, and introduce myself to agents, editors, and other writers FantasyCon 2008 back in Septemeber. This is the achievement of 2008 I am most proud of. It took a lot for me to go out into the world and meet o...

Just stumbled across three haikus I wrote in my notebook last year. Poetry is something I'd love to write a lot more of. These are quite sweet, I think: Rain runs down the glass The clouds above cast shadows On my empty lawn If she says 'No way' I will walk out that door now Never to return The flowers I bought Are beginning to dwindle Water cannot save them And there you have it. I have no recollection of composing them, either, but knowing my state of mind in recent times it's not a surprise. Amazing what you find in your old notebooks, though.

The FantasyCon issue of the FREE Estronomicon eZine is now available. Although I don't have a story in this issue my "Newbie's Guide to..." report is in there. Lots of great fiction from other writers including Allyson Bird, Neil Davies, Charles Black, Stephen Bacon, Tony Richards, Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan. The cover art is by Award-winning Vincent Chong. It's a great issue, containing short stories by some of the FantasyCon attendees, art by award-winner Vincent Chong and lots of pictures of the event. I thoroughly enjoyed this convention and yes, there is a photo of me in there somewhere, but keep it quiet, won't you? See the webpage for more info and to download : http://www.screamingdreams.com/index.html?target=d90.html or you can get it directly here (2.48mb) : http://www.screamingdreams.com/ezine/FantasyCon2008.pdf

It's been a relatively quiet year for getting stories published, but I have a handful of stories about to be published in the coming months. First up is "The Weight of Shadows" which is a science fiction story due to appear in the next issue of Jupiter SF in January 2009. This is my second appearance in this fine sf zine and I'm pleased to say there will be artwork accompanying my story provided by yours truly. I admit I have neglected my art for the last few years to concentrate on the fiction side of things. It was the encouraging comments from an old school friend that made me pick up the brush again. I hope the result isn't too shoddy. If feedback is positive I may look at doing more artwork in the future. We'll see. Second imminent publication is in new online venue Arkham Tales , the personal project of editor Nathan Shumate. The first issue is online now and available to download as a PDF. My story "Inheritance", a weird western story, sho...

Blimey! Where did that month go? I've been so busy lately that I haven't even had a chance to blog! So, what has happened in the last month? Well, I started my latest Open University course, Advanced Creative Writing. Submitted my first TMA last Thursday. Despite it being an added pressure to everyday life, I am enjoying the course a lot so far. I've got a stack of stories that have either been published or are about to be published. Since my last blog entry, a new issue of Estronomicon has appeared: The Hallowe'en Special, and it contains another one of my stories, 'The Witch is Dead'. It originally appeared at Whispers of Wickedness, but I thought it was perfect for Halowe'en. You can find the issue over at Screaming Dreams: Hallowe’en Special Coming up: 'Inheritance' is scheduled to appear in a future issue of Arkham Tales; 'The Man Who Ate Planets' to be reprinted in the Permuted Press anthology Best New Apocalyptic Fiction; two stories ...

Ever wondered what the world would be like if every single man disappeared tomorrow? Come on, you've all thought about it at one time or another. Well, I'm very pleased to have my story "A World Without Men" published in the latest edition of Estronomicon magazine. This story was actually my final piece for my Creative Writing course last year. The mag comes in PDF format, downloadable for free at the website. This link will enable you to download the issue directly: http://www.screamingdreams.com/ezine/Recovery2008.pdf Or, if you prefer, you can visit the Screaming Dreams site ( http://www.screamingdreams.com/ ) first and check it out. There's lots of free stuff there, including back issues of Estronomicon available for download, as well as free ebooks and excerpts from their range of excellent print books. I would be proper chuffed if you found the time to read my story and if you do, and it moves you in any way (good or bad), please feel free to leave me a co...

Taking some time out to do some serious reading (as opposed to jocular reading which is not to be encouraged). My To-Read Pile includes such works as Temeraire by Naomi Novik, Un Lun Dun by China Mieville, Shadows and Other Tales by Tony Richards, Lisey's Story by Stephen King and many more. But first on my list are two collections which I'm zipping through now: Allyson Bird's Bull Running for Girls and Twentieth-Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. Both are collections of similar length and in similar genres, so it should be interesting to see in what ways the "girls" may differ from the "boys", as it were, in terms of style. After I've completed those two I'm jumping straight into Joe Hill's much-acclaimed debut novel Heart-Shaped Box . So, as you can see, much great fiction to devour over the coming few weeks/months. I begin the fifth year of my Open University course on Saturday, Advanced Creative Writing , so I will seriously have to manage...