It's been odd not polishing short stories. Since the beginning of the year I decided to focus on two things- a complete heavy edit of my novel Take Flight, with an eye to taking it to some agents in the Autumn, and completing the first draft of my new novel (the title of which is currently only known by three people- you are not one of them). This means that things have been quiet on the short story front as I try and wrangle these two large projects to a close. I've still been writing short stories, but they linger as drafts, waiting for me to take the time to fix them up and send them out. Which of course means fewer live events- a temporary state of being. Take Flight is currently out with some beta-readers, and thus far the feedback has been phenomenal. It was a sprawling chaotic novel, but I think the pacing has picked up enough now to carry through the reader.

No despair! I still have two film projects based around my short stories underway- one nearing completion (the draft is very tasty, the edit so close to completion...) and one at a tentative beginning.

In the meantime I've been co-hosting The Weekly Rapture pop culture podcast with my friend Adam Beech, which makes me engage with the world of games, books, and films in a way I could too easily stop otherwise.

Aims for autumn? Send out Take Flight to some interested parties. Edit a pile of short stories and get them submitted. Finish the new book.

Writing- New Novel, which involves the final usage off about three years of sporadic research into all kinds of esoteric folklore and legends.

Listening- Low Teens, new album from Every Time I Die

Reading- Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Final point- Square Space has an e-commerce tool. Thinking about putting up a pay-per-prose option, bespoke micro-fiction and short stories for a set fee. Reckon there is much call for that?