Good news day

I’m now represented by the Mic Cheetham Agency . Excited doesn’t cover it- lots of cool news to come.

Art below was commisioned by me from Flygohr

At dawn, look to the East

Much is afoot. Global pandemic, global protests. Personal upheaval and professional changes. Lots of anouncements to come.

Reading: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien, Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes, Murderbot series by Martha Wells, Given by Nandi Taylor

Listening: Songs for PIerre Chavin by The Mountain Goats, Chris by Christine and the Queens, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning soundtrack by Grant Kirkhope

One step forward, etc

Well! My 6 months of hiking in the woods has been derailed utterly by the current global heatlh pandemic. Devastated, but healthy and home now and things could be a lot worse, and are worse for many others.

The first 110 miles before the lockdown were epic, high desert, snow, rain, hail, mountains, howling wind and endless climbs. It was wonderful. Bluejays & marmots, clifftop views for a hundred miles of desert.

For now, I am back. This means instead of a hiatus on the GAUNTLET project, I’ll be spending the summer pitching it around, maybe some final edits for the lastfew tweaks I want to make. I’m also going to try and jump in with two feet to the short fiction scene again as a palate cleanser, and am begining to mull over what the right follow up project to GAUNTLET might be.
Stay safe x

READING: You will be safe here by Damian Barr, The Bone Ships by RJ Barker, The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

AFK

Away from keyboard. Heading out in five days to the woods for ~ 2600 miles of hiking. Frodo and Sam did about 1755 miles from the Shire to Mount Doom, so it is a wee bit beyond that. Should take me out until end of August or so.

This means no updates for a while, but I have a short short story coming out next week as a final flourish for the season.

GAUNTLET is in fine form, tweaking and adding a few wee bits and bobs to try and polish it up. Currently looking into my options to take it forward from there. Fantasy juntas; UFO folklore; animist gods; wolf fights. A soldier searches for her daughter. A sorcerer seeks revenge. A cannibal hunts an immortal criminal.

Almost time to start thinking about what is next!

THE PATTERN & THE PATTERN BENEATH

Suddenly there is not much time. In March 2020 I am walking the Pacific Crest Trail (Mexico to Canada), and when I return will be heading from London out to Algiers for 3 years. This means in terms of writing I don’t think I have capacity for another book next year. My plan is to spend January/February speaking to the people I’m already in touch with regarding the fantasy novel and perhaps reaching out to a few more, and working on some shorter pieces to submit before I head out on this long walk.

Between work, planning moving house across continents, and planning a 5 month hike in the woods, I have had less free time than normal to think about new writing or developing older pieces than I would like. 2019 has been probably my most prolific year in terms of volume. When I am settled next autumn I can focus on a better routine for pushing some shorter pieces as I develop the longer projects, but for now I have to make do with the time I have.

The novel is in a good state, I have a notebook full of story ideas, and the next 3 years have the potential to let me really create some work I can be proud of without the usual distraction. For now I can be patient.

I’ve been thinking about writing on this walk, and the form that might take. I have no interest in writing anything biographical or experiential, but the impact of the landscape and the time for thought can hopefully be translated into something.

WATCHING: The Witcher

READING: The Mask Of Dimitrious by Eric Ambler, The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan, Melmoth by Sarah Perry

PLAYING: Sekiro, Shadows Die Twice

FEEDBACK; ALGIERS; GAUNTLET

FEEDBACK

STILL WORLDS TURNING which contains my story Highgate is garnering some great reviews and feedback, check it out if you haven’t:

The Irish Times: “An irresistibly moreish collection”

 Nina Allan “deserves notice as a key reference point for what is happening in fiction right now”

Belfast Telegraph “compelling, inventive imaginations”

ALGIERS

Second news (this is the big bit)- I’m moving to ALGIERS!

Algiers

This is pretty wild. Still planning on walking Pacific Crest Trail next summer (hiking Mexico to Canada April-Sept), but then next autumn I’m relocating to Algiers for three years. This means maybe a drop of writing time next summer, but after that should be able to dedicate much more time than I can with my current job. So more content, more stories, more longer pieces. Excited doesn’t cover it. I need to learn French…

GAUNTLET

The fantasy novel is done. There are wee edits to be made, things to be finessed, but it is ready to face the agents so I am polishing the final pitch and whittling down my shortlist. It is a fantasy adventure, with animist gods, brutal juntas, and mysterious lights in the sky that snatch children in the night.

Failure is not an option

Had the chance through my day job to write a book review. It is published in Nature Physics, and I’m reviewing the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award winning The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Check it out! The act of going back over consumed fiction and picking critically at the bones is gratifying, but I prefer the consumption to the dissection. You can check out my review here: : https://rdcu.be/bSGpC

Further reading:

Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Ghost Talkers, The Glamourist Histories series, and the Lady Astronaut duology. She is a cast member of the award-wining podcast Writing Excuses and also a four-time Hugo Award winner. Her short fiction appears in Uncanny, Tor.com, and Asimov’s. Mary Robinette, a professional puppeteer, lives in Nashville. Visit her online at maryrobinettekowal.com.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE GOD-WOLF

HELLO. October? Already? Of course. It is time for spooky stories! Check out the writing tab, specifically the stories HAAR, the Londnr Folklore series (GHOST, COVEN, DRYAD, VAMPYR). THE OSSUARY TRACT is the most hardcore horror I’ve written (interdimensional emotion vampires hidden in stories), a novelette of about ten thousand words originally published by The Pigeonhole. Unfortunately that book is now out of print- but I’ve regained all the rights! Considering alternate homes for it now. I love October.

What is up? Major personal news. It is some pretty wild stuff, will announce properly when dust is settled, but the short version is relocation and a lot more time to write over the next four years. I’m also going to Maine shortly, so going to hit up Salem and some deep dark forests.

WRITING. DRAFT 3 of the fantasy novel is a couple days from completion, following some beautiful feedback from my beta readers. This is the one I’m taking to agents, so fingers crossed. submitted a few short stories but outside of work all of my focus is on these edits. Can’t wait to get this out there in the world.

PLAYING- Untitled Goose Game. it is wonderful

LISTENING- Pity Boy by Mal Blum. It absolutely slaps

Reading- Boundless by R.A. Salvatore. Book 32 of the Drizzt series, and gosh it has made me fear wasps

Next to the big kids

The latest anthology I’m in STILL WORLDS TURNING is in Brick Lane Books top ten books for July, so that is cool. Pick up a copy there, or here

What else? Starting to hound agents about the fantasy novel, generally being cool

Reading: THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. CHAKRABORTY Listening: GUIDED BY VOICES

BRICK LANE BOOKSHOP’S JULY TOP 10

STILL WORLDS TURNING

It is here! Still Worlds Turning, an anthology curated by the lovely No Alibi Press in Northern Ireland, has now launched. My story HIGHGATE is a short piece about love, dialectical materialism, and nature’s disregard for the works of humankind. There are some great writers in this collection, I’ll be reading at the London launch on Wednesday July 31st, Brick Lane Books, 7pm. Should be a lot of fun!

This month I’ve been in China with work where I finally finished Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy with Death’s End- reading this by the river in Shanghai was a superb way to spend time. I striuggled with elements of the first two books, but the grandiosity and utter commiitment to the central conceits carried me through and I’m glad they did. Then back to reality- reality being attending the Arthur C. Clarke awards (which were great), recording our new D&D game for The Lost Lighthouse, editing my fantasy novel that I am deeply in love with, and considering some more esoteric platforms for putting out an older experimental novel I wrote and a horror novelette (THE OSSUARY TRACT) that originally appeared in a collection now out of print.

What else? Reading historical sources about strange lights in the sky. Reading books about treasure hunting, ancient warfare, and climate change. Life is strange, and fun.

The jab is followed by a cross

Oh boy, movement in so many directions.

Highgate will be in the No Alibi Press short story collection coming out in June (more details to follow).

Drafts on the fantasy novel continue, from the skeletal draft one there is now the muscular draft two, sinews and tendons and vasculature firmly in place. Had feedback from a couple of lovely alpha readers. Draft two will go to a larger cohort of beta readers . It is my favourite piece I’ve ever written. So the summer will be spent tweaking and adjusting, finessing and preparing.

Unexpectedly, an older piece I wrote several years ago (gulls, madness, snow, fire) that has languished in a drawer has received a little attention after a harsh butcher’s block edit. Enough attention from a couple of directions to make me consider it again as perhaps something that may yet see the light.

Work has been hectic, at one point I was in Spain, America, Italy, then back to Spain in the course of a month. Despite that the edits rolled on, and now I am more stationary I can turn the heat up.

I also walked the Cape Wrath Trail, 230 miles of peat bogs, moors, mountains and glens. It was fantastic- the time to think at length, with no distraction but the next placement of a foot, the next view of blue sky and granite.

LISTENING: In League With Dragons by The Mountain Goats

READING: Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

PLAYING: FF7 was just released on the Switch, and I am a weak man. Looking forward to finding a chocobo

STILL WORLDS TURNING

A story I wrote called Highgate will appear in the new anthology from No Alibi Press titled STILL WORLDS TURNING , out in June 2019

Dope dope dope dope dope. I like this story. It is simple and sweet.

Writing: edits on the novel, edits on the novel, ed-d-d-d-d-its on the novel. Adding more wolf punching as per beta feedback

Reading: Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Listening: (You’re Better) Than Ever by illuminati hotties

Journey before destination

Short story of mine, The Once and Future Book, was shortlisted for the FutureBook Future Fiction short story competition 2018 . There are some really great stories in the shortlist that I recommend checking out.

…and, at the FutureBook 2018 conference on Friday…

I won!

I gave a short reading from the story and then took part in a panel discussion on the future of the book with Anna Jean Hughes (Founder and editorial Director of The Pigeonhole), Aki Schilz (Editorial Services Manager at The Literary Consultancy), Anwen Hoosen (Founder of Bird Literary agency), and Natasha Bardon (Publishing Director at HarperVoyager)

An incredible panel of people- I had a great time, though we maybe went a little far down the rabbit-hole of AI (entirely my fault).

The prize judges were Tom Hunter, (Director of the Arthur C. Clarke award (!)), Anna Jean Hughes (Founder and editorial Director of The Pigeonhole), and Molly Flatt (Author/journalist/consultant/Associate Editor of Futurebook) whose enthusiasm was a delight to see.

Overall a very positive experience- read some great stories and met some very interesting people. I should enter more competitions!

The Once and Future Book; The Rust Child

Short story of mine, The Once and Future Book, has been shortlisted for the FutureBook Future Fiction short story competition 2018

Futurebook is the annual conference on the future of publishing run by The Bookseller. i’ll be at the conference on November 30th to find out who wins!

You can check out the story on The Pigeonhole platform (they published Scaremongrel, a horror anthology i was in a few year back that includes my story The Ossuary Tract)

What else? Pitched a novelette to a small publisher. 1st draft of the novel I’ve been working on this autumn is pretty much done. Forward motion!

Currently reading: Stormlight archive by Brandon Sanderson

Currently listening: Bought to Rot by Laura Jane Grace & the devouring mothers

ORIGINS; Lights in the forest

Ohhhh cool. 

The Blue Fox appears in Londnr Magazine ISSUE #0- ORIGINS - rabid foxes, superheroes, East London. This is Londnr's first print issue and I'm very happy to be included.

I've also been working on a longer form piece (making myself buckle down instead of the usual dallying with short stuff). I'm loving it. Excited about the characters, the world, and process. More to be seen!

Positive noise; library fiction; double feature

Oh I am bad at updating things. What is going on?

An Act Of Faith was published in Issue 21 of OpenPen magazine

Another episode of PENCAST has gone up, sporadic and janky and a pleasure as ever

Two (two!) pieces should be coming out in the first print issue of a cool magazine very shortly, but more to come on that

In deeper waters, out of sight, larger things move unseen

Fountains & Sirens; Old Fantasy

A new year! The second episode of Pencast is up- check it out for some nice stories.

I also realised I've never set up a link to an old fantasy story of mine 'A prophesised death', hosted by The Lost Lighthouse. It was written as a companion piece to the Total Reroll: Equinox podcast. It also should really be Prophesied rather than prophesised, which I will fix at some point...

Lots of stuff happening here- a script is underway after a successful first pitch; stories under submission, and commissioned; longer pieces either being resurrected or begun.

Ghost, CR5; Austrian Cinephiles; Delayed Audio

Cane Hill Asylum sat in south London for decades, in turn bustling and desolate. It is a place with the peculiar geography of reality that fiction often lacks; lens-crafters in the tunnels below; fire and urban explorers; grave pits. It is the setting of a story of mine recently published on Londnr.com- Ghost, CR5. This story is the 4th in the series of London Folklore pieces I've been commissioned to write. I've been researching and writing about folklore from different angles (Scottish, British, and global) for a few years and its been a recurring theme in my work. This series has offered the chance to dig deep into London specifically, and has been incredibly interesting to research and fun to write.

Great news about the Audiophile short film- it has been selected for the K3 Film Festival in Austria where it will be having its international premiere on December 15th. Those guys did an incredible job. We are aiming to submit this to a variety of film festivals over the coming year so fingers crossed it keeps building momentum. I'm working with Emanuele, who directed the short film based on Audiophile, on a new project- it is ambitious and fun but for now, hush hush.

I've finished recording Episode 2 of PENCAST with Sean Preston, so that will hopefully be dropping shortly. It is delayed, of course, so delayed. The aim was to publish with the quarterly issues of OpenPen magazine, but with the rate of audio submissions (and the rate of me getting my act together) it is more sporadic than I had ever dared worry about. It will arrive in due course, packed to the gills with lovely ficiton.

It isn't work if you enjoy it.

READING: The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane- a beautiful book 

LISTENING: Hamilton (Broadway cast recordings)

Dryad, Vampyr, Coven...

Its been a grip.

Two new stories in the London folklore series that started with Dryad, N4 are now up on Londnr

Vampyr, N6  is a bleakly comic horror set in the verdant wilderness of Highgate cemetery

Coven, SW9 is  a quick romp as we see some witches facing the patriarchy in Brixton market

There are a couple more to come in this series, and a few longer pieces now completed (but we will see what form their release takes)

What else? An opportunity has arisen to pitch something a bit different in form, which I am very excited about- even if it goes nowhere, the act in and of itself is gratifying. It will be in collaboration with some cool people I've worked with previously, and we are getting the gears in motion. 

Aside from that? Secret projects and machinations! There is the thing with the android and the violence and the pumpkin seeds, the thing with the antlers, the thing with the horse and the water and the salt, and a few others besides.

Reading- The Three-Body problem by Cixin Liu, Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Listening- Black Byrd by Donald Byrd