Archive for the ‘Blog’ Category

Flurb 7 Goes Live

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

Well Rudy Rucker is obviously a man who doesn’t waste any time because Flurb issue 7, featuring my story And They Will Not Be Stopped has just gone live at http://www.flurb.net!

The story is one that was originally accepted for publication in Crowswing Books’ proposed 2050 anthology though apparently they went AWOL. Sean Wallace of Prime Books suggested I give Flurb a go and two weeks later here it is.

There’s a link to leave comments on Rudy’s site itself or you can feel free to leave a comment on my blog, my website or etched into a wall somewhere….


Two New Acceptances in One Night!

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Got responses to two of the submissions that I’ve got out just now within a few hours of each other and this time they were both acceptances!

Firstly Rudy Rucker let me know that he wanted to publish my story And They Will Not Be Stopped in the next issue of his webzine Flurb which will be going live fairly soon I think (link will appear here once that has happened).

Then not long after that Edwin Ryberg of Utility Fog Press let me know that he wanted to publish my story Watch in his proposed ?Great? Britain anthology.  The original February deadline for that one has been moved back to June to allow more time for more suitable subs to come in so if you haven’t submitted to that one just yet then give it a go and make sure the antho sees the light of day!  (You can find out more details on their website).

So that’s a pretty good night for me and means my plan to bring my profile back up a little is in good stead so far.

Writing Updates

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Received another rejection, this one from Interfictions who passed on my story The Sky And The Lights so I’ll need to keep an eye out for another home for that one.  It was the story I wrote for Jeff Vandermeer’s pirate anthology and I do wonder if there are still a lot of pirate stories floating around out there looking for a home …

I’ve sent out new submission, minus blindfold heading out to Time’s Edge.  Still not sure if it’s not genre enough but I’m about halfway through a second story for that, as yet untitled.

I added another few thousand words to Guerra last night as well so it’s just over 95K at the moment.  I’d like to reach the magic 100K by the end of the month but will see how it goes as I’m still not exactly sure how it’s all going to end.  If I still can’t figure it out once I reach the end of the parts I’ve plotted then there’s enough bits I need to go back for to add in that will keep it all flowing.

Will be adding new excerpts to the site over the next few days so keep an eye out …

Rejection Received & Another Time Travel Story

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Heard back from the editor/publisher of the proposed THOUGHTCRIME EXPERIMENT anthology today to say that he was passing on AND THEY WILL NOT BE STOPPED, the scifi story originally accepted for publication in the 2050 anthology that vanished without trace.  He did offer to send me some critique for the piece so I might take him up on it. 

He also said that if I wanted to send him something else with a lighter tone to it he’d be eager to see it.  I had to tell him that I didn’t really do light-toned stories …

On the writing front apart from finally getting back to work on Guerra, adding a couple of K to it, I’ve also been considering starting on another time travel story with a view to having it as backup for the Time’s Edge antho.

I’m a little concerned that the first one I wrote for it, minus blindfold, might not be genre enough for it and I’ve been toying with another idea and that is to do with time travel via chemicals which basically open up the doors to your perception rather than anything technological.  I have sketched out the basic premise and whilst it is more scifi it is certainly still a very “Logan” story, whatever that might be…

Magazines Vs Anthologies

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

For the most part I generally submit what short stories I write to anthologies since there’s something about the more hefty physical product of a book that raises it above magazines or, particularly, webzines – but I think I might now be about to change my approach.

There have been more than a few occasions now that I’ve had a story accepted for an anthology that has never seen print – for reasons explained or for no reason at all (2050) – so I’m begining to look more favouraby at pro markets both in print and online.

 Certainly in the last few years the importance of webzines has gone up so getting a story published in Clarkesworld is a far better option than getting it done in an anthology that nobody will ever see or might not make it to print.  (That and the cash they pay is better which means it’s harder to get in to which means more rewards when/if I DO get in …)

So my plan is to research a few of the better ones and send off what few stories I have available to them and see where it goes.  With the exchange rate the way it is a few hundred bucks could go a long way …

A Lynchian Effort

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Just finished the first draft of another short story, which I’ve titled minus blindfold (yes another one I’m naming after a Deftones song…) which I think I’m going to submit to the Time’s Edge anthology to be put out by Utility Fog Press.

I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it at the moment but I wanted to try and do something quite Lynchian since I’ve recently re-watched Inland Empire and a couple of his other movies and am as in love with his style/method as ever.  That is the danger, of course, and part of my hesitance to go through with the idea – I don’t think it’s ever a good grounding for someone to create something out of their love for someone else’s work as the danger is it becomes a hackjob.

Because of the nature of the story I simultaneously made it up as I went along but also kept going back and revising.  Rather than a plot it was like I had six or seven concepts or objects/scenes floating around in the air above my head and just let them drift down when it felt right.  Halfway through I wasn’t sure how to hook it all up but it worked out in the end.

I’m not sure if it’s maybe too slipstreamy for them and doesn’t have enough genre content but we’ll see.  I’ll give it a once-over then send it off to them before the end of the week.

Aethist Bus Slogan Continues To Stir Up Trouble

Friday, January 16th, 2009

The BBC is reporting that the advertising banner that is appearing on some buses in England, paid for by the British Humanist Association, is still upsetting a lot of people and the latest is that a bus driver has walked out and refused to drive a bus with it on the side .

The man, Ron Heather, says that he “felt that I could not drive that bus, I told my managers and they said they haven’t got another one and I thought I better go home, so I did.  I think it was the starkness of this advert which implied there was no God…”

No pun intended but Jesus Christ, man! For a start the banner reads There Probably Is No God. Now Stop Worrying And Enjoy Your Life.  Did you notice that, Mr Heather?  Probably.  

Are the religious amongst us so sensitive that they can’t even handle the suggestion that there might not be a God?  The BHA could have easily made it read There IS No God but they were open-minded enough to go with Probably so what is the big deal exactly?

The problem is when you base your belief system on something that comes from “elsewhere” (ie not determined by your own moral and ethical compass) you are in an incredibly fragile position should anything come along to question any aspect of it.  Because you haven’t arrived at the conclusionsyourself you lack the full capability of defending those conclusions and this is a fine example of it.

To the BHA I say don’t be so accommodating  next time and to Richard Dawkins I say keep up the good work …


Catastrophia Story Completed

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Tonight I finished the second and final draft of the story I’ve been writing with a view to submitting it to PS Publishing’s CATASTROPHIA anthology so that makes it two short stories that I’ve completed so far this year and we’re not even halfway through January.  (I know it’s not going to keep up at this pace but it’s a decent start at least …)

I’ve titled the story A Whispered Apocalypse and you can find more details about it in some earlier posts on my blog.  Since the editor is only accepted hard copy submissions I’ll get it formatted properly and printed out tomorrow then sent off to Allen Ashley.

Great Britain Story First Draft Complete

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

Well I managed it.

Just completed the first draft of the story I’m writing with a view to submitting to Utility Fog Press’s proposed ?Great? Britain anthology (and yes those question marks *are* meant to be there) which is as yet untitled.  It went pretty smoothly since I’d pretty much had it all mapped out and took about four hours to write in one sitting.  Came out at just under 3,500 words and I think there will be very little to do edits-wise for the second and final draft which is good news and means I can just get it submitted.

It’s set in the very near future and in the end I just went for setting it in Edinburgh after all because I thought why not?  A new government program has meant that the country has been fitted out with a system of 43 million CCTV cameras to provide a complete surveillance network to combat terrorism (of course) but of course my interest lies in the more underworld aspect of this – that of black market dealers who can hack into the system and provide people with footage from the cameras.

Jilted lovers watch their ex-partners.  Nervous parents watch their teenage children.  Co-workers too nervous to approach one other instead watch footage of each other.   And so on …

So a quick edit tommorrow or Friday then send it off.  We’ll see how it goes.

UK SciFi Short Story

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

Utility Fog Press are open to subs for two proposed anthologies at the moment, Time’s Edge and ?Great? Britain and although I have ideas for both the one for ?Great? Britain fell together quickly and easily over the last few nights as I noodled around with ideas and I basically have the full plot laid out in my head.  Plan is to start (and, if I can, finish it) tonight.

The editor is looking for stories which extrapolate on the current trends and life in Britain and although I’d considered doing something Scottish-related (since I never do that normally) my mind hooked onto the fact that we are the most surveilled nation in the world.  Yes my obsessions with cameras and media continues but it also is going to deal with issues such as the BBC and privacy.

It’s a chance to openly profess my love for the institution of the BBC and what it represents and having spent most of last year following the US media’s coverage of the election this has only be strengthened.  (Although I’ve also seen the downside of a media institution who are highly accountable to the public rather than just shareholders with the whole pathetic Ross and Brand scandal…)

Deadline is the end of this month but should be able to make that no problem at all.


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