It's all happening at once!

I had my second meeting at the Northampton SF Writers Group last night and it was very successful - good material to critique (from Nigel Edwards and Tim Taylor), interesting chat and a terrific, creative atmosphere.

The Lost Film novella is coming along very nicely. I’m past 12k words now, Bird has seen his first glimpse of the lost film (and experienced the first of many side-effects) and he’s also witnessed the mental collapse of someone associated with the person he’s trying to track down. I’m amazed at how quickly this is coming out and, I have to say, my confidence is running at an all-time high. I’m attributing it to several things - kind words from readers, especially Mick Curtis, who had lovely things to say about my work; the Northampton SF Writers Group and the creative energy it’s suffused with and “What We Do Sometimes, Without Thinking”.

On the “upcoming” front, I have the artwork and “Up For Anything” in the PDF Ltd Edition to be launched at FantasyCon this weekend.

I also have some terrific news, regarding my work. Neil Jackson, at Ghostwriter Publications, is releasing a new collection from me. It’s called “Incidents In Quiet Places”, will feature ten stories and a foreword and I’ll post more details as and when (hopefully, very soon - like, this weekend!). For now, though, here’s Neil’s cover art. Lovely, isn’t it?

Ghostwriter are also putting out another chapbook of mine, “Cottage By The Sea”, which will feature four stories. More details as I get them - I have seen the cover art for that too and it’s a cracker.

And last, but by absolutely no means least, it’s FantasyCon this weekend, in Nottingham. For the first time (my first FCon was back in 2000, in Birmingham, with Doug Bradley as one of the guests) I’ll be staying for the weekend and to say that I’m really excited is a bit of an understatement. Thanks to Facebook and various message boards, I’m looking forward to meeting face-to-face people I’ve only conversed with on the web, I’m looking forward to seeing old (and new) friends and I’m looking forward to the curry. Ah, the curry. Most of all, though, I’m looking forward to being in the company of like-minded folk and having a good time.

I’ll post a report when I get back! See you on the other side!

The Lost Film novella's

I managed another 2k words on the Lost Film novella today - Eric Freeny has just had a mental meltdown at a big old hospital in the centre of Oxford. Very enjoyable.

As things are starting to move now, my partner-in-crime on this ‘collaboration-that-isn’t’ and I have decided to go a bit more public. My colleague on the project is Stephen Bacon, whose “Last Summer” was, for me, the best story in “Where The Heart Is”.

We’ve been corresponding for a couple of years (we’re finally meeting up at Fcon this weekend!) and enjoyed each others work, chatted through Fiction Factory and, just after that finished, I suggested that we team up for a novella length project. At first, we were going to go for a straight collaboration, then decided to try a story each (we both felt like we needed the kick up the arse) and in a brainstorming of themes, he mentioned “lost film”. And that was it.

Mainly, we’re doing this to spur one another on - we’re going to critique each others work, help out with various bits and pieces and blend some characters/incidents as we go. We have a publisher in mind, but that’s not the important thing now, getting us both working is.

Not many other details at the moment, since we’re both in first draft, but whatever comes up, I’ll be sure to let you know.

And this - because I’m wired this way - is a teaser graphic I’ve created for the project.

We went to the cinema (on our own)...

...for the first time in ages, since Matthew is at Sea Palling with his grandparents today.

On the spur of the moment, we decided to head to Sixfields in Northampton and watched "Piranha 3D" and it was brilliant (the first 3D film either of us have seen at the pictures since the early 80s) - cheesy good fun, with great special effects, a cracking pace and more boobs in 3D than I would have thought it possible to fill a film with!

If you get a chance - and haven't already - this is well worth a look.

Apropos of nothing, here's a picture...

...of me, Nick and Sarah (head partially obscured by Dad's technique!), cruising up the Norfolk Broads in 1988.

I like this.

It's Official! "Come and get it while it's hot!"

Shoes, Ships and Cadavers
Tales from North Londonshire

The Northampton Science Fiction Writers Group
Introduction by Alan Moore

Northampton:
A town that sits at the heart of England. A town that has played host to kings, saints, parliament, public hangings, and hot air balloons. A place steeped in history, laden with mystery, and bursting with wonders just waiting to be realised.

Let us be your guides...

“The writers represented in Shoes, Ships & Cadavers: Tales from North Londonshire have crafted visions of the town that are distinct and separate, covering a generous and sweeping arc of this tiny and yet deceptively expansive area of spacetime… I read this in a single sitting, something that I can’t remember managing with an anthology for a considerable while. I don’t expect to read a book this year that is more personally satisfying or a greater cause for optimism. Passionately recommended.” – Alan Moore, from his introduction.

Twelve tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy and Horror

Established in 2002, the NSFWG exists to enable local writers of genre fiction to learn their trade and hone their skills. The group includes both established novelists and exciting new talents. This volume features twelve original stories set in Northampton and acts as a showcase for their work.


Available as a limited edition (of just 50) dust-jacketed hardback, and an A5 sized paperback.
12 stories, 256 pages, 80,000 words of intrigue, humour, magic, terror and conjecture.

Paperback edition: £9.99 (ISBN: 978-1-907069-18-5)
Hardback edition: £15.99 (ISBN: 978-1-907069-16-1)

Available to pre-order at: http://www.newconpress.co.uk/

Full contents:

1. Introduction – Alan Moore
2. A Walk of Solace with my Dead Baby – Ian Watson
3. Lifeline – Susan Sinclair
4. These Boots weren’t Made for Walking – Ian Whates
5. Mano Mart – Andy West
6. What We Do Sometimes, Without Thinking – Mark West
7. Arthur the Witch – Donna Scott
8. Goethe’s Wig – Steve Longworth
9. The Old Man of Northampton and the Sea – Sarah Pinborough
10. The Last Economy – Paul Melhuish
11. Hanging Around – Neil K Bond
12. I Won the Earth Evacuation Lottery – Tim Taylor
13. The Tower – Nigel Edwards
14. About the Authors

The Lost Film novella (post 1)

Well, it appears to have started. Sorrell Eve is in the process of engaging the services of Gabriel Bird and it seems to be running along quite nicely so far.

My target is to have this finished by 19th October (preferably the week earlier, as that'll tie in with my first critiquing slot at Northampton SF Writers Group) and we're off, so here's hoping everything goes to plan. Speaking of plan, that took ages - for a fairly straightforward horror/detective tale, this has been very complicated to try and fit everything in together. Thank goodness it's a novella and not a novel!

Simon Bestwick's Statistics

My friend Simon Bestwick’s latest blog entry (click here to read it for yourself) is an interesting little essay about him sorting through old stories to hopefully put together a new collection (which’d be very nice). The biggest revelation was that he has written over 190 short stories.

Bloody hell! He has a couple of years publishing headstart on me but even so, my credits pale against his. I checked through my records today and these are the stats:

Including non-genre, I have written 67 short stories.

Of those (including non-genre), I have seen 54 of those published (a not at all bad 81% success rate).

Of the unaccounted for, 4 of those are at a really odd length (in fact, I now realise they’re novelettes) and two are currently ‘circulating’.

Simon talks about the heyday of the British small press and I share the same views - in fact, at the weekend, I found a stash of ‘Sackcloth & Ashes’ and it was very interesting looking through the credits for each issue. I shared space with some very good writers, a lot of whom - I’m pleased to say - are still publishing today. There are many others, of course, whose names I haven’t seen in ten years - what happened to them, do you think? Did they just stop writing, or move into a different genre?

Anyway, between Simon and Gary McMahon - whose work rate should be an example to us all - I feel like a real slouch. But hopefully not for long because, this morning, I started the plan/synopsis for the lost film novella.

I’ll keep you posted as to progress.

State of play

Okay, this is where I am now:

* Chris has signed off on the last of the illustrations for the “Tourniquet Heart” pdf, which is good.
* My diary is now up to date
* My afterword for “What We Do Sometimes, Without Thinking” is now completed (and might just make an appearance here, once the story is published)
* I have caught up on all of my critiquing

My slate is now clear, therefore, leaving me free to crack on with my lost film novella and I’m keen - I’ve been itching to get to it for a while, bits of the story are dropping into place every day and I think it could be pretty powerful. We’ll have to see. Anyway, that’s next up.

* * *
In other news, I showed Dude my Snowspeeder model yesterday (for those who don’t know, the Snowspeeder is the Rebel ship that fought the AT-AT’s in “The Empire Strikes Back”. He was so taken with it, we went up into the loft and found all the old bits and bobs I had from back in the mid-to-late 90s, when the re-issues brought a new wave of merchandise. I still have two original 1978 figures - Han Solo (with a small head) and a Death Watch Commander, but they remain on the top shelf of a bookcase, safely out of reach.

Dude said, “I love these, but we can still share them if you want, Daddy.”

Dude, yesterday, with some of the toys

Last minute changes...

Chris has pointed out a perfectly reasonable thing about my illustration for my own story in the "Tourniquet Heart" pdf - the opening line is "The bathwater was crimson..." and it clearly isn't here.

So, this was supposed to be my picture but now isn't!

FantasyCon 2010

I'll be there - looking forward to it already, in fact - will you? If so, make sure you say hi!

This is the direct link to the dedicated FantasyCon website