Forthcoming anthologies

I have stories coming out next month in a couple of awesome anthologies:

The first is Organic Materials (comic horror) in Twisted Boulevard from Elektrik Milk Bath Press, released on March 8th and currently available for pre-order at Amazon  (There's also a US Goodreads giveaway )

The second is Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF) in  Astronomical Odds from Third Flatiron Publishing, released on March 15th.

I do love a good-looking anthology!

New story at Goldfish Grimm - The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should

My zombie story, 'The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should,' is out now at the awesome Goldfish Grimm. Purring zombies! How can you resist?

The World Doesn't End, Even When it Should - horror - 2,443 words

Yes, it was morally ambiguous. Potentially blasphemous, depending on your religious affiliation (although what was Lazarus, really, if not a zombie?) and, of course, highly illegal. But since when had any of that stopped anybody?

New story at Bards & Sages - 'You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance'

The January issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly is out now, featuring my 1,248 word gambling-with-time-travel story 'You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance.' It's a brilliant magazine, available in multiple formats from Smashwords here.

She wastes, she is wasting, she has wasted, she will waste. Or will she? Maybe. Maybe not. Nobody knew. That was also the point, wasn't it?

'Tis More Blessed - Giveaways Galore!

Today is the first week of 'Tis More Blessed - a month of glorious giveaways organised by Milo James Fowler!

There's a full list of participants below, and Milo has a list of today's offers on his blog.

I'm giving away a copy of my collection Transient Tales Volume 2 - 12 stories of science fiction, fantasy and horror featuring features a Halloween game with a chilling price, a call-centre at the end of the world, an unconventional quest for a portal to fairyland, a mother dealing with the loss--and the return--of a child, a desperate woman’s letter to her future self, a repentant scientist’s lament, an envious boy who gets more than he bargained for, and a misguided attempt to gain closure on a very dead love affair.

Getting a copy is very easy - all you have to do is drop me a blog/Facebook comment or a tweet recommending one of your favourite short stories. Then feel free to help yourself to an ebook in the format of your choice from Smashwords, with code WZ35H and the compliments of the season!

New story in Bete Noire Magazine - Seeing Red

Issue 13 of Bete Noire is a bumper one - now available, with a wonderfully creepy cover!

Includes my SF story 'Seeing Red'  - 1,059 words

His father had given them their official scientific name, but since it was in Latin and had fifteen syllables, nobody else ever used it. To the rest of the colony they were always bloodflowers.

'Tis More Blessed

Check out Milo's blog for a whole bunch of giveaways coming up for Christmas! I'll be offering a free download of my collection Transient Tales Volume 2, on the 6th December.

New story at Goldfish Grimm - The Portal to a Lost World

My creepy doppelganger story, 'The Portal to a Lost World' is available to read now at Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi - a great venue with the greatest name ever!

'Where are you?' I ask her. I ask that every time, and she never tells me. I'm very much afraid that one year, she will.

New story at Daily Science Fiction

My story of future nostalgia, 'Wolf, or Faith in the Future'- is now free to read at the Daily Science Fiction website. DSF is one of my favourite venues, and it's always a thrill to be featured there!

Story forthcoming at Daily Science Fiction

My SF flash 'Wolf, or Faith in the Future' will be emailed to subscribers to Daily Science Fiction on Monday 4th November. DSF produce a regular supply of AWESOME stories from both big names and new ones--it's well worth signing up for some brilliant free fiction!

Creepy Freebies 4!

The final Creepy Freebies giveaway is here! Novels, flash and short story collections - including the first volume of my Transient Tales series. Head over to Milo's blog for details of how to get yourself some cool Halloween reading material!

You Don't Want What I Get - Audio version

The audio version of my horror/crime story 'You Don't Want What I Get' is now live at Untied Shoelaces of the Mind. Check it out - Geoff Porter does a great job!

New story in Unidentified Funny Objects 2

 Received my contributor's copy of Unidentified Funny Objects 2 - a collection of comic science fiction and fantasy short stories, featuring the likes of Ken Liu, Robert Silverberg, Jim Hines, Jody Lynn Nye... and me!
Very thrilled to hold such a precious object in my hot little hands, and very much looking forward to reading it.

Kindle versions are out now, from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Whee!

October Creepy Freebies!

I'm thrilled to be joining forces with Milo James Fowler and a bunch of other wonderful writers this October, with some creepy free fiction on offer (much better for you than trick or treating for chocolate!)

Every Friday at Milo's blog (subscribe here) there will be details of the treats available - check it out!

On 25th October, I'll be offering up free downloads of Transient Tales Volume 1 - a collection of 11 short stories of sci fi, fantasy and horror - details to follow on Milo's blog.

There will be other offers to come from  Aaron Polson, Anthony J. Rapino, Bob Eccles, Cate Cardner, Christine Rains, Ellie Garratt, Erin Cole, James Garcia Jr., Jeff Chapman, Lyndon Perry,Deborah Walker, Rhonda Parrish, Roland Yeomans, Simon Kewin, and Stoney Setzer.

The fun kicks off this Friday, so stop by Milo's blog!

New story at Untied Shoelaces of the Mind

You Don't Want What I Get, a 1,200 word horror/crime story, is out now in Issue 8 of the wonderful Untied Shoelaces of the Mind

'I don't like getting cut out,' he says. 'There's something you got going on, and I want in.'
'No, you don't,' I say. 

You Don't Want What I Get - horror - 1,200 words

New Story at SQ Magazine

My supernatural horror flash The Visiphorical Art is out now in SQ Magazine, Issue 10 - a story about living with ghosts:

There are remnants of lives all over the house, drying out and growing mould like abandoned plates of half-consumed meals. They lie in wait under the surface of reality like landmines, like unexploded bombs.

The Visiphorical Art - 919 words

New story at The Drabblecast

Strange stories by strange authors for strange readers... Drabblecast presents my horror story 'Sweetie' today, free to read, listen to, or download.

'Admittedly, my little travelling show isn’t what it once was. We’ve been on the road for a long, long time. But I like to think that for the discerning customer, we still provide value for money. An experience you can’t get from the computer screen–-the modern freakshow–-despite all its tricks and special effects…'

*Warning: includes explicit language*

This Week, I Have Been Mostly...

READING:

Far North, by Marcel Theroux. Loved this. I don't think I've ever met a post-apoc story I didn't like, and this was a great one. Reminded me of The Road, but less soul-crushing.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. An intriguing, page-turning central mystery that's satisfyingly solved, with fascinatingly damaged characters. Flynn is now officially going on my list of auto-buy authors.

Short stories: 198 - 237 of 500. Faves:

Water Finds Its Level by Matthew Bernardo at Lightspeed. Great story of merging universes, told as a personal love story that's neat, plausible and affecting.

Mongoose by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear at Clarkesworld. Fabulous horror romp about a monster-hunter and his monster partner. Loved the rich worldbuilding, the Lovecraftian descriptions and the wonderful relationship between Irizarry and Mongoose.


WRITING:  A post-apoc short, 'Jessica's Theory of Yak Herding,' an SF short, 'Personally Energised by Jaclyn Castleton,' and another 10.5k on the WIPs.


WATCHING:  Hannibal. I was very much looking forward to this, but 2 eps in I am... unexpectedly unengaged. Something isn't quite doing it for me, but I'm not sure what that is. Possibly some of it is baggage: I think Silence of the Lambs is a masterpiece, and Red Dragon is both one of my favourite books and favourite film adaptations--and features Ed Norton, one of my favourite actors. So there's a lot of 'still in love with the ex' going on, which could be a factor.

I'm also finding that this portrayal of Will Graham reminds me of the 'eccentric psychological genius calmed down by female shrink' in Perception, a show I didn't like. And the 'psychopath playing at being a good-guy crime-fighter' is being thoroughly and gloriously explored in Dexter, a show I adore. Mikkelsen's Lecter has the same kind of cool, opaque quality--which works, and makes sense in character terms, but without Dexter's intimate POV, it feels remote and hard to care about.  And the guy from Perception just got on my nerves, so neither comparison is helping me. I'm left with the feeling that it's all just been done already.

It's a good-looking show, but... maybe that's not helping, either. There's a sleekness and glossiness to it that takes away from the realism for me. The films had striking imagery too, but they felt grounded--and frightening--in a way that the show doesn't manage, somehow. The antler room, the mushroom-covered bodies--again, very memorable and very good-looking, but not as... something. Visceral? Personal? Affecting? Was it different in the films because we 'knew' the victims? I'm not sure.

Perhaps another factor is (making allowances for the fact that I have only seen 2 eps: this could be a premature judgement) that there seems to be no sniff of an arc story--other than the general Lecter one, which doesn't count because we all know what happens and it's about as exciting as watching the Star Wars prequels and wondering how it turns out for for Anakin Skywalker.

There's enough to like that I'll stick with it, but I was certainly hoping to like it *more*. So far, watching it is making me want to watch the films again, rather than Ep 3.


LOVING: The Spock v Spock Audi commercial. Hilarious, inspired, and better than some films I've seen lately.


PUBLISHING: Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings, a crime/horror short, at Black Treacle Magazine.

New story at Black Treacle - Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings

My crime/horror story Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings is now available to read is Issue 3 of Black Treacle:

Dominic thinks he's got enough trouble trying to deal with his crime-boss brother Marc, but that's before he meets Elena...

'You must really have a death wish,' Marc says, and she laughs like that's the funniest thing she's ever heard.

Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings 

Also available in epub, mobi & other formats at the Black Treacle site

New story at Liquid Imagination

Horror flash, Underneath All the Skeletons of Rats, available now at Liquid Imagination. Great scary rat photo, too!

New story at The Journal of Unlikely Entomology

My 4k horror story 'Jeanette's Feast' is available now at The Journal of Unlikely Entomology, along with some brilliantly disturbing artwork by Justin Aerni. I have to say, I think Bert the Cockroach is one of my favourite characters :)