Latest Story News!

OUT NOW

The latest round-up...


1. Where There's Magic (Fantasy - 6,980 words) - came out at Kaleidotrope

2. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy - 878 words) came out in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs

3. Best Friends Forever (SF - 790 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction

4. My Sister, the Fairy Princess (Horror - 1,700 words) came out in Black Static Issue 52

5. I Am Not Your Doppelgänger (Fantasy 497 words) came out at The Flash Fiction Press

6. A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved (Fantasy - 973 words) came out at Flash Fiction Online

7. Wrong Word (SF - 817 words) was podcasted at Manwaker Studio

8. There You Are, My Love (Supernatural - 1,000 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio

9. Free to Loving Home (Donation Required) (SF - 729 words) was podcasted at Manawaker Studio

10. God State (SF - 1,400 words) came out at Daily Science Fiction

11. Legion (Horror - 1,667 words) was reprinted in Abstract Jam Issue 4



FORTHCOMING

1. Good, Fine, No (Horror - 2,308 words) will be published at Solarcide, 2016

2. The Shining Wire (SF - 4,406 words) will be published at The Sockdolager, 2016

3. Smash and Grab (SF - 3,037 words) will be reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, September 2016

4. Waiting to Burn (Fantasy - 700 words) will be reprinted in Spirit's Tincture, Nov 2016

5. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror - 3,798 words) will be reprinted in Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing

6. For Your Safety and Comfort, Please Keep Arms, Legs and Tentacles Inside the Car At All Times  (Fantasy - 3,210 words) will be reprinted at Strange Constellations, March 2017

New story at DSF - God State

My 1,400-word SF story 'God State' is now free to read at one of my favourite magazines, Daily Science Fiction!

When you get to a certain age, conversations with your mates often turn into a nostalgia-fest about The Good Old Days — although it's usually debatable whether this idealised, romanticised past was better than the present at all. I tried to explore some of the ambiguity in this story — which is better here, the past or the present? I think it's still debatable.


God State - SF - 1400 words 
On the way out of the gig, I stop at the merchandise stall to get a t-shirt. I find one in my size and pull out my wallet, then hesitate. It looks good quality, but the colour — almost exactly the same blue as a scanner booth — puts me off. I read somewhere that they call that shade 'Spectral Indigo,' and ever since then it's given me a slight case of the creeps. 

 Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction

New Audio Story - Free to Loving Home at Manawker Studio

My SF flash piece, 'Free to Loving Home (Donation Required)', which was first published in the anthology You, Me, and a Bit of We by Chuffed Buff Books in October 2013, has been podcasted at Manawaker Studio.

The story was inspired by a news report on rescue centres for dogs, which made me wonder how that might work for humans. (The Hugh Everett Rehoming Centre, incidentally, is named for the American physicist who first came up with the Many Worlds theory of quantum physics). What if, when you lost a loved one, you could get a ‘rescued’ version? I started with the idea that it would be literally ‘free to a loving home’ but I couldn’t help thinking that such a place, even if it started out altruistically, would at some point be turned towards making a profit—and the rather cynical ‘donation required’ aspect began to take over.

Manawaker Studio have done a great recording -- the narrator has done a really good job of capturing the rather smarmy auctioneer's tone of this story -- the kind of 'I know this is illegal and horrible, but aren't we all having fun?' vibe.  Listen to it here

New podcast - There You Are, My Love at Manawaker Studio

My flash piece 'There You Are, My Love', originally published at Every Day Fiction in January 2012, has been podcasted at Manawaker Studio today!

I think the core of this story is that everybody copes in their own way, and that’s okay. I don’t really know where I stand on the issue of clairvoyance: I don’t think it’s necessarily impossible, but Sheila’s and Ros’s dialogue comes almost verbatim from a real-life demonstration I once attended, and it’s hard to argue with what Ros says. Maybe, in the end, whether it’s objectively ‘real’ or ‘fake’ doesn’t matter. Maybe, like the reader of a story, the audience gets to choose what they take from it.

Listen to the story here

New stories

A few new publications out now:


A Partial Inventory of Things I Have Loved  - Fantasy 973 words - at Flash Fiction Online
I take off my gloves and fold them in my lap. ‘Octavia McNeill. We spoke on the phone this morning. I’m here for emotional redirection.’ 

This is the second story to feature mercenary empath Johnny Kellard, who first appeared in Smash and Grab, published in  Kzine Issue 13, Sep 2015. The latest story, a murder mystery featuring his daughter Alexa, is currently in progress.


Wrong Word - SF - 817 words - podcasted at Manawaker Studio
Jana found the body—stumbled across it, literally—on the beach, sticking out of the grey sand like a sculpture. Or an art installation, like the ones they used to have in the streets and parks back when this was still part of civilisation. Something commemorative, or symbolic, or just beautiful.

This is a podcast of a story first published in Daily Science Fiction in January 2015 and is part of a another shared world -- Wrong Word is the second in a loose triptych about a post-alien-invasion society that started with Jump, and I'll Catch You (Daily Science Fiction in July 2014) and will finish with The Shining Wire, forthcoming at The Sockdolager.


I Am Not Your Doppelgänger - Fantasy - 497 words - at The Flash Fiction Press
We're not that different, really, he and I; it's all shapeshifting of a sort.

This is a short piece that came about because I'd happened to read one too many predatory-men-on-the-pull stories :)


Read/listen to the stories in full at Flash Fiction Online, Manawaker Studio, and The Flash Fiction Press

New story in Black Static - My Sister, the Fairy Princess

Black Static is the sister magazine to Interzone, and I'm thrilled to have a story, 'My Sister, the Fairy Princess' in Issue 52.

I leave my rental out front, next to Mom’s old pickup. I don’t bother locking it, since the plan is to do this fast: get in, get it done, get away. I’m sure the house and whatever money Mom had will be going to Daisy, so it should be easy — sign any paperwork, maybe pick up some random piece of jewelry as a memento, and shoot back to the hotel. Then, after I’ve shown my face at the funeral, I can get back to forgetting this place exists. 

Daisy’s sitting on the tyre swing at the side of the house, gripping the rusted chains and leaning back so far her body is almost horizontal. Her long dark hair hangs down to the ground, the ends brushing through the sandy-colored soil. 

Out here, everything turns the color of sand in the end — a reminder that this land is still desert at heart, no matter how much people try to change it with irrigation systems and imported plants. Inch by inch and year by year, it reverts to its true nature. Maybe we all do.

Read the rest in Black Static Issue 52, from TTA Press, available now...

New Story at Daily Science Fiction

My little philosophical robot story, Best Friends Forever, is free to read now at Daily Science Fiction!

Best Friends Forever - SF - 790 words 

Suelita and I are friends. This is a fact. She tells me so, and I agree with her. Suelita's mother is called Ana. 

'That's nice, dear,' Ana says, when Suelita tells her we are friends. 'And I got arrested for murder, and the house is on fire,' Suelita continues. 

 Ana carries on tapping at her phone and says, 'Mm-hmm. That's nice, dear.'

 I am also supposed to agree with Ana, but it is sometimes difficult. Those things, were they to have happened, would not be nice.

Read the rest at Daily Science Fiction now...

New Story in Outlook Springs - Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly

I have a new flash, 'Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly' out in the first issue of Outlook Springs -- which looks FABULOUS, and I can't wait to read it!

 Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly - Fantasy - 878 words

I took to crossing the road without looking, since I’ve always wanted to get run over by a bus. There’s a sort of poetic amusement in it, especially if you say something like ‘I don’t see the point of worrying about cholesterol, you could get run over by a bus tomorrow’ just beforehand. Instant irony bonus.)

Read the rest in Issue 1 of Outlook Springs (and get a cool t-shirt while you're there!)

New story at Kaleidotrope: Where There's Magic

The latest issue of Kaleidotrope is out now, including my fantasy story 'Where There's Magic' -- Witches! Doomed lovers! Evil twins!

Where There's Magic - Secondary fantasy -- 6,980 words

The witch had a favourite saying: where there's life, there's magic. There was a second part--where there's magic, there's death--but she usually kept that to herself.

Read the rest at Kaleidotrope

Latest Story News

It's round-up time!

OUT NOW:

1. The Kind Hearts of Children and the Spirit of the Season (Creepy horror, 954 words) appeared at Every Day Fiction 

2. Black Thumb (Horror, 2,734 words) was reprinted in Issue 13 of  The Literary Hatchet

3. Please Enter Through the Meditation Room, the Snack Bar's on Your Left (Comic fantasy, 1,941 words) appeared in Vol VIII of Bards & Sages 

4. Jump, and I'll Catch You (Science Fiction, 2,780 words) was published in audio at Drabblecast.

5. An Object Lesson in Misanthropy (Dark modern fantasy, 984 words) was reprinted at EGM Shorts.

6. Always Room for More (Supernatural, 1,723 words) was published at Unsung Stories.

7. Send in the Ninjas (Comic SF, 3,282 words) was published at Podcastle

8. To Haunt His Own Exhausted Heart (Supernatural, 604 words) was published at Scarlet Leaf Review

9. The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling (Dark fantasy, 3,980 words) was reprinted in Eldritch Embraces from Dragon's Roost Press

10. Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition (Comic modern fantasy, 2,600 words) was published in Issue 263 of Interzone

FORTHCOMING:

1. Best Friends Forever (SF, 790 words) and God State (SF, 1300 words) will be coming out in Daily Science Fiction, 2016

2. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Modern fantasy, 878 words) will be coming out in the first issue of Outlook Springs, April 15th, 2016

3. Where There's Magic (Secondary fantasy, 6,980 words) will be coming out in the next issue of Kaleidotrope, April 2016

4. The Visiphorical Art (Supernatural, 917 words) will be reprinted in Pantheon Magazine, 2016

5. My Sister, the Fairy Princess (Horror, 1,700) will be coming out in Black Static

New story in Interzone - Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition

Beyond thrilled to have a story in a magazine I have wanted to be in for a LONG time: Britain's longest-running SFF magazine, the Hugo-winning Interzone.

My story, 'Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition,' is featured in Issue 263, out now. This story was inspired by some of the strange roadside attractions you come across in the States. I think 'Goats on the Roof' is my favourite of all time, but I think I would have enjoyed The Fracture if I'd come across it :)

Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition - Fantasy - 2,600 words

'The ingestion of intoxicating substances can be useful for the expansion of consciousness during meditative rites,' Jem said, 'but it's not particularly recommended otherwise. Do you think you'll be meditating today?'

Read the full story in Interzone issue 263, from TTA Press.

And in other excellent news, I'll soon have a companion contributor's copy to this one, since my creepy little story 'My Sister, the Fairy Princess,' has just sold to TTA's horror magazine Black Static. Can't wait to get my hands on that too!

Eldritch Embraces

My story 'The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling', has been reprinted in this great-looking anthology from Dragon's Roost Press: Eldritch Embraces (kindle version - paperback here)

'Combine the mind splintering horror of the Cthulhu Mythos and the heart shattering portion of that most terrible of emotions - love - and what do you have? You have Eldritch Embraces: Putting the Love Back in Lovecraft. This collection of short stories from some of the best working in the fields of horror and dark speculative fiction blends romance and Lovecraft in a way which will may make you sigh, smile, weep, or leave you the hollow shell of your former self.'

My story doesn't directly reference the Mythos, although an early review once described it as 'domestic Lovecraft' so I still think it fits :-)  It kind of imagines the Elder Gods now living as a dysfunctional suburban family...

The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling - Horror - 3,980 words

Some interminable time later, the noises stop. The heat fades, and that painful, sliding sense of dislocation eases off. Planes and angles drift back into normal configurations. The house feels like a suburban semi again rather than a disjointed, unhinged little corner of the universe that’s grinding and scraping against the rest like nails against slate. 

Read the full story in Eldritch Embraces from Dragon's Roost Press

New Story at Scarlet Leaf Review - To Haunt his Own Exhausted Heart

I have a little ghost story in the second issue of Scarlet Leaf Review, out now:

To Haunt His Own Exhausted Heart - Horror - 604 words

At first he thought that animals — especially birds — reacted to ghosts, but now he thinks it's just random skittishness. But then again, who knows? There don't seem to be any rules as to how any of this works, which remains one of his great disappointments.

Read the full story at Scarlet Leaf Review

New story at Podcastle - Send in the Ninjas

Very thrilled to be part of the wonderful Podcastle's Artemis Rising event!

My fantasy story Send in the Ninjas is available to listen to/download now, read wonderfully by Christiana Ellis (although I don't think it will ever entirely stop being weird to hear my stories in an American accent)

Most of my characters aren't much like me (which is probably good, considering how many of them are deranged homicidal murderers) but to chronically indecisive Isabel, I can certainly relate.

Send in the Ninjas - Fantasy - 3,282 words

The streets are more full of snow than people tonight, lending everything an enjoyably deserted, apocalyptic air. Isabel smiles as she walks home, humming happily to herself. Getting stood up never fails to put her in a good mood. She always goes on the dates her mother sets up, but she much prefers it when the other person doesn’t show. That way, Isabel still gets credit for trying, while also getting to skip straight to the part where she doesn’t have to go on a second date.

Hear the rest of the story at Podcastle.

Love Hurts - Goodreads Giveaway

Meerkat Press are running a giveaway at Goodreads (UK, USA, Canada) for the anthology Love Hurts, which includes my story 'Possibly Nefarious Purposes,' along with tales from Hugh Howey, Charlie Jane Anders, Jeff VanderMeer, Karin Tidbeck and many more!

Possibly Nefarious Purposes - 4,308 words - SF

When she got back from Las Vegas, Dayna found a padded envelope on her doormat containing a set of keys, a glossy brochure for a health spa called Rejuvenation, and a sheaf of paperwork that said she owned it. She didn’t know anything about health and beauty, but she did know that when the aliens dropped that kind of hint, they expected her to take it.

Read more in Love Hurts from Meerkat Press.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Love Hurts

by Tricia Reeks

Giveaway ends March 10, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

New Story at Unsung Stories - Always Room for More

My 1,723 word ghost story 'Always Room for More' is published (and free to read) at the wonderful Unsung Stories today!

This story grew out of a line that was cut from an old flash piece about a man visiting a medium (There You Are, My Love, published at Every Day Fiction). In the deleted line, his skeptic sister said 'Why the hell would people bother to drag their arses all the way back from the afterlife just to come out with nothing but trite and meaningless platitudes?' I always thought that was a very good question.


Always Room for More - Horror - 1,723 words

'If he looked too smooth, people wouldn't trust him. They'd think he was a fake, just in it for the money. A real medium is supposed to look a bit scrappy. A bit distracted. Don't you think? I mean, this isn't supposed to be fun, is it?'

Read more at Unsung Stories.

Reprint available at EGM Shorts - An Object Lesson in Misanthropy

My fantasy flash 'An Object Lesson in Misanthropy' has been reprinted at the wonderful EGM Shorts, and is available to read for free.

There’s a common complaint about parapsychology experiments, that psychic powers can never be demonstrated under strict laboratory conditions. And it started me thinking; if you could do that—perform for a scientist on demand—why on Earth would you want to? You can see what the researchers would get out of it, but what about the subject? There’s also the theory that by the time you learn to control great power, you evolve beyond the desire to actually use it. Putting those two ideas together gave me Nina, who could be a superhero (or villain) but who really wants nothing more from the world than to be left alone so she can sit in her bedroom playing online poker. I can definitely sympathise...

An Object Lesson in Misanthropy - fantasy - 986 words

 I’d always believed my mother was destined to become a certified Crazy Cat Lady, so the idea of her having a friend of any kind, let alone a boyfriend, took some getting used to.

Read more at EGM Shorts

Audio Story - Jump, and I'll Catch You - Drabblecast

My 2,780 word SF story 'Jump, and I'll Catch You' -- first published at Daily Science Fiction in July 2014, has been podcasted by the awesome crew at Drabblecast. I love getting illustrations for stories, and this is a fabulous one -- that creepy stretched grin is exactly how I imagined my aliens to look.

I love hearing stories in audio too, although it never quite stops being weird hearing them read in an American accent.

Jump, and I'll Catch You - SF - 2,780 words

'This is lovely,' Anton's father said, but his voice sounded higher than usual, and Anton knew he was just Being Polite. Being Polite was like lying, but not the normal kind. If you were trying to pretend your sister had broken something when it was really you, that was normal lying and that was still wrong. This kind of lying was special, and it was only done because you wanted to make people happy, and have a nice time. Especially with Our New Friends.

Listen to the recording at Drabblecast here

New story at Bards & Sages - Please Enter Through the Meditation Room, the Snack Bar's on Your Left

I have a story in the latest issue of Bards & Sages Vol VIII:

Please Enter Through the Meditation Room, the Snack Bar's on Your Left - Fantasy  - 1941 words
Rupert nodded encouragingly. ‘Good choice,’ he told them. ‘You don’t want to go into something like this on an empty stomach. Balanced blood sugar, that’s the key.'

Available to read now in Bards & Sages, Jan 2016

New Anthology - Love Hurts by Meerkat Press

Nice Christmas present from Meerkat Press! A review on Amazon says my story Possibly Nefarious Purposes 'could adapt into a good X Files episode', which has just made my day. I could TOTALLY see Mulder going undercover to investigate my alien-sponsored beauty salon. You can just tell he loves a good pedicure.