Interview Link with Short Story Editors

I enjoyed this interview extract over at Inkpunks, talking to some high profile short story editors. I found it very encouraging. 

Check out what John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, James Patrick Kelly, Mike Resnick, Stanley Schmidt, and Gordon Van Gelder have to say about the state of submissions. 

Still Not Reached My One Million

Just done a bit of totting up. I've written 875 thousand words in the last five years. Virtually all in short stories. Sadly, I'm not getting any faster. I've been 200 thousand words a year since year one.


But I'm feeling quite pleased. What about you? Do you keep a record. When I reach my first million I am expecting big things.

New Story in the Dark Expanse Galaxy

I am pleased to announce that 'The Twins Shine Over Emperor's World' has been published in the rpg online game world of Dark Expanse.

This story was a lot of fun to write, as the back story was the Saurian race evolved from a species very much like our Earth evolved dinosaurs. And I decided to do a story about space pirates. Yes. Space pirate dinosaurs.

As usual, with my aliens, I looked for Earth bound inspiration. There's nothing as strange as has already evolved.

I became fascinated by the hollow bones of dinosaurs (much like the hollow bones of our current dinosaurs: birds) and developed an explanation of the Saurian custom of throat singing using the imagined physiology of an alien race.

Throw in some pirate skulduggery, and a few plot twist and turns. I hope you enjoy.

New Poem up at Mirror Dance

My poem 'Trouble in Golem Town' has just been published in Mirror Dance. This has reminded my that I haven't done any poetry either writing or subbing for ages. Shame on me. 

Double shame because writing poetry feeds into my short stories. Writing poetry exercises certain muscles in the noggin that I don't exercise when writing prose. Also, several of my stories started life as a poem and I know that this is the case for other writers and poets too.  So poetry = good.

Immaterial Evidence by Milo James Fowler

Congratulations to my writing buddy Milo, whose novella, Immaterial Evidence is available today from Musa Publishing priced $2.99

A detective with a price on his head...An invisible criminal with nothing to lose.

The vault door never opened. The bank went into lockdown in less than a minute. Yet the security footage was unmistakable: a hundred silver bars had simply vanished.

Ever since the city’s most dangerous crime boss put a price on his head, private investigator Charlie Madison has lived as an exile in Little Tokyo. But now an old friend and police sergeant has lured Madison back into the city to hunt down an invisible criminal—if he can.

As Madison makes his clandestine return, high-profile people start disappearing. And when federal agents swoop onto the scene to take matters into their own hands, they offer Madison a deal he can't refuse—as long as he agrees to work with them. With Japanese freedom fighters and refurbished killing machines threatening to take the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust, the United World government needs all the help it can get.

Embroiled in an unimaginable mystery, one private eye must rely on his wits to solve a case where the evidence is immaterial, and the odds are stacked high against him at every turn.

Syndicating Blog Posts to Facebook and Twitter

Thanks to Teralyn Rose Pilgrim who taught me how to link up my blog to Facebook and Twittter. 

"Facebook: Go to Networkedblogs.com, set up an account, and click Add Your Blog. Click on Syndication and it will link them up."

Ever since Google Reader announced it's upcoming demise, I've switched to Facebook to find out about interesting blog posts. So I think it's a good idea to post my blog posts onto Facebook. I guess. Is it? 

Cover Reveal: Engn by Simon Kewin

Today I'm delighted to be taking part in the cover reveal for my writing friend, Simon Kewin. December House have done a wonderful job with the cover.  

Finn's childhood in the valley is idyllic, but across the plains lies a threat.

Engn is an ever-growing steam-powered fortress, that needs a never ending supply of workers. Generation after generation have been taken away, escorted into its depths by the mysterious and terrifying Ironclads, never to return.

The Masters of Engn first take Finn's sister, then his best friend, Connor. He thinks he, at least, is safe - until the day the ironclads come to haul him away too.

Yet all is not lost, Finn has a plan. In the peace of the valley he and Connor made a pact. A promise to join the mythical Wreckers and end Engn's tyranny from within.

But now on his own, lost and thwarted in the vastness of Engn, Finn begins to have doubts. Is Connor really working to destroy Engn?

Or has he become part of the machine?

There's also a mailing list for news on the book. No spam, just updates about the book.