It’s been a fairly hectic month for writing-related public appearances. Bristolcon was great, and though they worked me hard I had a lot of fun. Then, on November 1st, there was the online launch of Screams and Wails, an anthology of short stories on the theme of rock/indie music and horror. You can watch that […]
It’s BristolCon this coming weekend and though I’m only there for the Saturday, the con committee are keeping me busy with four panels and a reading: 10am – Blurred Lines: “What is a crossover genre? When should a science fiction crossover with genres such as fantasy, contemporary, literary or crime be labelled as such? What […]
I first heard the term ‘imposter syndrome’ when someone who was well-respected in their field applied it to themselves. This perplexed me. I was pretty sure it wasn’t false modesty, yet how could they think they were an imposter when their work was so impressive? When I started getting a small degree of success in […]
WARNING: The following blog post is LONG. It also contains SWEARING. And OPINIONS. I’m not religious, but I do think of myself as ethical. I try to do what I believe to be the ‘right’ thing, not because I want the approval of any deity, or of any other humans, but because it intuitively makes […]
Subject tag: Shameless self-promotion All in all, 2016 wasn’t a great year. A referendum here in the UK, and the American elections, began to steer he world on a course that I for one wish it wasn’t taking. And the year didn’t start that well for me, having just lost what I thought was a […]
TL;DR: Authors get served their own special flavour of AI sloop, delivered daily to their inbox. And I shall now rant at length upon this topic: For as long as the internet has existed, published writers have received spam claiming that for X dollars the spammer, often claiming to be book blogger, can promote your […]
I was looking forward to returning to Birmingham to be a guest at Birmingham Science Fiction Group’s monthly meeting, as all went well last time. However, I am ill. It’s almost certainly flu (not covid – I tested negative for that), as it comes with an ache in every joint, a steel-band-round-the-head headache, a racking […]
As I don’t do much in-person promo these days, I was pleased to be invited back to speak at the Birmingham Science Fiction Group on Friday 13th (yeah, I know; I’m not superstitious, honest). I have been their guest before, many years ago, and I remember swapping a signed copy of Principles of Angels for […]
I learnt the craft by writing short stories. Some years ago I put out a small collection, Downside Girls, which was a set of linked shorts set in the Hidden Empire universe. But I always wanted to see a more comprehensive collection of my short stuff. Happily, the marvellous Ian Whates of Newcon Press obliged […]
This blog has been around for a long time. As such, this isn’t the first time, after a year of relative inactivity here, that I’ve publicly stated my intention to Do Better This Year. Some years I have, some… less so. Looking back now after 20+ years of Tales From the Garret (which I should […]