The Hugo nominations are out and my two of my favourite magazines, Interzone and Weird Tales, have been nominated! Both receive a nod in the semi-pro zine category. Good luck to Andy Cox and Ann Vandermeer both. Electric Velocipede also scoops a nomination for best fanzine, so good luck to John Klima. The John WContinue reading “Hugo Nomination for Weird Tales!”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Neil vs. Colbert
The leader of my tribe on the Colbert Report. I’m so happy.
Brokeback Tales
It being late Sunday evening, I want to throw a question out into the void and see what comes back. Geoff Ryman often rolled out the term ‘broken backed’ when he was teaching at Clarion. Geoff meant it not as a general term for a bad story, but as a specific term for a goodContinue reading “Brokeback Tales”
Art and Things
The super beautiful Art and Things magazine have told me they want to publish my short story Momentum. It really is very beautiful publication. I feel all cool and trendy now!
Mirrorshades
John Klima sticks his neck out and nominates his top 10 most influential SF / F anthologies over at Tor.com. It’s a list that makes me want to read more, as do the the comments. But I was surprised to see my most influential anthology went entirely unmentioned… Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology was the bookContinue reading “Mirrorshades”
Far Eastern tales of whimsy and malice
I’ve been avidly reading (and listening) to Eugie Foster’s perfectly formed fairy tales in short story form since I started reviewing for The Fix (which Eugie edits). They have appeared in some of my favourite venues including the Drabblecast and Realms of Fantasy (sadly no longer with us). Now they have been collected together inContinue reading “Far Eastern tales of whimsy and malice”
Clarion applicants…batten down the hatches!
Clarion classmate E J Fischer recounts his last minute application to the worlds greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy writing workshop @ UC San Diego. If its any encouragement to those of you who barely scrapped the deadline, it seemed that almost everyone in the class of 2008 applied at the last minute (and now ofContinue reading “Clarion applicants…batten down the hatches!”
Eighteen Memories
Megan Kurashige does her Clarion class a great service by posting a list of our favourite novels. In Week Three of Clarion we were asked by tutor Mary Anne Mohanraj to each contribute one favourite title to the list and this is what we collectively arrived at:
A Story of Courage, Tenacity and Dedication
Here in the UK we once had a prime time children’s TV programme called Record Breakers. On said programme, the now sadly departed Roy Castle would play the trumpet over the theme song whilst a chorus of gospel singers (I may be exagerating, but this is how my memory remebers it) sang the shows catchContinue reading “A Story of Courage, Tenacity and Dedication”
Pedants’ cumupence
Stephen Fry delivers a long deserved slap down to pedants everywhere in the latest episode of his podcast series. My favourite moment is when Fry compares pedantry to sins like sloth and gluttony; a natural human response but one to be roundly discouraged. Also listen out for Fry’s cal for a new term for CCTV.Continue reading “Pedants’ cumupence”
The 100 most beautiful words
Alison Flood toys cat-like with the 100 most beautiful words over at the Guardian book blog. Now I’m more of a storyteller than a wordsmith, and once appalled a friend by saying that words for me were just a means to end, but even I can see the pleasure in these words. Looking at theContinue reading “The 100 most beautiful words”
Horizon reviewed @ The Fix
Horizon gets a good review from Michelle Lee over at The Fix, and overall Murky Depths #6 gets a good response. Which reminds me, I’m well behind on my reviewing chores at the moment. Poluto #4 here I come… “Horizon” by Damien G. Walter is a standout of the issue, a dark science fiction taleContinue reading “Horizon reviewed @ The Fix”
Damien Walter 