Who is Chuck Tingle?

While I can only speculate on the identity of the cult erotica author, I suspect Chuck Tingle is the future of publishing. Hours after the announcement of the 2016 Hugo Award shortlists, one of the nominated authors published a book to express his feelings on the matter. Slammed In The Butt By My Hugo AwardContinue reading “Who is Chuck Tingle?”

What do the Moribund Mammals actually want? It’s not what you think

I imagine it is a buzz being Brad Torgersen at the moment. In a short space of time he has gone from being one among thousands of vaguely successful sci-fi writers – some stories in a few magazines, an award nomination for something or other – to the notorious leader of Sad Puppies 3 :Continue reading “What do the Moribund Mammals actually want? It’s not what you think”

Whatever happened to the Next Weird?

The first Guardian blog post I wrote (just under two years ago…how time flies!) was titled The new world of the New Weird. I wrote the piece fully aware that the New Weird had already been and gone, but with the idea that it was none the less an interesting movement in genre fiction toContinue reading “Whatever happened to the Next Weird?”

The myth-making genius of Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman has just won this year’s Hugo award for best novel, for The Graveyard Book – and I can’t be the only one who isn’t surprised by the news. I knew Gaiman was more than just a great writer when I read the comic mini-series Death: The High Cost of Living in 1993. I’dContinue reading “The myth-making genius of Neil Gaiman”

What makes a Hugo nominee tick?

I’ve been lucky enough to interview both Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow in the last year. To celebrate their nominations for both the Hugo and Prometheus awards, here are the two interviews again for anyone who missed them. I learned a lot from doing both interviews. Charlie has an insight into what science fiction isContinue reading “What makes a Hugo nominee tick?”

Season of Mists

Its that mystic time of year when the mists of fate part to reveal a veritable hoard of awards in the speculative fiction field. The Fix is nominated for the Critters.org awards in the category of best review site. It certainly gets my vote, although I did almost succumb to the last minute temptation toContinue reading “Season of Mists”