Hal Reads

Hal Duncan fans who’ve been missing their fix lately (I hear he’s busy writing a novel!), might like to click over to youtube and watch the arch word scamp himself reading from his recent story “Styx Water And A Sippy Cup”. (Hey, I think I spot one of the Pinata Of Apocalypse in the background […]

Celebrating The Return Of Unusual Genitals – Welcoming Brain In A Jar

Really pleased to hear about the launch of Brain In A Jar ebooks, a new venture by SF novelist Gary Gibson. The ethos behind the company is much the same as that for Infinity Plus books, to bring out of print writing back into public view. Gary’s dusted off his skills as a graphic designer […]

The Situation

Several years ago, at a convention, I went down for an early breakfast with one of the books I’d bought during the weekend. The breakfast was huge, which was just as well because the book completely captivated me. Read it until the toast was soggy and the tea cold. The book was PS Publishing’s edition […]

Well Loved

I know I’ve mentioned this before but there was a definitive moment in my life when I made the decision to try writing fiction. A moment, a place, a time. A story. I remember it with absolute clarity. It was 1990-91 and I was living in Shepperton. Sharing a house next to the film studios […]

Oh, The Horror!

Don’t know if I mentioned this or not, but I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about contemporary horror. The following is an attempt to work out why, and – being a rummage around inside my brain – may well be doomed to being malformed and half-baked. So, apologies in advance. I think it started […]

BSFA Awards shortlist

So, the extended voting period has passed and I hope a few more votes snuck in. The result is really interesting shortlists in all the categories. In the two fiction categories, I’ve read two of the novels and two of the short stories, so I have a bit of reading to do to be in a […]

52 songs, 52 stories

Ace short story writer, Iain Rowan, has begun a new blog. Every week in 2012 he’s posting a song and a new story inspired by it. 52 songs, 52 stories. Simple but brilliant. Generally, if you like short stories, you should be checking out Iain’s work anyway. Yes, you should.

Tom and Holly, Story and Song

Over on her site, Holly Phillips is discussing influences on her writing. She has a few things to say on the subject, but the main focus of her thinking on this occasion is Tom Waits’s amazing ability to draw the strange out of the everyday and overlooked. In other words, he does what the magic realists […]

Straw Poll on the subject of: Browsers

Hi folks – just a quick one on the subject of browsers. I’d really appreciate it if folks could comment in this thread with a note to say which internet browser they’re using. For a while for me it’s been a toss up between Chrome and Firefox, but are people migrating back towards internet explorer. […]

BSFA Awards

I always enjoy the BSFA awards. They usually can be relied on to reward very good work, and the decisions they come to usually have the feeling of being the nod of approval of a collective, cohesive community. You can often read a book and know that it’s a BSFA award contender. And that’s how […]