No More Heroes anthology

It’s said the golden age for music is whatever age you are when you first connect with it on a visceral, personal level. When the sounds and styles and images and personalities of the bands fuse with your crystalizing sense of self. You always remember the songs you fell in love with when you were […]

GSFWC charity anthology

The venerable Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle has assembled an anthology of short stories to raise funds to support charities helping those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The charities include: The Trussell Trust (Foodbanks UK wide) Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) Simon Community Scotland (Homelessness in Scotland) Edited by EM Faulds and featuring art by […]

Shadows & Tall Trees #8

It’s publication day for volume 8 of the excellent Shadows & Tall Trees anthology series. Stories from the past issues of this series have prominently featured in year’s bests and award shortlists, and Queen of the Horror Anthology, Ellen Datlow, herself said: “Shadows and Tall Trees epitomizes the idea of, and is the most consistent […]

The Roots

Last night I schlepped all the way to our local grocers to buy a vegetable for carving into a grotesque and hideously terrifying lantern. Skipping around the students agonising over which variety pumpkin to buy (presumably for the same purpose), I presented my ugly, ruddy-cheeked turnip at the cash desk and the shopkeeper gave me […]

Once Upon A Parsec

A while back I was delighted to be asked by author and editor, David Gullen, to contribute a story for a forthcoming anthology with a brilliant premise: alien fairy tales. What would be the stories told by the elders of alien civilizations to thrill and instruct the younger members of their society? What might their […]

The Tortoise and The Jackal

Before Christmas I announced that I’ve got a story coming out in a new anthology called The Jackal Who Came In From The Cold. It’s a collection of spy stories with a twist: the characters are either furry or anthropomorphic animals, and my story, The Long Game, is a love letter to George Smiley via […]

The Jackal Who Came In From The Cold

Been a while since I announced some publishing news. You might have been thinking, what’s he doing these days? Lying low? Off on some secret mission or other? Abducted by a foreign power?** Well, I can’t possibly confirm or deny any of those rumours, but I do have a bit of news. I have a […]

Imposter Syndrome

I have a story forthcoming in an excellent new anthology of horror stories called Imposter Syndrome. Editors James Everington and Dan Howarth have ask the cream of the current British horror writing scene (and also me) for stories of eerie doppelgangers and doubles, clones and imposters, and I’m delighted to be sharing book space with […]

Elasticity: the Best of Elastic Press

Really excited about the imminent release of Elasticity: The Best Of Elastic Press, edited by Andrew Hook. For the uninitiated, between 2002 and 2008 Elastic Press kick-started the careers of dozens of indie, genre and slipstream writers by giving them a platform to showcase their short fiction. I still treasure volumes by the likes of […]

The obligatory January thing

It seems to have become the custom that in December I do a round up of the year, and in January I follow it up with a plans-and-expectations spiel. Sometimes I compare the one at the end with the one at the beginning, sometimes I know not to bother. Anyway, welcome to 2016’s now-obligatory January post. […]