Secret Language pre-order

Secret Language is officially published in at the beginning of June, but eager beavers can pre-order it in all formats from NewCon Press now. And the ebook is available to order from Amazon at a ridiculously low price until June 6th. This is my second short story collection, and I’m really bloody chuffed with this […]

Last Call for GSFWC 30

That venerable critique group, the Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle turns 30 in 2016. That’s quite an age for any group of that kind, even more so when you consider that there are still original members regularly attending meetings. I’ve only been going to it since 1993 and since then, it’s not only been a major […]

Book Launch

So, what are you doing at the beginning of June? Want to come to a book launch? Do you? The wonderful, enthusiastic and very kind people at Watersones have agreed to help me celebrate the release of my new collection, Secret Language. I’ll be talking about the book, probably doing a short reading, there’ll be […]

Secret Language

Very, very pleased to officially announce that my new short story collection, Secret Language, will be published by NewCon Press in June. It’ll contain many of my more recent published stories plus several original pieces written especially for the collection. If The Ephemera can be seen as a round up of my first ten years, […]

The boy who loved The Boy Who Loved Death

This is an unashamed advert for The Boy Who Love Death: a book I know I’m going to adore, and I’m pretty sure that anyone else who enjoys scalpel-sharp stories written with unbelievably lyrical precision will too. I loved Hal Duncan’s last collection, Scruffians!, because it assembled most of the tales in his wonderful Scruffians cycle in […]

British Fantasy Awards

Stunned, not to say delighted, this morning to discover that The Moon King has been shortlisted for the 2015 British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel. It’s in wonderful company, and from past experience I reckon the jury have a very interesting discussion ahead of them. I’m now going to Not Think About It until […]

A Not So Brief History Of Murnie

Out of the blue last week a picture appeared on facebook of my old band (80s hard rock, mullets and power ballads – you get the picture) and in addition to the predictable surge of horror/nostalgia, I realised that being in a band – having a bunch of people that you bond with musically, that […]

Black Static Stamps

My story, The Secret Language of Stamps, is out this week in Black Static magazine. My first supernatural story in a long time, it is set in a post-war English port town and touches on themes of xenophobia, travel and loss in what I hope is a fairly creepy way. As always, if you’re a fan of […]

Everyone’s A Winner

Just got back from Dysprosium, the 2015 Eastercon, having had a fantastic time. There are always tons of things to do at Eastercon, but mostly I spend the time taking to friends. Friends I’ve known for years, friends I mostly know via social media, and friends I’ve barely met before, but suddenly find a common […]

Dysprosium Approach

Eastercon’s outdone itself this year. Even the title sounds like a big budget sci-fi flick** And I’ll be down there as usual, and if you’re looking for me on the programme: Saturday 1pm-2pm Room 15 I’ll be talking to Nina Allan, Dave Hutchinson and Ian Whates about “That Tricky First, Second, Third, or Fourth Novel” Sunday 3pm-4pm […]