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 […]

2019 Roundup

Woah, that was a fast one. Like, blink and you miss it fast.* Right? *Insert gif of Man staring gormlessly at Butterfly and asking: “Is this ageing”? Yeah well, maybe. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve packed so much into this year that I’ve just had no time to watch the weeks roll merrily by. […]

Back of the net

I’ve got something a bit special coming out in December. After something like sixty-odd published stories comes my first non-genre publication. Or rather it is genre, but the genre is…football. That surprised you didn’t it? Or maybe not if you’ve heard me talk about travelling the glamour spots of Europe (and the grubbier spots of […]

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 […]

Dublin Worldcon schedule

In just a couple of weeks’ time the 2019 Worldcon will be upon us and I’ll be joining the hordes hopping across the Irish Sea to Dublin to take part in five brimming days of deep and wonderful nerdery. As always I’m always up for a sit down and a chat so if you’re there […]

Time for a time war

Last week I finished reading a new novella, This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Part Spy-vs-Spy, part epistolary love story, part time-travel tale, it’s a book that is sure to feature in the discussions when next year’s award season comes around. It’s a pacy read, but a […]

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 […]

Eastercon 2019: Bringing out the new

Gosh, this one came around fast didn’t it? It’s time for Eastercon again and, as always, I’m looking forward to four days of chatting about all things science fictiony with some of my favourite people. There’s a hugely diverse and exciting programme of things to do and I’ll undoubtedly be doing quite a few of […]

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 […]

Talking speculatively

One area of the book world that I’ve not spent enough time investigating is the burgeoning microcosm we call podcasts. The reason for this is pretty simple, I don’t get a lot of dedicated time to listen to things and what I do have is given over to music or audio books. Which is frustrating, […]