World Fantasy Convention 2025

World Fantasy 2025 is coming. If you’re looking for me, this is where I’ll be…

Blood In The Bricks

A little over a year ago I approached Ian Whates of NewCon Press about an idea I had for an anthology. Like many horror readers I’d been wholeheartedly enjoying the folk horror boom, but I’d started to notice diminishing returns in terms of the originality in the stories I was reading. At the same time, […]

Remains

If you’ve visited this blog before, you might remember that I’ve been writing a bunch of weird short stories on the theme of bequests and inheritances. I wrote about it back in 2023 while the idea was still coalescing and since then it’s turned into a pretty fertile source of inspiration. The stories have done […]

Nova Scotia vol 2

As the 2024 edition of the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow approaches, there’s been a lot going on to welcome our global visitors and wave the flag for the science fiction, fantasy and horror we produce here in Scotland. One of the things I’ve been involved with is Nova Scotia vol 2: New Speculative […]

BSFA award 2024 shortlist

You don’t get many days like last Thursday. I mean, it was February 29th, so obviously… but, aside from that, it was the official release day for Charlie Says. And it was the day that Andrew Wilson and I finalised the Table of Contents for our Nova Scotia 2 anthology, which we are very excited […]

2023 ROUNDUP

This year ended up being a productive one, all things considered. I definitely feel like I’ve rediscovered the ability to get into a regular creative routine again. Partly that’s due to returning to working in the office two days a week, reclaiming the potential for cafe writing that’s lost when I work from home. It […]

Queen Of Clouds – Published Today!

Queen of Clouds is officially published today. I can’t tell you how that feels. Honestly, there’s nothing like the pleasure of seeing That Book What You Wrote actually existing in the world as a thing of paper and ink (and pixels). It never, ever, gets old. I’m massively indebted to Ian Whates and NewCon Press […]

Eastercon shopping list

So, Eastercon is around the corner and as always there are a few books out there that I’m looking to pick up. Newcon Press’s Little Black Box, containing two anthologies, La Femme and Noir (which can also be published separately). These feature Newcon’s usual mix of established writers, great indie scribes and names which are entirely new […]

WFC: the shopping experience

The dealer’s room at this year’s WFC was one of the best I’ve seen in years. A VAST room, filled with books. The range of wares on offer from the pro and indy publishers, from the secondhand paperback sellers and the high-end collectibles dealers, was awesome. And for someone like me who for reasons of […]

Seven things I learned in Canada

I understand the principle of air conditioning, but I don’t like hotel rooms where that’s the only option for controlling the temperature. Windows that don’t open drive me nuts. I should try to do a little more research before settling on my travel dates. I think I might have rescheduled a tiny bit to catch […]