winners and losers

http://tiny.cc/3v74n

My Story Life Force at Weirdyear

Those lovely people at Weirdyear have chosen to publish my story Life Force today.

Rosario put his head in his hands.

“Do you have anything useful to say, or are you just going to-?”

“I-Spy,” she said. “With my little eye, something beginning with-”

Q1 Update

My new sci-fi story Life Force will be published in Weirdyear on April 11th: Titus Rosario and Misha Hadrian are approaching planet Intaglio in Universal Architects Zero with plans for colonisation, except that Misha has started talking to an invisible elephant.

My latest novel, working title The Marquis, is finally complete. I started it in August 08 and although I changed its original setting, it's still the same idea I started with. I tried many other ideas since my first novel, but never completed anything. However, The Marquis stayed the course.

I have several other stories on the go. There's a second sci-fi noir story where Chandler's Philip Marlowe will be working on another disturbing case in dystopia, and there's a truly odd case of animalism gone mad that's close to fruition.

Messed up again

This time I sent a submission to the wrong email address at Shimmer. It's that kind of attention to detail I'm famous for. Oh well it's not as bad as waiting six months and then receiving, "Dear [insert name], Unfortunately due to [excuse] your submission was always going to be bottom of the pile..."

The novel (working title The Marquis) is progressing like an operation to remove wisdom teeth entwined with my rib cage. After two years five months three days two hours and twenty five minutes there are signs. But do I like the signs? Each day I set out like that excited five year old on my way to Jessica Jones's birthday party. Sadly, something terrible happened at Jessica Jones's birthday party. We were all led away in silence, and now many years later there are stories.

I have thirty stories published (there are links on the left side bar) and loads of poems at gattopublishing, What You Will See, although after emailing updates to my profile the photo with dodgy specs remains. However, I have an idea to make two slim collections into one not so slim, call it Poems and Stories and send it to the latest emerging publisher. Why not?

Many Thanks to The Smoking Poet

My story, Jack Kerouac Eats Here, has been published in a fabulous Winter 2010 -2011 issue of The Smoking Poet. What a treat.

The story started out years ago as a 3000 worder about a man with a mystery wasting illness who inherited his grandfather's collection of sea horses and then goes on a bad behaviour spree. The sea horses went, the characters became Sal and Moriarty, and the homage went to Jack Kerouac writer of the Beat classic On the Road. This is the way with a lot of my stories. They all pay homage to someone in the end, whether it's Chandler or Ballard.

There's a lot of comfort in acknowledging the greats and making them speak again. Christ knows we need them now. There isn't a lot of confidence out there embracing anything new. People are intimidated, browbeaten, scared and frightened understandably. But art leads society, so I'm very pleased that the great icon of humanity, Dean Moriarty, has taken to the road one last time to espouse his simple ideas, to remind the world of a few absolutes. Long live Dean Moriarty!

The Timeless Mr Thelwall at Bewildering Stories

My story The Timeless Mr Thelwall has been published at Bewildering Stories issue 409.

Update: The man who inspired the story, who I only knew as Jim, died this year. His claim to fame was creating the character of Jim McDonald in Coronation Street for which he never received credit.

For Murder, Just Add Water at The New Flesh

My story, For Murder, Just Add Water is at The New Flesh now. Howls away!

Friday's and Monday's Forthcoming Stories

The New Flesh publishes my story For Murder, Just Add Water on Friday (19th). There's an X-Factory style readers' voting system in place and a pop-pickers' story top ten so I'll be busy on Friday voting for myself. ;->

Issue 409 of Bewildering Stories is out on Monday (22nd Nov 10) containing my story Nobody Knows a Damned Thing. The eagle-eyed amongst you may spot it's a reprint of the story that first appeared in 07 on paper in what we writers used to think of as a 'real magazine', the now-sadly-defunct Transmission. Oh dear, this seems a bit mean to all those doing great work with paper magazines, Attack!!!, The Front View, and so on, but I am still sore about Manchester's Independent Voice going under, "a sturdy ship on the turbulent water" and so on. It was my aim to see the story on Bewildering Stories with archival, portable link and wide readership. Many thanks to the great people at Bewildering Stories for accepting it.

I'm reaching the end of my second novel yet again hence the lack of blogging. I'm sure it's in no way complete, but it's good to see an end in sight even if it's only a false one.

Forgetting to Update Duotrope

Many writers 'forget' to update Duotrope, the story submission website, especially when they've had a story rejected. Who wouldn't? It's human nature. Writers hate rejection, so why go and update Duotrope when you feel like murder. Screw the accuracy of the data. They can go and shove it sort of thing

Last week I forgot to update Duotrope when I had Jack Kerouac Eats Here ACCEPTED by the great people at The Smoking Poet. Due date December 2010. I started it about five years ago and shortened it and altered it until hardly any of the original idea remained. It used to be something odd about seahorses according to my diary. Now it's a rework of Kerouac's masterpiece with echoes of the great man. Although I think it's the perfect flash fiction and the greatest thing I've ever written, I'd got used to seeing, "We see thousands of submissions a week and unfortunately yours was the thousand and tenth....." Except that I ALWAYS update Duotrope success or failure.

Another odd email in the 192 spams after holiday was Paypal saying that Duotrope had cancelled my annual donation. I'm not going to ask them why. Okay maybe I will. They survive on donations although it seems they don't want my donation.

Weirdyear: 10/3/10

My story How I Came to Light Up the Universe in Weirdyear: 10/3/10

Special Offer On My Novel At Amazon.co.uk

While the impostor Tony Blair turns the knife in the backs of his adversaries, the real Tony Blair is quietly rebuilding his political career by taking stewardship of a large Scottish construction company, at least according to my first novel, Tony Blair the Wilderness Years, (Booksurge May 2005).

Deepa Kandaswamy wrote: “After reading the book, not only does one realize that British humor is still alive and kicking, but one is also amazed at the freedom with which the author pokes fun at prominent leaders without fear of reprisal. I wonder if the Americans can come up with a similar book [ ] without being accused of being unpatriotic or being sued for libel. Even Michael Moore's work and films pale in comparison to this book, which I hope will be made into a rollicking, fun movie.” You can read her full review here.

It’s also received rave reviews at Authonomy, where you can read quite a few chapters. Tony Blair: The Wilderness Years is a wickedly funny tale of political satire and delusion. Tony “Bono” Blair is a bit confused. He believes he is the famed British Prime Minister of the same name, deposed after winning a third term. Things begin to look up for Tony when a letter arrives offering a position with McCreedie construction. Thinking he is taking over as CEO of a powerful NASDAQ company, Tony accepts the offer and travels to Scotland, hoping to meet the people, regain their trust, and use his new career as a springboard back into high office. But things aren’t as they seem…

I decided to self-publish with Booksurge in 2005 believing that it would always be for sale through Amazon because that was the contract I signed with them. Then Amazon bought Booksurge, renamed it CreateSpace and reneged on the contract. They only sell my novel through their reseller marketplace at an astronomical £25 thus ensuring sales achieve zero.

Self-publish with Amazon's CreateSpace? Absolutely not.

However, I have six new signed copies to sell myself through the reseller scheme (aka woolfysmith) for a fiver each plus £2.75 P+P (UK only). Just click here. While offer lasts.

New Story at Ink, Sweat and Tears

I started this story on May 17th 2009 after reading about pyroclastic flow. Ballard’s final story The Dying Fall had just been published about the leaning tower of pisa collapsing, and I put two and two together and came up with Glowing Cloud, and then The Day The Pope Caught Fire, finally The Day Rome Died, and then more recently Roman Holiday Blues.

It's here at @http://tiny.cc/9kq6a

New Story at MicroHorror.com

My bizarro piece Mr-Croc-in-a-Blanket is online now @MicroHorror.com.

Weirdyear to publish my piece

My piece titled How I Came to Light Up the Universe has been accepted into WEIRDYEAR and will be published on their front page on 10/3/10.

Story Published

Those great people at Rainy City Stories chose to publish a story I submitted months ago, In-Car Valeting. Look, it's a giant metaphor, which is like a semaphore but meta.

Here's my artwork that accompanies the story (Watercolour, 17.8 x 25.4cm)

PS PS I'm spreading the word about the Veterans in Prison Association, VIPA. Their website is http://www.events21.com/ and they're also on Facebook.

Steve Dearden

I've been trawling the Internet for work by the writers in the Brace Anthology (Comma Press). My motive is to see whether Comma Press look like they'd be sympathetic to my style without actually buying the anthology. I was pleased to discover that Steve Dearden gives a great sample of his work, the opening of his story Clare Counting in Brace. Would Comma Press be interested in the things I write? How should I know?

I fouled up my Friday afternoon submission, addressing the covering letter to the person who replied last time. The guidelines clearly said address it to all editors. Silly me. Anyway, I apologised to them profusely, and it looks as though they'll consider it. All contacts with anybody are an opportunity though, even when it's an embarrassed apology.

Another Effort Sails Out

I pinged a US sci-fi mag a few months ago and received a generous rejection, so I'm trying them again with a 1250 word story I wrote in spring. It failed once with another US mag, and I've done a great deal of work on it since. I have three more stories in the wings which I'll be sending to the US before returning to the novel.

I constantly search for equivalent UK magazines, but never find anything. I Googled some writers in Brace, a 2008 UK anthology published by Comma Press, but never found a single example of their work published anywhere online.

Maybe I should Google harder and for longer. If I was an anthologised English writer, I'd be promoting my writing through my web pages. Maybe English writers think the web is beneath them. Anyway, Charlotte Allan, Juliet Bates, Annie Clarkson, Adam Connors, Steve Dearden, Paul de Havilland, Tyler Keevil, Richard Knight, Jacqueline McCarrick, Neil McQuillian, Chris Killen, Heather Richardson, David Rose, Guy Russell, and Guy Ware. Where is your work online?

About My Writing Credits - Eclectica Magazine

The editors at Eclectica have had the wisdom and foresight to publish my stories over the years. I was spotlight author in 2006@http://tinyurl.com/c5mn5g.

Eclectica was founded in October 1996 with the goal of providing a sterling quality literary magazine on the World Wide Web. At the time we were not able to find a forum that would be the net equivalent (in terms of content) of Harper's, New Yorker, Granta, The Atlantic, and other publications providing quality material for the appetites of a wide variety of demanding readers. Although some of these magazines even had their own web-sites, they were conceived as companions to the print items rather than sites that stood completely on their own."

"Thus Eclectica was born. The vision we shared was that of a magazine not bound by formula or genre, that harnessed technology to further the reading experience rather than for the sake of flashy gimmickry, and that was dynamic and interesting enough content-wise to keep readers coming back for more."

"Thirteen years later, quality is still the sole criterion in our editorial process. If it is outstanding writing, then we want to share it with our ever growing, global readership. We provide broad categories for convenience's sake, but we love to get material that just doesn't fit into them. And while there are many, many online publications now that succeed, to greater or lesser degrees, in doing what we set out to do in 1996, we pride ourselves on being one of the longest-running and most consistent literary ezines on the web."

About My Writing Credits - Transmission Magazine

Transmission is one of many magazines to have had the foresight, intelligence and great taste to publish two of my stories.

The people behind Transmission are:

Graham Foster

“Graham is the ukulele-playing, garlic-obsessed editor of Transmission. While, at best, he has an amateur knowledge of all things horticultural, he writes regularly for Urban Garden Magazine. His particular literary passion is contemporary North American literature, something he is indulging by studying for a PhD at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he also teaches. His writing has appeared in The Daily Telegraph, Literary Review and Times Literary Supplement. He believes there is no greater pleasure than reading a quality book while drinking a quality beer…”

Jo Phillips

“Jo is the gentleman designer of Transmission. He is a softly-spoken perfectionist who whiles away his time at the club, slim cigar in hand, singing Russian folk songs with his elegant, lilting voice. Not content with being the aesthetic brains behind the magazine, he also reveals his love and knowledge of literature at key moments. Jo has a degree in the History of Art and Design, but really his eyes are firmly on the future.”

Stephen Ireland

“When not huddled behind his computer screen, exercising his computer wizardry, web-designer Steve is Transmission’s in-house action man. While his team-mates would weep at such activity, Steve likes nothing more than a throwing himself down some gushing rapids in his kayak. His love of the white water aside, he also enjoys thunderstorm hikes followed by a bottle of red. He is also the creative force behind Ivyparkmedia, a web-design company with extra ones and zeroes…”

“Transmission is a sturdy skiff on the turbulent waters of independent literature, packed with a cargo of the best short fiction. It features exclusive interviews, articles, writing guidance from industry professionals and reviews.”

“Transmission is designed to appeal to literature lovers from writers and academics, to bibliophiles and bookworms. Published tri-annually on a not-for-profit basis, Transmission continues to explore the choppy waters for the best and most original literary voices.”

“We publish only the best short fiction and with every piece illustrated with original artwork, we hope to stand out from the crowd. We are amongst a very small number of UK printed magazines solely dedicated to the short story. While we don’t pay for submissions, if your work is published you can be sure it will find itself in a well-respected literary magazine (that’s us!), alongside interviews and writing guidance from established authors and industry professionals.”

“A magazine showcasing some of the finest writing talent.” – BBC Online

Attack!!!! 13 Is Out Now - only £2 including postage!

Issue 13 of Attack!!!!, inspired by Gethan Dick's piece "Mouth", was launched by Wes White at the Attack!!!!tacular event on July 4th and is now available to buy online.

http://www.ecartilage.co.uk/attack1301.htm

'Mouth' - a spell for fixing broken heads - is reprinted at the start of this issue, and Gethan also designed the cover.

Ruth Moog Baker, Lawrence Bradby, Johanna van Fessem, Sophie Hanson, Jared Konopitski, Steve Leighton, Myriam G.S. Mestiaen, Alastair McInnes, Chris Murray, Erica Viola and Wes White all feature with original writing and artwork inspired by Gethan.

Click the link above for more details or go straight to the relevant shop page here -

http://www.ecartilage.co.uk/shopuk.htm (in the UK)

http://www.ecartilage.co.uk/shop_eu.htm (in the EU)

http://www.ecartilage.co.uk/shop_row.htm (outside the EU)

- to order it.

Back issues also available there.