Stories Happen

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Creativity, Horror, Inspiration, Read Short Fiction, Sci-fi, Short Stories, speculative fiction, Tales to Terrify, The Myth of Writer's Block, Writing

It’s remarkable, despite my brain desperately not wanting me to write, my writing of old keeps following me around. Even though a small part of me does want to write, and actively craves it. Never the twain shall meet.

The inner critic is fierce. Strict. Relentless.

Yet, in a perfect example of why you should never give up on submissions: two submissions, out for so long I’d forgotten about them are now published.

First was in June last year, after twenty throws of the dice, Far From Regis Station was finally published on the website Read Short Fiction. A 4000 word story I wrote almost seven years ago. Paranoid SF horror with a side of mineralogy.

Second was last month, a reprint of a story I’m still proud of. Unpicking the Stitches was first published in ChiZine in 2011 when they had an online short fiction zine, but they soon shut it down in a familiar story of my adventures in online short fiction. You can listen to the story at Tales to Terrify, a horror podcast. My story starts around 21 minutes in.

Maybe one day I’ll collect some short fiction in a format. Maybe I’ll try to write a novel. Perhaps I might even randomly spew some thoughts onto this blog and try not to care what anyone thinks about it.

If the stars align correctly and certain events take place in the near future that I really don’t want to jinx by talking about in any detail, I may have a new writing space and truckloads of inspiration. Watch this space. Or don’t. Whatever…

Too Much Winter in Winter

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Christmas, Creativity, Edinburgh, Inspiration, Scotland, Short Stories, Weather, Writing

As winters go, it has been relatively mild yet stormy. Work has dominated my personal landscape for the last four weeks or so and now comes the usual illness-heavy week between Christmas and New Year. It’s at this time of year I always long the most for the sun and wide open spaces away from the city. Particularly due to the near-perpetual darkness and the long Winter yet to come. As Billy Connolly once said…

There are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter.

Inspiration has dried up somewhat in the latter half of this year. Difficult to put a finger on why, but I’ve written very little, prose or otherwise. So I intend to try two things to change that. The last story I wrote is still in first draft stage (“The Door Behind The Door” – a ghost story set in the Scottish Highlands) and I was quite pleased with I wrote. There are at least two significant places I’d like to send it imminently, so I will put my mind to a redraft and see if that helps to rekindle the creative spark.

Second thing I need to do is buy a new desk and re-boot my writing space. I haven’t been comfortable there for a long time, and unfortunately our little flat yields very few options for alternatives. There’s nothing like a spring clean, even if it isn’t quite spring yet, but in a Scottish winter, spring needs to be a state of mind.

Dedicated Follower of Fashion

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Black Static, Books, dark fiction, Horror, horror markets, jack fisher, literature, Novels, shadows and tall trees, Short Stories, speculative fiction, Undertow Books, Weird Fiction, Writing

I’ve been excited to see the recent proliferation of horror/dark/weird fiction magazines and anthologies appearing everywhere. When I started writing in earnest in 2008 (crap, is it that long ago…?) horror markets were either rare, subsumed into fantasy, or just poor quality. I admit I was still green when it came to submitting stories, and there were certainly the likes of Black Static just kicking off, along with a few others.

Now there are many new ventures setting sail across the wide wide internet, and many of them are high profile. Weird fiction is becoming a byword for literary, experimental horror/fantasy (although that is a rather generalised definition of it) and at the time of writing you still have 11 hours left to contribute to the Indiegogo fundraiser for The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, edited by Laird Barron and published by Michael Kelly’s Undertow Books. An anthology I can’t wait to get my hands on. Undertow is also responsible for the rather excellent Shadows and Tall Trees – a classy journal of literary horror containing many writers in common with Black Static, but having its own unique aesthetic and sensibilities. From next year it is changing to a yearly trade paperback, hopefully with more stories (and I must get my arse in gear and submit something).

Other zines I’ve been noticing gaining in profile are John Joseph Adams’ Nightmare Magazine. From the stable that produces Lightspeed, it contains a mixture of new and reprinted horror stories and has a nicely eclectic range of fiction.

Lamplight is a smaller, perhaps lesser-known, zine that has been going for over a year now, but is publishing some interesting names and is building a following.

Launching this autumn is The Dark, published by Jack Fisher, and the first issue contains some very impressive names. I’m glad to see they are seeking more interesting, experimental unique fiction, but still on the darker side of things.

Horror fiction went through a particular period in the 80s when it was so fashionable, with its lurid black and red book covers. And the the bottom fell out of it thanks to the market becoming over-saturated. Now there appears to be a new fashion with genre fiction and perhaps publishers are still a little reticent to call it horror. Hard to shake the negative connotations that the 80s plastered over that word. In its place has come this intelligent, literary fiction of the weird and the dark, and the horrific. It seems to be rising again, and I for one am dedicated to following this particular fashion.

Some thoughts; two reviews

Tags

Black Static, Creativity, Des Lewis, Fiction Reviews, Horror, SFRevu, Short Stories, The King Of Love My Shepherd Is, TTA Press, Writing

It’s fair to say my levels of motivation and my will to apply myself to the task of writing have been low of late. It often takes a change in circumstances or new point of view to jump-start the engine, and the two weeks holiday that have just drifted past are settling nicely in my brain. Unfortunately, the act of writing has eluded me for longer than I should have allowed it to, so now I have the usual unblocking-the-drain activity to undergo in order to place words in a document.

As an additional ingredient to the unblocking process, a couple of reviews of Black Static 34 have appeared online in recent days, both of which have been quite heartening. First is Des Lewis’ personal and unique real-time-review, which I found exceptionally kind in reference to ‘The King of Love my Shepherd is’.  Particularly with respect to the era I set the story – early 1950s England. It’s always encouraging to know that research does pay off, and my own 1970s school experiences translated across to young Jim’s in the story (minus the horror elements, although sometimes…).

And then there is Sam Tomaino’s usual review for SFRevu, which was also kind, even if my name is spelled incorrectly.

Writing is such a closed activity, being locked away in our little rooms creating stories, with most of the work taking place entirely in our own heads. Seeing that those stories are being read and appreciated makes it all worth the effort.

Black Static 34: Out Now!

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Aliette de Bodard, Andrew Hook, Artwork, Ben Baldwin, Black Static, Fantasy, Georgina Bruce, Horror, Interzone, Jess Hyslop, Joel Lane, Lavie Tidhar, Lynda E Rucker, Nigel Brown, Nina Allan, Priya Sharma, Sci-fi, Sean Logan, Shannon Fay, Short Stories, speculative fiction, Stephen Volk, Steven J Dines, The King Of Love My Shepherd Is, TTA Press, Writing

Out now to order or subscribe, from TTA Press, is issue 34 of Black Static, which contains stories by Nina Allan, Joel Lane, Andrew Hook, Sean Logan and (in case you hadn’t already heard all of my shouting and bawling about it) one from me. Includes the usual column by Stephen Volk and a new column by Lynda E. Rucker.

The artwork this issue is simply brilliant, with gorgeously unsettling black and white illustrations for each story, and Ben Baldwin’s delicious and nightmare-inducing colour art for the front and back cover.

And this month’s Interzone looks to be a fabulous issue as well – with stories by my buddies Priya Sharma and Georgina Bruce (whose TTA debut, Cat World, makes its appearance here – and a wonderful story it is) alongside tales by Steven J. Dines, Jess Hyslop, Nigel Brown, Aliette de Bodard, Lavie Tidhar and Shannon Fay.

Story Art!

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Artwork, Black Static, Horror, illustration, Short Stories, Tara Bush, The King Of Love My Shepherd Is, TTA Press, Writing

Received a preview of the illustration by Tara Bush for my Black Static #34 story from Andy Cox at TTA Press today.

I’m kind of speechless. I adore Tara’s artwork. It captures the insidious creepiness I was trying to invoke in the story so well. My mouth was agape when I first saw it. Bravo. Can’t wait for this issue to come out.

Cover Art

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Andy Cox, Ben Baldwin, Black Static, Horror, Joel Lane, Michael Griffin, Nina Allan, Sean Logan, Short Stories, The King Of Love My Shepherd Is, TTA Press, Writing

Here’s a preview of the cover art for the upcoming issue of Black Static from TTA Press. Ben Baldwin‘s art seems to outdo itself from issue to issue, and this awesomely creepy and striking image for issue 34 is my favourite.

Which makes it all the more exciting that I have a story in this particular issue. The ‘King of Love my Shepherd is’ will make its appearance here alongside stories by Nina Allan, Joel Lane, Sean Logan and Michael Griffin. I’m thrilled to be in the same issue as Nina Allan and Joel Lane, two writers whose work I have thoroughly enjoyed over the last few years, and Andy Cox, TTA editor, says The Nightingale by Nina Allan may be her best work to date. Quite a statement.

Seeing this cover has suddenly reminded me that this is all happening imminently and I absolutely cannot wait.

Story Sale

Tags

Black Static, Horror, Short Stories, Story Sales, The King Of Love My Shepherd Is, TTA Press, Writing

Thrilled to announce that I have sold another story to TTA Press‘ wonderful magazine Black Static.

The story is ‘The King Of Love My Shepherd Is’, and is one I wrote towards the end of last year and have been revising and editing continually. It was inspired in part by a photograph prompt set by my writing group and also by all the tragic, unending news of child abuse dominating headlines these days.  The story is tentatively set for Issue#34, probably in May at some point.

Expect the usual tweeting, facebooking, blogging, shouting, screaming etc…

Is it Spring yet?

Tags

Black Static, Dread Central, Horror, Love as Deep as Bones, Short Stories, TTA Press, Writing

Perhaps it’s just a facet of getting older, but I’ve noticed the cold this Winter far more more keenly than in previous years. Even during the nights of -16 a couple of years ago. This year hasn’t been that extreme as Winters go, but I’ve been in hibernation mode and am craving the sun to be actually warm instead of just bright.

Unlike some Winters of late, I have been writing and submitting, and am currently waiting on imminent news of two promising submissions, but one shouldn’t get one’s hopes up.

Recent news includes digital release of Black Static#32 on various e-reader platforms including Kindle. You can obtain it here at Smashwords, or here at Amazon.

My story ‘Love as Deep as Bones‘ is in there, of course, and has been reviewed over at Dread Central. A great review for the whole magazine and the reviewer certainly seemed affected by my story, which can only be a good thing. It’s good to see such love for the magazine as it fully deserves it. Despite my obvious connection with it now, I’ve always loved Black Static and been an avid reader for many years now.

So, with Spring just over the horizon I can return to some regular blogging here and work hard on trying to place another story with Black Static and just carry on writing.

Black Static 32 out soon

Tags

Black Static, British Fantasy Awards, Drew Rhys White, Horror, Interzone, Lavie Tidhar, Love as Deep as Bones, Priya Sharma, Ray Cluley, Short Stories, Steve Rasnic Tem, Tara Bush, Tim Casson, TTA Press, Writing

TTA press have just released details of the upcoming issue of their British Fantasy Award-winning magazine Black Static, which includes my story, Love As Deep As Bones.

Detail are here on their website. The details include previews of all the stories by Tim Casson, Ray Cluley, Priya Sharma, Drew Rhys White, Lavie Tidhar and Steve Rasnic Tem. One hell of a line-up and I’m very pleased to be on the same TOC as Priya Sharma, a good friend and member of my secret little writing group.

There are also previews of the artwork and I’m blown away by the illustration for my story, by Tara Bush. Here’s a peek.

The issue is out in about a week. You should also check out their sister magazine Interzone.