Saturday, October 30, 2010

One Week to BristolCon

Next weekend I'll be attending the second BristolCon, a small convention held in Bristol. I enjoyed EasterCon so much this year that I didn't want to wait until next Easter to get together with the other authors, artists, publishers and others who you can meet at cons.

I'm looking forward to another enjoyable day.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Half the Moons of Jupiter

I've been reading the latest issue of Jupiter magazine this week, entitled Hermippe after Jupiter's 30th moon. In his editorial, Ian Redman makes the point that when he started publishing the magazine, he thought 63 moons will be plenty. Now he's half way through them and the last dozen or so still haven't been named! Thirty issues is an impressive number for a small press magazine and I still enjoy reading each issue.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Frozen Depths

My first comic script, a single page story entitled Frozen, was accepted by Murky Depths magazine some time back. Its appearance has now been confirmed for issue #15 and the artwork will be by Mick Trimble.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how my script is translated into pictures. It's always a thrill to see an illustration drawn to accompany one of my prose stories, but this time the whole thing will be somebody else's interpretation of my vision.

Meanwhile I've submitted a 2-page script and I'm still tinkering with a 6-page script that I wrote up a while ago.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Nature Proof

The galley proofs have arrived of World Wire Web, my story that is due to appear in Nature magazine. There's a fantastic illustration of a steampunk gadget to go with it. If the scheduling is the same as it was for my last story in Nature, then it should be appearing in the next couple of months.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Quantum Anthology

The anthology Quantum Genre on the Planet of Arts is to be published as an e-book by Paraphilia Books in the near future. The original publishers closed down last year some time, so although I'm disappointed not to be getting a physical copy of the book, I'm please that my story Fluctuations will be getting a second airing. This is a revised version of one of my earliest published stories and one that I've always been particularly proud of.

Friday, October 22, 2010

The Gondolier in Welsh

This is one of the first translations of The Gondolier that was done. It was under submission for a long time. I never heard back and it was overlooked until now, although I have included it in the Celtic polyglot version. So here it is, The Gondolier in the language of my relatives.




Y Gondolïwr


Torodd trwyn du fy ngondola yn esmwyth trwy ddŵr llonydd y gamlas. Roedd y llong lefn wedi fy ngwasanaethu’n dda am lawer blwyddyn, yn cludo teithwyr trwy ddyfrffyrdd y ddinas, dan ofal cenedlaethau o’m cyndadau.
Roedd yr haul yn machlud dros yr hen ddinas, yn troi’r dŵr yn ruban inciog rhwng yr adeiladau tywodfaen. Cymerais anadl ddofn o awel oeraidd yr hwyrnos.
Oes yna harddach le na’r ddinas ryfeddol yma yn llawn camlesi? Wrth i’r bad orffwys i’w hangor, syllais lan yn fodlon i wybren dduog Mawrth.

Y Diwedd



Translated by Lili Fach

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Graphic Novels

Having been converted to appreciation of the graphic story form by Murky Depths magazine, I have acquired 2 graphic novels to review for SF Crowsnest. These will be the first I've read since TinTin and Asterix!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Anthological Progress

Lots of anthology-related things going on this week and last:

My first novelette sale, to a semi-pro anthology.

The first author for The Immersion Book of Steampunk has signed their contract. I've also seen three more stories for the anthology.

The first anthology that I became involved with, which has yet to be anounced, is being finalised. Permissions are being sought from the authors to reprint their stories.

I've been sent a story for the third anthology I'm editing, which also has yet to be anounced. Still a fair amount of work to do on finalising the details of that one.

I'm looking forward to making further anouncements.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

News from Argentina

News from Argentina today. Two of my flash fiction stories, Launch and Frozen,that I submitted along time ago and were lost somewhere over the Atlantic, are due to be published shortly. The translator now has them and is curently rendering them into Spanish. They will appear along with several of my other flash fiction stories on either Quimicamento Impuro or Breves No Tan Breves, depending on the length.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Novelette Sale

My first novelette has been accepted for inclusion in a forthcoming semi-pro anthology, the name of which I'll anounce when I've checked with the publishers, just in case they're planning a big anouncement of the whole TOC.

The Journey Within is a steampunkish,Victorian SF adventure story involving an expedition to the Himalayas, the British army and the Royal Society. At just under 10,000 words it's the longest story I've written single-handedly.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Another Quantum Chance

Several months after the Quantum Genre anthology was cancelled when the publisher closed down, the editor has found another publisher who is interested in the project. A reprint of my story Fluctuations was due to appear in the anthology, so it may yet see the light of day.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Review Archive: Non-Fiction

My review of Writers of the Future - The First 25 Years is the first non-fiction review I've done and doesn't fit into the three review archive catagories I've already got. Here then is a new review archive catagory that will be linked from the side bar. I don't expect this one to fill up very fast.
_____________________________________________________________________

Doctor Who - The Complete Guide by Mark Campbell

Ghost in the Shell by Andrew Osmond

Sibilant Fricative by Adam Roberts

Writers of the Future - The First 25 Years




Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Magazine Review: Interzone #230


The latest issue of Interzone celebrates 25 years of Nick Lowe’s film review column ‘Mutant Popcorn’ with a reprint of the very first column, and an interview with the man himself. It’s an impressive feat for any genre magazine to have reached the stage of being able to celebrate a quarter century in its existence. Of course to go with this feature there is the usual fair-sized selection of book, film and DVD reviews, plus five stories.


Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Book Review: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi


In a brilliantly imaginative future, Hannu Rajaniemi has created a distinctive world as the setting for his debut novel The Quantum Thief. Set mostly in a city that moves across the surface of Mars, it’s full of quantum technology, physically and mentally augmented humans, secretive vigilantes and a whole host of bizarre developments that initially left my brain in a whir.


Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Monday, October 04, 2010

Book Review: Writers of the Future, the First 25 Years


I once sent a story to the Writers of the Future competition, but never heard back. Lots of other authors did though and many of the winners over the past 25 years have gone on to become well known authors. Writers Of The Future – The First 25 Years is a celebration of the successes of the competition and the stories behind it. This is a big book – a hard back almost a foot square, full of photos, interviews, quotes and anecdotes.


Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Friday, October 01, 2010

Two Thirds

Gap Years passed 60,000 words this week, that's 2/3 of the way there. The writing is going fast and smooth at the moment. I'm not entirely sure I'll finish by the end of the year now though; January 19th is looking like the finish date. Can't squeeze any more writing time out of the day without foregoing sleep.