One Month to EasterCon

It's only a month until EasterCon - the British National Science Fiction Convention. Guests of honour this year include David Weber whose Honor Harrington series I enjoy, and David Hardy whom I met last year and later discovered was the illustrator for the Thomas Cook Galactic Tours brochure which I loved when I was a kid.

I'll only be there for the Saturday, but I'm looking forward to meeting up with numerous authors, artists, editors, publishers and agents again. I can only hope the results are as succesful as last year.

The Gondolier in Ukrainian

I've had no luck finding a Ukrainian SF market, so for your enjoyment, here is The Gondolier in Ukrainian.

Гондольєр

Автор: Гарет Д. Джоунз


Чорний ніс моєї гондоли плавно прорізав спокійну воду каналів. Це спокійне ремесло слугувало мені багато років, коли я перевозив пасажирів водними шляхами міста під направляючим мене перстом поколінь предків.

Сонце сідало над старовинним містом, перетворюючи воду на чорнильну стрічку, розкинуту серед елегантних будівель з піщанику. Я глибоко вдихнув прохолодне вечірнє повітря.

Чи було десь інше місце, чарівніше за це вражаюче місто каналів? Коли човен м'яко торкнувся причалу, я зупинився, щоб із задоволенням подивитись на Марс, що пломенів у сутінках на небі.

Кінець

Translated by Irina Mircha

Comic Sale

I've sold my new 5-page comic script, the title of which is under debate, to Murky Depths magazine. This will be my second comic and third appearance in Murky Depths. I can't wait to see my ideas turned into pictures.

Klingon Interview

Continuing with the Codex blog tour, Klingon authority Lawrence M Schoen asked me a few questions on writing, reviewing, translating and hazardous waste. You can read the interview here.

First Edit Complete

I've completed my first edit of Gap Years, in which I make sure it's in a fit state to be read by my critiquers. Another milestone reached.

Meanwhile, I've sent each section to be critiqued as I finish with them, and had comments back on over half the novel so far.

Escape Velocity

News from Escape Velocity editor Geoff Nelder that the Escape Velocity anthology, including my story Relativity, is due to be published March 17th. The full list of contributors is included in his blog post.

Frozen Review

Murky Depths #15 is reviewed on Michelle Lee's Booklove site, and my debut comic Frozen is given brief but favourable mention.

Book Review: Engineering Infinity by Jonathan Strahan (Ed)

Like most of the other subgenres and classifications of speculative fiction, Hard SF is something hard to define, but easy to recognise when reading. In the anthology ‘Engineering Infinity’, renowned editor Jonathan Strahan has brought together a collection of fourteen stories under the label of Hard SF, which, as he admits in the introduction, stretch that label in many directions.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Magazine Review: Interzone #232

A new year, and a new style of artwork graces the cover of Interzone, following on from last year’s continuing sequence. This issue also includes the voting form for last year’s best story – a reminder of how quick last year has gone. Already in this issue are some fabulous stories that may well feature on my personal next list of year’s favourites.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: After the Sundial by Vera Nazarian

Vera Nazarian’s first science fiction collection ‘After The Sundial’ brings together ten stories and poems from the past decade, two of them original to this anthology. Although the tales deal with SF tropes, they’re written in a lyrical style, with fantasy overtones.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.