Forever and Ever, Armageddon - buy it here!

I have a handful of copies of "Forever and Ever, Armageddon" left over from my panel at The Big Comfy Literature festival.  It's usually £4.99 but for a limited period only I'll only charge £4.50 for a signed copy (which will include UK postage - for anywhere outside the UK, drop me an email).

Pop me £4.50 via this handy paypal link and in the notes mention who you'd like it made out to - if anybody at all - and I'll do the rest!

In the words of Marvin Gaye, "What's going on?"*

To start with, I had a brilliant last week at the Big Comfy Literature Festival last weekend in which I shared a local author panel with the talented (and infinitely more presentable) authors Elizabeth Earle and Kelly Hadley-Price. This was great fun, made even more pleasant thanks to cake and Prosecco (thanks, Elizabeth!).  I caught a number of other events there - the highlights being a talk by Kate Riordan and a performance of "Not tiggerdy Boo tonight", a play written by fellow Coventry Writer Group author Margaret Egrot.  Another highlight was an absolutely fascinating talk about the history of the Memorial park by local historian and writer Trevor Harkin.  Thanks to Michael from the Big Comfy Bookshop for both organising it and for having me!

Local Author Panel - Elizabeth, Kelly, Muggins.

"Did I accidentally leave a fork in the knife drawer? Bother."

I'm a mere couple of thousand words away from finishing Recreant, but after a (blessed) long absence the Black Dog is back with an absolute vengeance this week so my get-up-and-go has got-up-and-gone. Normal service will hopefully soon be resumed!

Not this black dog.

So, you'll hopefully forgive me a bit of self indulgence. I received my copy of 47-16 (or to give it the fancy highfalutin full title 47-16: Short Fiction and Poetry Inspired by David Bowie) this week. My story "Saviour Machine" is the opening story. The tireless editor Chris Thompson has put together a beautiful piece of work that I'm very proud to be a part of, an eclectic mix of styles and authors - and a very worthy tribute to the great man.

Now comes the self-indulgent bit... It was only when I was putting it on the bookshelf when I realised quite how far I've come in just a few short years. From my first submitted short story "The Shadow Cast by the World" being accepted for the first volume of Fear's Accomplice, I've built up quite a reasonable body of work - and it's hopefully only the start..!  And there are more coming up that aren't even in the photo below.

Books of all shapes and sizes - look at 'em!

So, thanks for sticking with me and buying and reading my stuff. And if you're extra-special reviewing it as well. Hopefully you'll enjoy Recreant - when I've finally finished the bloody thing.  Sooner rather than later, hopefully!

Next time :)

                                                                                                                                                  

* Released by Marvin Gaye in 1971, the year I was born. Coincidence? Yeah. Yeah it is.

Recreant

This local author finished a book of short stories. What Happens Next Will Surprise You.

It's been a little while since I've posted on here, so thought it only right to correct that. Truth is that after quite a drought, I've had an incredibly productive couple of months so wanted to have something to tell you about first!

Firstly, Scenes of Mild Peril - my next short story collection - is very nearly complete. Just working on the final edits and I'll be organising a release date for it. I'm incredibly happy with how it's turned out and I think it contains some of my strongest work - I'm really excited for this one.

Secondly, my first novel - Version Control - is now complete and I'm in the process of trying to find a home for it.. More information to be released if - and when - there is any.

Thirdly, I'm just working on the final chapters of my new science fiction novella "Recreant". I've kept relatively quiet about this one because the aforementioned drought nearly put paid to it, but it's turned out to be something I'm very happy with.  It's also going down very well with the beta readers, which is always reassuring.  I'll do a separate post about this when I've finished the first draft.  40,000 words down with 10,000 to go.!

Last (but most definitely far from least) The Big Comfy Bookshop is having a literature festival on the 9th, 10th and 11th of September. I'm on a panel of local writers with Elizabeth Earle and Kerry Hadley-Pryce on Saturday the 10th, and it'd be great if you could come along. I'll hopefully have some copies of Scenes of Mild Peril to flog to you :) For those of you on the mystical book of faces, here's a handy link.

Next time!

Quantum Leapt

Farage skipped down the corridor with a spring in his step, the disgruntled booing of European parliament delegates fading into the distance now. Taking a few looks around himself to make sure he wasn’t being followed, he ducked into the gent’s toilets, undoing his tie as he did so. That felt so much better.

Confident that he was alone, he let out a sigh of relief that he’d been holding deep inside for the past seventeen years. He threw some water over his face, took a deep breath, and waited. And waited.

And waited.

“Why hasn’t it happened yet?” he muttered, staring down at his hands. His Nigel Farage hands. “I got the UK out of the European Union, just as I was supposed to. I’m supposed to have…”

“There’s been a problem, Sam”, came a guilty voice from behind him.

Nigel span round to be confronted by his old friend Al, dressed in a shirt far more garish than any he’d worn previously.

“What do you mean, a problem? I’ve been stuck here for nearly two decades now, and you assured me that…”

“Hey, don’t blame me, Sam! I’m just the guy who passes on the information.” He angrily slapped the handset that he used to communicate with the hybrid super-computer Ziggy against his side. It beeped noisily in complaint.

“I think there’s been what Ziggy called a hyper-quantum catastrophe. Turns out that doing this ushers in something of a second dark age.”

Al squinted at the results on the handheld device and shook his head, sorrowfully.

"It’s not looking good, Sam.”

“Jesus, Al. Why didn’t you tell me? If the experts had warned me about this, I would have done something different! I’d have done anything to avoid this! Can you not bring me back and we’ll try again?”

“I’m afraid not, Sam. All knock on effects from the dark age. I don’t have long - just me being here is a paradox that’ll shortly resolve itself. The finances that would have been used to fund the quantum accelerator in the New Mexico lab went on building a wall. You’re stuck here – best just get on as best you can.”

Farage looked down at his feet, despondent.  “Oh boy.”

Just like buses, you wait ages...

...and then two come along at once!  It's all been a bit quiet on here lately as I've been ridiculously busy, but I thought it timely to give you an update about recent developments.

Firstly, FLASH FEAR is now available in paperback.  It's a horror anthology (edited by the excellent Jonathan Butcher) containing a shedload of bite-sized pieces or horrific or dark flash fiction. As well as a story by my good self ("Good Dog"), it features pieces by such great authors as Andrew Lawston, Theresa Derwin, Matty-Bob Cash and A Stuart Williams. 

Pat-a-Cake by Lily Childs
Love is Blind - Duncan Ralston
The Colour Red and Lost and Found by Theresa Derwin
Good Dog by David Court
A Mother’s Love by Jonathan Butcher
Things to Do in Whitby When You’re Dead by A. Stuart Williams
The Sofa, the Sofa by Matthew Cash Wise Monkey by Pauline E. Dungate
Candy by John Wesley
A King’s Plunder by Timothy Frasier
Polly Gone by Nathan Robinson
Souvenirs by Irene Kingshott
The Letter by Steve Cotterill
The Men Who Value Everything in Money by James Everington
Prey for the Dead by Andrew Lawston
Corpse Mother by J. Rodimus Fowler
The Moon-Lit Bath of Retribution and Resurrection by J Rodimus Fowler
The Notebook by Meredith Black
The Song of Restoration by Lily Childs
The White Room by Charlotte Baker
Hell of a Christmas by Timothy Frasier
The Computer that Would Not Die by Olli Jacobs
The Mirror by Lynn M. Cochrane

It's published by Quantum Corsets and is available on Amazon by clicking on this handy link.

Secondly, "Unleashing The Voices Within", a horror anthology from Stitched Smile Publications LLC, has an impending release of June the 22nd. It features the following tales:

A Mirror Never Lies by David Owain Hughes
A Voice in a Box by Katie MacMillan
Blasphemous Tumours by David Court
Brattle-Boro by Michael Freeman
Cabinet of Truth by David Golightly
Cult of the Angel Eaters by Mark Deloy
Cutting Lies by Briana Robertson
Final Delivery by Jeff Dawson
Jacob's Mind by Ty Schwamberger
Janie's Got a Gun by Author Lisa Vasquez
Lullaby and Goodnight by C.S Anderson
Night Train Fights by Justin Gowland
Normalcy by Kristina Brooks
One Last Conversation by Veronica Smith
Pure Soprano of Death by Norbert Góra
Sandy by R. R. Judas Brown
Scarab by J C Michael
The Darkness by Jeff Parsons
The Killer and the Clergyman by Kevin Hayes
The Voice of Absolution by Ash Hartwell
Watch Out by Jeffrey Blevins
What the Heart Wants by Frank Martin

In other news, the final draft of Version Control - my first full length novel - is finally completed, and I'm beginning to sort out the launch details for "Scenes of Mild Peril", my next bumper collection of short stories.

If you're not doing so already, come like my author page on Facebook or add me on Twitter. I'd love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend!

Free stuff!

For this weekend only (Saturday the 21st of May and Sunday the 22nd of May), and to celebrate the impending release of "Scenes of Mild Peril", the Kindle versions of both my first two collection of short stories - "The Shadow Cast by the World" and "Forever and Ever, Armageddon" are available for free on Amazon.

Clicking on this handy link here will take you to my Amazon author page.

Read them, and if you enjoy either of them, I'd much appreciate you sticking a nice review on either Amazon or Goodreads.

You don't have to have a kindle to read them - the free Kindle App is available for all smartphones, and is also available for both PC and Mac Platforms (The VIC-20, Oric Atmos, V-Tech My First Laptop and the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A are currently not Kindle compatible).