At pre-school yesterday my four-year-old told his teacher that his dad wrote stories, then they looked up some of my books on the class tablet, then he dictated and illustrated his own SF book.
I couldn’t be prouder.
Blog
Publication announcement: SNAKESKINS
So… here’s something I’ve been keeping under my hat for a while:
I’m very pleased to announce that my SF novel SNAKESKINS will be published by Titan Books in spring 2019. Huge thanks to Gary Budden at Titan for picking it up.
Also, a related development: I’m now represented by Alexander Cochran at C+W literary agency.
Here’s a blurb:
Caitlin Hext’s first shedding ceremony is imminent, but she’s far from prepared to produce a Snakeskin clone. When her Skin fails to turn to dust as expected, she must decide whether she wishes the newcomer alive or dead.
Worse still, it transpires that the Hext family may be of central importance to the survival of Charmers, a group of people with the inexplicable power to produce duplicates every seven years and, in the process, rejuvenate. In parallel with reporter Gerry Chafik and government aide Russell Handler, Caitlin must prevent the Great British Prosperity Party from establishing a corrupt new world order.
SNAKESKINS is an SF thriller examining the repercussions of rejuvenation and cloning on individuals’ sense of identity and on wider society, with the tone of classic John Wyndham stories and the multi-strand storytelling style of modern TV series such as Channel 4’s Humans.
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 10
My contributor’s copy of THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME TEN just popped through the letterbox! Having a story included in it is a very big deal for me. I’m very grateful to Ellen Datlow for selecting my Greenland Shark story, ‘Eqalussuaq’, which was originally published in Not One of Us magazine.
You can buy BEST HORROR 10 now from Amazon in a variety of formats: paperback, ebook, audio CD and audio download.
Music for writers
Another post about music… The excellent writer and excellent person James Everington was kind enough to invite me to contribute an article to his ‘Music for Writers’ series on his website. I never turn down a chance to talk about music, and given that pretty much all of my current music listening is a background to writing or work, this theme plays to my interests. You can read the full article, and listen to selections, here.
(Note that Music to write to is distinct from Book soundtracks, which I create for each of my novellas and novels. See here for some of those.)
Musical milestones
I’m pretty sure that by now everybody’s seen the recent Facebook meme of showing the 10 albums that you find important, right? Now that I’ve finished my 10-album, 10-day list I thought I’d post it here for posterity. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to stick to the rule of omitting any explanation of my choices…
#1 Victor Borge – Phonetic punctuation / A Mozart opera
I’ve chosen this album to represent my parents’ record collection, and the fact that when I was a kid I was more likely to listen to comedy than music. But also, I still think it’s hysterically funny, and the album cover is still one of my all-time favourites, and also matches my writing/editing occupation. I have the LP version framed and ready to hang once I get my attic office in order.
#2 The Beatles – 1967–1970
It’d be disingenuous to pretend that this album wasn’t the keystone of my discovering music when I was a kid. I’d heard ‘Penny Lane’ via a compilation tape (chosen because I liked fire engines) and ‘Let It Be’ on a French campsite (as close to a musical epiphany as a seven-year-old can have). I listened to the ‘Blue Album’ endlessly while I was growing up; it’s part of me.
#3 Tortoise – TNT / Gastr Del Sol – Camoufleur
TNT by Tortoise was responsible for shifting my listening from rock to post-rock and experimental music. And that self-effacing album cover! Tortoise were an important band to me, partly because they had so many side projects that would lead me into other areas. In fact, two members of Tortoise were in the original lineup of Gastr Del Sol, though by the time of CAMOUFLEUR the lineup was David Grubbs and Jim O’Rourke (with contributions from Markus Popp of Oval). Jim O’Rourke would lead me into new areas – via his indie stuff and then into far stranger listening territory. Gastr Del Sol’s CAMOUFLEUR came a little later, but is probably my favourite post-rock album.
#4 Nick Cave – And No More Shall We Part
I know that many people would argue for other Nick Cave albums being more immediate, more visceral, plain better than this, but I adore it unconditionally. It’s one of the most literate and darkly funny albums I can think of, and it inspired my early attempts to write short stories as much as, say, John Updike’s RABBIT series of books did.
#5 Herman Düne – Not On Top
For the longest time, I considered Herman Düne my favourite band. They were charming, witty and, unlike most of the music I listened to, they were alive and there were lots of opportunities to see them play live – which I did, perhaps five or six times in total. I listened to a lot of ‘anti-folk’ at the beginning of this century, though few of the performers still have the same resonance for me as Herman Düne, who have soundtracked some of the happiest moments of my life.
#6 The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers / Jonathan Richman – Jonathan Goes Country
Around 2005 I listened to little other than Jonathan Richman’s vast back catalogue, from his snotty Velvet-Underground-ish origins to his latter-day embarrassing-dad persona – both equally loveable. THE MODERN LOVERS and JONATHAN GOES COUNTRY were on constant rotation when I was working alone for long stretches in California. The former is one of the great proto-punk albums, and a tantalising suggestion of a path that Richman would decide not to take; the latter is a goofy experiment that shouldn’t work, but succeeds through its wholehearted charm. It’s my favourite music to drive to.
(My favourite detail about the change in direction after the release of The Modern Lovers in 1976: David Robinson left the group ‘due to frustration with Richman’s quest for lower volume levels’.)
#7 Lonnie Donegan – Rock Island Line: The Singles Anthology 1955–1967
Lonnie Donegan’s early singles are some of the most thrilling songs I know of: catchy, funny, utterly wild. When I discovered this fantastic compilation set in 2006 I described it as follows in a blog post:
“I can’t get enough of Lonnie’s rasping, distorted, chuckling voice. I love that he addresses his songs to ‘the boys’. I love his rambling introductions to the simplest of songs. I love the way that his songs feel spontaneous, and that when the band cuts loose it doesn’t even sound like they’re playing musical instruments. They’re beating on the walls and stamping on the floor and Lonnie is wailing through the white noise…”
#8 Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians
This was a total revelation to me when I first heard it around fifteen years ago, and set me off listening to modern composition and minimalist pieces. I think it’s utterly perfect.
#9 Gavin Bryars – Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
One of the most emotional musical experiences I’ve had was the American Contemporary Music Ensemble’s performance of ‘Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet’ at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Jeff Mangum in 2012. Rose and I had recently decided to start a family, and for whatever reason the repeated words of Bryars’ piece struck me as advice from a parent to a child. By the end I was in pieces.
#10 Oren Ambarchi – Grapes from the Estate
If any artist sums up my current listening preferences, it’s Oren Ambarchi. (Jim O’Rourke’s experimental work would come close second.) These days I most often listen to music while working, so it’s almost all instrumental. Aside from being absurdly beautiful, GRAPES FROM THE ESTATE is the most wonderful background to achieving a trance-like mindset.
Roald Dahl’s writing hut
I’m delighted to have rediscovered this footage of Roald Dahl at work in his writing hut. Though it was first shown on Pebble Mill at One in 1982 – too early for me to have seen on original broadcast – it must have been reused later, perhaps on Blue Peter, perhaps in around 1988, when I was 8. Anyway, the image of Dahl in his hut has always remained the defining image of a writer in my mind, and even when I was young the idea of hiding away to write was tantalising. For whatever reason, the electric pencil sharpener at arm’s reach was always the most memorable element of Dahl’s cosy setup. One of these days I’ll get one myself, despite the fact that I always write on screen.
I have a story in BEST OF BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION 2017
Well! I’m very – no, ridiculously – pleased to announce that Donna Bond has selected one of my stories for inclusion in BEST OF BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION 2017, which will be out in April from NewCon Press. And would you look at that lineup! Honestly, I’m feeling faint at seeing my name listed alongside these authors.
- Blinders – Tyler Keevil
- In the Night of the Comet (2017) – Adam Roberts
- The Walls of Tithonium Chasma – Tim Major
- 3.8 Missions – Katie Gray
- Over You – Jaine Fenn
- The Ghosts of Europa Will Keep You Trapped in a Prison You Make for Yourself – Matt Dovey
- Uniquo – Aliya Whiteley
- Looking for Laika – Laura Mauro
- A Good Citizen – Anne Charnock
- Mercury Teardrops – Jeff Noon
- The Nightingales in Plàtres – Natalia Theodoridou
- The Road to the Sea – Lavie Tidhar
- When I Close My Eyes – Chris Barnham
- Targets – Eric Brown
- London Calling – Philip A. Suggars
- The Last Word – Ken Macleod
- Voicemail – Karen McCreedy
- Green Boughs Will Cover Thee – Sarah Byrne
- Airless – N.J. Ramsden
- Product Recall – Robert Bagnall
- The Endling Market – E. J. Swift
Ellen Datlow picked my story for Best Horror #10
It’s with a certain amount of disbelief that I announce that Ellen Datlow has selected one of my stories, ‘Eqalussuaq’, for THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME TEN, which will be published by Nightshade Books. The story was first published in Not One of Us #58 in October 201, so thanks are also due to NOoU editor John Benson.
I don’t know if writers are supposed to play it cool about this sort of thing, but I’ve overjoyed as well as overwhelmed! To give some context, here’s a blurb about the BEST HORROR series from the Nightshade website:
“It’s no exaggeration to say that since its first volume in 2009, this series has compiled the absolute best horror short fiction published each year. Every volume has featured a wide variety of stories by well-known authors, from luminaries like Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Richard Matheson, to genre figures as Catherynne M. Valente, John Langan, and Brian Hodge.”
The full table of contents for Volume Ten is below. I can’t tell you how happy I am that my story will appear alongside stories by so many writers whose work I love!
Better You Believe – Carole Johnstone
Liquid Air – Inna Effress
Holiday Romance – Mark Morris
Furtherest – Kaaron Warren
Where’s the Harm? – Rebecca Lloyd
Whatever Comes After Calcutta – David Erik Nelson
A Human Stain – Kelly Robson
The Stories We Tell about Ghosts – A. C. Wise
Endosketal – Sarah Read
West of Matamoros, North of Hell – Brian Hodge
Alligator Point – S. P. Miskowski
Dark Warm Heart – Rich Larson
There and Back Again – Carmen Machado
Shepherd’s Business – Stephen Gallagher
You Can Stay All Day – Mira Grant
Harvest Song, Gathering Song – A. C. Wise
The Granfalloon – Orrin Grey
Fail-Safe – Philip Fracassi
The Starry Crown – Marc E. Fitch
Eqalussuaq – Tim Major
Lost in the Dark – John Langan
And here’s the awesome cover!
100 films I love right now
I’ve made a top 100 film list. I’ve tried to avoid objectivity or the temptation to pick ‘greatest’ films – instead I’ve tried to capture a snapshot of my tastes right now. I’ve tried not to pay attention to what would be my usual choices or agonise too much over my selection. I use Flickchart, so I had a starting point of a list of pretty much all the films I’ve seen, theoretically in ranked order – but to make this list I’ve cherry-picked only the films that are currently on my mind or that, when I see their titles, I want to rewatch immediately. It’s a skewed list, featuring lots of films I’ve seen for the first time in the last year or so – if I made a similar list next year, I’d guess that more than a quarter of the titles would be different. It’ll be interesting to see whether e.g. A Cottage on Dartmoor or The Swimmer stay with me.
I’ve listed the films in chronological order, which reveals a surprise: 11 of the films in this list were released this century. It’s notable that most of these recent titles are very downbeat and slow-paced – I hadn’t quite realised this is so clearly a factor in my tastes in modern cinema.
The director who appears most is Hitchcock, predictably. There are three by: Ingmar Bergman, Francis Ford Coppola, Luis Buñuel, F.W. Murnau and Nicholas Ray. There are two each by: Buster Keaton, Carl Theodor Dreyer, David Lynch, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jacques Tourneur, Jerzy Skolimowski, Robert Bresson, Roman Polanski, Thomas Vinterberg, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders and Andrei Tarkovsky.
Here’s the full list:
Two new stories and an audio recording
I’ve been lax about mentioning publications recently. Time for a roundup.
‘To Ashes, Dust’ is one of my series of Mars stories featuring crawler bases, shifting sand dunes and ‘aye-aye’ robots. It’s been published in Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction #61, available to download for free or to buy as a print copy for just over £3. Des Lewis has reviewed the issue and had this to say about my story:
“In a relatively short space, this moving story of a base on Mars captured me, even with its bespoke names for various factors, like the robots employed, and again, with this set of fictions, a treatment of old men and death, and an amazing concept of moving sand dunes that really NEEDS reading about to be inspired as I became by it and by what the dunes can contain.”
‘The Pale Shadow and the Conjuror’ is my first sale of a mystery story – it’s been printed in Mystery Weekly.
‘For a Tooth’, a spoofy space-opera flash story first published in Every Day Fiction, has been recorded as an audio reading – you can listen to it free at 600 Second Saga.
(Or via several other routes: iTunes, Stitcher, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter)
ChiZine YA novel – title and cover reveal
So, my YA SF novel that will be published by ChiZine / ChiTeen in October 2018 is titled MACHINERIES OF MERCY…
…and it has a cover!
Design by Eric Mohr & Ian Sullivan Cant at Emblem.
Short story collection: AND THE HOUSE LIGHTS DIM
Luna Press have released some more details about my first collection of short stories, which will be published in 2019 as part of the ‘Harvester’ series. It’s called AND THE HOUSE LIGHTS DIM and features strange stories about houses, homes and family.
Here’s my statement about the collection in full:
AND THE HOUSE LIGHTS DIM is my first collection of short stories, which were written over a three-year period. They’re pretty diverse, spanning weird fiction, horror and SF – but I confess that when I wrote them they seemed more diverse than they really are. It was only recently that I realised just how prevalent particular themes have been in my writing: houses, homes and family.
Perhaps it’s no surprise. The earliest of the stories was written when my wife was pregnant with our first child; one of the novellas was written in a mad hurry in the weeks before his birth; nowadays I write in a fog of fatigue due to my second child’s sleepless nights. I think about family constantly and as a freelance editor I’m trapped in my home for the greater part of every day.
In this collection are stories about a sentient house overprotective of its new occupants, a supernatural Greenland shark that attacks a family via sound, a married couple alone on a lengthy space flight, two young girls who live in isolation and in fear of the world beyond their walls, a camping trip that turns a family feral, a post-apocalyptic Center Parcs, a man who has defragmented his mind and another who splices a rival’s brain patterns onto his own.
Most of the stories have been published in various places, including Interzone, Not One of Us, The Literary Hatchet and anthologies published by Fox Spirit, Jurassic London and Hic Dragones. ‘Carus & Mitch’ was previously published as a standalone novella by Omnium Gatherum and was shortlisted for a This Is Horror Award in 2015. People have been very nice about it: Lynda Rucker said it was a ‘compelling, unconventional page-turner… blending a John Wyndham-esque melancholy with a dose of existential despair’. Adam Roberts called it ‘punchy and scary and tense and genuinely moving’ and James Everington said it was ‘an intimate, original, and character-driven take on the post-apocalyptic genre’, all of which made me feel awfully proud.
Publication announcement: my first collection of short stories
A new announcement for the new year: I’m delighted to be able to say that my first collection of short stories will be published as part of the ‘Harvester’ series from Edinburgh-based Luna Press, alongside collections by four brilliant authors. Find out more here – and Luna Press will be revealing more details on 11th January.
Invaders From Beyond in SFX and Waterstones
I just saw The Last Jedi, on my own, because childcare, and it was really good, which you all know. And then I went to WH Smiths to get a copy of SFX after having been tipped off about the review of INVADERS FROM BEYOND, which includes my novella, BLIGHTERS, and it really is a very positive review, and then I went to Waterstones and there was the book itself on the shelf a few down from Mark Morris’s terrific NEW FEARS anthology and Adam Roberts’s amazing HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION. And then I felt quite shaky about having an actual book in a proper bookshop, too shaky to even think about using my Christmas book tokens, but not so shaky I had to eat at Subway, so here I am on a park bench eating a chicken caesar wrap and another sandwich and I think I’m alright now. Happy New Year everyone!
My writing year 2017
It’s been an intense year. My family and I moved house twice (from Oxford to a rental house in York in January, then to a house we bought in York in June), the first move being when my youngest son was only six months old. Sleep has been hard to come by and work has been sporadic – not that it’s been hard to get, just difficult to schedule given that my wife and I now share childcare duties right down the middle.
On the plus side, my day job has been hewing closer and closer to my ‘hobby’: much of my freelance work this year has involved fiction editing. In October I became co-editor of the British Fantasy Society’s fiction journal, Horizons (along with Shona Kinsella), and I’m looking forward to putting together the first issue early next year.
Finding time to write has been a challenge. I’ve written fewer new words this year than in any of the previous five years – around 80,000 as opposed to the usual 120,000ish. I finished up an SF novel, which is now out on submission. Other than that, I’ve completed a handful of short stories and a novelette, but I’ve spent most time writing non-fiction and doing revisions on earlier projects.
Speaking of which, 2017 has been mostly enlivened by Things Happening With My Writing, which is a great relief given that I’ve been doing so little actual writing. I had four new short stories published, including appearances in Shoreline of Infinity and Not One of Us, as well as the first of two inclusions in Hic Dragones anthologies – all of these publications had been on my wishlist. Perhaps more significantly, having signed contracts this year, 2018 will see various projects reach fruition:
- My first novel for young adults will be published by ChiZine, likely in October 2018. It’s about a prison for young offenders situated within a virtual world and modelled as a sleepy English village. The original Westworld film from 1973 was a big influence, as were the London riots a few years back. The first task in the new year is to decide upon a title.
- My first non-fiction book will be published by Electric Dreamhouse Press in summer 2018 as part of the Midnight Movie Monographs series. The book is dedicated to Feuillade’s 1915 silent crime serial, Les Vampires. Along with an analysis of the film I’ve written ten pieces of weird fiction, each inspired by an episode of the serial.
- There’ll be another fiction publication in either late 2018 or early 2019 too! I’ll have more information before too long.
There will also be more short stories published in 2018, including my first audio reading and my first sale of a mystery story – see here for a list of upcoming publications.
So, I’m not at all glum about having had a static year. In fact, I can’t wait to get started on my writing in 2018. I have a few commissioned pieces to complete at the start of the year, a novel planned out and more ideas bubbling up. But as much as all that, I’m looking forward to getting a bit more sleep, too.
Oh, one other thing. I did reach the writing milestone of passing 75% of my first million (new) words.
Favourite albums of 2017
RICHARD DAWSON – Peasant (Domino). A departure from his previous work, in that he’s accompanied by a band, but Dawson’s ramshackle weirdness and Beefheartian tendencies are intact. ‘Soldier’ is my favourite song of the year, and includes my favourite lyric too: ‘Let’s betroth without delay / Pack the horse and ride away / Find some better place / Where we might raise a family / My heart is full of hope / I am tired, I am afraid / My heart is full of hope’.
BILL ORCUTT – Bill Orcutt (Palillia). Orcutt goes electric! Shimmering and abstract covers album with melodies I can never quite fathom. ‘Christmas on Earth’ is my favourite.
ROB NOYES – The Feudal Spirit (Poon Village). A traditional Fahey-style fingerpicking counterpart to Orcutt’s out-there album.
DEAN HURLEY – Anthology Resource Vol. 1 (Sacred Bones). Not only do they recall the happy, woozy weeks of David Lynch’s mind trip masterpiece, these soundscapes from Twin Peaks: The Return are incredible in their own right.
DEDEKIND CUT – American Zen (Ninja Tune). Wonderful washes of noise and hints of techno.
F INGERS – Awkwardly Blissing Out (Blackest Ever Black). Barely-there dark dreams.
BLUE IVERSON – Hotep (World Music). Twenty minutes of Dean Blunt’s soul and R&B doodlings. Far more compelling than that might sound.
HANNAH PEEL – Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia (self-published). Is it my imagination, or has there been a glut of albums featuring synths and colliery brass bands this year? This was the best.
VESSEL – Nyt Alfabet (DME). Shakily soporific in the best possible way. And that voice! I’m melting.
ALDOUS HARDING – Party (4AD). Speaking of voices… I predict that next year Aldous Harding will conquer the world.
The Ginger Nuts of Horror best novels of 2017
Well, this is a good start to the day…
Jim McLeod at The Ginger Nuts of Horror has picked YOU DON’T BELONG HERE as one of his favourite novels of 2017!
‘Time travel is a funny old game, so many novels and stories are written using time travel as theme, but so many of them fail to understand the complexities and consequences of it. Luckily for us we have writers like Tim Major who are capable of writing an enthralling novel that uses time travel in a logical and well thought way. “you don’t Belong Here” Is an exciting rollercoaster ride across time that challenges the reader to pay attention.’
Thanks so much Jim! Despite the cold up here in my attic office, I’m glowing.
‘LES VAMPIRES’ film book to be published in 2018
Another publication announcement! My first non-fiction book will be published in summer 2018 by Electric Dreamhouse Press, the PS Publishing imprint run by editor Neil Snowdon, who was responsible for the terrific Nigel Kneale anthology, We Are The Martians.
While I started work on this project at the start of 2017, I haven’t talked about it at all online – mainly because my imposter syndrome kicked in badly with this project (the impressive list of contributors to the Midnight Movie Monograph series is daunting). But I’ve now delivered a draft and can finally accept that it’s happening…
My book is about the 1915–16 French silent crime serial, LES VAMPIRES, which stars Musidora as the original femme fatale, Irma Vep. As well as details of the production, the historical context and my response to the film, the book will contain 10 new pieces of weird fiction inspired by each of the 10 episodes of the serial.
Before I started writing the book I loved LES VAMPIRES. Now, after watching the 10 episodes countless times (the serial runs to 7 hours in total), it’s become one of my favourite films of all time. Lucky, that – I’ll be watching it many more times before the book is published…
More info in the new year.
My first YA novel will be published in 2018!
EXCITING! I’ve just now – less than half an hour ago! – signed a contract for publication of my first YA book.
It’ll be published by ChiZine, possibly in October 2018.
There’s no title yet, but it’s an SF adventure about a virtual-world prison for young offenders, modelled as a sleepy English village. It’s a bit Midwich Cuckoos and a bit Westworld (the 1973 film).
(Lots) more news soon!
Publication day: INVADERS FROM BEYOND
Publication day!
INVADERS FROM BEYOND is available *right now*. It’s a lovely, hefty omnibus that contains my novella, BLIGHTERS, alongside MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN CENTRE OF GOOD AND EVIL by Colin Sinclair and RAGS, BONES AND TEA LEAVES by Julian Benson.
Here’s the blurb for BLIGHTERS:
Them Blighters are everywhere.
They fell out of the sky last year, great horrible armour-plated slugs with razor-sharp fangs. But ugly as they are, they give the ultimate high to anyone nearby: a blissful, gleeful contentment that people are willing to kill for.
Not Becky Stone, though. All she wants is to drink beer, listen to her dad’s old vinyl, and get her life back to how it was before everything was all messed up.
Blighters? Frankly, she could do without them.
The ‘elevator pitch’ as a writing tool
At the end of the month Abaddon publish the INVADERS FROM BEYOND print omnibus, which features my novella, BLIGHTERS, alongside others by Colin Sinclair and Julian Benson.
To celebrate its publication, I’ve written a guest blog post, which appeared today on the Sci-Fi Bulletin website. It’s titled ‘So, there are these giant alien slugs: The ‘elevator pitch’ as a writing tool’.
Alongside some writing advice, it includes a description of my pitch to Abaddon’s David Thomas Moore at my very first FantasyCon in 2015.
Say hello to the new co-editor of the British Fantasy Society’s fiction journal!
(Hello!)
I’m pleased to announce that, yes, I’ve just been named as co-editor of the British Fantasy Society fiction journal, Horizons, starting with issue 7. I’ll be working alongside fantasy author and editor with Unbound, Shona Kinsella.
I’m really excited about the new role, and looking forward to reading some excellent genre fiction. We’re already making headway through the submissions inbox, and there’ll be a new call for submissions very soon!
Childhood Fears: Jason and the Argonauts
The Ginger Nuts of Horror website has published my contribution to its ‘Childhood Fears’ series, in which I dwell on the terror of the giant iron statue Talos in JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963).
‘The Weird in Weird Fiction’ FantasyCon panel on The Outer Dark podcast
This week’s The Outer Dark podcast includes a recording of the ‘Weird in Weird Fiction’ panel from last month’s FantasyCon in Peterborough, featuring me alongside some wonderfully knowledgeable people: Phil Sloman (moderating), Helen Marshall, Stephen Laws, Paul Woodward and Alistair Rennie.
I had such fun taking part in this one! The panel starts at the 1:11 mark, though you should also listen to the WorldCon ‘Rise of Weird Fiction’ panel recording earlier in the episode, and Helen Marshall’s fantastically detailed commentary on the current state of weird fiction. (Also: read Helen’s fiction! Her short story collections are incredible.)
BLIGHTERS in print
I’m pleased to announce that my novella, BLIGHTERS, will be released in print by Abaddon in November, as part of an omnibus of three novellas under the umbrella title INVADERS FROM BEYOND.
BLIGHTERS is about giant slugs that have mysteriously landed around the world, which provide anybody nearby with an intense sense of calm and contentment. Becky Stone, a disaffected, snarky twenty-something from Kendal in Cumbria, gets drawn into the search for Blighters for all the wrong reasons. It’s also sort of a murder mystery.
You can find out more about the novella (including reviews, linked guest posts and a Spotify soundtrack) here, or you can just go ahead and preorder the book at Amazon.
Finally, here’s the impressive cover – I’m particularly chuffed that the bottom quote is taken from the lovely Ginger Nuts of Horror review of BLIGHTERS from last year, when it was released as a standalone ebook.
Tim Major 
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