“The Unforgiven Dead”

The Artema anthology Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists, featuring my story “The Unforgiven Dead”, is now available. All my proceeds go directly to the brain tumour charity Taylan’s Project.

Since his untimely and tragic death, Taylan’s family have done an incredible amount to raise funds for research and to help others affected by this terrible disease. Please take a look at their site and the work that they do.

“The Unforgiven Dead” arose from various ideas that had been swirling around my head for some time. I wanted to set a story in the glorious Scottish Highlands, which I’ve camped in and hitch-hiked around several times. I’ve never actually climbed Suilven, but I’ve driven past it and wished that I had. And, of course, if you’re going to spend a night in a place like that (in one of my stories), you’d better be prepared to encounter some sort of strange alien or supernatural presence. I did some research, not yet settled on the type of creature or creatures my character would meet, when I came across the Sluagh, and one image in particular (see below). Mix in noctilucent clouds, too much time spent in hospitals, tandoori lobster — and “The Unforgiven Dead” is the result.

One of the images that inspired “The Unforgiven Dead”. The Sluagh, as envisioned by Andrew L. Paciorek.

Is It Spring Yet?

Thanks to a wonky jet stream it’s been a long, long winter in the Northern Hemisphere this year. Finally — finally! — it looks like the ice is beginning to retreat, at least in this corner of Old Blighty. Similarly, my own writing has been proceeding at a glacial pace these past couple of months. Hopefully the thaw will reach down into my brain and unfreeze the muse locked inside.

“The Bargain” accepted by DSF

Learned today that my short flash story “The Bargain” has been accepted by Daily Science Fiction. This is my fourth acceptance at DSF, and will be my sixth story to appear there in total (if you count Three Kisses as three separate stories). It also means that I already know I will (very probably) have at least six stories published in 2013 — and February’s not even ended! Not quite believing it all yet…I keep looking up, waiting for a piano to drop on my head and restore the karmic balance…

More details about “The Bargain” closer to its publication.

“Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists” Cover Reveal

Today sees the cover reveal for the anthology “Magic Creatures From Celtic Mists”, out from Artema Press in April, and containing my short story “The Unforgiven Dead”. More details about the story closer to its publication, but kudos to editor and artist Jeanne Haskin for the cover design.

“The Clay Farima” accepted by Beneath Ceaseless Skies

I’m very pleased to announce that my novelette “The Clay Farima” has been accepted by Beneath Ceaseless Skies.

Pleased for many reasons. First, BCS is a kick-ass magazine, one of the best looking and highly regarded venues in the genre. Second, it’s an opportunity for readers to see my longer works of fiction; I love being able to explore the worlds, characters and situations made possible by using the long form. Third, and by no means least, it’s been a real pleasure working with a pro-active editor like Scott H. Andrews. Check the stats at Duotrope or Submission Grinder. BCS consistently rates as one of the most approachable markets for writers, with the vast majority of rejections being personal. I can speak from experience! The nuggets of editorial wisdom these rejections contain are gold dust to the beginning — and even experienced — writer; ignore them at your peril. Used wisely, they can shape up your work…and one day, it may not be a rejection you receive.

I’ll post more about “The Clay Farima” closer to its publication date. Suffice to say that this month’s cover art by Jorge Jacinto (“The Frozen Valley”), although not at all related to my story, manages quite coincidentally to convey some of the atmosphere of its setting.

The Origin of Three Kisses

If you’re hopping over from the Daily Science Fiction e-mail blast of “Three Kisses”, welcome! If you’re not…welcome anyway!

I mentioned in an earlier post I would describe the writing prompt that led to the creation of my linked “Three Kisses” stories, so here it is. The prompt was set by the fiendishly clever and talented Ilan Lerman, as part of a series of writing challenges.

From a matrix of twenty four random words we had to choose just two, each from a different line, and these had to be used in the closing sentence of our story. The point was to try and work backwards from a known ending to create a story that fitted. It turned out to be a surprisingly effective approach.

This is the word matrix we were confronted with:

1) TESTAMENT – – DETERGENT – – INSPECTION – – WELTER

2) WEEPING – – INCINERATED – – ORDURE – – MUTATION

3) LOVE – – IMPENETRABLE – – WEAPONS – – JUSTIFICATION

4) COLD – – BRIGHT – – DECIDED – – OLD

5) CENTURY – – BELLS – – LIPS – – INK

6) GOLDFINCH – – GRASS – – FOLDED – – DAYS

As with most writing prompts, I initially stared at it in despair. Nothing. Nothing coming from it at all. Then I started to play with a few word combinations and the ideas slowly began to creep out. After a few false starts I eventually settled on the words “cold” and “lips”. These immediately brought to mind the classic Hans Christian Anderson tale “The Snow Queen”. At first I tried to avoid a straight up retelling of the work, instead attempting to make more oblique references…something like, say, Google’s Project Glass meets the troll mirror, an SFnal spin… but although these showed initial promise, I kept being drawn back to the raw, icy power of the original story. In the end I ditched the contorted layers of allusion and wrote Gerda’s imagined encounter with the Queen of Snowflakes straight up. “The Mirror of Reason” was the result.

By now I was on a roll. My brain went into overdrive identifying other significant kisses in Fairy Tale Land. For some reason it began to obsess about dwarves and their role in “Snow White” (by the Brothers Grimm). How, if we were to actually encounter them, they may not be as “Disney” (or even “Tolkien”) as we might assume. And if the dwarves received an unnecessarily good press, why wouldn’t also the Prince on his stallion? The collision of these two reversals gave rise to “Defenders of the Crystal Casket“.

“The Snow Queen” mentions a third fatal kiss — so I knew I had to write a third installment, and settled on the obvious choice: “Sleeping Beauty”. Again, the antecedents of Charles Perrault‘s fairy tale are much darker than the rosy modern incarnation. (It wasn’t a chaste kiss that woke the cursed Princess in earlier versions, for instance, but the twins she gave birth to whilst still in her cursed sleep.) I couldn’t let the loathsomely arrogant Prince from “Defenders” get off so lightly this time, and “A Royal Breakfast” sees him get his just desserts.

Although “The Mirror of Reason” was the first of the three to be completed, it seemed to make structural sense to me for it to be sandwiched between the two “Prince” stories to create a linked trilogy, and that was how it was submitted, as a single story. DSF are sending the sections out in a slightly different order, but that’s OK since they should each stand individually.

I hope you enjoy each of the “Three Kisses”. I had great fun writing them. And as to Ilan’s prompt…what two words would you choose?

Three Separate Kisses

Not only did the world not end today, somebody must have broken out the mistletoe at Daily Science Fiction headquarters. My story “Three Kisses” is going to be split into its constituent parts and will run on three consecutive days starting 22nd January 2013. (The DSF January lineup can be found here.)

I wrote these fairytale-inspired flash pieces in quick succession, all based on the same prompt (more details of which closer to the publication date), and submitted them as a single story divided into three sections. It’s a real privilege — and nerve-wracking! — to find that these will be published separately, landing in DSF’s 6000 subscribers’ inboxes three days in a row.

To celebrate, I created a mashup image that I hope reflects the individual “Kisses”. Can you guess which stories provided the original inspirations?

(Top image: Daniel Eskridge, centre: StinaBG, bottom: Eugenio Recuenco.)

Almost The End

Coming close to the end of 2012, and also to the end of the 13th b’ak’tun. Whatever that is. According to some, it’s time we all made sure our arrangements were in order. Real Soon. Hmmm. We shall see.

So far this year I’ve written eleven new stories, ranging from 350 words to 10K. Two were published and I already know at least two more will appear next year (assuming Q The Winged Serpent doesn’t scoff us all in the next couple of days). So, progress, I guess, building on last year’s first story sale.

It’s becoming very clear to me just how much I still have to learn, the areas I need to work on, the fact there is no end to the process of improvement…in many ways I find this really exciting. But, oh. If only I had just a little more time…

The Next Big Thing

Last week I was tagged for the “Next Big Thing” meme by Ilan Lerman and Georgina Bruce. Both are hugely talented writers, and if I could reverse tag them I would. The idea of “The Next Big Thing” is to answer ten standard questions and then tag more writers in turn, who answer the same questions on their blogs a week after, etc.

So here are the questions, and my answers:

1) What is the working title of your next book/short story/project?

It’s a novel. The current working title is “Heptatheon”.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

It’s basically a continuation, a sequel to my first novel. I know there’s a lot of sensible advice out there saying you shouldn’t write a sequel to your first novel unless it has proven successful, but I just couldn’t resist returning to see how the story and characters developed. The setting — a constructed world — is designed to be a writer’s playground, so it’s difficult for me to stay away from it too long.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Science fiction, definitely. Although the reader probably wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from epic fantasy in most cases.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

The protagonist, Urek, by Jake Gyllenhaal. Hudomek, his reluctant sidekick, by some unholy genespliced hybrid of Yul Brynner and James Gandolfini. In the first novel the villain would have been played by Tom Cruise, but in this one, I think I’ve got Ed Norton in mind. Their co-stars would be Meryl Streep, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johanssen. Yes, it would be an expensive film to produce.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

This is the most difficult question to answer, especially as I’ve only just begun serious work on the WIP. Still, it’s always good to have a vague idea of what you’re trying to achieve.

Uh, how about this line for Voiceover Man:

“The fate of the world will be decided at the heart of the Heptatheon, where our hero will choose whether humanity or the gods triumph.”

Gosh, nobody has written about that before.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I honestly don’t know.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The last novel took just over four years. I’d like to think this one will take much less, but real life is pretty busy with a young family and a very full time job. I’ve really only just started it, so there’s a long way to go yet.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

…The good ones?

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The original story was inspired by a tree that towers outside my work office. I imagined someone climbing up it, trying to escape from an imminent threat. What were they escaping from? And what were they escaping to? Urek’s story all stems from that.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

The first novel was essentially about the narrator coming to terms with the fact he wasn’t as human as he hoped, a journey of self-discovery. In “Heptatheon” the journey continues, but with the stakes and scale cranked up. Thematically, I’m attempting to touch upon the corrupting effects of power; plot-wise there will be intrigue, betrayal, struggle against impossible odds, giant monsters, massed battles and who knows what else. Although I know the ending (more or less), I’m a complete pantser at heart, so anything could happen on the way and probably will.

It will be interesting to read this post again in a few years time and see how the result matches up with my original intentions and expectations.

Now to hand on the baton.

To Erin Stocks a writer, musician, and graduate of the 2011 Clarion Writer’s Workshop. Her fiction can be found in the anthology Anywhere but Earth by Coeur de Lion, Flash Fiction Online, the Hadley Rille anthology Destination: Future, The Colored Lens, and Polluto Magazine.

And to Cécile Cristofari, an aspiring young writer who has so far had a couple of articles published by Strange Horizons and who I’m sure has a bright future ahead of her.

I can’t wait to see what their answers will be.

“Three Kisses” accepted by DSF

First the bad news: “Nine”, the online journal that recently published my story “Starfish and Apples”, has permanently closed. I’ll be sad to see it go. I loved its clean, clutter free layout and its mix of long and short fiction from both new and established names. The editorial staff always seemed very friendly and professional, and I wish them well in their future endeavours.

On the good news front, I learned today that my short story “Three Kisses” has been accepted by Daily Science Fiction. This is my third acceptance there, but the first story which is longer than flash length (although it is composed of three flash length components). Really pleased by this, as I hope it signals my ability to write longer length, marketable stories is improving. In an industry where word count is directly proportional to the cost and risk of publishing a story, this is particularly gratifying.

I’ll write more about “Three Kisses” closer to its publication date (hopefully early 2013), but for now, here’s a teaser image: