Sunday 10 July 2011

Cursed, So I Am

Why is it that when you think you are finally catching up on your writing projects something catches your eye and your breath quickens? Browsing through publishing sites this morning one in particular immediately grabbed me, and I thought I'd love to have a story that would really fit into that. Then realised that I did. So, now I'm rewriting my short story 'Dream Stealer'. But that's never the end, is it? On top of this project I have the novel to complete, a feature a magazine editor's agreed to in advance and a brace of book reviews.

So, is writing a gift or a curse? A bit of both I guess. I simply love the way that stories chop and change as you develop them, the thrill of getting  critiques back and the sheer delight of having one or two accepted by editors; the dismay when occasionally those accepted aren't published and you wonder why you left it with them in the first place, when there are so many other markets waiting out there.

Tis cursed, so I am.

Friday 8 July 2011

Updates

Geoff Nelder now has his trilogy 'Left Luggage' under contract with Scottish small-press LL-Publications. This is an absolutely superb piece of news, for not only is Geoff an excellent writer but also a staunch backbone of the BSFA Orbiter groups, never failing to critique and assist the other members of the group. Well done Geoff, great news indeed. My fingers are crossed also for his 'Xaghra's Revenge', which is currently under consideration with Angry Robot.

Exactly what is happening with Combat and my feature of Matt Fiddes and Michael Jackson is simply beyond me. The editor assures me that this has already been published, although it's not out in the shops and should have been on 29th July, but the issue is showing on the digital edition page of www.combatmag.co.uk. I'm hoping that all goes well, as I've always been a strong supporter of Combat and have been producing work for them, on and off, since 1984.

As well as continuing work on my short story collection, which I hope to publish as an EBook, my novel is progressing well. The tutor for the MA Project, Andrew Wille, is simply superb, offering sound advice and criticism. At this moment in time I have 7 features accepted and  7 short stories away for consideration, having finally cracked my latest effort 'Seven Steps To Gethsemane'.

In the meantime it's back to writing the novel, and getting my spicey female Key Character, Jenny, further into battle with those seemingly unbeatable aliens.