Its got a great selection of stories and I’m really excited to be part of this.  I’ll share more when a publication date has been set.

Last Saturday I spent the day in Waterstone’s Leeds, signing copies of ‘The Sulphur Diaries’.  I had a fantastic day, met loads of people, some new, some old friends, and even sold a few books!  I really enjoyed it and was thrilled when I was told that I’d be welcome back any time.  The next signing planned is in Bradford, but I’d love to get back to Leeds, perhaps after Clarion.

I love horror – perhaps it’s obvious in some of the stories I write – and I love horror films.  I think Cabin in the Woods is a film for people like me – who’ve seen all the old goodies (Evil Dead, Halloween, Hellraiser etc), and who know every cliché, every trope back to front.

It begins almost like most American horror films, introducing a bunch of dumb college kids.  I say almost, because just before that you’re introduced to some other guys who seem to be running some kind of black op.  I don’t want to say more than that – the first five minutes of the film – because spoilers will ruin this film for you.  I’d even say not to watch the trailer.

The film is scary, for sure, but mostly it’s funny, in a sick, twisted kind of way.  It comments on how formulaic most horror films are (and not just American ones), and teases our expectations of what should happen next. This genre-busting horror-satire-comedy is a real scorcher of a film, that keeps your brain engaged far more than most films.

There are some outstanding scenes, with great acting.  Bradley Whitford stole the show for me as the bored suit, just doing his job

For more on Joss – check out this Guardian piece on him.

Someone said their name, then a company, then congratulations.  I think I heard it, but I sat in silence for a few seconds, before the woman laughed and repeated what she’d said.  It was someone from Clarion West, they’d accepted me for their 2012 session in Seattle.  I managed a surprised ‘buuu?’ noise, and she patiently explained herself in more detail.  I guess she’d had a similar response from one or two other people.

I’d applied to the Clarion West 2012 workshop earlier in the year, with little to no hope of succeeding.  It’s quite a prestigious speculative fiction workshop, one I had looked into every now and then, that runs annually.  I’d always been tempted to go, but this year really grabbed my attention and I applied.  Then promptly forgot all about now.

Then that five minute phone call brought it all back – six weeks in Seattle, doing nothing but writing, with seven experienced and talented instructors.  I was in shock – trying to let it sink in.  Away from six weeks!  InSeattle!  Writing non-stop!

I’ve been dancing around with glee, knowing a huge amount of luck had fallen my way for once.  I feel very honoured to be one of the eighteen but I also hope some of the other fantastic applicants make it into one of the subsequent years.

I’ll post more as I find out more.

Boring! 

What about that other moment?  The one people don’t talk about so much.  The cruel hand of fate nudges us off the cliff, and something that could’ve been – should have been – is only a fleeting memory.  Orbital Hearts tells those stories:  doomed, lost, denied romances – each one tinged by the otherworldly, the macabre, and the fantastic.  An international coterie of ten extraordinary authors bring new voices to the field of fantastic fiction that will move your heart – one way or the other…

 My short story ‘Oracle’ is in here, but there’s 9 other fantastic stories to read, too.  There’s a nice mix of genres, too, from outright horror to a softer fantasy – each tale fits to the theme while taking you to new places.

Buy Orbital Hearts now for your:

UK Kindle

US Kindle

 Nook

There are corpses everywhere, the stench of blood and death assaulting my nose, but it’s still hard to believe any of this is real.  It’s not like I meant to do this, it’s not my fault.  Is it?

Sirens break me out of my daze, the familiar warbling increasing in volume as they get closer.

The police.  They’re coming to Crawemere – with their questions and logic and scepticism.  They’re going to want answers, but they’re not going to like the truth I have for them.  I’m in so much trouble…

The Sulphur Diaries Excerpt:

“There is blood everywhere, on the walls, on the tables; I’m not sure what I just stood in, but it’s slippery.

Johnny! I scream, to be heard over the racket from outside, but there’s no answer and I can’t see him in the dim light. There’s a wet thump against the outer wall, though I daren’t look out of the windows. If I do, I might never be able to look away.

The shrieking outside is like nothing I’ve ever heard, and I freeze. Clenching my hands to stop their trembling, I peer into the gloom. Soft red light from some torches show me nothing but a puppet-show of shadows fighting outside. I recognise some of the locals: Mr Higgins, the Croft twins, their shapes easy to pick out as they struggle against the imps.

There seem to be more of them now. Where are they coming from? I remember calling to Lyle – not even an hour ago, however much it feels like days – but why are these imps attacking, why–”

Read the first three chapters here or buy the novel now.

Amazon.co.uk

Kindle UK

WH Smith

International Links

Kindle USA

Book Depository (Free global delivery)

Add to your Goodreads:

 

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve had two stories accepted late last year that will be published early this year.  The first is ‘Childhood Monsters’ as part of the Behind Locked Doors anthology by Wicked East Press, due out in the first quarter.   Childhood Monsters is a tongue-in-cheek comedy horror story.

The second story is ‘Oracle’ which has been accepted into the ‘Orbital Hearts’ anthology by Escape Collective Publishing, due out February.  Oracle is a fantasy story with  a dash of romance.  I’ll update the site as more news comes out.

For the last day of the ‘Sun Stopped Shining’ blog tour, AudioTim – also know as Timothy C Ward – interviewed the tour instigator Matthew C. Wood and myself.    Matthew is the author of the free Science Fiction Web Series, The Day the Sun Stopped Shining.  It’s free, so I recommend you take a look, right after you listen to the podscasts below.

The first one is Tim and I interviewing Matthew, which you can listen to here.  The second is when they turn the tables and ask me the tough questions – listen to me squirm here.  Tim is also graciously giving away a copy of ‘The Sulphur Diaries – so go enter the competition!

If you haven’t already, click on the blog tour badge below and visit their blogs to browse their sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, and horror stories.

The Five Stop Story Kindle book is now available from Amazon. It features 30 of the best stories from over 1,000 entries to the Five Stop Story’s monthly competitions, including my ‘Mother India’ short. Price: £2.29/$2.99.  Download your copy now - UK kindle store or US kindle store.

Over the last year, Five Stop Story has run 9 competitions and received over 1,000 short stories to review. 30 of the best stories from our competitions are being put together for a Kindle book, which will be available from next week. The stories are grouped into five key sections: Tales of Betrayal, The Journey of Life, A Lighter Touch, Life-Changing Events and A Slice of Life. From extraordinary tales of love, loss and laughter to everyday stories with a twist, there is a short story for everyone in the Five Stop Story collection.

Mother India

Enlightenment was disappointing.

Bella Cooper might have been born into an ordinary white English household, but she always knew in her heart that deep down, she was Indian.

Yet Bella had been in the country for almost three weeks and still not felt that vital spark ignite her spirit. She’d expected something to have moved her as soon as her feet had touched ground – but the airport was all pollution and noise – nothing spiritual about it. She’d chanted at a Buddhist temple, watched the vultures flying above the towers of silence and salaamed towards Mecca more than once – yet nirvana felt as out of reach as always. In fact, she’d been told that swatting a fly in front of a Jain prayer hall had probably ‘moved her soul further away from divine consciousness’. Not that she could take the man seriously – it was just a bloody fly!

Buy the Kindle anthology to read on - UK kindle store or US kindle store.

Billy has lost count of the hours he’d been hiding out, the unchanging light not helping him to keep track of how long he’d been shivering behind the hedge.

Thing used to be so perfect, not long ago, back before the sun had disappeared.  All he can see are thick clouds that ripple across the sky in angry waves, the soft dusk light all shadows and smoke and screaming.

Not that he’s heard much screaming in the last few hours.  The backward-kneed demons no longer stalk the streets, yowling like cats in heat every time they came across a cowering human.  No, instead the only vaguely human thing in Billy’s sightline are the crumpled bodies lying in the road, and they’d been cold before the sun had given way to constant night.

Billy is proud of his muscles, of being the strongest boy in the village by miles.  Even with the glamour working its mojo on him, he’d do his crunches and weights until his arms and legs burned so that he had the best guns of anyone.  But now, the time that he really needs them is the time when they fail him.  However strong his legs might be, they tremble and shake so much that he can’t stand up.  His hands open and close convulsively by themselves and even his traitorous eyebrow muscle ticks, jumping on its own until he wants to scream.

Despite his upbringing, favourite son of a popular family, Billy has felt fear before.  When he’d lost his favourite stuffed demon, aged five, fear had spiked in his belly so hard that he’d been convinced he’d never sleep again.  When Matt had dared him to jump off the cliff near the gate, icicles had spiked into his flesh as the ground had rushed up to meet him.  (He’d broken a leg, which the cats fixed.  But for a second, he was sure he’d mis-jumped and aimed straight for Hell itself.)  Fear isn’t new to Billy.  What’s new is the idea that fear can paralyze, fear isn’t just a shiver down his spine, a sinking of his stomach – it’s a blank in his mind that controls him, controls his conditioned muscles.

A noise snaps him out of his haze.  Voices.  Normal speaking voices.  No screaming, no begging for lives or bargaining for souls (not that anyone in Crawemere had much hope there, blackened shrivelled husks of things), just the low murmur of a few people talking.

Billy listens to the crunching of shoes, biting his lip to control his breathing as they pass not two feet from him.  He can’t see anything through the gloom, so he closes his eyes and sinks even deeper into the hedge.  Whoever they are, whatever they want, everyone knows, everyone from Crawemere knows, once the sun has stopped shining, it’s the End of the World.

This is a short story for readers of ‘The Sulphur Diaries’.  I’m involved in The Day the Sun Stopped Shining Blog Tour, and wanted to start today with a story.  There’ll be more. I’ve already posted an interview, had a few interviews myself and there’s a competition below!  Visit the full blog list  to increase your chances of winning.

Competition:

What language did ancient English magician John Dee ‘invent’?  (He said Angels taught it to him.)  I’ll give you a hint, they use it in TVs Supernatural.

Post your reply in the comments (login via facebook if you don’t want to register – just make sure I can email you if you win).