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Conventions Edinburgh International Book Festival Events New Story

The Honey Trap in the Edinburgh Book Festival edition of Shoreline of Infinity

Now that Worldcon is over, on to the next thing: the Edinburgh International Book Festival is on now, and Shoreline of Infinity have produced a special issue in partnership with the event.

The line-up includes *deep breath* Iain M Banks, Shelly Bryant, Monica Burns, Thomas Clark, Benjamin Dodds, Gary Gibson, Pippa Goldschmidt, Lewis Grassic Gibbon (James Leslie Mitchell), Caroline Grebbell, Nalo Hopkinson, Russell Jones, Katie Gray, Ken MacLeod, Iain Maloney, Ada Palmer, Dee Raspin, Adam Roberts, Marge Simon, Charles Stross, Jo Walton, Andrew J Wilson, Jane Yolen, and Grahaeme Barrasford Young. You’ll also find my BSFA Award-winning story, ‘The Honey Trap’, in there, and I’m thrilled to be in such wonderful company.

You can find it at the Book Festival Bookshop over 12th to 22nd August – or you can pick it up online here.

Shoreline of Infinity are also hosting a special event this Wednesday (16th August) as part of Unbound at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The line-up includes Ken MacLeod, Jane Yolen, Nalo Hopkinson, Jo Walton, Bram E. Gieben, Pippa Goldschmitt, and Markee de Saw & Bert Finkle, so it’s going to be a wonderful night. It’s free, so if you’re about why not join them at The Spiegeltent from 9pm?

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New Story

Good Boy on Pseudopod

I’m thrilled to announce that Pseudopod have published an audio version of ‘Good Boy’, narrated by Andrew Reid, as part of Flash On The Borderlands XXXVIII: Letting Go.

This is my first audio story, a reprint of one that originally appeared in Far Horizons in 2015. And I have to admit, it’s been a curious experience: the sheer delight at Pseudopod taking this on mingled with nerves about how a story so rooted in my native North East England might be handled by someone else.

That’s why I’m grateful to Andrew Reid for narrating this one, as I think he brought out some really interesting nuances to the story, particularly in the pacing and cadence of his reading. Incidentally, Andrew released his debut novel Kingdom’s Fall just last year, which is well worth picking up from here.

Additionally, I’d like to thank Alasdair Stuart, who not only encouraged me to submit this to Pseudopod, alongside his partner Marguerite Kenner, but also handled the difficult outro to this story with such deft care.

You can hear Andrew’s reading of Good Boy as part of episode 549 of Pseudopod, which also contains a splendid pair of tales from Samuel Marzioli and Richard Farren Barber. Please be warned, it’s a very dark episode. Here’s the link to listen.

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Awards Awards Conventions Events Fantasycon Fiction New Poetry New Story

September Shenanigans: Event Horizon, Fantasycon, Thirty Years of Rain and more.

I’ve got a bit of news. Well, quite a lot of news, actually. Earlier this year, I put in an application to the University of Glasgow’s MLitt programme in Fantasy — and to my immense delight, they accepted me. So I’m currently condensing my life into a dozen boxes, as I’ll be moving myself and them up to Glasgow this weekend. It’s both terrifying and utterly exciting (and I’m not just talking about the ability to buy a tonne of books and call it work), but I can’t wait to be living in such a vibrant, creative community of writers and artists. The hard work begins here.

September is looking to be a busy month already, with book launches, events, and two new things coming out. While I’m taking a breather from boxing up, I thought you might like to know what’s coming up in the next few weeks…

Event Horizon 11

5th September: Event Horizon XI (Edinburgh)
Next Monday, join me, Bram E. Gieben, Harry Giles, Elaine Gallagher, The Spiders, and Russell Jones for stories, slam poetry and some stonking performances that’ll knock your SFing socks off. We’ll be at the Blind Poet in Edinburgh from 7pm. For more details, check out the facebook event page here, or last week’s blog.

23rd September: Shoreline of Infinity 5 is out! (Everywhere!)
The next issue, featuring my latest Noise and Sparks column, hits the shelves! Pick it up from Transreal Fiction or Deadhead Comics in Edinburgh, or order direct from www.shorelineofinfinity.com.

Additionally…

Thirty Years of Rain

23rd – 25th September: Fantasycon-by-the-Sea (Scarborough)
This year’s Fantasycon ships up in sunny Scarborough for a weekend of fun, frolics and the world famous Fantasycon Disco Karaoke, the Karaoke is the best. Kev McVeigh, Martin Petto and I have just finished judging for the Non-Fiction Award of the British Fantasy Awards, which will be announced that weekend. I’ve also been booked for a panel, so more on that when it’s been officially announced. For now, I can say I’ll be at the NewCon Press & Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle Book Launch on Saturday (24th) at 3pm, where we’ll be signing copies of the GSFWC‘s 30th anniversary anthology, Thirty Years of Rain. If you’re about, why not join us?

30th September: Thirty Years of Rain – Glasgow launch (Glasgow, funnily enough)
Naturally, it wouldn’t be right to have a Glaswegian book without a Glasgow launch. Come join me and even more GSFWC authors at Waterstones (Sauchiehall Street) for free booze, readings — and, of course, we’ll be on hand to sign any 30th anniversary anthologies you may have just bought that evening. The event kicks off at 7pm, so do join us then.

If you’re not able to make either of the two launch dates for Thirty Years of Rain, you’ll be able to order it online nearer the time, and I’ll post details of that when I have them. In the meantime, if you’re wanting your new story fix, don’t forget Fox Pockets: The Evil Genius Guide (feat. ‘Dame Ammonia Dastardly-Truste’s Evil Genius College for Ladies Class of 2014: Graduation Speech [Transcript]’) is out now in paperback, with e-book to follow soon.

I think that’s it — until Glasgow!

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Conventions Fantasycon Fiction New Poetry New Story

The Evil Genius Guide, Thirty Years of Rain, and Shoreline of Infinity

Ever wondered what it takes to be an Evil Genius? Now’s your chance to find out.

FS9-Evil-Genius-Guide-ebook-72ppi

The Evil Genius Guide is the latest in Fox Spirit‘s Fox Pockets series, and I’m delighted to return to it with a story almost as mad as the ‘The Real Deal’, which appeared back in Fox Pocket 1: Piracy.

‘Dame Ammonia Dastardly-Truste’s Evil Genius College for Ladies Class of 2014: Graduation Speech [Transcript]’ (deep breath) is a story about love, revenge, and machine gun bikinis, set in private school with a rather unusual graduation ceremony. It’s an older tale — I first submitted this story two years ago — so it’s interesting both to see how my writing’s changed in the years since, but heartening also to see how Past Me could still pull a surprise out of the hat when she needed to.  Of course, if that doesn’t take your fancy, Chloe Yates, Andrew Reid, Steven Poore and the rest of this dastardly ensemble will gladly indulge your lust for evildoings. Paperback copies are available to order now, with an ebook due very soon.

The release of The Evil Genius Guide is also a bit of a landmark for Fox Spirit Books — this and the soon to be released Reflections are the last in the current Fox Pockets series. So Fox Spirit are having a very special celebration to mark this on 25th August at the Secular Hall, Leicester. Don’t forget to pick up your tickets, ’cause there ain’t no party like a Fox Spirit Party!

In the meantime, I’m taking a break from the world’s least fun game of Katamari Damacy to go through proofs for Thirty Years of Rain, the anthology celebrating 30 years of the celebrated Glasgow SF Writers Circle. As you might expect, the TOC’s a blinder, with Louise Welsh, Amal El-Mohtar, Garry Gibson, Hal Duncan, Eliza Chan, Neil Williamson and more. I’ve also just finished my latest Noise and Sparks column, which will be in the next issue of Shoreline of Infinity.

Both of these should be out around the 23rd September — just in time for Fantasycon-By-The-Sea, where I’ll also be hanging around for the Thirty Years of Rain launch. So, if you’re going, I hope to see you then!

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Events Fiction New Poetry New Story

The Week of All The Stuff

I mentioned last week that 2016 was going to be somewhat busier on the story front than last year. What I didn’t mention was how early all of this would be starting. Like… now! This week I’ve got a story and a brand new poem in two quite different anthologies. I’ll also be making a last minute appearance at A Thing In Scotland. So I should probably tell you all about those.

First up, Digital Dreams is the new anthology from NewCon Press, collecting ten years of great SF writing from one of Britain’s most celebrated independent presses into one e-book. As I understand it, a number of these stories are appearing for the first time in this format here – and a book with Lauren Beukes, Pat Cadigan, Justina Robson, Kim Lakin-Smith, Nina Allan, and more definitely deserves your time and attention. In short, it’s an unmissable retrospective from some of the genre’s top writers of the last decade. I’m proud to say my tale ‘The Honey Trap’ (which first appeared in NewCon Press anthology La Femme, and won me a BSFA award last year) can be found in here too. Digital Dreams is out now.

Secondly, The Speculative Book will be launching this Friday. This is the first anthology from the Glaswegian collective The Speculative Bookshop, and features tales and art from the likes of Peter Sutton, Neil Williamson, Brian Milton, Elaine Gallagher, and, well, me, all curated by Chris Kelso and folks from the Speculative Bookshop team. This should be a splendid anthology for those looking for brand new up-and-comers in SFF, and raw storytelling talent. My poem ‘Coronal Mass Ejection (Solar Minima)’, inspired by the experiences of Joan Feynman, can be found inside that. My first published poem. Which is nice.

In addition, it’s probably time I told you that I’ll be at The Speculative Book Launch this Friday 8th January at the Old Hairdressers in Glasgow, along with a good deal of the rest of the authors. So if you’re wanting something signed, that’d seem like a good night to get along to. Also, the marvellous Creative Martyrs will be performing, which is always… an interesting night out. So if you’re at a loose end in Glasgow this Friday, why not pop along?

A story, a poem and a live thing. That’s a busy week right there. I’d best be getting on with it.