I’m getting really bad at updating this blog, aren’t I? And I have no excuse… it’s not as if there hasn’t been much to talk about. Because there very much has. I’ve been on a lovely roll of story success over the past few months, which has been great as my productivity has been badly dented by the joys of 2020.
Twenty Bloody Twenty, amirite? Sigh.
Anyway – stories! Stories are helping me a great deal at the moment, as even though my writing output has been low, I’ve been reading a ton. And if you’re also finding stories helpful at the moment, may I point you gently in the direction of a few things I’ve had out this year?
My fantasy flash story about a pair of friends with an intense connection, ‘One and One Makes One’, came out at Harbinger Press as one of their Flash Fiction Fridays in January.
In March, I had two stories out back-to-back. ‘Lux Nocturna’, a horror/dark fantasy story about one woman’s battle against darkness via the power of music, appeared in Galaxy’s Edge in March. I was honoured that this story appeared as part of the tribute issue to Mike Resnick, who very sadly passed away earlier this year. He purchased all three of the stories I ever sent to him, including ‘Lux Nocturna’, and I’ll forever be grateful for his support of my work.
And a couple of days later, ‘Mycelium’, another dark fantasy about a woman communicating with trees as she mourns her brother in a woodland burial site, came out at PodCastle. It’s my first story appearance there, and I couldn’t be happier to finally have a story grace the Flying Castle’s airwaves. You can read or listen to it as you choose!
Just yesterday, I had another first appearance, this time at Nature: Futures, with my story ‘Variations on Heisenberg’s Third Concerto’. This is another story about the power of music, this time sci-fi. What if there was a piece of music that was never the same twice? What if it could change the universe?
I also have a few stories forthcoming. Truancy will feature ‘Rose Briar’, my science fiction retelling of Sleeping Beauty. And I have a reprint forthcoming in an anthology from Flame Tree Press.
Perhaps most exciting of all, my favourite story from last year, ‘What the Sea Reaps, We Must Provide’, has been selected for The Best of British Fantasy 2019, due out next month. It’s my first Best-of anthology and I’m really excited!
Check out the amazing cover art…
*comes up for air*
Quite a deluge, methinks. But I’m not complaining… it’s wonderful to have so much of my work out there at once. Writing is all about highs and lows, and I intend to enjoy the highs while they’re here.
Panoply 