As the year
grinds inevitably towards its end we come, with equal inevitability, to the
annual round-up and hopeful glances towards the future. Not a very long post,
you’ll be glad to hear since 2018 has been fairly quiet with regard to
publications.
In June I achieved a lifelong ambition, and had a Jerry Cornelius story published on the Further Adventures of Jerry Cornelius website. Titled "Pierrot in Bombazine" I had fun playing with steampunk tropes, among other things.
July saw a story
of mine appear in PICKMAN’S GALLERY from Ulthar Press: an anthology of
Lovecraftian fiction that took its cue from the original HPL story, “Pickman’s
Model”. My own contribution, “Eigenspace X”, was an askance look at the modern
art world, and what happens when sculpture meets multi-dimensional mathematics.
July saw a story
of mine appear in PICKMAN’S GALLERY from Ulthar Press: an anthology of
Lovecraftian fiction that took its cue from the original HPL story, “Pickman’s
Model”. My own contribution, “Eigenspace X”, was an askance look at the modern
art world, and what happens when sculpture meets multi-dimensional mathematics.
The Western I’d
always wanted to have a go at was published by Pro Se Publications in August:
REVENGE IS A COLD PISTOL. I was surprised (and delighted) to discover that not
only were there paperback and Kindle editions, but also a hardback. To my mind,
the publishers should have scrapped the paperback and just gone with hardback
(while maybe reducing the price a little): the whole product looks so much
sharper, the cover art more vibrant.
WEIRDBOOK #40
included my “And the Living Is Easy”: a short story which started life as a
one-act play, believe it or not. Concerning two sun gods hiding away from a
poisoned or dying sun, it probably works best as short fiction (a good man
always knows his limitations).
And my final
appearance of the year was in THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF HORRORS. Unable to
resist diving back below the deep blue briny and mixing up a Kate Bush track
with a Japanese monster, I came up with “Her Favourite Place”.
* * *
And for 2019? It’s
often difficult to be precise, because publishing is rarely an exact science,
but I can say that Graeme Hurry’s KZINE #23 is out in January and includes a
short SF story of mine: “A World in Aspic” (which you might describe as valvepunk, if we’re throwing labels around).
Damian Paladin
will be returning in “Cradle of the Deep” in the first issue of the relaunched
STARTLING STORIES (you guessed it: more underwater frolics), and a revised and
expanded edition of THE PALADIN MANDATES (includes two previously unpublished
adventures for Leigh Oswin and Paladin) should be heading your way. And
elsewhere, if the stars are right, another team-up with Adrian Cole’s Nick
Nightmare. Those two do get around.
Finally, there is
another short novel ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world: involving
an updated masked avenger which, no one will be surprised to hear, involves
quite a lot of flying. And hand to hand fighting. And gunplay. Details as and
when.
* * *
And that’s it.
Just remains for me to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2019. Be good to
each other.
