'They walked on the thin stony dirt between miles of dead grass too short to bow to the northwest wind. Enormous masses of cloud travelled backward over their heads so that they seemed to be walking very fast, the grey plains sliding with them. 'Clouds make you dizzy,' Martin said, 'like looking up a flagpole.' … Continue reading Stuck Into the Sky
Category: writing
Interzone 294
My story 'The Coming of the Extroverts' will be published in the issue 294 of Interzone, coming out later this year. Very pleased to be involved with this excellent magazine as it moves to its new home, and equally pleased to be included with lots of other fabulous writers. I'm especially excited by this story, … Continue reading Interzone 294
Labyrinth of Stone
'Nothing changed in the labyrinth of stone. On Earth by this time the sun would have shifted quite a bit, but here the long lunar day held sway, [and] the sun seemed to keep hanging in the very same place, extinguishing the nearest stars, so that it was surrounded y a black void shot through … Continue reading Labyrinth of Stone
Vines
My story 'Vines' has been published by Interzone Digital. The idea for it first came to me about twenty years ago, when I lived in a flat in Brixton, near Brockwell Park. It took me a while, but I eventually found a way to convey some of the strangeness of those days. This is the … Continue reading Vines
Interzone Digital
My year so far has been caught up with sleep deprivation and illness, an inevitable Covid infection turning the last weeks into a zombie state of dead time, old cartoons and black-and-white films on Youtube. I can't believe half of 2022 has slipped away from me. The early months of the year had also seen … Continue reading Interzone Digital
SF Crowsnest Review
Very pleased (not to mention grateful) for the following review of my little science fiction book, Requiem For An Astronaut. 'I liked everything about this [book]. Bart is a perfect narrator with a calm, observant, slightly jaded point of view that doesn’t lapse into cheap cynicism. His style is relaxed and his musings reveal much … Continue reading SF Crowsnest Review
Requiem For An Astronaut
I'm very pleased that my first science fiction novella, Requiem For An Astronaut, has been published by New Con Press. Requiem is set in the environs of East City, the location for my recent SF stories, and features a scientist, Bart, and his search for the lost astronaut Joan Kaminsky. An excerpt follows below. 'I … Continue reading Requiem For An Astronaut
2021
2021 has been a busy year for me, even if it feels I've never really left the same square mile in East London. For one thing, I took on some more work towards the end of last year, which has taken up more time than I anticipated. Another, and far happier reason, is that my … Continue reading 2021
Morphrog 23
I have five (not so easy) pieces in the most recent edition of Morphrog online magazine, including a prose poem, 'Birches'. Here's an excerpt: 'I found myself in a small copse of young birches: a damp smell of humus and fresh rain, the sky closed and white, the onset of spring heralded in distant, waxy … Continue reading Morphrog 23
Interzone 290-291
My short story 'An Island For Lost Astronauts' features in the current double issue of Interzone. I'm particularly proud of this one. The story takes place in Rivertown, one of the weird locales of East City, the megalopolis at the centre of some of my recent stories. The astronauts moved amongst us like captive angels. … Continue reading Interzone 290-291
Absence Club 