FiftyNinth Time
Another good week!
The first piece of good news is this: do you remember that, a while ago, I mentioned an anthology being produced of anti-fascist stories? What do you mean, No? Weren’t you paying attention? Well, look. Listen. Concentrate and I shall inform you… The antho is called Never Again and it’s due out from GrayFriar Press in September, and it’s being edited by Joel Lane and Allyson Bird. Well, they’ve started announcing the contents, and I’m pleased to be able to announce that my story A Place for Feeding is one of the successful submissions! Yay! This is shaping up to be a really good antho – it’s got a lovely cover by Daniel Sierra, other authors confirmed as included include Steve Duffy, Tony Richards, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Tuttle and a host of other top notch writery types, and it’s for a very, very good cause. So everyone’s happy, yeah? Well, no – Mark Samuels has been whining that he wasn’t invited to submit, claiming it’s part of some blacklist that he’s on because he dared to challenge the ‘group think’, rather than an outcome of the way he spoke about Ally Bird following her BFS win last year. There’s always one, isn’t there? I suppose it does raise an interesting point about the etiquette of anthologies – should you be entitled to submit to an antho, even if there’s personal animosity between you and one of the editors? Well, no, of course not – the moral of the story would seem to be, editors have all the power so don’t piss ’em off! Or at least, be prepared to take the consequences of your actions like a man… And anyway, let’s face it, does anyone care about Samuel’s self-centred and self-opinionated ramblings? No? Thought not. Never Again will, I’m sure, be an excellent and worthwhile book, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
In other news, my copy of Where the Heart Is turned up, and lovely looking thing it is too! I’ve read the first two stories so far and have enjoyed both immensely (well, okay, I’ve read the first two and mine – it’s an author thing, okay?). This is another antho that I’m really pleased to be a part of , and it’s already picking good reviews: http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/where_the_heart_is_gray_friar_press.htm Des’ comments about the antho are
Where the Heart is cover - available now!
positive, and his comments about my story in particular are spot on!
And that’s about it, I think. Work on the novel progresses well, and is feeling both positive and fun to do. My plan is to try to put at least 5000 first draft words a week onto it – we’ll see how that goes… I’ve also seen the proposed lineup of authors for an anthology I’ve been invited to submit to (no Mark Samuels there either – more evidence of the blacklist, no doubt…), and it’s fantastic. I have what I think is a strong story to do for it, but there’s also time yet (a surprising luxury, as most of my deadlines seem to be short at the moment!), so I’m not rushing it. I want to get this one right…
Okay, Lords and Ladies, that’s it, I’m done for the week. Go back to your lives and await further developments.
FiftyEighth Time
Did you miss me? Was there longing in your heart as you waited for the next installment of the blog, as a soundtrack comprising mostly of Johnny Cash’s Hurt played in you mind? Was your life a void, empty and bleak, a mere waiting moment, anticipating my arrival?
No? Oh well…
Right, I have news. First of all, have you seen this:
Where the Heart is cover - available now!
Why am I posting this? Because, of course, I’M IN IT! It’s looking like a great anthology, and it includes (alongside my own little tale, ‘Scale Hall’) stories by Gary McMahon, Joel Lane, Stephen Volk, John Travis and a whole bunch of others – I can’t wait to read it! It’s available for the bargain price of £8.99 (plus P&P) from the Gray Friar Press website – www.grayfriarpress.com. Well, what are you waiting for? Go and buy a copy!
Mammoth 21 cover
FCon, and that there’ll be a signing… I’m not completely sure that the cover here is the final one, but it’s the one on Amazon (my suspicion that it’s not ‘real’ is because it’s been on Amazon for ages!) so it’ll do for me. My little story about a Zambian water demon will soon be on the shelves of Waterstones and all other reputable and disreputable booksellers from October! Me, I’m happy.
Just a reminder: I have some copies of Lost Places in hardback left, so if anyone wants a signed copy (£25 plus postage) get in touch. It’s a good investment – after all, I might be famous one day! Probably not, I grant you, but you never know…
Anything else? No, that’s about it for now. Don’t want to overload you all… Back to your lives, Lords and Ladies, there’s nothing more to see here…
Simon Kurt Unsworth's Blog 