Last month saw the publication of my water-themed dark fantasy micro collection, Waterlore, by the ever-excellent Black Shuck Books. As Steve Shaw, the publisher, tends to publish these nifty collections in pairs, Waterlore was paired with The End by Kayleigh Dobbs, which was lucky for me because I got to read The End early and […]
Q&As with Kayleigh Dobbs, Priya Sharma and Steve Shaw Read More »
It struck me the other day that my November this year will be “bookended” by two book launches, and as this isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence, I thought it worth writing about. The first event was the launch of my debut short story collection Umbilical at Five Leaves Bookshop in my home town of Nottingham,
Umbilical and Waterlore – bookending November Read More »
Imagine going into your local Waterstones and browsing the nearest tables of books. What would you likely see on display? The latest Colleen Hoover or James Patterson? Lead titles from traditional publishers who have been singled out for success by Richard and Judy? The novels that made the Booker shortlist? A memoir by a celebrity?
Short stories: why read them? Why write them? Why analyse them? Read More »
Since this is the one year anniversary of when I announced that I’d be closing down my small press, Mother’s Milk Books, I thought it worth reflecting on what my life’s been like since then. (Although, being a pedant, I have to say that much of the year was spent on the admin involved in
A Year of “Me Time” Read More »
Sometimes I wonder what the SFF book world must look like to those outside it. To those not enamoured with dragons, fairies, spaceships or extraterrestrials, it probably looks rather strange. Geeky? Most likely. And given the number of altercations in recent years with regards to voting for awards, award renamings and the like, I can’t
FantasyCon, kindness, and some writing revelations Read More »
Recently on social media, people were spreading a little positivity by sharing some of the things they’ve done in their 40s of which they’re proud. I didn’t take part at the time although I wanted to because a) I’m too slow on the uptake and b) the contrarian in me doesn’t like to rush along
Reflection is always valuable, but the end of the year provides the perfect excuse to pause and reflect on one’s achievements and mess-ups with a view to planning for the year ahead. My husband calls it ‘scheming and dreaming’ and it’s one of my favourite things to do. First, though, a look back on 2018.
Reflecting on 2018 and a Giveaway! Read More »
In October 2016 I did something unusual: I posted an ‘Intention’ (note the capital I) on my blog. The Intention was to put together a book – a collection of short stories in the SFF genre with the final aim of getting it published. At the time of declaring my Intention I knew
An Update on an Old Intention (aka How Ideas Mutate and Grow) Read More »
To date I’ve not been one to declare an intention publicly (I’m more the quiet person in the background puttering on with their work – vague intentions in my head, but never ‘out there’) so it feels a bit strange to do this, but I can see one big positive of declaring an intention
An Intention and Meet Starry-You Read More »