Poppies

Out walking today and we passed through fields of poppies. They're so fragile, giving the countryside a blush of red against the meadow grass, or nestling in amongst the barley and wheat. Poppies are the flower that says to me 'Summer'.

But poppies are speacial for other reasons too. Poppy is the main character in my children's novel - originally called Myth Making but now out on submission under the title Broken Mask.

Poppies are also my mother's favorite flower.

Footprints Story Published

It's out - the Footprints anthology from Hadley Rille Books which contains my short story 'The Last Traces' This looks like it is going to be a fantastic anthology - I'm eagerly waiting for my copy to arrive - can't wait. This is my 9th published story and my third in a Hadley Rille Books anthology.

You can buy it here from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk, and if you are likely to be in the Dorchester vicinity next month we're trying to get a signing set up - watch this space!!!

In the meantime - I hope you enjoy the stories!

40 Years Ago

40 years ago today Apollo 11 was launched. On Monday it will be the 40th anniversary of the first men, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin setting foot on the surface of the moon.

I’m not old enough to remember the moon landings, but it must have been a fantastic time. People must have looked at the stars and thought ‘Our children will be out there’.

Except we’re not. Why not? Why did we take that first step – knock at the door of space exploration and then back away to the confines of our one small fragile world. I can’t help feeling that we should have gone forwards – we should have gone on!!

But in my imagination I’m out there, in the stories that I write. And one of these stories will be coming out soon, for with the anniversary of the Apollo landing comes the launch of the Footprints anthology from Hadley Rille Books.

Watch this space…

Jupiter SF 25 is here!

I arrived home from work to find my contributers copy of Jupiter SF 25: Erinome, waiting on the doormat. It contains my short story The Oracle, and I'm really pleased to see this one in print!

So far I've only managed to read one of the stories - 'Radio Free' by Sam Kepfield, which I really enjoyed. I'll be settling down to read the rest of them later this evening - but after Torchwood of course!!

Anyway - head on over to the Jupiter SF website and order yourself a copy - this promises to be an ejoyable read!

Back out there!

It's time. The edit is complete and it's time for the children's novel to get back out into circulation.

My first batch of submissions - (gosh it feels like ages ago) - had a good response - a couple of requests for fulls, some superb feedback from one particular agent, and a promise of feedback from another (which has yet to materialise but as she's not made me an offer I guess I'm pretty much at the bottom of her heap).

But following the advice given to me by Agent#1, Myth Making has had an extensive rewrite - along with abrand new title!

So the time has come - it's been out of circulation for long enough (tied up in an exclusive with Agent#2) - and there are still plenty of agents left on my list. The first couple of submissions are winging their way across the ether as I speak (type), and I'll try to get more out over the next couple of weeks.

Lets hope that Agent#1's advice is enough to tip the balance. Wish me luck everyone!

Waiting

It’s so hard to be patient in this game. But we must. The cogs of this industry can move so slowly at times.

It can take an Agent several months to respond to a submission, many more months to respond to a full, and if you are honouring an exclusive on that full the wait can seem interminable.

I think if it wasn’t for the short stories I have out in circulation I would go crazy waiting. But fortunately the turn around on shorts can be much quicker - can be – but not always. I’ve had short stories tied up for over a year before now – and even once it is accepted it can be a long time before it appears in print. One contract I recently signed said the story would appear sometime in the next three years. So even here the turnaround can be very slow.

But patience is also important in the writing process itself. So many people finish their novel or story and then rush to submit. It’s so tempting to do. I’ve done it myself in the past, and watched the rejections rolling in. Why? Because the story wasn’t ready.

The editing phase is vital. It mustn’t be skimped. Put your work aside. Write something new. Do something else. Have a holiday. And come back to it fresh. You’ll be surprised how much you’ll see that needs to be done.

So I just have to try to be patient – only I’m not a very patient person.

Dismembered Bodies

They’ve found a load of dismembered bodies in the hills nearby, where a new road is being built – check this out:

But before you start thinking serial killers I ought to point out that these bodies date from Roman times.

It’s a fascinating find – seems that the heads are in one pile and the bodies in another. Apparently cutting off your enemy’s head was a mark of disrespect – no kidding!!

Archaeologists are busy all along the route of the new road. Here’s one of their dig sites showing some sort of circular structure. No bodies here though. They’re on the next ridge under 24 hour guard.
It’s fascinating to think about the people who lived here two thousand years ago – their lives – their worries. And what happened here? A pile of bodies with their heads cut off? There’s a story here somewhere – I can feel it.