Somebody Else Saturday - Simon Bestwick

The hilarious, talented and insane Marshall Payne inspired this post. His blog post on Tuesday reminded me that a blog shouldn't be all me, me, me (except of course when it's about me) and that I should set some blog time aside to pimp others. Hence the birth of Somebody Else Saturday TM. Now let me introduce my first victim, ahem, I mean someone you should take a little time to stalk. Oh dear, that doesn't sound any better...

I am fortunate enough to remember Simon Bestwick from way back when he was the editor of the anthology, Oktobyr, in the 1990s. An anthology that attracted the likes of Simon Clark, Jonathan Aycliffe, Tim Lebbon and me. Grins and promises she's not pimping herself, she's only proving that as an editor he attracted the outstanding, the famous (who are also outstanding), and took pity on an unknown because he was kinda cool like that.

This week marks the publication of Simon's short story collection, Pictures of the Dark, published by Gray Friar Press, and the collection was put together by Gary Fry. Hey, how did Gary slip in here, if it can't be about me, then it can't be about him. Boo! :o Maybe I should take away the boo, I shouldn't really antagonise people higher up the food chain than me. Okay, that's everyone. Nice boo!

Here's the blurb from the back of the book:

There are dark places everywhere.
The world outside your front door, and the one inside your head. Dreads and longings. Pasts and futures.
Loneliness and relationships. Love and hate. Life and death . . . and what might lie beyond.

And then there’s the place the stories come from.
The council estate where the dead walk . . . The farmhouse attic filled with mummified corpses . . .
The old tramp’s blanket, and what slept in it at night . . .

Tempted. I was, hence the picture of the collection standing just behind Mr. Grim (out of shot, because it's not about him either). Oh dear, my too read pile is set at wobble.

And if the above hasn't tempted you to check out Mr. Bestwick. Perhaps the fact that his novella, The Narrows, has made the British Fantasy Awards 2009 shortlist, or that, The Narrows, has also been selected by Ellen Datlow (I refuse to boo Ms. Datlow for appearing here, instead I'll curtsey) to appear in Best Horror of the Year #1.

Now go stalk him, or buy his book, or lick the copy of Best Horror when it arrives later this year.

Short Fiction is Not Dead

Fantasy Magazine's Sean Wallace is going to Readercon and he is taking some goodies with him. The second picture made my day, possibly my week, probably my month. Full of July goodness. I can't wait for my story to appear on the site, I have loads of prizes stacked up for my promotion thingy and I need to use them asap as my niece keeps wandering off with them (so far I've lost a pirate flag and an inflatable parrot). I'm doomed if she discovers the fairy and pirate tattoos.

Oh, and if you go to the con, be sure to pick one up.

Blood-Spattered Blog Post

My flash story A Blood-Spattered Letter from Mr. Grim is today's story over at the wonderful, Everyday Weirdness making July 1st full of goodness. Those with weak dispositions or scary spouses should ignore the link.

And don't forget Necrotic Tissue and Apex Magazine reopen today for submissions. What did I say: July 1st full of goodness. I've had two stories burning a hole in my inbox all week.

Starting Saturday, I'm going to be adding a new regular blog feature - Somebody Else Saturday - where I intend to pimp other people instead of me, me, me. I've already composed this Saturday's post for the first victim person I want to promote. Maybe it's you, then again, maybe it isn't.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, June

Sales: 4 (sort of) - 3 were sales, and one was a FTL reprint, but I'm counting it (especially as so many wonderful people read it).
Publications: 3 (Necrotic Tissue, Sand & Flashes in the Dark)
Approx Word Count: (note to self - where's my calculator) 3066 words ahem! Excuse imminent
Total Word Count 2009: 122,961 words
Stories out in submission land: No comment
WIP: The Drawing of Dolls - 11,611 words (not counted in months count), The Horrifiques - 1045 words.

One flash story - Playing Card Walls - and one short story - Empty Box Motel - this month. I completed a rewrite of my first MG, 'Lucy Baxter and the Evil Emporium' and then upon finishing decided I hated it. There was no stomping on the manuscript only a hurricane enducing sigh. I then settled down (again) to work on my YA, The Horrifiques, only for Lucy Baxter to persuade me ,with a new title and an even darker, creepier slant, she would work well as a YA/novella, so I'm currently 11,611 words into that. We still don't know if we're YA, horror novella, or weird-unpublishable time waster, and Lucy insists her name is really Claudia.


In other news, check out Stuart Neville's fantastic competition to win a signed copy of his debut novel, The Twelve along with a limited edition signed copy of his short story collection, The Six. I'm in.

Would I Lie to You?

"Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie."

Jamie Eyberg tagged me. The fiend!!!

Pride: What is your biggest contribution to the world?

I had to think long and hard about this one because I've contributed so much (of course, you already know that). Then, I realised, it had to be the big bang. That Tuesday billions of years ago when I had accumulated a build up of gas and just let it go. If I hadn't done that, there would be no world.

Envy: What do your coworkers wish they had which is yours?

My hair, or rather Marie Antoinette's. I stole her wig while she was eating cake. Now I offer to let them wear it for five minutes and make them sign a contract that states I can chop their head off if they don't hand it back. I forget to add that I've lined it with superglue. Heads on flagpoles are a great way to scare off bothersome customers.

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?

It's more a case of who. I did manage to regurgitate him though, or he wouldn't have been able to tag me with this meme. *Evil laugh*.

Lust: What really lights your fire?

Ahem! I've been told not to speak about this in public again, but I don't think anyone's listening. Oompa Loompa's. Shush, don't tell anyone.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?

Fred from the stationery department - he ordered superglue remover. I'm calm about it now though. I stapled his finger to the security guard's butt and took photos.

Greed: Name something you keep from others.

Their souls. I have a nice collection in the filing cabinet behind my desk.

Sloth: What's the laziest thing you've ever done?

Demanded Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins re-enact a scene in my living room as some fool had left the remote on top of the television and the Supernatural DVD was in the box.


Oh dear, what do those lies say about me. *Bites lip*.


Okay, so I'm tagging the following devilish people (some on blogger and some on LJ) - Katey Taylor, Marshall Payne, Kate Shaw, Jodi Lee, Mary Rajotte. Mark Deniz, and Samantha Sterner, oh and everyone who wanders here from Twitter. :)

WIP Wednesday

My second WIP Wednesday post, I guess it's lucky I finally have a WIP to write about. Or rather, why have one WIP when you can have two.

I've spent the past week (and most of the month) avoiding working on anything. Yesterday I sat down and decided to finally start work on my YA 'The Horrifiques'. I re-read the outline (impressed and left wondering why I'd delayed working on it), and then within the space of a day, I decided to pick-up my MG, 'Lucy Baxter & The Evil Emporium', again!!! I did this about a month ago - edited the manuscript, decided I hated it. I've given the manuscript a name change - The Drawing of Dolls - and I've started work on it hoping to turn it into a novella or maybe a short YA novel. Oh, and I've promised myself I will work on both (because I'm sure it's a delaying tactic to save the hard slog of writing a proper first draft).

So, here's where my WIP's stand - the estimated end figure is of course estimated:

The Horrifiques (YA) 1st Draft
1045 / 45,000 (2%)

The Drawing of Dolls
878 / 30,000 (3%)

Anyone else up for the WIP Wednesday challenge?

Catching Flies

Poor Frog... He's back again after a journey out into the world that lasted forty-seven days. Maybe it's his odd socks or his dandruff. After an initial hold request at a fabulous, published-long ago, anthology, poor Frog has been yo yoing around the world visiting the best-possible places. Maybe he needs to spend some time at Tokenville. He's too young to retire.

I'm going to let him put his feet up for a day or two while I search Duotrope for a market that will welcome his morbid sense of humour.

Happy, Happy Birthday

On this day last year, Edward Lupak accepted my story 'Through the Warped Eye of Death' for Sand. A very nice thing to do on a girl's birthday. This year, the fabulous R. Scott McCoy, perfectly timed the arrival of the first print issue of Necrotic Tissue. Woot! Which of course wins him the 'Best Editor of the Year' award. If you want to share the title with him, please send an acceptance today. You have until midnight to comply (I'll honour all time zones). :)

My name's on the cover!!! Stands up to prove she can still shake her butt.



If you haven't ordered your copy yet, do so now. It looks fantastic. The issue includes stories by Horace James, Justin Pilon, Jason L Keene, Jeremy Kelly, and Doug Murano.

WIP Wednesday

I've noticed a theme running on several blogs known as WIP Wednesday, and of course I thought it a marvellous idea. A good W day to catch up on where my current projects stand or slumber (ahem!). First off, let me point out that I claim to have about 6 books I want to write, and then there are several places I need to write shorts for (ie it's almost July and I have nothing to send to Necrotic Tissue), so where do my WIP's stand at this moment. Please take a moment to enjoy the visual representation of my brain workings...




Ah! Sweet June, it's too warm and sunny to worry about writing. Eyes glance towards the window. Oh! It's dull and raining. Writer goes away to think up another, better excuse.

Zombies in Hollywood!

Bards and Sages Quarterly have accepted my story 'Glass Coffins' for the January 2010 issue. It's a zombie tale set in Hollywood*.

*No animals were injured in the making, but some actors started to rot.

In other news, I entered 'Rosalind Red Stands in the Snow' in the Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction 40 competition. Scary stuff. The Grand Prize winner gets $500 - dream on, sister; and the Editor's Choice winners (of which there will be 39) get $25. There are about 240 stories in the competition so I'm not holding my water (especially as I have a kidney infection). :)