Available in All Good Charity Shops

Some of you may know, and others may have heard, that the publisher of my fiction, Freight Books, has gone into liquidation. I’m not going to go into the whys and hows here. There are plenty of articles online that go through the salient points, some objectively, some accurately, many just recirculating gossip or grindingContinue reading “Available in All Good Charity Shops”

Sucking on the Tailpipe of 2016

So four days to go in the year and we’re all panicking every time an artist who has made an impact on our lives starts trending on Twitter. I just woke up to the news about Carrie Fisher. I had to Google it just to confirm that it was less than a year ago that IContinue reading “Sucking on the Tailpipe of 2016”

The Waves Burn Bright – Gutter Review

I was delighted this morning to discover a review of The Waves Burn Bright in the latest issue of Gutter (issue 15). I hadn’t had a chance to open my copy since getting back to Japan and had a flick through while taking a break from editing and was not only surprised but really quite movedContinue reading “The Waves Burn Bright – Gutter Review”

The Waves Burn Bright – new for 2016

So here it is, the cover and blurb of my third novel, The Waves Burn Bright. Yet again Freight have done a stunning job with the cover (with zero input from me, so I’m allowed to gush about it). As some of you will know from posts elsewhere, the book concerns the Piper Alpha disaster thatContinue reading “The Waves Burn Bright – new for 2016”

Books of the Year

‘Tis the season for end of year lists so Freight have put together a list of the books their staff and writers have been enjoying this year. We were limited to two books apiece, which made the task almost impossible, but in the end I went with Andrew Raymond Drennan’s The Limits of the World and KazuoContinue reading “Books of the Year”

Blank Pages, Kind Words, Publisher of the Year

The year is winding down which means in Japan the temperature has dropped at least ten degrees overnight and the hot-water bottles have come out of storage. The Japanese claim to have four seasons but really spring and autumn are just transitional periods between an insanely hot and humid summer and a winter colder thanContinue reading “Blank Pages, Kind Words, Publisher of the Year”

Science Fiction, Flash Fiction, Shortlisted Fiction

All the news that’s new and approved. First up, I’m really pleased to announce that I have been made Reviews Editor of Shoreline of Infinity, a new Scottish-based international science fiction magazine. I was a big fan of the concept of the journal when it was first floated and became a subscriber (you can even seeContinue reading “Science Fiction, Flash Fiction, Shortlisted Fiction”

Award-winning Friends and Reviews

Hi folks, I’ll be back soon with a proper update and some big news but in the meantime here are two nuggets of happiness to tide you over. First off, Kirstin Innes – an old friend and fellow stablemate at Freight – has won this year’s Guardian Not The Booker. It’s a well-deserved victory for aContinue reading “Award-winning Friends and Reviews”

The Launching of Silma Hill

Well, the Silma Hill Book Tour is over. I’m back in Japan dealing with the twin miseries of humidity and jet lag. Seriously, this is the worst I’ve ever had. Three nights in a row awake until 7am and I’m supposed to not only be back at the day job but editing novel #3. That’s theContinue reading “The Launching of Silma Hill”

Competitions and Giveaways

In 2012 Raging Aardvark Publishing produced a book called New Sun Rising, an anthology of stories to raise money for the survivors of the March 11th 2011 triple disaster in Japan. An extract from my unpublished novel Dog Mountain was included and so began our relationship. Every year to celebrate International Flash Fiction Day they run a flashContinue reading “Competitions and Giveaways”