A trio of awesome anthologies

I'm very happy to be blogging about not one but three new anthologies of short stories coming in the near future, and especially pleased to be appearing in each one.

The first is Voices, edited by Sarah Dobbs, "A collection of memoir, poetry, prose and life-writing from new and established authors. All work is set in Blackburn or written by those with a strong connection to the town." My flash, After a Long Illness, Quietly at Home, is one of my personal favourites and I'm delighted it was chosen to be part of Voices. You can listen to me reading the flash (and channelling my paternal grandmother's voice) here.

The Monster Book for Girls is being published by Exaggerated Press and carries two of my very short stories, Spirit Level and Don't Give Me That Face. The cover artwork is very cool and the whole concept was inspired by the pre-war annuals which contained wholesome stories for girls. This new anthology does not, but promises to be great fun.

In April 2012, Pangea will be published, being a collection of the best stories from the website, WriteWords. Two of my longer short stories are in this anthology, The Wedding Fair and LoveFM. I'm looking forward to the promotion and launch of Pangea, in Bristol, with readings at Foyle's and elsewhere.

It's great to be in the company of writers I love and admire, such as Andrea Ashworth, Caroline Choille, Joel Willans and Vanessa Gebbie. Here's to a trio of happy publication dates!

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The fragile art of writing

Of the many reasons I love The Paris Review, their series of interviews with writers comes first. Such as this one with William Trevor: "I think self-confidence is a very dangerous thing for writers. I tend to write in a fragile, edgy, doubtful sort of way, trying things out all the time, never confident that I've got something right," which sums up my afternoon's work perfectly. And this one, with P.D. James: "I write the books out of order, rather as if I were shooting a film, and then put the story together at the end". Or this one, with John Le Carré: "It's a principle of mine to come into the story as late as possible, and to tell it as fast as you can," which has made me think about my current project in a different, refreshing way.

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Goody bag of books

Back at the end of the summer, when the days were still long and the weather was (almost) balmy, the team in charge of the Harrogate Crime Festival ran a Reader Review competition: write a review of a crime book and upload it to You're Booked, with a prize for the best submission. I entered my review of Luther: the Calling by Neil Cross, a book that terrified me. And last Monday, a particularly dreary day of fog and cold, I received an email: "I am pleased to announce that your review has been selected as the winning entry in our Reader Reviews Competition. Thank you so much for taking the time to write and submit your review. We very much enjoyed reading your submission. Wonderfully written and incredibly perceptive, we thought your review gave the perfect balance of plot summary and personal analysis."

My prize? A goody bag 'jam-packed' with crime books. I call that a result. Thank you, Harrogate team!

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The Coward's Tale

Here's some good news to brighten your Monday morning: Vanessa Gebbie's first novel is published today by Bloomsbury. The Coward's Tale is already picking up terrific reviews, including one by A.N. Wilson who calls the book a 'gem'. I've been a fan of Vanessa's short stories since I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of Words from a Glass Bubble, her first collection (Storm Gathering is her second). What's more, Vanessa is truly supportive of other writers and has done much to boost my confidence and keep me striving for better. Congratulations, Vanessa, on The Coward's Tale and so much more. May Ianto find a huge audience, everywhere.

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Friction Magazine

I'm very happy to be in the new issue of Friction, alongside Benjamin Judge, Fatin Abbas and others, with my very short story, Silver Print. Friction Magazine and Journal is described by its team as "the new online space for creative writing and non-fiction published by the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts and edited by the students on the MA and PhD programmes in creative writing at Newcastle University". Friction publish a selection of stories, poetry, flash fiction and other creative work that won’t easily fit into categories. I'm very happy that they found a place in issue three for Silver Print. Oh and please remember I'm guest reading all next week at Smokelong Quarterly - see previous post for details.

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Guest reading at Smokelong Quarterly

I'm excited to be guest reading at one of my favourite writing venues, Smokelong Quarterly, the week of October 17th. So if you have a story under 1,000 words that you think I'll love, please submit to the magazine following the website guidelines during that week. If you're brand new to the venue, here's the story I had published in Smokelong a while ago. And here's my interview with them. All stories will be read blind, so I won't know whose stories I'm seeing, but you know the sort of thing I love. Dark, funny, moving, character-led, offbeat, horny. Or simply honest.

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Yesterday's Man in Stalking Elk

I'm thrilled that my short story about déjà vu, Yesterday's Man, has been published in the third issue of the excellent Stalking Elk magazine, alongside great cartoons and illustrations, not to mention an interview with comedian Robin Ince. The issue is themed, and the content is humourous. But you got that, from the cover, of course.

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