The remarkable Pulp Metal Magazine has just published it’s latest issue, including my flash story Zemogorgon (scroll down – it’s the last story on the page). This is a kind of dark magical fantasy, set in a fairy realm. Not the usual kind of thing from me perhaps, but I hope you enjoy it.
Category: fiction
Marking poetry nears the end
Another week of marking left, then on to the fiction part of the course. Poetry is always a challenge for me, yet with so many good poems coming my way, it’s been a pleasure. I’m into the final third of the portfolios now, so will still have a busy week ahead.
Meanwhile, I did post a new quick Haiku of my own – Catch the act – at the Undead Poets Society.
Paul Chadwick – The World Below
This 2007 graphic novel, parts of which were published earlier, is a rousing and fun homage to pre-space-age science fiction. A group of adventurers explore a vast cavern populated with strange flora and fauna, and an assortment of robots. It’s a fun read with some cool ideas, some borrowed, some new, and nothing too deep or worrisome.
Zombie-Eyed Girl – flash story on Flashes In The Dark
My story Zombie-Eyed Girl has just been published in Flashes In The Dark. A creepy, that was fun to write.
I will be participating in another Pekka Kucha night at Te Manawa in August, and plan to read this story, with accompanying slides. I’ve been working on the slides and they’re wicked creepy.
Left to Chance – flash story reprint
My crime flash story Left to Chance originally published online in the wonderful, brutal and gritty Powder Burn Flash, has just been reprinted in actual print in Shalla Magazine number 4. It’s nice to have something in print – I can actually hold it in my hand (well, when it arrives in the post).
I generally don’t send stories out for reprint, but had an invitation from the editors for that story.
Guide Number 3 – new horror story in The New Flesh magazine
My fictional Guide Number 3 – a guide to a serial killer artist – is out now in The New Flesh.
This is quirky and different, even for me. I guess I’m experimenting with different ways of telling a story. There is a plot in there, but it’s a little hidden.
Thanks to Suzie B and III for taking this one. The New Flesh seems like a good home for it.
Eight-eyed bot
Just a quick sketch, but I’m sure this thing was tapping on my window last night. It was really tiny, say the height of a golf-tee. I think there was only one, but there may have been an army. (oh yeah, click on the picture for the full-size image, which is 8 times life-sized).
May is over – roll on June
May was busy, June will be busier. I’ve got a few publications coming up in the next few weeks, yay. I’ll post on the day as they come out …
Blahh…Og
Mayan Moon by Derek Bullard
Mayan Moon surprised me, delivering much more punch and fluidity than I had expected. I bought it through Amazon, taking a chance, since the author had asked me about using some Venus Vulture music in his book trailer (full disclosure: he did use the music – see the trailer here [nb. not an affiliate link – I don’t get a kickback]).
The book took me by surprise for something from a small press. It can be a bit hit-and-miss with small press books: too often they’re vanity volumes written by friends and relatives (or the press-owner). Then again, big publishing house books can be a bit hit-and-miss too (even with name authors).
In Mayan Moon, the writing is compelling, the action fast and the set-pieces well orchestrated. My one quibble was that the phonetic spelling of some character’s accented dialogue was a little over-done and distracting.
The hero – Jordon – is something of a classic, damaged, anti-bureaucracy loner and he drives the action well. Told in three parts the novel cleverly blends contemporary thriller, with science-fiction and classic archaeology (read “Indiana Jones”) adventure. While characters are not guaranteed survival, the plot does stitch up neatly and in timely manner.
Actually, in terms of reading for writing, I like that structure – the three parts, each with a slightly different tone, but all interdependent, make for a surprising mix of genres. Each part is around 100 pages and that seems to be a length I can write easily while longer is sometimes a struggle. I might just try writing something like this, with distinct yet interrelated parts.
