My conceptual sci-fi/horror story “Time of Death” has just been published in the April/May issue of Alien Skin Magazine. This has some pretty bleak humour to it, so is both fun and sad. Alien Skin does not archive – so this story is only available during April and May this year. After that the link above will go to another story (in the June/July issue, the August/September and so on), so get in now and read it quick.
Tag: science fiction
Stone Goddess – podcast
My story “The Stone Goddess” originally published in Horror Through The Ages, the first anthology from Lame Goat Press, has been read by Barry J Northern in the new Lame Goat Podcast. Barry does an excellent job – his pacing and tone is wonderful and really does the story justice.
Barry is creating a fantastic archive of podcasts from Lame Goat publications – “Lacerta” by Jodi MacArthur, “Beserker” by Deborah Walker and “Their Dark Master” by Mark Anthony Crittendon, with more to come.
Unplugged – anthology of science fiction and fantasy
Unplugged is a cool idea: a print collection of science fiction and fantasy stories that originally appeared online. As with any anthology, there are stories that appeal and stories which don’t, but overall the standard is pretty high. My personal favourite is “Snatch Me Another” by Mercurio D. Rivera – great pacey writing, a cool idea (a neat twist on the idea of alternate universes. There are some known writers here – Cory Doctorow, Nancy Kress, etc. – and also some less established names. There’s a handy list at the back of the volume with the original websites – some no longer functioning, but an intriguing resource. A cool description on the back cover too “unplugged surfs the web so you don’t have to” – that’s good, ‘cos I’m thinking lots of us (ie me) could do with a little less web time and a little more A.R.
Where I Write – a photo project by Kyle Cassidy
Professional photographer Kyle Cassidy has a wonderful project of photographing science fiction authors in their writing space. Where I Write is a quick and cool insight into the variations in how people write – Michael Swandick’s bustling busy office, Will De Smedt’s orderly space, Ellen Datlow’s living room approach. I think my favourite is Joe Haldeman handwriting in notebooks by candle- and lamplight.
“Can’t You Find Anything Up There” – new flash sci-fi story on 365Tomorrows
The wonderful team at 365Tomorrows have published my story Can’t You Find Anything Up There. This is another light-hearted Mars story, of explorers and researchers. I noticed a little formatting thing that I forget with the web – my fault – there were originally line breaks between the two story threads as they swapped back and forth, but they’ve been lost in the translation from .rtf to .html. Whoops – I should use asterisks. Anyway it might take a little reading with patience to keep track of who is where and what is how and so on.
As the name would suggest, 365Tomorrows publish a new science fiction story every day. Each story gets a full day as leader on the home page, then drops to archives as the next story goes live. There’s a strong community based around the site – a cool forum with some intriguing discussions.
Wake by Jean David Morvan and Philippe Buchet
Wake is a multi-volume science fiction graphic novel from the early to mid 2000s. I came across volume five, which combines story 6 (Artifice) and 7 (Maximum [in]security). The stories are fun, both brutal and humourous and a bit over the top. Navee, the main character is quirky, tolerant and at times impatient. What I really like most about the volume, though, is the illustrations. Buchet’s use of line, framing, colour and so on is hyper-real. The pictures remind me a lot of Moebius’s work from Heavy Metal. In particular I like the attention to detail – Snivel, Navee’s robot buddy, gets disected and retrofitted to two different bodies, ending up with a nice replacement, yet he always looks like Snivel. When Navee pulls on gloves from the three-fingered aliens, her middle two fingers are forced into a single finger space – not overtly done, but when I noticed that, it was pleasing to see the care that had been taken.
How does a graphic novel fit with reading for writing?
1. Read widely.
2. Graphic novels still have a story.
3. Maybe the story you’re working on but struggling with might lend itself better to treatment as a graphic novel.
4. Read widely.
Joshua Scribner
The more I read by Joshua Scribner, the more impressed I am: he just keeps getting better and better as a writer. Check out “My Father” on Infinite Windows, which has come out hot on the heels of the remarkable “Hyperbrain” in Static Movement. I look on in awe: Scribner’s sense of pace, of character, of timing and of twist are both stunning and textbook. He has a website where you can keep up with his (prolific?) output.
Kings of the Realm: A Dragon Anthology – out now
Kings of the Realm, the lastest in Lame Goat Press’s growing catalogue of anthologies is available now both from both CreateSpace and Amazon. Amazon might be a little more convenient, but from CreateSpace the publishers get a little more folding green, which has gotta be good for their future. The anthology includes two of my stories: “Xuento” a hard-edged science fiction adventure story, and “Scattered Dunes” a character-driven fantasy story.
Novel progresses
Quick post here, in between busy-ness. I’ve moved the novel ahead by around 1000 words since my last post, and I’ll get some more done right now. It is a little slower now as I try to make sure things are really tight as they tie up.
Quiet times
No posts for a few days – I have my head down, trying to complete my novel before the new year. I’m about five or six thousand words out, but with family stuff and holidays it’s actually hard to find concentrated time work on it. December 31st feels like such a psychological point – new year, for new writing and it’s good to work to a target.
The novel is an expansion of my flash fiction story The Rotated, as published on Infinite Windows. Incisive editor Mr Tannenbaum asked me why I’d written the story as flash fiction – there seemed to be so much more to it – the concept, their relationship, why do the invaders come, etc. Sure enough, there was so much more to explore. The story is sitting at around 60,000 words right now, so it is on the shortish side for a print novel, but the plan, if the editor likes it (current signs are good) then it will be serialized on Infinite Windows. I will be making the story nicely Gordian, I hope, in the next few days. Then of course, will be spending coming months on revisions and re-writes. I just need to get the draft done by the 31st … I may not post here for a few days as I try to keep my online time to a minimum.
Sean Monaghan - Writer 
