Things Of Last Week: Another Year Older, And Cannot Come Again Cover Reveal, Locus Recommended Reading List, Cate Gardner Collection

Well.

I'm another year older, which has long since passed the point of feeling like any sort of improvement, but as someone once said, it's preferable to the alternative. And things could be a lot worse. There are some health issues, but I'm loved and in love, with a wonderful spouse and wonderful friends, and I'm writing. That's not too bad.

Locus Magazine has published its recommended reading list of work published in 2019, which you can read here. Shout-out to the wonderful Priya Poppins, Practically Perfect In Every Way Sharma (private joke!), whose superb novella Ormeshadow is namechecked there. There are many other names I recognise, many other friends, but if I even attempt a comprehensive list I'll end up missing people out.

Also on the list is the title novella from my collection And Cannot Come Again.

On the subject of which...

As readers of my blog will know, I ended up in the not-very-fun position of having to ask people not to buy And Cannot Come Again when a host of unsavoury revelations about the publisher, ChiZine, emerged.

Luckily, the collection quickly found a great new home with Graeme Reynolds' Horrific Tales, and a new edition, containing an additional two previously unpublished stories, will be launched at StokerCon in Scarborough this April. You can preorder the ebook here.

The new edition also features a stunning cover by Ben Baldwin, which I'm delighted to present here. Huge thanks to both Graeme and Ben for their work.

Another - and particularly excellent - collection of stories is also due out soon: the ever-reigning Cate Gardner's These Foolish And Harmful Delights, which is released by Fox Spirit Books this coming weekend.

Cate is (in my admittedly biased opinion) an amazing writer (but don't take my word for it, read this interview with Priya Sharma, Laura Mauro and Georgina Bruce instead, where they all agree on this point! Also, you know, read it because Priya, Laura and George are all brilliant writers and lovely people too) and this is a fantastic collection, including some of Cate's best work. It's built around four novella-length works, interspersed with shorter fiction. The stories include Cate's BFA-nominated meditation on love and grief, When The Moon Man Knocks, the Mr Punch-themed This Foolish and Harmful Delight, and Cate's own favourite novella, Barbed Wire Hearts. And much more. She's a unique writer, and you should take the chance to acquaint yourself with your work if you haven't already.

And if the fiction wasn't reason enough, it also boasts this ravishing cover art by Daniele Serra.

That's about all the news that's fit to print on this cold and windy Monday morning, anyway. Wrap up warm, folks, and have a good week.

The Lowdown with... Georgina Bruce

Georgina Bruce is a writer and teacher living in Edinburgh. Her stories have been published in Black Static, Interzone, Strange Horizons and elsewhere. She has a blog here.

1. Tell us three things about yourself.

I hate talking about myself. Seriously, my life is empty and boring. I really like dogs, though.

2. What was the first thing you had published?

I actually sold the first short story I ever wrote – 'The Egg'. A film company bought it and turned it into a short film. The first story I had in print was called 'About a Leg' and was published in Ink, Sweat and Tears in 2008. It's about a boy who thinks he's his grandfather's leg.

3. Which piece of writing are you proudest of?

'Cat World', which was published in Interzone 246 and then reprinted in Salt's Best British Fantasy 2014, still makes me cry, and I think that's something to be proud of. Making people cry. Mwahaha.

4. …and which makes you cringe? 

Ha ha ha oh my god. Some of my stories... I'm like, was I high when I wrote that? It's embarrassing. I usually think my stories are amazing, right up until the moment that they're in print, when I suddenly see all the terrible horrible bad and stupid things I've done.

5. What’s a normal writing day like?

I get up early to write most days. Like 5.30 am. So the day usually starts in a blur, and I'll be just hitting my stride when I have to stop writing about 7.30 and get ready for work. I sometimes manage to write a bit in the evenings, and then I write like mad all weekend. If I'm not writing a novel, I probably don't do this. But I've been writing a novel for a long time now.

6. Which piece of writing should someone who’s never read you before pick up first?

'White Rabbit', because it's the best thing I've written. [SB: The Guardian thought so too; Damien Walter has things to say about it here.] Then they probably shouldn't read anything else, in case they're bitterly disappointed. (Lol jk read everything please.)

7. What are you working on now?

A novel, called The Geography of the Moon. It's a weird and maybe scary story about a woman who loses her way in life. At least, it was meant to be that. It's ended up being mostly about dogs. [SB: Update: Georgina has now finished the first novel, and is now working on a second. Be afraid. Be very afraid.]