And Yet More Squee...

Sorry, but I've just fallen in love with that word. Even though I'm not sure if men are supposed to squee.

For the benefit of those wondering what the hell I'm on about:

verb: To squeal with glee; from a combination of the two words; the sound of an excited fangirl

noun: A feeling of excitement and happiness, such that one feels like squeeing

e.g.
"Squee!!! Have you seen the trailer for the new movie?!"
or
You wouldn't believe how full of squee I am right now.
-From the Urban Dictionary.

Although it also gives the alternative definition:

1. a random ecstatic exclamation
2. a furry rodent from MYST III: Exile

E.g.
SQUEE!! this is so great!!! EHEHEHEEHAHA
or
I want a pet squee.

I have no idea what the blazes MYST III (or indeed, MYST I, MYST II or any subsequent MYSTS) is/are. But if it's just a 'random ecstatic exclamation', maybe it's OK...

There was a point to all this.

Oh yes.

I am currently full of squee and squeeing all over the place.

The reason?

Deathray magazine has given Tide Of Souls a four star review. *

One, two, three...

SQUEE!

Hm. Still not sure I should be squeeing in public. But it's too much fun. It's all Cate Gardner's fault.

I think I'd better go and have a lie down.

* Thanks to the very cool Jonathan Green, fellow Abaddon Books scribe, without whose blog I wouldn't have known about it. Any lovers of Victoriana and steampunk, should check out his Pax Britannia series of novels- hugely bonkers, imaginative fun.

Back To Pimping Myself Shamelessly

OK, I'll post something funny or about someone else again soon. Promise. In the meantime, though...

A few more nice things have happened lately. The news in brief:

A new review of Tide Of Souls has been posted by Matthew F. Riley here. Thanks Matthew!

A gentleman by the name of Jim Dodge Jr gives the novel a short and sweet review here. I don't remember setting the novel in Ireland, mind you, but it seems churlish to complain when being complimented- ta muchly, Mr Dodge!

Another Matthew, the very cool Matthew Fryer to be precise, gives Pictures Of The Dark a glowing review at his site. Matthew's an excellent reviewer and a connoisseur of the best the genre has to offer. Although obviously of course I'm going to say that... but if you appreciate the best of the weird fiction genre then do yourselves a favour and go check out the Hellforge.

Tide also got a good write-up in Black Static magazine by the estimable Peter Tennant.

There are interviews as well! I've posted a link to Peter's interview with me previously, but what the hey, here it is again. And there's a new one from Steve Jensen at The Black Glove.

I'm off to Fantasycon in a couple of weeks, which I'm looking forward to tremendously, as it's a great chance to meet up with fellow writers and talk about the things that interest us without getting (too many) funny looks. Also to polish off large amounts of beer and curry. The convention is also the occasion where the winners of the annual British Fantasy Awards are announced. And I'm very proud to announce I'm on the shortlist in the Best Novella category.

That shortlist in full:

• Cold Stone Calling (Simon Clark) Tasmaniac Publications
• Gunpowder (Joe Hill) PS Publishing
• Heads (Gary McMahon) We Fade To Grey, Ed. Gary McMahon - Pendragon Press
• N (Stephen King) Just After Sunset - Hodder & Stoughton
• The Narrows (Simon Bestwick) We Fade To Grey, Ed. Gary McMahon - Pendragon Press
• The Reach of Children (Tim Lebbon) Humdrumming

All really good writers. And yes, the fourth one down is STEPHEN KING. As my wonderful fellow writer Cate Gardner (wholly gratuitous link to her blog because she's just so damn cool) would say:

'Squee!'

To be honest, I'm trying to make myself not care about the award. The work's the important part, not the tick you get for doing it... but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be pleased (try ecstatic) if I won. That said, just getting to the shortlist is something to be proud of.

Right, I'm all pimped out. Abnormal service will be restored as soon as possible.

Everybody Ought To See This- It's Incredible

Recently I decided to start using this blog to draw folks' attention to things I liked or thought deserved to have the word spread about them. Well, there's only so much mileage in telling people how much I rule :)

Now, I hate reality TV and freakshows like Britain's Got Talent, X-Factor et al. But take a look at this. This is from the Ukrainian version of the show, and I defy anyone not to be moved and amazed by what this woman does. It's... well, it's sand animation. That's what they call it. No, I'd never heard of it either. But click the link and... just watch.

Apparitions

Apparitions is an anthology of ghost stories from the excellent Canadian writer and editor Michael Kelly. There are a hell of a lot of good writers in there, including Joel Lane, Gary McMahon, Barbara Roden, Paul Finch, Gemma Files and Gary A. Braunbeck. It also includes a story of mine called The Suicide Chairs.

The anthology is published by Michael's new Undertow Books imprint. It's out in October, and if you reserve a copy you get free shipping. To reserve a copy, just send an email to undertowbooks (at) gmail (dot) com with RESERVE in the subject field.

Thank y'all.

Swine Flu, Reviews and Interviews

So here I am, confined to barracks for the next week or so. Here's how it went...

'Woke up this morning feeling fine', Herman's Hermits once sang. 'Woke up yesterday morning feeling poo', sing I, on the other hand. Sore throat, cough, and- more worryingly- general weakness plus achiness in the muscles and, it felt, the bones.

So I rang the National Pandemic Flu Helpline, fully expecting to be told I'm a whinging hypochondriac and to get my arse into work. As you've probably guessed from the above, that ain't what happened. 'No, it's not man-flu this time,' the nice woman at the other end said, and gave me an authorisation number for antiviral drugs.

Just taken my third of ten doses of Tamiflu and am very glad a friend has just lent me the final season of Battlestar Galactica on DVD. To be on the safe side, I've also just ordered a Blake's Seven box-set off Amazon... although by the time they deliver it I'll probably be a) dead or b) back to work. Most likely b). Of course there are these other, older artefacts called books, apparently used in the days before DVD and the Internet as a means of boredom control, and still apparently popular with the strange barbarian tribes north of Watford.

Another friend tells me that the Flu Helpline's telephone diagnoses aren't always accurate. So it's possible I don't have Swine Flu, but some other kind of minor viral bug. One way or the other, though, I'm laid up with the dreaded lurgey. And I'm not venturing out till it's cleared up- partly for my own health, and partly as if it is Swine Flu, I don't particularly want to give this to anyone else.

A couple of nice things have happened, though, since I last posted. There's my Book Launch, and I'll try to pop some photos up from that to give everyone a laugh. Also, a few reviews of Tide Of Souls are up- one from Graeme Flory and two more on Goodreads from Mark West and Richard Wright- all very complimentary. The really nice Des Lewis carried out a 'real-time' review of Pictures Of The Dark which you can check out here.

Also, my career as a media whore continues. Peter Tennant interviewed me as part of a series of interviews with this year's British Fantasy Award finalists. You can read it here. Go on, make a sick man happy...

Hope the rest of you are staying healthy and germ-free,

Simon x.

Book(s) Launch!

Been meaning to post about this for ages- now it's the day before so I've only myself to blame if interested parties read this too late to be able to go...

Tomorrow night- Wednesday 22nd July!- sees the launch for both Tide Of Souls and Pictures Of The Dark. I'll be reading extracts from both books. 'Twill be held downstairs at the Bluu Bar on Thomas Street, in the Northern Quarter, Manchester, from 8.30pm. Admission is free. As is wine. If I don't drink it all myself out of mounting terror at making an arse of myself in front of... um... however many people turn up.

For the tiny number of you readers living anywhere near- hope to see you there!

Shout outs: Cate Gardner, Chris Wood

Hi everyone. It's been a while.

Well, there's been a lot going on since last we spoke. First off, a shout out to the lovely Cate Gardner for a very pleasant surprise, when the first of her 'someone else Saturday' entries on her blog proved to be about none other than yours truly!

I often think the real acid test of writers is perseverance. It's one of those callings where you're a) going to get a lot of knockbacks and b) where it takes a lot of time, hard work and trial and error (mostly error) to find your voice and hone your craft. It's not something that provides instant gratification (I sometimes wish I'd learned to play guitar and gone the singer-songwriter route- you know immediately if you've bombed or succeeded. Plus there's always the chance of groupies. Ahem.) I've seen a lot of good writing over the years, in small press magazines and elsewhere, and the number of writers who just dropped off the radar, never to be seen again, is unbelievable. Good writers, too. And why? Because: It. Takes. Work. Lots and lots of work.

Which brings me back to Catherine Gardner.

I first encountered Cate's fiction in the late 90s, when I co-edited a small press magazine called Unreal Dreams, and later a small anthology called Oktobyr. Back then you could see the writers who were influencing her, but there was always something individual about her writing that I liked. The second story I took from her for Oktobyr, 'As Though Strangers Passed', really showed that potential coming into action, and it stays with me even today.

Catherine's fiction is short and focused. Sometimes quirky and funny, sometimes very dark, it's never less than interesting. Do yourselves a favour and go check out her story Trench Foot for a glimpse of her in lighter mode. It's a beguiling little tale- funny and quirky, as mentioned before- but with a dark little heart to it. It's strong, assured work, the work of a writer with her own voice and focus. And how did she get there? Hard work. Well over a decade of it.

There's no quick fix, no short cut. You do the damned work.

Now for my mate Chris Wood. Many of you will already know his blog. If not, go check it out. Chris is one of the funniest guys I know- both in print and in real life. For evidence, look no further than Sherlock Holmes And The Underpants Of Death (and then buy the book off Amazon) or the wonderfully demented (or dementedly wonderful) Hunter S Thompson And The Temple Of Doom.

Here you see a writer working away, honing his style. Mark my words- one day soon, Chris is going to find his own voice and will become one of the best comic novelists out there. That's a prediction. (Mind you, I also thought the Sinclair C5 was gonna be big. But I was only about 9 at the time, so cut me some slack, huh?) So remember, you heard it here first.

Right, now go and check out the work of two damn good writers. That's all for now.