The year
started with my SF horror short story ‘Heat’ being published as
part of
KZINE issue 8 (Kimota Press), edited by
Graeme Hurry. Graeme has released
three excellent issues of KZINE this year, recently introducing
guest editorials from the likes of
Stephen Gallagher and
Mark Morris,
which have both proven hugely worthwhile additions to great array of
stories from up-and-coming and established genre writers.
I was also delighted to be published as
part of the mighty
Terror Tales series,
edited by best-selling author and all-round good guy
Paul Finch. My
horror short story ‘The Offspring’ appears in
Terror Tales of Wales (Gray Friar Press), which is a strong edition of an already prolific and robust catalogue of regional short horror collections. I remember
picking up the first collection at my first Fantasycon in 2011 and
loving it, so it’s slightly surreal to now be part of one. It was a
great honour and thrill to be published alongside such legends as
Stephen Volk,
Tim Lebbon &
Priya Sharma among many others, making
a writing ambition become a reality. Huge and grovelling thanks to both Graeme and Paul for
their support and for letting me get my words out there.
I was also very pleased to be part of
Wattpad’s ‘Featured List’ this year. ‘
The Good Death Guide’
has reached an astonishing 70,000 reads across the year, with
hundreds of lovely comments and reviews from Wattpad users. It’s
great to have my work read by so many people and be part of a
wonderful community of writers. I’d be a fool not to try and
capitalise on the story’s success, so early in 2015 I plan to
release an extended version of the story as part of a small short story collection on Amazon, entitled
The Good Death Guide &
Other Tales, for a very tiny fee. One of the short stories
featured is co-written with my partner
Ellen Gallagher, so is
particularly special to me. If you pick up a copy, I hope you enjoy
it.
I was also lucky enough to see two of
my plays appear in London theatres this year.
The Probleming, a
horror comedy, debuted at the
Tristan Bates Theatre in the West End,
and my SF comedy
Pilgrim Shadow returned to the stage at the
Dugdale Centre in North London later in the year. I also directed
Ray
Newell’s lovely comic farce
A Recipe for Disaster alongside Pilgrim Shadow in a
double bill at the Dugdale. It was a privilege to once again work
with the immensely talented
Adam Joselyn and
Cliff Chapman this year, as well as to meet and work with actors
Emma Stirling and
Robert Ashford. I can’t wait to work with you all
again the near future.
I also had a great Fantasycon
this year with the Gallagher clan, and was delighted to connect and
reconnect with so many writers that I admire - those I missed I hope
to see next time. I’m not worthy.
I hope 2015 is just as busy, if not
busier. Two brand new theatre productions are in the works, and I’m
currently working on a number of spec scripts for TV and radio in
order to broaden my arsenal and hopefully, eventually progress into
writing for audio and the screen. As well as my short story
collection, I’m also working on some other fiction projects,
including a graphic novel and new short stories, and welcome any
other opportunities that come along on the way.
