Announcement: An Ill Wind is appearing in IFSF #4

 

Once again, I(['m just touching down on the blog here to make honourable mention of The Independent Fantasy and Sci-Fi Magazine, a new Aussie mag that it's my pleasure to participate in (and yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, but one otherwise sounds as pretentious as an octogenarian English teacher). From tiny acorns come mighty oaks, and I wish IFSF all the best for a great future in publishing.

It's also a great pleasure to report that -- again -- Mike Adamson and I are sharing a contents list. His story in this issue is a Tales of the Middle Stars piece entitled The Last Man Standing, and mine is one of the Martian stories, An Ill Wind. Which might have been the first Martian story I wrote, come to think of it. 

Closer to home, the news is mixed --

Writing and editing are going well: Mike and I have delivered two of the five books that are on the 2026 schedule, and I expect to begin editing Mike's For the Good of the Regiment fairly soon. In fact, I should just have time to finish editing my own novel before I must begin Mike's, which is his third Sherlock Holmes novel. I'm in the last 5% of the massive novelisation of Pet Shop Dragons. You may recall that eight or ten years ago, I wrote a cute short story by the same name. It was published in Hoards of the Great Fire Wyrms and promptly forgotten ... whereupon I realised what I'd wasted. The idea was filled with potential, and during the last couple of years, eight thousand words have become 125,000 -- a full novel, done and extremely close to going out on the hunt for agency representation. Wish me luck. 

On a personal note, things are not so rosy. If you follow me at all, here or on Facebook, you'll know that it's getting close to two years since my husband was diagnosed with the worst possible form of MND, and given a two-year prognosis. Well, we shall certainly beat that horrible prognosis, but I have to admit that life is starting to get ... interesting. Not in a good way. It may be that, for the next several years, I might not be able to find the time, inspiration, energy, or even the courage to write. I'll always edit, though: Mike and I work well together, and we're due to cowrite a couple of stories, which will be a pleasure. 

When there's more to share, I'll post again. You'll notice that the posts are thin on the ground these days -- for which, blame MND. It's a horrific experience to watch someone you love go through this.

Falling appears in the July - August 2026 issue of ANALOG

Just stopping by at last -- about a month late; I know, I'm terrible about keeping up with social media -- to mention that the issue of ANALOG in which I appear (for the fourth time!) is on the magazine racks at your local store at this time. You'll be able to get it through the end of August, and the story you're looking for is Falling. I'd include a couple of snapshots of the interior pages showing my story, but the contributor's copies are still "on the water" ... and delivery will take longer because of the war, I should think. Everything is slower. The issue might have gone off the racks before the contributor's copies arrive, so ... here I am, while there's time.

Second piece of writing news is that An Ill Wind will be published in Issue #3 of the new Australian SF/F magazine, The Independent Fantasy and Sci-Fi Magazine. It's tremendous to be able to support a local "start-up," and I wish IFSF all the best. AN ILL WIND is one of my Martian stories, a couple of which have appeared in ANALOG as well as several other venues.

Third piece of writing news is that (lol) I'm actually writing again. I've finished a novel; am just about to begin the final editing pass through it, and then ... off we go on the hunt for agency representation. Wish me luck. This one is a "secondary world" romp set in post-Victorian times -- not steampunk but magic and dragons in the long, dark foreshadowing of the impeding First World War. With any luck, I might have conceived of an idea that's sufficiently commercial to catch an agent's interest. Time will tell, and if we can connect with professional representation, of course I'll keep you posted.

There I am on the table of Contents, so ... hope you enjoy the story in this issue!

Poem: The Silence of My Soul

The Silence of My Soul

In the silence of my soul
my heart lies dreaming
of sunlit meadows,
far blue hills and
valleys filled with mist
and magic, and all that
lies still over the horizon
in the undiscovered country.
And I call to my heart ―
“Wait! Wait for me,
let me catch up
and set me free.”
My heart seldom listens.
When it does, it answers
with soft, enigmatic smiles
that slip away at once,
elusive as a song heard long ago
and only half remembered.
Yet I hear it still,
if I listen hard
in the silence of my soul

Announcement: "Falling" will be in ANALOG Science Fiction

What a great pleasure to be able to report that Falling will be appearing in ANALOG Science Fiction, probably some time in 2026. 

This one was a lot of fun to write, and for the first time I was able to "go play in the Jovian system," with  FIFO worker on the assignment to end them all. Fly in, fly out work is one thing ... but when the flight to and from the job is a year old, it's a life-changer. In Falling, the central character is out there for the best and worst of all reasons: money. Without it, everything falls apart, yet the quest to earn it is not conducive to family life. And yes, our hero is left a partner and child back on Earth. What's a mother to do?

This story had been in my mind in one form or another for some time, but I'd usually pictured it as taking place on Mars. The thing is that I've written so many stories set on Mars that -- 1) I didn't want to identify myself as "that writer who only writes about Mars," not to mention -- 2) I felt as if I needed a challenge. Get out of the familiar environment (which is almost a witticism) of Mars and make a foray into the Badlands. And they don't come much "badder" than Jupiter. So...

Much research later, Falling found itself completely restructured. The central character changed from being a detective assigned by the department on Earth to investigate a murder in the industrial south of our neighbouring world to being an engineer working with the heaviest heavy industry imaginable. And the stage on which the story plays out shifted from the aforesaid Martian industrial wasteland to the upper atmosphere of a giant world that really, seriously, wants to kill you. Result: a story with which I was extremely happy. 

And the cherry on the cream is that this one will be appearing in ANALOG Science Fiction in a year or so. It's always a thrill!

Next: back to the very serious job of editing, with two major projects ahead of me for Mike Adamson, and after both books are delivered, he and I will be collaborating on a novel. Speaking of Mike, the last week has been a blizzard of hard but rewarding work as we revamped and expanded his website. It's well worth a look ... a writing site that is a visual feast of artwork. Check it out on the link attached to his name there.

Announcement: Islands Of the Mind has been published

 

It's my great pleasure to announce that "Islands Of the Mind has recently appeared in Way of Worlds, a science fiction anthology from Underdog Press.

Rather than writing at length about my own piece (which is about terraformers on an alien world being remade for humans), let me just quote the blurb from the anthology's page and include the link:

Venture into the uncharted territories of imagination. Within these pages, you’ll encounter worlds both familiar and utterly alien, where the boundaries of reality blur and the human spirit is tested against extraordinary circumstances.

A master of disguise finds her mission twisted by unexpected alliances, uncovering secrets that could shatter the very foundations of her world...

In the desolate aftermath of a devastating war, a lone survivor confronts not only the ghosts of the past but also an enigmatic visitor from a long-vanished enemy...

And in a realm where technology and magic intertwine, a desperate search for a lost artifact leads to a confrontation with a power that could reshape the very fabric of reality...

Within these pages, find these tales and more: a journey through the fractured memories of a dying starship captain; a tense standoff between scavengers and the guardians of a forgotten city; and a poignant exploration of artificial intelligence grappling with the complexities of human emotion.

From the depths of space to the ruins of Earth, from the ethereal planes of magic to the intricate circuits of artificial minds, these stories explore the resilience of the human heart, the enduring power of hope, and the infinite possibilities that lie beyond the known. Prepare to be transported, challenged, and inspired by these tales of wonder and discovery.

Find the Way of Worlds here, at Underdog Press ... and thank you for reading!

Announcement: The Brandstatter Watch has been published

 

"The Brandstatter Watch" has appeared in Tales of Horror #3, for March 2025! 

This story is the second of two co-written works from Mike Adamson and myself (we're working on the third at this time -- a George Trevelyan story which will be a pine-tingler with that "can't put it down, am reading between my fingers" quality). 

The current story is a "tale of unease," in which the dead are ... well, restless. Set in a village "out west" of London, it pivots around a somewhat rare and precious pocket watch -- a watch with a history. 

It's a tremendous pleasure to report the publication of this piece, and I'm looking forward with great anticipation to working in cahoots with Mike again, especially since we'll be returning to the world of retired Detective Inspector Trevelyan, whose nose for trouble of the supernatural variety is infallible. 

Find Tales of Horror #3 here ... and thank you for reading! 

Announcement: The Brandstatter Watch will be published in Tales of Horror

 

It's a great pleasure to be able to make this announcement, because it marks a first: the first time Mike Adamson and I have published on a co-credit, after writing in partnership. It's been some time since I mentioned on this blog that we were working in concert, and I hope there will be many other co-credit, cowritten stories -- in fact, novels -- to come. I'll post again when the Tales of Horror collection is published. 

Mike has written a lot of horror, and in fact, we recently completed editing on an H.P. Lovecraft anthology to be issued very soon by Belanger Books, as well as the Crimson Blade anthology, which came out from Hiraeth late in 2024. There again, I served as editor and cover artist). 

Next on our co-writing schedule will (I believe) be a George Trevelyan novel, and I'm looking forward to this. George has been a favourite character for several years now, and I always enjoy returning to his world, which is actually the same space-time as Sherlock Holmes.

It's been an impossibly difficult year for me, personally. I'd only just grabbed the bit between my teeth and started to run with a major SF project, The Gift of Prometheus, when the world seemed to explode at the end of September, 2024. When your husband is calmly handed a terminal diagnosis and given a prognosis of two years that will be horrible before the so-called inevitable happens ... suffice it to say that everything jumps off the rails. I didn't write a word for months.

As of this moment, however, Dave is in remission. The two-year prognosis turns out to be very wrong; the research into this awful disorder is zooming, and we're working hard to keep him as strong and healthy as possible while we wait for science to catch up. We all believe that it can -- and in time. The future will be very different indeed from anything that had been imagined, but it doesn't have to be bad. 

My cover art for Mike's anthology

Mike and I will continue to work, and I'll post here when there's something to report. I'm enjoying the work of the editor very much. In fact, my next assignment there will be complete in a week or so -- the Middle Stars anthology, to be issued later in 2025 by Jay Henge, another opus of Mike's, which begins a trilogy of anthologies exploring a fascinating topic: human offworld colonization in the coming centuries.

After Tales of the Middle Stars, the next editing assignment will be Ravensgate, a return to Sherlock Holmes, which should be out from Belanger Books also in 2025. With this one, all the projects we promised to deliver for this year have been fulfilled, and we'll forge onward with new titles. 

Creatively, it's going to be an exciting year, and 2026 should be equally interesting.

On the personal front, we soldier on: Dave is almost done with work, and he has surgery in a few weeks' time, which should make life, and managing this condition, somewhat easier. I live strongly in the complete knowledge that science will catch up, and that his cure (perhaps a new gene therapy) is out there in the future, close enough for us to reach the date with time to spare ... after which, we'll drive forward into the rest of our lives with optimism, and look back on these months while wondering what the heck happened.

Nothing beats holding a contributor's copy in your hand!

 

One of life's greatest pleasures is receiving the contributor's copy of a magazine you're appearing in. This is the third time I've been in ANALOG, and the thrill is huge. I'm hoping to be there again, if not late next year (probably won't happen, due to the gapping between appearances -- I think it's sixteen months, so 2024 will expire before I "get my turn," which is absolutely fair) then in 2026. I have a longer story to pitch this time, and am unsure, as yet, if it's even appropriate to show the editors something that's better than twice as long as Firegrounds. We shall see. 

Work on my new novel, The Gift of Prometheus, ploughs ahead apace, and it's looking good. I have one or two smaller literary jobs to tidy up before I start writing, and then -- time to stop talking about this and, as the slogan goes, "just do it."