Good news on the writing front: after going great guns early this summer, and getting two long new stories written, I hit a bad case of writer's block, and was beginning to despair of ever getting the final story for my forthcoming collection from Prime Books, Northwest Passages, started, let alone finished. Then inspiration struck, when I was looking at a website of photos taken at a deserted amusement park in Ohio, and the last story—entitled 'Out and Back'—was written, sent to Prime, and accepted. It thus joins another new story—'After', inspired by the Constance Kent murder case which shocked England in 1860—in the collection; the other eight stories are reprints of work that has appeared elsewhere, or which will appear elsewhere between now and next October, when the book comes out.
So that's a weight off my mind, and I can now enjoy the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, which begins on Wednesday. I'm moderating a panel on 'Sidekicks Who Try To Steal the Show', manning the Ash-Tree dealer's table, participating in the mass signing on Friday night, doing at least one reading, and taking part in the launch for Gaslight Grimoire, to which I contributed a story (see previous posting). I also have two other stories debuting at WFC: 'Back Roads', in the new Ash-Tree anthology Shades of Darkness, and 'Endless Night' in Exotic Gothic 2, edited by Danel Olson for Ash-Tree.
More details on Northwest Passages will be forthcoming as they're available. At this stage, it's all very exciting; and rather strange, to be on this side of the writing/publishing process.
So that's a weight off my mind, and I can now enjoy the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary, which begins on Wednesday. I'm moderating a panel on 'Sidekicks Who Try To Steal the Show', manning the Ash-Tree dealer's table, participating in the mass signing on Friday night, doing at least one reading, and taking part in the launch for Gaslight Grimoire, to which I contributed a story (see previous posting). I also have two other stories debuting at WFC: 'Back Roads', in the new Ash-Tree anthology Shades of Darkness, and 'Endless Night' in Exotic Gothic 2, edited by Danel Olson for Ash-Tree.
More details on Northwest Passages will be forthcoming as they're available. At this stage, it's all very exciting; and rather strange, to be on this side of the writing/publishing process.
