The Hole in the Wall

I’m delighted to say that one of my short stories has just been published in Metaphorosis, an online speculative fiction magazine the looks for “intelligent, beautifully written stories for adults”, and though the implication is flattering I’m far too modest to had said so myself!

The story in question is The Hole in the Wall, which follows the journey of a trader of unique goods who relentlessly pursues the best possible deal for herself, and learns the high cost (but good value) of wisdom as a result.

I mentioned this story at the beginning of the year when it was selected as a runner-up in the fifth annual Friends of the Merril short story contest. That modest prize and this modest fee make this my most lucrative work — worryingly appropriate, given the subject matter…

I hope you enjoy it!

MEMORIES – Dark Matters: Volume 4

PUBLISHED!

MEMORIES - LRGThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and only the dead have seen the end of war. The last book in the series, Dark Matters: MEMORIES presents two stories in which the shadow of the First World War lies heavy upon those who endured it — and those who did not…

In The Palimpsest, a soldier-turned-artist has tried to put the horrors of the trenches behind him, only to discover that a horror still stalks him. But in The Foundation, a future persists in which not only was the Great War’s outcome very different, but the conflict itself has been… forgotten.

One is a ghost story in the classic vein, inspired by the writing of M. R. James; the other a piece of alternate history — or maybe alternate future. They stand against George Santayana’s wisdom, because here the end of war is seen, and the past returns to repeat itself, upon another victim…

These are stories that step out from the light, where only the dark matters…

Amazon: US | CA | MX | BR | AUS | IN | JP

Amazon Europe: UK | FR | DEES | IT | NL

Apple | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords | Goodreads



The cover art was created using Creative Commons-licensed images. My grateful thanks go to the State Library of South Australia for Men in the trenches, and to Tony Hisgett for Poppies Again 6.

Ecotones

is Published!

EcotonesLRG

ECOTONES is a pro-am anthology of speculative fiction featuring fourteen tales from best-sellers, award-winners and nominees, established talents and up-coming authors, the fourth annual anthology from SFFWorld.com.

Ecotones exist wherever different ecosystems make contact. Where forest meets field… where the land meets the sea… where swamp gives way to jungle… where the surface descends beneath the ground… these are borders across which different ways of life come into conflict, and sometimes cooperation.

But in speculative fiction we might envision other borders: where the mundane meets the fantastical. Where countries clash and cultures mix. Where technology is joined to flesh. Where the known meets the unknown. These are ecotones of the imagination — where anything could happen.

Featuring the work of Ken Liu, Lauren Beukes and Tobias S. Buckell, as well as eleven stories from members of SFFWorld.com’s writing community, ECOTONES is a collection like no other — a point of contact between fantasy and science fiction with a timely environmental theme.

Amazon: US | CA | MX | BR | AUS | IN | JP

Amazon Europe: UK | FR | DEES | IT | NL

Apple | Smashwords | Kobo | Barnes&Noble

Also, if the urge takes you we’d love to see reviews – you can find us on Goodreads!

Ps: Just in case you’re wondering how it’s going — just two days after release, Ecotones is ranked 66,635 on Amazon’s Kindle Store (that’s out of over four million ebooks!) and is already knocking on the top 100s for Scifi and Fantasy anthologies..:

Ecotones - AmzShot - 171215