Last year, Eran Cantrell provided the cover art to my short story collection, The Last Reef and Other Stories - which then became the masthead of this website. Now she’s gone one better and illustrated an entire book - this time, the perennial favourite by Lewis Carol. I’ve seen some pages online and they look magnificent.
Writing on Facebook, Eran says:
“I can’t tell you how exciting it is to publish a book for the first time. After several months of working in the margins of my busy school and work schedule, it’s finally available on lulu.com for $9.95. I’m still trying to earn enough money for my final year’s tuition in college, so any revenue is greatly appreciated! I hope you all enjoy how it’s turned out.“
I’ve just received confirmation from Christopher Teague at Pendragon Press that following a twelve month delay, my novel Silversandswill be published in April next year.
The book will be available in a hard cover designed by award-winning artist Vincent Chong (see picture).
On his website, Christopher writes:
“Gareth is rapidly becoming a name to watch, and I forsee good things being said about this novel… which means when it eventually comes available to pre-order you’d better be quick to snap it up.”
The collection also features stories by Cat Rambo, Eugie Foster, and Ben Jeapes, among others, and describes itself as: “strange tales of touchy-feely interfaces and animated monkeys, the ultimate botnet and the blue screen of death, plus many other humorous and thought-provoking stories.”
THE LAST REEF
By Gareth L Powell, Elastic Press £5.99
Reviewed by Nicholas Thorburn
Neatly collected for the first time, Gareth L Powell’s short stories quickly invoke a different kind of science fiction, one that is far removed from the likes of Arthur C. Clarke or other “hard sci-fi” contemporaries.
Replacing the cold vacuum of space with dusty vistas, seedy bars, and realities closely resembling our own, Powell instead rallies around his skill at succinctly developing detailed and believable characters.
In this respect the anthology is equally a treatise on both characterization and its exploration of the bizarre. Certainly, The Last Reef is a triumph of identifiable, realistic protagonists. There is of course the typical tech-noir genre fare: weather-beaten archaeologists, cyber-upgraded hackers, homicidal ex-cops et al but each remains accessible and believable.
Structurally centred around several sign-posted stories (concerning the titular Last Reef) involving the odd reoccurring character, Powell’s stories run the gamut from far-flung space adventures (Six Lights off Green Scar) to near-future takes on internet viral-culture (Ack Ack Macaque). The writing is imbued with a faint longing melancholy yet varied in narrative style and arrangement, supporting each new world as it comes whilst keeping things fresh, tangible and fascinating.
Reasonably priced at just over a fiver, I can’t recommend it enough.
This review appears in the latest issue of the British Fantasy Society magazine Prism. Thanks to Andrew Hook for drawing my attention to it.
I’ve recently agreed to be a CD reviewer for Acoustic Magazine, and I received the first batch of CDs in the post a few days ago. As it takes me 40 minutes to drive to work in the morning, this gives me time to listen to most of an album in the car, then make some quick notes before starting my working day. So far, I’ve done three albums in three days. It’s a pleasant and productive way to spend the morning commute - time which would be wasted otherwise.
I get lots of story ideas. They occur to me while I’m daydreaming in the shower or sitting on the bus. But few of them ever make it onto the page. They just don’t fire my imagination. The stories I actually write tend to start life as little more than a character sketch and a vague notion of setting, and the rest falls into place as I write. To take a story from my collection as an example, when I started writing “Flotsam” all I had was the name of the main character (Toby Milan) and an image of a container ship converted to house climate refugees. The remainder of the story flowed from there.
I’m not one of those writers who meticulously plan their stories in advance – although having said that, I did produce a three thousand word outline for the novel I’m working on at the moment, but that’s very much the exception to the rule.
I have a file in my office, full of ideas for great stories I’d like to write someday but can’t. The raw idea isn’t enough, and inspiration is a slippery thing. You can’t plan it, and it often hits you in the most unexpected ways. You can’t force it - at least, I can’t. I’m in awe of writers who sit down and say things like: “Today I will write a story about alienation”. I can’t do that. My stories start with something small, like a first line or a character’s name, and build from there. When I start writing, I often don’t know what the finished story’s going to be about. I have to hack away at it to discover its shape. Sometimes the theme that emerges will be one I’ve touched on before, other times it will be something entirely new.
Last year, Eran Cantrell provided the cover art to my short story collection, The Last Reef and Other Stories - which then became the masthead of this website. Now she’s gone one better and illustrated an entire book - this time, the perennial favourite by Lewis Carol. I’ve seen some pages online and they look magnificent.
I’ve just received confirmation from Christopher Teague at Pendragon Press that following a twelve month delay, my novel Silversands 
