I’ve managed to avoid making any resolutions this year. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of things I want to get done in 2009, I’ve just decided to try to stay flexible instead of tying myself to a set of arbitary goals. However, if forced, I’ll admit the following items are on my task list:

1. Complete enough material for a second short story collection
2. Complete at least the first two chapters of each of the three novels I currently have outlines for
3. Research and compile a viable proposal for the non-fiction book I want to write

I’m already nearly halfway towards achieving the first item on the list, and the other two are within reach, if I can find the necessary time and discipline over the next twelve months…

You can now listen to a free audio version of my short story The Last Reef on the Transmissions From Beyond website, read by Bob Eccles and illustrated by Vincent Chong. All you need to do is follow this link and press the “play” button:

http://transmissionsfrombeyond.com/2008/12/transmission13/

I have co-written an 8400 word short story with Aliette de Bodard, called The Church of Accelerated Redemption. It was a lot of fun working with Aliette, and we’ll begin submitting the story to market in the New Year.

I’m pleased to announce that my short story Memory Dust will be published in January in issue 220 of Interzone. This is the third of my stories to appear in the magazine.

220 promises to be an excellent issue, as it also features stories by fellow writers Rudy Rucker, Jason Stoddard, Neil Williamson, Leah Bobet, and Eugie Foster.

Full details here: http://ttapress.com/575/interzone-220-goes-to-press/

My short story The Last Reef will be the thirteenth story featured in the TTA Press podcast “Transmissions from Beyond“, available to download free from 22nd December.

I’m fascinated by science but when I write, I write about people. I write about characters reacting to the situations in which they find themselves. In an interesting article on his website, Jeremiah Tolbert pretty much sums up my own attitude to writing the science in science fiction:

(The thing) I take exception to is the notion that you need to be deeply conversant in anything.  I think you just need to do research to the point where what you have to say doesn’t break the suspension of disbelief and I think that’s a long ways from being a polymath. You don’t need to be an expert on anything but people.

Read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/5k6448

See also my earlier article, Near Future SF *is* Possible

Some exciting news: an audio version of my collection The Last Reef will be available shortly, read by an actor called Philip Rose.

I just received the following email from Christopher Teague of Pendragon Press, confirming that my novel Silversands will now not be published in April next year, as previously planned.

2009 will see no planned publications from Pendragon Press… This decision hasn’t been easy, and is far from being a reflection on the current state of publishing, but more a reflection on my own level of energy and enthusiasm

Needless to say, I’m extremely disappointed by this turn of events, as I know a lot of people were looking forward to reading the book. I’m currently investigating alternate arrangements and will post updates as soon as I have any definite news.

The lastest issue of Vector dropped through my letterbox this morning, accompanied by an Elastic Press “sampler” - a booklet containing an interview with Andrew Hook, the head of Elastic Press, and three stories:

• Love in the Time of Connectivity by Daniel Marcus
• La Macchina by Chris Beckett
• A Necklace of Ivy by Gareth L Powell

You can also read A Necklace of Ivy for free on the Fictionwise site by clicking here.

Although I’ve spent most of this week dealing with the pressures of a new day job and a new commuting routine, I have managed to submit another 5,000 word story to Interzone and am currently in the middle of answering questions for an interview with Morpheus Tales…