The November issue of Concept Sci-Fi is now available to download as a free pdf file. The issue includes my short story Flotsam, set in Amsterdam and the Mediterranean. Flotsam originally appeared in my short story collection, The Last Reef, and is a sequel of sorts to the book’s title story.

While on the Concept Sci-Fi site, you can also check out the interview I did for them a couple of months ago: http://www.conceptscifi.com/igpowell.htm

My short story Flotsam will be published in the November issue of Concept Sci-Fi. It originally appeared in my short story collection The Last Reef (Elastic Press 2008) and is a sequel of sorts to the collection’s title story.

Things have been a bit quiet on the writing front since the release of The Last Reef, so I thought I’d better give you an update as to what’s in the pipeline:

1. I’m working on a “secret project” with another author, and I’m very excited about it - details to be announced shortly…
2. I’m a 1000 words into writing a new short story about stock trading, skateboards, and shopping malls
3. I have a 5000 word story called Memory Dust pending publication in Interzone
4. There’s another short of the same length called What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done? due to appear next year in an anthology of “Future Bristol” stories from Swimming Kangaroo Books
5. And of course, my novel’s due to appear from Pendragon Press in April
6. Plus, I’m working on stories for two other anthologies – details to be announced shortly…

Three editors have requested short stories from me – which means I now have three short stories to write in a very short time.

Word comes from Andrew Hook that one of the short stories from my collection, The Last Reef, will appear in a short Elastic Press booklet which is going to be produced by the British Science Fiction Association as a freebie for their members.

Colin Harvey has sent through the table of contents for his forthcoming anthology, “Future Bristol”, due from Swimming Kangaroo Books in April next year. It looks like a good line-up, with some intriguing titles. And of course, in eighth position, there’s me…

1. Liz Williams ~ Isambard’s Kingdom
2. John Hawkes-Reed ~ The Guerilla Infrastructure HOWTO
3. Stephanie Burgis ~ After The Change
4. Joanne Hall ~ Pirates of the Cumberland Basin
5. Nick Walters ~ Trespassers
6. Christina Lake ~ A Tale of Two Cities
7. Colin Harvey ~ Thermoclines
8. Gareth L Powell ~ What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?
9. Jim Mortimore ~ The Sun In The Bone House

Colin (who is editing the anthology) says: “The standard of fiction has been astonishingly high, and I’m really proud of the way the book is shaping up.”

I am very pleased to tell you that I’ve just sold another short story to Interzone, the long-running British SF magazine

“Memory Dust” is a high octane space opera set against the same background as my earlier story “Six Lights Off Green Scar” and features the exploits of Caesar Murphy, another “random jumper”. It weighs in at just less than 5,000 words.

This is my third sale to the magazine, and I hope it is as well received as the previous two – “The Last Reef” and “Ack-Ack Macaque“. It certainly has a lot to live up to because, as regular readers will know, “Ack-Ack Macaque” came top in last year’s Interzone Reader’s Poll.

I’ve just sold a short story called “What Would Nicolas Cage Have Done?” to Colin Harvey‘s forthcoming anthology Future Bristol, due from Swimming Kangaroo Books in April next year.

The first review of The Last Reef is now online at The Fix, and it’s positive. The reviewer, Rae Bryant, writes:

“In The Last Reef, Powell holds a cross-section of science, nature, and technology in his quintessential human hand and gives it a roll across the universal table. What turns up is an eclectic mix of possibility, tragedy, and hope—a gamble worth betting on.”

And:

“Powell’s depth and breadth of characterization work, and his settings are truly impressive. His work displays a willingness to show truths and flaws for what they are, rather than gratuitously exaggerating only strengths. With his instinct for subtlety, Powell is an author to watch. His work is the spyglass of science fiction, the ship just over the horizon.”

Read the full review here: http://thefix-online.com/reviews/the-last-reef/

My story SIX LIGHTS OFF GREEN SCAR has been reviewed in Danish by Lise Andreasen.