The first sci-fi convention I attended was the 2007 Eastercon in Chester. At that point I’d sold two short stories to Interzone, although only one of them, The Last Reef, had so far seen the light of day. The second, Ack-Ack Macaque, wouldn’t be printed for another six months.

I made a lot of good friends at that convention; but the one thing that really sticks in my mind is the suprise I felt in the art show, when I came unexpectedly face-to-face with a portrait of the aforementioned Macaque.

Although the story had been sold to Interzone, I had no idea that it had already been illustrated. The picture, which was done in strikingly colourful inks, depicted the titular monkey in the cockpit of his biplane, and the American photographer Lola Lush standing behind him, fending off shuriken throwing stars with the tripod of her camera. The whole thing measured roughly the size of a sheet of A4 and was mounted in a clip frame. Coming across it unawares gave me a visceral shock. The room seemed to spin around me. It was as if the characters from the story had escaped from my dreams and sneaked out to invade the real world.

At the time, I didn’t know much about the functioning of convention art shows, and I didn’t have much money to spare, so I left the convention without putting in a bid for the painting. Six months later, Ack-Ack Macaque appeared in Interzone, accompanied by the illustration. It looked great in print and I regretted not purchasing the original when I’d had the chance.

Another six months after that, and I was back at Eastercon, held this time at a Heathrow hotel. Unfortunately, the 2008 event proved memorable for all the wrong reasons. Within hours of arriving at the hotel, I contracted a vicious stomach bug which more-or-less confined me to my hotel room for the entirety of the Easter weekend, only allowing me to occasionally venture out to buy bottled water and rice cakes.

On one of these forays, I met my future co-writer Aliette de Bodard for the first time, and was informed by Martin McGrath that Ack-Ack Macaque was performing well in the annual Interzone Readers’ Poll. Cheered by this news, I stuck my head into the art show on the off-chance and there it was!

The picture looked even more vibrant than I remembered. I wasted no time in putting in a bid, and somehow managed to control my illness long enough to attend the art auction, where I bought the picture for roughly half the amount I’d earned from selling the story in the first place. I also found myself standing next to the artist, SMS (now also known as “Smuzz”). He asked me if I knew the story the picture came from. “Yes,” I said, showing him my name badge, “I wrote it.”

After the convention, I took the picture home and it now hangs in pride of place at the foot of my stairs, where to this day its staring yellow eye greets visitors to the house as they step through the front door.

The story Ack-Ack Macaque eventually went on to win the Interzone Poll and was named as the readers’ favourite story of 2007. This was in no small part due, I’m sure, to the striking illustration which, coupled with the story’s catchy title, helped it stick in people’s minds.

Click here to visit the artist’s website.

Issue #228 of Interzone includes Andy Hedgecock’s review of the Shine anthology (Solaris 2010).

“Gareth L. Powell and Aliette de Bodard have been consistently impressive Interzone contributors in recent years so it is no surprise their collaboration on ‘The Church of Accelerated Redemption’ yields rich and original insights into the lonely and disaffected life of a computer engineer. The tension arises when unexpected events offer the chance of change. A neatly crafted story of AI and human possibility.”

Happy New Year to you all.

2010 looks to be another busy year. First off, my debut novel Silversands will be launched by Pendragon in April, at the annual convention of the British Science Fiction Association. Hopefully the event will also see the launch of two anthologies, each containing a new short story of mine: The Shine anthology from Solaris, which features “The Church of Accelerated Redemption”, a story I co-wrote with Aliette de Bodard; and Conflicts, an anthology from NewCon press, featuring a short story I wrote called “Fallout”.

In addition to the above, I’m making good progress with my second novel, and writing further short stories, which I hope will one day comprise a second short story collection, following on from 2008′s The Last Reef and Other Stories.

In February 2009, my short story “Memory Dust” appeared in Interzone. It was intended to be a full-throttle retro space romp, but somehow failed to attract the same enthusiastic reviews as my two previous stories in the magazine, and looking back now with the benefit of hindsight, I can see areas where it could have been improved. Niall Harrison probably judged it about right in his review on Torque Control.

Obviously, I was disappointed that I’d shot slightly wide of the mark, but took it as a lesson: not every story will be an unqualified success, and just because an editor likes it enough to include it in a magazine, it doesn’t mean the readers will feel the same way. Nevertheless, I enjoyed writing “Memory Dust”, and I had especial fun with passages like this:

The Red Shark was a tough, streamlined wedge with a thick heat shield, and paint scoured to ash by the pitiless fires of hyperspace. He walked up the cargo ramp into her belly without looking back. He’d been stuck on this worthless planet for three long years, growing old and tired and soft. He could hardly wait to get airborne again, to open the throttle and feel the kick of the exhaust, the giddy freedom of the up-and-out.

It may not have been to everyone’s taste, but at least it’s made Blue Tyson’s list of Best New Stories of 2009, and I’ve already submitted new and better stories to Interzone (among other places), which when they appear, I’m sure will get a better reception.

Day two of the TTA Press advent calendar features a link to my short story “Hot Rats”.

TTA Advent: Day Two

This December, TTA Press will be hosting an advent calendar. Each day, from the 1st through to the 25th, the TTA website will feature a new link to a story on another website. Some of these stories will be new, others old. Some will be written by previous contributors to TTA Press magazines (Interzone, Black Static, etc.) and some will be by new faces.

I believe one of my stories will be linked to on 2nd December. For more details, keep your eye on the TTA Press discussion forum.

Writing on Jeff Vandermeer’s blog, Jason Sanford puts in a good word for the UK SF&F magazine Interzone.

Gardner Dozois has called Interzone “the best looking SF magazine,” and it’s hard to disagree. But as good as their design is, the writing is even better. I love their fiction, and find their reviews and nonfiction articles to be the best in the business.

He backs up this view by linking to four sample stories from the magazine – three of which are past winners of the magazine’s annual readers’ poll for best short story of the year.

• Mercurio D. Rivera’s “Longing for Langalana” (PDF download). Also available in a podcast. Winner, 2006 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Gareth L. Powell’s “Ack-Ack Macaque” (podcast). Winner, 2007 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Jason Sanford’s “When Thorns Are The Tips Of Trees” (PDF download). Winner, 2008 Interzone Readers’ Poll.
• Eugie Foster’s “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” (reprinted in Apex Magazine).

Read the whole of Jason’s article here: www.jeffvandermeer.com

The latest podcast from TTA Press features a recording of my Interzone poll-winning story Ack-Ack Macaque, read by the author.

The recording is accompanied on the website by the artwork which accompanied its original appearance in Interzone in 2007.

Listen to it here: Transmission 19

This is the first time I’ve released a recording of myself reading a full-length piece, so please feel free to leave feedback in the comments below.

My short story Memory Dust scores a respectable 4 out of 5 in Blue Tyson’s review of Interzone 220.

Mark Watson reviews my story “Memory Dust” in Interzone 220 at Best SF:

“The third story from Powell in the ‘new’ Interzone, which puts him up for being a ‘regular’. The two previous stories were well-received, with ‘Ack-Ack Macaque’ topping the last reader’s poll, and ‘The Last Reef’ having many plaudits, none of course to match the signal honour of being the first ever story to be featured in Best SF Presents. Continue reading “Best SF Review”