The 2013 Scorecard

2013 was an interesting year for me on the writing front, mostly because I followed the lead of Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Hugh Howey, and tried self-publishing through Amazon and Smashwords with far greater success than I could have imagined when I first set out.

Despite the naysayers of the established pros and the fear self-publishing is generating in the world today, I think it is a great opportunity for writers, offering more than one path to success in the industry. I've been able to release collections of my science fiction, weird fiction and reboot my Harrison Peel spies versus the Cthulhu Mythos series, as well as working with various authors to develop sampler books of our works. I've also been able to work with Albedo One to get their magazine out in Kindle and ePub versions too. The reach to my audience has dramatically improved and I'm getting more positive reviews than I've ever had.

If you are sitting on the fence with self-publishing, I'd suggest the worst that will happen if you do is that no one will read your book or review it, and that's no worse of than where you are right now. Even if you only get bad reviews they help, because readers disagree with reviewers and buy it anyway. Reviewers, if you don't want a book to sell, say nothing.

The other fantastic news this year was that I was asked to become Art Editor with Albedo One magazine, and was able to help the team now led by Robert Neilson and Frank Ludlow to produce issue 44, with some very excellent tales included within. Robert, Frank and the rest of the team have been very supportive of my writing over the years, and it is an honour to join the team in a more senior capacity, after years as a reviewer.

Okay, here are the publications. The following ebooks were released this year:

• The Entropy Conflict (SF)
• The Uncertainty Bridge (SF)
• The Nightmare Dimension (Horror and Weird Fiction)
• The Impossible Object: The Harrison Peel Files Book 1 (Cthulhu Mythos)
• The Weaponized Puzzle: The Harrison Peel Files Book 2 (Cthulhu Mythos)

New stories published this year include:

• "Driven Underground" in The Impossible Object (Amazon Direct Publishing)
• "The Weaponized Puzzle" in The Weaponized Puzzle (Amazon Direct Publishing)
• "The Entropy Conflict" in The Entropy Conflict (Amazon Direct Publishing)
• "The Road to Afghanistan" in What Scares the Boogeyman? anthology
• "Playgrounds of Angolaland" in Eldritch Chrome edited by Brian M Sammons and Glynn Barrass (Chaosium)
• "Romero 2.0" in Undead & Unbound with Brian M Sammons
• "The Dream Quest of a Thousand Cats" in The Nightmare Dimension (Amazon Direct Publishing)

The following books I edited and were released this year:

• Undead & Unbound with Brian M. Sammons and published by Chaosium
• Extreme Planets with David Kernot and Jeff Harris is at the printers but won't be out until 2014, so it doesn't yet make the list.

I had lots of reprints for 2013 most in my ebooks, but of note was "Subtle Invasion" appearing in
Best Tales of the Apocalypse edited by D.L. Snell and Bobbie Metevier, which makes this the third time the story has appeared in a "Best of" collection. The other was "The Masked Messenger" with John Goodrich appearing in issue 22 of Lovecraft eZine.

As I said before, I contributed to launching the Australian Horror Writers Sampler 2013 and the Cthulhu Mythos Writers Sampler 2013, both of which have been a great success in promoting all the authors involved. I was also Art Editor for Albedo One #44. I also wrote "The Jermyn Horror" and with Peter Gilham "The Crystal of Chaos" appearing in the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game book, The House of R'lyeh.

2014 will see my short stories in the anthology Extreme Planets, and the magazines Albedo One and Lovecraft eZine, and a chapter in the forthcoming reprint of the classic role-playing game, Horror on the Orient Express. I will also be releasing more Harrison Peel collections starting with Book 3: The Elder Codex.

Thanks to everyone who has supported my writing this year, especially to reviewers who go a long way in making a writer become noticed. Special thanks to David Kernot, who as always has been a great sounding board on my writing.

Scorecard 2012

Every year I like to compile a summary of my writing, editing and publishing for the year that was. 2012 unfortunately wasn’t as productive as past years for me, at least not in terms of publications. It was the year of collaborations too. That said I do have A LOT of projects under development that I can’t talk about yet, but hopefully I will soon.

I had two new stories published in 2012, “Expectant Green” with John Kenny, a science fiction novella appearing in Jupiter 35 and “The R’lyeh Singularity” with Brian M. Sammons appearing in Cthulhu Unbound 3, from Permuted Press which was released as an e-book. This anthology I also co-edited Brian and featured Cthulhu Mythos novellas from Cody Goodfellow, D.L. Snell and Tim Curran, as well as our contribution. I’ve been informed the print version will be released in 2013.

On the reprint front, “Winds of Nzambi”, a Cthulhu Mythos horror novella concerning the Portuguese slave trade in the Congo which I co-wrote with David Kernot, appeared in two ‘Best of’ collections, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2011, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene, and Award Winning Australian Writing 2012. My other reprint was “The Swelling” which appeared in Innsmouth Magazine Collection Issues 1-4 making it one of my most reprinted stories.

My illustrations appeared on the cover of Jupiter 38: Pasithee and Jupiter 36: Spond. “The Masked Messenger” co-authored with John Goodrich that appeared in Andromeda Spaceways last year, received an honourable mention from Ellen Datlow in Best Horror of the Year Volume 4. Midnight Echo 6 which I co-edited last year received another honourable mention in the Australian Shadows Awards. I also interviewed Iain M. Banks for Albedo One Issue 41.

Anthologies that I have been editing this year are Undead & Unbound (horror) with Brian M. Sammons, Extreme Planets (science fiction) with David Kernot and Jeff Harris, and Cthulhu’s Dark Cults II (Cthulhu Mythos). None are yet released. I’m also editing a sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

Publications coming out next year are all in anthologies and include “The Road to Afghanistan” (What Scares the Bogeyman?), “Romero 2.0” with Brian M. Sammons (Undead & Unbound) and “Playgrounds of Angolaland” (Eldritch Chrome).

That’s it. Thanks especially to David Kernot, Brian M Sammons, Jeff Harris, Cody Goodfellow, Paul Drummond, Jeffrey Thomas, CJ Henderson, David Brin, Julie Czerneda, Glynn Own Barrass and the team at Albedo One for their support this year.

The 2011 Scorecard

At the end of year I like to do a writing retrospective of the year that was and a look forward to future publications. Previous year scorecards can be found here.

I’m still managing to achieve around five short story / novella publications a year. This year they comprised of four horror, one science fiction and one sf/horror blend. I’m writing far more science fiction these days but I’m obviously selling more horror, hopefully that balance will change. The first two stories are part of my Harrison Peel series, the first original Peel stories since The Spiraling Worm came out in 2007:

• The Eye of Infinity (Perilous Press, USA)
• “The Masked Messenger” with John Goodrich in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #53 (Australia)
• “The Advertising Imperative” in Ticon4
• “Winds of Nzambi” with David Kernot in Midnight Echo #6 (Australia) which incidentally won the Australian Horror Writers Association’s Short Story Competition
• “The Nightmare Dimension” in Rage Against the Darkness (Brimstone Press, Australia)
• “An Angel of Frequency” in Melbourne by Dusk (Australia).

My favourite of my own work of this year would easily be The Eye of Infinity.

On the award front of was nominated for the Australian Shadows Award with my horror short story “Dream Machine”, published in Scenes from the Second Storey from Morrigan Books in 2010.

I also co-edited with David Kernot and Jason Fischer Midnight Echo 6, the Science Fiction Horror Issue, which is now my second edited publication. I interviewed Charles Stross and Chris Moore for this issue.

 

For Albedo One #40 I reviewed Wireless by Charles Stross, Year’s Best SF 15 by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer, Cosmos #36 by Wilson da Silva, plus some online reviews. I also participated in Shane Jiraiya Cummings’ online discussions of the future of e-publishing, and provided cover art for two issues of Jupiter Magazine.

 

I didn’t write that much this year, and still didn’t get started on my novel. I put that down to turmoil in the global markets which forced me to move jobs and cities against (Sydney back to Adelaide), and settling into a new job. My situation is much more stable than it has been in about six years.

 

Publications coming out in 2012 that I can talk about include:

• “Expectant Green” with John Kenny in Jupiter #35 (United Kingdom)
• “The Road to Afghanistan” in What Scares the Bogeyman? (Fantom Enterprises, USA)
• “Romero 2.0” with Brian M. Sammons in Undead & Unbound (Chaosium Inc., USA)
• “The R’lyeh Singularity” with Brian M. Sammons  in Cthulhu Unbound 3 (Permuted Press, USA)
• “Nomad Flora” in Darwin’s Evolutions (USA).

I’ve also got two anthologies coming out in 2012, the first is Cthulhu Unbound 3 which I co-edited with Brian M. Sammons and features novellas from Cody Goodfellow, D.L. Snell, Tim Curran and a Harrison Peel collaboration with Brian M. Sammons. The other is Undead & Unbound also co-edited with Brian M. Sammons which will feature horror stories from authors such as Cody Goodfellow, Gary McMahon, C.J. Henderson, Damien Walters Grintalis and others. I’m also co-editing with David Kernot and Jeff Harris Extreme Planets, a science fiction/space opera anthology for which we are currently seeking submissions.

 

Thanks this year to David Kernot, Cody Goodfellow, Olivia Kernot, Brian M. Sammons, Paul Drummond, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, John Kenny, Frank Ludlow, Bob Neilson, Peter Loftus, Angela Challis, Marty Young, Jason Fischer, Jacob Kier, Jeff Harris, Glynn Owen Barrass, C.J. Henderson, Ian Redman, and many others too numerous to name here. 

The 2010 Scorecard

The end of the year approaches and it is time again to reflect on my writing achievements for the last year. I've been doing the same for three years, mostly as a self assessment of how I'm tracking publishing-wise. This year (2010) I can't say I've done much better than the last two years, with on average five short stories being published each year since I started down this track (with serious fiction publications commencing around 2005).

This year my new short stories are:

• "Emergency Rebuild" in Andromeda Spaceways #43 (Australia)
• "Sister of the Sands" in Cthulhu's Dark Cults (Chaosium Inc, USA) (an anthology which I incidentally edited)
• "Dream Machine" in Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books, Sweden)
• "Sweet as Decay" with David Witteveen in Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Fear (Brimstone Press, Australia)
• "The Uncertainty Bridge" in Jupiter #24 (UK).

I'd say "Dream Machine" is my best piece this year, but I am also particularly proud of Cthulhu's Dark Cults, which has received some very nice reviews, and an accomplishment considering the whole thing was on hold from early 2008. I had some reprints this year including:

• "Black Water" appearing on the Albedo One Fiction Highlights website, which was also nominated for a Ditmar Award this year, and remains one of my favourites of my own work
• "The Swelling" appearing in Innsmouth Free Press #3.

I did six reviews for Albedo One issues #38 and #39, more online reviews for the same magazine, was interviewed by Innsmouth Free Press and by Jeff W. Edwards for Shroud Magazine.

For 2011 (or later, depending on how long these things take) I have the following coming out:

• The Eye of Infinity chapbook published by Perilous Press and edited by Cody Goodfellow, which incidentally is a new Harrison Peel adventure
• "The Hag of Zais" Lovecraftian fable appearing in Ancient Shadows (Elder Signs Press)
• "The R'lyeh Singularity" co-written with Brian M. Sammons appearing in Cthulhu Unbound 3 which is also another Harrison Peel tale
• Another Harrison Peel tale with a publisher I cannot yet disclose
• "Subtle Invasion" appearing in Best New Tales of the Apocalypse (Permuted Press) (incidentally this is one of my most successful short stories, appearing now in two best of anthologies, being shortlisted for an Australian Shadows Award, and being read on The Writing Show)
• Midnight Echo 6, edited with Jason Fischer and David Kernot, featuring science fiction horror stories
• Cthulhu Unbound 3, edited with Brian M. Sammons featuring four Cthulhu Mythos novellas
• Cthulhu Afrikus, a chapbook from Rainfall Books featuring reprints of "The Faceless Watchers", "As Above, So Below" and "Screaming Crawler"
• On going reviews for Albedo One.

I had intended to start my space opera novel this year, but frankly that didn't happen, primarly because I just didn't get the head space with changing jobs and states (South Australia to New South Wales), and because I still believe my short fiction needs to kick up a notch before I am ready to tackel a 150,000 word manuscript. So 2011 will be focused on editing Cthulhu Unbound 3, Midnight Echo 6 and getting some science fiction short stories and novellas together, and finishing off the Harrison Peel series with at least one more novella, because I have a very keen publisher interested in the series that began with The Spiraling Worm (Chaoiusm, 2007).

Of course, there are always other projects going on in the background, but I don't like to talk about them in an open forum until something is definite. However, any news I always post here first.

I'd particularly like to thank the following people in the industry for their help this year, including Frank Ludlow, John Kenny and the rest of the team at Albedo One, David Kernot, Cody Goodfellow, Brian M. Sammons, Jacob Kerr, D.L. Snell, Tim Curran, Glyn White, Brian Courtmanche, Shane Jiraya Cummings, Amanda Pillar, Angela Challis, Pete Kempshall, Jason Fischer and everyone at the Australian Horror Writers Association, although this is in no way a complete list of those individuals whose support I have been grateful for this year.

One can only hope, and strive, for the next year to be even better than the last.

The 2009 Scorecard

I've decided at the end of each year I will summarise what I have achieved in writing, as a record as much for myself as to share with those who read my blog. I did the same last year, and comparing the two my output in 2009 was slightly better than last year, although no novel yet.

All of my new short stories this year were published overseas, and included:

• "Six-Legged Shadows" with Brian M. Sammons in Monstrous (Permuted Press)
• "Black Water" in Jupiter 24
• "The Octagon" in Jupiter 26
• "The Garden Fortress" in Thrilling Tales #4 (Rainfall Books)
• "The Lord of the Law" in The Fourth Black Book of Horror.

Reprints include:

• "Subtle Invasion" in Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Vol 3 (Brimstone Press)
• "Homo Canis" in Midnight Echo #2 (Australian Horror Writers Association) also received an honourable mention in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year Vol 1
• "Stomach Acid" with Brian M. Sammons in Cthulhu Unbound 2 (Permuted Press).

Other publications include:

• "Virtual Worlds and Imagined Futures" an interview with Greg Egan in Albedo One 37
• "The Burning Stars" Call of Cthulhu scenario in Terrors from Beyond (Chaosium) which is gaining incredibly positive reviews and feedback from gamers everywhere
• Several reviews for Albedo One.

Other achievements include a Ditmar nomination for my science fiction tale "Soft Viscosity" in 2012 (Twelfth Planet Press), I attended GenConOz as a guest, and I sold several stories to various magazines and anthologies, one of which is a science fiction tale appearing in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. I'm also editing a new anthology of Cthulhu Mythos tales with Brian M. Sammons that will be published by Permuted Press, and I'm editing a collection of Call of Cthulhu gaming scenarios for a yet to be named publisher.

Several books with my stories which didn't come out this year but might in 2010 included:

• "Emergency Rebuild" in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 43
• "Sister of the Sands" in Cthulhu's Dark Cults (Chaosium) (which I incidentally edited way back in 2007)
• “Subtle Invasion” in Best New Tales of the Apocalypse (Permuted Press)
• "Dream Machine" in Scenes from the Second Storey (Morrigan Books)
• "The Hag of Zais" in Eldritch Steel (Elder Signs Press)
• "Sweet as Decay" with David Witteveen in Macabre (Brimstone Press)
• "The Swelling" reprinted at Innsmouth Free Press
• A new Harrison Peel tale has also been sold, but I've been asked to keep closed lipped about this one until the publisher makes an announcement.

I had hoped to output more this year, but a redundancy and now having to change states for financial/work reasons, I guess has affected my output. Hopefully once I'm settled in Sydney in the new year, that will all change.

The 2008 Scorecard

Sometimes it’s hard to know how much I’ve achieved in a single year with my writing. A quick look-back shows that I’ve published six new stories in Australia for 2008 which doesn’t seem like much. However when I look more closely, I have accomplished far more in the background with about a dozen tales slotted for release in 2009 across the world, and several nominations for awards in the mix as well.

My short stories published this year were all in Australia and were an equal mix of science fiction and horror tales:

• “Redemption Slot Machine” Antipodeans SF, Issue 117 edited by Ian Newcombe (Australia)
• “Soft Viscosity”, 2012, Twelfth Planet Press (Australia) edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne
• “Hell’s Ambassador”, Black Box: Shadow Box II, Brimstone Press (Australia) edited by Shane Jiraiya Cummings
• “Homo Canis”, 2008 Award Winning Australian Writing, Melbourne Books (Australia) edited by David Tenebaum
• “Terraformer”, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Issue 37 (Australia) edited by Tehani Wessley
• “Cactus”, Midnight Echo, Issue 1, Australian Horror Writers Association (Australia) edited by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond
• “Cthulhu Cultus Australis: The Australian Perspective on H. P. Lovecraft” discussed by Leigh Blackmore, David Conyers and Chuck McKenzie, Studies in Australian Weird Fiction Issue 2, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj (Non-Fiction)
• Several reviews in Albedo One issues 34 and 35 published in Ireland

Although I didn’t win any awards I certainly received a lot of nominations, again all in Australia:

• “The Lord of the Law” Commendation in the Australian Horror Writers Associations Short Story Competition
• The Spiraling Worm which I wrote with John Sunseri received an honourable mention in the Horror Novel Category of the Aurealis Awards and an honourable mention in the Australian Shadows Award (and incidentally is selling exceptionally well on Amazon.com and still gathering great reviews including from Ellen Datlow from The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008 team who called it "Impressive")
• Best New Talent nomination in the Ditmar Awards
• “Subtle Invasion” was read on the Writing Show in California and it was short-listed for the Australian Shadows Award

I also joined the Board at the SA Writers’ Centre and picked up a role as columnist with Albedo One in Ireland.

I also sold numerous short stories over the year which scheduled to appear in 2009 in:

• Jupiter Magazine #24 (“Black Water”, UK)
• SpecFicWorld (“The Entropy Collapse”, USA)
• Midnight Echo #2 (“Homo Canis”, Australia)

On the anthology front I will appear in:

• Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror Vol 3 (“Subtle Invasion”, Australia) (Might even come out this year)
• Cthulhu Dark Cults (“Sister of the Sands”, USA)
• The Fourth Black Book of Horror (“The Lord of the Law”, UK)
• Best New Tales of the Apocalypse (“Subtle Invasion”, USA)
• Scenes from the Second Storey (“Dream Machine”, Sweden)
• Monstrous (“Six-Legged Shadows” with Brian M. Sammons, USA)
• Eldritch Steel (“The Hag of Zais”, USA)
• Macabre (“Sweet as Decay” with David Witteveen, Australia)
• Cthulhu Unbound 2 (“Stomach Acid” with Brian M. Sammons, USA).

2009 hopefully will also see the release of my first edited anthology Cthulhu’s Dark Cults.

So all in all, a satisfying year, with next year shaping up to look even better.