My Writing Year 2024

As has become annual I thought I'd write a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2024.

Starting with short fiction, I wrote nine short stories: "Hello, Algeria!", "Hiroshima Was Another Word For Love Then", "Mont Blanc", "La Folie de l’Uchronie", "Cinema Belongs To Me", "Exposé", "Queen Of The Margins", "Weather Reports" and "Rendez-vous à la Cinémathèque Française". This is about average for me. I've also written an article: "Fear And Loathing In The Arctic". All this amounts to around 31,400 words. All of those short stories, together with some I wrote last year, make up a collection to be titled "New Vagaries" for which I am currently seeking a publisher. I didn't write any long form fiction this year.

I sold four short stores this year. Two originals: "Betaville" to the anthology Unauthorised Departures, and "Water In The Wrong Light" to Roads Less Travelled magazine #1. I've also sold two reprints: "The Enfilade" which originally appeared in Black Static, to The Best Horror Of The Year #16, and "So Close To Home" in Best of British Science Fiction 2023. The abovementioned article has also been accepted for publication in a book I'm not yet authorised to name.

The following four stories were published this year (and in fact, everything I sold this year was published this year) so that's: "Betaville" in Unauthorised Departures edited by Rick McGrath, "Water In The Wrong Light" in Roads Less Travelled edited by Trevor Denyer, "The Enfilade" in The Best Horror Of The Year #16 edited by Ellen Datlow, and "So Close To Home" in Best of British Science Fiction 2023, edited by Donna Bond.

In book news, my eleventh collection of short fiction, "Commercial Book", was published by The Eyeball Museum, the imprint of Psychofon Records. This collection features forty short stories each of exactly 1000 words in length, based on the forty songs each of exactly one minute in length on The Residents' 1980 "Commercial Album". Published in both a collectible edition (including special packaging, a CD, and a stick of chewing gum!) and a regular paperback, the collectible sold out in minutes. There might be a couple of paperbacks still available here.

This year also saw me sell four books for (hopeful) publication in 2025. These are "Enfilades", a mini-retrospective of six of my previously published stories from Raphus Press (order here); "Body and Soul", an SF novel to be published by Elsewhen Press (no order details yet); the non-fiction book, "Union City", about the 1980 film of the same name, which will appear from the Electric Dreamhouse imprint of PS Publishing; and "Somnambulant Hearts", my thirteenth collection of short stories which has been picked up by a publisher whom I am not yet at liberty to name. As per last year, I've also been co-editing a free Arts magazine for Norwich with Thomas Jarvis called Tangerine, in my spare time.

Whilst Head Shot Press - my crime publishing company - didn't publish anything last year and is on hold at the moment, three stories from last year's anthology, "Bang!", edited by myself,  were longlisted for the CWA Short Story Dagger award and two of those went on to make the shortlist. A fantastic achievement for the writers concerned (Andrew Humphrey, Benedict J Jones and Mia Dalia).

Like last year, I currently have no short stories awaiting publication and am completely up to date. As usual, there are a few longer projects that are under consideration by various agents/publishers.

So that's it for 2024. I don't have much in mind for next year so maybe it will be a fallow period for me. Who knows? Sometimes even I need a break!