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Bless me father, for I have sinned. It is over one month since I last blogged. Yes, I know. In these fast-paced, plugged-in, networking days of the blogosphere such a thing is unpardonable. But I plead extenuating circumstances: a surfeit of freelance editing work, the mad dash to get the new issue of Albedo One, … Continue reading
It’s a curious phenomenon that, historically, the arts have flourished during recessions and withered during economic booms. The reason for this, in my view, is that during economic downturns widespread dissatisfaction results in an upswing in artistic expression, be it through art, literature, drama, whatever. And the audiences for this groundswell of expression increases too; … Continue reading
Harsh Oases is Paul Di Filippo’s thirteenth collection of short stories, an indication that he is most certainly a devotee of the short form. What is striking about Di Filippo as a writer, as evidenced in previous collections, is his range, both in terms of style and subject matter. Previous collections have demonstrated a multitude … Continue reading
There’s a minor character in Albert Camus’ brilliant novel The Plague who spends years and years agonising over the structure and wording of the opening sentence of a novel he plans to write. He’s torn between a multitude of variations of the sentence, convinced that if he can just get that one sentence right the … Continue reading
Hot off the presses is a new science fiction and fantasy anthology called Transtories, which features a story of mine called ‘Transthermal’. Set in a future Mozambique where it’s capital city, Maputo, is permanently submerged by flooding and people live in gigantic barges on streets that are now canals, it tells the story of a … Continue reading
I’m delighted to announce the launch of a new original horror anthology edited by myself called Box of Delights and published by Aeon Press. It features fiction by Mike Resnick, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Steve Rasnic Tem, Don D’Ammassa and a host of others. Following a successful Irish launch at Octocon in Dublin on the 15th … Continue reading
I’m fully aware that Ireland’s Celtic heritage is largely the invention of WB Yeats and his buddies; that the concept of a coherent and consistent Irish cultural identity was not a part of the Irish public consciousness before the advent of the 20th Century. But I’ve always been perfectly happy to buy into the idea, … Continue reading
Last Christmas I lost my job. The several web-based projects I had developed for the company that employed me were simply not taking off to the extent we had expected and the company’s owner just ran out of money. A few years ago the likelihood is they would have succeeded but ever tightening constraints have … Continue reading
