In which there is some good news, some great news, some poor news, and some secret news.

I am, officially, still on holidays from writing. It is a bizarre feeling. I have voluntarily robbed myself of the primary way I engage with the world. I feel mildly useless, and unsure how I am supposed to be filling these short Winter days. I am a little bit on edge and rather grumpy. Compounding that it is my birthday this week, a time for reflection and oh Christ I’m not dealing with it well. As you can see from the picture, I am back home in The Town. A few days of hiding here and some delicious meals and come January I will be back writing and have some control over the world and All Will Be Well.

So, how have I been getting on this week?

Well, I have been a mildly busy gent.

First,I finished the first draft of a short story called Cold Room for Christmas, a haunted house tale commissioned by Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Theatre Company. It was lovely to get the opportunity to write something I wouldn’t otherwise have written. It is always good to stretch your wings. The whole tormented body-horror sex-guilt stuff can get a bit tedious after a while.

I also received some fantastic news earlier in the week. The good people at Jersey Devil Press who have always been a great source of support and encouragement to me, have chosen my short story They Left Him With The Dragging Man (read it here) as one of their official selections for the Pushcart Prize. A massive thank you to Mike Sweeney and all the folks at JDP, I am honoured and thrilled to be selected.

Also last Friday I had a Secret Meeting which I can’t talk about just yet, just allude to in this teasing, elliptical manner. I am tempted to list what it isn’t about but I shall resist that impulse, nor will I drop clues that shall become obvious in retrospect. As soon as I am able to talk about in more detail I shall. In fact, it’ll be almost impossible for me to shut up about it.

In terms of submissions it has been a very poor week and I’m a little bit annoyed I haven’t pushed myself to do more. First of all I made a submission to one of the new digital-only imprints at Random House, namely Hydra, who I hope to wow with the collection of horror short stories I have been flogging for the past few months, The Virgins. I live in hope. The next day, scouring Duotrope (which is going from a free service to a fee-paying service in the new year, the well-within-their-rights bastards) I submitted short stories to eight paying markets, namely Wily Writers, Tor, Shimmer, Intergalatic Medicine Show, One Buck Horror, The James White Award, Night Terrors and Clarkesworld. Only eight? Well, it did take a full day to do these submissions, what with the various amendations each market wanted before submitting. The tedious nature of this soured me to doing any more that week but I will try and buckle down and send out another dozen in the coming days. It needs to get done.

There have also been rejections in the past few days, as ever. Shock Totem rejected my story The Noncy Thrush, Per Contra said no to Some of Them Make the Scare-Away Shape while Clarkesworld were admirably quick on getting back with a rejection for Those Are For Your Daddy’s Work.

Finally, a last little scrappeen of news. I have decided to write a novel in the coming months. I don’t know what it will be about just yet but my mind is set.

Hurrah!