Time to whip off the mask and admit that I was...

...the writer of 'Cerne's Zoo' in Nemonymous 9 (Cern Zoo) edited by Des Lewis. Yes, all the anonymous contributors to this fine anthology can now lay claim to their story. My contribution was a little more laid-back from my Cone Zero one which was pure fun and sf.
Cerne's Zoo is a more contemplative piece where I delve into the prospect that humans are not the only creatures walking upon the Earth that have souls and the possibility of going to heaven upon their demise, could animals possess them too? And if so what does that mean to us, to those who capitalize, abuse and give no regard to them as fellow inhabitants of this little globe that we stumble around upon in the vastness of the universe?

Here are a couple of reviews where Cerne Zoo was mentioned:

Cern Zoo review by The Author of 'Salmon Widow'

Cerne’s Zoo: Animal souls slip through a gentle one. And - like “Devourer of Dreams (yet again!) - it’s a gift that keeps on giving. A little charmer.

Cerne's Zoo reviewed by D.F.Lewis

"...Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, among others who have contemplated the possibility that souls exist in not only people..."

Another important story that has so far escaped under the radar. A touching and original ghost story about Zoo creatures and the death-bed confession of Cerne Lincroft (Christened thus as he was said to be conceived under the aegis of the Cerne Abbas chalk giant) who once smuggled an elephant with him on an aeroplane between USA and UK because the elephant felt home-sick. However, the story is far more tender and serious than that implies. It has a telling connection with THEORY, too, vis a vis its take on Animism


Cerne's Zoo reviewed by Nick Jackson.
There is good characterisation and some humorous scenes in “Cerne’s Zoo”, a strange story about a man who is capable of communicating with animal spirits and his friendship with a young journalist.

One excellent thing that has occurred is that Steve Duffy has announced that his story 'The Lion's Den' from CERN ZOO has been chosen for Ellen Datlow's up-coming anthology THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR, VOL. 2. This is exciting news and I congratulate Steve on a fine story and a well-deserving place in the upcoming volume.

Next announcement is that a Mr.Tullis has won the competition of naming the anonymous authors in Cern Zoo (he had six correct) as therefore will have his name immortalised in the next (and final) Nemonymous 10 which will be called :

NULL IMMORTALIS

I hope to be in it, the final Nemomymous!

It's only took me sixteen years to discover this!

In 1993 I had my first short story published by Alun Books in Wales. The story was called 'The Leaf In The Stone' and was featured in an anthology of supernatural/horror stories edited by Steve Lockley and Paul Lewis called Cold Cuts. However, it's only recently that I discovered that the story received an honourable mention in Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's
'The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Seventh Annual Collection in 1994!
It has only taken me sixteen years to discover this and as you can imagine that's sixteen years of bragging I've lost... d'oh!

quote: The writing quality is high although the stories aren't all that original. A few standouts by Bob Lock, Christopher Evans, Jane Del-Pizzo, Steve Lockley and Catrin Collier.

Who said I'm slow?

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year 2010

Well I've finally got over the swine flu, but I did have to go back to the doctors where I was diagnosed as also having pleurisy and finally, pneumonia! I was given another course of even stronger antibiotics to take for a week and I'm on my last two today, thank goodness. I haven't been able to have a beer or whisky for weeks as alcohol inhibits the work of the antibiotics. Never mind, I'm sure I can catch up over Christmas :)

So, to all my relatives, friends and readers (I won't say fans, I'm not that good a writer!) of my blog, I'd like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and hope that 2010 brings you all that you could hope for.

Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Oink oink

Just a quick update on why I haven't been blogging or on message boards for a week. I've got the pigging 'Swine Flu' and it has really knocked me for six. Temperature, short of breath, cough that won't shift, crackling lungs, headache, aching muscles and bones, even what hair I have on my head aches. My moustache, which I've worn for nearly forty years, succumbed to it and in a fit of anger I shaved it off as it aggravated me so.

I'm going back to my sty now but hope to be cured shortly once the 500x3 of Amoxicillin daily takes hold and saves my bacon. (A prize for those who spot all the puns)

Oink Oink

Bob

I'm in an Advent Calendar!

I'm day five in the Interzone's Advent Calendar with my Pixelated Pixie story that was published by Geoff Willmetts' SFcrowsnest (an excellent on-line SF site) in 2006. There are no chocolates however, and, if Pete is reading this, no socks...


Interzone was founded in 1982 by David Pringle, John Clute, Alan Dorey, Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Graham Jones, Roz Kaveney and Simon Ounsley. It has been, is, and I hope will be for a long time to come, Britain's best SF magazine. It's a magazine that I've tried to get published in a few times but so far have been unsuccessful, but when you see some of the names they wield then I don't feel too bad, these are some mentioned on their site:

Terry Pratchett, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Moorcock, Greg Egan, Aliette de Bodard, Tim Akers, Will McIntosh, Jason Stoddard, Jason Sanford, Hannu Rajaniemi, Leah Bobet, Kim Lakin-Smith, Tim Lees, Karen Fishler, Nina Allan, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Gareth L. Powell, Mercurio D. Rivera, Jamie Barras, Suzanne Palmer, Carlos Hernandez, Daniel Kaysen, Grace Dugan, Rachel Swirsky, Benjamin Rosenbaum, M.K. Hobson, Gord Sellar, Al Robertson, Neil Williamson, Tim Pratt, Matthew Kressel, Sara King, Paul Drummond, Vincent Chong, David Gentry, Warwick Fraser-Coombe, Jim Burns, Christopher Nurse, Richard Marchand, Lisa Konrad, Dave Senecal, Geoffrey Grisso, Kenn Brown, Daniel Bristow-Bailey, John Picacio and many more, apologies to those I left off!

So, even though I'm not in the glossy magazine at least I've infiltrated the website! If you have time, go read and if by some chance you do find chocolate then don't tell anyone (if it's socks then forward them to Peter Tennant, I hear he is in desperate need)

The Pixelated Pixie

NaNoWriMo WinNer!

Whoohoo! I did it! They Feed On Flesh finally ended on 50,893 words and took my zombies from the initial outbreak of the plague (discovered in an unknown tomb in The Valley Of The Kings in Egypt) to Britain, then the rest of the world, onwards to Mars and finally back in time to another version of Earth.

Phew... the most I've ever written in one go and now I need to go lie down in a dark room for a year or two...

Anyone out there interested in publishing a zombie romp?

:-)

Just 5 days to go!

Well I've managed to get 41,307 words down in my NaNoWriMo story and have got five days left to get the other 8,693 so I might even do it! My zombies however have now left Earth and are on Mars (ran out of ideas on Earth) and soon they will be reaching for the stars!

Squid Attack!

RevolutionSF had a draw-a-squid competition to help promote Jeff VanderMeer's new book Finch. In a moment of madness I entered, but believe it or not I was one of the runner-ups with this magnificent beast:-

The winner and other denizens of the deep can be found here: RevolutionSF

Will I? Won't I?

Uploaded 32,333 words to NaNoWriMo tonight and have got ten days left to find another 17,667. Will I make it!

Mired in the mud of writer's block

Argghh!! I'm struggling... I've got 29,284 words written and uploaded to NaNoWriMo but I'm beginning to fizzle out, to get a stitch in the side of my inspiration. I'm hoping to get a second breath and plough on to the line but it will be close!

Halfway there!

Word count on day 15 of 30 is:

25,467

At this rate I might just scrape through!

A Cern Zoo Story - Fanblade Fable

D.F.Lewis (Des) has been writing a number of interesting and surreal short stories as a tie-in to his well-received anthology, Cern Zoo (Nemonymous 9) and all day I've had an idea rattling around my head for a short of my own set in his world. So, as a break from NaNoWriMo today and my zombie-fest of shorts I wrote one for Des and he's kindly published it on his website here:

The 90th Intervention Of Natural Webster

I hope you enjoy it and also Des' too

Word count on day 12 of 30

NaNoWriMo Word Count

17,957

Well, we're twelve days in to NaNoWriMo and I've managed to get 17,957 words done, that, in itself, is a record for me as I am a very slow writer and prone to getting distracted. The main problem for me now is keeping the pace up as ideas are beginning to dry up.

Estronomicon Sketchbook Edition

Steve Upham of Screamingdreams has a special edition Estronomicon out entitled The Sketchbook Edition. There are a couple of formats available but I quite like the Issuu one which is a page flipping version and can be found here: Estronomicon for those who prefer pdf then go here: PDF Version

I'm pleased to say I have a short story of mine in this edition.

It's called 'Man Of Stone'

Monday Word Count

NaNoWriMo Word Count

14,376

Saturday Word Count

NaNoWriMo Word Count

9,930

I've slacked off a bit over the last day or so, firework party and this afternoon

Wales play rugby against The All Blacks!

I can't write when that's on!

COME ON WALES!

Wednesday Word Count

NaNoWriMo Word Count

8,217

Word Count

NaNoWriMo Count

7,593

And I'm off!

Okay, uploaded my first couple of chapters to NaNoWriMo this morning along with the opening few lines of the first chapter. The site tells me that I've done 520 words, I'll need to do around 1,800 daily to reach the target... ouch!

If you want to check me out I'm here: They Feast On Flesh!

I'll try and update the word count at least weekly if not every few days, I've put a widget in top right corner of blog but it doesn't seem to be working. Either I've done it wrong or the NaNoWriMo site is overloaded!

NaNoWriMo HeRe I CoMe!

It usually takes me ages to write something a little longer than a short story, I am very undisciplined and envious of writers that can get up in the morning and write to order, each and every day. I have no self control, look! I'm blogging now when I could be writing! So, in an attempt to gain some discipline and kick the habit of procrastination I've enrolled in this year's NaNoWriMo event. That means starting November 1st 2009 I am going to attempt to write a novel of 50,000 words or more in thirty days... yes, you read it right, thirty days. Okay, you can stop laughing now, I know it will be probably more like thirty months than days! But I'm going to give it a go.

The story I have in mind is a zombie one, the working title is

'They Feast On Flesh'

and it's hopefully going to be a compilation of individual stories with an anchoring thread running through them all. Then in the final chapter I hope to have them all tie together... we shall see!

If you're interested in my progress or just want a laugh at my pitiful attempt at reaching the 50k target then you can check in on me here:

They Feast On Flesh