Category Archives for News

Zombies in Oxford’s Not the Literary Festival

As you might have seen in my previous blog post, eight cuts gallery staged a literary take over last week with their Not the Oxford Literary Festival.

Calling for poetry submissions via email or twitter, eight cuts revolutionaries spotlighted alternative & indie authors by leaving leaflets at bus stops and in phone boxes, putting posters through cafe doors and various other things.

Eager to join in, I submitted Electricity (the closing poem of Hungry For You)… and guess which poem made The Oxford Times?!

Yup – pictured is eight cuts gallery ringleader Dan Holloway, with a leaflet of my poem!

Check out the full article on The Oxford Times — I’m not mentioned by name, but I still think it’s pretty darn cool. Dan tells me the article made the print edition, too.

So yes. Me = happy.

How was your weekend?

Paint Oxford With Poetry!

The kind folks of eight cuts gallery — organisers of Not the Oxford Literary Festival (March 27-30) — need YOU your poetry.

The climax of Not the Oxford Literary Festival, on the night of the 30th and early hours of the 31st of March, is “Paint Oxford With Poetry”, our effort to see Oxford wake up to a city filled with poetry. We won’t actually be painting, but we will be leaving leaflets at bus stops and in phone boxes, putting posters through cafe doors and various other things. And each one will have a poem on it, and a very simple message:

“This poem comes to you from Not the Oxford Literary Festival. We hope you enjoyed it. And if you did we hope you’ll consider writing your own, and leaving it where you found this one. And share it with us at http://eightcuts.com. And pass it on to someone you know. Help make Oxford a city of poetry.”

[…] Poetry is for everyone, and Not the Oxford Literary Festival wants to let everyone in Oxford know about the present of Oxford’s poetry – and to be part of its future.

And that’s where you come in. They’re asking for everyone to bequeath a poem for them to distribute — either by contacting them by email, or tweeting a short poem on the night using the #oxfordpoetry hashtag.

What are you waiting for? Check it out.

Interview on Free Book Reviews

Free Book Reviews is a blog that reviews indie books, interviews indie authors and generally talks about whatever amuses them in the literary world.

Yesterday, Free Book Reviews posted an interview with yours truly. I discuss poetry (and Gabriel Gadfly), horror, chocolate, and other things I can’t remember saying.

Some choice excerpts:

FBR: Why do you write?

Me: Because not to write is to despair; I simply cannot imagine life without it.

There’s an immense satisfaction in crafting a story, in finding the right turn of phrase, in seeing the little characters in my head come to life. But there’s an even greater satisfaction in having my work read, and finding that others, too, can fall in love with my worlds. Sharing the joy of writing and reading is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

FBR: Did researching and writing Hungry For You teach you anything or influence your thinking in any way?

Me: It’s made me appreciate horror as a genre — I’ve come to realise that horror is more than just gore and guts. There’s a lot to be learnt about the human condition in extreme situations; I think people really show their true nature when faced with life or death situations.

FBR: What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Me: I think my greatest strength is that I believe nothing I write is sacred.

It can always be improved, rewritten, changed. I want to tell the best possible story, and if that means cutting out 30,000 words and writing new stuff, I’ll do it.

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Win a Kindle! and Other Short Stories

Just kidding, no short stories involved.

As you may have seen over on the 1889 Labs blog, we are giving away a Kindle Fire to one lucky reader.

To enter, simply join the 1889 Labs mailing list by December 31st at the latest.

If you join by December 15th, you’ll also get a bonus prize!

That’s right: you’ll get a FREE e-copy of our latest release, The Destructibles by IsaKFT. I’ve read and edited that techno-thriller, and let me tell you, it’s pretty great.

If you like thinking about net neutrality, newsmedia conglomerates ruling the world, and the underdogs fighting back, this is the book for you.

If you sign up by the 15th you’ll also get up to 50% off of selected 1889 titles, including my ever-lovely Hungry For You.

Plus, you know, as editor-in-chief, I’m the one writing the 1889 newsletters, so it’d be an extra way for you to keep tabs on me and stuff. :-)

What are you waiting for? Sign up now.

Fancy being on the radio?

Not literally on top of a radio — that would be silly.

As you may know, I’m the director and host of Webfiction World, a bi-monthly podcast dedicated to e-fiction which has been running since June.

Halfway through the show, we have a reading slot to give listeners a reprieve from my insanity brilliance, with of course credits & links to the author.

We’re looking for more readers and stories to showcase each episode.

Are you an author?

Do you have a:

  • Short story or stand-alone excerpt (any genre),
  • Max 1500 words,
  • Works well for readings,
  • Have freely available fiction online;
  • You’re the author and/or can give us permission to perform/record?

Then please drop a line in the comments!

If you already record readings of your own stories, you can also submit the audio file directly to us — please ask for details.

We also have a bunch of readings that need your voice to bring them to life. We send you a story, you whip out your mic and record it, and then your reading features on our podcast, with a credit to you of course! Interested? Please drop an email saying so to webfictionworld [at] gmail [dot] com

NB Obviously we can’t guarantee 100% that your readings/excerpts will be used, or when if it is. But most likely we will — don’t let this disclaimer dissuade you!