My first story in Galaxy's Edge: Cadmus P. I.

I'm delighted to record my first story to make the prestigious pages of Galaxy's Edge. 

Cadmus P.I. tells the story of the man who may very well have been the Ancient World's very first private detective as he sets out to trace a kidnap victim.

Strangely enough, this story began life as an informal competition between fellow competitors in Writers of the Future to write a story in a weekend featuring three random objects.

My three objects, if I remember correctly, were a dragon soft toy, a miniature portrait and a bag of rubbish.

I shall leave it to the reader to decide whether I made a good job. If you think I did, then thanks must go to Rebecca Birch for thinking up the competition.

If you think I didn't - well, you don't have to tell me, do you? I'm just so pleased to have reached one of my long term writing goals.

I was not to know at the time that this was also to be one of the last stories selected by the celebrated Mike Resnick, whose role in helping other authors make career progress cannot be overstated.

The Waiting Room

Third and Starlight is finally on sale. Yes, the anthology you've been waiting for if you missed the first opportunity to read my story 'The Waiting Room' in Flame Tree's 'Chilling Ghost Stories' anthology of 2015!

This book is rather special, since all its contributors are finalists or semi-finalists in the Writers of the Future Competition. Never having quite cracked the final eight in that competition I can tell you it's not an easy thing to do. Those who achieve this distinction really can write. I am honoured that my story should have been included in such company.

'The Waiting Room' was quite an appropriate title for my first ever UK sale. I had to wait quite a while for that one and quite a while for the next one too. Though I've now had a total of eighteen short stories published, (ignoring reprints), this year's 'Heavy Weather' in the Flame Tree 'Pirates and Ghosts' anthology was only my second in the UK.

So, if UK fans of my work actually exist, this year you have two chances to obtain it!

Writers of the Future 33 Q4

Here's a piece of UK news which only accidentally coincides with the US election.

No seriously.

I finally managed to break my streak of consecutive Honourable Mentions and one Silver Honourable Mention in the Writers of the Future competition. My entry for Quarter 4 of Volume 33 made semi-finalist, which means I can look forward to a personal critique from David Farland, the coordinating judge.

The exact numbers of the international field for this contest are not published, though it is believed to be comfortably into four figures. In a typical quarter there are 8 finalists and 8 semi-finalists.

So near and yet so far!

The irritating thing is, I have more than a suspicion I know the precise paragraph that let me down. I can't think why I didn't cut it on the final edit.

Nevertheless, as Hitchcock said of his lifetime achievement award: This has encouraged me. I shall go on!

Writers of the Future Volume 31, Quarter 1

I received an Honorable (sic) Mention for my latest entry in the Writers of the Future competition.  Each quarterly round of this competition attracts more than a thousand entries, so I'm told.  Just how many more than a thousand no-one is saying, but I'm pleased to have been placed amongst the top 10% or so.


This is an anonymously judged competition so names don't count and work does, which is of course a proper challenge.  I was quite fond of my story this time, though I spotted a continuity error after I had submitted it, so I think I should consider myself fortunate that it did so well.


On we go to the second quarter, for which my entry is already submitted.  I have some thoughts about quarter three, but still a couple of months in which to organise them.