The Man on the Church Street Omnibus

I am pleased to say that the first edition of The Sockdolager quarterly magazine is now available on line. The whole magazine is available for download from Amazon.

It contains my story 'The Man on the Church Street Omnibus'. This is my first published venture into historical science fiction.

Steampunk enthusiasts will be sad to hear that, though set in the Victorian era, the story features no locomotives, pumping engines or paddle steamers; the omnibus in the title is of the horse-drawn variety.

Nevertheless, I do hope you will find it a good read. I am in distinguished company in the table of contents; it is particularly pleasing to share the edition with my friend Stewart Baker.

I have to acknowledge that the photograph illustrating this post is not an omnibus. Sadly I have yet to perfect the time machine that will enable me to return to the 1860's and photograph one. However this very smart turnout was on display at last year's Highland Show, so I hope you like that too.

And a Fourth!

I don't know what has caused the little run of enthusiasm for my work in the USA, but it is most welcome.

I can report that a fourth US publisher, T Gene Davis's Speculative Blog has accepted a 2,100 word contemporary fantasy entitled 'The Old Man on the Green'.

This story is set in a fictional Lincolnshire village which I would like to think might be the scene of several more tales. When I was young I spent a lot of time in Lincolnshire and some of you may know that my novel 'The Prophets of Baal' is also set there.

Meanwhile The Sockdolager has announced that its inaugural quarterly featuring a story of mine will appear on 3rd March. Don't miss it!

A Third Acceptance

2015 is getting better from a publishing point of view. I'm very pleased to say that The Sockdolager has decided that my 4400 word Victorian mystery entitled "The Man on the Church Street Omnibus" is to their taste.

Long before moving to Sliabh Mannan I used to live in Kensington, near to the location of this story. I can't claim to have noticed quite such strange goings on at the time, but maybe I wasn't being sufficiently observant!

No publication schedule is available as yet, but I'll let you all know when to look for it.