The interestingly named “The Grapple Annual” (Roy Slaven and HG Nelson come to mind) have announced their forthcoming publication, and the announcement includes that my short story, “The Penultimate Report of Sergeant Burns” is among the contents. (Perhaps that is the incentive I need to write some more, and blog some more. I am far […]
A generous short review of my story “Avoiding Gagarin” appears at Tangent, and I am grateful it does not say bad things!
Crossed Genres Magazine have very kindly included my story, My Life as a Lizard, in their latest edition, which is very exciting for me. If you are interested, click on the link to the story, which is also included on their website. Each month they have a New Author Spotlight, which is a short interview […]
The school camp was held in another universe. The cabin was small but the huge moon pouring through the window swelled it with liquid light. I could not sleep with the drilling of mosquitoes. I could not sleep this far from home. I had to lie in the tedium, desperate for the hours to pass. […]
Just worked my way through 113 e mails, quite liked this one 🙂 Hi David, Thank you for submitting your work to XXX, and our apologies for taking so long to provide you with a response. We were saving the acceptance emails until last. Yes, congratulations! We’d love to publish your story, pending the editorial […]
Perhaps I exaggerate slightly. On making my way through the latest edition, I came across the following: Next Issue Aurealis appears ten times a year. Every month except January and December. The next issue, Aurealis #68 will be published in March 2014 featuring: “Icarus” by Tara Calby and “Avoiding Gagarin” by David Stevens I knew […]
I thought that it must have been International Burns Day with the victims on parade, their different scars on display. Marks I had not seen before. Hair up, showing pigmentless flesh below the ear. Flashmark along the arm. Puckered skin running down the rear of a shoulder. Are these the marks that all lives leave, […]
News of the bus misadventure high in the Canutes caused me to reflect on an incident from my school days. Those of a certain age will remember the tightening of the local school curriculum, when a scientific fine tooth comb was drawn through the hippy length hair of what in those days passed for the […]
I ranted commented previously about one line dismissals of stories, and how hard it can be to work out what they mean. I am such a hypocrite. I get another one line critique with a rejection and I am very happy about it. I like the mood this piece evokes, but overall I felt it […]
The real reason to write fiction, after all, isn’t to make money, nor to show the human heart in conflict with itself, nor to give a picture of one’s time, nor to call attention to the plight of any oppressed classes, but to show off. You want to be able to say to visitors, “Sit […]
Nobody is looking 