From Marginalia to Malago

It’s been a strange year – one of those authors go through sometimes – in which novel-writing has been slow or tricky, and instead I’ve done what I term the ‘marginalia’ of a writer’s life – other things that around the margins of writing actual books.

So this year, I’ve been a mentor on the Literature Works Word Space programme, supporting an excellent budding science fiction writer as he progresses with his novel. I’ve spoken on panels, including an interesting non-bookish one on AI for Altered State, bringing a speculative angle to the discussion.

I’ve also had a handful of short stories published, The Other Sky in Apparition Literary Magazine, Davy Jones and the SS Utopia in the Skeins anthology by Linen Press, and a couple in the Quite Weird anthology by Malago Press, which I’ll come to later.

For a couple of years now – maybe more – I’ve been writing my most tricky book so far – a complex dual-narrative, half-historical metafiction whose plot is as slippery as eels in butter. I still don’t know if I’m up to the task. It’s easy to come to the end of the year feeling rather glum, thinking you’ve got nowhere because you’ve had to put work aside, or begin yet another rewrite.

So it’s nice to look back over the year and realise I’ve done at least a few things, have continued as an active member of JustWrite Bristol, and been part of the literary scene.

Then there’s the small matter of Malago Press – the imprint founded by myself and other members of JustWrite, to publish a range story-led books from different genres, all managed from and born in Bristol. It’s something we’ve talked about for years, and now it’s finally off the ground, softly launched with the Quite Weird anthology and a series of crime novels by H J Reed. Watch this space for more imprint news.

Fancy a little escapism of the weirdest kind? Read or listen to The Other Sky