Writing, and that...

Wow, so apparently I have a blog, who knew, right?

So anyway, apologies for all the radio silence etc etc. The main reason for this is that I have been busy as all fuck with the day job. All going well at Rebellion HQ and I'm delighted to say that David Moore is now the commissioning editor of Abaddon. David has some very exciting plans for the imprint and I couldn't be happier to hand over my literary mutant baby to someone who is not only a superb editor, but also a great friend.

Anyway, I have been tinkering a bit with words and there is a new thing for you to buy which has my words in it. It's even available as an e-book, so there is no excuse not to. My story 'Tea and Sympathy', a black comedy about growing old and desire, had been published in Horror Express 3, which you can buy here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Horror-Express-Three-Shaun-Hutson/dp/1482780194/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366195612&sr=1-3&keywords=horror+express

I'm also delighted to say that I have placed my latest story 'White Horse.' I won't announce where as yet, as I want the publisher to do the big reveal of the full line-up.

Anyway, the confidence boost from the recent publications and acceptance I've had means I'm back in the writing saddle. Which is mainly a nice place to be.

Overall, then, a pretty good year so far. All is well with the Olivers. Maia, our two year old daughter, is now super excited to be in her big girl bed. No more cot. Though I did check on her in the small hours of Friday morning to find her sleeping under the rocking chair in her room. Which is both (a) pretty cute and (b) a tiny bit reminiscent of Poltergeist. Fortunately for us our house isn't built on the site of an ancient Native American burial ground, those being in somewhat short supply in Abingdon.

Yesterday I had a day out in that there London at the Book Fair, which was nice. Though Earls Court is vast and airless and way too warm. Lovely it was too, to catch up with friends in the evening. I went for drinks and dinner with the variously hugely talented and lovely folk: Rebecca Levene, Ben Smith (of the Rebellion parish), Anne Perry and Lavie Tidhar. Jared Shurin also made a bonus appearance, but it was fleeting.

So, it was a really nice day, I got a whole bunch of writing done on the train and even had more of an inkling where to take the as yet pretty much unwritten Novel 3. (I know, that title is snappy as all that isn't it?)

Meanwhile I'm working my way through the tenth and 'final' book in Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen Series, The Crippled God. I'm absolutely in awe of the way Erikson keeps such control of his vast fantasy universe. It's been a hell of a journey and one I'm glad I took. After such a huge series, though, I will take a breather before plunging back into epic fantasy. I may re-read, at some point soon, the entirety of the Lankhmar stories by Fritz Leiber. I may even blog about it.

In the meantime, go buy Horror Express 3 or, failing that, sending me unmarked bills in a brown paper packages.