The Science of Fiction

A Breath of Polish Air

2026-11-02T17:53:21.686+00:00

My dieselpunk story A Breath of Fresh Air, first published last year in Black Cat Weekly magazine, has been accepted by Polish magazine Nowa Fantastyka. This will be my third story in that magazine, and my sixth in Polish altogether.

Grand Theft Dino

2026-10-31T17:52:00.000+00:00

Grand Theft Dino is another story where I thought of the title and then came up with a story to go with it. In this case, it turned out to be related to my Yorick stories. It's now been accepted for the anthology The Mystic's Pen, Volume II, my fourth anthology acceptance of the year.

Return to the Long Afternoon

2026-10-30T17:48:00.313+00:00

The fabulous-looking anthology Clockwork Oceans & Lunar Dreams: A Vernean Odyssey is now out, including a reprint of my story The Long Afternoon of Sir Rupert Moncrief. This is the third appearance in English for this story, plus it's been published in Hungarian.

The Punjabi Week of Quarantine

2026-10-06T18:06:05.003+01:00

The Punjabi translation of my story The Second Week of Quarantine appears now in the latest issue of Punjabi popular science magazine Udaan.

This is the eighth language for this story, and my second story in Punjabi.

Epistolary Assyriopunk Story

2026-10-06T11:35:09.128+01:00

I signed the contract today for my epistolary Assyriopunk story The Governor Beyond the River, which has been bought by Black Cat Weekly. This will be my third story in that magazine. Technically it's not actually Assyriopunk, it's ancient Assyrian Science Fiction, in the same way that my Victorian era story The Journey Within is not steampunk it's Victorian Science Fiction.

Macbeth and the Martians

2026-09-07T20:05:57.344+01:00

Having figured out how to create an eBook using KDP, I decided to release my novel Macbeth and the Martians, co-written with William Shakespeare, as a stand-alone eBook.

I came up with the title at the same time as Romeo and the Robots, but this story incorporates most of Shakespeare's dialogue, with an overarching story that explains how everything that happens is the result of an alien invasion.

Third Caer Valley Story

2026-09-01T14:58:35.440+01:00

I've signed the contract and can now happily announce that my short story News of (a Small Corner of) the World has been accepted by All Worlds Wayfarer magazine, to be published next year. This is the third of my stories to be set in the small community of the Caer Valley, after the mysterious Isolation Event. The three stories are interlinked but independent, so can be read in any order:

In response to Your Reader, published in Nature magazine last year

A Hole Lot of News, forthcoming in the anthology The Big Book of Quantum Fiction

News of (a Small Corner of) the World, forthcoming in All Worlds Wayfarer magazine

The Story of Galaxy's Game

2026-08-19T18:44:00.000+01:00

How long does it take to write a novel and have it published? Here’s my story.

I started writing Galaxy’s Game when I was ten. I didn’t know it was going to be a novel at the time. I carried on writing it on and off till I was twenty, all by hand in exercise books. I rediscovered it when I was thirty, and rewrote it on my laptop. It amounted to 80% of a novel. A few years later my two boys, young teens at the time, discovered it on the hard drive and loved it, so I was inspired to finally finish it when I was about forty. After submitting it to various places and wondering what to do with it for several more years, it was accepted for publication as a ten-part serial on a long-running webzine. Sadly the webzine ceased publication with only four parts published. So eventually I decided to self-publish it via KDP. I commissioned this fabulous cover and this week it’s available on Amazon. Forty-three years after I started writing it.

Galaxy's Game Launched

2026-08-18T18:14:00.000+01:00

After the disappointment last year of Aphelion magazine ceasing publication having only published parts 1-4 of Galaxy's Game, I spent some time disconsolately wondering what to do until I was encouraged to give KDP a go. So I commissioned this fabulous cover, formatted the manuscript, and now the Kindle and paperback editions are both available on Amazon.

It's only taken 43 years to get to this point!

A Breath of Spanish Air

2026-08-02T14:21:48.670+01:00

The Spanish translation of my dieselpunk story A Breath of Fresh Air is out today at Argentinian webzine Microficciones y Cuentos. This is the first translation of this story, which was originally published a year ago in Black Cat Weekly magazine.

Ogres, Beavers and Other Romanian Creatures

2026-07-21T18:25:42.501+01:00

The Romanian translation of my fifth and final Yorick story, Ogres, Beavers and Other Mythical Creatures, is out now in the new issue of Galaxia 42 magazine. That's all five stories now available in Romanian and Hungarian.

This is my eighth story in Galaxia 42 and my twelfth story in Romanian altogether.

Never Talk to Strangers in English

2026-07-07T22:05:01.264+01:00

Following on from the Welsh and Spanish translations, the original English version of my very short story Never Talk to Strangers is out today at daily microfiction webzine Quotidian Bagatelle - my second story at that wonderfully-named venue.

Romeo and the Greek Robots

2026-07-02T11:31:25.723+01:00

The Greek translation of my short story Romeo and the Robots is out today in issue #49 of Ef-Zin magazine.

This is the fifth language for this story, my ninth in Ef-Zin magazine and my twelfth in Greek altogether.

Romeo and the Robots Return

2026-06-28T14:53:24.359+01:00

The Farsi translation of Romeo and the Robots is out now at Metaphor Space, my third story in Farsi and the the fourth language for this story. My story depends on knowledge of one of Shakespeare's most well-known stories, and so far it translates well around the world.

Gone With the Window

2026-05-18T19:11:28.424+01:00

My very short story Gone With the Window is also out today at the fabulously-named Quotidian Bagatelle. This story was previously published in Scots a few years back, and is one of two stories of mine that are scheduled to appear on this daily webzine in the next few weeks.

Romeo and the Cuban Robots

2026-05-18T18:45:42.504+01:00

A bit if a flurry of stories this month! The Spanish translation of Romeo and the Robots appears today in the new issue of Cuban magazine Korad.

This is the third language for this story, my second story in Korad, and my 22nd story in Spanish. This is actually the Sept-Dec 2025 issue, but it's been rather delayed.

The Camel Goes to Argentina

2026-05-13T19:07:07.695+01:00

The Spanish translation of my story Englebert is out today at Argentinian webzine Microficciones y Cuentos. This is the 12th language for this camel-related story.

Feast or Famine?

2026-05-12T10:29:00.006+01:00

The anthology Feast or Famine? is now out, and includes my Jack Vance-style story Season of the Slumwort. All of the stories in the anthology centre around food in some way. In my case it's the eponymous slumwort, which is an unappetizing cabbagelike vegetable that appears all too often throughout the story.

Romeo and the Persian Robots

2026-05-10T08:50:00.002+01:00

My short story Romeo and the Robots has been accepted by Farsi (Persian) webzine Metaphor Space. This makes four languages for this story and will be my third story in Farsi.

Romanian Ogres

2026-05-06T21:24:00.001+01:00

The fifth and final of my Yorick stories, Ogres, Beavers and Other Mythical Creatures, has been accepted by Romanian magazine Galaxia 42. That's the whole series now available in Hungarian and Romanian. It's due to appear in the June issue.

Romanian Web

2026-05-05T17:14:00.002+01:00

Two years after it was accepted, the Romanian translation of my story World Wire Web is out today in the new issue of ArtZone SF magazine.

This is the 4th language for this story, my 3rd story in this magazine and my 12th story in Romanian altogether.

Living on the Edge of Polish

2026-04-24T15:27:00.001+01:00

The Polish translation of my story Living on the Edge of Darkness is out in the latest issue of Nowa Fantastyka.

This is the third language for this story, my second story in this magazine and my fifth story in Polish.

Hear You Scream in Hungarian

2026-04-18T17:25:00.003+01:00

The Hungarian translation of my novelette Hear You Scream is out in the new issue of Galaktika magazine. It's the first translation of this story, and my twelfth story to appear in this magazine.

This is the story in which the main character is deaf and there is no reference to sound in the entire story.

A Hole Lot of News

2026-04-09T17:58:00.007+01:00

Happy to announce that I've sold my short story A Hole Lot of News (spelled deliberately like that) to the anthology The Big Book of Quantum Fiction. It shares the same setting as my story In Response to Your Reader - the small community of the Caer Valley, after the mysterious Isolation Event.

I have a few other ideas for the same setting...

The Dutch Week of Quarantine

2026-03-19T17:10:00.003+00:00

The Dutch translation of my story The Second Week of Quarantine is out now in the latest issue of SF Terra magazine. This is the seventh language for this story, and my fourth story in Dutch.