January 2nd 2005
Happy New Year!
That's pretty much it for the moment. No resolutions, save seeing myself sell lots more stories. Hope you all had a doozy of a new year and Christmas time.
TTFN.
January 15th 2005
This happened just a couple of days after my last update but due to some issues my computer was having with the internet I was unable to report it.
The news is that the wonderful Esther Schrader over at Flashshot has accepted not one but two of my shorties for future publication. They are "Academic Distinctions" (a sequel to "The Triumph Of Logic") and "All Sense Gone" a rare non-genre effort from me.
More news as it happens, but first a quick note about my aims for this year. My resolution is to become wealthier from my writing. That is, I want my writing to at least contribute to the expenses it incurs. To that end, I am looking at expanding my range of submissions and making more of them. As I have no work lined up for the immediate future, I will use this time to complete some old projects and mail out some others that have been resting for the last few months. Which will all be recorded here, so hopefully there'll be a few more updates 'round these parts.
Wish me luck.
February 14th 2005
Not really an update for the career but today just happens to be my 35th birthday.
So what, I hear you ask.
Well, for all the talk of 40 being the new 20 and other assorted guff, I am now officially middle-aged. This last year I have gone up a size in my trousers for the first time in almost twenty years, I weigh 12 kilos heavier than the last time I weighed myself (1987 for what it's worth), and I shouldn't give a shit, but for some reason I do.
I'll just go and get out my copy of The Beauty Myth.
And some chocolate.
... And to put all this into a more realistic perspective, one of my literary heroes died just a couple of days ago. I first read Arthur Miller in 1986: my drama class performed The Crucible and my English class was studying All My Sons. He has always struck me as an eminently sensible human being and his autobiography, Timebends is one of my most reread books. Just a few months ago I read his novel Focus and I may well be paying that another visit in the years to come. There aren't that many writers around who can say as many things about being a responsible human being any more.
March 5th 2005
The inestimable Mr Ken Mullin and Ms Sandra Seaman are the co-editors of A Flasher's Dozen which is a new magazine debuting soon. They have paid me the compliment of accepting my story "The Spear Of The Gods" for their first issue. This is a flash fiction magazine, ie specialising in stories of less than a thousand words, and while I am grateful for the sale, I am also thrilled that my work is helping to launch a new venue for readers and writers.
So there we have it: less than two months after I talk about my resolution to sell more stuff, I have sold more stuff.
Should be more of it, I think.
March 7th 2005
Two days since the last update: but don't worry, it'll probably be a couple of months before you hear from me again after this.
Anyway, the news is that my daily Flashshot arrived in the mail and it's my story "Academic Distinctions" which was a joy to behold. But the exciting part was the commercial spot at the bottom of the yarn which read:
"The New DOCTOR WHO airs on CBC Television April 5, 2005 8:00 PM Wahoo!"
We're big fans of the Doctor in our house and this was just the icing on the cake of my work being in print.
Yes, you're right, it doesn't take much to impress me.
March 15th 2005
Please click over to Flashshot to view the cover for the forthcoming Flashshot: Year Two anthology which features a couple more of my stories.
In more Flashshot news, the paperback version of the Year One anthology is due out shortly as well.
April 20th 2005
More Flashshot news: the first paperback of stories (featuring two of mine) is now available from here. Go! Buy! Read! Enjoy!
April 22nd 2005
Last piece of Flashshot news for a while, I promise.
My most recent story,"All Sense Gone", rocked up in my inbox this morning and looked terrific, as the Flashies always do.
See you soon with some other news.
I hope.
May 13th 2005
Received a beautiful package in the mail today: my two contributor's copies of A Flasher's Dozen, the spanky new magazine edited by K. R. Mullin and Sandra Seamans. This is a brand new venture for these guys and this particular issue is what the comics industry would refer to as "Issue No. 0". Fortunately the interest has been high enough to warrant them continuing on with their work. Click here for more information about the magazine and about subscribing.
May 29th 2005
Quite a busy week with two pieces of news. The first is the arrival of my contributor's copy of FlashShot: Year 1. It's a gorgeous-looking piece of work put together by the ever-fab G. W. Thomas.
The other piece of news is that if you watch this space you may see details of Judgement day, a mosaic novel written by myself and nine other excellent authors from around the globe. It's being released in hardcover in September of this year.
June 8th 2005
All right, so it's some more Flashshot news, but it's only because Esther Schrader the wonderful editor keeps on wanting to add them to the list of forthcoming flashies. And why not when they're so much fun to do! Keep an eye out for "It's Only A Game", coming soon to an inbox near you.
July 21st 2005
Just a few pieces of housekeeping for you. If you follow this link you will find an advance review for the soon-to-be-published Judgement Day which is a featured-forthcoming-release from Five Star Books.
In other news I recently returned from a trip to Tasmania, the wonderful place I grew up in (before moving to the equally-wonderful-but-slightly-warmer Western Australia). It was terrific to see that the place hasn't changed all that much (despite their new obsession with all things Danish and inner-city-yuppie-housing). Especially terrific was a chance to stop off at the corner of Elizabeth and Morrison, which if you've read A Stranger In The Realm, you'll know has especial significance to me (just as a sidenote: it wasn't until I stood there just a few days ago that I realised that it is almost exactly halfway between my two favourite pubs, the Theatre Royal Hotel and Knopwood's Retreat. Still, there are worse memorials to adolescence doing the rounds). Also, I'd like to say a big "hi" to the folks that we did catch up with and an even bigger "HI" to those that we didn't. Sorry but we only had the ten days.
Next time...
August 30th 2005
Some news.
First up, click your way over to the blog of J. J. Ace where you can chart the upcoming projects and ongoing thoughts of this exciting new author.
Secondly, click your way over to Equilibrium Books and purchase a copy of my outstanding first novel. It's their 3rd birthday and they are offering copious savings on all books. so even if you don't like mine (Ha!) there's plenty there that will capture your attention.
Thirdly (and finally, you might also want to click over to my new-improved Sample Stories and check out some of my writing just so's you can get a taste of what I'm trying to part you from your hard-earned readies for.
September 9th 2005
So, it's official: J. J. Ace's first novel is at last available to the general public.
Go forth and purchase retail, good people of the world!
Also coming soon is the most recent Flashshot snapped up by the wondrous Esther Schrader. It has the incredibly original title of "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" and is guaranteed to take you a little bit of time to read it.
Watch this space because I'm planning to update in the next few days with my first review in these parts.
Au revoir...
September 14th 2005
Another plug, but this time it's the review I promised you. Eagle-eyed readers may remember that a little time back I had a short story published in the trial issue of A Flasher's Dozen, a quarterly devoted to flash fiction edited by the wonderful K. R. Mullin and the inestimable Sandra Seamans. Well, the first issue of this exciting new venue arrived late last week, along with the bonus of The Lone Flasher, a chapbook highlighting the work of an author selected by the editors.
The magazine is a treat. It has stories by Tom Campbell, Carol CarpenterBruce DuBoff, Jack Goodstein, Bruce Neidt, Lori Romero, Wayne Scheer, co-editor Sandra Seamans, Pam Skochinski, Rebecca Wann, C. S. Watts, Samuel Weldon, Kelsey Wolfram as well as my fellow Flashshooters Greg Beatty, Margaret B. Davidson, Ann Vitale and Heather Wardell. The stories are all excellent but I would especially single out "Tortilla" by Rebecca Wann, "Flight" by Lori Romero, "My Doppleganger" by Jack Goodstein, "And She Was Not To Blame" by Kelsey Wolfram and "Any Port In A Storm" by Ann Vitale.
The chapbook, "Not Quite Your Same Old Eden" is also great fun. It is a collection of co-editor K. R. Mullin's "Adam And Eve" stories. There was one in the trial issue but it struck me as a little odd (sorry Ken!). Thanks to this collection though, I went back and reread it and seemed far less strange. Anyway, the collection has stories about Adam and Eve as well as subsidiary characters such as Grandmother, Snake and God. These stories cross genres from plain retellings of Genesis to kitchen-sink drama to westerns via love stories and horror. My personal favourites were "Planning Paradise", "Inauguration", "Understanding Dirt", "Showdown At The Eden Saloon" and "A Primal Groaner".
Please take the time to seek out these publications. Your money and your time will not have been wasted.
September 18th 2005
"It's Only A Game " rocked up in my inbox the other night, courtesy of Gary Thomas and Esther Schrader at Flashshot. My 7th story for them with at least one more to come. Hey: this is my fourth posting in the last three weeks. My stuff wouldn't be getting out to people by any chance, would it?