© 2007 and reprinted with the author’s permission.

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.” Father John looked up with a start as he had seen no one approach the confessional. “I have told lies on occasion,” said the voice “but I am about to tell you the truth.” Father John noticed an unusual echo in the man’s voice, and that his own hair was standing on end, as if he were charged with static electricity.

“Bless you my child. How long has it been since your last confession?”

“That will take some explaining. I am here to deliver a message to you, and I haven’t much time. Locking is only temporary”

“What do you mean by ‘locking’ my child?” The charged atmosphere, Father John felt, was becoming unnerving, and it was then that he noticed the background buzzing noise beneath the man’s voice. He wondered if perhaps the stranger had a radio with him. “A message from whom and about what?”

“Firstly it might be an idea to explain something to you”

“And what might that be?”

“That I am from your future” The buzzing surrounding the stranger ebbed a little.

“I beg your pardon?” the priest hoped that he had misheard.

“I am from your future, Father John”

“How do you know my name?” he asked.

“You’ve recently been scanned, so I know almost everything about you, Father John” It was only a short time since the priest had last encountered someone delusional in the confessional, and the previous time had resulted in the police being required and him spraining an ankle.

“Don’t worry Father, your ankles will be fine, this time” quipped the Stranger. “Ask me a question about yourself.” Father John wondered what the good Lord had sent him this time, as recently, following a conversation in the homeless shelter, for the first time in all his 32 years, his faith had almost wavered, much like the buzzing he now experienced beside him.

“What is my middle name and how old am I?” He sounded almost bored.

“Your middle names are Patrick and David, and at the beginning of this conversation you were 32 years, 1 month, 22 days, 11 hours and 9 minutes old. On your birthday this year, which fell on a Friday, you listened to Duke Ellington and drank Tyrconnell Whiskey - a little too much, in fact. It helped anaesthetise your sprained ankle, but made you more than a little melancholy, and you lay awake until long into the night thinking about Kasha. Now Father, as I say, my time here is limited, so what else can I tell you to make you believe me? You need to know about the device.”








The charged atmosphere crackled as Father John’s mind raced. The stranger went on to recount how he and his cousin, at nine years of age, had pulled apart a live frog, peeling the skin off its legs, promising to each other never to talk of their cruelty to anyone. He had detailed Father John’s first religious experience at the waterfall when he was five, and recounted, in sickening detail, the first time he had masturbated at boarding school.

His initial mild bewilderment led to an urgent shudder as he wondered how the stranger could have known about the Kasha event, what whiskey he had drunk and he was in denial altogether about boarding school. His mind swam and he felt himself incapable of grasping the implications.








Kasha had been saved, she had told Father John. She had studied quantum mechanics at Warsaw University and then at the Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn. She had then come to England for further postgraduate studies.

London student life had led onto cannabis had led onto amphetamines had led onto barbiturates had led onto heroin, both for her and her increasingly abusive partner. After he had overdosed, her life had spiralled further out of control and she found herself on the streets, selling her body whenever possible.

“We must go through much tribulation to enter the kingdom of God” Father John had quoted. “Acts 14:22”.

Although she was too ashamed to go into much detail to Father John, she had found herself attacked and admitted to hospital, where, heavily sedated, she found herself sexually abused by a porter.

A blink of self-awareness at this point was the catalyst for her epiphany; her ‘moment of clarity’ as an alcoholic might call it. She had reached a low that seemed to almost require salvation. The infinity surrounding her approached a crispness and purity worthy of a biblical explanation. She began to cry as the realisation hit her. Her saviour: the beautiful, the infinite, the one simple answer to her, and all mankind’s problems. She had been saved and had the faith to look herself in the mirror once more; the courage to free herself of her dependence. She believed.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek; and you shall find.”

“No Father John. I mean astrophysics.” she had explained, with her soft Polish accent.

“I beg your pardon?” He had asked, incredulous.

“Astrophysics.” she had repeated and smiled, albeit with a certain guiltiness, given her audience.

“But…but… God…Jesus, The Holy Ghost my child. The almighty. You were raised to be an avowed catholic were you not?”
“I mean no disrespect, Father, but there is no room for a supreme being in my understanding of the cosmos. I was forsaken by your God and saved by my study of astrophysics. I’m going back to post-grad research, I have the funding.” She had rediscovered her passion and went on to be a successful, published scientist. She also did charity work at the homeless centre.

Whilst at that moment, this had done nothing to alter Father John’s own view of creation, it planted a seed in his mind that was to grow. One day, would God gloriously return to judge the living and the dead?

He had already become somewhat familiar with physics: theoretical and otherwise. He knew of Copernicus, Galileo and Einstein and had even read a few of the earliest of the popular cosmology books. ‘A Brief History of Time’ was followed by books on evolutionary theory, Richard Dawkins and such like. “Know your enemy” he had confidently thought at the time.

That was years ago, and he remembered feeling comforted by the fact that many leading physicists of the time considered it plausible that in fact The Creator had either brought about the Big Bang, or indeed made the universe appear as though it had occurred. There was still room for his God in the universe. His faith had remained strong.








Yellow light formed a perfect cross to the left of the confessional - the shadow of the crucifix hanging between them.

“Is this my time? Asked Father John of the stranger, suddenly fearful as the colour drained from his face. “Have I mortally sinned, merely by my search for truth? Am I now to be smitten?” He swallowed as he conjured up an idea of the Angel of Death.

Initially he heard nothing above the humming.

“You won’t be dying today Father, or indeed any time soon.” The stranger said warmly, it was clear he understood Father John’s inner turmoil. “In fact,” he leaned closer to the lattice separating them “you are going to be alive and mortal for seventy more years, eleven months two days and one hour, give or take thirty or forty minutes.”

Father John squinted and tried to get a better look at the stranger, suddenly aware that he had unconsciously recoiled to the far side of the confessional. The stranger was bathed in a glow which faltered in time with the background noise. At times, he almost seemed to flicker.

“What trickery is this?” demanded the priest, rising as his confusion turned to frustration.

“Calm yourself, I mean you no harm and I am here to explain something of no small significance to you. Although in many ways it will pose as many questions as it answers.” Father John recalled the stranger’s unnatural knowledge of his life, and tried to adopt a mood of acceptance. It was not easy.

“Seventy years you say, my friend.” ‘My child’ no longer seemed applicable.

“Eleven months two days and one hour. The general trend for longevity continues” he said matter-of-factly. It was all still happening too quickly for Father John and he found himself sweating, despite the usual damp coldness of the confessional. His heart was racing. “I must press on” continued the stranger “as I said, my time is limited, and I need to explain the device to you”

Father John’s inner turmoil turned to a kind of helpless resignation. “That’s better,” said the stranger, “and by the way my name is Peter”. It was at this point, that Father John noticed that the humming he could hear rose in tone to become almost choral in nature, and in fact the honeyed light that bathed him seemed to be emitted from an area just above Peter’s head.

“No doubt here direct from before the Pearly Gates themselves, to inform me whether I am to be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven for all eternity”

“Yes and no.”

The priest decided that his sarcasm was misplaced given the circumstances. “I must be brief, but I shall explain a little about my past and your future…” Father John uncrossed his arms.

“A huge organisation was about to achieve an unprecedented amount of influence, on a global scale. Very serious accusations were made about an extremely important woman within this organisation. The delicate balance of power, wealth and information should rest with the righteous. We needed to confirm whether these terrible crimes had been committed by one destined to have such authority.

“In order for the potential transgressions to be investigated, a method was devised to view certain past events, to know for sure whether these accusations were true - whether this autocrat had indeed committed the crimes, or not.

“A device was built. You understand already, do you not, about light speed and a little of relativity?”

“Ye-Yes.” The priest, now a little calmer, was truly intrigued by how the conversation was turning.

“I shall talk in terms of the knowledge of your time so as not to confuse matters. When you look at the sun, the image perceived is around eight minutes old, as the photons, the particles that make up the light, take eight minutes to arrive at the earth. If the sun suddenly exploded, it would be eight minutes before you saw anything from the earth. Agreed?”

“Yes.”

“In fact, whenever you look at anything you are looking at it with some delay, as the photons have taken time to reach your eyes. This delay is incredibly small when you look across the room, but may be many years as you look at distant stars.” At this point Father John hoped that the explanation was not going to stray far beyond that which he already understood of theoretical physics, the limits of which had just been reached: it takes light a year to travel a light year.

“Now, some of the photons travelling out of this confessional away from you, could be seen by an observer outside in the aisle.”

“But there is no one there to see.”

“Not immediately, but some of those photons which do not get absorbed on their journey will travel through the open door, outside, and some of those will travel into the sky.”

“Sorry?” said the priest.

“As an example, imagine that you went to the church door right now, turned and walked back towards this confessional. If someone were a hundred kilometres away in a hot air balloon, with an infinitely powerful telescope, they could catch sight of you as you walked, and in fact see a little of you through the grille, once you had returned.”

“I’m with you so far” said Father John after a pause for thought.

“…and it would take a tiny amount of time for this information to get to the observer.”

“Yes.”

“If there was no observer there to catch the photons in the telescope, then the photons would continue on their journey, up into the sky and out into space.

“To be lost forever”

“Yes and no.” Father John couldn’t help but frown. “What do you know of black holes?”

“I have read that they are believed to be collapsed stars and sources of immense gravity which suck everything around into themselves.” Peter smiled at the apparent naivety of this description.

“And you understand why they are black?”

“Because their gravity is so great that light actually gets sucked into them and cannot escape, so we cannot see the stars behind them.” Father John surprised himself with his recollection.

“Correct, but they also bend the light, which would otherwise continue past them in a straight line, thus producing a sort of lensing effect. So, streams of photons - streams of visual information - will not all travel into infinity in a straight line. There can be reflection and bends in their trajectory, a sort of pinball effect, if you like.”

“OK…. I think.”

“If you were in a large room with ten people, all with mirrors and lenses, they could be set up so that you could look at yourself in a mirror, the reflected image having travelled between all ten of them. The message will have travelled much further, and therefore taken much longer, than just the distance between you and the final mirror.”

“OK.” Father John shuffled uncomfortably, endeavouring to maintain his concentration.

“Photons from every lit event are sent out into the universe. Therefore, if we had an infinite capacity to trace photons over immense distances, and an infinite capacity to then capture and ‘read’ them, we could effectively look into the past, by putting the surviving streams of photons from certain events back together, like a jigsaw. It would be far from a perfect image, as the vast majority of photons would be lost and unreadable, but it could be done and the resulting visual message could then be enhanced.”

“So from far off in space, you could look into the past of someone to see if they had committed a crime or not.”

“Exactly.”

“And such a machine now exists in your time?”

“Yes.”

“To ascertain whether this VIP has committed this crime?”

“The project was soon overtaken by a further use for the device. There were events that happened a long time ago, that are of huge significance to some, although too much faith is required for many.”

“What are you getting at?”

“The circumstances surrounding the birth, the life and death of one Jesus of Nazareth.”

“Oh my God” gulped Father John, turning pale again.

“That remains to be seen.” said Peter.

“You say that this device exists already?”

“It has done for two years.”

“So what… what were the… findings?” Father John realised that his whole body was shaking. The noise from beside him became louder and seemed to resemble a stereotypical heavenly choir. Peter was bathed in a golden light that emanated from above his head. “The calculations and data enhancement have taken two years. We find out tonight, my time.”

“So you don’t yet know.”

“I’m afraid not.” There was a long pause before Father John spoke.

“I always thought we could find evidence of God everywhere if we looked closely enough, now it seems we have to look from far enough away.”

“Precisely.”

“How did you come to be here, Peter?” He asked after a long pause.

“To explain that would take far too long, given your current understanding of physics.”

“Why me, why now?”

“You’re not the only one, and it happened at this point in your life-time, when we last discussed it. Again, I haven’t enough time for a detailed explanation.

“When does all this happen? When will we know the results?”

“We will know in seventy years, eleven months two days and one hour, your time.” It took a moment before the significance of this length of time struck Father John.

“Yes…. You are due to die at the same time that we get the first readings from ‘The Pearly Gates’ as the device has become known.

“You have already suffered catastrophic multiple organ failure and not even our medicine can save you. You are on your deathbed and the last rites have been performed. When I left, you had around 20 minutes to live. And twenty minutes before we… know.”

Father John slowly shook his head and sank back in his seat.

“My own personal judgement day.”

“We all find out at the same time you do… I look forward to passing time with you again, Father John” said Peter, and vanished, closely followed by the buzzing sound, and finally the ring of light above where his head had been.

From Richard Kelly, creator of (one of my favourite films) Donnie Darko.

“HAVE A NICE APOCALYPSE!” or “THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS, NOT WITH A WHIMPER BUT WITH A BANG!”

I watched the checkdisk, my brain went to mush. And I could quite easily imagine that is where the above quotes come from, the mushing and/exploding of the brain. As Richard Kelly apparently said, “You need to watch it twice to unlock its mysteries”. Yeah, no brainer really, it’s like a weird comic with so many strands and freaky things all at once it makes me think maybe he made it for his own amusement - a lets see how many ideas and effects and storylines and actors and other such things we can have in a large viewing timeframe-, and forgot there were people who were looking forward to it, to having to pay to watch it, to at least get some semblence of a cohesive story from watching it.

I’ll be putting myself through 2 hrs 25 minutes in the next day or so, and hopefully will be able to work out what the heck was going on.

By the way, the above doesn’t mean I dislike it, it’s just a lot for the five senses to take in. I think two of mine shutdown after about an hour and a half, so, once they’re bolstered up and recovered, I’ll re examine the film.

Until then, here’s some info to whet your appetite…

DEBUTS ON DVD 31 MARCH 2008

Universal Pictures (UK) will release Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales to own and rent on DVD 31 March 2008. The highly anticipated follow up feature to cult favourite Donnie Darko stars Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Geller, Justin Timberlake, Mandy Moore and Miranda Richardson.

Writer and director Richard Kelly’s debut feature film Donnie Darko grew from cult status into a phenomenal smash hit when released on DVD. And DVD is the perfect way to experience his new film, as its multi-layered story demands repeat viewings and the crystal clear picture and awesome sound quality will further heighten the impact of the outstanding special effects and excellent soundtrack that includes music specially composed for the film by Moby. The film will be accompanied by the insightful documentary that runs for over 30 minutes, USIdent TV – Survielling the Southland (The Making of Southland Tales).

Similar to Kelly’s groundbreaking, unconventional debut feature, Southland Tales is a multilayered vision which defies categorisation. A visceral experience, with stunning production values, special effects and a heavy nod to pop culture, the film is part dark comedy, part sci-fi, part thriller, part fairy tale, and even part musical and it is the singular vision of one man.

Los Angeles, 2008: The city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Southland Tales is an epic story narrated by Iraq veteran Private Pilot Abilene (Justin Timberlake) and is set over the course of three days centered in Los Angeles that culminate in an apocalyptic 4th July climax. Together with Abilene (Timberlake), the large ensemble cast of characters includes Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.

Richard Kelly comments, “What is it all about in the end? I think it’s about where our country is going, our current dilemma when you’re talking about alternative fuel, terrorism, our civil liberties being taken away from us, and the potential effects of environmental degradation on human behaviour, neurological responses, global warming. You know, there’s a lot going on here.”

Product Information
Release Date: 31 March 2008
Release Type: Retail and Rental DVD
Copyright: Film © 2006 MHF Zweite Academy Film GMBH & Co. KG. All Rights Reserved. Artwork and Packaging Design © 2008 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Certificate: 15
Genre: Drama / Sci-fi
Price: £19.99 RRP
Extras: USIdent TV – Survielling the Southland (The Making of Southland Tales)
Running Time: 145 mins approx
Audio: English 5.1
Website: http://www.southlandtales.com

Q) Molly asks, I have a 1950’s trash can I want to sell, but not sure what it is please tell me if you know..

It is a Ballonoff home products made in Ohio it has the names in caracters of Me2, Zig 6, Gaz and it is totally a sci-fi thing, it has planets on the inside and characters and walking machines on the outside all around the can.

Do you know what this can is?

A) We actually did a google to see if we could find the answer, but even the names of the characters don’t mean anything to us! Aggh.

Do you know the answer? If you have an idea, please post a comment.

Grant Hicks is a painter with a slight difference, he paints Cosmic Ceilings, scenes from outer space onto mainly bedroom ceilings.

Using specialist glow paint (which is actually invisible during the day) he creates stars, shooting stars, blackholes and other such images. These ceilings can only be seen in the dark. They look truly amazing as they have a 3D effect, and you feel as though you are actually looking up to the stars.

He can also do themed ceilings such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and fantasy scenes (images of which you can see below).

He also trains people to do this for a living as self-employed ‘Startists’.

Images Of Ceilings Painted And Websites:

Cosmic Ceilings: Glowing Images Examples

Our favourite is the universe scene, as it will never go out of date; well, the universe is pretty old, and still funky.

Cosmic Ceilings: http://www.cosmic-ceiling.co.uk
Glow Painting Training Site: http://www.cosmictraining.com

SW: TESBOM is an action/arcade game based around a series of fun and challenging mini-games where the player participates in the key events from the Episode V movie.

Take control of either Luke Skywalker or various Star Wars vehicles such as Snow Speeders or even the Millennium Falcon itself.

Travel through the various worlds of the Star Wars universe; fly through asteroid fields, train with Yoda, or even fight the mighty Imperial Forces on foot.

Key Features:

· Re-enact key scenes from the Empire Strikes Back!
· Jedi Combat/Training Mode featuring Yoda and Luke Skywalker
· Millennium Falcon game mode – Escape from the Star Destroyer through the asteroid field
· Train your force abilities with mini-games featuring the famous scenes with Yoda and Luke in the swamps of Degobah
· Easy control mechanism using contextual action points

Actual Screenshots And Purchase Info:

The Empire Strikes Back: Star Wars: Mobile Phone Game

To get Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back on your mobile simply text Empire to 88188. The game costs £4.50 which is a one off charge.

Status: Open

Other information: The seller wants this piece of artwork to go to a good home, and doesn’t particularly want to put it on Ebay, as the audience isn’t necessarily targetted. Will accept any reasonable offer and answer questions regarding the product, shipping costs etc.

We reckon this would go in any front room, gaming room or even as an out of the ordinary garden Gnome. As this is the first post of this kind, we will be sorting out a more automated way of passing seller information onto enquirers.

So if you have any second hand books, collectables or anything remotely scifi/horror/fantasy to send to a good home, then please let us know through the contact form.

Disclaimer: Once Scifi UK Review passes enquiries on to the seller, we will not be involved in any communication or potential transactions arising from this post. We won’t take a ‘cut’ and will leave the communication between enquirer and seller, once initial contact has been made.

Photo of the Bioshock Statue:

Please use the contact form for enquires, remembering to reference the item(s).

“The Cuban Missile Crisis, Teddyboys, Rock N’ Roll, The Key To The End Of The World, Timetravel - There’s nothing quite like being a teenager in Liverpool during 1962…”

Laura Mann, 14, is The H-Bomb Girl and has just moved to Liverpool with her mum. Laura’s father is seperating from her mother, and he’s in the RAF, and very close to the rising angst between the US and Cuba.

This is a fictional account of history during the Cuban Missile Crisis, rise of the Beatles, threat of nuclear war and includes bit parts by the Beatles and Cilla Black. As I’ve spent quite a bit of time in and around Liverpool in the last few years, and the descriptions of 60s Liverpool, especially the Cavern and the feeling of the loud music rockets this story onto another parallel. I even looked around for footage of The Beatles playing early on in their career, and you can image The H-Bomb Girl and her friends somewhere in the crowd.

It’s worth pointing out that Baxter is well known for his harder SF, and this is quite a departure for him, don’t expect in your face SF, this is more subtle, and the way he introduces the SF elements are perfectly paced.

There is a big downside though, and that’s towards the end where the story collapses (as does the wall in The Cavern in an idiotic display of dangerousness of the British Military) and my suspension of belief was forced to vacate the area.

The descriptions of nuclear devestation, in diary form from a young girl’s point of view, is strong and sometimes terrifying. Following the story of how Laura tackles the threats laid before her, upto and including holding the key to stopping nuclear war. It shows, in an enlightened way, how there can be different perspectives on mundane things such as music, upto the reasons for allowing a nuclear war to happen.

Apart from the aforementioned story collapse towards the end, there is a lot of worthwhile reading, whether for pseudo historical reasons, or the story’s deeper meaning, it’s a worth borrowing from your sf mate to read.

H-Bomb Girl, listen to yourself. You are a fourteen-year-old girl, stuck in a hole in the ground, in Liverpool. How can you talk about causing wars or not? How can you talk about choosing futures? Who do you think you are, the Virgin Mary or Supergirl?

“A being known as TAU 4, the terrible and uncontrollable brain child of a brilliant, enigmatic and ruthless scientist.”

On a distant planet of the Homeworld Alliance, Dr. Stephen Weller, acclaimed expert in behaviour, is about to penetrate one of the greatest mysteries of his field. He spent months of planning and care to get access to Altair Base, a high security experimental research facility.

Dark work is afoot at this Base controlled by Dyle Carzon and his entourage, under the guise of its focus for the war efforts against the hostile planets of the Outworlds. Securely tucked away in Altair’s encrouching forest, the Base is a natural strong hold, both to enter, and to exit.

Weller meets the being known as TAU 4, a morph, spliced together from human and Altair animal, to learn of her ‘behavioural problems’.

Victoria J. Waks has sewn together an almost poetic narrative in her debut novel, TAU4.

The main characters are engaging enough that you want to learn more about them. TAU has her inner turmoil as she gets to grips with who and what she is.

The environments shone in the prose, and its not hard to believe they could be converted to the big screen (with minimal CGI). The characters’ feelings and their interaction and conflict was wholly realistic.

It’s not a typical scifi novel, as it doesn’t focus on technology (apart from the merging of two species), though technology is used as the background - by technology I mean lasers and spaceships and the typical stuff. I suppose it’s more of a space adventure, and to be honest I don’t normally find these engaging, but this is tight and ingenious with some of its plot twists and story arcs.

Above all though, I think it’s the writing, the way the author physically structure sentences, the words used to pull the story along, and the way there are bits of information introduced prior to them fully being realised in the narrative, which makes it a pleasure to read.

The only downside, which is a real personal thing, is that the font used in the book was a bit ‘ornate’, it took a while to settle down and get used to it (I trawled a few font sites but couldn’t find the name of it). But once that personal hurdle was overcome, it was plain sailing and a thought provoking read.

Yes, TAU4 is thought provoking, but so much more so because as I write, the hot topic in the UK news is the Embryo Bill - in part, it’s to vote on whether it should be allowed to create embryos with human DNA and animal cells.

So in summary, when I finally put the book down, I realised that certain images stayed with me, like the forest descriptions, The Phantom cruiser, TAU’s eyes; and this counts for a lot. It’s one of the best books of this sub genre I’ve read in the last twelve months, and saying that, I’m certainly looking forward to part two.

An added bonus is the relevant artwork on the front cover, which is The Sphinx And The Chimera, 1906 (Oil on canvas), by Louis Welden Hawkins (1849 - 1910).

Creative writing is not immune to information technology. The literary equivalent to music’s Ipod is the ebook reader and there are many portable devices into readers can download an electronic version of a novel or magazine. Alternatives to specific ebooks are PDAs, laptops and some mobile phones.

Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com/) is a US website which formats books and magazines for web distribution to e book readers such as the ‘Amazon Kindle’ or ‘Sony Reader’. They take a file from the publisher and convert it to the multitude of formats needed to ensure all E book readers and many ‘mobile’ devices can display the text.

Fictionwise sell the files through their website though publishers can also do it themselves via their own, or retailer, sites.

‘MultiFormat’ ebooks are not encrypted and paying for one type of download format allows free access to other formats of that ebook. So customers who update to a new e reader or mobile device do not lose access to their library.

TTA Press’s (http://ttapress.com/) short fiction publications are Interzone, Black Static and Crimewave. The first two are magazines with original short fiction and non-fiction articles and the latter is a regular collection of short crime fiction. Crimewave 9 Transgressions has been on sale at Fictionwise since October 2007 and now Interzone magazine is available as an ebook.

Readers can purchase the magazine in single issues or as a one-year subscription here The e publication of the magazine began with the three most recent issues of Interzone: 211, 212, & 213. Future issues will appear alongside the publication of the print edition. At this time, there are no plans to offer any issues before IZ 211.

At present the e edition is not available direct from the TTA or T3A site.

If you’re not familiar with Interzone (shame on you!) then read past reviews and articles on Interzone.

Q) Walter asks, I once saw a sci-fi flick when I was young. It was in the early 70’s. I had to do with scientist trying to creat a view screen into the future.

There were also some robots that helped them. They looked pretty cool with tubes and things. There were also mutants above ground.

At the end the mutants made it below ground and the scientist realized that their view screen was really a time portal into a new geneation.They escaped through the screen into the future.

What was the name of this movie? Help.

A) Do you know the answer? If you have an idea, post a comment!

What Would You Do If You Accidently Found Someone Crying Out For Help On A Hidden Website?

Chris Purnell, is writer/director of new Alternate Reality Game entitled Gun Shots By Computer - Part 1. The films where produced in Scotland and feature two rising stars of the Scottish acting world, Shian Denovan (Night Is Day) and Claire Dicarlo.

He says this about GSBC1:

Cinema goers are a dying breed and due to spiraling cost, cinemas will soon be a thing of the past. I believe there has to be a future to film, and I think the Internet will play a major role in that. Already people download movies from the Internet instead of going to the cinema; people would rather see a film for free. I understand that, as I am one of those people. So to reach out to those people you have to make the whole experience of watching a film more interesting for them. You have to give them a reason not to just download it. I believe we have created the format to do that.

Our web based films are set in an Orwellian world in the year 2032 which parallels our own
present. The story begins behind the website, HMV, where one girl gives a direct address to the camera done through the style of video blogs.

The story is that Sarah’s friends and family see her as a crazy paranoid person. But is she? After Sarah stops taking her pills she becomes convinced that she is living in an Orwellian nightmare. She believes her pills to be a form of government control. But is this all in Sarah’s head? Is she really just paranoid and the pills are there only to keep her chemical imbalance from becoming worse? Sarah begins to keep a video diary to warn people in other countries of the impending doom that will befall them.

The story branches from Sarah’s website to other websites which are revealed to drive the plot forward. These sites are: www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com, www.xxxxxxxxxxxx.com and www.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.org This allows viewers to actively participate in the story. (I’ve took the urls out, as it would be too easy to jump the gun, and ruin the creative flow. - Rich)

From the moment you enter Sarah’s site you are confronted by a government warning that will hopefully spark viewers intrigue. The page you then see used to divert attention away from what she is doing. When clicked on, the next page to open will establish that we are in a hidden website and what you are about to see is very secret. When the user enters to the next page the first film will begin to let the viewer know where they are and what they are about to see.

The site was launched 72 hours ago and has already received 4500 hits. We believe this to show that the format works and it is causing a stir.

This format will let people interact with the film and instead of just being a viewer; they will feel like an active participant. Making them jump through all these hoops makes a game of the film, and when they see the final film it will somehow feel more rewarding.

Q) Hi, can you help me out with this one please. I saw a cartoon in the late 80’s that I can’t get out of my head and would love to see it again, only I can’t remember what it was called and internet searches are appearing fruitless.

It was feature length, not a series, and American I think. It involved a young boy on a space ship with his father, I think maybe they were lost on a strange planet where the ship crashes and the father dies. The boy is left completely on his own but a strange old man talks to him through the ship’s radio, and keeps the boy company. The
stranger calls himself Mike (presumably for Microphone).

I can’t remember the rest of the plot but the big twist at the end was that the boy had been talking to a future version of himself, and was basically destined to stay on that planet, on his own, for the rest of his life.

Pretty haunting stuff when I watched it as a 9 year old. Anyway, if you could find out the name, I’d be most grateful!

A) ‘Fraid it doesn’t ring a bell at all (Good job these aren’t questions for an exam or professional certification!)… Can anyone help? If so, post a comment!

Fraser Coull at Silly Wee Films are to release the episodes of Night Is Day as a feature length edit.

The sci-fi/drama series follows the life of Jason Mackenzie, a young Glaswegian who is bestowed with the power of ancient lightening demi-gods, allowing him the power of foresight whenever he touches another human being.

However when he does, a charge of electrical energy transfers from his body into the person he touches. This can be fatal to both Jason and anyone he comes into contact with.

The feature length DVD is due for release in January. It will include a 50 minute behind the scenes documentary, outtakes from all 6 episodes, cast interviews, a photo gallery, promotional trailers and a music video for Transaudio’s “Frequencies” which is the official theme tune to the series.

Seeing the outcome of the editing will be interesting: will it be edited straight off as it is, sequentially, or will it be edited (as much as can be) across episodes…

You can get upto the minute information from the newly designed nightisday.com.

Watch episodes of Night Is Day.

Read other articles/reviews/background on Night Is Day.

It’s going to be at the newly refurbished Eden Court. It’s a great space and will be an excellent venue. There’s plenty of on and near site parking, a bar and restaurant on site.

Always useful for an event like this is local accomodation (within walking distance), and HI-EX are trying to organise event discount rates at nearby hotels.

So far the guest list is growing, with positive replies from the likes of Alan Grant, Cam Kennedy, John Smith, Andy Diggle, Yishan Li, D’Israeli, Colin MacNeil and a load more. (Subject to their workload).

As well as guest signings and sketching, there will be an art exhibition, kids workshops, talks, panel discussions, traders, small press, publishers, fancy dress, charity fundraisers, generally all the usual comic convention activities but they are working to give the event a wider family appeal with outreach sessions in local schools the week before and a lot of local promotion.

Inverness has boomed in recent years and ‘Highland 2007′ has been a year long cultural celebration across the Highlands with hundreds of diverse arts events. It’s a perfect time to get comics represented up here too.

Upto date details can be found on the HI-EX Comics site.

Near the start of its development, we reviewed episode one and episode two of BloodSpell.

It has now been edited together, and the entire story has been released as a feature film, available for free download.

BloodSpell has been four years (and one month) in the making. It’s a “punk fantasy” adventure
story, about a world where some people are infected with magic in their blood. When that blood is spilled, the magic comes out, to harm or heal.

These people have been forced into slums and magical hiding places by the Church of the Angels, who believes they must hunt the “Blooded” down and bring them to their Angelic master to be “cleansed”. The story starts when a young warrior monk in training with the Church discovers that he has magic in his blood, and has to flee into the world of the Blooded…

“Bloodspell”, says Hugh Hancock, the guy behind it, “contains epic battles across clifftops, gladiatorial fights with enormous monsters, cockney guardian demons, love, family and all that good stuff.”

After episode two I realised that this wasn’t really my kind of thing, although I do appreciate the technicalities involved, so I didn’t watch the remainder of the episodes.

Hugh also mentions that they’ve had great press - bbc.co.uk and the BBC World Service, Suicide Girls, USA Today, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BoingBoing, SFX magazine, and loads more places.

BloodSpell runs 84 minutes long. It’s available for download or streaming from http://www.bloodspell.com/film/list/, and was made in Neverwinter Nights.

TTA Press, publisher of renowned short fiction showcases Interzone, Black Static, and Crimewave, also published The Fix. The latter in its print incarnation, provided critical analyses and reviews of an extensive range of short fiction.

Now, The Fix has relaunched in a new, online format, once again providing a venue for critical coverage of speculative short fiction across the full spectrum of magazines, webzines, anthologies, and single-author collections.

Publisher Andy Cox predicts that The Fix will grow into the hub for aficionados and practitioners of short fiction to visit for news and commentary relevant to the community.

Managing Editor Eugie Foster, arriving to helm The Fix fresh from a distinguished career as managing editor of Tangent Online, plans to spotlight short fiction in all its myriad mediums: print, online, audio, and film.

In addition to its core content of short fiction reviews, The Fix will publish feature articles, exclusive interviews, and regular columns on writing, speculative poetry, audiobooks, podcasts, and short film.

Editors and publishers interested in sending material for review consideration in The Fix should go to: http://thefix-online.com/contact/

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Another large helping of dark and disturbing fiction arrives in the form of Dark Tales #11. The whole issue is entertaining and varied in contents, and looks and feels quite smart too.

The opening story this issue is A. Reader’s Half Life, which is the name of a drug that reduces the patient’s age by half. Sounds like miracle, but as is usually the case there are unforeseen and rather unsettling side effects. The story is well written, and does a good job of outlining the true horror of the situation, with a profoundly thoughtful ending. At least, I thought it was the end, only to find another few paragraphs over the page that I thought rather blunted the impact. So, choose for yourself which end you think best.

Niall McMahon recounts A Dream of Faces, the touching tale of a young boy’s encounter with a terribly scarred burns victim who touches his life for a while. His initial reactions, the subsequent development of their relationship and her ultimately profound effect on his life really are engagingly told. The feelings of both come across well and ensure that the story will stay with you.

Debt is a story of lycanthropy by Andrew J Oliver. It’s only short, so there’s no real development of the characters or motivations beyond a brief setting of the scene. It’s also written in the second person, which I always find a little odd, but that’s just a matter of taste. The confusion and disorientation are conveyed well, but no real explanation is given. The success of the story then depends on whether you like reasons for the strange goings-on, or whether you’re happier with the unexplained.

A man attempting to retrieve his lost wallet from an eccentric old woman is the setting for Davin Ireland’s Growing Season. There’s some good descriptive work of the decrepit house and the overgrown garden, with the old lady becoming more and more creepy. The tale develops well as bewilderment and frustration set in, slowly giving way to horror as the old lady’s true purpose becomes clear. I’m giving up gardening after reading this.

Seeing Red is a vampiric tale by Mel Wright, in which a young boy develops a taste for blood through a series of seemingly innocent incidents. The story becomes more and more disturbing, with a horrifying finale in an allotment that doubles my resolve to give up gardening!

An unsettling guest in a B&B provides the chills in Reception by Peter Hynes. He seems to be watching particularly gory horror films in the privacy of his room. When the proprietor finally learns the truth he quickly wishes he hadn’t. The creepy guest is developed well as the owner becomes more and more fixated on discovering the truth, but like Debt I was left slightly nonplussed at the conclusion.

In Prize Pelt Valentine Roberts describes a suitably creepy artist with a fur fetish. The man’s unusual tastes are revealed slowly and build up the expectation to round the story off nicely.

Tall Flowers by Mark Reece is similar in concept to Growing Season, but I wasn’t really sure whether to take it seriously or not. The main character, who becomes fixated with gardening, doesn’t act with any kind of logic, and neither does the librarian whom she meets. Admittedly she’s a bit eccentric, but the plot seemed to be rushing to its conclusion without much thought to how to get there.

The final story is also the strongest. David Robertson’s The Blackford Folly is set in a Scottish stately home in Victorian times, where two men investigate the disappearance of the Laird who lives there. There’s plenty of atmospheric description – the servants, the study, the folly itself, strange goings-on in the night. The Arthur Conan-Doyle style also adds to the flavour. A very enjoyable and engrossing tale to round out the issue.

Reviewed By Gareth D. Jones

Since issue #3, Fiction magazine has moved to PDF format, with the possibility of moving back to print in the future. I don’t find on-line magazines as exciting as having an actual printed magazine in your hand, but the editors are maintaining the standard of fiction established in their first two print editions.

The first and longest story is An Act of Mercy by Sarah Hughes. It’s a multi-stranded story that initially left me confused due to the similarity of character’s names in different threads (Ryan, Rayne, Reuben). This meant that I had to keep checking back , breaking the flow of the story. Several typos didn’t help too. Getting past these problems, it was an interesting story of viruses, nanobots, androids and a sprinkling of very diverse characters to add to the interest. I’m tempted to say it was almost too ambitious, introducing enough characters to sustain a much longer piece. The complex plot was entertaining though and the android characters were particularly well developed.

Gareth L Powell’s contribution is A Necklace of Ivy, a realistically rendered tale set against the backdrop of a mysterious alien plague sweeping through Cornwall. A young couple are making their way out of the county in advance of an army curfew, but make the mistake of stopping for one last break. The realistic dialogue and briefly sketched description make it a compelling little tale.

Andrew Knighton’s The Secret in the Sewers is great fun, a cross between Alan Quartermain and The Wild, Wild West in which two intrepid, presumably Victorian, explorers discover something unusual beneath the city of Venice. It’s written with flair and charisma and is very entertaining.

The old question of Artificial Intelligence and self awareness is given an intelligent outing in Bob Lock’s Do We Not Bleed?. A hung-over scientist is excited at the prospect of solving the aforementioned problem, but discovers something rather startling. Again the characterisation and dialogue are realistically portrayed and result in an intriguing story.

I still like my magazines to arrive in the post though.

DVD Release Date: October 8th 2007.

Released through Soda Pictures.

In 1977 Anglia Television broadcast a programme called Alternative 3, a film By Christopher Miles, which purported to show evidence of life on a scientific colony on Mars and how scientists were being shipped to the planet.

By the time the programme had finished the switchboard at ITV was jammed, partly by callers alarmed at the end of life on earth as we know it and partly by viewers, recognising the programme as a hoax, ringing to blame the channel of being irresponsible.

Thirty years later however, life on Mars is not as outrageous a statement as it once was.

Alternative 3 is a spoof documentary. Originally scheduled for broadcast on April 1st it was meant to be an update on the now infamous radio broadcast by Orson Welles War Of The Worlds which was broadcast in the 1930s.

It stars Tim Brinton, Gregory Munroe, Carol Hazell. The piece is held together by the believability of the Tim Brinton (the commentator), who in his 70s Queens English voice comes across as a real broadcaster, which I believe he actually was.

Making an apprearance is Richard Marner (as Dr. Carl Gerstein) of ‘Allo ‘Allo fame. Of course, when first made, he wasn’t as well known, so you need to pretend he’s a stranger on screen.

The rest of the cast really look like they’re straining to look at ease in front of the screen, they seem to force their words and don’t look relaxed at all. Maybe it’s by design, but it looked to me totally contrived. Although, it could be because it’s quite an old program and was purposely shot like that.

Science Report is an old science program, and this was broadcast as part of it, adding to the realism.

At the time, the filmmakers were unrepentant at the furore that met their programme stating that the message from the film is that people should analyse what they see and hear on TV or radio - and shouldn’t just jump in and believe all they see, hear or read.

Thirty years later however, life on Mars is not as outrageous a statement as it once was, albeit the probability of intelligent life on Mars is probably just about zero.

I’ve been told, that apparently it has been banned from rebroadcast on British TV and undoubtely add fuel to the conpiracy theorists fire - they believe that it was to blow the whistle on an actual government project and alien threat.

It’s worth watching to see a piece of broadcasting history, if not well known. The chuckle factor is definitely present, so you need to watch it as if it’s 1977.

Power: Flying

How do you feel about Nathan? There seems to be some underlying ambiguity about his character?

It’s close to playing a Richard III-type character but in a modern dimension. All I need is a physical kind of abnormality to befall me, like hump or a limp then I would have a really Shakespearian experience!

I don’t think he is necessarily concerned whether he is good or bad. I do think that there is a dark side that has to be dealt with, but the people who think they are good will probably turn out the other way on this show. It wouldn’t do me any good to speculate as to how I’m going to end up. I think there is both good and bad in this character which is interesting to play. I am as much a fan who is along for the ride as the public are with this character and where he ultimately is going to go.

Would you agree that your character is defined more by his relationships than his superhero power?

Yes, I find these relationship dynamics are more interesting to play than the perceived super power, they have written that very well. The relationships that I share with my mum, with Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), with my wife and with Niki (Ali Larter), all those elements are angling together toward defining who Nathan Petrelli is to himself and his potential constituency.

Ultimately, when you’re in the game of politics and you’re a man like Nathan Petrelli, there is only one seat that you want and that’s behind a desk in the Oval Office.

As we take this journey, we may find ourselves in the White House and that should make these relationships even more interesting.

Were you excited by the prospect of flying in the show?

Yes, although I was a little hesitant in the beginning. I was excited to read about the character’s power but when they describe the stunts in the scripts, you worry that it’s going to look cheesy. However, after seeing what the special effects team has been able to pull off every episode, it’s really exciting because they take it to the next level. I know that they’re going to do something that I can’t even imagine. It’s really fun to be a part of that. They write it with the enthusiasm of a child which is the best thing that you can have in this business.

Has anything happened to you to make you think this show is going to be a real phenomenon?

Yes, it’s the water cooler conversations, which are certainly a measure of success. There’s a real sense of involvement in the American culture with this series. At this point we’re happy to be able to contribute in a positive way. It is a positive show about people being confronted with an extraordinary situation and how they deal with it.

People don’t tend to recognise me yet. I’ve had conversations with people about the show and then I’ll see them realise that I am in it. It’s really fun to hear people talk about what might be coming up, what’s happened and who is going where, it’s fun to be a part of that.

What has surprised you the most during production?

The biggest surprise is that it’s all gone off without a hitch. Everything has gone according to plan. The plan was to deliver a quality television programme with excellent special effects and well drawn characters. Those three goals have been met but you can never predict what the audience is going to like. All you can do is deliver your best and I think everybody here has realised the potential of this story and they have done their best to achieve this result.

Finally, were you a comic book fan when growing up?

My favorite was the Silver Surfer when I was growing up. He didn’t really have many super powers other than surfing around on his board, certainly not as many as other superheroes. But I really like the philosophy behind him, he travels fast and he travels alone. That always appealed to me as a kid.

Find all articles on Scifi UK Review for Heroes.

Q) Sue wrote, As a child, in the 70s or 80s (Sorry I can’t remember the definite decade), I read a book about a group of individuals who after seeing and picking up a glowing crystal, awoke to find themselves on a different planet. They were supplied with equipment to survive including identification cards of the creatures on the planet.

The book followed their survival.

Can anybody tell what the book was called?

A) Unfortunately, we couldn’t find anything relating to this. Maybe it’s a children’s fantasy book? Or an old episode of some program, lost in the dim depths of the past? (You know how tv programs and books can get mixed up!).

Do you have any ideas? Let us know via a comment, thanks!

Yes, they’re so happy with the ridiculously entertaining SNOT, that they want to celebrate, in style. So they’re sending four people to Universal Orlando Resort!

Yes, the one in America, and everything!

The grand prize is a sensational holiday that includes:

• * Return airfare and resort transfers between hotel and airport
• * 7 nights on-site hotel accommodations at the exciting Hard Rock Hotel
• * Four 7-Day/2-Park Tickets to both Universal Orlando theme parks
• * Free access* to the live entertainment at Universal CityWalk

There are a few rules to go with this competition, so you’d better check them out before hand, on the microsite.

So click, enter, and cross your fingers!

Does anyone else think SNOT is a waste of space on a ‘Scifi’ Channel ?

See all competitions.

Day Watch (Dnevnoy dozor) is the sequel to Night Watch (Nochnoy dozor) and is due to be released October 5th 2007. It is directed by Timur Bekmambetov, produced by Konstantin Ernst and Anatoly Maximov, with the screenplay by Segei Lukyanenko, Timur Bakmambetov and Alexander Talal.

Starring Maria Porishina, Vladimir Menshov, Galina Tyunina, Victor Verzhbitskiy, Zhanna Friske, Dima Martyniv, Valeriy Zolothukhin and Aleksey Chadov.

To show you what the visual effects, sound effects and overall essence of the film will be, we’ve been given an exclusive clip of Day Watch for you to look at. If you’re into fantasy with some neat, but not over the top, effects, then have a look at this.

It’s not too long and will give you a nice taste of the film.

Day Watch Exclusive Clip:

Quicktime

High : Medium : Low

Realplayer

High : Medium : Low

Windows Media Player

High : Medium : Low

All Posts For NightWatch / DayWatch (Interviews, images, trailers).
Part 1: NightWatch To DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor) Introduction
Part 2: Inside The Film’s Origin: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Part 3: Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)

:.: :.::. ..:: .:

War Games by Richard Hawkins on July 31st, 2005

Spiderman 2 by Richard Hawkins on September 15th, 2005

I, Robot by Richard Hawkins on July 29th, 2005

Propellor TV: The Planet by Richard Hawkins on October 12th, 2006

War Of The Worlds 2005 by Richard Hawkins on September 7th, 2005

]]> http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/10/day-watch-exclusive-clip-the-chalk-dnevnoy-dozor/feed/ http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/the-score-oneword-radio-2001-a-space-odyssey-unused-film-score-alex-north/ http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/the-score-oneword-radio-2001-a-space-odyssey-unused-film-score-alex-north/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:38:58 +0000 Roy Gray Music 2000s Radio http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/the-score-oneword-radio-2001-a-space-odyssey-unused-film-score-alex-north/ Two 2001 Music Scores? Oneword’s Score Plays Them Both

I was listening to The Score, a programme about film music on Oneword Radio, a UK digital station.

On June 24 they played both scores for Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was unaware there were two scores but you may not be so ignorant. However if you are then it is a fact that Stanley Kubrick commissioned Alex North to write the score for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, but decided against it in favour of the classics we know. North’s score is in two movements, reflecting the first and second chapters of the film.

Wikipedia states:

‘The 2001: A Space Odyssey score is an unused film score composed by Alex North for Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.’

‘North, unaware that Kubrick had decided not to use the score in his film was “devastated” at the 1968 New York City premiere screening of 2001 not to hear his work, and later offered this account of his experience:

“Well, what can I say? It was a great, frustrating experience, and despite the mixed reaction to the music, I think the Victorian approach with mid-European overtones was just not in keeping with the brilliant concept of Clarke and Kubrick.”‘

Wiki also indicates scholars and critics seem to have opposing views on which score is best.

Oneword’s Score programme on 24 June, played pieces from sci-fi soundtracks, as follows

1. Prelude & Outer Space - Bernard Herrmann; from The Day The Earth
Stood Still.

2. Also Sprach Zarathustra - Richard Strauss; from 2001: A Space
Odyssey.

3. Main Title - Alex North; from Alex North’s 2001.

4. The Blue Danube (excerpt) - Johann Strauss; from 2001: A Space
Odyssey.

5. Space Station Docking - Alex North; from Alex North’s 2001.

6. Ontological Shock (excerpt) - Don Davis; from The Matrix.

7. The Artifact And Living - Michael Andrews; from Donnie Darko.

8. We Don’t Have To Think Like That Anymore - Cliff Martinez; from
Solaris.

9. Main Title - Jerry Goldsmith; from Alien.

10. Throne Room/End Title - John Williams; from Star Wars Episode IV: A
New Hope.

Unfortunately that programme will not be repeated (I have asked) and the music copyright prevents a downloadable ‘listen again’ version but you can find the music via the Score’s website.

:.: :.::. ..:: .:

Holy McGrail Smashed Amps & Sunn Guitars by Richard Hawkins on September 15th, 2005

On Demand SciFi by Richard Hawkins on March 3rd, 2006

Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds by Richard Hawkins on September 7th, 2005

Online SciFi Radio by Richard Hawkins on October 13th, 2005

Telstar : The Tornados Album by Richard Hawkins on September 26th, 2006

]]> http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/the-score-oneword-radio-2001-a-space-odyssey-unused-film-score-alex-north/feed/ http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/gareth-lyn-powell-interview-interzone-elastic-press-silverstrands-pendragon-press/ http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/gareth-lyn-powell-interview-interzone-elastic-press-silverstrands-pendragon-press/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:14:14 +0000 Richard Hawkins Authors 2000s Interviews http://scifi.uk.com/2007/09/06/gareth-lyn-powell-interview-interzone-elastic-press-silverstrands-pendragon-press/ An Interview with Gareth L Powell: 4 September 2007

Gareth L Powell is a speculative fiction writer from the UK. Critics have likened his work to Richard Morgan and Charles Stross. Recently, he has been published in America, Europe and the Middle East, and his work translated into Polish, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese. Earlier this year, his short story The Last Reef made the long lists for both the BSFA and BFS awards for Best Short Story, and placed highly in the 2006 Interzone Reader’s Poll.

Gareth keeps a blog at: http://garethlynpowell.blogspot.com, with links to online examples of his work.

Well Gareth, it seems like it’s been a very busy year for you since we last spoke. Could you tell us about the books you’ve signed deals for?

Since we last spoke, I’ve been fortunate enough to sign deals with two very cool independent presses, Elastic Press and Pendragon Press. Elastic Press are going to publish my debut short story collection, The Last Reef and Other Stories, in August 2008. This collects together many of the stories I’ve had published in print and online magazines over the last four years, including the two stories that have appeared in Interzone.

Then in 2009, Pendragon Press are going to publish my first novel, Silversands - a breathless cyberpunk yarn, shot through with planetary politics, espionage and subterfuge. I’ve also just released a collection of poetry, entitled: Los Muertos. This is my second poetry collection. It includes around forty poems, new and old, and can be ordered via my website.

I understand you’ve also been busy academically?

That’s right. Somehow I found time to take the Institute of Direct Marketing’s Certificate in Direct and Interactive Marketing, and pass with credit – an achievement I’m still very proud of.

Has that experience helped shape the way you write your fiction?

Writing copy for adverts and sales letters has taught me to make every word count, and to communicate complex propositions as simply and clearly as possible. In a nutshell, it’s helped me to strip my prose back to the essentials, leaving out all the extraneous waffle and communicating only the specific evocative details that bring the scene alive.

Judging from the short stories you’ve had in Interzone and elsewhere, I’d say there are some identifiable themes running through your work: themes like love, loss, redemption, and loyalty…

I believe that in order to work, stories have to be based on believable human feelings and frailties, so that you, as a reader, can experience them at a gut level, as well as a cerebral one - so that you’re willing the main characters to succeed, even if you know they’re doomed to fail.

This time last year, you’d just sold a second story to Interzone. Since then, I understand you’ve sold a few more stories to various other publications?

Over the last twelve months, I’ve had work appear in Interzone, InfinityPlus, BestSF, Focus, Fiction, Phantastes, and Efímero.

Even though a year is a short time in the big picture, we’ve all read numerous reports from people who see SF as a dying, or at least slowing down, genre. Do you think SF has changed in the last year, or is generally
changing?

SF has always been a genre defined by its own restless experimentation. But if you look on the shelves at your local bookshop or supermarket, you don’t see that. You have to go online to find the good stuff. You can buy
books on Amazon that would never grace a bookshop’s shelves – authentic, honest-to-goodness classics that high street retailers would never touch, because they’re focused on short term profit.

If their sales are slumping, it’s because they’re not giving us what we need and we’re going elsewhere to find it. There are some excellent writers working in the genre at the moment, through magazines and independent presses, and of course, the Internet - which allows them to network with each other, and to interact with readers in new and interesting ways. Over the last week, for example, I’ve received emails from readers in Australia and Venezuela who’ve read stories of mine online – readers I could never have reached by more traditional methods.

How has the subject matter of SF changed over the last few years?

I’m not sure it has, to be honest. The best SF has always been about what it means to be human in a strange and baffling world, and that’s still true today. If SF has grown dark and paranoid of late, that’s simply a reflection of the world it’s being written in.

You’ve started a Friday Flash Fiction blog meme, where you and other members write a short piece of fiction every Friday…

The idea started out as an exercise to keep my writing muscles toned up, by forcing me to produce 100-1000 words of fiction each and every week. It was just a bit of fun, really. I didn’t expect anyone else to take much
notice. But there are seven of us now, all posting these vignettes on our blogs every Friday - and there are undreds of other people out there reading them. Since we started Friday Flash Fiction, the traffic to my blog has quadrupled – and I know the other writers in the group can report similar surges in the number of visitors they’re attracting.

Who knows where it will lead? At the moment, there’s some genuinely interesting writing being produced in the group by some genuinely interesting people. Maybe one day when we’ve produced enough, we’ll collect it all up in an anthology, or something.

What have been your favourite reads over the last year?

I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections this year, by writers such as Alastair Reynolds, Harlan Ellison, Cory Doctrow and Rudy Rucker. I find them easier to dip into than full-length novels - especially as I have so little time in which to read. But having said that, I did find time on holiday to read M John Harrison’s Nova Swing and Glasshouse by Charles Stross.

Any particular favourite films you’ve watched?

I don’t go to the cinema much - I prefer to wait for the DVD release, and watch the films in the comfort of my own living room. Consequently, I’m always at least six months behind