Author S.K. Keogh – relentless pursuit, betrayal, and revenge

Air and Sea Stories is pleased to welcome S.K. Keogh, author of a series of swashbuckling but nuanced nautical adventures. I’m delighted to interview Susan on the relaunch of the first in the series, The Prodigal. Here’s how Susan describes her Jack Mallory books: A story of relentless pursuit, betrayal, and revenge: As a young…

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Two new William the Conqueror novels

Today is the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings – the single battle that has perhaps done more to shape the destiny of England than any other. The fate of England, and indeed, Europe, looked very different in the evening of 14 October 1066 than it had early that morning. This seems a good…

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New anthology of tales featuring strange beasts

The Random Writers’ new anthology Stalking Leviathan, a Bestiary of Tales was released last week, and speaking as one of the three editors, I think the ‘Randoms’ have surpassed themselves with invention, style and creativity. We’re conducting a Book Blast on Friday 7 October, so come and have a chat to the authors and editors…

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New book of short stories released

The second Random Writers anthology of short stories, which I have co-edited with J.A. Ironside, is to be released soon – ‘Something Rich And Strange: The Past Is Prologue’ will be available for download on 12 December, and as a paperback shortly afterwards. ‘It started with the Zhar-ptitsa, the Firebird, as these things must. No,…

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Shortlisted for the Bridport Prize

I am delighted to announce that my short story ‘Energy’ has been shortlisted for the prestigious Bridport Prize – I can be found somewhere here! Godinheaven. The car’s assaulting your senses, taking them over, torrent of colour, noise, it grips you and shakes you. Brake and your brain tries to escape through your eyesockets. You’re…

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Difficult second novel – the quest continues

I don’t usually go in for the ‘writing process’ stuff on this website – it’s done so well by so many other writers that there doesn’t seem to be much point. But I’ve heard the same thing from a number of novelists recently, ranging from the huge-selling HarperCollins published superstar to the dewy eyed newbie,…

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Writing the landscape

I’ve always been fascinated by landscape, and that fascination has shaped my identity as a writer. Ironically – or perhaps inevitably – I grew up somewhere with a particular kind of landscape that some people think of as no landscape at all. The flat expanses of North Essex do not share the character of the…

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Eighteen-eighty – Fiction

Last night I dreamt of 1880. I know why. They’d been taking pieces of me away. 1880 was when I lost the biggest piece. Not mast, or keel, or frame – they can be replaced. 1880 was when I lost my Captain. In truth I don’t know where I end or they begin. I feel…

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The Bishop and the Crystal – fiction

Vanity, saith the preacher, vanity! These were the vaunted last words of my uncle, the bishop, though I’ truth he said more, it seemed meet to leave his worldly utterances here. As he himself was unclear at the end whether he was alive or dead, who was I to draw the line at the arbitrary…

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The Once And Future Arthur

It wasn’t a conscious decision that both my stories in the anthology A Seeming Glass were based on reworkings of Arthurian legend. Neither could it said to be entirely coincidental. When it comes to new visions of old stories, King Arthur and the ‘Matter of Britain’ has been at it longer than most. Almost everything…

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Stealing the editor’s chair

My co-editor JA Ironside has already given a fascinating account of the process of editing the anthology A Seeming Glass on her blog here, so I shan’t go over ground she has so ably covered. That said, I thought it might be interesting to add my perspective on how this collection of stories came into…

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