Less Sleep Than an Average Larp Event

Gooooood Morning Brighton!

After a 12-hour coach trip and less sleep than an average LARP event I am in Brighton attending the World Fantasy Convention, this year twinned with the British Fantasy Society’s flagship event FantasyCon. I’m looking forward to the panels, the awards, and the dealers’ tables. I can tell this event is going to be great as when I checked in, I got a free tote bag which is the way to my heart.

I wasn’t planning on being on any panels or anything but I’ve been roped into doing Mr David Moore’s Dungeons and Disorderly so that should be a blast.

A friend my mine, Stewart Hotston also has his book launch at this event so I’ll be going to that (for the free swag obviously).

More to come, but first some other news.

After six years I’m back on the happy pills and it feels great. Apart from the fatigue, nausea and lack of appetite I mean, but they are already lessening.

I was on them for most of the 2010’s and then before I left work for university in 2019, my therapist decided it was time to wean me off them. I was incredibly lucky. My job at the time gave me private healthcare and after many insultingly terrible experiences with the NHS mental health services in my area, the private healthcare got me into see a consultant psychiatrist who I stayed with for two years until I left that work (and he retired).

So, what changes have I noticed? Well, I’ve been slowly but surely getting out of my funk, I’ve restarted plodding along with my Fatal Space rewrite (third person to first person POV) and adding little bits here and there. I’ve sent the rewritten chapter 1 to my good partner in poop related crime J Archer Avary to give me some feedback. I think it’s better than the third person version, but I may also be wrong, so an extra set of eyes is not amiss.

Perhaps the biggest change I’ve noticed is a physical one. The very act of smiling is easier than it was, and my face is now no longer resting depression face. This can be a good sign though the moment it encourages strange people to talk to me on the metro I shall make an effort to scowl once again.

I’m currently on the lookout for homes for four stories with a possible fifth soon.

1. Atomik Rock – a punk raver in space

2. Weyward – The witches of Macbeth meet Blackbird and his disciple (I’m not happy with the word disciple in the context of the story but I can’t think of another one atm).

3. Doorways of Death – A world like our own but where Necromancers help at funerals.

4. Moment in Translation – Some things shouldn’t be translated.

The top 3 are out for the British Fantasy Society’s Short Story Competition and the bottom is doing the magazine rounds, the bottom one is doing the rounds for magazines.

I have a story out in November’s issue of Schlock! Science Fiction Webzine (available online or physical copies from amazon) called Eat the Rich: The Ethical Way. It’s a textual intervention on the film Soylent Green and to a lesser extent the book Make Room! Make Room! Which is thew novel it’s based on by Harry Harrison. Because of this, it took a few months to get the rights together to publish it so read it.

I’ll write again, but for now, adieu.