Ah, no electricity, no Internet, which gives me a damn good excuse to start up my blog again. Very long time, no talk. This lull has, for the most part, been due to my getting a contract with Storm Constantine's Immanion Press.

In 2007, Immanion will be publishing Tourniquet, the first novel in my Tales from Renegade City series.
It has been a very exciting year! I met Storm at Derby Alt Fiction in April and we hit it off. Strom very kindly said she'd take a look at Tourniquet. A few days later, I got the call that I had been dreaming about for the greater part of my life. Storm liked the book! A few weeks later, I signed the contract, and have been working steadily on the edits with my gorgeous and surprisingly kind editor, Donna, ever since.

So how have I found the publication process so far? Well, it's a weird thing, full of delirium, ecstatic highs and emotional lows (all self-induced when the inevitable demon of Self Doubt has reared its ugly head). I've been overwhelmed by the gentle process by which Donna has enabled me to put across exactly what I was trying to say without rewriting any part of the novel for me. I've also learnt I'm an absolute dunce when it comes to grammar, but no news there.
Aside from editing Tourniquet, I've also embarked on the delightful circuit of literary conventions. Del and I have made some amazing friends; artists, writers, thespians, editors, and many more from across the artistic spectrum. We've also been drunk at stupid o'clock in the morning more often than I would dare to hazard a guess at!

Consequently, if I could give one concrete piece of advice to any aspiring writer then, it would be to get yourself out there. Conventions are wonderfully weird events, blending every hue of geek, greb, fan, academic, arsehole and pisshead in a great psychotropic melting pot. A truly trippy experience!

So, as 2006 draws to a close, I find myself musing on a revelation of a year, one in which dreams have started to solidify into a hell of a scary, out there reality, and in which I've finally realised that the power to make them come true is down to a good slurp of Dutch courage, bloody-minded tenacity, and an ability to talk shit into the small hours.

Have a good one!
xxx