I've written a short story in which the technology featured in the 1980s/90s TV series Quantum Leap is real and has been stolen and reverse-engineered by North Korea. It's called, fairly unsurprisingly, A Quantum Leap.The "A" is important. I should point out that it's absolutely not the roistering, knockabout romp that the above description implies.… Continue reading OK so what if like the TV show Quantum Leap was real and like North Korea stole the technology and like went into people’s heads and someone who went into the machine like couldn’t get back out again?
Category: Blog
Thoughts and opinions on writing and publishing by Simon John Cox.
Limerick Nation
I recently heard that I'd had four limericks accepted for publication in an anthology to be published by Iron Press in September.The submission guidelines were that the poem be about the town where you live and that the first line end in the name of that town. I think that one of my life's greatest… Continue reading Limerick Nation
Edge Of Oblivion now available
The Edge Of Oblivion short story anthology is now out, and as well as my short story Still it contains some great stories from indie publishing talents such as William Vitka, David Hulegaard and the far-too-young-to-be-having-any-business-writing-as-well-as-he-does Brendan Swogger, plus many others whose absence here is by no means a reflection on their ability but is every bit a reflection of the fact that I'm too lazy to list them all.
Edge Of Oblivion – cover art
I think I tweeted a little while ago that my short story Still had been accepted for inclusion in a charity anthology being compiled and edited by the always energetic and inspirational Tony Healey. I don't remember whether or not I did, though, so it may not have happened and my recollection of having done… Continue reading Edge Of Oblivion – cover art
Tunbridge Wells Writers Dot Org Dot You Kay
OK, so, if you're following the Tunbridge Wells Writers on Twitter or on Facebook or even in real actual life at The Black Pig on alternate Tuesdays like I haven't been then you'll probably already be aware that the site has outgrown its previous home and has been dragged away and dumped into a new… Continue reading Tunbridge Wells Writers Dot Org Dot You Kay
Man Of Indestructonium
I saw the new Superman film the other day. OK, so it would be very easy to criticise the fact that it had almost as many flashbacks as Rocky V, and that the camera did not stay still for even a single moment even when people were sitting down quietly talking, and the fact that the force of Superman punching Zod in the head was not sufficient to collapse his skull but the force of him twisting his head was enough to break his neck [spoiler alert, y'all!], but I won't, because what I want to talk about is where on earth the drama comes from when your protagonist is invincible and morally unimpeachable and has no character flaws. Because this is a far more fundamental criticism of the film than simply stomach-turning cinematography and a narrative timeline with ADHD and a frankly cavalier attitude towards physics.
Ebooks for Africa
I just received an e-mail from Kindle All-Star supremo and general nice guy Bernard Schaffer to say that he has been approached by the Worldreader charity to see if we'd mind supplying the second Kindle All-Stars short story collection, Carnival of Cryptids, for inclusion in their projects.Worldreader supplies e-readers and digital books to children in… Continue reading Ebooks for Africa
Beating the UK’s former most senior openly gay police officer
Without realising it, and without really trying to, last month I sold my 1,000th copy of my horror novella The Slender Man. That means that I've sold more copies than Line Of Fire, the autobiography of Brian Paddick, formerly the UK's most senior openly gay police officer. I know! I understand that selling 1,000 copies… Continue reading Beating the UK’s former most senior openly gay police officer
Beard Slender Review
Fellow writer J. A. Beard has interviewed me about my horror novella The Slender Man over at his wonderfully named blog J. A. Beard's Unnecessary Musings. Read the interview by clicking here and then moving your eyes from left to right across and then down the page.
Carnival of Cryptids – Jeff Provine
Here's the second of my clumsy pseudo-interviews to mark the launch of Carnival of Cryptids, the second Kindle All-Stars short story anthology. As with Matt Posner, I asked Jeff Provine to tell me what was his favourite and least favourite cryptid. Here's what he said: Favorite cryptid: PlesiosaurI've always had a soft spot for Nessie,… Continue reading Carnival of Cryptids – Jeff Provine
Simon John Cox 