Haunted Legend

Ellen Datlow has released the table of contents for the upcoming Haunted Legends anthology to be published by Tor. It seems I've joined a rather tasty list of authors involved in the project.

My story, The Spring Heel, is based (surprisingly :-) on the Spring Heeled Jack legend - the long-legged, rather spindley character who was reportedly seen regularly on dark nights leaping about the streets of Liverpool (amongst other places).

Table of Contents:

Knickerbocker Holiday Richard Bowes

That Girl Kaaron Warren

Akbar Kit Reed

The Spring Heel Steven Pirie

As Red as Red Caitlín R. Kiernan

Tin Cans Ekaterina Sedia

Shoebox Train Wreck John Mantooth

15 Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku & the Jotai Catherynne M. Valente

La Llorona Carolyn Turgeon

Face Like a Monkey Carrie Laben

Down Atsion Road Jeffrey Ford

Return to Mariabronn Gary A. Braunbeck

Following Double-Face Woman Erzebet YellowBoy

Oaks Park M.K. Hobson

For Those in Peril on the Sea Stephen Dedman

The Foxes Lily Hoang

The Redfield Girls Laird Barron

Between Heaven and Hull Pat Cadigan

Chucky Comes to Liverpool Ramsey Campbell

The Folding Man Joe R. Lansdale

No More Whispers

Alas, Whispers of Wickedness is no more.

For those who've no idea what I'm talking about, Whispers of Wickedness was a print magazine, a fiction writers' website, and a discussion forum conceived by the enigmatic, and somewhat philanthropic, "D".


It attracted its share of superb writers--Peter Tennant, Rhys Hughes, Steve Redwood, and many more too numerous to mention.


The forum was the friendliest place I've ever encountered on the Web. I can say with all honesty I've never seen even the hint of a flame war in its hallowed halls.


I slush read for Whispers for a while, and that, along with the company I kept, taught me a great deal about my own writing.


So, thank you D, and Pete, and all who made Whispers the pleasure it surely was.

Maudlin, mawkish, moody

Interesting times.

I think we have to admit that’s certainly the case right now.

I don’t know if society has changed, or perhaps it’s a consequence of 24-hour global news coverage, but everything seems to be deemed a crisis these days.

And in truth I feel it more myself. Since becoming a parent (albeit some time ago now) I’ve noticed I’m more of a worrier. Before, where I’d laugh at scaremongers and their agendas, I find myself worrying what, in the absence of extended families, would happen to my son should swine ‘flu, or bird ‘flu, or meteorites, or global warming, or middle eastern nuclear powers, or collapsing civilisation through dying economies really come to pass. Maybe that’s just what all parents do—worry so their children don’t have to.

I’ve always told myself: “Don’t concern yourself about things over which you have no control”, and it’s worked well in the past. But these days it seems hard to live by that rule. These days the ante seems raised.

Sorry for the tone of this post, but I think I’ve been in an odd mood for some weeks now. I need to do more writing. In writing I can explore and ratify such feelings, and the effect is so often cathartic.

Reviews

Well, I picked up some reviews for recently published fiction.

Of my story "The Book of Ruth" published in Black Static 8:

"The Book of Ruth" by Steven Pirie is another quintessentially British dark fantasy, sexual abuse in the window of a charity shop, but not only is the story short, but Pirie may surprise many readers with where he takes it -- the ending is unexpected and delightfully satisfying.

http://scififantasyfiction.suite101.com/article.cfm/black_static_issue_8_by_tta_press

In Steven Pirie's 'The Book of Ruth' a seemingly schizophrenic charity shop worker starts hearing voices from a mysterious second hand book. Her descent into madness is effectively handled, but I found the character of her quietly abusive boss even more compelling, with his secret lust for the heroine leading to a memorable moment of horror. Just don't look in the fridge.

http://lawrenceconquest.blogspot.com/2008/12/black-static-8-2008.html

'The Book of Ruth' by Steven Pirie is a dark tale of desperate, quiet, frustration and horrific sexual abuse set in that most inoffensive of suburban places, the local charity shop. Very British in tone and language it ends with the most unexpected of turns.

http://www.sci-fi-london.com/news/article/1233165882/4/black-static-8


Of my story "Leonard Rom" published in Premonitions:

Steven Pirie’s contribution is called “Leonard Rom,” named for an AI looking after a generation starship. There’s a problem with Leonard’s ROM, and the ship’s other AIs are concerned; but Leonard won’t listen, which leads to a macabre and effective twist. The greater part of the story’s force is invested in that twist, which can be a risky approach, but it’s fine here, because the payoff works so well.

http://thefix-online.com/reviews/premonitions-causes-for-alarm/

Leonard Rom, by Steven Pirie, is more substantial, the story of a colony ship's computer that has reinterpreted its mission to place one human on each discovered planet. This neat idea, with its echoes of O'Bannon and Carpenter's Dark Star and HAL from 2001, is further enlivened by some witty dialogue and a couple of laugh out loud jokes.

Peter Tennant, Case Notes, Black Static 9.


My thanks to all reviewers. I'm thrilled that all are positive...

The Book of Ruth

My short story "The Book of Ruth" is now published in TTA Press' Black Static.



It's a magazine I've always admired even back in the days of its previous incarnation The Third Alternative, and I'm thrilled to be a part of this issue.

The full table of contents is below:

At The Gates by Patrick Samphire

These Things We Have Always Known by Lynda E. Rucker

Noppero-Bo by Steve Rasnic Tem

There’s Something Wrong With Pappy by James Cooper

The Book Of Ruth by Steven Pirie

Taking On Life by Gary Fry

Plus all the usual features, including columns by Christopher Fowler, Stephen Volk and Mike O’Driscoll; DVD reviews (and competitions) by Tony Lee; book reviews (and interview with Simon Clark) by Peter Tennant; news; stunning graphics…

“Britain’s finest magazine of Dark Fantasy” Suite 101

“A must-read for those who like their fiction contemporary and uncensored” Ed Gorman

“A wicked beauty” Simon Clark

“The premier source for a regular and opinionated overview of the horror, dark and weird genres in the UK” Bookgeeks

“The most disturbing images I’ve encountered this year or any other. For a different outlook and some quality writing, you should be subscribing” SF Revu

“Black Static creeps into the same house as Cemetery Dance and Subterranean as a member of the elite horror publications” Horror World

“Not worth the wait” Stephen Jones

Buy Black Static from TTA Press at http://ttapress.com/

A Short History of Here 2

A friend of a friend of mine was beaten unconscious a week ago.

I've not seen the report in the press; possibly the police are keeping things quiet if their investigations are at a delicate stage. She, yes, it was a female, was beaten up in the city centre because she dared to pull a drunken youth back from an oncoming taxi cab. She saved the youth injury, and in return her jaw was broken on both sides, she lost most of her back teeth, and God knows what mental anguish will result. There are also some suggestions that a girl who was with the youth stole money and a mobile phone during the attack.

Scum, eh?

It's hard after that to sit here and say how wonderful Liverpool is. Clearly, it's a dangerous place to be. But, of course, so can be anywhere. There are violent sumbags lurking in all our cities, and the trick is to be wary and ever vigilant, sad though such a sentiment might be.

And for the record, I've been down town many, many times--I've lost count of the number of times I've even walked home at two a.m. in my youth---and never seen the merest hint of trouble.

This is the 'suitcase' sculpture in Hope Street. It's a work created by John King, and each suitcase is labled to belong to a famous Liverpudlian. It's a celebration of Liverpool culture, yet given the opening tone of this posting, I think there's a certain irony that maybe these suitcases are packed so Liverpool's famous can get the Hell out as soon as they're able.

Of Crunches and Credit and Such Like

We, as a global society, seem locked into the negative right now. All press emphasis appears to be geared towards pushing the bad news while ignoring the fewer snippets of good. Confidence seems to be the buzzword, and it's difficult to see how confidence can be restored given the way this looming recession is being delivered to the people.

It saddens me to believe that this situation is so engineered. Don't be fooled that it's not a redistribution of wealth. When the chumps and the weekend share owners have bailed out of the markets in terror, their savings and pensions decimated in the process, the wealthy will be there to buy at ridiculously low values, and the economy will eventually recover and the poor will be poorer and the rich richer.

It's sad, too, how I guess it will bring a redistribution of workforce. With tens of thousands of redundancies already announced or threatened, firms will feel justified in bringing forward those plans to rid themselves of staff with impunity. Who will notice a few more amongst the many?

I'm not that old to know of gentler times; when firms at least had some semblance of loyalty toward their staff. When I began work, the company even had a hardship fund to which employees could apply for money if in difficulty. Not any more. Now the noises are of 'responsible redundancies', an oxymoron if ever there was. I'd like a return to what I'd call responsible capitalism, where a company is lauded not just on how much profit it can return but also by how many folk it can keep gainfully employed in the process. I suspect those days are gone forever.

So, we hunker down and try to ride out the storm. But we must do so with hope. If not, then what's the point?

See you on the other side...