Burying Brian, the first review

My first review for Burying Brian has surfaced on the Internet over at Future Fire.

Future Fire

I don't like to comment too much on reviews, either about my writing or when I'm writing them for other people—it's odd but I like to feel a reviewer is a protected species; should never be questioned even if the news is bad.

I will say it's wonderful to get a non-horror-reader/non-British perspective on my writing—very illuminating.

Thanks to Carey for the review, and to Djibril at the Future Fire for hosting it…

Mrs Mathews is Afraid of Cricket Bats

Well, let's be honest, there's rampant self-promotion afoot all over the Internet. And here's my bit. :-)

I've compiled a short chapbook—four short, humorous stories—and made it available for free download at Smashwords.com. Of course by making it free I hope to be read by as many people as possible, and then those people will be so taken by my writing skills, my blistering imagination, and my utter humility, that they'll be sure to look in on my novels Digging up Donald (itself available on Smashwords for a veritable pittance of cash) and Burying Brian.

That's the plan, anyway. Of course the exact opposite may occur, and folk might run screaming from Smashwords, vowing never again to download a suspicious looking ebook from that Pirie fellow. It's a chance I have to take.

It's called Mrs Mathews is Afraid of Cricket Bats. This is the cover:

It can be downloaded here: Mrs Mathews is Afraid of Cricket Bats

Go on, it's free. I've already downloaded it, and I haven't even got a Kindle or anything.

Pretty Little Dead Things

I was wandering the shelves of Waterstones in Liverpool, as one does, when I spotted "Pretty Little Dead Things", by Gary McMahon. I had read and enjoyed some of McMahon's short fiction down the years, and I'm always happy to support a small press author's push for greater things, so I bought a copy.

Overall it's an excellent read. Thomas Usher, following the tragic death of his family, finds he has the 'gift' of being able to contact the dead. Or rather the dead may contact him, for Usher's lack of control at such contact is a large part of the book's charm. Set loosely in Leeds, it's a grim story throughout, as Usher's battle with his own inner demons is nicely paralleled to those external ones bent on destroying the world.

McMahon displays great skill in weaving Usher's emotions into a story that's something of a page-turner at times. If I have a criticism then it's with the ending. Usher is spirited off to 'other places' for the final showdown, and events become somewhat surreal. I'd have thought given Leeds, or indeed any northern city, has enough nooks and dark corners for a final showdown between good and evil without resorting to such devices, the story could end where it is staged—sometimes painfully close to reality.

But that's not to detract from what is a very enjoyable book. And good luck to McMahon in breaking through into 'bricks and mortar' book stores!

You can buy Pretty Little Dead Things at Amazon.co.uk

And here at Amazon.com

Shock Totem Issue 3

Issue three of Shock Totem is now available for purchase. In this issue is my short story "Ruth Across the Sea", which won the magazine's 2010 Flash Fiction Contest.

I've spoken before of how highly I regard this publication. You should pick up a copy of Shock Totem and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

The Bride Stripped Bare

I'm about three quarters through reading the single author anthology of short stories "The Bride Stripped Bare", by Rachel Kendall.


If ever there was a book that 'pulls no punches' in its stories, then this is it. No subject would appear taboo for Kendal, and what results is a fascinating journey through humanity's darker side.

But if these stories are difficult, they're told with such brutal honesty, and with such assurance by Kendall, that the reader simply can't 'walk away'. It's like this dark underbelly exists and so simply has to be witnessed. It's life stripped bare.

The Bride Stripped Bare is published by Doghorn Press

The Reject

I received my first rejection of the year. It was a sad one as it was for an anthology I was really keen to be in, and sad in that I wrote the story from scratch especially for that anthology. Still, I can rewrite it for a more general market without too much heartache, so all's not lost.

But who'd be a writer, eh, rejected as we are? :-)

We all love a good google

I googled myself. All writers do this, even if like masturbation they tend to do it when no-one's looking (or maybe some writers do it loud and proud, what do I know?).

It's far too soon for any reaction to Burying Brian, but I found many reviews relating to Haunted Legends, and my story "The Spring Heel" therein. Perhaps I should also mention the anthology has been nominated for the Black Quill awards and was deemed anthology of the year by the Chicago Sun Times. Which is all jolly nice.

Of "The Spring heel", jawasreadtoo.com says:

Steven Pirie’s “The Spring Heel” (a Spring-Heeled Jack tale) is a fascinating reclamation where the legendary figure once rumored to haunt the streets of Victorian-era England (romanticized in the extreme by Pirie’s desperate protagonist) turns savior for a woman eager to escape the reality of her world.

Black Abyss says:

The Spring Heel by Steven Pirie is set in Liverpool and introduces us to Ruth a homeless prostitute and the mysterious Spring Heeled Jack. It’s a deeply emotional story which brings the traditional legend, kicking and screaming, into a modern world of drugs, violence and tragedy.

Of course, not all reviewers heaped glowing praise on my story. Some pretty much ignored it, and others were lukewarm.

From Sffworld

The remaining tales, including… "The Spring Heel" by Steven Pirie… tend to walk the line between the two genres, generally channeling local legends through the psyches of the stories' central characters. While I found these meldings to be interesting, the psychological element tended to dominate the narrative so much they were virtually indistinguishable from many of the ghost stories.

Skulls in the Stars didn't mention me at all. Which is perfectly fine, of course.

Read All Over says:

Anthologies are also hard to review because it’s hard to give full attention to every single story in a collection. Because, while I really enjoyed this entire anthology, there were definitely some I loved more than others:

The Spring Heel by Steven Pirie — from the title one can see that this is a tale about the English legend, The Spring Heeled Jack. I loved how this story was both eerie but had me almost rooting, in a way, for Jack.

From the Apex Book Company

The Spring Heel by Steven Pirie – This is the retelling of Spring Heel Jack as told through the experiences of Ruth, a down-on-her-luck prostitute. She fears seeing the Spring Heel means death or worse for her. In the end, joining the creature supposed to be the devil results in the most unexpected of things. This story is told well enough to make it timeless. It could be set in the modern day as well as London in the 1800s. I finished the story with a smile on my face.