Callum McSorley's Blog, page 11

Always North Review, Shoreline of Infinity 16

[image error]It’s time again for another issue of my favourite sci-fi mag, Shoreline of Infinity!

While the previous edition featured a short story of mine (Secret Ingredients, SoI Issue 15) I’m back to reviewing books in the October offering.

This time around I had the absolute pleasure of reading and writing about Vicki Jarrett’s new novel Always North, published this month by Unsung Stories. It’s a twisty, tricky ‘cli-fi’ ta...

Ness Book Fest

 

[image error]I’m delighted to be heading to Inverness for Ness Book Fest next month to do a reading!

I’ll be reading some flash fiction at the beginning of Mandy Haggith’s nature poetry event at the Inverness Museum & Art Gallery on Thursday 3rd October at 3pm.

[image error]Poet Mandy Haggith

Mandy Haggith is an excellent poet and author. Her most recent books, The Walrus Mutterer and The Amber Seeker, are part of a historical fiction trilogy set in the iron age.

Ness Book Fest will officially launch later that day...

Read The Lunatic Song in Exquisite Aberrations

[image error]The day is finally here! At long last, Exquisite Aberrations has been unleashed upon the public.

A collection of long-form short stories (published by FunDead Publications) that turn traditional Gothic horror tropes upside down by shifting the POV onto LGBTQ people, people of colour, and others often side-lined or othered in the history of the horror genre. The settings may be familiar – fog, gas lamps, haunted Victorian mansions, spooky graveyards – but the stories told will be new. (Read th...

Read The Brothers Oe in The Society of Misfit Stories

[image error]The Society of Misfit Stories Vol 1 Issue 3, featuring my story The Brothers Oe, is now available to read as an ebook!

Sumo wrestler Yogi is due to face off against his brother Matsushima in the grand final of the Honbasho in the great dragon city of Edo. That is until Matsushima is found dead in his bathtub, having apparently committed ritual suicide.

Yogi must navigate the city’s seedy underbelly of ruthless gangsters and slimy politicians to find the truth.

It’s a bit fantasy, a bit noir,...

End of Summer Reading

Summer is almost over. The schools are back in session, the Bake Off is on the telly, politicians are taking a break because there’s nothing important going on, and the café I work in is getting the Christmas decorations out of storage (seriously). Time to fight the end of summer blues with a good book. Here are a few I’ve enjoyed recently:

[image error]Daughter of Titan #2 by Richard Mooney

At the beginning of the year I interviewed comic creator and author Richard Mooney about his indie superhero comic...

Pre-order Exquisite Aberrations ebook

[image error]The ebook of Exquisite Aberrations, the new Gothic anthology from FunDead Publications, is now available for pre-order, due for release on 13th September.

Featuring my novelette, The Lunatic Song, among other incredible, creepy tales, Exquisite Aberrations is a collection of Gothic horror stories with a modern twist, turning tropes on their heads and featuring characters often side-lined or othered by the traditions of the genre.

The blurb sums this up in a much more elegant way and you can r...

Holiday Reading II

A colleague at work recently told me she hates short stories. Not mine specifically (that would have been brutally honest of her) but all of them. All of them ever, because she feels they’re a waste of a good story idea. So, my second round of holiday reading recommendations are all short story collections, in the hope that minds can be changed.

[image error]Grudge Punk by John McNee (Rooster Republic Press)

I bought a copy of Grudge Punk from its author, John McNee, at Cymera Festival in June. The premis...

DTNT Anthology 001

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At the beginning of the year I read some stories and picked some tunes on Subcity Radio show, Daytime Nightime, hosted by Roslyn Potter.

Now, DTNT is due to publish its very first anthology, featuring stories, poetry and artwork from the show’s guests, including me!

Alongside work from some of Glasgow’s best – including the excellent Samuel Tongue, Michael Rennie, and Jill Lorean (of the awesome bands Sparrow and the Workshop and Bdy Prts) – you can read my short story Raumschach.

Rum Shack...

Bella and other top sausage dogs

[image error]What connects literary greats Henry James, Matthew Arnold, and Anton Chekhov?

Answer: Dachshunds. You know, little legs, low tums, long bodies. Better known as sausage or wiener dogs, depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on. All three of these famous authors owned a dachshund or two. As do I – not that I’m a literary great or anything… yet.

In fact, my precious sausage dog Bella (miniature, long-haired, black and cream – see adorable pics above) turned four years old today. Four yea...

Holiday Reading

Packing for your holiday but still got some room in your book suitcase? Here are a few things I’ve really enjoyed reading lately that you might consider:

[image error]The White Road by Sarah Lotz (Hodder & Stoughton)

The second mountain climbing ghost story I’ve read in as many months (the other being Thin Air by Michelle Paver), The White Road by Sarah Lotz takes us this time to Everest, in the present day. While Paver’s 1930’s Kangchenjunga is a deadly, untouched and unconquerable demon, Lotz doesn’t sh...