Callum McSorley's Blog, page 6

SQUEAKY CLEAN out 2nd March 2023

I’ve been sitting on this for ages and now I can finally, finally, say it! The moment I’ve been working towards forever:

My debut novel SQUEAKY CLEAN will be published by Pushkin Vertigo next March.

SQUEAKY CLEAN is a crime thriller with a dark sense of humour set at a car wash in the east end of Glasgow which gets taken over by a psychopathic gangster.

(See cover and synopsis below.)

The announcement was made in the Bookseller yesterday, and it was crazy to see my big face smiling ...

Read THE LAST GOOD THING in New Writing Scotland 40

Thrilled to be back in the pages of the esteemed New Writing Scotland!

Out today, New Writing Scotland 40: nobody remembers the birdman, contains some of the best, freshest contemporary writing coming out of Scotland right now.

It includes my short story THE LAST GOOD THING which features a genie who lives in a can of Irn Bru. (I did say best and freshest, didn’t I?!)

Among the other names it’s really cool to be in an anthology with my former lecturer, now head of creative writing a...

Read CHILDREN OF THE NEW FLESH now

CHILDREN OF THE NEW FLESH is a new book on the early work of master horror auteur David Cronenberg from editors Chris Kelso and David Leo Rice. (Published by 11:11 Press, 2022)

Often overlooked, Cronenberg’s early short films are picked over here in essays, short stories, poetry, and artwork by a host of brilliant writers and artists, including Elle Nash, Graham Rae, Brian Alessandro, Brian Evenson and many more, including some great work by Kelso and Rice themselves.

The crown jewel o...

Read FILL TO THE LINE in the Instant Noodle Literary Review

My new short story FILL TO THE LINE: INSIDE SCOTLAND’S INSTANT NOODLE MUSEUM is now free to read in The Instant Noodle Literary Review Issue One!

This was a really fun story to write. As soon as I saw a call for story submissions on the subject of instant noodles I knew I had to go for it.

What I ended up with is a post apocalyptical tale in the form of a lifestyle article, partly inspired by an essay I read in Shoreline of Infinity last year about a sci-fi museum in a man’s basement b...

Read FOREVER IN SCOTLAND in Night, Rain, And Neon

A year ago I was emailed by renowned sci-fi author Michael Cobley to ask if I would contribute a story to an anthology he was curating. It was to be a celebration of all things cyberpunk, released on the 38th anniversary of the publication of Neuromancer, one of my all time favourite novels.

Of course, I absolutely jumped at the chance.

I channelled my favourite cyberpunk tropes – body mods, noir, shady dealers, high tech in the lowest strata of society – and added my own stamp. I wan...

Listen to ‘Ye Tak the Ghost Road’ on Ghostlore Part Two: Hauntings NOW

Today’s the day!

Part Two of Ghostlore on the Alternative Stories Podcast is now available to listen to here. (And on many other streaming platforms too, including Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and all the big ones, whichever your preferred platform is.)

The second half of Ghostlore, edited by the excellent author Lyndsey Croal, features stories involving hauntings inspired by folklore and fairytales.

My own piece – read brilliantly by Lindz McLeod who captures the spooky, stressy atmosp...

Night, Rain, And Neon

I’ve been champing at the bit to spill the beans about this one and now I can finally reveal I have a story in an incredible collection of cyberpunk tales coming out this summer: Night, Rain, And Neon.

Curated and edited by esteemed SF author Michael Cobley for NewCon Press, Night, Rain, And Neon will be released on 1st July, the anniversary of William Gibson’s seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer – one of my favourite books of all time!

It will be a celebration of the genre as well as...

Ghostlore: An Audio Fiction Anthology

I’m super excited to announce I have a story in Ghostlore – an audio anthology of short fiction inspired by folktales and hauntings.

Edited by the brilliant Lyndsey Croal for The Alternative Stories Podcast, my tale ‘Ye Tak the Ghost Road’ will be broadcast alongside work by some incredible authors such as Zoe Gilbert, Melinda Salisbury, and Ai Jiang. It’s a real privilege to be included!

Split into two parts – ‘Wilderness’ and ‘Hauntings’ – you can listen to the first episode here (it’s a...

March Reading Roundup

Legitimate reason for not updating the blog: My second child Nina was born at the end of January and I haven’t found much time for writing about books. Though I have still been reading when I can, so without further preamble, here is my Readasaurus Recs:

Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth (2018, One)

A gritty ‘western’ set in the Australian outback in 1885, Only Killers and Thieves by Paul Howarth didn’t seem my cup of tea at first (based on blurb and cover) but what’s inside is ...

Faves of 2021

Another year nearly over and once again it is the time for LISTS!

First, a quick bit of reflection: I had only one short story published this year, Great Nothing in Shoreline of Infinity 27 & 29, but it’s a story I’m really proud of and it’s in a magazine I love, so it’s a big win for me. More to come next year!

I’ve also read some incredible stories and below are a few I want to highlight.

Disclaimer: This is a personal list of my favourite things I’ve read this year – not which have n...