Callum McSorley's Blog, page 9
June 12, 2020
Stay at home book fest: Cymera 2020
Like its mythical namesake, who with various fire-breathing heads and snake-tail is nothing if not adaptable, Cymera Festival made the switch to digital-only this year with speed and aplomb.
Running over three days (5th – 7th June), panels, workshops, quizzes, and readings were attended through YouTube channels and live Zoom conferences, featuring an amazing array of UK authors from the worlds of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.
I had the privilege of taking part in this year’s festival by filling o...
May 30, 2020
Brave New Words: Cymera 2020
Cymera – Scotland’s only book festival dedicated exclusively to sci-fi, fantasy, and horror – will not be stopped by any old pandemic and will be going ahead this year online, with events being held via Zoom and on YouTube.
Kicking off this Friday and running through the weekend, there will be panels, workshops, readings, and quizzes, featuring excellent authors from all over the UK, including Paul McAuley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Vicki Jarrett, Chris Brookmyre, Laura Lam, and many more. (Browse the...
Brave New Voices: Cymera 2020
Cymera – Scotland’s only book festival dedicated exclusively to sci-fi, fantasy, and horror – will not be stopped by any old pandemic and will be going ahead this year online, with events being held via Zoom and on YouTube.
Kicking off this Friday and running through the weekend, there will be panels, workshops, readings, and quizzes, featuring excellent authors from all over the UK, including Paul McAuley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Vicki Jarrett, Chris Brookmyre, Laura Lam, and many more. (Browse the...
May 24, 2020
Burying the Dragon out 1st August 2020
I’m beyond stoked to finally share some big news I’ve been holding onto for a while: my fantasy noir novel Burying the Dragon is to be published this year by Möbius Books!
What’s more, it has a provisional publication date of 1st August.
The whole thing that’s been going on – you know the thing – means it can’t be set in stone, but if all goes well, then in just a couple of months’ time my new novel will be available to ship in beautiful paperback or to download to your e-reader.
I’m massively e...
May 21, 2020
Lockdown Reading Roundup 2
Tired of meeting that same person again and again for games of tennis? Bored of standing in hour long queues outside Homebase just to fight over the last tin of Ronseal? Why not pick up something new to read!? Here’s what I’ve liked recently:
A Window Breaks by C. M. Ewan (Pan MacMillan, 2019)The Sullivans – Tom, Rachel, and daughter Holly – head to a remote lodge in Scotland in an attempt to heal after the death of their eldest, Michael, in a car crash. Some peace away from the world starts to...
May 4, 2020
Lockdown Reading Roundup 1
Well, this is shite, isnt it? But theres no way around it, lockdown must go on until its safe to do otherwise, which could be some time yet. So if youre wanting to kill some time reading, why not have a look at one of these?
(And if you do see something you like, check your local independent bookshops website many are still operating online and doing deliveries. Ditto for the indie publishers.)
[image error]Missing Person by Sarah Lotz (Hodder & Stoughton, 2019)Missing Person, the latest novel by...
April 20, 2020
Indie April 2020
This is, of course, not Indie April as normal. However, with businesses closed or operating solely online and everyone at home on lockdown, I think its important that readers, writers, editors, and publishers still take a little time to celebrate and promote our small presses this month, for whom this could be a tough time to keep afloat.
Below is a short list of the Scottish indies Ive had the pleasure and privilege of being published by over the last five or so years.
(Ive only included...
March 20, 2020
Lanyard Person: Reading at Granite Noir
[image error]Ive been busy lately, polishing up a TOP SECRET PROJECT, so this post about last months Granite Noir festival is a little late.
Granite Noir is Aberdeens yearly crime writing festival, and in 2020 featured appearances from genre legends Ian Rankin, Stuart McBride, Ambrose Parry (pen name of Chris Brookmyre and Dr Marisa Haetzman), Denise Mina, and many more.
A particularly excellent feature of the festival one thats being adopted by many others is Locals in the Limelight, which gives...
February 17, 2020
Granite Noir 2020
[image error]Granite Noir, Aberdeen’s crime writing festival, kicks off this weekend and I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of it as one the festival’s Locals in the Limelight.
Among events featuring big name authors such as Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Ambrose Parry, Ben Aaronovitch, and Aberdeen’s own Stuart McBride, I’ll be doing a couple of readings on the Saturday (22 Feb).
First off, I’ll be taking part in a free event at the Central Library at 11.30am, where each of the Locals in the Limelight will be...
February 13, 2020
Winter reading 2019/20
It’s been one storm after the next lately, so it would be a good make sure you’ve got a decent book or two to weather it out indoors. How about one of these?
[image error]Dark Water by Koji Suzuki (1996/2004, Harper Collins)I think I remember seeing the US film adaptation of this story sometime in the noughties when a whole slew of Japanese horror films were reshot nearly scene for scene with an American cast following the huge success of The Ring (the US version of Ringu, released just a few years...
