S.R. Masters's Blog, page 3

This is the News

It's been ages since my last bit of news, so I thought I'd share a tiny update. Things are moving along behind the scenes with my debut novel, The Killer You Know, and it's all still a bit exciting and daunting that the book is going to be out there in the world in less than a year. There's now an Amazon link to the book, as well as the blurb, which I've also put up on the writing page above. 

When the novel was first announced, I said a few things for the Bookseller announcement that nev...

My First Book Deal (Or Agghhhhhhh!)

So… this happened: Thriller Seekers Strike Big Deals
I started this blog in July 2011 with an entryabout picking up writing again after nearly a decade of trying to achieve some sort of music career. I was cautious, planning nothing more than an experiment. I'd learned my lesson: dream big, burn hard. I just wanted to know if I could write and finish a novel. Could I bring myself to submit anything I wrote? Could I get some short stories published, or at least get some positive feedback that m...

Agent News!

It's been a bit exciting around here recently, and it's with great pleasure that I can now announce that I'll be represented by the awesome Joanna Swainson at Hardman & Swainson Literary Agency. I've had some fantastic meetings with the agency, and suffice to say they've completely blown me away. I'm really excited to be working with Joanna on my future writing projects!   

And Along Came Three

It's like that thing about buses, you know? You wait for one for ages, then three short stories turn up instead. I've been rattling around in the world of novel writing lately, so all things short have been on the back burner. However, this month I have three new short stories out.

My weird tale 'This'll Take You Back' has taken a few knocks over the years, but it has finally found an amazing home in Andromeda Spaceways Magazine. I've always had a real soft spot for this story as it conc...

Press Start to Play Reviews

Here are some links to a few more reviews of Press Start to Play that were kind enough to mention my story Desert Walk.

It's been really lovely and inspiring to hear people liked the story, and a bit mind blowing that something I wrote here in Oxford has now been spotted by friends in the book shops all the way over on the west coast of the USA.


More Press Start to Play reviews:

Tangent Recommended Reading List 2015

Stymie Mag

Sense of Wonder Blog

NY Journal of Books

The BiblioSanctum (Audible audi...

Press Start to Play Unleashed

Just a quick post about 'Press Start to Play', the anthology on Vintage in which my short story 'Desert Walk' appears. It came out today! I'm officially a writer published by Penguin. I'm sure if I nipped back in time and told my younger self that this is where his writing adventure would end up, he'd be very pleased.  And then he'd faint. And then he'd ask me for some fantasy football tips.
There's been quite a few write-ups on the anthology appearing online and elsewhere (including in E...

Ghost Stories: Press Start to Play, The Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition and more...

In many ways it was an ordinary night: I brushed my teeth, sang myself a lullaby, put on my night cap... Just before resting my head on the pillow, I checked my phone one last time and noticed an email from super-editor John Joseph Adams in my inbox regarding a submission I'd recently made to one of his magazines. Now, usually this would have been enough to make me at least a little bit excited, hopeful masochist that I am. But this was the night of my wedding, and I was actually in quite a p...

Some News is Some News

It's been a while since I posted something, mainly because I've been busy beating the novel into shape before it goes out on submission--some terrifying and exciting times ahead. On the short story front I have a whole bunch of news, most of which I'm not allowed to talk about until contracts have been signed and various gods have been appeased. What I can talk about:

My story 'Alan Roscoe's Change of Heart' concludes the latest issue of the awesome Shock Totem, and is now available in both p...

Short Story Sale to Shock Totem

I recently received an email from brilliant dark fiction magazine Shock Totem saying they wanted to publish my short story 'Alan Roscoe's Change of Heart'. It's one of my most exciting sales so far, and "chuffed" doesn't even begin to cover how I'm still feeling about it many days later.

The story is one I attempted a few years ago, in the earliest days of my writing. Ultimately that attempt failed and I stuffed the story in the folder marked "Retired" never to be spoken of again. This year, s...

Two Dark Tales

Two of my stories have been published this month, both a little bit dark and both a little bit mean. They are also slightly older stories that have taken a while to see the light of day. I'm delighted they've come out together as they make a nice pair.

First up, Stupefying Stories have published my story 'Blind Spot'. Editor Bruce Bethke called it "challenging" in his editorial which I'm chuffed to bits about. It's based on an experiment to show how the human brain essentially invents a portio...