Tim Major's Blog, page 24
February 19, 2015
Book soundtrack: Carus & Mitch
I listen to music while I write. It���s usually drone, industrial or minimal techno. I could wax lyrical about the state of mind induced by Biokinetics by Porter Ricks, Grapes from the Estate by Oren Ambarchi or Water Park by Dirty Beaches. Each story I write is usually accompanied by a particular few albums on rotation.
But that���s by the by. That���s not the kind of soundtrack I want to write about here.
I���ve started creating playlists for each of the longer pieces of fiction I���ve writte...
February 17, 2015
First review quotes for Carus & Mitch
Here are the first review quotes for Carus & Mitch, extracts from which also appear on the back cover of the book:
“Carus & Mitch is punchy and scary and tense and genuinely moving. The central portrait of the book’s sibling relationship captures its mixture of friction and love spot on, with heartbreaking precision. Tim Major is an exceptional writer.”
��� Adam Roberts, author of Jack Glass and B��te
���Tim Major takes now-familiar tropes���an apocalypse, a resourceful teenage girl heroine���an...
February 16, 2015
Guest post: The story behind Carus & Mitch
I’ve written a guest post for the online literary magazine, Upcoming4.me. It tells the ‘story behind the story’ of Carus & Mitch, from its origins as a NaNoWriMo draft of a YA novel, through lots of dithering and deletions, before it ended up as a ‘quiet horror’ novella.
The other authors who have contributed ‘story behind the story’ articles put me to shame in their ambition and methodical approach to writing! But I hope some readers will find it useful to read about the haphazard development...
Speculative Fiction Showcase interview
Over on the Speculative Fiction Showcase website you’ll find an author interview with me, covering subjects as diverse as big-screen adaptations, Scrivener, chickens and socks… Oh, and a small amount of discussion about my novella, Carus & Mitch, which will be released in exactly one week’s time!
The book has also been teased on the horror blog, Wag the Fox. My guest post about children in horror fiction will also appear on the Wag the Fox site soon.
The New Accelerator issue #3
Issue #3 of the New Accelerator is out now and features a reprint of my quantified-self story, ‘By the Numbers’.
The magazine is available via a dedicated app on iOS or Android devices.
January 15, 2015
Carus & Mitch cover reveal
I���m very pleased to reveal the cover for ���Carus & Mitch���, which will be published by Omnium Gatherum on 23rd February!
Pretty flipping creepy, right? Here’s the back-cover blurb:
Carus is only fifteen but since their mum disappeared, looking after her little sister Mitch is her job. There���s nobody else. Not in their house and not outside, either. There���s something out there, scratching and scraping at the windows.
The barricades will hold.
They have to.
Also, ���Carus & Mitch��� now has...
January 2, 2015
Short story: Like Clockwork
SQ Mag Edition 18, featuring my story, ‘Like Clockwork’, is now available for free on the SQ Mag website. ‘Like Clockwork’ took second prize in the Story Quest ‘Punkin’ the Train’ contest at the start of December 2014.
It’s the first of my Mars stories (featuring sand-sculpted dwellings, roaming bases and ‘aye-aye’ AI robots) to be published, though it’s one of the most recent I’ve written. More to come, I hope.
December 18, 2014
My writing in 2014
The House-sitter (74,000 words) ��� SF time-travel mystery
Short stories written in 2014
A Crest of a Wave (2300 words) ��� SF, Mars
Like Clockwork (3000 words) ��� SF, Mars
Cast In The Same Mould (4200 words) ��� SF, Mars
Finding Waltzer-Three (1400 words) ��� SF
An Empty Vessel (3000 words) ��� horror
What Are We Going To Do With You? (5900 words) ��� YA horror
Flash fiction written in 2014
For a Tooth (850 words) ��� humorous SF
Kraken Mare (250 words) ��� SF
Corvus Cornix (250...
Favourite films watched in 2014
As a consequence of having a one-year-old child, this year I saw only nine films released in 2014. The only essential one was the unsettling and astounding Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer). Next in line were All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor) and Calvary (John Michael McDonagh). Locke (Steven Knight) gave plenty of food for thought, in terms of scripting and character development.
Before my son was born I worried that I���d no longer have the attention span for ���difficult��� cinema, but I was proved...
December 17, 2014
Favourite tracks of 2014
Firstly, it���s been more a year for albums rather than individual songs. Even though my longlist is 41 tracks and 4.5 hours, I���m being strict with myself for this list by not including tracks to represent albums I love, if the track doesn���t stand alone. So nothing from Oren Ambarchi���s Quixotism (Part 3 came close, but is far more glorious in the context of the album). I���m also disallowing tracks from compilations and rereleased albums, therefore it���s a no-show for the Soul Jazz Gip...
