Andrew Hook's Blog, page 15

Eskimo

My short story, "Eskimo", has recently been published in Postscripts #32/33 from PS Publishing and as usual I'm blogging about the gestalt of the piece. There may be some spoilers for those who haven't read it.

The story stems from a simple premise. What if the 'special power' of a superhero was that he was unable to feel fear: meaning he would do rash acts of heroism simply because he wasn't afraid to step in where others would shy away. What if this power extended to all emotions. And what i...

salò press

In 2002 I had a mad idea. Why not set up a publishing company focusing on short story collections by unknown writers who worked in mixed genres? Pundits will tell you that the hardest sells are books by first timers, short stories, and genre-defying works. Still, I went ahead, rode the cusp of the digital print wave which revolutionised publishing at the same moment I put my toe in the water, and by the time I felt the press had run it's natural course in 2009 we had published 31 books and ga...

punkPunk! book launch

If you've been following this blog you will know I have recently edited a book of punk-inspired stories for DogHorn Publishing titled “punkPunk!”. Punk music has been the catalyst for so many (ad)ventures in my life that I couldn’t resist editing an anthology of stories which are influenced by the music and celebrate the lifestyle. Finally it’s now available for purchase, and to kick-start sales I’ve organised an event in London at the Hope & Anchor pub in Islington (one of the main venue...

punkPunk! - Cover art

Just a short post revealing the cover for the "punkPunk!" anthology that I've edited for DogHorn Publishing. More details about the book and a launch should follow by the end of the month.

The Best and Worst of 2014

Well, it's that time of the year when everyone is doing their 'best and worst of' lists, so here is mine. I'm going to list the books and movies I read/watched in 2014 and then pick my favourites. This isn't restricted to what was new in 2014, but what I actually watched and read - some of these items might be very old indeed.

Books:

I read the following in 2014:

David Foster Wallace – OblivionJack Finney – Invasion of the Body SnatchersConrad Williams – Blonde on a StickJames Sallis – DriveCine...

Shoot For The Moon

My short story, "Shoot For The Moon", was published recently in Monomyth. As has become habit, I'm briefly going to blog about the story's gestation. There may be spoilers for anyone yet to read it.

This piece began life as an idea for the anthology, "Astrologica", edited by Allen Ashley. The guidelines were to write a story based on one of the signs of the zodiac. I knew I wanted to write a piece, but as the deadline loomed I found it increasingly difficult to get my head around the concept....

My Writing Year 2014

I thought I'd do a quick blog post as to my literary achievements during 2014.

In March this year my neo-noir crime novel, "The Immortalists", was published by Telos, with the second in the series, "Church Of Wire", scheduled for early 2015. I've also just finished writing the fourth book in the series, titled "The Happy Finish".
I wrote thirteen short stories this year: "Flytrap", "The Soft Explosion", "The Nomenclature Of Fear", "The Call Of The Void", "The Unthinking Tyranny Of History", "A...

Snout!

Regular readers of this blog will know I have a predilection for long-snouted animals, but it's been a while since I posted a picture of one. Just for Christmas then, here's a great image of an anteater:


Speaking of Christmas, we attended an event in Norwich recently selling our Fur-Lined Ghettos magazine and came across a stall selling prints and wood cuts of various long-snouted creatures (the tamandua, armadillo and anteater amongst them) in addition to some lesser critters. My partner...

Soapsud Galaxies

My short story, "Soapsud Galaxies", has recently been published in the new issue of Jupiter SF, and as usual I'm blogging just a few lines about the birth of the story. Be aware there may be spoilers for those who have yet to read it.


The story is quite a short piece based around a simple premise (one that, in retrospect, is similar to a chapter in Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles"): what if aliens could transform themselves into people we could love? In my piece, aliens are in...

Black Lung

My short story, "Black Lung", has recently been published in the new issue of the UK's premier horror magazine, Black Static, and as usual I'm blogging just a few lines about the birth of the story. Be aware there may be spoilers for those who have yet to read it.


As I've blogged before, many of my ideas stem from titles, and in this case black lung was the name we attributed to our new neighbour's mother who visited over the course of a few days back in the summer and who smoked outside their...