Aliya Whiteley's Blog, page 13

2020: The Year of Paper Boats

Let’s sum up the year! Yes, okay, let’s not. Let’s not try. I haven’t had the kind of year that I’d want to wade through again, even in a sparkly retrospective type way, and I’m guessing you haven’t either.

Leaving all the obvious things about the year aside, then, the getting published side of things went well, thanks to the magnificent editors and publishers I’ve worked with who fought hard to send stories out there. There have been problems and delays, but they have the will to see new books in the world, to champion them, and to make plans about them. They all deserve medals, or at the very least a good break over Christmas.

I had a novel published this year, my fourth effort with Unsung Stories, and it was a galactic adventure. I love science fiction, and I love its history – the books, films and TV programs that shaped me, that came along at exactly the right time for me, and all left their marks upon me. They have changed the way I see SF, and see the world, and I wanted to write a book about that. The plants and the orange string turned up later, and all bundled together they made Greensmith. It’s a glorious book to hold, to look at. I put all my Unsungs in a row, four books in six years, and stared at them for a while. Gorgeous.

My unsungs

It took a few years to get Greensmith from my imagination to the printed page; The Secret Life of Fungi was a project that took no more than months. Researching the book got me through the first lockdown (all the books I’d requested from the local library could no longer be returned, which was very handy) and I wrote it quickly, trying to capture the same sense of amazement I felt about the fungal kingdom. (If you don’t know much about it, you will be astonished, I promise you.) It ended up being quite a personal book too, which took me by surprise. I think my fiction can be challenging, but I wanted this to be the kind of book you can simply pick up and start reading without knowing anything about the subject, or with any particular love for it, so it’s made me really happy to see a few comments and reviews along those lines about it. I’m very glad I wrote it. It kept me good company in the worst of lockdown.

Short stories! My mini-collection in the Shadows series (by Black Shuck books) was called Fearsome Creatures, and it contains a couple of stories that I think are among my best. From wolves to beasts to zombies to mummies, I tackled some of my favourite horror monsters in those pages. I think it got a bit forgotten about between the squash of the other books, so please give it a look if you haven’t already. It’s less than a pound for the kindle right now.

I also had stories in a few anthologies, including Midsummer Eve (also published by Black Shuck) and London Centric, published by NewCon Press, who rallied to the challenge of raising money for the NHS by putting out a dream of an anthology, filled with impressive contributors, called Stories of Hope and Wonder. And Swan River Press’ Uncertainties 4 (a great series) contained my story ‘Reflection, Refraction, Dispersion’ – a ghost story set in stadiums around the world.

Getting to be published in an edition of Beneath Ceaseless Skies next to Yoon Ha Lee was a real high point – ‘The Spoils’ is a longer piece for me about a rite of dissection of a huge tunnel-dwelling creature, and what the people involved do with their treasures. And, on the other side of my usual word length, there’s ‘Lump Sum Love’, which appeared at Daily Science Fiction, and is a love letter about sacrifice which might be less willingly undertaken than it first appears.

Non-fiction-wise, I wrote for Interzone throughout the year, muttering about theme parks and slow worms and time machines. I’ve already written the column that will appear in January 2021. It’s about museums, just in case you were worried I was about to start nailing down some of the major questions of science fiction and fantasy writing any time soon.

What else is coming up in 2021? Well, a few things were delayed this year, including the US edition of The Loosening Skin, which includes a bonus novella set in that same skin-shedding world. Titan Books will also publish my put-back short story collection: From the Neck Up. We’ve finished putting that together and I’m excited to see that out in the world – I think that’ll be towards the end of next year.

The first big thing will be the publication of Skyward Inn by Solaris. It’s available to request on Netgalley now. I’ve put the cover up before but I like it so much I’m about to put it up again:

Skyward Inn!

That’ll be out in the world in March 2021, which still sounds far away but will be here in no time at all. It’s a book about community, and family, and has a fifth act that really can’t be described and you should put your fingers in your ears if someone tries.

What else? There will be short stories, translations, and other things, and I’ll keep you posted. I’ll end the year with a blog post on my favourite reads of 2020. I think, like many people, I’ve struggled to focus on reading this year but I’ve been lucky to find some books that have demanded my full attention whether I’ve wanted to give it or not. It’ll be great to sing their praises before 2020 draws to a close.

Having stories published this year has felt like making paper boats and setting them out on the water, not knowing exactly what kind of weather they’ll face. That’s always true, I suppose. But there’s been a vulnerability to the stories, all our stories, this year – what do they mean? How long can they last, in these treacherous conditions? Paper boats are so light and fragile. Even so, many of us – writers, creators, editors, agents, publishers – tried to craft boats with care this year, and sent them out, against the unpredictable, the unknowable. Thanks to everyone who did.

Stories that keep growing

It’s no longer such a slim volume: the UK edition of The Beauty has now been reprinted with the addition of a bonus short story. It’s called Peace, Pipe and it could already be found in the US edition, so it’s good to have the matching set now. The cover even has a new purple circle on the front.

London, another set of stories that keeps growing, is the subject of all the stories in NewCon Press’ London Centric anthology. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m giving it another shout because I’m taking part in a cyber Kaffee Klatsch this Saturday, along with a heap of talented people, to talk about our future visions. Except mine was sort of set in the past. But never mind – I’m still really looking forward to taking part at 3pm via Zoom. You can find out more here.

I’m having a pretty slow December, rereading some Sherlock Holmes, writing something that might become something, and taking my time over it. I’ll post my favourite reads of the year, and a catch-up of all that happened, before we reach 2021. Then on to a new year, and a fresh batch of stories that will, no doubt, start swelling up.

A month of eyes and worms

That was a wild October, filled with books – books I read, thanks to the local library in particular, and books I wrote. Author copies regularly landed on the doormat. Here they all are:

[image error] Books of October and Dog

Fearsome Creatures, a mini-collection of short stories about my favourite monsters, was published by Black Shuck books, as was the very handsome anthology Midsummer Eve, in which I had a story. Thanks to Black Shuck for producing such stylish books.

The Secret Life of Fungi, from Elliott & Thompson, was a non-fiction look into moulds, spores, rusts, yeasts, mushrooms, toadstools, and all forms of fungi. It’s an awe-inspiring world. I hope I conveyed that.

London Centric was published by NewCon Press, and it’s an anthology of futuristic London stories. Except mine, which is mainly set in the past, but you know, the past informs the future and so on… Anyway, really glad to be in that one with some great writers.

And Greensmith, of course, my space journey about plants and planets and love and loss and orange string. Unsung Stories gave me another beautiful book to add to my collection. I answered five questions about Greensmith over at the Breaking the Glass Slipper blog here.

Now to November, which will be a much quieter experience for all sorts of reasons.

Marta Oliehoek is a wonderful illustrator and a horror film fan to boot, so she put her passions together and created a really special book – twenty-one pencil portraits of the eyes of horror fiction writers, along with in-depth interviews with them about their cinematic influences. If you’re a horror fan then this is a real treat, and it includes interviews with authors who have shaped, and who continue to shape, this genre. You can take a look at the line-up and buy a copy here. See if you spot my eye. I’ll give you a hint: I always wear glasses.

Plus you’ll find my latest column for Interzone in the new issue, being mailed out soon. It’s about slow worms. Sort of.

The public life of fungi

The other day I went for a walk around the park, and took a seat on the bench by the river to watch the world go by. It was a grey day, filled with the background hum of bad news, and I was pretty low about the state of the world. I felt disconnected from it all: what’s real, what’s true? How do you tell how low you should be? These are big questions, but on that day they had a small answer. There by my feet were some shaggy inkcaps.

I got down really low to take a photo of them. That was the appropriate amount of lowness for me:

[image error] Shaggy inkcaps at work

There’s a chapter early on in my new book about shaggy inkcaps, and the act of trying to describe them. Seeing them reminded me that I’d had the chance to write that book, to immerse myself in facts as well as I could, in order to try to put across the reality of being part of this world.

The Secret Life of Fungi is published today, and I owe a huge thanks to everyone at Elliott & Thompson for making me the author of a non-fiction book on a subject that is as strange as it is fascinating.

I’m not an expert, or a forager. But the more I looked into this subject the more I found that fungi are everywhere, and there’s a great delight in spotting them, and knowing them, and seeing how they connect the world. They are underneath us all. Plus they are so much fun to describe, and they have the best names. I’m still enraptured with the Dog Sick Slime Mould, for instance. Now that’s an evocative name.

[image error] Fungi on the wall. Not dog sick slime mould.

Thanks to everyone who’s read it, been part of it, or is thinking of reading it.

Also: there’s a competition over on Twitter today – post your fungal photos and maybe win a copy of the book. Check out @eandtbooks to take part.

Hello Greensmith

Publication day for Greensmith, and I’m just so relieved to see my main character Penelope out in the universe and travelling. She was meant to make an appearance in May, but maybe she suits October better, just as all the leaves are falling off the trees for real.

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This book means a lot to me. I wrote it through a fog of self-doubt that anything so strange and demanding could work, but I had to try just to get it out of my head. Thanks to everyone who urged me onwards, and thanks to those who then helped to publish it. You’re all stars. A few links:

I spoke about Greensmith’s oddness, the act of classification when it comes to SF, and the best book everyone should read (at the right moment) to Matt at Runalong the Shelves.

A huge thank you to Nina Allan, who read it and wrote about it here.

And here’s a link to the Unsung Stories page for Greensmith, which has some lovely quotes about it from writers I very much admire.

I annotated an excerpt from the opening of the book, making myself feel clever in the process, over at Civilian Reader.

More being fearsome in public

I got to chat to Paul Semel about my Fearsome Creatures over on his blog, so a big thanks to Paul for that. Here’s the link.

Lots of other projects get a mention, including Skein Island, Skyward Inn (or my SI novels, as I’ll now refer to them), The Beauty, From the Neck Up, and The Secret Life of Fungi. Also there are mentions of synthesizers and triffids.

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Release the Fearsome Creatures

It’s publication day for Fearsome Creatures, my mini-collection of stories inspired by the monsters that played around in my mind when I was young. From zombies to vampires, mummies to big bad wolves, I had a blast.

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You can pick up a copy from Black Shuck Books or from all the usual places. (The e-book version is a bit of a bargain at 99p.)

It’s good to see the creatures out and about in fan formation. They’re quite an organised bunch really.

Stick your neck forward, fearsomely

Short stories about monsters! I grew up on a diet of monsters: vampires, zombies, big bad wolves, mummies and my own local monster, the Exmoor Beast. From late night Hammer horror to Gothic literature, I loved them all. No idea why. I was just that kind of child.

When Black Shuck Books asked me if I wanted to put together a mini-collection of short stories I decided I’d revisit that first love. I’m at that kind of age, now, when we revisit things with a lot of affection and not much accurate recollection. So I went through my back catalogue of stories, and then I watched a lot of Hammer horror films again (not that I ever let too long go past without doing that), and then I wrote some new stories, and the result is called Fearsome Creatures. Five stories featuring my favourite monsters. I’ll put up a link when it can be pre-ordered, and it’ll be published on 8th October 2020.

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I love the cover. It’s a grassy field. It’s soft, dense fur. You’re looking at it, and it’s looking at you. What is it? Whatever it is, there’s something dangerous waiting in there. It works very well for the stories inside, but I don’t want to give away why.

Meanwhile:

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From the Neck Up. I also love this cover. So I’m a bit sad that I won’t get to see it in the flesh/paper for a while yet as publication has had to be delayed from November 2020 to September 2021. But it means this short story collection will get a bit of its own breathing space rather than being buried under all my books being published in October, and all the other books in the entire world being published all at once too.

It’s good to have things to look forward to in 2021, including Skyward Inn (advance review copies are available now, so get in touch with Rebellion Publishing if you want one) and the US edition of The Loosening Skin.

Back in October 2020, you can find me at:

Midsummer Eve

Fearsome Creatures

Greensmith

The Secret Life of Fungi

London Centric

An October Summer

October’s going to be a really busy month for me.

There’s Greensmith, my overexcited take on space opera and plants, coming from Unsung Stories on October 12. Some writers I admire have already read it and said kind things about it over on the website. Phew.

There’s The Secret Life of Fungi, a non-fiction smart and shiny hardback about everything fungal, being published by Elliott & Thompson on October 22.

There’s NewCon Press’ anthology London Centric: Tales of Future London, being released into the world on October 27. My story about is about creeping fog, and the lighthouse at King’s Cross.

And there’s one more project I’m not allowed to talk about yet.

But the one I am allowed to talk about, and am really pleased to be able to talk about, is Midsummer Eve, an anthology of short stories that will be published by Black Shuck Books in their Great British Horror series. All the authors were given the same title, and told to get on with it. So you have ten stories that are all called Midsummer Eve, and it looks like mine will be the last in the collection. It’s about a long day spent in a big house while having unpleasant errands to run. There’s a really great line-up, including Robert Shearman. I’m always delighted to share space with him and I can’t wait to read his story. I bet it’s more disturbing than mine.

Here’s the cover:

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Midsummer Eve can be preordered over at the Black Shuck website now. I’m off to have a long lie down before October kicks off.

Fungal Growth

If you look up you should see a new tab on the top bar for non-fiction works. I’ve been writing non-fiction articles for a few years, mainly about film or trivia but also about the writing process and literature that I love. Well, all that stepped up a gear at the beginning of the year when I was asked if I wanted to write a book about fungi.

I know a little bit about fungi, but I’m certainly not an expert. I do enjoy writing about them, though, and bringing their strange forms to life, and although I was a bit terrified at the idea I did wonder if I was up to the challenge of a whole book about them, using my joy of language to bring the light and dark of fungal growth to the page. So I gave it a go. A whole lot of research and sweat later, here’s the result:

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It’ll be published by Elliott & Thompson in October 2020 as a hardback. It’s not a long book, but I hope it’s a really interesting and involving one. I learned a lot from writing it, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a physical copy of it, with beautiful illustrations to match.

There are more details on my new non-fiction page, along with links to some of my favourite articles over the years.

Here’s to surprising opportunities, and taking on tasks that scare you.