Going for Number 1

I am stunned.

MAGENTA SHAMAN and MAGENTA SHAMAN STONES THE CROW have only been free to download from all Amazon platforms for a couple of days, and already both are alternating at top first and second positions in the Free Kindle Horror Bestsellers list, adjacent to horror master James Herbert in the paid lists, no less!

They're not quite there in the .com US charts but have still had lots of interest. To date, both books - short novellas that chart the terrifying journeys of Brighton-based, natural-born shaman Maggie Sweeney - have been downloaded over 2,500 times! That's across the US/Canada, UK, Germany and Spain.

I am so grateful to everyone that has picked up copies and hope you enjoy them. Your reviews and comments are very welcome.

All the best.

Lily/x

Download the MAGENTA SHAMAN stories for FREE!

Forewarned is forearmed... both MAGENTA SHAMAN and  MAGENTA SHAMAN STONES THE CROW will be **FREE** to download to your Kindle or Kindle app from tomorrow 4th September, right through to Saturday 8th.

Dark, urban fantasy woven with mild horror these short novellas introduce Brighton's natural-born shaman, Maggie Sweeney and follow her astral journeys to cursed lands and demon-infested pits.

Walk with Magenta as she gathers plants and poisons to use in battle; suffer with her as she faces death - again and again.

Sometimes it's not the supernatural you should watch out for, it's the devils on your own doorstep...

Free from tomorrow but more info - including a peek at the opening pages - at: Amazon UK  and Amazon US/Canada

MAGENTA SHAMAN STONES THE CROW *Free* over Easter

I've just pressed the button. MAGENTA SHAMAN STONES THE CROW will be FREE to download over the entire Easter weekend!

Yes, starting tomorrow, Friday 6th April I am giving away the second novella in the Magenta Shaman series. Magic, horror, dark urban fantasy and *love* - yes *love* - all yours for nothing, zilch.

To 'Look Inside', download a sample or read a 5* review written by the wonderful Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw nip over to Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk and get your freebie finger ready for the long weekend.

And if you missed out on the first, even shorter novella in the series and want to catch up, Magenta Shaman is only 99p/$1.55 right now. At just under 7,000 words - you'll read it in a heartbeat. Download it from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

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The Magenta Shaman series is (c) Lily Childs and published by Ganglion Press

News - GANGLION PRESS

Friend, best-selling author of the Joe Hunter crime thrillers, and Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers Ed. Matt Hilton said "Check this out for top horror and crime fiction from Lily Childs and Col Bury http://www.ganglionpress.co.uk/"

OK - so the cat's out of the bag :-) I'd better come clean.

It's true. I've started up a new small press GANGLION PRESS, ostensibly as a platform to publish my own e-books. But I'm very proud that Col Bury has joined me at Ganglion to relaunch his gritty crime collection MANCHESTER 6.

We have plans to publish future e-books, as well as further collections and anthologies, and may have a few other writers on board shortly too. The long-term plan is to also publish and sell my husband's esoteric artwork (he did the Magenta Shaman covers too) and run some exhibitions and events.

In the meantime the site is slowly coming together, though WordPress is not treating me as kindly as I'd like! And I need to set up Ganglion's Facebook, Twitter and other accounts plus a Mailing List - sooner rather than later.

But there you are. Feel free to pop on over to www.ganglionpress.co.uk to see what we're up to. I'll be shouting it from the rooftops soon enough. No, make that... howl.

Magenta Shaman - FREE - for two days only!

Not read MAGENTA SHAMAN yet? Quick - it's FREE for this weekend only! And at only 7000 words you can quickly read it over breakfast, on the train, in bed, on the loo...

Spread the word!

What's it about?

A natural shaman by birth, Magenta Sweeney travels through trance-induced realms to deliver souls from demonic threat.

But Magenta also has an earthly life in modern-day Brighton, a strange and cosmopolitan city caught between the rolling hills of England and the Sussex coast where she lives with husband Tom.

Every journey Magenta takes is unique. Her intricate knowledge of herbs and poisons guides her when to heal - and when to kill.

Yet before she faces each challenge she must meet with ancient and terrifying entities that will unlock her passage into other dimensions, but not without question - or sacrifice.

This first episode in the Magenta Shaman short story series finds Magenta’s relationship with Tom at breaking point as she takes greater risks to help those waiting for her. Under pressure from The Protegians, a mysterious group of earth-bound guardians, the shaman is sent on increasingly dangerous missions by their intermediary - a suave, arrogant man known only as The Judge.

Will Magenta survive the fight to expel a deadly demon from a foetid, volcanic pit? And will Tom stand idly by when he finds his wife's body, broken and lifeless on their bed?
                        ____________________________

Download it free from Amazon UK, US and all Amazon platforms this weekend only.

Reviews

Magenta Shaman is receiving a growing number of 4* and 5* reviews. Please let Amazon readers know what you think of the book by adding your own reviews. Oh, and tell your friends! Thank you.

Houska Castle - on TV (UK) December 2nd at 11am

Houska Castle (c) http://www.hradhouska.cz 

For readers in the UK that have bought or plan to buy Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow, you may be interested to watch or Sky+ the episode of Ghost Hunters International that features Houska Castle - the setting for Magenta's terrifying journey.

Tthe episode is being repeated at 11am tomorrow, Friday 2nd December on Sky Livingit (channel 122) then again at 12 noon on Sky Livingit+1 (channel 123).

Regardless of what one thinks of these type of programmes (believe me, I'm a cynic) I did find Houska Castle in Blatce near Prague incredibly eerie. I've done a lot of research around it and it has a very strange and disturbing history stretching back to the Bronze Age.

The question is - was the present 13th century Bohemian building constructed to protect the people from the demonic creatures that allegedly dwell beneath its floors, in the legendary bottomless pit known as The Gates of Hell?

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For more photos and history of Houska Castle visit the owner's website at http://www.hradhouska.cz. Google Chrome will translate from Czech to English. for you.

Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow - Out Now!

I promised; I kept you waiting... but finally here it is - the second novella in the Magenta Shaman series, Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow.

Book Description:

Natural born shaman, Magenta Sweeney is torn from the comfort of England's green coast and sent on a terrifying trance journey by the very guides and guardians that claim to protect her. This time she must do as she is told. This time – she has no choice.

In Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow Maggie finds herself eight hundred miles from home, wandering the Bohemian forests of the Czech Republic in a final, desperate attempt to rescue the father she'd long believed dead.

As the bleak stone walls of ancient Houska Castle loom through the trees the shaman must prepare herself as never before.

And when the Gates of Hell open to invite Magenta in, she is forced to make a decision – one that could be her last.

Book cover (c) Laurence Ranger and Lily Childs

Download Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow now from:

Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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Feedback... and would you write a review?

I would love to receive your feedback on Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow. Do leave your comments below - and if you would be prepared to write a review for Amazon or Goodreads, that would be wonderful (and helps others to decide whether to buy the book).

I am so grateful for your thoughts - as always.

Coming Soon on Other Devices

I hope to publish both Magenta Shaman and Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow through Smashwords in the next few weeks. This will allow you to download it in other forms (including PDF) to PC, Mac, Nook, e-readers, i-Phones/Pads, Android phones and more.

The books will be available through Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Sony and the Apple Store.

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What's Going On? I'll Tell Ya!

I've read so much great fiction these last couple of weeks it feels like there's a literary fest going on in my head.

Here's a little catch up on my and others' news:

• First things first. Hip, hip! I have finished the final draft of Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow. I'm just waiting for the cover to be completed and intend publishing it on Amazon by the end of next week.
  
  Twice as long as the first story in the Magenta Shaman novella series, this tale finds the shaman thrown to The Gates of Hell in the realms between modern and ancient Prague. Here's a little excerpt to tease...
  
  
  Heavy clouds sped across a waxing moon. At least the magnetic pull was on their side. Magenta hated journeying during the waning period – the closer to the dark moon the more difficult the trip. She lay back on the ground, Tom’s arms clasped around her from behind. To use her meditation cave to enter the trance was a first for Maggie but the protection she had built up in the chalk cavity over the years meant she’d be grounded; that nothing but she, Tom and her ethereal messengers could enter or leave the sacred place.
  
  
  A small fire flickered at Magenta’s feet, throwing light around the small space. Mugwort smouldered with sticky frankincense in a brass dish on one of the coals. Maggie had chosen the mildly noxious herb because of its dream recollection properties. She had returned from the previous Houska experience humming with nausea and grief – knowing she’d fought and lost to a demon more ancient, more vicious than any she had battled before – knowing her father Sam had been swallowed into the depths and killed – yet Magenta had no memory of it. The demon, if it were even that, had wiped her head of all but the emotions associated with the event. If her body hadn’t been covered with storm-bloom bruises that swelled and dissipated within thirty minutes of her return, then the emotions were the only residual evidence of the day Samuel French had died.
  
  
  Unlike the journey four years before, Maggie had prepared herself better this time. Her former, unfounded confidence had taught her a lesson and she was taking no chances. A thick line of salt made a circle around the couple, its crystalline make-up flecked with crumbled myrrh to protect the cave and its inhabitants.
  
  
  “Are you ready?”
  
  
  Tom stared down at his wife; her breathing had shallowed almost to nothing. She opened her lips. Tom took a laurel leaf and slipped it beneath Magenta’s tongue. As soon as he felt her weight shift, the flames at her feet died down and he sighed as his wife’s spirit evanesced into the shadows.
  _________________
  
  Not read Magenta Shaman, the first story yet? Grab it from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
  _________________
• 
  The UK's Writing Magazine recently commissioned me to write a couple of articles on why e-publishing was right for me, and a 'How To' on preparing and uploading your manuscript to Amazon using Kindle Direct Publishing.
  
  The articles have both been published in the latest, December issue of the Magazine. You can buy it from WH Smith and can also subscribe.
  
  I also recommend Writing Magazine's online forum Talkback; I joined in 2009 and - it sounds trite - but it has opened so many doors, and I have 'met' some wonderful writers and editors, including Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers Col Bury. And we know what THAT led to! ;-)


• And talking of Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers - as you know, I'm now hanging out as Horror Editor in its dark passages and am currently hosting a week-long Hellicious Halloween showcase.
  
  Thirteen stories from twelve excellent writers including Predictioneers Chris Allinotte, Phil Ambler, Erin Cole, Sean Patrick Reardon, Dorothy Davies (our Antonia) and our new and inimitable Absolutely*Kate. Plus more brilliant stories from J. Bramwell Slater, Harris Tobias, Keith Gingell, Patricia Abbott, Gill Hoffs and Kevin G. Bufton.
  
  Here's the line-up. Do give your feedback and support. Thank you.


• 
  Continuing the theme of TKnC, I simply have to recommend the new e-book by fellow editor Col Bury 'Manchester 6'.
  
  This collection of "Six Gritty Crime Stories" is a must-have. You can download it from Amazon.co.uk for just 86p (bargain!!!) It's also available from Amazon.com and in other formats - see Col's blog for more details.


• Finally, I was highly delighted to discover my Pentacle Drummers mate, the Big Man Draven - who has already drummed in Dizzee Rascal's Dirtee Cash video, also performed in Florence & The Machine's Dogs Days Video! How I missed him, I'll never know. Go Greg!!!
  
  I'm a big Flo fan. Her new album Ceremonials was dropped into my hands this very morning. Dropping it into my ears now...

Up the Downs

Magenta Shaman and latest on Episode 2

Very pleased to find sales of Magenta Shaman have recently increased in the US after a slump. Thank you to those who downloaded Magenta to your Kindle or app, she'll be your friend for a long time.

Some great 5*/4* new reviews too - from Veronica Marie Lewis-Shaw at Goodreads, the very exquisite authors Jodi MacArthur and Chris Allinotte at Amazon.com and Jenny Francis at Amazon.co.uk. Much appreciated.

Episode 2 is on a major re-write. I'm halfway through so shouldn't be long now (apologies for the wait but I want it to be right).

I can, however reveal the title "Magenta Shaman Stones the Crow".

Download a free sample of  the first Magenta Shaman or buy the full novella at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (where you can also 'Look inside').

Mr Col Bury of old Manchester City

Fellow Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers editor Col Bury (Jeez, is he inundated with class crime subs at the moment!) has posted his top 20 Best of Brit blogs list at Ashedit in the perfectly entitled Best of the Blogs by Col Bury—Brit Grit Part 5.

Check it out - if you're not there, find out where you should be.

Watch out too, for Col's upcoming chin wag with exquisitely articulate and poetic hard task-master Richard Godwin in the ultimate black seat at The Slaughterhouse. 

Erin Cole

Feardom Interviews

I am also pleased to announce a new short series of interviews at The Feardom. My first guest will be inspirational and beguiling wordsmith Erin Cole. Erin will visit The Feardom in the early weeks of September.

Lily Childs - Guest Writer at...

It may be that I have a Guest Write appearance in mid-September at... now that would be telling! The tale will be a little less horror - but no less nasty; details coming soon. 

What's more the story was inspired by a dream, and then after I'd finished writing it - I saw the exact location of the main 'event' on headline news. Did I make it happen? Nothing to do with me, Sarg.

____________________________________

Magenta Shaman Reviews

Only one week since Magenta Shaman danced onto Amazon's pages and sales are in double figures. THANK YOU!!

Ranking figures are up and down like a doxy's knickers which is fun to observe.

Haven't got a Kindle? How you can download your copy of Magenta Shaman

Lots of people have said they don't have a Kindle (neither have I!) so a here's quick reminder that you can download Kindle for PC, for free. Just look on the right-hand side of the Magenta Shaman book page on Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com. You can also download Kindle for i-Phone, i-Pad and android; in the US you can get it for Blackberry too.

Read the Reviews

More thanks to those of you that have written such kind reviews. I hope you don't mind me posting them below. They're your words, your copyright and I acknowledge that.


2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars

Brighton Rocks, With The Shaman Blues., 3 May 2011
By Anthony Cowin (UK)

Magenta Shaman is a sweeping cinematic ride from the Brighton coast to the astral planes. It's a magical story dealing with corruption, devotion and love written with such skilful prose you almost fall into a spell as you read along. The characters are so well drawn in this novella that you may be mistaken for thinking you've been on literary journeys with them before. That's how quickly and vividly they become real in the readers mind.

Lily Childs has constructed worlds on the other side of the mind that are so beautifully described you simply slip into this magical place of monsters and spirits with ease. There's tension and thrills along the way too that will keep you pressing that page forward button until you finger hurts. I can't wait to find out more about these worlds and characters in what undoubtedly promises to be a series of great tales.

This truly is a refreshing Kindle début. Check it out as I doubt you'll regret the purchase. At least you be able to say you were one of the first readers when these characters hit the big screen some day.

_______________________________

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly written, 6 May 2011
By A reader "A Reader" (UK)

Brilliantly written short by the very talented, Lily Childs. From the onset you are drawn in to the world of Magenta Sharman, who is great character. If you like fantasy stories, then you will love this. If this is not your usual genre of choice, I would urge you to read it anyway, because you will still love it. I look forward to reading more in the Magenta stories.

_______________________________ 

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars

A Fantastic read, 1 May 2011
By Briff "bigbopperbriff"

I've enjoyed reading Stories and prose from Lily childs online and in various anthologies such as "Daily bites of flesh" and "Caught by Darkness", so I was really excited when I heard that Lily was about to publish a novella in her own rite.

I was not disappointed, I couldn't put it down, so much so that I read it twice and plan to read it again.
Magenta Shamen is a brilliant character that draws you into her world from the first page.
I'm not going to plot spoil but suffice it to say Magenta is a character that I'm sure you'll love and that I hope Lily will revisit in the future for yet more adventures.

_______________________________

You really are generous - thank you. All reviews are welcome.
Lily/x

Magenta Shaman - Now on Kindle

I've been hinting about her for a couple of years now. The wily, travelling spirit of Brighton-born Magenta Sweeney; natural shaman, fighter and defender of souls. Yet she's not without her own dark side.

I finally took the decision that this series of short, urban-fantasy stories would genuinely be suitable as individual e-books on Kindle. It's been a learning process but now - the very first Magenta Shaman episode in the series is available to download from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. 

Please enjoy it, review it and let me know how you feel about both Magenta herself, and this first story. There are many more.

The original cover artwork is by my husband Laurence Ranger, and has been adapted by me. We both hope you like it.

I must give my thanks to various members of the UK's Writers' News and Writing Magazine's online forum Talkback for voicing their experience in publishing to Kindle, as well as to Tony Cowin and Lee Hughes for such valuable and honest critiques, even though this is an urban fantasy - outside of each of our horror genres. 

My special thanks go to my husband Laurence for believing in Magenta and offering his own extensive esoteric knowledge and sublime artwork - Magenta is a part of both of us.

Magenta Shaman - Amazon Product Description:

A natural shaman by birth, Magenta Sweeney travels through trance-induced realms to deliver souls from demonic threat.

But Magenta also has an earthly life in modern-day Brighton, a strange and cosmopolitan city caught between the rolling hills of England and the Sussex coast where she lives with husband Tom.

Every journey Magenta takes is unique. Her intricate knowledge of herbs and poisons guides her when to heal - and when to kill. Yet before she faces each challenge she must meet with ancient and terrifying entities that will unlock her passage into other dimensions, but not without question - or sacrifice.

This first episode in the Magenta Shaman short story series finds Magenta’s relationship with Tom at breaking point as she takes greater risks to help those waiting for her. Under pressure from The Protegians, a mysterious group of earth-bound guardians, the shaman is sent on increasingly dangerous missions by their intermediary - a suave, arrogant man known only as The Judge.

Will Magenta survive the fight to expel a deadly demon from a foetid, volcanic pit? And will Tom stand idly by when he finds his wife's body, broken and lifeless on their bed?

___________________________________________

Download Magenta Shaman on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

If you don't have a Kindle you can download Kindle for PC, iPhone, iPad and Android for free from Amazon.

____________________________________________

Magenta Sweeney, aka Magenta Shaman reminisces on the day - twelve years before - when life finally threw her into the gutter.

***

Magenta's mother Rosa has a hard time dealing with her daughter's fits and trances, her visions and healing hands. A shaman from birth like her errant father, Magenta has always unwittingly terrified Rosa, even though the girl is desperate for her mother's love. No longer able to cope Rosa gives Magenta an ultimatum - find an elixir to cure her baby half-sister's worsening skin disease, or get the hell out and leave them alone.

***

Although the books are solid fiction, Magenta's memory spills out as poetry here. I haven't asked her why.

_____________________________________________________________

Find out more about Magenta's terrifying shamanic journeys by downloading the very first episode in the Magenta Shaman series to your Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

_____________________________________________________________

She’s Leaving Home

Just sixteen,

she’s bouncing off strobe lights

at Slippy’s.

No drink.

No drugs.

Livid pulses flood

her eyes.

Throbbing beat

loving her feet,

she dances -

all ballet and wedgie sandals.

Arms flail.

Fingertips pitch and point

to the flickering

in the dull ceiling.

With clubbers clubbing

all around

Magenta takes the spinning world

by the Minotaur’s horns.

She jumps on his back,

transcends the borders.

Falls fast, eyes wide open

rising and falling in trance.

Touches, pale snatches

at slivers of skin,

the shaman reaps the harvest.

It is morning.

Baby sister cries and squeals.

Magenta grafts

ancient epidermis

as their mother looks on.

For once... for once

all fails.

Her sister is gone

and her mother wants none

of her strangest of skills,

and her father –

missing -

for ever and ever...

it’s too much.

“You’re just like him.

“Get out.”

She walks down Brighton’s streets

alone.

Veils of power

shield Magenta from

the dark and the desperate.

Mourning and lonely

she slips into a damp corner

to sleep.

“My darling.”

Daddy’s voice, always in dreams.

“It’s time.”

The shaman awakes,

money in her pocket,

a typed address on a note,

a key of gold in her hand.

More about Magenta Shaman...
Download the first episode in the series from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

______________________________________

Magenta Shaman

Magenta visited a lair today. The journey was not so much hard, as difficult to see through the ether.

When she got to her destination, courtesy of a very cross white stallion and a persistent eagle, she had to travel down a dragon's spine to find what she was seeking.  And by the Goddess, was she disturbed at who she found there.

Trouble is, the man was quite content to slumber, but after 20,000 odd years, Magenta's woken him up. He ain't happy.

Magenta's Latest Rejection

Well, I'm rather proud that Magenta Shaman has just been rejected by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley's legacy magazine 'Sword & Sorceress'.

The editor, Elisabeth Waters gave very encouraging comments which I will certainly take on board.

Magenta's currently fighting a cult near Borough Market. She also has plans to dispossess (yes dispossess, not depossess or unpossess) a very nasty child, if the child will let her.

Gruesome is as gruesome does. All in a day's work.

A word from Madge

There are planes out there, the like of which you've never seen, could never imagine in your wildest dreams.

There are places you couldn't even begin to conceive of.

Next time you meditate, drift away, lose yourself in reverie - do your damndest to remember it afterwards. Write it down. Don't say 'it ain't so'. It is - I saw you there.

Magenta Shaman

March 4th 2010

A Taste of Magenta

Take Me Down, Sir

by Lily Childs (c)
'Crow' artwork by Laurence Ranger (c)

The searchlight from Tom Shaman’s soul bled pale amongst the treetops.

‘C’mon old man’ he whispered. ‘Help me out. Just one more time.’

The crow found him first. Its blue-black feathers flurried in the twilit sky like the tattered jacket of a jaded Morris dancer. It landed gracefully beneath a guardian oak where Tom lay reclined in half-meditation; half-naked, fully despondent. Troubled by the shaman’s weary demeanour the crow danced around the man’s feet, eyeing him through dark beads.

‘What ails you, friend?’

‘She’s gone. I’ve lost her.’ Tom shook his head, distraught. ‘Take me into the darkness, Crow. I’m begging you.’

The bird hopped onto Tom’s shoulder, claws piercing bare skin.

‘You’re not ready. You don’t have enough experience. This could destroy you.’

‘It doesn’t matter. Without her I’m nothing. Please, take me down.’

The crow stabbed at an errant feather with its silver beak.

‘Prepare then, Tom Shaman. This may be your final journey.’

Fluttering up to stand upon Tom’s shaven head, the crow wrapped its wings of midnight around the man’s face. Cautiously, it laid its chin on Tom’s forehead. They both heard the dark side calling. And were gone.

They travelled deep, deeper into the place of deity, of creatures unseen, of life forms unknown. They came to rest.

‘Where’s my wife?’ Tom cried out loud, breaking the rules. He hung his head, sobbing, expecting nothing.

‘Look.’

Tom squinted into the void.

The body of Magenta Shaman drifted into view. Small and still. And quite dead.
______________________________________________

This is a little taster from my Magenta Shaman stories, which are coming on strong at the moment.

The above was my entry into Jason Evans' Clarity of Night comp. It didn't get shortlised but had some great comments.

Well done though to Lee Hughes whose amazing 'The Mending of the Broken' came third in the Readers' Choice Award plus some Honourable Mentions - very well deserved.

It's up! Silhouette - Clarity of Night

My story, 'Take Me Down, Sir' - entry no 189, is up!

You can read it here http://clarityofnight.blogspot.com/2010/01/entry-189.html

Silhouette - Clarity of Night

Just submitted my last minute entry for Silhouette - Clarity of Night comp at http://clarityofnight.blogspot.com/2010/01/silhouette-short-fiction-contest.html which closes tomorrow. It's a previously unwritten excerpt from Magenta Shaman.

Thanks Lee (Hughes) - saw it on your blog today. Read your story too - excellent. And David Barber's. And Chris Allinotte's, Paul D Brazill's, Alan Griffiths, Stephen Hill's, Michael J. Solender's and Angel Zapata's. All so brilliant - like I've got a hope in hell!

Also submitted a story 'Pretty Pinheads' to TKnC - even if it is a bit too long (smiles nicely).

Sleep well. Don't invite the monsters in.

Magenta Shaman

Magenta's back in the world of the (21st century) living, for the moment.

Meet her for brekkie in Borough Market.

Suck the love in her head.

Who are you, you bastard?

Resolutions or achievable plans?

I'm gonna really go for it this year. I've been writing for so long but hadn't realised how much it is a part of my very core since deciding to 'go serious' at the beginning of 2009.

So:
I WILL write and submit lots more work
I WILL earn some money from it
I WILL finish the novel
I WILL do something more with Magenta Shaman, now she's come back to me (the Aeon Award didn't want her). Update - Tuesday 29th December - and we're off. Someone's crept into Magenta's head, and into her bed...
I WILL revisit older novels I've started
I WILL do something with an eerie 17th century tale of cannibalism and debauchery that's been playing in my mind for years - if I can face it
I WILL diversify

I'll add that I want to get fit, healthy and slim, but you've got to draw the line somewhere. Slàinte!