When I was asked to make a guest appearance on the blog
for Jupiter SF I was really pleased. I have to admit that it's great to
be involved in the 10th anniversary celebrations of what I believe is
one of the best publications of short fiction around. I wanted to do
something really special for it, but try as I might my moments of
inspiration continued to be few and far between and thus I couldn't
conjure up anything other than these few words to present before you...
So for what it's worth here goes...
When I first read Jupiter I became hooked straight away and loved all of the stories featured in it. At the time I thought that the prospect of being published within its pages was merely a fantasy, but some years later I am now making my fourth appearance with my story 'White Wave Valley.' Oddly enough I took some inspiration from a source that I never thought would inspire me. Reality TV... (I guess it will seem pretty obvious which type of show shaped my creative spark in this instance once you've read the story.) But upon reflection reality is something that I think is becoming increasingly important within sci-fi in general. The need to create plausible characters or at times situations is an ever present concern in many forms of modern enertainment.
I never looked at it that way when I was plowing my way through Asimov, until Philip K. Dick hit my radar in my late teens. Since then, numerous authors have helped to shape my style, such as Richard Morgan, and Iain M. Banks (R.I.P.). I've also branched out into horror and fantasy in recent years, as very often there's a crossover in these genres these days.
When I first read Jupiter I became hooked straight away and loved all of the stories featured in it. At the time I thought that the prospect of being published within its pages was merely a fantasy, but some years later I am now making my fourth appearance with my story 'White Wave Valley.' Oddly enough I took some inspiration from a source that I never thought would inspire me. Reality TV... (I guess it will seem pretty obvious which type of show shaped my creative spark in this instance once you've read the story.) But upon reflection reality is something that I think is becoming increasingly important within sci-fi in general. The need to create plausible characters or at times situations is an ever present concern in many forms of modern enertainment.
I never looked at it that way when I was plowing my way through Asimov, until Philip K. Dick hit my radar in my late teens. Since then, numerous authors have helped to shape my style, such as Richard Morgan, and Iain M. Banks (R.I.P.). I've also branched out into horror and fantasy in recent years, as very often there's a crossover in these genres these days.
I
take inspiration from films and music. Needless to say science fiction
and horror/ fantasy are high on this list. But I also like thrillers and
dramas, and it is these elements that I try to reflect well in my own
output...
Well to quote a
famous phrase... 'Enough of my yackin'.' Here's to another ten years of
Jupiter... And I hope you enjoy my part in this edition.
All the best.
