End of year round up

Just recently I ended a stint as BFS Journal editor (incorporating Dark Horizons). My final issue was published just before Christmas 2011 (as previously blogged). I edited four issues of DH during the year. It was mostly a rewarding experience – sadly tainted by the struggle for control of the BFS. I have no intention of raking over this sorry episode here. Suffice it to say, the Society has experienced similar events in the past and rose above the squabbles; in fact it is doing so as I type these words.

In 2011 I revived the Alchemy Press. In conjunction with Airgedlámh Productions, the press published a signed, limited edition of tales by the inimitable Peter Atkins: Rumours of the Marvellous. I was thrilled to publish this book. Not only is Pete Atkins an affable, charming chap (with a lovely wife), these are some of the best short stories I’ve read in many a long year. The publishing “job” included several long, long-distance, trans-Atlantic phone calls (Pete lives in Los Angeles, I in the West Midlands, UK) – a major plus in my opinion. Pete was a GoH at FantasyCon 2011, at which the book was launched. Also on hand at the convention to personally dedicate the book was the cover artist, the wonderful Les Edwards. For more details on this collection, pop over to the Alchemy Press blog.

I also helped Pete to set up his own website / blog. It's basic -- no flashing images -- but it does its job. Read it here.

I write very few stories – I seem to spend so much of my time editing other people’s. So I was delighted to see my horror tale “Who Wanders in the Mire” appear in the Christmas 2011 edition of Estronomicon, edited and published by Steve Upham’s Screaming Dreams Press. I acquired the title from the “Wassail Song”: “Pray think of us poor children / Who wander in the mire.”

Perhaps the lowest point of the year came about seven weeks ago. I slipped on some wet grass and snapped the tibia and fibula just above the ankle in my right leg -- I also managed to tear the tendons that hold the joints together. I had to wear a non-weight-bearing cast for six weeks, and only this week have I managed to use that leg for support when hobbling around. I was more-or-less restricted to one room for over a month -- it felt as if I was "doing porridge". There is a metal plate in my leg, and a dozen screws, securing the bones as they heal. Not fun.

That’s it for now. I’ll go into more details about the BFS Journal and DH in a later post. In the meantime, I’ll start posting items about my previous exploits as a BFS editor, starting with Masters of Fantasy 2.