It's perhaps a measure of how busy I've been in 2022 that I have completely spaced my writing blog. I was aghast to have neglected it last year, then did exactly the same this year, for which—profound apologies!
Busy? My hobby is plastic modelling, and this year I have not finished a single project. I've worked on two novels (more about those when the time comes) and a large collection of short stories, including several new Sherlock Holmes pieces. I have a couple more appearing with Bellanger Books in the not too distant future, and a second story was actually solicited from me by Strand Magazine, which is quite an honour.
I don't want to go into stats at this time—my usual review of the year's performance come up in a little over a month, on the anniversary of my first submission. At this time I'll say things have shaken down in unexpected ways—that period mystery has been a very welcoming field, while speculative fiction is as frustrating and uncertain as ever when it comes to finding a market.
On the plus side, I have some single-author collections on the table, a Sherlock Holmes anthology with Bellanger, perhaps in 2024, and two collections with Hiraeth Books—my vampire stories collected, and a volume of historical fantasy adventures. No scheduling on these yet, but they're out there.
Publishing soon is Howls From the Wreckage from HOWLS (Horror Obsessed Writing and Literature Society), for which I was invited to contribute—catch my tale A War in Hell. This follows on the heels of my invitation to write a promo blurb for their previous collection, Howls From the Dark Ages, a most interesting exercise! I also had the pleasure of doing an invitation online Q&A with the society. Check them out here:
https://howlsociety.com/
Another serendipitous advent of this year was the solicitation of some of my material to appear in translation in the magazine Galaktika, in Hungary. The editors reprinted a number of stories from the Pole 2 Pole anthology Twenty Thousand Leagues Remembered, the 150th anniversary volume commemorating the first publication of Verne's original. My story The Silent Agenda, which explores the radical edits introduced for the English translation, in dramatised form, was selected for translation and the editors also bought a reprint of my “Tales of the Middle Stars” piece Sky Tears. Below, here's the layout for my Verne piece as published in Hungary:
I was surprised to see the classic Harper Goff Nautilus design from the 1954 movie appear—it certainly underlines the iconic nature of the design and its presence in the public consciousness .
My story “Personal Best” was a finalist in this year's Jim Baen Memorial Award, and I have a story in hand for the coming year's contest. I remain optimistic of one day placing!
My “Tales of the Middle Stars” opus now number fifty-five stories, with thirty-five published. I have high hopes of a single-author anthology at some point, perhaps of the longest pieces (all unpublished due to length).
That's a fair roundup for the moment, and my hope for the remainder of 2022 is to actually finish a couple of model projects!
Best wishes, and stay tuned for the next exciting chapter,
Mike Adamson
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