About
I am originally from Wales in the UK, but have lived in Japan for a fair amount of time now. In between leaving Wales for University and coming to this volcanic archipelago, I also managed a decade in London, and a few fun years in Aberystwyth.
I’ve always been interested in writing science fiction, and this stems (perhaps rather obviously) from my love of reading the stuff in the first place.
Coming from the Welsh valleys, I tended to find that sense of wonder, so typically associated with Science fiction, in just about anything. Not that I mean to denigrate my homeland. It has a rich history and a quirky social culture. It has shaped me greatly, and has left an indelible mark that will stay with me.
But, as a child, I found the whole notion of the slaughter of the Vietnam war, the obvious magic of cities like New York or LA, the frenzy of the oil crisis, hordes of my town folk shouting “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, out, out, out, and the burgeoning and mysterious use of synthesizers in pop music to be as much Science Fiction as anything that Clarke and Asimov could serve up.
I guess what I mean, is that the sense of wonder is all around us, and a mighty fine thing that is.
As I got older, I slowly discovered the great and not so great of Science Fiction. From my point of view, these (being the great of course) would end up including, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, Brian Aldiss, Ursula LeGuin, Alfred Bester, Gene Wolfe, Harlan Ellison, and on and on and on.
The list could go on, but one thing that I loved about these writers was that I could read them, and then read Donald Barthelme, Raymond Carver, Amy Hempel, Philip Roth, John Updike, Saul Bellow, Martin Amis, and on and on again, and I didn’t really find that I acknowledged a difference based on literary merit.
Yes, there are significant difference as regards genre/ non genre writing, but I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to remain within a box when it came to reading. This may seem obvious to some, but it’s a veritable moment of epiphany when you are discovering all this in a personal manner.
I still read Science Fiction, and it appears that the Science Fiction has caught up with me as well now, as nowadays I read Interzone and Analog magazines on my Sony reader. Sure, I miss the actual physical ‘beingness’ of the paper, but this e ink stuff has made a lot of stuff accessible to me again.
I’ve had a few short stories and non fiction pieces published here and there, but up until the last few years, my writing was more stop/start, and often consisted more of daydreams and one days.
I do intend on remedying that situation. For the past couple of years I’ve been diligently trying to pay attention to all the great advice out there, and in the next few months I am going to apply for the Clarion Workshop and Clarion West
I also enjoy doing podcast readings for TTA Press which publishes Interzone magazine, and I’ve done a few for StarShipSofa (though I’m not sure if they have ever actually appeared in it yet. Tony is a busy man by all accounts. congrats on the Hugo!) and Librivox
My other creative passion is creating music and collecting old synths, drum machines and other peculiar noisemakers. The main project I am involved in is this, Phenotypo
My day job involves teaching English to kids, and it’s mostly a lot of fun. I try to tell myself that their energy and generally insane antics keep me young. I think it works:)
