While Angel of the Circuit Board is receiving an edit and comments from my very helpful British Science Fiction Association Orbit group, I thought I'd experiment a little with some of the images for my parallel work, The Random Access Memories of Jonny Naylor Cosmic Sailor (yes, I know, it's a mouthful). This is a collection of sequential short stories documenting the life story of the famous Cosmic Sailor. Inspired by another writer from my …

Rejection is part of an author’s life just like strong coffee, procrastination, and very thick skin. Most people will not like your story, I reflected. It’s extremely unlikely that anyone will like what you have written. The science I use to justify this statement goes something like this: JK Rowling sold 120 million copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The Hobbit sold 100 million. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, 85 million. …

Really great four-day online sci-fi writing conference put on by ProWritingAid. I've used the paid version of this software to check my manuscripts for spelling, punctuation, grammar and style, and it's great. Very simple to use and comparable to Grammarly, which fixes basic mistakes that are easy to overlook, without it going to heavy on the Artificial Intelligence thing. I'd favoured Grammarly as it seems to integrate better into cross-platform sharing, which suits me as …

The Imperial battlecruiser swept by overhead, its sharp point disappearing into the distance of the inky blackness, while I stared open-mouthed. I was that ten-year-old boy, staring up at the cinema screen in astonishment, that afternoon in 1977. Before them, my sci-fi diet consisted of Shatner, Nemoy, and Kelly battling the Klingons, and Tom Baker’s magnificent scarf and floppy hat as he portrayed the best of Dr Who. Then it was Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, and …

I've recently been binge-watching Sci Fi shows thanks to the plethora of streaming services we have. Disney plus seem to be leading the way with another series of The Mandalorian, and the rather excellent and poignant The Orville (see March 18). Seth MacFarlane's genius shines through as the creator of The Orville, almost as much as brightly as his Wikipedia entry reads. But it got me thinking about how other Sci Fi on the telly …

In my quest for comedy Sci Fi, I stumbled across this after a recommendation from a fellow Sci Fi enthusiast. I love a good parody, and to poke a finger at one of my favourites is just the best. Seth McFarlane waves his genius over this series (although I still hear the voice of Brian from Family Guy), you think this is going to be like Red Dwarf, but those crazy American’s just show how …

Having a front cover designed for your book is probably one of the most exciting bits of the pre-marketing, post-finished-the-thing period. For The Angel of the Circuit Board, I decided that I would splash out and commission a cover from someone who actually knew what they were doing. There are some amazing artists out there, and the ones who popped up first after searching Google, certainly had some amazing prices. Eventually I came across Maxime Poulain …

Two long legs clad in black leather stepped out of the side of the cruiser. Pausing briefly they then did what long, strong, shapely legs are very good at doing, which is striding forward purposefully with a measured rhythm. These were serious legs. Legs that looked as though they should not be messed with. Legs that would be good at flamenco dancing, Kung Fu and the triple jump. They were also very good at being …