My review of Strange New Worlds Season 2 is now up on the British Fantasy Society's blog.
I've managed to limit the squeeing to the bare minimum, but this show goes from strength to strength and I'm here for it!

The review.

It is such a pleasure for me to finally see "The Tightrope Walker" in print. The anthology Rosalind's Siblings had a long journey to reach this point, which is probably fitting for my story!

"The Tightrope Walker" was the first short story I wrote with a character who shared so many of my traits. It was important for me to get them right, even if it was sometimes at the expense of what is considered the norm.
The short story was born from a little boy I saw walking in the street holding his mother's hand and shielding his eyes from the sun. I had the first sentence and by the time I arrived home I had the first paragraphs. It was a story my subconscious was bursting to tell but lacked the spark to reach my conscious mind! That little boy provided it.
The name Saadia offered me the opportunity to create a character whose name--feminine in Islam and masculine in Judaism--united two faiths inseparable from the Mediterranean area.

I'm deeply thankful to Bogi Takács for gathering so many wonderful stories and picking mine among those, but also for fighting for this anthology for so long. Many thanks too to E. D. E. and Chris Bell at Atthis Arts who have been a pleasure to work with and who believed in Rosalind's Siblings!

My review of Good Omens Season 2 is now up on the British Fantasy Society blog.
It was kind of a mixed bag for me, but your mileage may vary!

You can find the review here.

The issue when you chatter on social is that you forget to post your news in a place where everyone can see it!
Anyway, an announcement and a review as the title said.

I'm thrilled to announce that my short story "The Tightrope Walker" will appear in the anthology Rosalind's Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács. The table of content is absolutely fabulous, with stories by Premee Mohamed, Vajra Chandrasekera, Polenth Blake and Stefani Cox to name a few.
I'll speak about "The Tightrope Walker" and Rosalind's Siblings again when we're closer to publication., but in the meantime, you can check the complete ToC and pre-order your copy here.

I also have a review up on the British Fantasy Society blog. I love a good show and the BFS was kind enough to publish my thoughts about Silo, the adaptation of the Hugh Howey trilogy. The review is here.
Will it lead to more reviewing? Qui vivra verra!

Enjoy!

I'll be attending FantasyCon on 17 and 18 September 2022. I really look forward to it.
The last time I went to FantasyCon was in Glasgow in 2019 and I'm so glad I can meet again some friends I haven't seen in 3 years.

Feel free to come and say hi if we cross paths!

The first draft of "Zero" was written in Cairo in 2019. It had a long way to go until it was ready for publication, but Śūnya and Yasara were characters I couldn't let go. It was also a pleasure to put on the page my love for Cairo, in all its glorious complexity, and its inhabitants.

Many thanks to Jasen at HyphenPunk for his patience and his work!

I hope you'll enjoy it!

I am very proud and very happy to announce that "No Harbour" is now part of Three Crows Year Two: Anthology.
Being published by Three Crows has been a delight, and Alex and Olivia are tremendous editors.
The anthology has a fabulous table of content. It is choke full of amazing stories for $5.99. So if you love good SFF/H, this is a must have!

Buy Link. (You'll be redirected to Three Crows Magazine Shop page.)

Basically, "A Stereoscopic Landscape View of Torino with Damsels and Distress" is a fun romp with added fight against patriarchy and class issues.

I'm delighted this story born of a visit to the Museum of Cinema in Torino found a home at The Future Fire. Working with Djibril Al-Ayad has been a pleasure and the art by Josep Lledó is fantastic.
I'm also sharing a TOC with amazing writers and you need to read this issue!

I hope you'll enjoy the story!

"Antonio Scalvo's Library" is a bit of an oddity which found a great home at The Café Irreal (issue 74, May 2020).
It's, basically, me playing around (or at least trying to) with Borges and Calvino, with a dash of Hav by Jan Morris.
I had a lot of fun sprinkling all the references, playing with genres, tropes, characters who aren't entirely one thing or the other.

The issue is free to read online and includes 7 other stories in the irrealism genre.

I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

"No Harbour", a short story I wrote about the refugees arriving in Italy and crossing the border to France, has just been published in Three Crows Magazine (issue 5, October 2019).

This short story was born out of anger and outrage at the inhumane way they are treated, after having survived a terrible ordeal at sea. Was it mine to write? The honest truth is, I'm already in this story, behind the closed doors.

The issue includes an interview with Marlon James and three other brilliant stories by Luke Frostick, Joanna Parypinksi and Crystal Lynn Hilbert.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

I will be in Glasgow for FantasyCon in less than a month. I'm really looking forward to it: Glasgow is a city I love and a friend of mine lives here. Add to that that there'll be plenty of fantastic writers and friends at the con.
So it'll be my usual schedule of some panels, lots of hanging around and chatting with friends, and getting books signed by fabulous authors.

If you're there too, feel free to give me a shout on Twitter!

I will attend two conventions in 2019 and WorldCon in Dublin will be the first one.

WorldCon has always been something of a dream and I'm glad I can make it this time (translate as: got the money, managed to overcome my dislike for crowds).
I'm also looking forward to going back to Ireland where I haven't been in twenty years (it's when I say stuff like that I realise I'm middle aged...).

I intend to thoroughly enjoy it, meeting writers I love  and friends I haven't seen in a while or met in meatspace yet. I also expect to come back with a suitcase full of books.
If you're there too and want to chat, feel free to leave me a message on Twitter.

My first published short story, "The Barnum Effect", will appear in Apex Magazine (issue 111, August 2018).
It is part of an amazing issue, with fantastic short stories and poems, and gorgeous cover art by Stacey Robinson.

"The Barnum Effect" is a near future story about the zodiac, language, communication, and above all, about hope.

I am incredibly grateful to Sheree Renée Thomas, the guest editor of this issue, who chose my short story, and to everyone at Apex who published it.

Buy here.

I will be attending Nine Worlds (London) from 10 August until 12 August 2018.
I am attending as a reader, ready to go star struck from writer I love to writer I love and to buy a lot of new books.
I've also just realised that the magazine in which my first accepted short story will appear will have been published a few days before.
So, if you're there too, feel free to leave me a message  on Twitter.