I really don't know whether this tale is heroic, pathetic, or ironic. I've just had my story Charabanc accepted for Parsec Ink's next Triangulation anthology, theme: Hospitium, the Greco-Roman concept of hospitality, where both the guest and host have an obligation to treat the other with kindness and respect. Bring out the bunting. Hurrah for me. Etc., etc. That's the heroic bit over. Charabanc started off as a story about Black Shuck, then turned into an updating off the old legend of the phantom coach, updating the coach-and-four itself to a 1952 Foden PVD6, with Black Shuck sleeping o ..read more

Released on 17th June by Lunarian Press, TexArcana, an anthology of Texas-set fantasy stories, includes 'Death of a Medicine Man', a reprint of one of my first published stories, from 2012, in the short-lived, long-forgotten, and almost unobtainable magazine Crimson Fog. Nice to know it's getting another airing. # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? My Thoughts are with You. Your Thoughts are with the Authorities for Calibration Against Societal Norms. Award-nominated science fiction and slipstream author Robert Bagnall’s second ant ..read more

You'll find my drabble of that name in the latest offering from Shacklebound Books, available from 29th March 2024 from Amazon. # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? My Thoughts are with You. Your Thoughts are with the Authorities for Calibration Against Societal Norms. Award-nominated science fiction and slipstream author Robert Bagnall’s second anthology of twenty-four stories, variously bleak, funny, bleakly funny or – very occasionally – optimistic.    2084 - The Meschera Bandwidth 2084. The world remains at w ..read more

AI, Robot, from JayHenge now available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, or, well... all of them, I think.  Inside you'll find my story "How Did They get You?" # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? My Thoughts are with You. Your Thoughts are with the Authorities for Calibration Against Societal Norms. Award-nominated science fiction and slipstream author Robert Bagnall’s second anthology of twenty-four stories, variously bleak, funny, bleakly funny or – very occasionally – optimistic.    2084 - The Meschera Bandwidth 2 ..read more

"Auntie" - now on Sci Fi shorts. # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? My Thoughts are with You. Your Thoughts are with the Authorities for Calibration Against Societal Norms. Award-nominated science fiction and slipstream author Robert Bagnall’s second anthology of twenty-four stories, variously bleak, funny, bleakly funny or – very occasionally – optimistic.    2084 - The Meschera Bandwidth 2084. The world remains at war. In the Eurasian desert, twenty-year old Adnan emerges from a coma with memories of a strictly ord ..read more

Available from Amazon now. # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? 2084 - The Meschera Bandwidth 2084. The world remains at war. In the Eurasian desert, twenty-year old Adnan emerges from a coma with memories of a strictly ordered city of steel and glass, and a woman he loved. The city is the Dome, and the woman... is Adnan's secret to keep. Adnan learns what the Dome is, and what his role really was within it. He learns why everybody fears the Sickness more than the troopers. And he learns why he is the only one who can stop t ..read more

Having tried over the last few years to submit a story a day, and having both missed and overshot that target, 2023 is the year I managed the magic 365 submissions.  And, yes, there were quite a few ill-thought out scattergun pitches to keep my average up, although I'm grateful for Augur's flexibility over multiple submission in order to land smack bang on target like a cartoon man in a chicken suit. So, 365 stories went out, and 322 responses came back, 280 straight no's and 27 with something to say although ultimately adding up to 'no' - but 15 acceptances.  At year end, 71 irons r ..read more

  What if numbers really mattered? Solar explosions known as "The Pulse" have rendered all electronics useless and sent Mankind back to a pre-digital age. In St Petersburg, Alexi, an aging Russian professor of mathematics with a tragic past, stumbles on two truths: the first, the oppressive regime has been lying to the people, and the second is that, with sufficient energy, reality can be split in two. Alexi finds himself in a parallel ultra-modern St Petersburg, with the possibility of combining his two separate worlds — and his shattered family. The Credo of Comrade January, my new nov ..read more

well, probably not checking it twice, but re-reading the stories shortlisted on Shoreline of Infinity's Flash Fiction competition, of which one of mine has made the final baker's dozen. Happy Christmas. # Click on the images or search on Amazon. You're here, so surely you know how to do that? 2084 - The Meschera Bandwidth 2084. The world remains at war. In the Eurasian desert, twenty-year old Adnan emerges from a coma with memories of a strictly ordered city of steel and glass, and a woman he loved. The city is the Dome, and the woman... is Adnan's secret to keep. Adnan learns what th ..read more

It's been a while since I've pointed a finger at George Lucas, moved it down to get him in your eyeline, and said, "J'accuse".  Okay, maybe it was only September.  Whatever. Then, my issue was the lack of anything resembling a media presence a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, implying people do not think, act or behave like people actually do in the real world, lacking even a basic sense of curiosity or desire to be informed.  QED the occupants of this galaxy may look human (when they do), but these are really characters we shouldn't expect to be able to relate to. This ..read more