Interzone #244 Jan - Feb 2013 (27 page)

The E book of Eyepennies is out now on Smashwords and Amazon Kindle
.

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PRAISE FOR MIKE O’DRISCOLL’S EYEPENNIES

“
A musician emotionally scarred by a near-death experience is haunted by his past, his present and his future in this chilling, slow burn of a ghost story. Read it!”
Ellen Datlow

“
Mike O’Driscoll is without doubt one of our best writers. I often wish he wrote more, because when he does produce something new – such as the excellent
Eyepennies
– it’s truly an occasion for celebration”
Tim Lebbon

“
A musician struggles to come to terms with his existence following a near-death experience, in a world where reality is something elusive and the darkness is always waiting. A beautifully written, evocative novella”
Alison Littlewood

“
A beautiful story suffused with the entangled mysteries of pain and life, as radiant as it is dark: the best kind”
Stephen Volk

“
Full of symbols and dread, a Cotard’s delusion set to O’Driscoll’s cool bluesy prose,
Eyepennies
makes a refined contribution to the TTA Press canon”
Paul Meloy

“
An oblique yet beautifully written story that slowly builds a number of emotional layers. O’Driscoll’s story reflects music, life and, of course, fear. The launch of the TTA Novella series is off to a very strong start with this daring yet emotionally grounded piece of writing that will linger in the brain of the reader like a haunting Sparklehorse melody”
Dan Howarth, This is Horror

“
The author lures us in with vivid imagery. He draws us further with non-linear, chaotic sequences that mirror Mark’s inner journey. Mr O’Driscoll ensures that we are along for the wild ride by putting us in Mark’s head and letting us experience the creepy surreality of his life”
Cyd Athens, Tangent Online

“
This is classic psychological horror, and it’s beautifully written. The prose is a dream, and rolls poetically off the page into images and metaphors that O’Driscoll paints effortlessly and with such clarity that even the abstract nature of the subject matter cannot cloud”
Matthew S. Dent

“
A novella crackling with raw power, this manages to be incredibly realistic whilst embracing hints of the supernatural, a story of the darkness for readers who want more to their horror than blood and gore. Well written, thoroughly gripping, I highly recommend this”
Mark West

“
Like many of the great supernatural stories the reader is left wondering whether what you are reading is real or if it is just a figment of Mark’s broken mind. This is a brilliant story that pushed me as a reader, as much with its clever writing and beautiful prose as it did with some shocking scenes”
Jim McLeod, Ginger Nuts of Horror

“
A fine, insightful piece of psychological horror,
Eyepennies
is an effective showcase of Mike O’Driscoll’s famous storytelling ability and enticing prose. Highly recommended to anyone who prefers classy dark fiction rather than gory horror”
Mario Guslandi

“
The prose is effortless and compelling, creating images in the mind’s eye both chilling and insightful. The pace is brilliant, you don’t realise that you are being drawn in and carried along until you reach a satisfying and haunting end”
Sean P. Chatterton

“
This had many unsettling images and some truly horrifying scenes. The theme of pennies on the eyes (to pay your passage to the next world) is used effectively. This is a good start to the TTA Novellas series and I will be looking forward to future tales. I highly recommend this one”
Sam Tomaino, SF Revu

“
Eyepennies
is a fine portrait of a person under psychological strain. O’Driscoll maintains the ambiguity over whether Mark’s experiences are supernatural or delusional in origin (and, indeed, over whether that makes any practical difference). The novella’s fragmented structure (reaching back into different periods of the protagonist’s life) further underlines the diffuse state of Mark’s mind. This is a good start for the novella series, and I look forward to future instalments”
David Hebblethwaite

“
O’Driscoll has written a tightly-constructed and sympathetic homage to a doomed artist where one man’s memory, dreams and timeline overlap to mind-bendingly nightmarish effect. If you like horror that is a bit out of left field, this will be right up your alley”
Alan Kelly, Rue Morgue

“
Incredibly haunting, emotional, and at times outright chilling. One night of particularly disturbed sleep bears testament to the strength of O’Driscoll’s imagery”
Dread Central

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* * * * *

Once again we’re asking you to let us know what you enjoyed (and what you didn’t) during the previous year.

You may vote for and against any number of stories published in issues #238 to #243 inclusive (we publish a list of eligible works here to help remind you). You don’t have to have read every issue in order to cast a vote.

As always, we’re as keen to hear your opinions of the magazine as we are to get your votes, so don’t be shy in letting us know what you think. We’ll publish as many comments as we can.

Martin McGrath will be overseeing the poll. Please send him your votes using one of the methods below.

To vote by post:

Martin McGrath 48 Spooners Drive, Park Street, St. Albans AL2 2HL, UK

To vote by email:

[email protected]

To vote online:

ttapress.com/interzone/readerspoll/

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The results will be published in issue #246,
so please make sure your votes are in before March 31st.

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Issue #238

Fata Morgana
Ray Cluley

Fearful Symmetry
Tyler Keevil

God of the Gaps
Carole Johnstone

The Complex
E.J. Swift

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Issue #239

Twembe
r
Steve Rasnic Tem

Lips and Teeth
Jon Wallace

Tangerine, Nectarine, Clementine, Apocalypse
Suzanne Palmer

Bound in Place
Jacob A. Boyd

Railriders
Matthew Cook

One-Way Ticket
Nigel Brown

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Issue #240

Beast
s
Elizabeth Bourne

The Indignity of Rain
Lavie Tidhar

Seeking Captain Random
Vylar Kaftan

Bloodclot
h
Ray Cluley

A Body Without Fur
Tracie Welser

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Issue #241

Steamgothic
Sean McMullen

Ship’s Brother
Aliette de Bodard

One Day in Time
Cit
y
David Ira Cleary

Railroad Angel
Gareth L. Powell

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Issue #242

Wonder
Debbie Urbanski

The Message
Ken Liu

Needlepoint
Priya Sharma

Beyond the Light Cone
C.W. Johnson

The Remembered
Karl Bunker

Strigoi
Lavie Tidhar

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Issue #243

Moon Drome
Jon Wallace

The Flower of Shazui
Chen Qiufa
n
translated by Ken Liu

The Philosophy of Ships
Caroline M. Yoachim

Lady Dragon and the Netsuke Carver
Priya Sharma

Mirrorblink
Jason Sanfor

* * * * *

TTA Press also publish
Interzone's
horror and dark fantasy sister
Black Static
along with the yearly crime story collection
Crimewave
and a few other books including
Success… And How To Avoid It
by Mat Coward. The website has details of recent issues and free podcasts of stories published by TTA Press along with a means to purchase its print publications.

TTA Press have both a Facebook page and a reader's forum on the website (ttapress.com) where we hope you will comment on any problems or faults or even the good things in this issue.

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Note
this E magazine includes illustrations from the print edition but (depending on your device) they may be monochrome.
You can see some of these in colour here on the TTA Press Website.
(
http://ttapress.com/1543/interzone-244/0/4/
)

* * * * *

Live Link Lists

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Readers Poll Links

To vote by email
:
[email protected]

To vote online
:
http://ttapress.com/1545/vote-now-for-your-favourite-stories-of-2012/0/4/

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Still live; the
TTA Advent Calendar
(
http://ttapress.com/1509/the-advent-calendar-2012/0/4/
)

Ansible and Algis Budrys
http://ae.ansible.co.uk/?id=titles/benchcont1

(http://skipforward.net/)

* * * * *

Advert links:-

Atomic Fez's
'Dirk Danger Loves Life' by Chris Rothe
and links for
E book versions. (http://www.atomicfez.com/book-catalogue/9780986642425.html)

Darkness Fell and the Demon's Sceptre by Jim St Ruth
[Kindle Edition] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkness-Fell-Demons-Sceptre-ebook/dp/B0090L9BZA/

Ian Sales'
Whippleshield Press
(http://whippleshieldbooks.wordpress.com/)

* * * * *

TTA Press
http://ttapress.com/ publishers of

Arrived
: at last the first of a
new line of TTA novellas with Nina Allan, Mike O’Driscoll
& others
http://bit.ly/N67cEp

For E book editions,
Eyepennies, on Smashwords
http://bit.ly/YJazs7
and on
Amazon Kindle
http://amzn.to/TNgGVX

Interzone
, SF and fantasy short story magazine
.
http://ttapress.com/interzone/about/

Black Static
dark fantasy/horror short story magazine
http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/about/ and Amazon and Smashwords have E book issues back to #19.

Crimewave
- crime fiction short stories
http://ttapress.com/crimewave/about/ and for E book editions,
Crimewave 11: Ghosts, on Smashwords
http://bit.ly/WYCQaC
and
on
Amazon Kindle
 
http://amzn.to/10GSJbo

related books and collections of short stories
.
http://ttapress.com/books/

Alison
by Andrew Humphrey http://ttapress.com/books/1/alison/