naomi_jay: (apple)
So yesterday I learnt to make ebooks. I used my short story, PAINLESS, as my guinea pig, and today it is available for sale! Huzzahs!

PAINLESS was originally published by Midnight Times ezine in 2006, and then again by Static Movement in the Weird City anthology in 2011. I'm rather fond of it and maybe you will be too? Here's the blurb:

Theo Kane is a professional thief with an unique talent - she doesn't feel pain. Usually that's enough to give her the edge she needs to get any job done. But her latest job has her out of her depth and fighting for her life. Caught between two dangerous - and angry - crime bosses, Theo is racing against time to save her skin. Just because she doesn't feel pain, doesn't mean she can't be hurt.

And here's the cover:

And here are some things of note:

1. PAINLESS is about 5k words, so it really is a short story. But it has psychic mutants, safecracking, imported alcohol, and a professional thief, so there's a lot packed into that 5k.

2. One of these days I will write the two sequels I planned back in 2006, which will also be short stories.
 
3. PAINLESS is available for just 69p in the UK, and $1.14 in the US. That's less than a return bus ticket to Cambridge! (From a village near Cambridge, probably not from where you are).
naomi_jay: (Pac-man ghost)
So a few years ago I wrote a short story called Painless, which was published in Midnight Times ezine, which is now defunct, I think. It's about a professional thief who can't feel pain as a result of a childhood incident. I really loved the character, Theo Kane, and the world I touched on, and for years I thought about making it into a novel. Never got round to it though.

Then recently I submitted Painless to a Static Movement anthology, Weird City, which should be available soon (and apparently Caitlin Kittredge is going to be reviewing it, which makes me a bit giddy and fangirly). And there's going to be a Weird City 2, so it seems clear to me that I should write a sequel to Painless. I left Theo's story pretty unfinished, and since I don't think a novel will ever materialise, I've decided on a different tactic. I'm going to write a bunch of short stories set in Theo's world, about her and her cohorts, and then publish them as a collection. 

I'm not planning to do them all at once; Halflife and Blood and Bones are still my priorities, but obviously short stories aren't as time-consuming as novels or novellas, so I see no reason why I can't aim to have a good collection out later in the year. They should make for nice side projects. Huzzahs! 

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Dirty Little Whirlwind

February 2018

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