Monsters out of the closet

I’m very happy to announce that Monsters Out of the Closet, an LGBT horror podcast, has just released an episode, Wild, that includes my story, The Cruor Garland (at around the 17 minute mark), alongside T R North’s A Mockery of Birds. It’s a very different experience to hear, rather than read a story and I’m grateful to Matt, Eric Little, J M Dow, Meredith Katz, Casey Lucas, Mason Hawthorne and Troy Gardener for providing the voices and narration to the story. The incidental music provides the perfect backdrop, so thanks also Eric Matyas and Kai Engel for composing such atmospheric sounds and a big thank you to podcast editors Nicole Calande and Shriya Vencatesch for having faith in my work.

I’ve also just been interviewed for the MOotC website and I’ll post here as soon as it’s been published.

Contagious Magick Of The Super Abundance

I am delighted to be able to make this announcement:

In May of 2018, I was approached by Mikel Quiros regarding plans for a book about the art of his late partner, Ian Johnstone. As most of you will know, Ian was a friend of mine and an incredibly gifted artist, designing several album covers for Coil and some of their costumes for live performances, as well as a whole host of his own work and performance pieces. Mikel asked if I would be interested in writing a piece, an introduction of sorts, for the book. Obviously, I jumped at the chance and ended up writing an introduction, a short story (This Is How A Star Dies) specifically for the book, and some prose to accompany photos of Ian’s Leg Cutting performance piece at the Norwegian National Opera House. The commission was equally joyous and incredibly difficult, bearing in mind how devastating Ian’s death in 2015 was. The proofs I’ve seen of the book – Contagious Magick Of The Super Abundance – are beautiful, a high quality, wonderful tribute and celebration of an extraordinary man. As well as a huge amount of photos and reproductions of his art, it contains written pieces by friend and collaborator Serena Korda and Mikel himself. The book is now available for pre-order from the publisher, Timeless, based in France. There are two editions – the ‘current edition’ at 33 Euros and a ‘special edition’, which comes with two fine art prints, at 90 Euros.

Tomorrow, When I Was Young – Julie Travis

Des Lewis reviews Tomorrow, When I Was Young.

The Des Lewis Gestalt Real-Time Reviews: A LITERARY PARHELION

“‘Shapeshifting is necessary sometimes,’ said the elder, ‘it is neither good nor bad.’”
I must say I found this novelette captivating in a way that stopped me questioning how it managed to be so captivating, naively, disarmingly so. I enjoyed the character of Zanders and her search for an ancestor in Peru and the people she met along the way. But, above all, I loved the Golden Sea Captain whose ship the Giantess has a potentially shapeshifting or, rather, shapedetaching figurehead. A transformational yage and genderation of still slanting self. And the giant creature in the Golden Sea that went against the grain of gestalt by splintering off into many tiny creatures with divisive knives. Ah, there is so much more I have not told you about this book’s journey that Zanders was making, and her connection with England, and I miraculously found myself being part of her journey rather…

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Panic Soup

David Mathew’s short story collection, Panic Soup, has recently been published by Montag Press. I was asked to write some of the ‘blurb’ for the inside cover and was happy to do so, as it’s a great collection of unsettling contemporary horror.

 

Tomorrow, when I was young

Tomorrow, When I Was Young is now available from Eibonvale Press and will be on sale at FantasyCon in Glasgow. A huge thank you to David Rix for all his work – as well as for designing the excellent cover. The story is probably more fantasy than anything I’ve written before and it’s possible I could write further episodes at some future date, but that wasn’t my original intention so the story stands alone.

Work has continued on a project that’s been in progress for around eighteen months. I’ve still not able to make an official announcement about this, but I hope to soon. It’s a unique and very moving project and well worth the time and energy spent on it.

In DUV news, Dykes Ink zine is now available in Housmans Bookshop in North London. We have also been involved in talks about a possible collaboration which could be huge – more information will appear if it comes off.

My life’s a dream, an endless scream, remembrance

I’ve been playing a lot of old punk records recently – perhaps inspired by the work I’ve been doing for Dykes Ink zine – and I came across one of my favourite pieces from that era. The Wall’s e.p. ‘Remembrance’ featured a cover that clearly left a big impression from its release in 1981: after seeing the artwork again I realised that I had based much of the appearance of the Spoiler (in the story of the same name) on the above photo/concept, around 35 years after the record was released.

Stand by for some publishing news and an update on Dead Unicorn Ventures.

Blinded by the dark

Dykes Ink is now available from various outlets: by post via PayPal (travisjulie@hotmail.com, £3.50 + p&p: £0.60 UK, £1.60 Europe, £2.30 North America, please give your address in the ‘Note’ section), and from Freedom Bookshop, Whitechapel, London (also available from their zine fair By Any Zines Necessary, on right now at the shop), the zine fair on tomorrow to launch new lesbian magazine Lesley at The Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury, and News From Nowhere bookshop in Liverpool. Hopefully more outlets will be available soon. I’m currently working on a couple of art pieces for issue 2. The zine has been favourably compared to Valerie Solanas’ SCUM Manifesto, in terms of its humour and attitude. High praise indeed!

Now I have a little more time after the gig and zine launch I’m back writing fiction. However, I’m not sure that even the most outlandish story can compete with the political situation in the UK right now. We have sleep-walked into a right-wing coup. The good news is that people are on the streets protesting. I expected a civil war after the EU Referendum result but this is, perhaps, worse. What will happen next is something I hesitate to contemplate but I shall continue to swim against the tide in my own way, and hearing that Dead Unicorn Ventures has changed people’s attitudes and lives means I’m heading in the right direction.

Cat Astley and myself were interviewed by Cornwall Live about DUV and Swallow Your Pride, and the published piece admirably demonstrates our attitude!

https://www.cornwalllive.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/alternative-cornwall-pride-event-challenging-3230018