About eighteen months ago I released my science fiction novella, The Girl in the City, and it’s almost time for the sequel to join it on the virtual bookshelves. I hadn’t planned on making The Girl in the City the first in a series. It’s a standalone story with no real loose ends (beyond wondering what happens next in the characters’ lives), but I kept coming back to Leah’s story and readers seemed to have an appetite for more, so towards the end of last year I decided to write two more novellas. As usual, that idea went out of the window pretty quickly and the sequels quickly turned into full length novels which means I’m spending a lot longer on them than I’d planned. C’est la vie. The second book, The Girl in the Wilderness, will officially be available exclusively on Kindle on October 4th but it’s actually available for pre-order right now. The Girl in the Wilderness will be selling at an introductory price of 99c for a while until it gets its sales-legs and then it will go up to the normal price of $2.99. To celebrate the launch, I’ll also be giving away The Girl in the City from October 4th to October 8th. So, if you haven’t bought that … Read More
OUT NOW – Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet
Almost two years since I sat down to outline my “throwaway” idea for a Flash Gordon-esque serial, Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet, is finally available. Here’s the description A gateway to another world. A lucky contest winner. An adventure across the cosmos! Dwayne “Glitch” Mitchell has always been obsessed with space. When he learns that NASA has discovered an alien gateway, he’s the first to enter a contest to see the incredible phenomenon. Glitch wins and he travels deep within the Colorado Rockies to get a peek. He’s in awe, but he’s also in danger. As project head Dr. Zheng discusses the gateway, an armed man calling himself John Smith takes Zheng hostage and causes an explosion. When the rubble clears, Glitch is alive but trapped with Air Force Captain Scarlett Anderson on the other side of the gateway! Far from home on an alien world, Glitch and Anderson must find Zheng before the planet’s inhabitants can eat, crush, drown, or execute them. Even if they can escape in one piece, will they still have a home to come back to? Glitch Mitchell and the Unseen Planet is a sci-fi adventure that features exotic alien worlds and fast-paced suspense. If you liked the … Read More
Out Now – The Girl in the City
About a year ago, I discovered Michael Bunker’s Amish science fiction series – Pennsylvania. The story really intrigued me, and I blasted through all five books and really enjoyed it. I thought that was the end of it but my muse, Ethel, had other ideas. She started sowing the seeds of a story in the darker recesses of my subconscious. Just a title and an image at first, a scene from the life of a young girl living in the city from Michael’s book. That image, and the story behind it, stuck with me. It grew bigger and more detailed. More scenes materialised and the girl got a name – Leah. With some encouragement from Michael Bunker himself, I eventually gave in and decided to write the story. It quickly took on a life of its own and became a novella, gaining a fantastic Jason Gurley cover and interior art by Ben Adams along the way. Now, finally, The Girl in the City is available from Amazon for the low low price of 99c/99p (US UK Canada). Here’s the description… With the oppressive Transport Authority controlling every aspect of their existence, Leah and her father do what they can to carve a good life for themselves. Leah spends her nights scavenging in the rural zone around … Read More
On Genre
My name is Philip Harris and I’m a genre hopper. More of a genre careener actually. One minute I’m writing a straight up horror story like The Bone Boy, the next my characters are discovering alien lifeforms on Mars, the next they’re talking to people made of newspaper. I’ve written horror, fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, science fiction horror, something that might actually be a fairy tale, and pretty much everything in between, Sometimes, I can’t even tell what genre I’m writing in. My story, Piece Number 7, (published in Garbled Transmissions) is about the profound effect music can have on a person. To me, there’s a speculative fiction element to the story but it’s firmly rooted in the real world. In the end I filed it under magical realism. Whatever that is. And don’t get me started on Only Friends, the ebook I give away here on the site. I have no clue what genre that is. Depending on how you interpret the story, there may actually be no speculative elements in that one at all. And it’s not just my short fiction. My novels are all over the place as well. The Ghost Smuggler, is science fiction with a … Read More
Going Indie
I’ve finally decided to go indie. Or at least, add indie publishing to my authorial bow (or quiver or whatever). I’ve been toying with the idea for quite a while, at least since this time last year, but I can remember very clearly the point at which I switched from hmmm maybe I should try this indie publishing thing to yes, I’m going to publish something. I was driving to work (along Terminal Avenue, specifically), rolling the idea of self-publishing something around in my head. I don’t know the exact date but it was in February. I know that because my wife was in the UK and the Winter Olympics was on. I was trying to come up with a way to dip my toe into the indie world without investing a ridiculous amount of time into editing, covers etc. I didn’t want to publish a full novel but I knew short stories had limited success. Then it hit me. I had an unpublished zombie story, The First Zombie Hunter, that was around 5,000 words long and had the potential to be expanded into a novella. It was perfect. It was something new to write but I had a good … Read More
Out Now – The Bone Boy (JWK Best of Horror)
The Bone Boy was originally published last year in James Ward Kirk’s Bones anthology. It’s one of my favourite stories so I was particularly pleased and proud to hear it had been selected as part of the James Ward Kirk Fiction Best of Horror 2013 Collection which is available now from Amazon in both ebook and print. And it’s got a cracking cover: A huge thank you to James Ward Kirk for choosing to include The Bone Boy, I’m chuffed to bits as some might say. [Out Now – The Bone Boy (JWK Best of Horror) by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 14th August 2014]
Out Now – Artificial Wife
I’m very pleased to announce I have a new story out. This one’s another science fiction flash piece called Artificial Wife and you can read it for free on the Story Shack Magazine website. Unbelievably, this is my twentieth publication so I’m especially happy that it also has a cool illustration by Michael Ilkiw. As usual, I won’t spoil the plot but here’s the opening. Most of the time I can almost believe she’s real. She’s not, she’s a Mark IV Remote Surrogate – a “mote”. My real wife, Annabel, is back on Earth but the mote’s a perfect copy, identical in every way; despite the fact that my wife encouraged me to mix things up a bit and “enhance” a couple of key attributes. If you do read it (it’s not long so it’s not a big investment), drop me a comment either here or on Story Shack to let me know what you thought. [Out Now – Artificial Wife by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 17th July 2014]
Out Now – CAvE
I’m pleased to announce that my science fiction story, CAvE is now available in Nebula Rift Volume 2 Number 5. CAvE is a flash piece, about 980 words long. I won’t spoil the story by trying to tease the plot but here’s the opening couple of lines. My name is Daniel Jones and tomorrow I start my journey into the future. That is, unless my reprieve comes through which seems unlikely given that my court appointed defence lawyer is an imbecile fresh out of school and I’m guilty as hell. At some point it should be up on Amazon but you can already buy it direct from here. [Out Now – CAvE by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 10th July 2014]
Out Now – The Bone Boy
Well, it’s been a hectic few weeks with the marathon, the Vancouver Writers Festival, trips to see John Cleese and Craig Ferguson plus lots of day job work all crammed into a 3 week period. That’s the excuse I’m going to use for not realising that a) The Bones Anthology from James Ward Kirk Fiction was release and b) My story, The Bone Boy, won an Editors Choice award. I was very happy with The Bone Boy so it’s great to see it in print. You can pick up a copy of both the ebook and the print version from Amazon and at the moment the ebook is free. Not sure how long that will last. [Out Now – The Bone Boy by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 2nd November 2013]
Out Now – Origami Man
My new fantasy story , Origami Man, is up at Hogglepot. This one started with the image of a man made out of newspaper talking to a newspaper boy. Initially it was going to be fairly lighthearted but it didn’t really turn out that way in the end. Despite the fact that I’m not running at the moment (that starts back up tomorrow morning), this week has been surprisingly busy – mostly with work. I did manage to scrape together a couple of writing sessions to finish off a new story – CAvE – and add just under two thousand words to The Ghost Smuggler. I’m now reaching the point where I’m doing more and more actual writing rather than just reworking content from the earlier drafts. I’ll still be bringing some stuff over but from here on it’s mostly new content hanging on the bones of the early draft. That means I need to be a lot more disciplined about sitting down and writing. My goal is to get the first draft of the rewrite complete by the end of August so that I can be ready to pitch it at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference in October. That’s the goal anyway. It’s a … Read More