Story Fudge, a new online publication for creative writing and poetry is now listed on Duotrope. The first issue is slated for publication in January 2010 so check it out and start submitting work.

There is also a link to both of these sites on the right hand side. Duotrope is a brilliant resource for all creative writers, by providing lists of all publications, deadlines for submission and theme requirements etc. They run purely on donations to keep this service going so please support them as well if possible. Payment can be made quickly via paypal and it really does help contribute to a great service.

Don’t forget also that NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching – starting this Sunday. So get your thinking caps on and plan your fictional masterpiece!

Gods and Monster by David Gough is the colourful cover for Peter J Carroll’s The Apophenion

I am currently reading The Apophenion by Peter J Carroll a highly respected Chaos Magician and I have to say after reading half way through I am definitely going to be ordering his other works very soon.  In this book he makes various arguments for what he terms Panpsychism, which is essentially a counter argument to the idea of a single ‘Being’.  He concludes that all things are made of matter, just that some – like us humans for example – have more complex arrangements of matter, and argues against there being anything mystical about the idea of consciousness or ’spirit’. All things have consciousness but just to differing degrees depending on their complexity.  He goes on to suggest that ‘Mind’ is actually a verb and is the act-of-doing that consciousness performs, and that rather than there being one mind or consciousness there are several, whichever shouts the loudest at any particular time is what causes our subsequent actions.

It is actually very difficult to summarise all of his points in a small review, and indeed the book itself is written in a very concise way.  Which is why the above probably doesn’t make a lot of sense by itself.  If nothing else however, this book also gives a great basic understanding of quantum mechanics and other physics topics.  In fact he uses Quantum Mechanics to explain how and why parapsychological effects potentially occur.  Which probably makes this the first book to attempt to provide a scientific theory for Magic and the properties related with Magic such as Divination and Enchantment, as well as one that is very compelling – if you like the ideas of entanglement and string theory.

What also makes this book entertaining for me at least is that he manages to make all religion, based on montheistic and pantheistic viewpoints look ridiculous, with very little effort.  I am currently unravveling his theories of 3-dimenional time and have yet to fully immerse myself in his ideas of a hyperspheric universe but I must say I can’t wait to see what ideas it gives me.

My very short story Billy and the Closet Monster is half written – yay!

I have also started reading The Gates by John Connolly and it is really good (supposed to be for young adults but when did I ever grow up?!). It has got me really excited about writing my novel again though, meaning I am tempted to write the Strange Occurences at 83 Mulberry Avenue for NaNoWriMo instead of my Victorian England idea. Oh choices choices.

I have just submitted 2 poems to the Holly Rose Review under the theme of Wonder for their 3rd issue out in December. Also I have entered 6 very short pieces to Concise Delight for their 2nd issue which is published on December 15th.

Wish me luck! Now to get back to planning my NaNoWriMo novel or maybe start my short story about Billy and the Closet Monster!