Those lovely people at Pornokitsch, Anne and Jared – I call them The Pornos; they don’t laugh – have set up an imprint called Pandemonium Fiction to publish short story collections. The first, Stories of the Apocalypse, contains original tales inspired by the art of John Martin, and the book will be released in October 2011 to coincide with the Tate Gallery’s new exhibition of his work. As well as stories by people like Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Lauren Beukes and Sophia McDougall it contains ‘A Private Viewing’, the first outright horror tale I’ve written.
“I don’t really think I believe in redemption.
Punishment, consequences, responsibility; these things I understand. It’s how I was raised, I suppose.
Reformation and rehabilitation, though, baffle me. It surely can’t be enough to just say sorry for the bad things you’ve done. And anyway, how can you prove you mean those apologies, that you’re not just saying whatever the world wants to hear?
Why should those of us who work hard, keep our heads down, treat our neighbours with respect and consideration, be nice to those who aren’t nice in turn? Doesn’t seem fair.
So no, I don’t believe in redemption.
I believe in justice.
Which explains, as far as anything can, why I did what I did…”
I’ll let you know when it goes on sale – eBook only, but in all formats – so you can find out exactly what my ‘hero’ did, and why it may turn out to have been a very, very bad idea indeed.
Meanwhile, here’s the stunning trailer for the Tate exhibition: