Our editor and general inspiration, nay, our motivation and Great Leader is Mr Ian Whates, pictured here in almost his favourite environment. Ian had a career involving numbers for many years, but eventually a student fascination with invented languages and a powerful imagination helped him to see the light and he turned to writing. He produces short stories at a phenomenal rate on top of all his other writerly and organisational commitments and is also working on at least two novels. His stories are a delight; he has a lightly humourous touch with a subtle but insightful intelligence. With a trail of lovable antiheros who get involved in a wide range of adventures, Ian never fails to entertain with his own writing. But still more admirably he has the ability to pick successful stories and to edit them to his high standards. In fact, perhaps it's his social nature, but he's adept at bringing out the very best in the authors he works with, and he's always a pleasure to work ...and drink...with. He is also a gourmet chef and devotee of rock and folk music. Cheers Ian – to a long life!!
BSFA Short story awards 4th place "The Gift of Joy" TQR 17th October 2007
SFWA Overseas Regional Director
BSFA – editor of Matrix
BSFA – Development Director
NewCon – organising Committee
Northampton Science Fiction Writer's Group - Vice-Cahir, leading light, always 'round.
1. "Flesh and Metal" Dream Magazine #10 March 1987
2. "Take 2" New Moon Quartertly #2 September 1987
3. "A Flash of Lightning" Dream Magazine #14 November 1987
4. "Perilous Greetings" Dream Quarterly #16 Summer 1988
5. "The Third Nexus" NewCon3 website July 2005
6. "Not a Moment to Swoon" Afterburn SF May 2006 Afterburn SF ‘Best of’ edition September 2006
7. "Peeling an Onion" Forgotten Worlds #3. July 2006
8. "The Key" Nature 31st August 2006 Futures from Nature edited by Henry Gee (Tor Books) 13th November 2007
9. "It’s About Time!" Time Pieces edited by Ian Whates (NewCon Press) 10th November 2006
10. "The Laughter of Ghosts" Glorifying Terrorism edited by Farah Mendlesohn (Rackstraw Press) 10th February 2007
11. "A Hint of Mystery" Hub #4 27th April 2007
12. "Knowing How to Look" Tower of Light #1 1st June 2007
13. "A Piratical Sabbatical" Nature 12th July 2007
14. "One Night in London" Fusion Fragment #2 13th July 2007
15. "The Hiss of Death" Afterburn SF 16th July 2007
16. "The Gift of Joy" TQR 17th October 2007Starship Sofa March 2008
17. "The Heroic Acts of Strangers" Visionary Tongue #23 3rd January 2008
18. "Coffee Break" Hub #43 28th January 2008
19."Hanging on Her Every Word" Beneath the Surface edited by Tim Deal (Shroud Publishing) January 2008
20. "Dark Child" Oddlands Magazine 1st March 2008
21."Sum of the Past" Fictitious Force April 2008
Forthcoming:
”The Final Hour” NorthPoint
”Morphs” In Bad Dreams II: Where Death Stalks edited by Sharyn Lilley (Eneit Press)
"Of Lions and Princes” Sorcerous Signals
"The Gun" Speculative Realms edited by Karen Lee Field (Speculative Realm Press)
"Gossamer" New Horizons
"The Outsider" New Writings in the Fantastic edited by Dave Hutchinson (Pendragon Press) 2009
"The Assistant" Solaris Book of New Science Fiction 3 edited by George Mann (Solaris Books) 2009
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Secure your copy of our very first award wining anthology!