The Return of the Living Doc

Cccrrreeeaaakkkkkkk......

Sounds like a coffin opening.

I wrote a story recently ('Revelations') in which two guys basically watched the end of the world happen on their TV. I love the idea, but it made me realise that I've become rather skeptical. No doubt that's a result of my science background.

I wonder how much I'd believe if a good friend told me something fantastical. My wife or dad, my brother, what if they said they had seen an alien, or had spent a day trapped in another dimension?

A lot of people I know have had strange experiences (myself included) and it's not that I don't believe them, it just that, well, I don't believe them.

I'd like to think that I'm open to the possibilities, but the thing is, the only way I'd ever accept what others told me was if I'd seen it for myself. It's not the way I really want to be but I've spent the past decade surrounded by science, by facts and figures and microscopes and chemicals; it's hard NOT to be skeptical.

Hmmm... maybe I'll put on my investigatin' hat and go investigatin'...

The Box is about to open...

Black Box

The curious things you see...

We've got this picture of Hopetoun Falls hanging on the wall (copyright Ken Duncan). I like it; it's a neat photo, but...

...have a closer look midway along the far river bank...

There's a cube!

Hmm.... wonder what that is...

On one side an Honorable Mention, on the other...

News in from Ellen Datlow, wonder editor extraordinaire...

My story The Wildflowers (Fantastic Wonder Stories, 2007) has been given an Honourable Mention in the up-coming international Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.

Cool bananas.

I told Ellen that next year, I plan on having a story in the collection...

And on the other side of the coin, an old edition of my article Muncaster's Ghosts was published instead of a new and improved version... bit of a bummer but at least the article still reads okay... This greatly annoyed me, but alas, what can you do?

To cheer me up, I poured myself a scotch and stared at a photo of the castle itself, remembering the weird sounds and strange things that happened in the haunted castle the night I stayed there.....

Actually, that was a great two weeks; I toured England and Scotland without once staying in any cities or towns. Instead, I stayed in B and B's and inns, and spent the days visiting old castles, stone circles, cairns, and of course, Loch Ness.... it was a brilliant time. I certainly saw an interesting side to the country.