Fantasy and Science Fiction Author

23/09/2026

The other day, I got an email from a scammer offering to pitch my mum's novel Greatcroft to Hollywood studios. It was addressed to her, so I guess in his haste to sign this hot new property before someone else does, he must've missed the part about "written by my late mother" in the first sentence of the book's page on my website...

This seems as good a time as any to point out that, while Greatcroft won't be appearing at a cinema or streaming service near you any time soon, it is raising money for Alzheimer's research. It's set in England in 1805 and is for fans of "stately home" stories - Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, and, as the scammer reminded me, Downton Abbey and Bridgerton. Paperback available from Amazon, ebook available wherever you get yours.

11/09/2026

The app for the gimbal has an autocue feature, so I thought I'd try it out. This little piece is called Institutional Memory.

11/09/2026

Caption this...

03/09/2026

We made the local paper!

“The Blackpool connection throughout the anthology will resonate with sandgrown ‘uns

31/08/2026

August's writing progress - the publication of Seaside Shuffle, progress on Dreams of Demons, a video from Racing the Storm, and another short story for newsletter subscribers.

The big news this month is that Seaside Shuffle is now on sale. It's an anthology of poems, stories and memories of the seaside town of Blackpool in Engl...

30/08/2026

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/aug/29/how-to-make-a-bestseller-insiders-reveal-the-tricks-of-the-book-trade?CMP=share_btn_url

I like the observation that a certain publisher tended to put a cat on the cover, even if the book didn't have a cat in it.

From cover design to shelf placement and influencer partnerships … how publishers will persuade you to buy their books this autumn

29/08/2026

I just sent the September edition of my newsletter to subscribers. It features an exclusive new short story, called "Money Talks... and Talks and Talks." If you're not already a subscriber, you can read the story for free (along with all the others I've sent) by going to

Steven J Pemberton Email Forms

21/08/2026

I was pleasantly surprised to see this article in the latest issue of The Local List. (Did I mention that I have a story included in the book?)

16/08/2026

Today there was a promotional event for Seaside Shuffle, a new anthology of poems, stories and memories about that famous seaside place called Blackpool. This is a video of me reading my contribution, "The Misadventure of the Lion's Ear." Thanks to Breda Quirke for filming.