Vaughan Stanger - SF Writer
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A Touch Foreign

31 December 2018

A nice way to end the year: Estonian webzine Reaktor has translated and published my SF story Invisible Touch. This is my third story to appear there. My particular thanks go to translator Mari Arumäe.

Invisible Touch originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction (2015).

Smashing Savings!

26 December 2018

Smashwords is holding a post-Christmas sale. There are big reductions on lots of ebooks, including three of mine:

Moondust Memories

Sons of the Earth & Other Stories

Reeves Indeed!

The sale ends at  midnight on New Year's Eve.

Seasonal Saying

23 December 2018

Seasonal greetings to you all and wishing a "Merry Christmas" to everyone who celebrates it.

Scientific Paper

27 November 2018

My contributor's copy of Stacy Danielle Katczinsky's anthology of SF stories, She Blended Me With Science, has arrived. It's a handsome-looking paperback with a striking cover designed by Pablo Vercelli and good print quality inside.

The one customer review of this anthology I've seen so far states that all the stories are "well-crafted and brilliantly written tales, and some of them are mind-blowing". That's always pleasing for an author to hear!


Nearing Your Future!

20 November 2018

This is a reminder that writers now have less than two weeks left in which to submit flash-length pieces for next year's series of Near-Future Fictions events organised by Virtual Futures.

The deadline is 2 December.

For details of the submission call either click here to read them on (public) Facebook or download the call PDF from here.

(I'm co-curating the Autonomous Agents theme with Stephen Oram. The other themes are Boundless Bodies, Another Loving and Lasting Labours.)

Slices of an Orbital Life

8 November 2018

New Orbit magazine has reprinted my SF story Slices of Life in its October 2018 issue.

This story originally appeared in 3SF magazine.


A Scientifically Blended Family

4 November 2018

Stacy Danielle Katczinsky has edited an impressive-looking paperpack anthology of SF stories, She Blended Me With Science, which includes a reprint of my story, Family Tree.

Flatwater Press publishes anthologies in order to raise money to promote and support the work of Nebraska authors.


Your Future Awaits

3 November 2018

This is a reminder that the writers amongst you now have a little under one month to get your submissions in for next year's Virtual Futures Near-Future Fictions events!

Full details are on (public) Facebook here, or you can download the call PDF from here.

(I'm co-curating the Autonomous Agents theme with Stephen Oram.)

Award for a Shore Thing

29 October 2018

A little over a year ago, Scottish SF magazine Shoreline of Infinity published one of my short stories. I greatly enjoyed working with the editor, Noel Chidwick, to make my story as good as it could be. So I'm delighted to learn that Shoreline of Infinity received the 2018 award for Best Magazine/Periodical award from the British Fantasy Society. Thoroughly well deserved!

Punk Needs More Kicks!

26 October 2018

One day to go!

If you feel able to support the Kickstarter for the A Punk Rock Future anthology now is the time to secure your reward!

This Kickstarter aims to add more stories to the anthology, increase the reach of its advertising campaign, and--of course!-- will give backers some excellent rewards. (It's about two-thirds of the way there at the moment, with only four days to go)

Touch to Translate

16 October 2018

I'm pleased to announce that Estonian webzine Reaktor has accepted my SF story Invisible Touch for translation and reprinting. That'll be my third story to appear there.

Invisible Touch originally appeared in Daily Science Fiction (2015). It has been reprinted and podcast since then, but this will be its first translation.

Punk Gets a Kick

1 October 2018

The publishers of the forthcoming 'A Punk Rock Future' anthology, Zsenon Publishing, have announced a Kickstarter to raise additional funding for their project. If the Kickstarter is successful, they will publish even more stories and pay their authors (including me!) a higher rate. But this project's main objective is to boost the publicity campaign for what looks like being a brilliant anthology, so that it reaches the biggest possible audience. There are some great rewards on offer if you'd like to support this exciting project.

Movable Type

18 September 2018

As Createspace is closing, Amazon KDP now hosts the paperback editions of my three short story collections (Moondust Memories, Sons of the Earth & Other Stories, and Reeves Indeed!). These are the original Createspace editions, so there shouldn't be any problems with them, but if you purchase one or more of them and notice any printing problems, please let me know.

Punk's Not Dead!

10 September 2018

I'm delighted to announce that I've had a flash-length story accepted for the 'A Punk Rock Future' anthology, which is forthcoming from Zsenon Press. The title of the story will probably change, so I'll provide more details here in due course.

Agents of the Future

Updated: 4 September 2018

I'm delighted to announce that I will be co-curating one of Virtual Futures' Near-Future Fictions events next year. The theme of the 12 March event is "Autonomous Agents' and, as was the case earlier this year, my fellow curator is the inestimable Stephen Oram. I'm really looking forward to working with him again and to selecting the pieces to be read aloud at this event.

Please click this link to find out more about the "Autonomous Agents" event and how to submit fiction for  consideration.

For more general information about the NFF 2019 events and themes, please click here or download the PDF file below.

Warbling Recorded

31 August 2018

Earlier today, Manawaker Studio posted an excellent podcast of my Reeves short story Warbling Their Way to War, beautifully read by proprietor C B Droege. He has done a brilliant job of delineating the two characters. The recording lasts about five minutes, so I hope you will give it a listen.

Although Warbling Their Way to War is the second story in my 'Reeves' series, it can be enjoyed as a standalone. It was originally published in Plasma Frequency Magazine and is my third story to be podcast by Manawaker Studio.

Seven Days Left for Sin

6 August 2018

Only seven days left to back this project!


My short story The Eye Patch Protocol is slated for reprinting in the Sins and Other Worlds anthology. The publisher, Shacklebound Books, is currently running a Kickstarter to fund the anthology. Authors contributing stories include Robert Silverberg, Wendy Nikel, Mike Resnick, Michelle Ann King, and Ken Liu.

The anthology's ToC looks wonderful and there are some nice bonuses on offer to backers, a few of them involving goodies supplied by me. If you feel able to support this exciting project, please do so during the next seven days!

How to Avoid Penalties

29 July 2018

The ebook editions of my short-story collections Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth & Other Stories are available for 50% off from Smashwords throughout July. Please use coupon code SSW50 at the checkout.

Buy: Moondust Memories
Buy: Sons of the Earth

Both ebooks currently cost $1.50, but revert to $2.99 on Wednesday.

The One Oracle

21 July 2018

I'm delighted to announce that my SF short story One Is One has been accepted for podcasting by The Centropic Oracle. This will be my second story to be podcast by them. I'll post more details here in due course.

One Is One was originally published in Third Flatiron's Cat's Breakfast anthology.

Orbiting Future Life

20 July 2018

I'm pleased to announce that my SF short story Slices of Life has been accepted for reprinting in Future Orbit Magazine, a new publication from New Zealand. I'll post more details in due course.

Slices of Life was originally published in issue 2 of 3SF magazine.

The Bonuses of Sin

20 July 2018

My short story The Eye Patch Protocol is slated for reprinting in the Sins and Other Worlds anthology. The publisher, Shacklebound Books, is currently running a Kickstarter. The anthology's ToC looks wonderful and there are some nice bonuses on offer to backers, some of them involving goodies supplied by me. If you feel able to support this exciting project, please click here.

Stellar Translation

14 July 2018

I've received some good news from an anthology editor, who has accepted one of my previously published stories for translating and reprinting in an anthology. I'll post details here when I have them.

Extra Time Boost

12 July 2018

As Brazil didn't make it to the World Cup semi-finals, I won't be receiving any winnings from the TTA Press sweepstake, alas! However, I have promised to donate any royalties I receive from ebook and POD-book sales during the World Cup (15 June to 15 July) to English PEN. So there is still time to contribute to this deserving cause by purchasing one of my books.

if you're a Smashwords user, please note that the ebook editions of my short-story collections Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth are available for 50% off throughout July. Please use coupon code SSW50 at the checkout.

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish France and Croatia good luck in the final. It should be a cracker!

World Cup oPEN for Charity Donations

Updated 28 June 2018

Yay! Brazil are through to the knockout stages of the World Cup. I'm crossing tentacles that they'll make it at least to the semi-finals -- although hopefully not at the expense of England -- so I can donate any TTA Press World Cup 2018 Sweepstake winnings I receive to English PEN, a charity supporting freedom of expression around the world.

But you can boost my donation!

I will donate all royalties I earn from sales of my self-published books during the World Cup (which ends on 15 July) to English PEN, whether or not I receive anything from the aforementioned sweepstake. So, if you'd like to support my fundraising please get clicking. The pictures on this page will take you to purchase links at Amazon.co.uk, but my books are also available at all other Amazon stores, also Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.

Protocols for Sin

30 May 2018

I'm delighted to announce that Shacklebound Books has accepted my SF short story The Eye Patch Protocol for reprinting in its planned Sins and Other Worlds anthology.

This story was originally published in End of an Aeon in 2011.

Awake and Warbling

22 May 2018

I'm delighted to announce that Manawaker Studio has accepted my Sf short story Warbling Their Way to War for its Flash Fiction Podcast.

This is the second story in my 'Reeves' series. It was originally published in Plasma Frequency Magazine and will be my third story podcast by Manawaker Studio.

Paul Cole RIP

20 May 2018

I'm very sad to learn that Paul Cole, the man behind the Beam Me Up podcast, has died. A few years ago, Paul recorded a wonderfully atmospheric five-part audio version of my story The English Dead. He also arranged for a colleague to record another of my stories, Stars in Her Eyes. Paul and I only ever interacted by email, but he always struck me as a lovely guy.
(Obituary: http://wrfrbeameup.blogspot.co.uk/)

RIP Paul

Virtually Time to Dream

15 May 2018

This evening, I'l be at the Library Club in London reading my new story Dreamtime (a sequel to Stars in Her Eyes) at the last of the current series of Near-Future Fictions events hosted by Virtual Futures. I will also be introducing the second half of the evening's readings. There may still be a few tickets left, but be warned: they have been selling very quickly.

Collect the Set

11 May 2018

If you've enjoyed reading my newly published (and free to read!) stories at Electric Athenaeum and Speculative 66 why not try some more? You'll find the ebook editions of my two short story collections are currently only £0.99 / $0.99 at your favourite on-line stores.

Moondust Memories at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Smashwords, iTunes (US), iTunes (UK).

Sons of the Earth & Other Stories at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Smashwords, iTunes (US), iTunes (UK).

Prices will revert to their usual levels at the end of May.

Electric Is Go!

Updated 10 May 2018

My SF short story Good To Go has just been published on Electric Athenaeum's website as part of Issue 01, which addresses the theme of For Future Generations.

This is my 40th story to find a home. I am particularly pleased to be supporting this exciting new SF publishing venture from Anglia Ruskin University (UK). If you are interested in joining the conversation about this story, please use the hashtag #ea0114 on Twitter.

Update: I have written some notes about this story in a blog post (as well as on Twitter). Feel free to comment there, too.

Tangible Ghosts Save Lives

8 May 2018

Originally available only as an ebook, the charity anthology The Second Christmas Book of Ghosts, which reprints my story Brown Cat Blues, is now available in a paperback edition. Editor/publisher Michael S. Collins is raising funds for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland.

Taking Route 66 to Work

6 May 2018

Speculative 66 has published my micro-fic The Working Week in Issue 19. This webzine is free to read and contains lots of excellent short, sharp shocks of the literary variety.

Odd Problem to Wonder About

1 May 2018

Issue 9 of Odd Tales of Wonder magazine has just been published. It contains a reprint of my (very) short SF story Someone Else's Problem and is available to buy as an ebook from Amazon.

Your Weekly Speculation

30 April 2018

I'm delighted to announce that the editor of Speculative 66 has accepted my micro-fic The Working Week for publication in Issue 19, which will be published on 6 May.

That will be my fourth story to appear there!

Making Tomorrow's Family Visible

 21 April 2018

Here's a gentle reminder that my SF story Family Tree has been reprinted* in  Issues for Tomorrow: A science fiction anthology. This anthology is available to buy from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. The line-up of stories looks intriguing.

Small publishers like Indie Authors Press benefit significantly when their books are reviewed and rated, so if you have read this book, or intend to do so, please provide some feedback at Amazon. It really does help.

* Now in the print edition as well as the ebook.

Dreamtime is Nearer

16 April 2018

Tickets for the "Post-Brain" Near-Future Fictions event organised by Virtual Futures and co-curated by Stephen Oram and me, which will be held in Central London on Tuesday 15 May, are now on sale for £6 at Eventbrite.

I'm looking forward to reading my new story Dreamtime at this event.

Sons and Moon Shall Rise!

24 March 2018

Deal Ended!

If you've been considering buying the ebook editions of my short story collections, please note that their prices will rise to their normal levels during Easter. They currently cost $0.99 / £0.99.

Amazon UK Kindle edition purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.
Amazon (US) Kindle edition purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.
Smashwords Epub purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.

Get clicking!


Round 'Em Up Spaceboy

21 March 2018

I'm delighted to be able to share some details about the good news I've received recently:

My SF story Good to Go will appear in the debut issue ("For Future Generations") of Electric Anthenaeum, a new British online publication that will be launched shortly.

My SF story Family Tree will be reprinted in She Blended Me With Science, an anthology forthcoming from Flatwater Press. This story was originally published in Helix (2008).

My SF micro-story Someone Else's Problem will be reprinted in either issue 9 or 10 of Odd Tales of Wonder magazine.This story was originally published in 50-Word Stories (2017).

I've also received a very pleasing acceptance for a previously unpublished story, but the details on that one remain embargoed for now.

More news in due course!

Issues for Tomorrow's Family

18 March 2018

I'm very pleased to announce that my SF story Family Tree has been reprinted in the Kindle ebook edition of  Issues for Tomorrow: A science fiction anthology (published by Indie Authors Press). It is available to purchase from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Reeves Brought to Book!

16 March 2018

A paperback edition of my mini-collection Reeves Indeed! is now available to purchase from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

One reviewer said about the ebook edition: "Funny. Quirky. It's a cross between Monty Python and Douglas Adams."

Moon Worship

7 March 2018

A book blogger called the Gallifreyan Bucaneer has posted a very pleasing review of my first SF collection, Moondust Memories, here. Apparently, he wishes to see a movie made of the final story, Survival Strategies. Well, me too!

If you haven't read Moondust Memories yet, the ebook is currently available for purchase at the minimum possible price (£0.99 / $0.99) at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Smashwords, and other reputable online bookstores.

England's Dreaming

3 March 2018

I am thrilled to announce that I will be reading my SF story Dreamtime at the Virtual Futures Near-Future Fictions event on the theme of "Post-Brain" (15 May, London).

I am co-curating the evening with Stephen Oram (who accepted my submission), so I will be introducing some of the other readings. All readings at the event will be video-recorded and uploaded onto Youtube, so you will get to see me in action.

Holding pattern - it's snow joke

2 March 2018

More snow-melting warmth has landed in my inbox: I'm delighted to announce that I've bagged another pair of acceptances, one for an original story, the other for a reprint.

More news soon.

One-derful Kasma

1 March 2018

My SF story One Is One is now online and free to read at Kasma SF magazine.

Kasma editor, Alex Korovessis, describes my story as "wonderful", which is heartening for any author to hear. He says the same about the artwork supplied by José Baetas and he's not wrong about that! I am a very lucky author when it comes to my illustrators.

This is the second reprinting of this story, which was originally published in Third Flatiron Publications' Cat's Breakfast: Kurt Vonnegut Tribute anthology last year. But this is the first time it has appeared online.

Kasma Is One

27 February 2018

(I'm now able to reveal details about one of those anthology acceptances I mentioned here a few days ago.)

I'm delighted to annnounce that Kasma SF magazine will be reprinting my SF story One is One in March. This story originally appeared in Third Flatiron Publications' Cat's Breakfast: Kurt Vonnegut Tribute anthology last year.

Collected For Less

Edited 26 February 2018

I've temporarily dropped the price of the ebook editions of my two short story collections to $0.99 / £0.99.

Amazon UK Kindle edition purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.
Amazon (US) Kindle edition purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.
Smashwords Epub purchase links: Moondust Memories and Sons of the Earth.

(Hopefully the Smashwords prices will filter through to their resellers, e.g.iBooks, B&N, and Kobo, in due course.)

Enjoy!


Recycling Works

18 February 2018

Up to now It's been a slow start to the year on the publishing front, so it's good to report that I've received a couple of acceptances for reprints during the last few days.

More details to follow in due course.

Critical Shorts

13 February 2018

if you are interested in making use of my inexpensive critiquing service for genre short fiction, please note that it is open again. You can find details here.

I'm a highly experienced writer and critiquer of genre short stories. I'm also a first reader for a genre magazine (with several years of experience). If you need help getting a story "right", please contact me.

The Future In Kind

2 February 2018

I'm delighted to announce that I will be a member of the panel discussing utopia, dystopia, science and the future of story at the book launch for Jule Owen's latest novel, The Kind. The launch will be held in London on 19 March. The panel includes a diverse set of writers, scientists and futurists, so it should be a fascinating evening.

I first met Jule at last year's Virtual Futures Near-Future Fictions evenings, which I recommend to anyone who lives within reach of London. That series of events resumes on 20 February.

Rated 18

3 January 2018

A belated happy New Year to all my readers and visitors!

Here are a couple of news snippets:

My SF short story One Is One received a 2* ranking in Tangent Online's recommended reading list for 2017. That's a high ranking. This story originally appeared in Cat's Breakfast, a Kurt Vonnegut anthology published by Third Flatiron Press. Needless to say, I'm delighted.

I've finished my first novel and submitted it to a publisher's open call. It's taken me a long time, but i'm relieved I got there in the end. Interesting to note that it was my 1000th submission since I started in 1997.

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