Stephen Gallagher

I’d forgotten this, just now came across it. A couple of years ago the Horror Writers Association was looking into issues of ageism in publishing and I guess my having been around the block a few times made me a likely candidate for an opinion or two. Here’s how it went: * Did you start…

Nick Clegg is claiming that asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry, and the general response of the creative community to that has been, ‘Fine’. But some overdue effort needs to be put into distinguishing between AI’s useful handling of complex data and the unauthorised lifting of copyrighted material. I’ve recently been…

So it’s World Dracula Day, according to Bing. Which I don’t use. But which I can’t effectively get rid of without sabotaging my operating system. Anyway… In 2018 I wrote about the publication of Dark Mirages, a book presenting unproduced treatments and screenplays by writers with genre credentials, each with a story behind it. In…

It’s a great thing in a writing career when you find yourself in business with a set of people who genuinely seem to like what you do, and whom you like in return. I’ve been lucky, it’s happened to me a few times over the years, and earlier today a change-of-address email triggered memories of…

(Updated from my NTTD review published in 2021) Me and Bond go way back, back to when I saw Dr No with my Dad in Monton’s Princes Cinema on its first run. Then From Russia, and on. We went to each new movie until I got a girlfriend to go with (with a generational resonance…

For your stocking filler needs, HOUNDED, this year’s 8,000 word chapbook in aid of Medecins Sans Frontieres. First time in print, previously offered as a bonus ebook with preorders for COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. All profits to the cause and I’ll match what it makes. When Charlie offers temporary shelter to his godson, their partner, and two…

Have you ever noticed how, whenever a drama features a small child’s drawing that has to play some part in carrying the story forward, you can tell that a child didn’t do it? It’s almost always the case. Like those terrible overdubbing jobs where grown women provide children’s voices and we’re not supposed to notice.…

A while ago I was interviewed for a study on writer working methods and the possible role of GenAI in the profession. The study promised anonymity, but that’s not an issue for me. These were some of my answers. Do you work in a group or alone? I always worked alone until one of my…

New 30,000 word novella set for November publication, now available for preorder from Subterranean in a signed and numbered edition limited to 1,000 copies. If it follows ComparatIve Anatomy in being carried by Blackwell’s and Amazon then UK buyers should be able to avoid the addition of those swingeing US shipping costs. Cover art by…

This post from January 2008 was rather buried when everything moved to this new site in 2022, but with the Manchester Festival hitting its 34th year (strewth!) in October it’s a story worth keeping alive. One of the most heroic spectacles I ever witnessed on a public stage was that of Stephen Laws conducting an…