Other Fanzines

The more you get involved in Doctor Who fandom, and the more it gets known that you like writing things, the more people start to ask you if you'd write something for their latest fanzine or website. It is a remarkable feeling: when I started out, I was chasing editors and begging them to publish my stories. Now they come to me.

The first to ask was Colin Brockhurst, editor of Circus. Circus was a fanzine that covered much more than Doctor Who, and was always very highly thought of. Sadly, as with many others, it's now no more.

After Colin, began my long association with the Doctor Who Information Network of Canada. The DWIN flagship is the magazine Enlightenment, but they also publish an occasional fiction magazine called Myth Makers that collects stories from the tie-in writers and fans alike. The quality of both magazines is exceptionally high, which is why I was particularly pleased when Matt Grady first got in touch to ask if I had a story he could use. He was so pleased with Staring into the Abyss that it's recently cropped up in the Myth Makers: Retrospective that you can download free here.

After that, the ever wonderful Richard Salter took over the reigns to produce the 40th Anniversary special Myth Makers Presents: The Essentials, with Scott Clarke. The theme of the collection was that each writer would pick something that was essential to Doctor Who and then write a story about it. I chose "Not changing history".

The issue was extremely popular, winning the Best Short Story Collection award in the annual Jade Pagoda awards and also taking the top two spots in the Best Short Story category. My story, Recursion, came second. The experience was such fun that I leapt at the chance to write for them again, as I would on any occasion.