About this site
My name's Jonathan Pinnock. I lead a dual life. In one half of this, I run a software development company called Jonathan Pinnock and Associates. If you've come here looking for that, here's where you need to go.However, if you've come here to find out about the other half of my life, as a writer of fiction and non-fiction, you've come to the right place.
If, on the other hand, you've arrived here by accident whilst searching for Japanese Tentacle Porn, I suggest you try using a different search engine.
If you'd like to contact me, my e-mail address is jon AT jpassoc DOT co DOT uk.
Feb
18
The Best of Every Day Fiction Two
Filed Under Anthologies, Publications | 6 Comments
My copy of this anthology of stories from EDF’s second year of operation dropped through my letter box the other day, and what a fine, professionally-produced piece of work it is. I’ve got two stories in there: my modern-day fable “Mirror, Mirror” and my Schroedinger’s cat story “Opening the Box”. I could list some of the other authors in there that I admire, but that would – frankly – take quite a long time. I am dead chuffed to be in the same table of contents as them.
The introductory pieces by the editors are also well worth a read – particularly the one by Jordan Lapp on finding a business model for fiction on the web. Here’s a slightly scary quote:
It seems that, excluding patronage, no one has yet found a profitable business model for short fiction on the web.
And that comes from an editor at the most-read flash fiction magazine on the web. Interestingly, though, he does say that one of their goals for 2010 is to raise their pay rates to semi-pro level instead of token, by the expedient of running a paid-for competition. Good luck to him there, although to be honest I’m personally not that concerned about pay rates at EDF (but don’t tell him I said so). The fact that EDF is such a well-read magazine makes it a terrific – and fairly competitive – place to get published in if you want to raise your profile a bit. Every time I’ve got a piece there, the hit count for this place goes up quite significantly, and for me that’s what I’m after right now. The big question, of course, is how to turn that exposure into £££.
Jan
30
Thaumatrope
Filed Under Acceptances, Publications | 4 Comments
Yesterday I was really pleased to hear that I’d had a piece of TwitFic accepted by Thaumatrope and here it is, published on their Twitter stream today. I was particularly pleased to hear about this one, because Thaumatrope were closed to submissions when I first joined Twitter, and they’ve only just re-opened. It’s also one of my favourite pieces of TwitFic that I’ve written to date. (And I got paid $1.20 for it – which is pro rate!)
So that’s six of the major TwitFic markets cracked now (@escarp,@outshine, @seedpod, @tweetthemeat, @thaumatrope and @7×20). However, at the time of writing, @nanoism and @picfic have yet to yield …
Jan
22
The Best of Every Day Fiction Two
Filed Under Anthologies, Publications | 2 Comments
Yippee! The anthology from the second year of Every Day Fiction has now been published, including two of my stories, “Mirror, Mirror” and “Opening the Box”. I’m really looking forward to reading it, as there’s still something better about reading a story in a print anthology as opposed to looking at a one on a computer screen, even for a story of under 1000 words. And if you don’t happen to like the one you’re currently reading, there are 99 more in there. What I really like about EDF is their “anything goes as long as it’s good” attitude, which means zombie stories and literary ones in the same book. What’s not to like?
And the other thing that I really like about EDF is that their Managing Editor, Camille Gooderham Campbell, outed herself yesterday on the EDF forum as a fan of Mrs Darcy vs The Aliens. But then, who wouldn’t?
You can order copies of “The Best of Every Day Fiction Two” here.
Jan
19
Vestal Review
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Well, I’d completely forgotten about this one. Some time back, the highly prestigious Vestal Review put out a call for a new feature entitled Dirty Dozen. The requirement was for pieces of exactly twelve words in length with a slightly risqué theme. So I sent one, entitled “Opposites”, and I found out today that it has been accepted and published. I’m rather pleased about this because I’m guessing that – it being Vestal Review – they must have got quite a few submissions. Not only that, but it will also appear in the next print edition.
However, I do have this nagging feeling that this nano stuff is all very well, but I really should be getting some longer pieces out there …
Jan
14
12 Days
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Found out today that the “12 days” project that I took part in leading up to Christmas has now made it into print. So if you fancy getting yourself a copy of all 24 stories (two for each of the 12 days of Christmas), here’s the link. My contribution was “The Miracle at Hightop Farm”, which was (very loosely) based on “Eight Maids A-Milking”.
Jan
11
Blue Hyacinths
Filed Under Anthologies, Publications | 4 Comments
Just got an e-mail to tell me that “Blue Hyacinths”, the anthology from last year’s Excel for Charity / Diversity House poetry competition has been published, containing my poem “In Giza”. I’m quite proud of “In Giza”, because it’s one of my first attempts to write a proper, straight poem without going for laughs (not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course). You can order copies of the anthology here.
Incidentally, as chance would have it, we were in Giza last November and it was interesting to see how little it has changed since my first visit there. Considering that it contains the only one of the seven wonders of the world still standing, it’s still a bit of a dump. Karnak, on the other hand …
Jan
6
Tweet the Meat
Filed Under Publications | 2 Comments
Well, the word we got for the final of the NYC Midnight “Tweet Me a Story” contest was “below”. This didn’t sound at all promising at first, but I eventually came up with one that I really liked, plus a couple of so-so entries. To be honest, I’m not expecting a lot when the final shortlist of 25 is announced on Thursday night / Friday morning, but you can never tell anything in this game – especially with TwitFic.
In the meantime, my latest entry for “Tweet the Meat” was published last night. The subject was “Sin”, but you might have guessed that.
Jan
4
The Language of Angels
Filed Under Publications | 3 Comments
The inaugural issue of “Eclectic Flash” has just been published, including my rather peculiar bilingual flash “The Language of Angels”. It’s been a while since I studied French at school, so it’s probably only a matter of time before someone points out to me that I’ve made some kind of elementary howler. Still, I must say I like the look of EF and I hope that they do well. It’s nice to be in at the start of something good.
The link to the free PDF is here, or you can order a print copy on Lulu here.
Dec
28
The Greatest Disciple
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My story “The Greatest Disciple” has the honour of bringing the first year of “Fifty-Two Stitches” to a close. There have been some superb stories in “Fifty-Two Stitches” this year, and I would strongly recommend the anthology if you’re looking for something to spend that cheque from your favourite maiden aunt on; I’m sure she would approve. This one is another story of mine with a vaguely religious theme, although I should warn those of a nervous disposition that for such a story there is rather a lot of bad language in it.
Dec
22
The Miracle at Hightop Farm
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A few weeks back, I noticed that one of the guys I follow on Twitter was tweeting about a project to do with the twelve days of Christmas, so I followed the #12days hashtag around (as you do) and tracked down the guy who was organising it, Jim Wisneski. At the time, he had already got a writer lined up for each of the twelve days, but a few days later he decided that he might as well double up and have two stories each day. At which point I threw my hat into the ring and – for no particular reason – grabbed “Eight Maids a-Milking”.
I’m not sure that I entirely understand the resulting story, “The Miracle at Hightop Farm”, but I think I quite like it. However, you should be warned that calf worship is a dangerous and illegal activity and subject to extreme penalties should you be caught in the act.