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.
Books
Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens was published by Proxima Books in September 2011.
The Scott Prize-winning short story collection Dot(.), Dash(-) will be published by Salt in 2012.
Feb
21
Return to the Stage
Filed Under Acceptances, Rejections | Leave a Comment
Ah, the roar of the greasepaint! The smell of the crowd! Yes, I’ve just heard from Miles Barden that he and Joshua Dickenson are putting together their next show of horror stories, and they are keen for “After Michelangelo” to be part of it again. This time, they’ll also be using a piece by my gifted VWC colleague Oscar Windsor-Smith. More details to follow.
But I didn’t quite make it into the final batch of stories in The Harrow before they close for a year. However, I’m not too upset, because the rejection ran to over 300 words, and that’s the kind of rejection I can take. In fact, they said that they would have asked me to resubmit after editing – were it not for the fact that (as I say) they are shutting up shop for a year. So I’m pretty confident that I’ll find another home for that one soon. But it is still a bit of a shame, because I really love the look and feel of The Harrow. So wonderfully academic.
Jan
12
More at FlashScribe
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Well, the nice people at FlashScribe have now accepted another piece, “Welcome to the Hive”, after making some very helpful suggestions that made it work a whole load better. It’s funny – I knew there was something not quite right about it, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what the problem was. And they also rejected the third piece I sent, which was good for two reasons. Firstly, it means that they don’t accept any old rubbish that gets sent to them, and secondly, thanks to their feedback, I’ve now got a pretty good idea why it’s been rejected by a couple of other places as well.
Jan
10
There Be Bunny Crimes
Filed Under Rejections | 2 Comments
Another day, another rejection, this time from Tales of the Zombie War. Clearly I need to up my zombie game. Never mind. Rejection is all part and parcel of the writer’s life, and I offer this to all my fellow writers out there as a comfort whenever they may need it:
(Thanks to Ian Cundell. I now can’t listen to the R.E.M. original any more without thinking of this.)
Dec
5
Two More Stitches
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Just when I was wondering if there was anyone out there at all, I got a rejection from Eyeshot (well, no surprises there) and an acceptance of two more for Fifty-Two Stitches, just sneaking in under the wire as submissions close. So that’s a hit for “The Greatest Disciple” and “What Today’s Well-Dressed Mind Parasite is Wearing”. Nice to see a home for my favourite title to date there. And that’s two more successful graduates from the Café Doom weekly flash challenge, which reminds me that I haven’t actually gone in for that for some time. If I’m not careful, the supply’s going to dry up. Anyway, that brings the hit count for the year up to 39, with 25 subs currently outstanding. Hmmm. I wonder …
Sep
24
Another insanely rapid acceptance!
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Last night I had a rejection from The Harrow, which is a damn shame because I really love the faux academic journal ambience of that particular zine, and I’d love to get in there one of these days. Still, as with the first one that they bounced back a few weeks ago, they’ve given me a nice, detailed critique (which rather worryingly describes my piece as an “experiment”, but never mind), so I’m not massively unhappy. But it did spur me on to (a) resubmit something else to them, (b) submit the piece in question somewhere else and (c) dredge up a few more odd pieces that were currently “resting”. This temporarily brought my oustanding subs count to 43, the highest it’s ever been.
I say temporarily, because just 38 minutes after submission, I had a reply from Bewildering Stories saying that they were accepting my piece “Desert Culture”. I’d despaired of finding a home for this one (despite early versions of it being winners first in the Cafe Doom Flash Challenge and then in the SlingInk Frantic Fiction Challenge), because as my mate Ian from the VWC says, it’s “droll”, and droll’s a hard sell.
42 to go …
Jul
27
Another Day at the Orphanage
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The more I think about it, in my writing life I feel a bit like the manager of an ophanage. Under my care I have a house full of stories that I’d really like to find a good home for. Some of them I’m sure are really lovely, and deserve to be placed somewhere special. Some of them have their flaws, but I still love them and I really want to find them somewhere to go to. So every few weeks I send them out into the world, to see if some kind family will take them in. And sometimes, the family writes back to me to say that, whilst they are probably very nice, they don’t feel that they can see a future for them together. So I scold them and see if there is some way that I can somehow improve them so that they make a better impression next time. And then sometimes I get a lovely letter back saying that they would really like to take them in and look after them.