I thought that I should share the fact that I have a few pieces of work coming up in various anthologies. Two reasons for this, of course:

1 – to share the news, simple as that. I am happy and excited to see my work appear in print so it is nice to share good news

and

2 – so that all of you, my faithful readers* can rush out and spend your hard earned money to keep me in the lifestyle to which I am familiar with**

Here is what is coming up:

‘Blind Faith’ and ‘Bloom’ in an upcoming anthology entitled ‘Daily Flash 2011′.

‘Mary’, my take on an old fairy tale, in an anthology entitled ‘Caught by Darkness’.

‘The Crimson Blade’, a sword and sorcery, fantasy romp of a novella in an anthology entitled ‘By Mind or Metal’.

Looking forward to seeing them all ‘in the flesh’, so to speak.

* I checked and because there is more than one reader I can use the plural … two is still more than one!

** borderline poverty, of course

Two posts in one day, why Ambassador Jay you are spoiling them!

Anyway I am debating whether I should change my personal site so that it isn’t about me as a (hopeful) writer but, instead, as a complete Renaissance Man for you see I have not only ventured back out into the world of art as well but also acting … well, to be honest and drop the false ego, for a moment, I have just attended a cattle market of form filling, self-promoting and photo taken as a hopeful extra on the HBO adaptation of the wonderful George R. R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’!

The brief they asked for was:
- males between 16-90 … check
- long hair … check and double check indeed.
- medieval skills … fencing, archery, mandolin playing and even juggling gave a lovely check
- combat/fighting skills … 20+ years of martial arts and four black belts gave another check!
- beards/facial hair … oh … erm … what?!?

Sure, I may have past the age of puberty but there is one small aspect of ‘maleness’ I haven’t yet achieved: I can’t grow facial hair! I only need to shave once a week and even after over two weeks I barely have any ‘spikies’ (as my three year old calls them). Will that go against me, faithful readers? I don’t know, I really don’t … but I hope not as I would LOVE to be involved with a GRRM project like Game of Thrones.

So, send your good wishes, votive offerings, prayers or virgin sacrifices off (or even bombard the production company with emails telling them that they need … NEED … me!)

Mushishi/Musashi by Jay Faulkner

Something that the majority of people who follow me (this blog, Twitter, dark streets, wherever) may not know is that I didn’t start of as a writer. Educationally speaking I suppose I would be classed as an ‘artist’, at least that is my Degree … but I haven’t really done anything arty since I sold my soul and realised that I.T. and Information Assurance/Security pays SO much better

Recently, however, I have become involved with ‘TalesofThe…’ a collaboration of work via an online weekly blog-style anthology incorporating all types of creative media. Its aim is to provide a platform for Northern Ireland creators to showcase film, artwork, prose, audio and just about any other type of creative endeavor you can think of. Via this (more correctly via the uber-talented comicbook artist and illustrator Stephen Downey) I found out about Spandex Comic and a wonderful, month-long, project where the creator (Martin Eden) was allowing other people to showcase their takes on his characters with a Japanese slant … aptly entitled Japandex. After talking with Martin I had two ideas and, as I couldn’t really decide, I sent both to him … and he actually used both!!

Now, I know that my work isn’t to the standard of the other real artists who contributed and I am walking in the footsteps of real greatness (as you will see when you click on the link and see some truly inspiring art!) but I am rather pleased with the outcome and EXTREMELY thankful to Martin for 1/ letting me play with his characters and 2/ showing my humble attempts at art alongside the others.

So, check it out: Mushishi/Musashi by Jay Faulkner