I turned 37 this month yet I’m still waiting for signs that I’m getting any wiser.

I had a great day out to celebrate by doing some of my favourite things with my favourite people: I visited an amazing artisan chocolate shop in Llandeilo, before going to the beautiful National Botanic Garden of Wales where my wife gave me a wonderful gift of a child-free visit to the second hand bookshop on our way out. I picked up two books for the princely sum of £2 - bargain! Aleph by Paulo Coelho (one of my favourite writers) and The Satsuma Complex by the hilarious Bob Mortimer. I still struggle to imagine Bob Mortimer working as a solicitor before he became a comedian, check out this highlights reel if you are not familiar with him and then I’m sure you’ll agree!

What's in this issue?

• My writer’s journey

  • New story time!

  • Red carpet realness!

  • Who’s that Joel C. Scoberg geezer in the news?

• Rejectomancy

• The books I love: Dune by Frank Herbert

• What’s got me hooked this month?

• Meme of the month

My writer’s journey

May has been a quieter month for me, on the writing side at least. Though it would take a lot to compare to everything that happened in April! However, as Volume 41 of Writers of the Future launches in the UK on 18 June 2025, I’m expecting a busy month ahead.

New story time!

I’m really excited to say that my short story, “The Swampton Shuffle”, was published in Issue 10 of Gwyllion Magazine on 1 May 2025, which is my second appearance in Gwyllion (after “The Apotheosis Algorithm” appeared in Issue 8 last year). Gwyllion is a great magazine chock full of awesome sci-fi and fantasy stories, with an emphasis on promoting Welsh authors and stories about Wales.

I’m working on log-lines for my stories (the catchy summary that lures readers into buying it), and I love the cover art for this issue, so I’ve put it all together with a nice link for you to go and buy the latest issue of Gwyllion (digital and print editions available), if it takes your fancy.

Red carpet realness!

I’m working on a few blog posts about my time in Hollywood and what I learned. But I thought I’d share some pictures from the annual awards gala, which was the climax of the Writers of the Future workshops. It was a very special night and I was made to feel like a star: a red-carpet moment, suited and booted in a tuxedo, a limo ride, an emotional acceptance speech and I received my trophy from a legend of fantasy fiction. Not to mention that I also met the director of the Little Mermaid and Moana, as well as an actual astronaut! Yeah, it was kind of awesome!

Who’s that Joel C. Scoberg geezer in the news?

Even though life has been quieter than April, I’ve not been idle. I’ve been busy promoting the launch of Volume 41 in the US and Canada on 18 April and I got my face about. I was even interviewed on TV 🤯!

Rejectomancy

The noble art of analysing a rejection and deciphering how close you were (or not) to an acceptance.

This month, I submitted 3 stories and received 2 rejections.

I’ve had two stories out on submission for nearly 100 days now, but that is not always a sign they are closer to an acceptance. The submission process usually involves your story going through slush readers (first readers) who, if they like it, pass it up to the editor for a final decision. Even if your story gets out of the slush pile and even if it passes through one or more editors, it may still be rejected by the managing editor. Most short story markets receive hundreds if not thousands of submissions for their calls and the general figure I have seen for rates of acceptance is between 1-4% of submissions. So the odds are not in your favour.

The books I love: Dune by Frank Herbert

Reading brings me so much joy and contentment. But alas, life commitments mean I only get to read about one book a month. I’m always looking for book recommendations as it’s a great way to make sure that one book is a great book. So, each month, I’ll recommend one book that I’ve really loved. This isn’t a book review, this nis just me saying why I love a certain book.

This month, I’m recommending Dune by Frank Herbert.

This is the most epic of epic science fiction novels and was a winner of both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award (as the inaugural winner). For me, Dune is to science fiction what Lord of the Rings is to fantasy; the pinnacle of the genre. Frankly, there is nothing I don’t like about it. It is the book that turned me from science fiction watcher into a science fiction reader.

If you have read it, or get a chance to read it, let me know what you thought - [email protected].

Disclosure: To cover some of my running costs, I have incorporated affiliate links from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops. If you buy books linked to my site or newsletter, I may earn a commission.

What’s got me hooked this month?

What I’ve been watching: The latest season of The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime, which is based on the series of epic fantasy novels by Robert Jordan and completed by Brandon Sanderson. I’m a big fan of the books, though I confess I have not completed the 14-book saga yet. Although, considering how quickly each season is released, and how many side stories (and main stories) have been trimmed down or omitted entirely, I don’t think it will be too long before it overtakes me. So, I better get back into reading the series. I don’t know about you, but I ALWAYS prefer reading the book before watching the adaptation. Overall, I think it’s a pretty good adaptation and both myself and my wife have enjoyed it a lot (she hasn’t read any of the books). I think the characters are all well cast and the various settings are so colourfully brought to life.

What I’ve been listening to: more of The Lumineers. My wife bought me their latest album (Automatic) so we could be up to date with all five of their albums before seeing their gig this month. Since having children, we’ve tended to manage about one “date night” a year (we have the occasional brunch), and I’ve been trying to get tickets for one of their UK tours for the best part of a decade. And they were well worth the wait! They were incredible. The lead singer, Wesley Shultz, sounded even better live than on the CD (yes, we bought their CDs, no downloads!) and you could see what amazing musicians they are with the variety of instruments they (and the touring band) played. It was probably the first time I left a gig and thought (if we didn’t have kids), let’s drive to the next venue and watch them tomorrow night.

What I’ve been reading: Since getting back from Hollywood I have upped my reading, which has been great. It is still my favourite pastime and probably always will be. During the Writers of the Future workshops I felt somewhat poorly read when it came to the Golden Age of sci-fi in particular. Numerous times I rather sheepishly conceded I had not read any work by a pioneer of the genre. Tim Powers, one of the principal workshop instructors alongside Jody Lynn Nye, recommended that I read the three volume Science Fiction Hall of Fame, which is a collection of short stories and novellas pre 1965 (which is when the Nebula Awards were introduced) to remedy this oversight. The stories were voted on by members of SFWA as representing the best stories of the period 1929 to 1964. I’ve started with Volume I, which contains the short stories (less than 7,000 words), and I’m thoroughly enjoying. And now, the next time I meet Tim I will be able to say, “Yes, I have read Fritz Lieber”!

Meme of the month

I’m not going to lie, I love a good meme and this is the one that has tickled me most this month.

Yeah…this is about right for me!

Until next time, keep dreaming.

Joel