The rider and the kid

Ninety days has passed since Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid appeared in Murky Depths #8, so I can let you read it here.

Neil Stuthers, the Irish artist who painted the kick-ass art that appeared with the story, has given me permission to show you that, too. Thanks, Neil.

I think the story is my own personal favorite and I get goose bumps when I look at Neil’s painting.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

A review at SF CrowsNest

Gareth D. Jones just reviewed Murky Depths #8 over at SF CrowsNest, the monthly science fiction and fantasy e-zine that is the most popular SF site in Europe (and the second most popular in the world).

Here’s what he had to say about my flash, Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid:

“Biofuel takes on a new meaning in KC Ball’s ‘Nosing With The Four-Stroke Kid’, a short piece in which a motorbike enthusiast asks too many questions of a mysterious rider. It’s a fun little piece with a good twist.”

Thanks, Gareth.

You can read the entire review here.

I have a new favorite artist

I just got back from the mailbox.

I now have in my possession two complimentary copies of Issue 8 of Murky Depths, the British speculative fiction quarterly, and I am in awe of Neil Struthers.

Neil is the artist who created the illustration for my flash, Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid, which appears in Issue 8, and his two-page spread is awesome.

Neil’s vision of the story’s mystery woman is everything I imagined when I wrote:

When she pulled her helmet off, she looked like Uma Thurman on a bad-hair day.  All platinum spikes and black roots and wicked-sharp elbows.

The Kid didn’t mind.  He figured the hair for honest and he could take a jab to the ribs with the best of them.  It wouldn’t come to that, though.  The woman and her wheels were a matched set, covered in matte black and bristling with chromes spikes, but the Kid had no interest in the rider.

He was a self-proclaimed expert in all things dirt bike, but he couldn’t name the one that she straddled.

Thank you, Neil!  You are now my favorite artist.

You can order a copy of Murky Depths here.

The kid in murky depths

The 8th issue of the British speculative fiction magazine, Murky Depths, is on sale now.  Shipping will begin this week and my flash fiction, Nosing with the Four-Stroke Kid, is in there.

As my Brit friends, Jon and Sarah, would say, I am chuffed about this one. I haven’t seen it yet, my author copies are in the mail, but I’ve seen previous issues of the magazine and presentation is first rate.

I have also seen work done by artist Neil Struthers, who is illustrator for my story, and he has a great Mad Max-Biker Chic style that fits perfectly with the Four-Stroke Kid.

The story is about chrome spikes and black leather and dirt bikes and over-weaning curiosity. I am hoping, after reading my tale, that you will never see another dirt bike or hear another diesel engine without thinking about the Four-Stroke Kid.

I’ll tell you more when I get my hands on the book. I can hardly wait.