The Hub

Hi all,

I'm Zen (a.k.a. Phil), and I'm a sci-fi writer. I sometimes do a bit of fantasy or horror, but generally only in flash-fiction or short story form.

There is a flash-fiction sci-fi comedy called "A Random Act of Kindness" in my portfolio if you want to have a laugh. It's badly written, I know, and someday I'll get around to tightening it up, but it's still fun.

I've written four novels - one at 50k words, one at 100k, and two at 200k. I'm currently rewriting my 4th novel (100k) for the fifth time, partly because I've learnt so much in the last couple of years that I could see it needed it, and partly because I'm treating it as an academic exercise. I hope it will get the attention of an agent at some point.

Theme-wise, I like taking both a philosophical and cynical look at social dysfunction; runaway economics; technological upheavals and resource mismanagement.

Most of my stories are fly-in-the-ointment type - either something that upsets the status quo, or a character well out of their comfort zone.

I particularly love world-building, and will generally begin with six weeks of intense world-building, followed by anything up to several years maturing that environment still further. It is my belief that the world you create has to be treated very much like a character: it must have character, personality and back-story, and like any character, must be portrayed well. It also has to be exploited in order to create a full-immersion experience for the reader - using it as a backdrop is rarely enough.

I look forward to meeting you all!