Tim Maughan has been involved with anime and manga for a long time, but has only been a published writer of prose fiction for about a year an a half. I know because at the time, I was editing issue 12 of M-Brane SF. I read Tim’s story and ultimately selected it for inclusion in issue 12. That was his first published short story.
Apparently, I had some ability to recognize decent science fiction because Tim’s story, Havana Augmented was nominated for the BSFA short fiction award.
Tim writes in a small subgenre that could loosely be called cyberpunk, but perhaps would be more accurately described as virtual reality fiction. He brings his near future VR fiction to life in a gritty and believable subculture, and he is very good at it.
Not long ago, Tim released a small collection of 3 short stories and novelettes named after the lead story, Paintwork.
Paintwork the story is about graffiti artists who are so sophisticated they can modify virtual reality billboards by changing a QR code that activates animation. It is tense story that centers an artist who changes billboards only to discover that somebody has covered over the entire billboard with images from his program, yet is two-dimensional. He struggles to reach his own objectives at the same time trying to learn who is damaging his work.
The second story is called Paparazzi, and involves pirating footage of new virtual reality video games, and the dangers of mixing with enemy factions.
The short collection closes with a reprint of Havana Augmented, the story of virtual reality combat in the streets of Havana.
All three are excellent stories that transport the reader to the action. Although Paparazzi has some detail that seems to confuse Japanese and Chinese culture, but it is unclear whether this was intentional.
Tim’s work is a hidden gem. I’m very excited that a story I selected was nominated for the BSFA short fiction award, and I was excited to read this small collection. It is well worth your time
Order it from Amazon or from Smashwords.