Tag Archives: military horror series

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT –  MALORY

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Aaaaaand we’re boarding another plane on Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight, and this time we’re heading over to the UK (we’re truly globe-trotting) to have a wee antipodean chat with Malory. There could be tea. There could be coffee (it’s definitely coffee). But there are always TimTams.

While I clean chocolate from my face (you eat biscuits your way, I’ll gorge them mine), I’ll hand the sparkly mic over to Malory and let him tell you a little sumpin’ sumpin’ about himself.

Malory’s the 2026 winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award and a PhD researcher exploring men’s reading habits. He writes LitRPG, sci-fi and progression fantasy, including the Morgan & Merlin and Soar Chronicles series. He’s based in Birmingham, UK.

For SNAFU: Level Up, Malory levelled-up the snark and hit-points with EXPERIENCE POINTS ARE FOR VIRGINS: A British field operative gets a combat HUD bolted to his eyeballs, a squad of streamers for backup, and a Class 4 Reality Breach to clear. The monsters are real, but the experience points are not.

You can find Malory at his website, Substack, Insta, TikTok, Facebook, and on X.

Malory also has some work coming out, which you should definitely get in your eyeballs: Arcane Galaxy Book 3, Disavowed (working title) from Aethon Books should be coming before the end of the year. Book 2, Swashbuckler, out 29 July 2026.

And if that isn’t enough for you? Here’s a free novella link.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – SUBHAM RAI

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And this is the last of Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlights with Subham Rai!  And yes, you’re right, the math doesn’t quite math. This is Author Spotlight #14, and we have eighteen authors in SNAFU: Contagion – you just need to roll with it. Please and thank you! 😊

Subham absolutely killed with his tale. Not literally. That’s illegal despite alibis. I’m pretty sure. I mean, there are dead people in his story. But you expect that. This is SNAFU. And Subham ran with that, guns blazing.

So, I’ll now hand you over to him to give a far more coherent introduction than I’ve done…

Subham Rai is an emerging writer based in Kolkata, India. His short stories have been published in notable outlets, including Strange Horizons, Macrame Literary Journal, Cohesion Press’s SNAFU: Contagion, and Zoetic Press’s Mosscap’s Ledger, with additional works featured in Graveside Press’s Kosmos Obscura. Forthcoming publications include ‘Bread Over the Line’ in Consequence Forum, ‘The Salem Shadow’ in Graveside Press’s Witchcraft Anthology, ‘The Holly Locket Curse’ in Bindweed Magazine, and ‘Margaret Hollow’ in Vellum Mortis.

As you can guess, we got quite the gruesome tale from Subham for SNAFU: Contagion – OUTPOST ZERO: In a remote Arctic outpost, a nightmare outbreak threatens the mainland.

You can find Subham on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and Facebook2 (I added the ‘2’, again, roll with it!).

Subham is absolutely a writer to watch.   

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – ROBERT MAMMONE

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We’re Aussie-ing again with this Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion – we’re like a plague (see what I did there?).  Cohesion Press is stumbling to the end of our Author Spotlight series (okay, I’m stumbling; there’s never enough caffeine), and while this isn’t the last of our authors, Robert Mammone does round out the ToC for SNAFU: Contagion.

And a cracker of a tale it is!

But I’ll let Robert introduce himself, because I think that’s likely to best for all involved… especially Robert…

Not to be confused with the Australian actor of the same name, Rob has been writing since the mid-80s, got serious in the mid-90s and was published in Doctor Who Magazine, then received an absolutely brutal (in hindsight, deserved) rejection letter soon after and went dark until 2009.  Since then, he’s been published in places like Midnight Echo, Pseudopod podcast, No Sleep Podcast, Swords and Sorceries 10, Die by the Sword 2, and had novels published with Candy Jar Books.  When he isn’t chasing his dogs around the neighbourhood, he can be found doing very little else.

As I said earlier in this piece, Robert wrote us a cracker of tale for SNAFU: Contagion –  GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: Mercenaries bite off more than they can chew in the frontlines of the Ukraine-Russian meat grinder.

You can find Robert on Twitter.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – JOSH REYNOLDS

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It’s SNAFU: Contagion Author Spotlight again, and this time we’re bringing you a name you probably recognise (we’re actually bringing the whole person, not just the name… I mean, it’s not like we’ve shackled Josh or anything… <side eye>… Promise.).

Yep, I’m talking about Josh Reynolds, who has penned many a story for Cohesion Press’ SNAFU series. He’s just that good. Look, I swear we haven’t shackled him in a haunted asylum to make him write for us, don’t believe the rumours.

Now, before I make a complete idiot of myself (shh), I’ll let Josh to the introducing of Josh – he’ll do a far better job of it than me…

A professional author since 2007, Josh has over thirty novels to his name, as well as numerous short stories, novellas, and audio scripts. Born and raised in South Carolina, he now resides in Sheffield with his wife and daughter, as well as a highly excitable dog and something he hopes is a cat.

Now, I can’t say for sure that the ‘something’ Josh hopes is a cat didn’t have anything to do with the tale he penned for SNAFU: Contagion, but… THE SILENT SPAN: A soldier sent into the trenches to discover why his comrades have fallen silent, discovers something far more deadly. 

You can find Josh on Bluesky and Instagram.

Prodigious writer that he is, Josh has Return of the Monster Men ready for preorder, and Tales of Pannithor: Stand at Callenspire ready to read now.

You can also find a complete collection of his works on his website.

Seriously, check out his work!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – AARON BEARDSELL

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Well, lookee here! Another Aussie kicking back on Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight stage for SNAFU: Contagion! Maybe we’re the contagion… it’s been said. Yeah-nah, we’re too laid back for all that nonsense. Seems too much like hard work. No? Just me?

Aaanyway, moving on.

TEN! That’s where we’re at with the Author Spotlights, so let’s have Aaron tell you more about himself, it’ll likely make much more sense than my intro!

Aaron Beardsell fell in love with writing at a young age, starting out with a totally-not haunted typewriter obtained from a church yard sale. Since then, Aaron’s stories have been published in a wide variety of anthologies.

For SNAFU: Contagion, there’s a high probability that Aaron used his totally-not haunted typewriter for FUNGICIDE – Special delivery: tactical nuke.

You can find Aaron on Instagram.

Additionally, Aaron’s debut novel, Dead Station, is available now. Full of sci-fi horror, you won’t be able to put it down. And if you enjoyed Fungicide, keep your eyes peeled for the first ever novel set in the same universe! Discover how the War began…

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, Reviews, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MARK OXBROW

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HALFWAY!

That’s right, we’re halfway through Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight series for SNAFU: Contagion, and today we are ushering another Aussie onto the stage – Mark Oxbrow! (Okay, technically a Scot, but he lives here now, so he’s ours.)

With all that being said, I’ll hand the mic over to Mark to let him introduce himself fat better than I can.

Drumroll, please…

Mark Oxbrow is a storyteller, author, and ghostwriter. Legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow has twice recommended short stories by Mark—Frightful Things and No Doves Come from Raven’s Eggs—as among the best horror of the year. Mark’s books feature witch goddesses, poison gardens, folk horror, ghost stories, medieval monsters and secret treasures. Mark was born and raised in Edinburgh, the world’s most haunted city. Over twenty-five years ago, he founded Scotland’s largest Halloween festival.

In keeping with all thing creepy af, for SNAFU: Contagion, Mark made good on horror background with NECROTIZING: On far-flung exoplanet, combat surgeon Nita Torres and Sergeant Aoki Ito face-down a grotesque mutation. 

You can find Mark on Instagram.

We have also heard whispers from dark corners that Mark is currently working on a currently untitled horror novel. Keep your eyes peeled!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – RPL JOHNSON

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We’re edging close to halfway with our Author Spotlights, with me wanting to spotlight every two days before print publication (ebook and Audible are already available)… which means I’m gonna have to ramp up the blog frequency – the math just ain’t mathing (if you know me, that will come as no surprise).

So, moving on from my clear lack of numeric aptitude…  We’ve another Aussie stepping onto Cohesion Press’ stage for Author Spotlight #7, and he’s someone you’ve likely read before. Richard has been in a number of SNAFU editions – the man knows how to freak us the fuck out, and his tale for SNAFU: Contagion is no different.

But let him tell you a little about himself while I skulk off and cry into my calculator…

Richard Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and independent novelist. He won the Gold Award at Writers of the Future in 2011 and the Jim Baen Memorial Award in 2012 and has been a finalist in the Aurealis  Awards with one of his many stories for the SNAFU series of military horror anthologies from Cohesion Press.

In addition to his novels and short stories, Richard has also worked closely with Blur Studios in the USA on the Amazon Prime TV show Secret Level, the video game Exodus, and an as yet undisclosed feature for Warner Bros.

He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two sons.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Richard showed us the fragility of reality with: CONSENSUS BREAK: The hospital wasn’t an asylum, it was a prison for those who—

(See what I did there? 😏)

You can find Richard on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.  

If you want to read more of Richard’s work (you really should!) he has a YA sci-fi novel The View from Infinity Beach (I’ve read it, it’s excellent!), and a short story collection, Skull Candy.