Most of my fiction reading in 2019 came from a box of old paperbacks, written by Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton and various others. It was probably a mistake to binge read one author at a time, as you get used to their style and start to predict plot developments. Pick of the bunch was Koontz’s Odd Thomas, the first in a series that hasn’t quite lived up to the standard of the original.

This year also saw the release of the final two novelisations from the original series of Doctor Who, albeit in hardback. When the paperback versions come out in a few months many collections that began in the 1970s will finally be complete. Sadly, the prolific Terrance Dicks, responsible for so many of those books passed away. The announcement of more novels from the revised series ensures that his legacy continues.

I contributed three short stories to magazines during the year and am most proud of the Halloween Horror anthology. My favourite story was Erin Cashier’s “Fifteen Minutes from Now,” in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Jan/Feb edition.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas.

Paul Williams is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, best known for his study of the Jack the Ripper suspects.