This story is a comment on time and the way it keeps changing us and changing our circumstances. In the case of The Wave, time and memory no longer become linear but are thrown in a mixer, spiced with collective amnesia, and jostled around. The story originally appeared in Science Fiction Age. Two different production companies, one of them Atlantis Films, showed interest in the story. It was even considered for an Outer Limits episode. Alas, these projects never saw fruition.

Here’s the only fantasy story I ever had published. It appeared in a small anthology of Canadian SF, Tesseracts 6. It’s about a wizard who has to reverse-engineer penicillin in order to save the woman he loves. It’s one of my favorite stories, and I always thought it deserved a wider audience, so am posting here on the site.

Despite sending this story out to twenty-one editors, it’s been rejected every time, and so remains unpublished. It is said that sometimes writers can’t have an objective view of their own work, but whenever I re-read or re-work this story, I always end up liking it. An anthropologist discovers fossil evidence of man-like creatures on a distant planet. Eventually the fossil evidence reveals the story of their extinction. This parallels a kind of emotional extinction in the main character. I’m posting it, despite it’s long history of rejection, and welcome you to comment: publishable or unpublishable?

This story originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and features Barry Gilbert, the sleuth in my Barry Gilbert Mystery series, published by St Martin’s Press. The opening scene came to me first – murder on a rush-hour freeway, and the difficulties the police would have in preserving the scene. The story also serves as an ode to the Serbian conflict of the 1990s, and how it continued to bear bitter fruit well into the new millennium.

"Threshold of Perception" originally saw publication in the March/April 2005 issue of Interzone, and was then anthologized in Tesseracts 10. I’m a big fan of historical science fiction, and love the history of science, as I think this story will exemplify. This love of history spills over into my mystery work as well, typified by my new Dr Deacon series, set in 1902 small-town America.

It came from the deepest reaches of space and landed on the Moon. Constructed of an unidentifiable liquid material, the spherical module spread itself across the lunar surface, forming towers in its wake. Dr. Cameron Conrad is a physicist and mathematician investigating the alien phenomenon christened the Moon towers. One of the few scientists capable of deciphering the numerical language of the towers' builders, he has become humanity's ambassador for the world's first contact with an extraterrestrial species. But the ominously silent Builders quickly seem to lose interest in communicating with humans. The Moon towers are designed for one purpose only - to bleed hydrogen out of the Sun, turning it into a red giant. With Earth on the brink of destruction, and society collapsing in on itself, Conrad needs to find a way to convince the aliens that humanity is worth saving ... if it's not already too late. SFSite.com review

When the alien Tarsalans mount a light-blocking sphere around Earth to further their aims of conquest, two scientists race against time to destroy it, even as crops die in the endless night of the phytosphere, and famine and anarchy tighten their hold on civilization. Matters go from bad to worse when Earth's over-zealous military, seeking to defeat the Tarsalans, inadvertently destroy the phytosphere's control mechanism, turning it into a train without brakes. One of the scientists fails to destroy the light-blocking sphere. This leaves it up to the remaining scientist. But he is on an isolated moon community without resources or weapons, and must use only his wits and cunning to defeat the twin-brained super-intelligent Tarsalans. Alien-based post-apocalyptic fiction at its best!

Tides tells the tale of the rise of two intelligent species on the same planet, at a time in their history when they first encounter each other. Paras and Ortok are the only two continents on this planet, the homes to these two different species, and are separated by thousands of miles of ocean. Paras is lush and hospitable, a place where no one ever knows want. It has given rise to a culture of kindness and honesty. Ortok is bleak and volcanic, where the inhabitants survive at a subsistence level. It has given rise to a culture of cruelty and deceit. But will the inhabitants of Paras forever remain honest? And will the sentient species on Ortok finally cast out deceit? Watch cultures collide in this brilliant new novel by the award-winning author of OMNIFIX and ORBIS.

"I like alien invasion stories, particularly those that are cleverly done. This one is quite cleverly done. Aliens have assaulted the earth with waves of a kind of nanoplague, which destroys humans either immediately or after a period of years, disassembling their bodies. Scientists struggle to find a cure, or a counter-agent, but internal politics are just as self-destructive as ever. Then a new alien space vehicle enters the solar system and humanity fears that it is about to face a new and even more massive assault. Very suspenseful, a good scientific puzzle, and enough plot twists to give the entire novel an original feel. Science Fiction Chronicle

"Here is an intriguing alternate history in which Christianity is a tool of the Benefactors, who have been around since the time of the Roman Empire, and perhaps earlier. Rome was destroyed resisting conquest by them, and they have dominated Earth more or less ever since, claiming to be heavenly angels. Now, after centuries of opression, the truth will be known: the Benefactors are beings from the center of the galaxy, who fled a home that became uninhabitable. Designated to broadcast the truth are a heretic passing as a priest, a disillusioned church father, and a young teacher. The price of knowledge may be higher than anyone thinks, and more is at stake than first meets the eye. Its catchy premise makes this alternate history appealing, and the contrast between the high-tech stagnation of the Benefactors' society, and the low-tech innovations of rebels against it spice a good liberation-quest adventure." Booklist

"A futuristic look at how far a despotic government will go, Scott Mackay's newest SF foray is an eerie glimpse into what a species will do to avoid genocide. Thirty years ago, the asteroid Ceres was abandoned, and its genetically altered human population slaughtered by government soldiers. The government is now reclaiming Ceres as an Earth-normal gravity creche for human children born outside Earth who would otherwise die in early adulthood. But when the engineering team arrives they find Ceres is not empty. In this fast-paced story with plenty of action and suspense, Mr. Mackay embroiders "The Meek" with emotional depth and hard scientific details." Romantic Times Magazine

""Absolutely classic ... stunning ingenuity." The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"Moving ... Much of the novel's strength lies in its characters, heroic yet vulnerable, facing tough decisions and tough situations ... stirring." Publishers Weekly

"Ingenious and satisfying ... a complex and winning heroine ... Mackay delivers on the surprises when he needs to ... and he writes with impressive grace and clarity. His vision is original enough, his imagery vivid enough, and his characters engaging enough, that we might expect even better surprises in the future." Locus