Well, that was fun. Exhausting, but fun. We arrived around mid afternoon on Friday, and soon met up with the first of many old friends (in the bar, natch). Then I was into a hectic evening’s programming. I was one of several guests on the opening chat-show, and I took the opportunity to confess that […]
I’m trying to be all mature and professional about Novacon but my exuberance keeps getting the better of me. Fortunately Beloved is acting as the voice of reason, reminding me to pack practical stuff and pointing out that being the Last Woman (Barely) Standing in the bar at 5am is not only not required of […]
The season of the novel is almost upon us. I have a nostalgic fondness for NaNoWriMo. I successfully completed it only once, in 2006, and I didn’t write a novel as such, just the 50,000 words required to ‘win’ at National Novel Writing Month. 50K is a realistic goal, and at that time being kicked […]
I’m just back from BristolCon, which was excellent, notwithstanding the nasty bug that struck some people, and the midnight fire alarm. It was great to see old friends and make new ones. And being brought an awesome chocolate dessert whilst moderating a panel is a luxury I could get used to. The first Goodreads giveaway […]
We’re back from Cornwall, where I walked along clifftops and found some quality mud as well as spending far too much money on scrumpy and handmade chocolates (though not, you’ll be glad to hear, all at the same time). I came back to find the BristolCon programme more or less finalised. Unless there are any […]
Firsty, a belated Hello! to anyone I met at Fantasycon. If I said/did anything stupid whilst in the bar/on the dancefloor/on a panel, that wasn’t me, it was my Evil Twin, Ms Sarah Pinborough. I’ve been delighted at the reception Downside Girls has been getting. You can read a couple of the more head-swelling reviews […]
I’ve got away with a light workload this weekend – I’m just on the one panel at FantasyCon, which is ‘Have We Caught Up with Science Fiction?’ at 5pm on Saturday. I’m guessing the ‘we’ is the ‘real’ world, and there’s some cool people on this panel, so it should be fun. I didn’t get […]
Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter what was a pretty tricky contest. I’m going to be sending the prize to ‘Odo’ (who I’ve already emailed), because of a response which managed to remind me of one example I’d forgotten, tell me another I need to look up and mention a third […]
I like short stories, and I like big plots. So, writing several short stories with an overarching meta-plot is always tempting, if somewhat indulgent. Fortunately, I’ve been allowed to indulge myself, and Downside Girls is the result. Most of the stories in this little collection tie into each other and they all link into Principles […]
One of the most pleasing, if disconcerting, things about writing is the way that when you’re developing ideas into a story, reality spontaneously throws up supporting data. During a panel at Eastercon I was asked which science I’d like to get more of in my fiction. I answered ‘Biology’ partly out of cowardice, because aside […]
This is shaping up to be a busy month for me (OK, all my months are busy, it’s just that too many of them are busy in a non-writing-related way). On Tuesday week, the 11th, I’m a guest at the Oxfam Bookshop in Reading, as part of their Science Fiction spectacular. I’ll be there from […]