… links. You can find some excellent pictures from the recent SciFi London event at the Royal Observatory here, courtesy of the multi-talented Simon Bradshaw. Just to set the record straight: in that second one of us panellists having a pre-panel mill I’m not actually telling Simon to get down off the balcony, I am […]
So far this month I’ve chalked up 5,401 words, 4,833 of them on a new story. It’s not much compared to some of the NaNoWriMo hares out there (keep up the good work, chaps) but it’s a massive improvement on my recent (in)ability to produce first drafts. More importantly, I’m actually enjoying writing ‘The Ships […]
If anyone out there is doing National Novel Writing Month, then I’d just like to say: good luck, have fun and why are you reading this blog when you could be writing? I’m not doing it this year, partly because of other commitments – a long weekend away that will take out at least two […]
I get to see most of the online reviews of my books, courtesy of Google Alerts, which is a useful free service, though with titles like Principles of Angels and Consorts of Heaven I don’t half get some odd pages coming up (the religious fundamentalism I expected, but there’s also a surprising amount of baseball […]
As novelling season approaches, I thought I’d share the ‘miracle’ of how I do it. I offer this little list not as a recommended strategy so much as a confession, or possibly a warning. 1. I’ve had this BRILLIANT idea … 2. … And now all these other ideas are flocking to it, along with […]
Firstly, a correction: that Jeter bloke I was on about last time? That would be K W Jeter not (the possibly entirely fictional outside my own muddled head) J W Jeter. Apologies for any confusion caused there. Also, the next section I read in Noir did have the ‘F’ word in it. Apparently it is […]
(Before I get going, let me just say that the word in question will appear in this post as f*ck. This isn’t because I find said word offensive – as you’ll know if you’ve read much of my stuff – but because others might; plus, there’s a distinct risk of the unexpurgated form prompting unwelcome […]
In my current less-than-focused state, I’ve given in to the urge to join an online book indulgence community (I’m sure that’s not how they bill themselves, but that’s how I think of ’em). In fact, as I wasn’t sure which one to go for, I joined two: LibraryThing and Goodreads. Tempted though I am to […]
Entropy? Ennui? A bit of both right now I think. Having said that, t’garret is as tidy as it’s ever been, so any entropy must be purely internal (if such a thing is possible). As well as ticking off ‘Tidy Stuff’ from my mental ‘to do’ list, I can now check off the equally vague […]
I’ve recently had several conservations about growing up in a house with no books. I didn’t really feel the lack at the time, as I didn’t know any better, but I do remember that it led to some early reading choices which still make me cringe. I’ve no intention of embarrassing myself further by giving […]
Continuing my theme of self-indulgent posts largely consisting of lists, I’ve decided to have fun with a writers’ meme that’s currently doing the rounds. 1. Are you a "pantser" or a "plotter"? Plot … no pants … no, pants plot. Much as I’d like to, I’m not confident enough to go totally seat-of-the-pants (yet): I […]