I'll make this quick -- there's no reason for me to entertain you for free, is there? So, just a little listing of what's been filling the hours of my life as we move ever closer to the heat death of the universe.

WATCHING

The Knick is back for season two. It's still good. Still messed up. But now that the novelty factor of season one is wearing ( Read more... )

You Can't Handle the HandleLet's just get the big stuff out of the way, shall we? Let's get it right... out... of... the... way ( Read more... )

I was wondering when I'd get a chance to announce this one! I'm absolutely delighted to be part of a new anthology of SF stories based on Grimm's fairy tales entitled... The Grimm Future.

What a fine cover it has! What a great line-up that includes our own Maura McHugh (splinister), as well as a number of other writers whose work I have long admired. I'll ( Read more... )

NOVELISINGLong-time friends will know that I always celebrate when a book I'm working on reaches the 40k word mark. For those who don't know, I do this for the stupid, completely arbitary reason that this is the minimum length for a novel. Anything shorter is at best a novella ( Read more... )

Almost a DateIt's looking very likely at the moment that my next published novel, The Call, will now appear on both sides of the Atlantic in September 2016 or thereabouts. Originally, the lovely UK Publishers, David Fickling Books, were aiming for Easter. But close cooperation with Scholastic will make for a far stronger release. Twitter, facebook ( Read more... )

It's rare indeed that I'll last more than a few levels of a videogame these days. And this despite the fact that I was a fiend for them growing up. Yet, just this week, I tried my hand at an old PC classic called Portal, and instantly fell in love. It's a beautifully weighted puzzler backed up by a wonderfully written, slyly humorous script ( Read more... )

So, the copy-edits for my next book, The Call are done. This means that from now on I will have no further input until we all start marketing the thing and you poor sods begin to receive wheedling pleas asking you to buy it, sell it, publicize it, review it, give all your lives and worldly possessions over to the glory of ME ( Read more... )

WATCHING

Busy, busy, busy! In ten minutes I'll have soap in my eyes as I get ready to go and watch The Martian. Hurray! But don't feel let down thinking I never watch anything on the little box in my living room, because I totally do. There's been some great stuff on lately: Fargo has restarted with a bang on Channel4. The Returned and The ( Read more... )

Yes, dear friends, sometimes life is very much a joy. Warm weather and blackberries. Good conversation and better cooking. Right now, I'm working my way through the Oh, She Glows cookbook, making everything from puddings, to salt'n'vinegar roasted chickpeas to breakfast cereals. Tonight, it's enchiladas ( Read more... )

READING

I'll keep this brief... There are a few early gaps in my Ian McDonald library and I've been plugging them with ebooks. The latest is Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone, which contains Buddhism, Shinto and human programming. Really liking it so far, but still... still... the one I really yearn for is Luna, which Ian read from at TitanCon last ( Read more... )