Words and Music

Found myself in Edinburgh last night for a bit of a special books and music event in neat little bookshop that was new to me called Pulp Fiction. The shop itself, carrying a well chosen selection of crime and SF/Fantasy books, is well worth a visit. Its high-stacked shelves remind me of the old Murder […]

April -reading

Again, a month’s readings interrupted by other things. Which is not a complaint, just a bit of scene setting. In April I’d intended to go ahead and read the other BSFA nominees that I didn’t managed during March (The Islanders and By Light Alone), but by the time my reading schedule had cleared I wasn’t […]

The price of things and the value of things

In the light of the US Department Of Justice inquiry into the attempt by the Big Six publishers over there to establish (or ‘fix’) prices for e-books at a nominally substantial level, I think it’s worth pointing out that they’re not just doing so because they’re greedy. This article explains how e-books are priced, and why it’s […]

Headers versus Hearters

*Scene: the classroom in the Peanuts cartoons. At the front, the ever-incoherent teacher. Facing her, a column of kids at desks: Lucy, Patty, Charlie B, and at the back, wearing a dunce hat, a bemused looking kid, slightly older than the rest, who we learn is called Neil. The deployment of dunce hats is not […]

March reading

Concentrated on novels during March to give myself a chance of making a properly informed vote before the BSFA awards.* Embassytown by China Mieville (Pan Macmillan): for 100 pages or so I thought this was going to be it, the-Mieville-that-I-loved, but it ended up being the-Mieville-that-I-was-initially-intellectually-stimulated-by, moved on to the-Mieville-that-started-to-outstay-its-welcome, and lastly the-Mieville-that-bored-me-so-much-I-had-to-skim-the-last-bit-just-to-call-it-done-even-though-admittedly-that-last-bit-actually-had-some-action. As usual […]

At long last: The Cyber Puppets!

Have just this second bought the brand-spanking squeaky new Kindle edition of Angus McAllister’s The Cyber Puppets from Brain In A Jar. For me this is where ebooks come into their own, making available books that for whatever reason previously missed their chance. I first ordered The Cyber Puppets – I don’t know – ten years […]

January reading

Kicking off last year’s monthly feature where I attempt to jot down some notes on what I’ve enjoyed reading-wise during the month. During February and March I’m going to attempt read the BSFA shortlisted novels, but January’s selection was a bit more of a lucky bag. The Sword Of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett – a […]

Tom and Holly, Story and Song

Over on her site, Holly Phillips is discussing influences on her writing. She has a few things to say on the subject, but the main focus of her thinking on this occasion is Tom Waits’s amazing ability to draw the strange out of the everyday and overlooked. In other words, he does what the magic realists […]

2012 Goals part 2 – The Creative Side

Okay, do you remember last year when I talked about my balls? Yes? No? Well, I’m using the new year to kind of stock take and push on from that position. I actually managed to tick a few things off the original list, but here’s what remains. The novel. For various reasons (mainly to do […]

The last of the reading

This time last year I made a sort of resolution to do one simple thing: to read more for enjoyment. Mostly I carried it through and I read a lot of good books and stories, and a few poor ones too. Towards the end of the year, though, I got sidetracked by reading a few […]