Tales from the Garret

This time last week I was at Nine World Geekfest. The convention was, all in all, an excellent experience, especially considering it was the first such event the organisers had staged. Personal highlights included being introduced to the fine art of tea duelling and sharing the dance-floor with an alien. I’ve got a packed schedule […]

I’ve got another panel at Nine Worlds next weekend, this one as part of the Creative Writing stream: Sunday 3.15PM – How important is science in science fiction? Does it matter if you get it right? And if you don’t have a PhD in some obscure branch of quantum cryptography or reproductive biology, how can […]

I thought I’d share my schedule for Nine Worlds Geekfest, which is only two weeks away now: Saturday 13:45 to 14:45 – Is our Future Utopian or Dystopian? Science fiction writers present the evidence and debate our future – where are we heading, utopia or dystopia? Galaxy spanning empire or barren wasteland? Where are the […]

I’m heading into new and possibly dangerous territory here. I’m going to venture out of my SFF ghetto and talk about Literature, specifically (what is generally felt to be) one of the most important plays of the twentieth century. I studied Waiting for Godot at college. At the time I remember thinking it was tedious […]

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve got a story in The Alchemy Book of Urban Mythic, the follow-up to The Alchemy Book of Ancient Wonders, due to be launched at the World Fantasy Con in Brighton this year.  I’m sharing the bill with an impressive range of writers. Here’s the full table of contents: James […]

In just under two weeks, on Tuesday July 16th, I’ll be a guest of the Storyslingers writers’ group in Shaftesbury, Dorset. I’ll be appearing with Urban Fantasy author Suzanne McLeod at the Shaftesbury Arts Centre at 6.30pm. We’re planning on doing short readings then a fairly informal Q & A. We’ll do our best to […]

I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be a Guest of Honour at Andromeda One, a new one-day convention being held in Birmingham on Saturday 21st September. As an added bonus, I’ll be sharing the GoH spot with the prodigiously talented Paul Cornell, who is one of my favorite people.

Iain Banks’s untimely death has, quite rightly, got plenty of attention this week. My own feelings can’t be fully summed up without some rude and angry words, but in dilute form, they’ve be something like, How could you do that, you bastard universe/god!* Like a lot of British SF fans of my generation, I knew […]

Some writers need – or at least claim to need – to hand-write only in the finest moleskine notebook, handcrafted by artisans from quality ingredients (etc etc). Myself, I’m a scrawler, and this level of luxury would be lost on me. Not to mention, I might lose it. Notebooks, generally, are disposable items, and I […]

I love music. I’m a consumer not a creator, with eclectic tastes (as I write this I’m listening to an internet radio station devoted to electro-swing), but music matters to me, in every aspect of my life – including my fiction. So, I was pleased to be asked to play a small part in the […]