Practicing what I preach

Last week at the Birmingham SF Group meeting the interviewer asked me whether I was still learning, as a writer. The answer I gave was, of course, yes. Improving in the craft of writing gives me satisfaction and pleasure, though it does mean I’m sometimes leery of reading stories I wrote before I got to […]

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… and another one

Another review came in over the weekend, this one from The Guardian. It’s always nice to get reviewed amongst the big boys (even if they are almost always, actual boys). It was a fair review, I thought, and I have to plead guilty on the one negative point raised (actually, it was Fiji).

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First review

I’m off to Birmingham for my appearance at the Brum SF group meeting this evening (details below for anyone who’s interested). I’ll leave you with this review of Guardians of Paradise from Swedish SF blogger Cybermage. I’d like to think every review will be that comprehensive and complimentary. It does come with a slight warning: […]

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Book review: ‘Music for Another World’

I should start my review of this collection of short stories with a confession: I wanted to be in it. I still love short stories, even if I don’t get time to write (or read!) them enough these days. Music is also very important too me, although I’m strictly a consumer, not a producer, when […]

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Book review: ‘Music for Another World’

I should start my review of this collection of short stories with a confession: I wanted to be in it. I still love short stories, even if I don’t get time to write (or read!) them enough these days. Music is also very important too me, although I’m strictly a consumer, not a producer, when […]

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It’s shameless self-promotion time!

Today’s a proper Book Birthday – the official release date of Guardians of Paradise. For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, it’s two weeks earlier than originally scheduled. I shall celebrate letting my third book loose on the world in some way yet to be determined, probably involving alcohol. And a reminder about other ‘me […]

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Rediscovering old friends

This week I’m concentrating on ‘writing admin’, including work on an essay and a book review I’ve been asked to write, and sending out a few short stories in the hopes of selling them. I’m also taking the chance to revisit stories that need rework before they go to a magazine; like the novels, my […]

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Stage 1a

When I mentioned to a colleague at the current day-job (yes, I’m afraid I still need one of those to get by) that I’d finished the first draft of my current novel he asked whether the next stage was to send it to my editor. Well, no. Getting the first draft down is, for me, […]

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Finished!

I’m pleased (and somewhat relieved) to announce that I’ve finally finished the first draft of Bringer of Light. Right now I’m thinking that, except for a few minor issues, it’s pretty damn good and will hardly need any rework. In about a week’s time I’ll have changed my mind, and it’ll be the worst thing […]

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A thousand words

Actually you’ll continue to get rather less than that from me, as although the massive five chapter long, multiple viewpoint conflict is finally over in the first draft of Bringer of Light, there’s still a couple of chapters’ worth of resolution. Given I’m still working on the first draft, it seems a little surreal to […]

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