Theatre Review

Kate and I have started going to the theatre on a Thursday evening, and since I’m a reviewer, it seems a good idea to turn my attention to reviewing plays. It was Hedda Gabler a fortnight ago; now it’s the turn of The Secret of Sherlock Holmes. Kate was more impressed by us buying stand-by tickets for £5, and ending up in £30 seats, but then again her family crest is a pair of shopping trolleys crossed, and the phrase “It was a bargain” in Latin… (is eram non carus, for those of you who are wondering)

• March 14th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

New Review at Suite101 – F&SF March/April

As the title will indicate, I’ve posted a new review at Suite101. I should have posted it last week; I’m not sure what happened there. But anyway, here it is, belatedly.

• March 13th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

CDOG

The second of two pieces on characterization posted over at the blog at Suite101.

• March 12th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

Why Stories Sometimes Fail: Character

I’ve posted the first of an occasional series at Suite101, examining why stories fail. SF is a literature driven by ideas, but an idea without a plot is not a story. Plot grows from character, just as in the best stories, plot drives character.

I’ve held back from this sort of article for some time, because I still think of myself as a journeyman, but I’m slowly accepting that I’m further along the road that journey takes, than many others.

• March 11th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

Hugo Deadline — Closer Than You Think, Maybe?

So I was all set to poke fun at Mary Robinette Kowal for mixing up her 1s and her 3s, ’cause everyone knows that the deadline for the Hugo nominations is the 31st. Then I looked at the reminder mail from Worldcon again. Oh, crap. It really is the 13th. The 31st is the Nebula Awards and TTA Press.  There are some pointers toward quick reading sites  here.

• March 10th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

Bad Buys

In which Our Blogger realizes that that blasted netbook which he’s in danger of obsessing about, is not the first bit of kit to give him grief. More about that here. Perhaps the manufacturers have a cunning plan, methinks…

• March 9th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

Back From Dublin

The clock is headed toward midday as I write this, and I’ve only been in for about half an hour! I was up at 5.30 this morning, which is no earlier than any other day, but it already seems to have gone on forever. It’s all about the travelling. And in about three hours I’ll be heading for my Scriptwriting Seminar at Uni, so I’d better turn my thoughts toward that.

But before I do, I’ve posted more about P-Con over at Suite.

• March 8th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

P-Con 7 Timetable

I fly out to Dublin later on today for the annual Phoenix Con, now in its seventh year. I have a pretty busy Saturday, with panels pretty much every other hour, so that if I’m lucky I’m on stage for an hour with an hour until the next one.

I’m unsure where my slot is in the ‘Meet the Author’ strand; if it’s Saturday, it could blow that nice steady routine out of the water — Sunday before or after lunch would be ideal, but I’ll take whatever crops up.

Sunday looks a little quieter, but here’s my timetable in full.

I was going to say ‘See you all tomorrow’ in Gaelic, but I can’t actually read Grace’s hand-writing…translation fail, Grace!

So I’ll see you all tomorrow…in English.

• March 5th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0

Timetable Ambush

Today’s post over at Suite101 is nearer to a rant. (What am I saying? It is a rant, albeit, almost under control…) It’s probably going to prove a bit of an own-goal, but a rant’s better out than in, and it means I can get on with tackling the day. And it’s better than Going Krakatoa on someone.

• March 4th, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 1

Money for Nothing?

This morning I posted on the blog about a recent opportunity to make money…although on closer inspection, it maybe isn’t such a good deal. Which sums up much about the internet.

• March 3rd, 2010 • Posted in General • Comments: 0