It’s going to be a cracking day. Here’s some of the highlights I’m hoping to take in.

Fake Major

Filthy Boy

Phosphorescent

Temples

Wolf People

Fabulous to hear from Hal Duncan that he has a new book out. Errata is a collection of four novellas set in the landscape of his Book Of All Hours novels. They were originally published in a variety of locations, so Errata presents the first opportunity to read them all together. There’s even a rumour that if you read the novellas and the novels in a particular order the whole story becomes crystal clear***

As a bonus, the book has a stunning cover by incredible cut-paper artist, Cat Ingall.

***Note: rumour, probably a lie but, hey, if you like a challenge, I’m not going to stop you.

Onward!

The beer is quite interesting. As a RSD experiment music blogger, Song By Toad, has teamed up with Edinburgh craft brewer, Barney’s, in an intriguing challenge named Beer Vs Records. In short: would music buyers, in spending £12 on an album of new music, prefer to have the lovely red vinyl media  or four beers. It’s an interesting one. Personally, I’m no longer particularly attached to music media. The music is what matters most to me, and even if I *had* something I could play vinyl on, I’d still have opted for the beers.

Music AND beer? That’s a bargain right there. Can’t wait to download the tracks and explore the brews while listening.

I’ll be hitting Love Music and Monorail during the day tomorrow, looking out for albums by some of the acts I’ve got earmarked for attention at this year’s Stag & Dagger (Phosphorescent, Fake Major, Bill Ryder-Jones, Filthy Boy). If you’re in Glasgow, join me, or if you’re elsewhere in Scotland, The Herald’s got a pretty neat run-down of who’s doing what to mark the occasion.

ps Isn’t it about time someone did this for indie bookshops?

Keith’s put together a top-of-the-head list of writers from the UK spec fic community who are over 40. A grumpy old man, list. Or Grampa, he calls it.

A bunch of writers who are every bit as promising as them Granta kiddies.

And I’m gratified to be included there, but you know…I don’t think of myself as old. Or even middle aged. I’ve been roughly the same age mentally since I was 16. I’ve been writing now for 20 years. It’s been a long road, writing in the cracks, getting stories published, getting books published, being nominated for awards, selling a novel. There’s loads more still to come, and I’m now in a place where I can devote more of my time to it.

I’m anything but grumpy.

And a lot of the work is done already, a year before publication. The bulk of the editing is done. And the cover is nearly finalised too. We’ll start promoting the book later in the year (probably around the time of WFC in Brighton), and will reveal the cover officially probably closer to that time, but since there was a sneak preview in today’s Newcon press mail out, I think it’s okay to include a teaser here.

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett (Corvus)

In SF they tell you that one of the great cliches is the Adam-and-Eve-on-a-new-planet story. You just don’t do it. Ever. Chris Beckett has, however, done exactly that, and Dark Eden is a simple, beautiful triumph of a book. His Adam and Eve are several generations dead, and their descendants – the Family – scraping out an almost stone-age existence on a sunless world with its weird bioluminescent ecology, have become genetically and linguistically degenerate. The setting is exquisitely rendered and the story of one boy’s attempts to forge a different life, and the disruptions his actions cause in Family, is a surprisingly affecting one. In Dark Eden Becket tells a most human of stories against the most outlandish of settings. I absolutely loved this book.

Reading short

The Animator by Chris Butler (Interzone #245)

This is the second story I’ve read in Butler’s strange “mood spores” setting, and I think I liked it even better than it’s Interzone predecessor. In this one he investigates the terror the ruling classes have of entertainments that might unite the populace into resisting their natural spore-borne dominance. The invention of projected animation was a lovely way to explore this, although I wished we’d been taken to the hinted-at secret theatres too. Maybe next time?

The Circle Of Least Confusion by Martin Sketchley (Solaris Rising 2)

This story begins with two radically different threads – one mundane and contemporary, the other high-paced and exotic – but they are quickly and skilfully merged into a sensitively portrayed tale centred around how the ability to see the consequences of choices that couples sometimes have to make might colour those decisions. A really thoughtful piece.

Listening to

Cannibals With Cutlery by To Kill A King

Circumstances prevented me catching To Kill A King at last year’s Stag & Dagger in Glasgow, and listening to this album, I’ve really started to regret that. Cannibals With Cutlery is packed with good tunes, indie anthems and more subtle, personal pieces too. The arrangements are textured and gorgeous, and the songs are both uplifting and reflective. Children Who Start Fires is probably my favourite song of the year so far.

And wouldn’t you know, a year after I missed them the first time, TKAK play Glasgow in a week or so. No way I’m going to miss them a second time.

Being at

8SquaredCon, Eastercon 2013

I’ve already written about this year’s Eastercon. But it bears repeating: relaxed, good humoured, impeccably organised – one of the best I’ve been to in some years.

The talk will encompass short story writing and song writing, the rhythm of prose and writing to music, musical theatre, cabaret, stories about music and stories which are musicals. There’ll be some readings and something a bit performancy. With a special guest!

I hope it’ll be entertaining.

Tickets are £6/£3. Starts at 7pm and finishes, between 8 and half past. Ish.

I caught up with a load of old friends and had some great conversations with many new ones. I talked a lot about The Moon King with my publisher – covers, paper, other aspects of book design – and it feels even realer now. And I scribbled in some books at the Solaris Rising 2 launch too, which is always nice.

I commiserated with friends whose names weren’t read out when the awards were announced, and celebrated with Ian Sales, who’s name very much did.

I ate badly (except for a couple of excellent expeditions to find curry). I slept terribly (is there a form you can fill in about your neighbours making loud sexy noises in the bath at 5am two nights out of three?). But I still had an excellent, chilled weekend.