>Sweaty writing

>Over on Aliette de Bodard's blog, Nancy Fulda's posted a nice article comparing writing to sculpture. She takes as her starting point Michelangelo's famous line: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” She goes on to talk about how, through writing and editing, it's the writer's job to … Continue reading >Sweaty writing

>Realms of Fantasy reborn – again

>Hearty congratulations to Shawna McCarthy and Douglas Cohen and all the rest of the folks at Realms of Fantasy for the successful resurrection of their wonderful magazine. In case you didn't know, ROF went under early last year, only to be resurrected by Tir Na Nog Press. Sadly things didn't work out, and this year … Continue reading >Realms of Fantasy reborn – again

>60,000 plus 221B

>I'm nudging 60,000 words on the manuscript and just had a ball writing a big battle scene. You can't beat a big battle scene. They're, well, big. And full of battling. This one was a doozie.I must also mention what a treat last night's Sherlock was. Great script from Stephen Moffat, and bags of charm … Continue reading >60,000 plus 221B

>Sci-Fi Airshow

>What if all those cool spaceships from classic science fiction movies and TV were real? Furthermore, what if they held public airshows where you could see performing spectacular flypasts? Maybe even climb on board and take a tour of the cockpit?If that idea puts a smile on your face, visit the fabulous Sci-Fi Airshow website. … Continue reading >Sci-Fi Airshow

>300-mile cyclist

>I'm always ready to plug a mate's efforts for charity. So I urge you to follow Paul Ostryzniuk's progress on his amazing charity cycle ride from London to Paris. Paul set off from Blackheath this morning with a bunch of other crazy-fit types, and they're due in Paris at the end of the week.Paul's tweeting … Continue reading >300-mile cyclist

>Peter Straub interview

>Great interview with Peter Straub over at the BookBanter Blog. Timely for me as I just finished reading his latest novel The Dark Matter. Possibly his best work. I like this man's attitude.

>Ask the authors and artists

>The British Fantasy Society have a section on their forum called Ask the Authors and Artists. The clue's in the title: authors and artists are invited to open a single thread under their own name, and fans are invited to post questions or comments under that thread. With luck, they'll get a response. So simple … Continue reading >Ask the authors and artists

>Time Machine creates alternate reality

>The University of California, Riverside is allowing scholars to study a rare US first edition of HG Wells's The Time Machine, which differs from the 'official' UK version. Up for debate is whether this 1895 edition was dumbed down for the US market ... or just maybe it was Wells's earlier version of the manuscript. … Continue reading >Time Machine creates alternate reality

>The long and solitary trip

>Dani Shapiro's hit the nail on the head in her article in the LA Times. Titled "A writing career becomes harder to scale", it's a true insight into the "long and solitary trip" that is writing. I was particularly moved by her line, "Each time we sit down to create something, we are risking our … Continue reading >The long and solitary trip