I have so much to tell you. I have my report on World Fantasy Con, a writerly challenge I was given, a new article that's due to be published soon (and of which I am particularly proud), NaNoWriMo updates and general writerly updates. But I'm still recovering from my trip to Brighton and am super-busy, [...]
As the author, I'm naturally very proud of The Four Realms. What surprised, and genuinely delighted me, is how well it has been received. So I'm doing the 'happy Snoopy dance' to find out that Fantasy Book Review has selected it as one of their books of the month for March. They obviously have impeccable [...]
Any author that tells you that they don’t google their own name is probably lying. However, ego surfing can often turn up commentary and reviews of your work that you would otherwise be unaware of. I’ve been doing a bit of it, mainly through twitter searches and google alerts to find out about new reviews of the novel. However, it was only yesterday that I turned up something I can’t believe I missed. […]
I’ve been pretty wound up the last couple of days. And yes, I know I’m getting older and have publically said I intend to become a “grumpy old man”, but this is about books. Books! I’ve sat on this for a couple of days because I disagree with people I like. I think they’re massively wrong but that doesn’t mean I think they’re idiots or never want to speak to them again. So I don’t want to say anything that singles them out or distorts what they actually said. Over the last couple of days I’ve slipped into generalisations, and as we know people are defined by their exceptions, quirky little beasts that they are. So I’m going to talk in general terms and not mention names. So if you read this and think “that sort of sounds like what we were talking about the other day” it probably was, but that was my jumping off point and my argument is not about the specifics. I want to talk about books and nepotism and awards and promotion, and I want to talk in general terms. […]
One of the traits of being a writer (at least for me – I’m not sure if it holds universally true) is that you spend an awful lot of time wondering if you’re any good. I heard someone say that “all good artists constantly doubt themselves” and I hope that’s true, because there are times, [...]
When I was a boy, I had this vision of the Hugo Awards looking a bit like the Oscars. I imagined there would be a orchestra, and for years (and I do mean years) I tried to decide what I would have as my music if I ever went up to accept an award. It [...]
