Fresh Dates and Rotten Art

It's that time of year again. I'm currently busy dealing with a number of Secret Projects, which I hope I will be able to spill the beans on soonish, but right now, here's a fairly bare bones list of Things I Am Doing this year. As one of them's in a fortnight, I figured I needed to boost this out fast. 24th January — […]

A Year in Film

Well I did this last year. That makes it a Tradition (1). This is going to be short, though. Looking back over 2014's cinema releases provokes the two unavoidable conclusions that, firstly, I really didn't get to see many films, and secondly, most of those were with my son, ergo pitched towards a certain demographic. What I didn't get to […]

Something old, something new

Yes, yes, I hear you: "Enough with the blog posts about random stuff you like, give us…" Actually I have no idea. If there's something in particular you think I should be blogging about, feel free to leave a comment. For now though: more random stuff I like. One brand new, one golden oldie. For the latter, I give you Blake's […]

2015: Attack of the Release Dates

Very brief post to say: I have release dates for both of my novels coming out next year. Huzzah, I say. Guns of the Dawn, my sort-of-Napoleonic/Regency fantasy, is being released on Thursday the 12th of February, and for the first time ever I will be in Forbidden Planet on the evening of that very day, signing books […]

The best of what's left of…

Like many author-bloggers, I do a year-end thing about books of 2014(1). I try to stay away from a "best of" list. I've posted through the year on books I liked, and what's best is very subjective based on when you read it and what is juxtaposed with it (2). Hence, I would direct you to my post here where […]

I am Dungeon Master…

Typing that quote from the old cartoon, it occurs to me that, if you’re a bunch of kids lost in a hostile and alien world, hearing that from a little bald gnome is probably more reassuring than from an enormous bearded guy. Following up on my previous post about the release of D&D Next/5th Edition, I can now report […]

Who Dunnits

For me, when I was a kid, there was one reason I watched Doctor Who. Not the TARDIS, not the Doctor, not even the time travel, but the monsters. Each storyline, the big thrill would be the monster reveal — sometimes terrifying, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes, er, disappointing (1). I loved the monsters; I wanted to know more about them as […]

A Shot in the Pods

So, I have discovered podcasts. This does not, I am aware, do much for my reputation as a global trend-setter. Actually, for the longest time I didn't even know what a podcast was. Coming from a Larping background I just assumed it was the thrown weapon equivalent of a pod shot. This development came from three directions at once, like atoms combining in […]

Avengers: Age of Convention

Is just a cheap device to lure unwitting Marvel fans to the site, really. But I am super-pumped(1) by the Avengers 2 trailer that was either leaked or put out by Marvel or something, but whateverthehell, it looked good. But yes, the end of an era: the Age of Convention is over. 2014 has been a mad year for […]

More Good Work

It's about time I talked about someone else for a change, so here is another set of books I've read and enjoyed, and feel should be better known. I came across John Guy Collick's Thumb (1) in a random Facebook exchange. You get a lot of books thrown around on FB, and many of them sound quite mad, and after […]