I’m pleased, chuffed, excited and all-over tingly to announce the release of The Dead Files, Vol. 2. Continue reading The Return Of The Dead Files
Category: writing
writing
News Bulletin
On my hols this week, so bloggery will be minimal. Howevs, I do have a couple of late-breaking news items. Continue reading News Bulletin
So I Wrote A Book
A little over thirty-six hours ago, I took a deep breath and clicked the big yellow button on Amazon’s Direct Publishing site. The one marked SAVE AND PUBLISH. Wheels span for a moment in the guts of my Blackbook. Then a congratulatory notice pinged up, and a book that I had spent a day’s work and fifteen years writing was on its way to the Kindle Store.
Big news, Readership. You can buy some of my writing on Amazon.
Lessons Learnt From A Trade Show Stand
I spent the weekend helping out the bro-in-law at a trade show. “Sounds like a bit of fun”, I thought. “How hard could it be?”
Yeah. About that.
An Excuse For Fashion
Readership, I’m sure you’re aware that although X&HT is my home and you are all my dearioes, I do like to spread the love around a bit. For example, I run the blog for Pier 32, a promotional clothing company that deals exclusively in ethical and Eco-friendly items. Writing about sustainable fashion is, to put it mildly, a bit outside my remit. But I like a challenge, and I haven’t been booted off the job yet, so I must be doing something right.
This weekend sees me in Brighton, helping Pier 32 at the Eco-Technology Show. It’s a huge showcase for all things eco and, you know, technological. It’s a good fit for us, as Pier 32 believes in using smart solutions to ethical questions.
It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun, although I’m still a bit un-nerved at the idea of going out and networking. It’s important to stretch oneself as a writer, I suppose.
You can find out more about the show here, and keep an eye on my Twitter feed and the Pier 32 blog for updates from the show.
Back to the usual geekiness next week. For now, darlings, I’m a fashionista.
Tuesday Tunes: The True And Complete History Of Cerise Sauvage
I like my playlists to tell a story. It’s important for them to have an ebb and flow, almost a three act structure.
Today’s playlist is the soundtrack to a short story I wrote a couple of years back. It was an attempt to write about a nemesis, a totally over-the-top, unapologetic female villain. If you haven’t read it, give it a go while listening to the playlist, which features tracks from St. Vincent, Rilo Kiley, PJ Harvey and Fever Ray.
I present the True And Complete History Of The Harlot, Seditionary and Murderess Cerise Sauvage.
(The pic is Cherry Bomb by DeviantArt user LekiLuv. Check out the fullsize pic here.)
New Short Fiction: JUBILEE
Regular members of The Readership may recall that I celebrated the Royal Wedding last year with a tale that embraced the idea of the Windsors being extraterrestrial lizards that ruled in disguise. If not, it’s here for your delight.
As The Jubilee is upon us, I thought it might be nice to revisit the family, and see how they were enjoying the long Bank Holiday. You may be able to deduce some idea of my feelings towards the monarchy, but I’ll leave it as an inference. No point in giving everything away.
Here then, for your holiday enjoyment, Excuses And Half Truths is proud to present: JUBILEE.
(Advisory for profanity and references to lizard sex.)
Nanowrimo – A Sad Announcement
I wanted to make it work this year, I really did. But the pressures of three blogs plus re-write duties on Habeas Corpus and other pipeline works means that something just had to give.
That something, alas, is Nanowrimo.
I will be buckling down and writing, sure, just not on a new 50,000 word project. It will be interesting, I think, to try and do 1700 words a day across all the projects I have on the table this autumn, and this is certainly not goodbye forever.
This will be no break for me. If anything, I will use the Nano excuse to up my game in solidarity with all the word warriors out there. Expect some big posts this November.
To everyone, and especially the Oxfordshire Nanos, good luck and be magnificent. Let’s be verbose out there.
A New Phase part 3: UKZDL
In a fine example of what TLC likes to call my tendency to overextend, I have signed up as writer to yet another website. At this rate, I will be doing the whole internet by this time next month. We are apologises in advance for the subsequent droop in kwalitee.
The new endeavour is a gig on a new zombie site, UKZDF. Stands for United Kingdom Zombie Defence League. There’s an element of ARG and role-play in here – head of the League, “Sarge” Rob May (an X&HTeam-mate of long standing, I might add) has spent a long while working out the best places to set up a defensive perimeter should the zombie plague hit Reading (hint: don’t do a Romero and hide out in the Oracle). But the site also seeks out and celebrates the best in zombie culture.
Up on the site at the moment, we’re looking at the upcoming launch of Dead island, which looks to be the zombie game of the year. There’s an interview with the producers of the Walking Dead, and a review of the first two in a great new series of books by Mira Grant, Newsflesh.
Oh, yes, and a brief history of the zombie in popular culture pre-Romero, which is my first contribution. Sarge has been good enough to give me my own section, so keep an eye out for weekly blather from me. It’s early days, but the site already looks good, and there’s some interesting people lined up to contribute. If anyone’s interested, let me know and I’ll forward your names onto Sarge.
In the meantime, read and enjoy. It’s a dead cert.
The Beast is Loose
By all the gods, it’s been a week. Engaging catch-up mode, as I try to, you know, up-catch to events.
The second issue of Dirty Bristow landed at X&HTowers on Wednesday, and oh my, it was worth the wait. This is one gorgeous package. The Bristow boys have always been upfront about making the mag as collectible and lovely as possible. They’ve outdone themselves. The double tracing-paper/card cover looks and feels great, with a matt finish that purrs luxury at your fingertips.
Inside, the open call for submissions under a theme has led to a gloriously all-over-the-place chunk of editorial. With no adverts, there’s a lot there to read and enjoy, and the quality of illustration throughout is a notch above top. If you want an idea of the tone, then the editors Jon Bounds and Danny Smith tell it like it is in the intro:
arty and unashamedly intelligent, no pretension or division between high and low culture and not governed by the Crown.
So, the second issue contains a cookery page that begins with the slaughter of a whole pig, a report from a My Little Pony convention, reprints of the work of acclaimed music scribe Dirk Collins, an entomology of the imaginary beasts of the West Midlands and, and, and I could go on for ages. I should perhaps mention a piece on the contribution yeast has made to the hungry drinker, especially as I wrote it. Even if those clever Bristows came up with a better title for the article than I did. They’re far too talented for their own good. I’m not sure I like them.
Dirty Bristow is available online at the Dirty Bristow website, logically enough. If you’re lucky, your copy might come with a cover-mounted cassette featuring songs and a ZX Spectrum game. Yes, a cassette. Yes, a Speccy game. Glorious, isn’t it?
Buy Dirty Bristow: Beast here.
EXCUSES AND HALF TRUTHS 