Yoda has been using the Force to help me sort out some books. Rather a lot of books. This double pile represents a small percentage of the mountain of fantasy works piled up all over my house at present. This year I am one of the five judges for the World Fantasy Awards. These awards are presented annually for the best fantasy works in English, spread over several categories [...]
Booktopia is running its annual 'Favourite Australian Author' poll, and I have made it through to the final round of 75. There are many great authors in this group, across all genres. I'd appreciate your vote, but I'd also be happy for you to vote for any other authors on the list whose work you love. A few of my own favourites are here. http://blog.booktopia.com.au/2017/01/16/vote-finals-favourite-australian-author-2017/ Voting is open to readers [...]
Yes, it's that time of year again, and we headed along to Pet Lover's Cafe for a photo with a very long-suffering Santa. Reggie (on the left) is reacting to the photographer, Zen looks stately but disapproving, and Fergal is posing sweetly. I left Pip and Bodhi at home - not brave enough to try for the five-dog image this time around. It's been an unproductive year for me [...]
Readers, I owe you an apology - it's now two and a half weeks since I got home from the US, and I've been too tired and jet-lagged to post about my trip or to thank the various people who were so lovely and helpful along the way. The image above is of me reading from Den of Wolves at the Jolie Tea Company in Salem - it was [...]
For those who missed my Facebook posts about my impending travel and appearances in the USA, here are the details of my events in Columbus, Atlanta, and Salem, including panel times etc. I leave home on October 23 and my responses on this page may be a little patchy from then until mid-November. World Fantasy Convention, Columbus,OH, Oct 27-30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Note; apart from the event marked [...]
Hi all. I'm currently trying to get a good idea of numbers for my meet and greet event in Columbus so I can finalise booking a venue. The details are up on my Facebook Fan Page, but for those of you who aren't on Facebook and don't want to be, this is a request to let me know as soon as possible if you'd like to come to this event. [...]
Hi all. I've just created an 'event' on Facebook for my visit to Salem, Mass. It'll be a meet and greet at the Jolie Tea Company (opposite the Hawthorne Hotel) between 6 and 8pm on Friday November 11. Details at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1829575457280679/ If you'd like to come, please put your name on the Event page as Interested or Attending. It's quite a small venue so numbers are limited. There [...]
If I asked you what are the most popular settings for historical fiction these days, you might nominate the Tudor period, Regency England, or perhaps London in Victorian times. Then there’s Roman Britain, Viking era Scandinavia, Napoleonic Europe. But you don’t often find a novel set in early medieval Wales, which is odd, since that period and culture are rich in storytelling potential. Welsh mythology, captured in that treasure trove [...]
A reminder to my New Zealand readers that I will be in Wellington for Au Contraire on the first weekend of June which is quite soon now! If you're attending the convention and would like to chat, have a book signed or whatever, do please come over and say hello. I will probably be the shortest, oldest and most white-haired person at the con, so fairly recognisable. I don't know [...]
Since my first Meet the Pack post I have lost two beloved members of the crew. Darling old Amy succumbed to liver cancer and severe arthritis, and more shockingly, my beautiful Harry (below) was mauled to death by a rottweiler while being walked on the lead only metres from home. That traumatic event is one reason I have not been blogging here much recently. Harry was such a special boy [...]
