Blog Posts

  • They Can’t Die!

     I overheard a conversation recently about the TV program Endeavour. Someone was complaining that the show had reached a point where the lead character was…

  • The Perfect Scene

    Here’s one of my favourite passages in modern literature. In it, Sue Townsend describes Adrian Mole spending Sunday at his Grandma’s house. I suspect that…

  • Congratulations to Joey HiFi

    Congratulations to Joey HiFi

    Congratulations to Joey HiFi for winning the BSFA award for Best Art for his cover to Dream London. Thoroughly deserved! You can see more of Joey’s…

  • Sue Townsend

    If anyone ever tells you that women aren’t as funny as men, say two words in reply: Sue Townsend. Sue Townsend wrote the funniest book…

  • Six Tips on Writing First Drafts

    A first draft is about getting it written, not about getting it right. Don’t spend too much time on it Think of an artist painting…

  • The Region of Jennifer

    The Region of Jennifer

    The Region of Jennifer: Analog June 2014

  • Nobody Really Knows

    Earlier this week I was listening to a radio program about the discovery of waves of gravitational energy that confirmed inflation just after the big…

  • Did anyone else read Danny Dunn?

    I’ve just finished answering a set of questions about writing SF, the results of which will appear in a magazine article. One of the questions…

  • Six Tips on Narrative Voice

    Writing in the First Person is harder than it looks: the narrator defines the sort of story you write. Compare the way the intelligent Katiniss…

  • Thoughts on Cosmopolitan Predators!

    Aethernet Magazine Issue #12 was published on Saturday, and with it the last episode of Cosmopolitan Predators! What was the experience of writing a piece of…

  • Six Books Every Writer Should Read

    Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud The Art of Fiction by David Lodge Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor by Sol Stein…

  • A Techy Whinge

    A computer needs an operating system. You buy a PC and about 90% of the time it comes with Windows installed (about 8% of the…