New blog at Wordpress

Head over to Word Press - I've moved....

S

So long and thanks for all the fish

Blooger are making some changes on May 1st and since this site has been hosted on a friend's server for some while, it's about time I gave him his space back.

Henceforth, you'll find me over on Facebook.

See you there,
Sandy

Greetings everyone,

I managed to make it to World Horror Con in Brighton at the end of last month and what a wonderful event it turned out to be. Ok, the hotel wasn't the cleanest I've stayed in but the attendees, the panels and the parties and free booze more than made up for it. Well, maybe not the free booze so much cause I can't drink these days but I came away having throughly enjoyed myself and with virtually no voice from talking too much.

It was lovely to meet up with so many friends at the con. More than one person enquired as to why I didn't post on my blog very often and I don't have much of an excuse except lack of time. To be honest I didn't think many people dropped by here at all, let alone ones that would give me a polite slap about it at a convention, so it was a pleasant surprise to be moaned at really. And here I am, posting so it must have worked, at least for now. No promises for the future but we'll see how we go.

I moderated a panel at WHC while I was there and had a lovely time with five lovely writers - Tanith Lee, Sarah Pinborough, Dan Brown, Samantha Lee and a fifth writer lady whose name escapes me just at this moment. But we had fun discussing how to keep teenagers reading after Harry Potter even though we didn't come to any ground breaking conclusions.

It was also wonderful to see Neil Gaiman turn up to interview James Herbert and I managed to get a quick chat with Neil about the con for my write up in SFX magazine. The write up should be out in the mid-April issue but don't hold me to it.

Talking of SFX, my co-writer Nick Knight and I had our Supernatural season five article in SFX a couple of issues back and we've been covering the new Ghostfacers spin off for the news section too. It's always a pleasure working with Nick and if you haven't got his Official Companion books to the Supernatural TV series and you're a fan then go out and buy them, they're great.

I also did a news item about Guy Gavriel Kay's new novel, Under Heaven, for SFX. Kay is one of the best writers around at the moment and if you like historical fantasies then give Under Heaven a go. My review will be in Interzone magazine issue 228 (I think).

Apart from that, I've got a number of interviews on the bubble including Conrad Williams, John Meaney and Jasper Kent. As usual, keep an eye on SFSite.com and my news column for details.

Oh, and I hear Kevin J Anderson and ProgRock Records boss Shawn Gordon have a new CD out that ties into the new volume of Anderson's fantasy series. Again, should be more on that on SFSite.com coming up soon.

Think that's most of what's been happening. See you at the Clarke Awards if you're there.

Take care and be kind to each other,
S

New stuff around the net....

All,

Had some new articles posted here and there around the net.

You can regularly find me at SFSite.com but here's pointers to the latest articles:

Powers: Secret Histories interview - John Berlyne, Tim Powers, Pete Crowther, Dirk Berger.

John Berlyne's Powers: Secret Histories is so much more than just a bibliography of Tim Powers' stories -- it's a unique insight into the writing life of one of the most respected fantasy authors around. The project has been a huge undertaking for Berlyne, taking nearly a decade to complete, and here he is joined by the book's artist Dirk Berger, the publisher Pete Crowther and Tim Powers himself to discuss how the book came into being, the problems with designing it, the artwork, the bodies buried in the garden and spilling beer.

You can catch up with my latest book news columns here, including a very special column about Kevin J Anderson's latest fantasy book and accompanying CD project.

Plus my report on the David Gemmell Legend Award night is here.

All for now - happy reading peeps!

Mike Carey and Kate Griffin Signing at Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is pleased to announce a signing by Mike Carey and Kate Griffin. They will be signing Thicker Than Water: A Felix Castor Novel and A Madness of Angels at the Forbidden Planet Megastore, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8JR, on Thursday 26th March 6 �7pm.

Mike Carey is an extremely popular and well-respected author who has written on several top comics titles such as Lucifer as well as the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. Thicker Than Water returns us to the life of Felix Castor, where memories thought left in Liverpool resurface in London. Childhood memories, family traumas, sins old and new come back to torment the city’s favourite freelance Exorcist. Things go from bad to worse until the only question left is �just how much will Fix have to pay..?

Kate Griffin is the name under which Carnegie Medal-nominated author, Catherine Webb, writes fantasy novels for adults. A Madness of Angels is a book about the power of London, Urban Magic, ebbing and flowing with the rhythms of the city, making runes from the alignments of ancient streets and humming with the rhythms of trains and buses. This is the London of Matthew Swift, where rival sorcerers do battle for the soul of the city.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE VENUE BEFORE TRAVELLING

To find out more about signings at Forbidden Planet, go to their signings page at Forbidden Planet Signings

Raymond Feist Tour Dates - UK

All,

I get quite a few press releases about signings and events. I don't currently have anywhere else to put them so I'll post them on here in future.

First up, the lovely Raymond Feist is in the UK signing for his new book.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE VENUE BEFORE TRAVELLING.

Monday 9th March
6.30 �8.00pm: Nottingham Waterstones
TALK AND SIGNING
1-5 Bridlesmith Gate
Nottingham
NG1 2GR


Tuesday 10th March
1.00-2.00pm
Birmingham FP
SIGNING
38 Priory Queensway
Birmingham,
B4 7LA

7.00pm:
Waterstones,
Manchester Deansgate
TALK AND SIGNING
91 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 2BW

Wednesday 11th March
6.30pm:
Waterstones
Edinburgh East End
TALK AND SIGNING
13-14 Princes Street
Edinburgh EH2 2AN


Thursday 12th March
1.00pm�.00pm:
Forbidden Planet
Bristol
SIGNING
Clifton Heights
Triangle West
Bristol BS8 1EJ



6.30pm:
Forbidden Planet London
SIGNING
179 Shaftesbury Avenue
London
WC2H 8JR


Saturday 14th March
1.00pm:
Easons,
Dublin,
SIGNING,
O’Connell Street

Where to catch my work

I admire everyone who posts regularly to their blog - it seems to be something I struggle with constantly and usually fail to do.

2008 was phenomenally busy for me - change of (proper job) employer, reviewing, interviewing, researching articles and starting my first book.

So I've given up any pretence of trying to do regular updates here and instead I shall ask interested parties to check out SFX magazine or visit SFSite.com to catch up with my book news, reviews and interviews. At least there you'll see regular updates.

For my news columns, you can link directly from here: SFSite.com News Spotlight

If anyone wants to catch me in person I'll be attending Eastercon, Fantasycon and San Diego Comicon this year. See you there!