I'm always looking for new tools that make the writing process simpler, more effective or more fun, and Scrivener does all of these things. After reading a recommendation a couple of years ago, I saw that you can get a free 30-day trial of Scrivener and gave it a go. Now I write just about all of my fiction on it. Scrivener is an incredibly … [Read more...]
A cemetery reading and a weekend workshop with WordFactory
Next month I'll be doing two gigs for the awesome WordFactory: On Friday 8 November at 7pm, I will be reading at Hauntings: Ghost Stories at Earlsfield Cemetery, alongside Stella Duffy, Tania Hershman and Alex Preston. Can't wait. It's going to be spooktacular. Tickets are £10 if booked before 31st October, £12 in advance, and £15 on the … [Read more...]
The opposite of Glee
Naomi and I sat through the Finn Hudson memorial episode of Glee last night in pieces. Boy it was agony to watch. Did you see it? It was a uniquely weird reality-fiction crossover, and I can't think of another example quite like it right now (it's 2:30am - I'm going through another spell of insomnia, so my brain is not up to full operating … [Read more...]
Daleks at the BBC National Short Story Awards
Until last week, I'd never been to BBC Broadcasting House, but it was somewhere I'd always wanted to go. So I was excited when the invite to the BBC National Short Story Award prizegiving dropped through my letterbox and I saw that the event had moved from its traditional home at the Freeword Centre to the BBC Radio Theatre. And the Beeb didn't … [Read more...]
Five things I learned at Small Wonder yesterday
At dawn on Sunday morning I drove down to Charleston, near Lewes in East Sussex, for the final day of the Small Wonder short story festival. The events were - as always - fascinating and diverse. Here are five things I learned there: 1 William Trevor used to be a serious sculptor. In a recorded interview with Small Wonder Artistic Director Diana … [Read more...]
Why can’t real life be like the Cork Short Story Festival?
I've just got back from the Cork International Short Story Festival and I have Post Literary Festival Separation Anxiety (PLFSA). It's so hard to leave a festival sometimes. Especially one as spectacularly warm and generous as this. Of course I missed Naomi and the boys like crazy while I was away, but when you spend more than a night or two … [Read more...]
Will buildings grow on trees in 2070?
My scientist thinks they will. I say my scientist, because all of us writers attending the artificial life conference in Sicily got one. Mine was Professor Susan Stepney, a computer scientist at the University of York, and she's working on an incredible project to grow buildings from seed. Yes, buildings (that we live and work in), grown from … [Read more...]
The Mount Etna hat club
Earlier this week, I was stood on the edge of a volcano watching my publisher run down into it. This is not a metaphor. I was near the summit of Mount Etna with Ra Page from Comma Press and writers Robin Yassin-Kassab and Julian Gough. The walk up had been tough - a 45-degree slope of black volcanic marbles that rolled away beneath our feet. … [Read more...]
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