the finishing line is in sight for the first part of Empire Dance. as is my way, i've written the bookend chapters and then filled the gaps inbetween. now only one section remains unfinished, and that looks to have just 2k or so in it. then, at a total of 51k, i go for the edit and turn my attention back to Malessar and his curse.

i've enjoyed ripping through this little project; making it a sort of serial made a lot of sense and made the task of writing it a lot easier. i've also...

I had the joy, on Sunday morning, of being taken for breakfast. We were enjoying our food, when a family walked in. The Dad (I presume) walked in carrying a little girl who couldn't be more than 18 months old. He was followed by two young women, and I was immediately reminded of the following thread:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum...-mornings.html

It dawned on us that all of them were wearing their PJ's, and yet the ladies had had time to...

I have propos'd a new book to S. T. Joshi, as I thought perhaps Hippocampus Press would be the only Press to want to take a chance on it or would have an real interest in it. I used to write very wee tales -- 2,000 words was my limit. With my last few books I have been experimenting with writing longer stories, and it has been a great thing, to actually write a story that was over 13,000 words. This culminated in the novelette I wrote for S. T.'s forthcoming anthology of modern Lovecraftian tales,...

I recently overheard a depressing conversation between a group of young teenage boys. I was walking back to my car after work - I'm based in SE London. We no longer get the local news for London, so I have no idea how many teenagers have died this year as a result of stabbing or gunshots. Usually by this time there are at least 5 deaths - I have no idea what the total is this year.

The conversation I overheard was between 4 boys who were discussing the merits of being stabbed by a...

I'm not sure how many finches it takes to make a 'charm', but we now have at least 11 of them flitting around the garden. One of the cats sat in the apple tree this morning, and the finches surrounded him, chirping in indignation. It was fascinating to watch. Whereas all the other birds had fled the finches didn't let him out of their sight, until he got bored and came in.

Judging by the antics I saw today, the males are beginning to assert themselves in preparation for the breeding...