| Bubblebath Cat and the Anticipation Goodies |
[May. 19th, 2009|07:43 pm] |
Excitement first: Those of you with a long memory may recall an old book I wrote waaaay back King of Morning, Queen of Day, a sort of Urban Fantasy before the fangy brigade took over. It's out in France from Denoel (can't hack diaresis on this) and last Saturday won the Best Foreign Novel Prix Imaginales in Epinal in the Vosges in France. Delighted and honoured, especially as the award is a large plastic cat that looks as if it contains bubblebath. Pic courtesy of Cher Morgan.
Elsewhere, That Troublesome Novella The Tear is now part of the standard Anticipation Hugo Voter Package. You can;t see it on the page, but if John Scalzi says so, then it must be true. Usual caveat about being a member applies, but if you're already a member, you can get it part of the expanded deal. Oh, and to give you every opportunity, the ballot is open. Vote early and vote often, as we say in the Black North. |
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| Tear Here |
[Apr. 30th, 2009|09:07 pm] |
My Hugo nominated novella 'The Tear', from SFBC's 'Gacactic Empires', edited by Gardner Dozois nominated for a Hugo at Anticipation, Montreal 2009, is initially available via this site. I hope in time for it be fully available through the Anticipation site. In the meantime, here are the rules. It's only available as a pdf emailed from me. To obtain, send me an email: ianmcdonald(at)cyberabad(dot)co)dot(uk). Make your subject line this 'Tear Here', in the body of the email include your name and your membership number for Worldcon. I need both, and I shall check. I hope this will only be a temporary measure until it's more easily downloadable through a proper website, but it'll do in the meantime. |
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| Nata Luxe |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|05:06 pm] |
And so, on Sunset Boulevard. That was exactly 24 hours bed-to-bed, which is a bit rough, but for the price, you couldn't be rude to it. Continental Belfast to Newark,Newark-LAX. For once the hotel transfer didn't send me into Victor Meldrew-esque tantrums of frustration, but then it wasn't TBIT. Hotel is posh and rather nice, though the service is a little fawning, which I haste, but then that's a this-side-of-the-Atlantic thing. Haven't seen a damn thing, having slept soundly and toyed with the Mr Coffee (which, with a thrilling disregard for health and safety, is in the bathroom. I've got a meeting with G4 television at 11 on a couple of animation projects, then the rest of the day is science fictional.
Oh, and can any pundits tell me why this Asus EEE (and it happened on a previous HP laptop), when you type, frequently jumps the cursor back to the previous instance of a vowel further up the document, so you can mistype scads of material before you notice? It is very very frustrating. |
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| Nebula Weekend |
[Apr. 22nd, 2009|07:24 pm] |
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Well, I'm off and away tomorrow to LA for the Nebula Weekend. Got me tux (thank M&S), got me tickets, got me travel adapter, got me directions to the signing at the LA Book Fair (Sunday, if you're handy to UCLA, do come) and it's all rather exciting really. Another weekend trip --out Thursday, back Tuesday so I shall be a mess, really, when I get back. Looking forward to it immensely. Haven't really given much thought to the Nebulas themselves. We shall see. And God bless the Arts Council for the travel grant. Aren;t you glad tyo know your tax dollars are goinmg on something worthwhile, rather than bailing our bankers' egos? |
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| Grand Slam |
[Mar. 21st, 2009|08:02 pm] |
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Just to say, two bottles of champagne and eighty minutes later, the adrenaline levels still haven't quite dropped to baseline. Those final ten minutes in Cardiff were the scariest I've ever seen. Two perfectly matched teams playing their hearts out, but destiny was Ireland's, I think. Biran O'Driscoll must surely be the Most Irish Looking Man Alive. And has the heart of a lion. Rugby, eh? |
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| I drew a map of Canada (2) |
[Mar. 20th, 2009|08:35 pm] |
Seems we may be back in Canada again this year, as my novella The Tear from Gardner Dozois's Galactic Empires is a Hugo Nominee. Which is damned wonderful. Lots of other great people and mates on the shortlist. You'll be able to read my story in Gardner's YBSF26 and also Rich Horton's 2009 Year's Best Science Fiction (sorry, can't find a link.) --the original SFBC anthology is kind of hard to track down. And I'm making enquiries about some kind of Anticipation members-only pdf version --I'll let you know.
And I'm going to be at the Nebula Weekend in Los Angeles in April, just in case --yes, I know I haven;t booked yet. Hell, I only just got the flights. |
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| You'll be the last to know... |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|05:10 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Annie Lennox: Shining Light | ] |
... anything on this blog, I'm telling you. The Nebula Final Ballot is out, and I'm on it for Brasyl, which is pretty damn exciting. Congratulations to all. You know, I think I might just be able to go... |
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| Exit Planet Tuesday |
[Feb. 3rd, 2009|09:16 am] |
I've done a couple of press pieces recently, but the one question which pleased me most was a suggestion to play-list ten pieces of music from the various 'soundtracks' to books, with Youtube links. This was far too much fun... enjoy the fruits below
Sezen Aksu: Deger Mi. no playlist of Turkish music is complete without one of the great smoky-voiced torch singers.
Dolapdere Big Gang: Sex Bomb. I picked this up last time in Istanbul and it's a hoot. These guys have to be seen live--someone bring them over here. Watch the audience: they out-Tom Jones Tom Jones.
Zafer Erdas; Drama koprusu. Gives it the Bryn Terfels but it's a very lovely song.
D'Caro v Groove Armada: : I See You Baby Not really Indian at all but sounds so joyfully Punjabi desi. The totally depersonalised avatar dance is a teen-y delight.
Milton Nascimento: Travessia A planetary treasure.
Chico Buarque, Donga, Pixinguinha e Hebe: Pelo telefone Lovely jam session version of the first ever marching samba with a very young Chico Barque.
Bonde do role: Solta o Frango Labelmates of CSS. Less spandex, also less chance of them selling out and shipping off to London. And disappearing after a shite second album.
Chico Science and Nacao Zumbi: Todo Estao Surdos The Recife-based mangue-beat was a thing of short-lived wonder.
Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan: You are My Soniya. When I was researching 'River of Gods' this song was, like, everywhere. It still gets a party going. I think the French helps.
Nitin Sahwney and Jeff Beck: Nadia Together again at last. (If you can find one without the German voiceover, I'll love you forever) |
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| another one gone |
[Jan. 18th, 2009|11:18 am] |
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Some heavy recent losses, John Mortimer notably, but this one is particularly felt: Tony Hart has left us. |
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| on a wet Thursday morning |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|10:51 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Larkin Grimm: Parplar | ] |
a random thought, a sort of memey thing:
If you had a band, what would yopu call it?
Always been tempted to the aggrandisement of El Presidente but I think there is one of those already.
My fave would have absolutely be Group of Death. Possibly with a definite article |
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| shameless whoring part 94 |
[Jan. 8th, 2009|10:48 am] |
| [ | music |
| | British Sea Power: Waving Flags | ] |
Well, everyone else is. Apparently, Hugo recommendations can be made somewhere around here. For your information, out by me in the eligible period:
'The Tear', Galactic Empire: novella
'The Dust Assassin': novelette: The Starry Rift
'An Eligible Boy': novellette: Fast Forward 2
'[a ghost samba]': Postscripts 15.
Four stories out in a year is something of a record for me. |
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| a shameless festal board |
[Jan. 3rd, 2009|01:50 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Bon Iver: Skinny Love | ] |
New Year cooking:
Game terrine: insufferably pleaded with myself for this one: got two packs of 'game bit's in Land of Cheapie from Tesco Knocknagoney --then worked out what to do with them. Pukkah terrine with stretched bacon and everything... Good texture, home made forcemeat --based on pork mince at same Land of Cheapie...
Main course: partridge. I resisted the temptation to do something smart-ass with pears.
To finish: Black Bun featuring ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) slimmeroftheyea's medieval mincemeat --with real meat. Which she kept preserved in brandy for a year. And we still live! |
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| Bezzies |
[Dec. 30th, 2008|12:45 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Elbow: Grounds for Divorce | ] |
Few pick ups for Year's Bests, which is always very flattering:
Jonathan Strahan: Year's Best SF and Fantasy: 'The Dust Assassin' (from 'The Starry Rift)
Rich Horton: Year's Best SF: 'The Tear' )from that hard-to-get SFBC 'Galactic Empires' anthology)
Gardner Dozois: YBSF 26: 'The Tear' and 'An Eligible Boy' (from Lou Anders 'Fast Forward 2')
An awful lot of those Cyberabad stories have wandered through Year's bests... Thankfully, the collection is out in February.
Christmas was small scale and delightful, down at my sister Judith's outside Kirkistown in the Ards Peninsula --there's something deeply festive about going to feed her horses at Christmas, all very away-in-a-manger. Every other house is for sale down there. What the hell is going on? Did the financial collapse in fact hit the country about a year or so before us townies, dazed by our urban velocity, caught on?
What did I get for Christmas? Weekend course at the Belle Isle Cookery School in lovely Fermanagh. And Batman. Plus fruit bushes for the (sub)urban farm. Re which, I have a daft plan, Our local Rugby and GAA clubs share a wider section of waste ground between the bottom of their adjacent pitches and the dual carriageway. If I made the right approach. With the right incentive, might they be induced to rent some out to me as allotment space? Might even stick up a notice and try to attract a few other interested folks.
We're off for the full two weeks, so it's giving me a wonderful opportunity to take a long hard look at 'The Dervish House' and realise that there are couple of bits in the first day that Simply Will Not Do. One doesn't make any damn sense, the other adds waaay to much top loading story-wise. |
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| ...you are the bondage Queen. |
[Dec. 12th, 2008|09:06 am] |
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Sad news. Murdoch's Daily Liar reports that 'glamour model' (how coy!) Bettie Page has died at the age of eighty five. I always remember part of my goodie bag from Finncon waaay back in the last century was a Bettie Page badge (thank you Toni Jerrman, who got my level pretty quickly). |
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| and while I'm posting links |
[Dec. 3rd, 2008|04:53 pm] |
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look at this quick smart because it won't be around for long, it's the godlike Charlie Brooker on Screenwipe talking to writers about how they write. Something here for everyone who hits keys (though the editing is atrocious). |
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| Frankie Says... |
[Nov. 20th, 2008|02:05 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | The Killers: Human | ] |
quote from the excellent Frankie Boyle (far and away the best thing on Mock the Week):
"You could have said anything up there; the potential is limitless. You could have hit your absolute peak, but it never happens. It's always a big disappointment afterwards." So Boyle never comes to the end of a show thinking it has been brilliant? "Almost never, not for years anyway."
In the past, he frequently considered quitting. But then, one day, he had a revelation: "I said to someone, 'I can't be bothered to go on tonight.' And they said, 'You say that every night, every gig.' That's when I realised that hating [stand-up] was what made me good at it."
Amen to that, Frankie. |
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