Liz Williams's Blog, page 40

Catching up

Apart from the previous work-related post, I've been quiet on LJ recently: partly due to Eastercon and partly due to a house guest, after the convention.

Eastercon went very well - a big thank you to the committee for asking me to be a guest, and to Team Witchcraft for all their support at the con on the stall. And it was lovely to see so many of you there, too. I managed to catch up with Al Reynolds - we're writing a collaboration together, and if I get my finger out we should have this comp...

The Chen novels

I have had a considerable debate with myself regarding how much I should go public with this, but I had a number of enquiries during Eastercon, and a number of emails as well, so this is the state of affairs.

I've been told by Night Shade that they are unlikely to be publishing any more of my novels. I don't know whether this includes IRON KHAN, or whether they'll be pulling it from publication. The reason why I do not know is that my publishers have not communicated with me directly for some...

Eastercon 2010

OK, folks, here's my schedule for Eastercon. If I'm not on a panel, during the day, I am likely to be in the dealers' room. We are running a stall for Witchcraft Ltd, and we'll also be partitioning part of the table off for a number of writers' signing sessions, which will be announced on a board.

Friday: 6pm, Connaught

"Arthur and Merlin - Modern Interpretations"

How do modern versions of the Arthurian stories compare with earlier ones? Books, films and TV have all created new strands to th...

Zodiac and garden

On Thursday last week,T and I went to interview John Wadsworth, who is running a course in Glastonbury based on Katharine Maltwood's Glastonbury Zodiac. They take one symbol a month, do walks in the relevant bit of the countryside, and focus on the symbolism of each zodiac sign. This sounds simple, but it's actually quite a sophisticated course, from what John was saying (he was citing Frances Yates' memory theatres, for instance). It sounds very interesting - we'll be running the interview o...

London

I have spent the weekend in London, running a writing workshop - a big thank you to all those who attended and particularly to fjm and chilperic , as this would not have happened without you.

E very kindly took me to the local noodle bar (a great place) on Friday night, which was enlivened by the appearance of the fire brigade and the apparent collapse of a neighbouring building, but the tape that they placed around it was gone on Saturday so one assumes they fixed whatever the problem was. We...

South Wales

I've been down in Pembrokeshire for the last day or so, at my aunt's funeral. This all went well, and I came back yesterday via St David's Cathedral - a lovely place in spring, even on a cold day. The daffodils are out around the cathedral and there were jackdaws tumbling and fighting in the wind. I had lunch in Solva - a nice new cafe called Thirty Five, on the waterfront - and then drove slowly back along the dramatic coast road which winds around St Bride's Bay.

Since I had the whole day, ...

Congratulations!

To Trevor - he's just been awarded his degree. He's got the 'Hons' bit to finish off but he's got a good upper second (and in a normal uni, he'd have got a first). Well done!

Milford SF Writers' Workshop 2010

MILFORD 2010

Dear Writer,

You are cordially invited to join the Milford SF Writer's Conference, held at the Trigonos Centre in Snowdonia. The dates are Saturday 18th September to Saturday 25th September 2010 inclusive (leaving on the morning of Saturday 25th).

If you've attended a previous British Milford, you will know more or less what to expect and can go straight to the booking form. If not, then a brief introduction may be in order. Milford is a gathering of professional authors, loosely ...

Come the glorious Revolution

Brothers (and sisters): it has come to my attention, via someone* with whom I am having an acerbic exchange on FB mail, that 'spelling is for the middle classes.'

I have spoken to the rest of the proletariat and I'm afraid that, come the Revolution, everyone on this LJ who takes trouble to spell correctly will be lined up against the wall and forced to communicate in text speak for the next 36 hours.

*This is someone who got busted for writing positive reviews of his own work on Amazon. Presum...

Spring cleaning

We hired a jetwash today and washed one and a half shops (the other is due to be repainted soon, so we didn't do that one), nearly several passers-by, and me. I also seem to have blasted a small hole in the pavement, resulting in a fountain of crud. Still, the Magick Box looks a lot better.

Then I came home and attacked the vegetable garden again. T, A and I (particularly A) have put a big effort into this over the last week and it is really showing. Most of the beds are clear, and ready for ...