Gillian Polack's Blog, page 302

Guy Adams - The World House

I love guessing about books from the opening line. Guy Adams' The World House (which I am reading in an electronic review copy from Angry Robot - this weekend is very much an AR weekend) has a good opening line for a thug drama "They had threatened to break his legs if he didn't find them the money owed." Sometimes, though, I wished that the current trend in opening lines wasn't about violence and threats. Not Adams' fault, but it seems to be a very common start to things. Which is a pity...

The Road to Bedlam - Mike Shevdon

I blame Mike Shevdon. I hope you're reading this, Mike, because it's all your fault. I also blame Angry Robot. They were the ones who sent me an ARC of his new book, after all. It's being launched on the same day as my new book, only the other side of the world, so I thought I should read it tomorrow. Tomorrow. Which is a reasonably quiet day. Sunday. You got that, Mr Shevdon?

Last night (Friday) I took it with me into the bedroom. It was late and I was tired, so I thought that five pages wou...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-07T19:09:00

I just realised that I mostly blog in that vacant moment when I can't think what to do next with a troublesome task or maybe in that even more vacant moment when I'm putting off doing something I ought to do. I hope this adds a certain je ne sais quoi to my blog!

Just in case, though, I'll post something a bit solid later tonight. Today is my day for catching up on some of my overdue reviews, so when I've finished two I ought to have finished a while back (Aargh! intervened, of course), I ...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-06T21:03:00

Today was (almost thankfully) unexciting.

I've done a load of washing and arranged a meeting and sorted out a logistical problem for the novel and am up to 18 books of the 36 I need to have done before the end of August. Halfway there.

I might have read enough to be able to actually tidy my loungeroom next week. I so need to tidy my loungeroom. It is the opposite of a visitor-friendly zone. Worth it, though, to not have all those books to read. More will come and are even on the way. Thi...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-05T17:51:00

Once a day I make myself a nice cup of tea and then ring my mother. I always mean to ring my mother before having a cuppa , but I usually forget. We get talking and I forget the tea.

My father used to do this. I would make him a nice cup of tea at work. We each did a few hours work a week for him, as part of our socialisation and to get more pocket money - being socialised through calming nervous younger children in a dental surgery has warped my character severely, I suspect. Dad would t...

A Baggage interview - meet Lucy Sussex

I wanted to start this post by saying that if you haven't read anything by Lucy Sussex then you probably ought to rethink your reading, but then I reflected that most people have read her work and just want to know what she has to say. She has written some extraordinary fiction and has been quietly working away on a large project, which is about to see light of day. In between all this (and teaching and reviewing) she wrote me a story for Baggage and answered some questions I had.

1/ What...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-04T08:54:00

I am normal now, which is a great pity. I work hard all my life to be different and one night's sleep reduces me to normality.

Only 22 books to read before September if I stick to my original bookcount. Given I've already read three books not on that original list and just have discovered I need to add another four books to the list, I am pondering giving up sleeping and breathing in order to make time for reading. I shall conquer!

Also, by the end of this doctorate I shall be educated. I...

Much Excitement

I'm not making much sense today. I didn't make much sense yesterday, but that was quite different. Yesterday I hadn't received an email from Kaaron Warren's publisher (Angry Robot - Kaaron's book is my personal favourite for winning that category) congratulating me on being nominated for a Ditmar. I got this just before I left Sydney and Iain and I checked the complete list on the bus into town (he went to work: I came back to sunny Canberra) and lots of people who I know and love and whos...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-02T17:06:00

I'm developing a theory about day's off. Every time I take one, I get sick. I spent today feeling sorry for myself...

gillpolack @ 2010-08-01T15:43:00

This morning was foodie-dom again: Llyn and I went to Herbie's and The Essential Ingredient. I ought to be concerned that one of the best specialist herb and spice shops in the country didn't have anything I didn't already have. I need to use up my spices so that I can get more, perhaps. I wanted spikenard and epazote, but neither Herbie's or The Essential Ingredient had either.I resisted everything else as well and my non-existent budget has not been strained.

Right now I'm watching more ...