Posts
New Year's Blog
Well, I’m back. It wasn’t quite a complete rest, I delivered the script for issue five of Wisdom on January 2nd! I’ve been managing two thousand words of novel every day since I got back to my desk, and have just done that Dan Dare collection introduction also. We wait to hear about the TV show. I suspect that the longer the wait the better, but I’m absolutely ready for them to say no. The thing about being a professional writer for as long as I’ve been one is that you develop the ability to deal with huge things not happening in about five minutes. My grip on the handle of my tea cup may falter just a tad. So it’s not as if I’m waiting for the sky to fall in.
Thanks very much to everyone who's taken the time to say they enjoyed the Sunday Times story. I really appreciate that, cheers.
The second issue of Wisdom will be out this month, so those of you who took advantage of the banner offer above will get your first package then. And from that point we should be back on a monthly schedule.
I’m off to see the filming of my Doctor Who two-parter for the second time next week. The Doctor Who Confidential team will be filming me, which is unfortunate when I’ve put on several pounds over Christmas and have crunched back to a low calorie, no alcohol regime for the next few weeks. When you see me on that, please try to think: like that, but thinner!
Caroline’s gig with the rhythm and blues band Boogie Me went down a storm on New Year’s Eve. I did my bad dancing a bit to their first set, when the back room at the Crown was half full, then spent most of the evening with nearly everyone I knew stuffed into the Portwell Bar, then ran back during the clocks chiming midnight, to find the doors to the Crown locked. When I finally got in, having done some DieHardesque festive ‘Nooooooooo!’ing , the room was rocking and everyone was dancing. So I added my bad dancing to that, then went back to the Portwell and stayed to… well, I may still be there.
And I managed the Christmas lunch veg rather well, I think. What a lovely day that was, stuffing ourselves and drinking California port with chocolate covered blueberries at lunch, then going to see my God-daughter and her family in the evening. She’s too young to be scared by Doctor Who, preferring to wander the room bashing things together, but her elder brothers deserted their protective cushions when the Empress appeared, and had to go and watch round the corner from an entirely different room.
I got a bonsai tree, Sakaki-Chan, at Christmas, from my friend Martyn whose house we held the lunch at. The tree’s now sitting just to my left here, a miniature plum.
I was terribly pleased with The Sarah Jane Adventures. It seemed to me to be the Gareth Roberts series that his fans from the days of the Doctor Who Missing Adventures books have always wanted. It displayed a deep and certain competence, and then plonked loads of sparking fun on top of that. ‘Harpoons’ indeed! And anyone who knows Gareth will tell you that the first name of the Bane mother was surely Barbara. Next time, I hope they let him have some Ogrons to play with. And what a great young cast.
My Agent has a new tip for those of you playing Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls. Or, as he calls it, a ‘recipe’:
‘Take five Grand Soul Gems or One Azura's Star (Refilled Five Times Over withGrand Souls). Add Five pieces of Ebony or Daedric Armour. Enchant each piece with Chameleon 20% (Constant Effect). Stir. Wear Armour. You are now 100% permanently Chameleonised/Invisible and can kill anything with impunity. In fact, everyone will ignore you! They don't even know you're there!’
I wonder sometimes what he does all day. Or all night.
Anyhow, I’m sure I shall post again well before the BSFA meeting on the 24th, and the signing at Tenth Planet on the 27th. So until the next time, cheerio.
Announcements:
I’m told that Wisdom will be getting the feature comics review in the next issue of SFX Magazine, on sale January 17th, and I’ve done a little interview to go with it. Do check it out.
Jo Fletcher of Gollancz Books tells me they’ve started a mailing list for their ranges. It’s an invitation to be sent specific information: you can tick a box for just manga news, or even to stay in touch with a specific author. Go have a look here:
http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/search-book-Sci-Fi-and-Fantasy.htm
Thanks very much to everyone who's taken the time to say they enjoyed the Sunday Times story. I really appreciate that, cheers.
The second issue of Wisdom will be out this month, so those of you who took advantage of the banner offer above will get your first package then. And from that point we should be back on a monthly schedule.
I’m off to see the filming of my Doctor Who two-parter for the second time next week. The Doctor Who Confidential team will be filming me, which is unfortunate when I’ve put on several pounds over Christmas and have crunched back to a low calorie, no alcohol regime for the next few weeks. When you see me on that, please try to think: like that, but thinner!
Caroline’s gig with the rhythm and blues band Boogie Me went down a storm on New Year’s Eve. I did my bad dancing a bit to their first set, when the back room at the Crown was half full, then spent most of the evening with nearly everyone I knew stuffed into the Portwell Bar, then ran back during the clocks chiming midnight, to find the doors to the Crown locked. When I finally got in, having done some DieHardesque festive ‘Nooooooooo!’ing , the room was rocking and everyone was dancing. So I added my bad dancing to that, then went back to the Portwell and stayed to… well, I may still be there.
And I managed the Christmas lunch veg rather well, I think. What a lovely day that was, stuffing ourselves and drinking California port with chocolate covered blueberries at lunch, then going to see my God-daughter and her family in the evening. She’s too young to be scared by Doctor Who, preferring to wander the room bashing things together, but her elder brothers deserted their protective cushions when the Empress appeared, and had to go and watch round the corner from an entirely different room.
I got a bonsai tree, Sakaki-Chan, at Christmas, from my friend Martyn whose house we held the lunch at. The tree’s now sitting just to my left here, a miniature plum.
I was terribly pleased with The Sarah Jane Adventures. It seemed to me to be the Gareth Roberts series that his fans from the days of the Doctor Who Missing Adventures books have always wanted. It displayed a deep and certain competence, and then plonked loads of sparking fun on top of that. ‘Harpoons’ indeed! And anyone who knows Gareth will tell you that the first name of the Bane mother was surely Barbara. Next time, I hope they let him have some Ogrons to play with. And what a great young cast.
My Agent has a new tip for those of you playing Oblivion: The Elder Scrolls. Or, as he calls it, a ‘recipe’:
‘Take five Grand Soul Gems or One Azura's Star (Refilled Five Times Over withGrand Souls). Add Five pieces of Ebony or Daedric Armour. Enchant each piece with Chameleon 20% (Constant Effect). Stir. Wear Armour. You are now 100% permanently Chameleonised/Invisible and can kill anything with impunity. In fact, everyone will ignore you! They don't even know you're there!’
I wonder sometimes what he does all day. Or all night.
Anyhow, I’m sure I shall post again well before the BSFA meeting on the 24th, and the signing at Tenth Planet on the 27th. So until the next time, cheerio.
Announcements:
I’m told that Wisdom will be getting the feature comics review in the next issue of SFX Magazine, on sale January 17th, and I’ve done a little interview to go with it. Do check it out.
Jo Fletcher of Gollancz Books tells me they’ve started a mailing list for their ranges. It’s an invitation to be sent specific information: you can tick a box for just manga news, or even to stay in touch with a specific author. Go have a look here:
http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/search-book-Sci-Fi-and-Fantasy.htm
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Happy New Year to you and yours Paul. I went to bed early (don't ask).
Would just like to add my name to the list of those who thoroughly enjoyed the short story.
What did you reckon to the Torchwood finale and is it a series you would fancy having a go at if you got the chance? Personally I would like to see your own personal brand of "pulling heart strings" (guess which making of Doctor Who related book I got for Christmas?)
Best wishes
Skeeter
Happy New Year, Mr Cornell.I hope you don't mind a stranger commenting in your blog.
Only just got to read the short story after some rellies saved the paper for me , whilst I away on holiday over x-mas.
Thoroughly enjoyed both it and the Robin Hood episode you wrote (you would not believe the lengths a person has to go to , to watch them at uni- several dashes to the T.V room in the rain).
Anyway, thanks for the quality and good luck with your projects in the New Year.
Estella
I won't ask. Even if you actually want me to. Thanks! And I love Gary Russell's factual prose. I've been trying to work out anagrams for 'bilis manger' ('Grim lesbian' being my favourite, which Mike Maddox came up with), but I have no idea whether I should be doing so. And Estella, I do this blog to meet such strangers. Thanks very much. I used to have to fight in the TV lounge to watch Doctor Who instead of Corry, back in the day.
I hope I'm not too late to say how much I enjoyed the story in the Times! Thank you for sharing that...and this glimpse into your life through the blog. I miss the UK and your blog is so "homely" (in the Tolkien sense) that I feel better when I read it.
Happy New Year!
bakednudel
Thank you. I really like the idea that my blog is 'homely'. Cheers.
Sounds like you've luckily missed out on coming across a fangirlish meet up by not going to wales until this week. (about 20 of us meeting up to go and see a certain panto in cardiff).
I stumbled across your blog whilst looking for Robin Hood fic (I resisted the whole time the series was showing). I particularly looked out for your episodes after you mentioned the show at microcon. You signed my book of series 1 scripts at last microcon.
I hope you have fun this week. And that it rains less than it did this weekend.
I'm off tomorrow, actually. Sorry that I'm not coming to this year's Microcon: there was a lot else going on around the same time. There's quite a nice lot of Robin stuff going on out on the net these days, I'm pleased to see. Hope you enjoyed the panto!