Fri, 10 December 2010 marvellous mirren
Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren has just been given the Sherry Lansing leadership award at a breakfast ceremony, organised by The Hollywood Reporter magazine, to honour the Women in Entertainment Power 100.
I’d highly recommend you watch the video of her acceptance speech, which is just marvellous. Not only does she recognise how much women have [...]
Sun, 05 December 2010 Mise en abyme
This is a set of Matryoshka dolls, or Russian nesting dolls, I bought recently at the craft fair in Galway (they are from Minsk). I’ve always wanted at least one set, because there is something about the self-similarity aspect of the dolls that appeal to me a great deal.
I was introduced to the concept of [...]
Tue, 23 November 2010 winter morning
For a dog that’s camera-shy – Minnie hates me taking her photo – she’s beginning to creep her way into a lot of my nature shots lately. I don’t mind as it often adds a spot of interest to the image.
As you can see it’s cold today with wintery fog. I won’t say anything [...]
Thu, 11 November 2010 atwood interview
There’s a very interesting interview from yesterday’s BBC Radio 4’s Women’s Hour with Margaret Atwood about her seminal text, The Handmaid’s Tale, which is twenty-five years in print this year.
In the past Atwood has dismayed those of us who enjoy genre writing by trying to disassociate herself from science fiction, but thankfully when the issue [...]
Fri, 29 October 2010 All Hallow’s Read
A new tradition for Halloween evolved this week via an idea Neil Gaiman proposed called ‘All Hallow’s Read‘.
It’s a simple concept: give a friend/colleague/family member a scary book to read for Halloween.
It’s not only to promote book-giving and reading, but also to remind us that the tradition of telling scary stories on his holiday [...]
Fri, 30 April 2010 The Campaign for Real Fear: the top twenty
Christopher Fowler and I have announced the winning stories in the Campaign for Real Fear. It’s been a great deal of work, but we were determined to select the winners in a timely fashion.
Due to the large number of entries, and the high calibre of the final group of submissions, Chris and I have [...]
Thu, 01 April 2010 horrible happenings
I’m in London at the moment, but I’ll be heading to Heathrow for Eastercon later today.
Some time after 2pm this afternoon I’m back on “Arts Brew” on the Internet Radio Z103, and I’ll be discussing the forthcoming Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway, among other things.
World Horror Convention in Brighton last weekend [...]
Tue, 23 March 2010 a jaunt in the UK
I’m off to Brighton tomorrow morning to attend the World Horror Convention, which should be fun.
I’ll be moderating a panel on Saturday at noon, in the Russell Room, called Femme Fatales: How Can We Get More Women in Horror?, where I’ll be in the distinguished company of Ellen Datlow, Tanith Lee, Allyson Bird, Sarah [...]
Thu, 18 March 2010 graphic preview
I’ve established a web site for the Róisín Dubh graphic novel I’m working on. I’ve been blogging intermittently about the project for the past couple of months.
There’s also a twitter feed and a Facebook fan page, if you like either of those media.
Artist Stephen Daly has been working flat-out, lettering and making tweaks to [...]
Thu, 11 March 2010 give us your fear
Chris and I are already receiving submissions for the Campaign for Real Fear, so keep them coming! We say:
“Give us your terror, your fear,Your horrid tales yearning to alarm,The wretched stories of your teeming brain.Send these, the disturbed, nightmare-tossed to us,We lift our laptops to behold their forms!”
With homage to Emma Lazarus and The New [...]
