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tree jewels
There are so many beautiful, strange things waiting to be noticed if you pay attention. I spotted this little wagon train of snails hitched up on the back of a tree recently. I loved the patterns on the shells, and how well the colour complimented the thick, scaly bark of the tree. It was bitterly cold – my fingers were numb from holding up the camera and taking pictures throughout my walk – and the snails were locked up tight in their houses. Although, they could have been out. I didn’t knock to inquire.
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British women in comics
After blogging about the absence of women in the line-up of the Kapow! comic book convention I had a number of lively discussions about it. I also discovered that Mark Millar twittered about this issue back on the 7th of December 2010, when someone else pointed out there were no female guests. His response, over two tweets: You realise this is being put together by 5 women, don’t you? The reason the comic guests are mostly male is because the biggest names in UK comics are male. Who is the big british female pro they’re missing here? I’m amused by ‘the comic guests are mostly male’ bit, when the guests…
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shrouded
A cold, dank mist smothered Galway today. There were none of the usual markers of morning, noon and twilight, just a constant grey tone that collapsed suddenly to darkness in the evening. It was the kind of day that offered no incentive to venture outside, but the dog needed her walk, so in the afternoon I braved the woods. It was still, muffled. The thick mist suggested much and illuminated nothing. A rook cawed intermittently throughout my walk, there were occasional bangs – fireworks, or a gun – but otherwise it was utterly silent. The woods were eerie and mysterious, and I thought how easy it would be to conjure…
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Shadoweyes
During my recent overview of last year’s graphic novel releases for the Salon Futura podcast, I read a great deal of positive buzz about a young adult title called Shadoweyes, written and drawn by Ross Campbell. I decided to order it and give it a read, and I’m certainly glad I did. In many ways Shadoweyes is your prototypical superhero genesis story. Seventeen-year old Scout Montana is an angsty vegan who lives in a city called Dranac at some period in the future. Dranac is pleasingly reminiscent of massive city sprawls depicted in the likes of Metropolis, or 2000AD‘s Mega-City One. Scout and her best friend Kyisha live in a…
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Salon Futura podcast
Thanks to Cheryl Morgan for inviting me to be part of her online magazine, Salon Futura, this month. I participated in a podcast in which we discussed the graphic novels and/or comic book series that were published during 2010, most of which are eligible for the Hugo for Best Graphic Story. This is a relatively new Hugo Award, so this is an excellent initiative by Cheryl to boost the profile of the many fantastic publications that could be nominated. My fellow comic book enthusiasts on the podcast are Cheryl, Joe Gordon of the Forbidden Planet International blog and David Monteith of Geek Syndicate. I’m sure there are some outstanding comics…
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new shoots
This is a hopeful sign from yesterday. It was taken on a day that could pass for Spring, but which followed one of the most miserable days (weather-wise anyway) we’ve had in months: sordid skies, torrential rain and gusting wind. I don’t mind coping with the grey days when they blow away and leave us with spearmint fresh skies and promises of verdant earth.
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smile, get girls reading comics
Over the past year I’ve increased the amount of comic books/graphic novels I’m reading. Partly because I’m writing coming books now, and also because it’s such a fun, diverse medium. There are so many great titles being published to suit all tastes. When I was a girl I was not encouraged to read comics – I wasn’t discouraged either, but I didn’t know another girl my age who loved them the way I did. I’ve no idea where I got the notion that ‘comic books were for boys’, but it was something I understood. I didn’t agree, but I knew that my liking comic books was not the norm. It…
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Kapow!, no women
I got an email from a regular commentator on my blog pointing me to the new comic book convention that Mark Millar is organising this coming April in the UK called Kapow! ComicCon. He hinted that I might discover something missing from the event. Well, yes the omission is pretty glaring to me: not one woman among the forty guests. This is strange. It’s not like there are no top-class women working in comics. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not paying attention. For instance, I’d recommend reading the excellent ‘She Has No Head‘ column by Kelly Thompson on Comic Book Resources for plenty of examples of the fine work women…
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Involuntary Muscle
Issue 35 of Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction is now out and it includes my short story ‘Involuntary Muscle’. Thanks to editors Stephen Theaker and John Greenwood for choosing to include my story in this issue. It also features work by Matthew Amundsen, Douglas Ogurek, reviews by John Greenwood, Stephen Theaker and Howard Watts, with cover art also supplied by Howard. I find myself somewhat finger-tied at the prospect of writing a preamble or summary of ‘Involuntary Muscle’. I suppose the best I can offer is an anecdote from when I attended Clarion West, and Maureen McHugh was our mentor for a week. She said one time that when you write a…
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toy n joy
This is one of those delightful, slightly macabre, images you can chance upon occasionally. I snapped it during my last trip to London. I often think dolls are rather grotesque, with their fake smiles and staring eyes. Especially when they are stripped down so their human mockery is made evident. This jumble contains potential winners of a Creepy Doll pageant. Childhood is a funny period in your life. So many things you love can be simultaneously frightening in different circumstances: like when you’re tucked up in bed and the teddy bear eyes glint in the glimmer of the hall light, and the distant unintelligible murmur of your parents’ voices offers…
