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WoW, a review
Those of you who like video or online computer games probably noticed that the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the world, World of Warcraft (WoW), released an expansion to its system in early December, called Cataclysm. Richmond and Vicky at the Hi-Ex! Blog asked me to review the game, and I was happy to oblige. My review went up yesterday. I’ve been an irregular player of WoW for a few years. Whenever I’m very busy I don’t play it at all, as there is no bigger thief of time than WoW when you really get stuck into it. I played more often than usual during the…
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cresting the big wave
I’ve been working on the web site redevelopment of the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild for a long time. I do a lot of web-related work for the Guild, including managing all of its social media outlets, which every organisation needs to maintain these days. A big job like a web site overhaul requires large periods of allocated concentration, and that’s been problematic in regards to divvying up my few resources. Working with advocacy organisations means you’re always scraping the pan for those last scraps of funding, and this year the Guild absorbed several funding cuts: there is nothing lurking at the bottom of that pot now. Still, I’m glad…
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long live the new flesh
A year and a half ago I started a project to migrate my blog onto WordPress. This past week I got a tiny gap between projects that allowed me to turn my attention back to it, and the results are now live. I didn’t have much time to dedicate to the re-design, but I’m pleased with the results. As usual I owe a debt of gratitude to my husband Martin, who tackled the the most difficult job: the importing of six years of posts and comments from my old content management system, Bblog. He also added a couple of tweaks that will be entirely uninteresting to most people, but are…
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celebrate short fiction
I noticed that Poets & Writers magazine is making a case for the concept of May being National Short Story Month. Well, as someone who writes and reads short fiction I think it’s a fine idea. The Emerging Writers Network is behind the campaign, and is blogging all month with reviews of short fiction to lend momentum to the movement. There are a multitude of online sources for short speculative fiction, and here is just a small sample: E-Zines Abyss & Apex Arkham Tales Beneath Ceaseless Skies Brain Harvest ChiZine Clarkesworld Magazine Fantasy Magazine Farrago’s Wainscot Hub Magazine Ideomancer Jim Baen’s Universe Lone Star Stories Strange Horizons Podcast Magazines EscapePod…
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uplifting
Another one of my twitter stories has been published on Thaumatrope: if you’re hungry for a fictional nibble.Reviews of Black Static, issue 10, have been appearing online. I realised before reading the first one that I had been bracing myself: like how you involuntarily clench your muscles when you expect a terrible blow. My story, “Vic”, is intimate, small, and poignant, and I suspected some people might want a story that’s more action-packed and brutal. Although, that’s the beauty of a diverse collection of stories in a magazine–you should find one to your tastes. However, Colin Harvey over on Suite 101 enjoyed “Vic” very much, and rated it “Outstanding”. He…
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catching up
The past three weeks have been hectic, and my weekly Thursday Twitterfic lapsed during this period, but as it happens a bunch of my twitter stories hit the web so here are links to them: There are two stories, here and here, on Thaumatrope, and a pico story on Outshine. During Easter my poem “Exchange” went live on the fabulous Goblin Fruit. Finally, issue 10 of British horror magazine Black Static is now on sale, and it contains my short story “Vic”. I had a brilliant time at Eastercon in Bradford. I thoroughly enjoyed all the panels I was on, and moderated tightly for the two I shepherded. Generally, I…
