[This is the text from my first spoken word event at ‘Never Mind the Buzzfeed’ last night at the Impro Theatre in North London] I want to make clear I’m not having a dig at any of the three things in the title; I’ll be honest, both religion and drugs have been a fun but […]
Never Mind the Buzzfeed, last night at the Impro Theatre in North London, was my first ever spoken word event. Previously I’ve done acting, standup and current affairs comedy but only with sport for ‘They Think It’s All Over’ on Radio 4. This eclectic show, produced by Alison Kent, was somewhat different and featured a […]
I met Cassandra Khaw at one of Unsung Stories’ splendid spoken word nights, where she was one of the writers reading their short works aloud. I was struck by the beauty of the language in the story, its unique imagery an the romanticism of its fantastical central relationship. She read this story just before the […]
With Den Patrick, Jen Williams, Peter Newman, Francesca Haig & Stephen Aryan Ostensibly a book launch for the final novel in Den Patrick’s ‘Erebus’ trilogy, ‘The Girl on the Liar’s Throne’, tonight’s event evolved into a unique discussion with a panel of four other successful contemporary fantasy writers, all of whose work has two elements […]
MONSTERS, MAGIC & MAYHEM Although tonight’s meeting was an interesting discussion about the evolution and interpretation of a successful contemporary fantasy epic, I think what many of us took away was the knowledge that Edward Cox writes his books on a tumble dryer. I don’t mean he has rigged it up as some kind […]
‘Children of Time’ is one of those books one devours obsessively and then mourns once it’s finished. Such has been its impact that I don’t know what to read next (apart from more of this author’s books). Either way, I’ve had to go off-genre and read a bloody thriller for my next book. Yes, ‘Children […]
Like Led Zeppelin albums, Unsung Stories’ spoken word evenings are individually numbered, adding to the unique sense of each. Tonight’s intersection of fact and fantasy was the observation by regular MC George Sandison that today was Diana Wynne Jones’s birthday. Jones, who was at Oxford when CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien were lecturing there, is […]
1939: Nazi fascists have bullied and lied their way into power. They have no plan so they start a war that achieves the exact opposite of what was intended. 1981: Argentine fascists have bullied and lied their way into power. They have no plan so they start a war that achieves the exact opposite of […]
Adam Christopher’s new novel ‘Made to Kill’, a 1960s-set Hollywood private detective story in which the detective is a robot who moonlights as an assassin, is a great fun book with an inspiring story behind it. Adam had just sold a space opera trilogy to Tor in the US; Tor then sent Adam some questions […]
Life in Sci-Fi 