As most of my LJ posts seem to be soundbites signifying very little, I'm all about the Twitter these days: This is me here 

Anyone know how to import Tweets into LJ?

Can you guess which one is me?

Do you like maps at the front of books? And I'm looking at you, epic fantasy reader.

Latest Guardian blog on that very topic just gone up.

Presuming everyone on my friends list isn't now on Dreamwidth, whatever the heck that might be, I'm gamely bringing up the technological rear with a Twitter account:

http://twitter.com/davidmbarnett

Question is, what the hell do I do with it?

Poll #1388668 Quiz for Writers
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

When you send revisions on your manuscript to your agent on Monday and it gets to Thursday and you haven't heard back do you...

Possibly the tardiest con entry ever, but I've not been near a computer since Eastercon, which has been quite liberating.

Anyway. Great event. Only really went on Saturday, during which time I moderated a panel on SF as Protest Literature. Thanks to David Lloyd, John Clute, Gareth L Powell and Jon Courtenay Grimwood for making it a good experience. I had intended to just introduce them and sit back, but I've a niggling feeling I talked too much. Ah well, chalk it up to experience.

Met some top people, in no particular order: Nick Harkaway and his wunnerful wife (Barbelith in-joke alert) Clare; Chaz Brenchley; me agent John Jarrold; Tom Hunter and his Incredibly Tall SF Pals; my Immanion editor Donna Scott and her beau Neil; Eric Brown; Philip Palmer; Chris Beckett; Roy Gray; Tony Ballantyne; Ian Whates; Ramsey Campbell and his wife; Pete Crowther and his wife; all those on my panel; Ken McLeod; Juliet McKenna; Darren Nash; Mike Carey; Deborah J Miller; Charlie Stross; Mike Cobley and his Amazing Hotel Lint Sandwich... there were undoubtedly more but they probably came after the Black Sheep on draught had got the better of me, so apologies if I've missed anyone I spoke to/blethered at.

Current Guardian blog has gone bonkers. A bit of time-wasting frippery if you are so inclined.

I have written 111,746 of 100,000 words. I am now 100% done! no frills wordmeter

Lucky Number Seven. Run through initial edits, cut and teased and chopped and coifed. Sleeping on it and having another look over the weekend, then off to Esteemed Agent Monday morning!

Latest Guardian book blog: When fictional writers get book deals.

It appears I will be moderating a panel on the afternoon of Saturday April 11 at Eastercon in Bradford.

More to the point, is anyone going who would like to sink a few ales on the Saturday?

On a normal day, what with working and spending time with the family and eating and breathing an' shit, I reckon I can comfortably write around 2,000 words of fiction (bearing in mind that my day job involves staring at a computer monitor for about nine hours and being creative with it).

Today, on a day off with no-one in the house, I managed to turn in 5,000 words by 1pm. And they were pretty good words, if I say so meself. Thing is, I could write more (notwithstanding the front door that needs fixing up and the back window that needs seeing to and that thing that's been hanging off the ceiling for about six years that needs looking and and and) but I'm not sure if I should. True, my gander's up, but I wonder if I'd benefit from sleeping on the next chapter rather than rushing in.

Writers: What do you do? Write until you drop or give yourself a strict-ish target and stick to it?

I am absolutely adoring Polly Scattergood right now. A bit like if some-one de-arched some of Lilly Allen's cleverer lyrics and forced a clone of Kate Bush who had been raised since birth in a darkened room and fed on raw meat to sing them in the disarming Joanna Newsom style. With a name and hair to make indie boys weep, to boot.

So, yesterday was World Book Day here on Earth and Charlie's school, for today, asked the kids to dress up as a character from a book, with the accent on exloring and travel.

Last weekend we went through a few options from our existing dressing up box... Spider-Man (not actually a "book" character, claims Mum. I begged to differ. But that's an old argument for another time). Indiana Jones was another favoured option, but we didn't have the kit. Pirate. Scooby-Doo...

Then Charlie decided he wanted to be Max from Where the Wild Things Are. A cursory internet check determined that, despite the upcoming movie version, no such costume exists for sale. This is Max:



So I rashly pledged that I would make one. Now, I don't think I've so much as sewn a button on anything before, so this was a pretty big promise. But not one I felt I could renege on. So, every night from Monday, when I had secured some material, cotton, needles and stuff, I was there, on the sofa, until midnight most evenings.

This is the result.



It doesn't exactly fit in all the right places, but, y'know, for a first attempt, I'm not that disappointed.

And the boy Charlie loves it. Be interesting to see how long it actually lasts during the rough and tumble of the school day.

So I'm writing this new book, 50k words in, going great guns, just having the usual slight plot collywobbles but that's to be expected. It's nominally involved with the Cottingley Fairies, and I've been reading a bit of fairy-related literature alongside the writing. A couple of weeks ago I picked up John Crowley's Little, Big, which I haven't read for ages, and got engrossed in it again.

Googling the book I found that there's a 25th anniversary edition of it coming out. I thought this might make something for the Guardian and, lo, here it is today.

Funny thing is, they illustrated it with a picture of the Cottingley Fairies, prominently featuring Elsie Wright, who looms large in the new novel.

Unfortunate news doing the rounds via Mark Chadbourn's blog: Games Workshop appears to have put up its dedicated SF/Fantasy/Horror imprint Solaris for sale. Unfortunate news because if it doesn't find a buyer... well, who knows what will happen. It's put out some great books, and has proved to be a good home for Eric Brown among others. Its existence also gives hope to an aspiring mid-list author like myself...

Further to previous posts about those other David Barnetts I notice that Gareth L Powell's website mentions a David Barnett moderating the Eastercon panel SF As Protest Literature. Which actually sounds quite interesting. I wonder which David Barnett that is?

Funny if it was actually me and I just didn't know about it.

It's, y'know, my name.

I'm liking, but shouldn't Nite Owl be a bit... fatter?

There's some quality viral marketing around the Watchmen movie, echoing the "extras" that appeared in the original comics. I like this public information film from 1977 explaining the Keene Act:


Edit: can't embed it, check out the link:

http://www.i-watch-the-watchmen.com/tvplayer/