Alt.Fiction 2010

The one day spec fic convention known as Alt.Fiction is back in Derby (Derbyshire, UK) on the 12th of June

The day is made up of a number of different types of sessions, including author talks, Q&A sessions, discussion panels and workshops. There will also be a number of publishers in attendance, including Angry Robot Books, Gollancz, Solaris, Abaddon and BBC Books, while genre agents John Berlyne and John Jarrold will also be sharing their considerable experience.

Authors attending include: Chaz Brenchley, Juliet McKenna, Mark Charan Newton, Graham Joyce, and Sarah Pinborough among others. I went the last time it was held and it was (a) very interesting (in an almost anthropological kind of way) and (b) good fun. So if you fancy a day at the Quad in Derby come along (although tickets are, apparently, selling fast.)

Sunny Sundays are good for washing Bear...

The sun shone magnificently yesterday and as it was far too hot to take the beasts out in the middle of the day we decided to do the next best thing - bath them! Two out of the three were scrubbed, disgustingly brown water was sluiced off and we even managed to get a bit of a brush through the wool of Bear's trousers so it was a productive afternoon. He's still going to need a set of professional clippers to get the underfur out quickly - he really doesn't like being groomed overmuch - but at least he's now clean and shiny. Dog no.3 will be done next weekend, weather willing. I just need to buy more shampoo.

For your delectation, a picture of shiny Bear at play...

tap, tap...is this thing on?

I have been released from the oars at last! (Well, okay, maybe one ankle is still attached but hey, progress!) The day jobbery has dialled back enough that I should be going from exhaustion to merely tired any day now.

Hello, I've missed you, and I probably won't be reading the last two months of entries that I've missed. Sorry.