Garbage collection, in a very real sense
Stones and Bones is being produced this weekend. Want a copy? Be quick and stick your details down here. I’ll print extras, of course, but only up to a round number.
Here’s a preview, with an excerpt from each story. The final lineup is largely unchanged from the table of contents agreed previously, although titles have [...]
I’m so impressed with Radiohead. I was a fan back in the days of The Bends (y’know: before they literally, if not metaphorically, sold out), and have more affection for Pablohoney than most. But in an era when it’s trivial to get whatever music you want for free off your mate who happened to buy [...]
With the completion of the final story, to the point of general legibility, I can announce a provisional table of contents for my free-for-the-first-50 extravaganza of short stories:
Stones and Bones
Hidden depths
They glow, against the skin
Mortar dream
Stones and bones
O great computer!
Sense of place
A chat with relatives
The parable of the innkeeper
Want a free copy? Ask me [...]
Last year I released a collection of short stories called A Pocketful of Lies. Anyone who wanted a paper copy could get one delivered for free, and in early 2007 I released the PDF online too.
This year I’m doing the same thing, with a themed collection of almost entirely new work: Stones and Bones. More [...]
Remember in the days before blogs, when we used to have homepages? Well, technically I suppose I still have one, separate from my blog. How retro is that, eh? My online presence is so fragmented (arguably because my offline presence is that of a genre-flitting dilettante who can’t just sit still for five minutes) that [...]
This week will be a busy week: between Oxfringe, newly-discovered other fringes, and the ever-present official festival I may not be near email as often as I normally would. To this end I’ve put a Twitter box in the right-hand column of this blog. It’s a nasty piece of Shockwave Flash but it at least [...]
There’ve been some exciting developments with the upcoming Oxford Fringe: Oxfringe has teamed up with On The Fringe, another local creative group with official festival recognition, so we now have even more events planned.
Throughout next week (March 20–25) there’ll be Fringe events every lunchtime (12.30–1.30) in the café at Blackwell’s on Broad Street. It’s open-mic, [...]
Those of you who signed it will probably already know, but the government replied to my petition about efficiency ratings. You can read the petition and its signatories too.
It’s probably not worth dwelling on. The civil servants who drafted the reply clearly had an agenda which they wanted to tell me all about, and the [...]
I’m helping to organise a literary night towards the end of March: read on, and sign up for free if you’re interested.
In the shadow of the official Oxford Literary Festival lurks… Oxfringe, an independent fringe event for local writers and new talent. We’re hosting a one-night session of stories, poetry and hilarious musical acts (time [...]
As a prelude to the relaunch of short-story website Quiet little Lies (a relaunch which is long overdue), I’m distributing in print a seasonal special for 2006 called:
An ideal Christmas gift, this handcrafted pamphlet has been lovingly assembled from a dozen complex, thoughtful tales that [...]