The Case for Detecstasy

Just published - the Summer 2010 edition of Mystery Readers Journal. This special Paranormal Mysteries edition includes an essay by yours truly all about writing fantasy detective fiction. The essay's called The Case for Detecstasy and you can read it right now: just click here to visit the MRJ site and download the PDF.

Need more Who

Big grin on my face after The Big Bang, the season finale of Doctor Who. What a delight to have a Who episode where time travel's an intrinsic part of the story, not just a means of getting our heroes to the planet-of-the-week. Especially gratifying to see it relying on character and emotion rather than spectacle and effects (though we had our share of those).

All in all Steven Moffat's done a fabulous job in hs first series as showrunner, steering it away from Russell Davies's over-the-top campery (which was great in the early days but wore thin) and towards his 'fairy tale' ideal. There were a few shaky episodes, especially during those early moments of over-plotted rebooting, necessary though that process was. But the series displayed a growing maturity throughout. And some breathtaking standouts, especially the Vincent episode. And this finale of course. What's obvious is Moffat's deep love of and confidence in the material - that really does seem to inform everything he does. Clever writer. Smart writer. And Matt Smith is just a great doctor. Can't wait for the next series.

300-mile cyclist

I'm always ready to plug a mate's efforts for charity. So I urge you to follow Paul Ostryzniuk's progress on his amazing charity cycle ride from London to Paris. Paul set off from Blackheath this morning with a bunch of other crazy-fit types, and they're due in Paris at the end of the week.

Paul's tweeting all the way @nogamertagfree. And if you can spare a few coppers, why not help him support Alzheimer's Society by visiting his online sponsor page.

Go Paul!

One third of a draft

I've written the first third of a novel. It's a satisfying milestone, although nothing compared to the much-anticipated pleasure of reaching the halfway point, the rising excitement of watering the horse at that fabled three-quarters way station and, of course, the delirious bliss of cracking open the champagne after finally laying down those immortal words: THE END.

But I get ahead of myself. Ten chapters down. Twenty to go. The hill remains steep, and the path, Zen-like, remains the only reason for my existence.

On another note, I finally got round to watching Cloverfield last night. Despite its slow start - and a level of motion sickness I've only ever experienced in a theme park - I enjoyed it a whole heap. Clever concept, neatly played out, amazing 'you're really there' FX, lots of shocks and, surprisingly, some rather moving moments. And is that a weird-looking beastie or what?

21,000 words

That's the current state of play on the curent novel-in-progress. I need another chapter tomorrow and then I'm back on schedule after a slightly shaky week. That's the trouble with (a) a day job and (b) real life. They mess up your word count.

Huge f#!king nerd

I just completed my Dr Horrible experience by listening to the whole of Commentary! The Musical. According to Joss, Jed, Zack, Neil, Nathan, Felicia and all the rest of them, that makes me a huge f#!king nerd. I'm OK with that.

Smorgasbord

Much to enjoy this weekend, and many different flavours consumed. First, I read the magnificent How To Make Friends With Demons by the national treasure that is Graham Joyce. Joyce writes stories that defy categorisation. Just because they win fantasy awards doesn't necessarily make them fantasy. Nor are they necessarily magic realism. They're just Joyce. What I do know is that Demons is full of real and rounded characters, prose that's witty and rich and full of passion, and that I was sorry to put it down.

Next I experienced the unutterable joy of watching the current UK tour of Spamalot. Yes, the Monty Python musical was in Nottingham, and I was there. A complete hoot from beginning to end. The show manages to incorporate all your favourite bits from Holy Grail, while morphing the plot into something fresh and lively. A great lead performance from Marcus Brigstocke and a heap of witty songs including the hilarious This Is The Song That Goes Like This. Miss it and weep.

Finally, I watched Avatar on the telly. I was concerned going in that I'd miss the bigness and 3D-ness of the theatrical release ... and for the first ten minutes I did. After that I didn't. This is simply a beautiful movie. As well as the eye-candy - which is delicious even on the small screen - this time round I was struck by Cameron's script. He gets a lot of stick for his writing, but check out the aforementioned first ten minutes, in which he delivers exposition for the entire movie with fast and effortless ease and without you even realising he's doing it. Go Jim!

Ghostly progress

Just time for a quick progress report on the ghost-writing project. This morning I passed 15,000 words on this latest fantasy novel. The outline I'm working from is terrific - I hope I'm doing it justice.

These projects are a balancing act between maintaining first-draft speed but keeping the prose reasonably polished. The tight deadline means I'll only have a week or so to review and edit before submission. I will get to do a second draft, but keeping it shiny now will pay off in spades later.

And, even though I'm working to an outline, there's always room for a little riffing. Opportunities to invent new scenes. Fresh insights into the characters. Moments, I hope, of poetry. Perhaps most importantly on a plot-driven piece like this, really digging into the characters' motivation so everything the whole show runs smooth and natural, not like there's some old hack turning the plot wheels behind the scenes.

Ghostly start

I've broken ground on my latest ghost-writing project. Chapter one of the third fantasy novel in the series is in the bank. Well, first draft anyway. Always a thrill to get off the starting blocks, and a pleasure to immerse myself in a world I've enjoyed visiting twice already. Parallel to that, I've been working on outlines for a series of historical novels. And walking by the river, which was nice.