PicoWriMo's Summer Season

Hooray! picowrimo will be running over the summer! This year it will be running over two months, so that everyone who wants to can participate, either in Team June or Team July. Or both. See here.

"What is picowrimo?", I hear you cry. PicoWriMo started as a place for people who wanted to participate in some of the madness of NaNoWriMo, but wanted a more realistic target, say 500 or 5000 words. Targets are self-set, and the comm provides daily posts for you to check in, get support, and give others support. More on the profile page. It is friendly, informal and unpressured.

Do go along and join if you think this might be fun. New picowrimists are always welcome!

And thank you to wiseheart for organising things this time round! :-)

Chicks Unravel Time

I'm delighted to say that I'm a contributor to the forthcoming book from Mad Norwegian Press, Chicks Unravel Time.

From Amazon:

The sister book to the 2011 Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords...

In Chicks Unravel Time, editors Deborah Stanish (Whedonistas) and L.M. Myles bring together a host of award-winning female writers, media professionals and scientists to examine each season of new and classic Doctor Who from their unique perspectives.

Diana Gabaldon discusses how Jamie McCrimmon inspired her best-selling Outlander series, and Barbara Hambly (Benjamin January Mysteries) examines the delicate balance of rebooting a TV show. Seanan McGuire (Toby Daye series) reveals the power and pain of waiting in Series 5, and Una McCormack (The King's Dragon) argues that Sylvester McCoy's final year of Doctor Who is the show's best season ever.

Other contributors include Juliet E. McKenna (Einarrin series), Tansy Rayner Roberts (Power and Majesty), Sarah Lotz (The Mall), Martha Wells (The Cloud Roads), Joan Frances Turner (Dust), Rachel Swirsky ("Fields of Gold") and Aliette de Bodard (Obsidian and Blood series).

Yes, season 26 is the BEST EVER season of Doctor Who. And the book is out in November, so you can find out why then!

( Cover under the cut )

Now here is the lake, and I still haven't changed

I went to see The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp last week. It's Powell and Pressburger's best film (and thus a strong contender for best British film EVAH). The last scene makes me weep. To think of it being shown in 1943, and created using the talents of so many gifted refugees, not least Emeric Pressburger and Anton Walbrook... I'm welling up thinking about it. Talk about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.

Peter Bradshaw's review here. If it comes your way, go and see it.