I got tagged, yonks ago, by Nicole Murphy for the 'The Next Big Thing' thing. It's taken me, well, yonks, but I've now done the requisite post and have in turn chosen my victims ... I mean, have tagged a couple of well-deserving writers of my acquaintance. To engage with the shiny meme-ish goodness, and to find out why I tagged these people, please ( Read more... )

And now a review of 'Flight 404' from Kelly Jensen, at SF Crowsnest: "Simon Petrie’s writing style is a little different. I like the way he uses words. ‘Flight 404’ is easy to read and the construction of the plot, from Charmain’s arrival in the system to her discovery of what actually did happen to the Bougainvillea is logical and well-paced.(If I ( Read more... )

That's the verdict of Damien Smith, over at The Specusphere, on 'The Hunt for Red Leicester'. Of 'Flight 404', Damien says "It’s been some time since I read anything approaching hard sci-fi and I really enjoyed the more “realistic” mood of the story." Overall, Damien says, "it is an interesting combination of two very different tales that ( Read more... )

... well, they were, fifteen million years ago. As Anna Salleh reports on the ABC website, the 70 kg giant wombat Nimbadon lavarackorum not only had forearms strikingly similar to those of the present-day koala, complete with koala-like long claws and semi-opposable thumbs and big toes, but it also had "relatively short hind limbs and its limb ( Read more... )

Just a quick note to announce that my alien-abduction story, 'Cruisy', has been up on the Ticon4 website for the past few weeks ...

A Fantastical Librarian weighs in on Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear:


( Read more... )

Liz Bright from Peggy Bright Books has asked me to pass on the following:


( Read more... )

World Standards Day, according to its Wikipedia entry, aims to "raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardisation* to the global economy".

World Standards Day falls on the 14th of October this year. Except in Canada, where it occurred on the 12th of October, and in the USA, where it was celebrated on ( Read more... )

... modesty most certainly does not prevent me from directing your attention, Gentle Reader, to the kind and wise words of Sean the Bookonaut, who in the book's first sighted review says of the two novellas:

Flight 404:    I really enjoyed this story, felt that the character was an honest and positive representation of a transgender person and I was ( Read more... )

Following on from my post announcing a 'design a book giveaway competition' competition, I've been mulling over the options. While there was a lot to recommend in all of the suggestions, I feel that getting the book launched into orbit, or arranging a tournament of motorbike jousting death-matches, would for one reason or another substantially ( Read more... )