Sorry folks, no FPB this week. Why? Because I’m currently sat on a train to London to attend the more southerly launch event for Secret Histories, John Berlyne’s epic bibliographical cornucopia of the work of Tim Powers*, and I’ve not had time to write one in between all the other stuff going on this week.

It’s running in tandem with a British Fantasy Society open night, so if you’re around and about in the middle of the Big Smoke, maybe you’ll pop along as well? OK, so the weather’s not so conducive, but that’s what your Oyster card is for, right? Plus it’s in a pub. With beer. And Tim Powers. And (of course!) me. Three out of four ain’t bad, AMIRITE?

Whatever you decide to do this evening, have fun. Hasta luego!

[ * Yup, published by PS Publishing, who are clients of mine, as is John Berlyne. It's nice to work with nice people doing cool things. ]

It’s been open to the public for a couple of days now, so I can safely announce that the new website for Zeno Literary Agency (the project formerly known as The Big Project) is live and unleashed upon the intertubes.

Zeno Agency represents a big old swathe of genre (and non-genre) writers of note, so it’ll be a good place to keep an ear to the ground as regards the publishing circuit. Go take a look.

Design-wise, it’s pretty stark and minimal; the real heavy lifting was getting the client biography pages to work the way we wanted them, complete with alphabetical divisions, little thumbnails in the listings and so on. There were times at which this project was intensely frustrating, but I learned a great deal about what you can do with custom queries in Wordpress in the process. Every day’s a school day.

Aesthetic and ergonomic feedback is not just welcome but positively encouraged.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to announce the launch of a completed project, namely the new website of fantasy author Alex Bell.

Alex seems very pleased with it, and so am I – it’s definitely the ‘prettiest’ site I’ve built yet (for values of ‘pretty’ where x = ‘kinda moody in a feminine mode’), which was partly due to having the fabulous Kustaa Saksi artwork to work from for the colour scheme.

Go take a look; all feedback is appreciated!

Well, I’ve just sent off the invoice, and all but a last few lingering (and, frankly, very perplexing) aesthetic bugs have been squelched, so I think it’s time to announce formally that Tim Lebbon’s new website is open for business.

It’s been quite the learning curve, for an assortment of reasons that – seeing as very few of you give a crap about the internal workings of Wordpress – I shan’t bother going on about here. But learning is good, and Tim’s is the first site I’ve built from scratch rather than hacking about example themes, so I was expecting to hit a few snags. Maybe not quite so many, though…

But any way – take a look, let me know what you think. I should take this opportunity to thank Tim for his patience with me, too – he’s a super gent, and no mistake. Buy one of his books.

Ladies and gents, I’m proud to announce that Gareth L Powell’s new website is open for business!

Please update your bookmarks (and feed readers) accordingly, and drop by to make him feel at home, why don’t ya?

Also, feel free to email me or comment here with any blinding errors of function or design that you may stumble across on your exploration. Many thanks!

Having been out of town on the relevant evening, I’m late to the field in trumpeting the launch of Scalpel Magazine (although I actually mentioned it ages ago, and let the cat somewhat out of the bag in the process). Most of the genre blogosphere appears to have taken the news of a new reviews and criticism outlet fairly positively, notwithstanding Nick Mamatas and friends. There’s some fine content on there, too. I for one hope it will last the course – and not merely because I want another venue to send my own work to, either.

Pat Cadigan’s guest editorial for Scalpel mentions the decline of book reviews in mainstream print media, which is a hot topic at the moment, especially in the US. I’ve found that the Print Is Dead blog has had some wise things to say on the matter. Meanwhile, the UK’s very own Grumpy Old Bookman has added his dime to the jukebox:

“Finally, however, let us remember one simple fact. However erudite the print reviewer may be, and however exquisite his taste and critical judgement, he is handicapped by comparison with the most humble blogger. Our print man cannot link directly to other sources.

This is, I would suggest, a major problem. Twenty years ago, of course, no one could even imagine it. But now it has to be faced.”

That’s about right, I think. I’m not gloating about the declining relevance of print media (in reference to book reviews or anything else), but nor am I willing to shut my eyes on what, to me, is an obvious and irresistable trend. Selah.

Of all the news I expected to encounter this evening, a report of the launch of a new UK sf magazine was the least likely, but that is what I got. Continue reading “The new mag in town”

I can’t imagine any futurists, space-nuts or general geeks in the US could have wished for a better present on Independence Day. Continue reading “Congratulations, Discovery”

NASA is in a tricky position. Continue reading “The shuttle gamble”