The Spoons That Are My Ears!

My sweetpea has gone away to India. It's damn lonely without her and I can't wait to join her there.

I've started cycling again -- on a bicycle belonging to the Danish girlfriend of Frictionless Man frontman, Stuart Ross. There are two words on the side of the bicycle: (a) Conan, (b) Saxon. That says something about Danish girls, perhaps...

I've started writing a new collection of linked stories that have absolutely nothing to do with fantasy. They are completely straight, realistic stories based on my own experiences. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. I don't yet know how many stories will be in the collection, but the individual pieces are all going to be quite short. The probable title for the finished collection will be My Cholesterol Socks. The stories I'm working on at the moment have titles like 'Betrayal', 'Explosion', 'The Homemade Hookah', 'Errata of our Quiet Desperation', 'Suicide: a Beginner's Guide' and the title story, 'Bless my Cholesterol Socks'...

I have recently been working on a project called THE MERMAID VARIATIONS. This project consists of a book of eight linked short stories with the overall title of The Mermaid of Curitiba.

The idea is that I'm going to try to get this book published in as many different languages as possible, but not in English. In this manner, the end result will be many books that are all variations of a theme, but the theme itself will not be visible. This isn't quite the same as a set of variations without a theme but it has a similar 'Calvino-esque' quality about it...

I am currently seeking publishers from around the world willing to consider this book for translation and publication. For instance, a Portuguese publisher has expressed interest in seeing the completed manuscript (if published in Portuguese the book will be issued as A Sereia de Curitiba), and I've just heard from a publisher in Greece also interested in seeing it.

Yes, my first ever book -- Worming the Harpy -- is due to be republished by Prime!

Hopefully it will come out at the end of this year. It is exactly ten years since this book was first published and I'm delighted that this second edition will be the definitive edition. Various changes made by the original publisher are being reversed and deleted passages are being restored. In many ways my writing career began with this book. More news will be posted here as it happens...