In about an hour, we’ll be hopping across town to view a possible venue for our wedding. We’re all fresh, and washed, and rinsed, wearing clothes a little smarter than we would usually bother with during the day, and feeling slightly nervous about it all. The closest analogy I can draw is a job interview.
I feel as though I’m going to a job interview. Weird. It’s not as though they won’t let us marry there if we fail to impress. They want our money, after all, and that’s all they’re really interested in.
I wonder if there will be a test….
A potential wedding venue shimmers into view. We’re not decided quite yet, and won’t get a chance to visit and discuss for a couple of weeks, but it’s a lovely place in Glasgow (terribly fancy, dontcherknow), which will make for a gorgeous, intimate wedding. Watch this space.
In the meantime, I have three days away from the day job. Also, I found life’s ‘reset’ button, and will be pressing it on Monday. This is a good thing, and nobody will notice but me. It’s quite a big button. I’m amazed I haven’t seen it before…
Apparently, my lady love will only consent to an Indiana Jones themed wedding if she’s allowed to dress as an Nazi SS officer (they had the sexiest uniforms, apparently). While no wedding is entirely complete without a public lynching of the bride, I feel that ours, perhaps, should depart with tradition here. Back to the drawing board.
A new review and an interview, just in…
Issue 31 of the print magazine Dark Realms carries a review of Beneath the Surface which says several nice things, included among them “Beneath the Surface is a first-rate horror anthology that delivers a thoroughly enjoyable collection of fiendishly fun tales.” Don’t take their word for it though. Find out for yourself by grabbing a copy here.
Over at Unreality SF you can check out an interview with Richard Salter, who talks in detail about Short Trips: Transmissions, the Doctor Who anthology I’ll have a story in next month (indeed, he gives you a flavour of that story, among others…). It’s interesting reading, and should fuel your curiosity. With the 2008 series of Doctor Who fast approaching what looks to be a ballistic conclusion, which will no doubt involve a cliffhanger for Tennant’s Doctor number 10 that won’t be resolved until the Xmas special, you’re going to be in the perfect mood to time travel the other way, and distract yourself with previously unseen adventures from his past lives. You can, of course, pre-order the book right now if you choose.
We’re talking round the houses at the moment, as ideas pop in and out of my lady love’s head for where and how to do the wedding (and once that bit’s done, we’ll be able to concentrate on ‘when’). So far we’ve given fleeting consideration to a registry office, a castle, an extravagant country house, and an elopement to climes unknown (the idea was dismissed before serious thought could be devoted to a country of choice). All have been nice ideas, and who knows, might even be revisited in the future. Today, some of the best ideas yet came to the fore, that struck a chord with both of us.
But I’m saving my masterstroke for later. I’m just waiting for the right moment to slip it into conversation. She’ll love it.
Come here. I’m going to whisper it. Don’t tell her, okay? Got to wait until the time’s right…
Indiana Jones theme wedding…
Yep, she’ll go for it. It’s in the bag.
My inbox at the moment can be summed up in three questions.
- When am I getting married?
- Who is Hiram Grange?
- How is the running going?*
For those who have just tuned in, the first two questions are entirely unrelated. I am not marrying Hiram Grange. Just to be clear.
So…
- I don’t know. Next year some time. Probably. Please stop asking. When I know, I’ll tell you. But thank you for the messages, I’m very happy too!
- Well, chopped from the link I sent you too last time, he’s “one of the most entertaining anti-heroes in modern dark literature, an awkward, gangly, unlikely hero who suffers addictions to absinthe, opium, and sex. A man as flawed and complex as he is capable and deadly. Hiram is a clandestine operative for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, a secret organization funded and controlled by a sect within the Freemasons.” And, because I’ve signed a non-disclosure contract, that’s as much as I can tell you. Really. If the publisher doesn’t release the info, I can’t either. So, you’re allowed to know that I’m one of a team of writers who have developed the character and bible (the super-secret background and continuity document). You’re allowed to know that there will be an initial season of five novellas, each a standalone story, but featuring an ‘arc plot’ that threads them together. Finally, you’re allowed to know that my book, Hiram Grange and the Nymphs of Krakowis the season finale. And that’s it. More will be forthcoming, and I don’t mind admitting that I’m having so much fun with the project that I almost feel guilty about it. You will too, I hope. Follow the link back, and look at that top image by Malcolm McClinton, who is currently looking to do all five book covers, along with interior illustrations. That’s almost as much as you need to know. Hiram Grange. Remember his name…
- Not good. After a groin injury that is only just dying down, it’s been way too long since my last run. Tomorrow, I’ll be gingerly testing the leg out, and seeing how it holds up. It’s been maddening, not being able to make any progress, and I’ve actually missed it (never thought I’d say that…). Fingers crossed for tomorrow, as there’s only three months until the half marathon. Dear god…
*okay, this isn’t true. Nobody has asked this. Sorry. Just making conversation.
