I have a new author discussion thread over at the BFS forum:

Click here for link.

Twenty years ago, Paul Kincaid carried out a survey of British science fiction and fantasy writers, in an attempt to get a handle on the state of British SF at the time.

In June 2009, I received an email from Niall Harrison, the editor of Vector, asking me to take part in a repeat of that survey, on behalf of the Bristish Science Fiction Association. These were ten questions from the original survey, plus an additional question on changes over the past two decades.

Now, an analysis of the results of both surveys is being released. BSFA members will shortly receive a copy of the results in book form. I have seen an advance PDF of the book, and I think I can safely say that it will be of interest to anyone with a stake in the state of modern British science fiction.

Find out more here.

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

- Ray Bradbury

“We are all post-Ballard now: it’s not that we’ve gotten beyond him but rather that we remain ineluctably defined by him..”

- China Miéville

For the full article, click here.

Thanks to Chris Teague at Pendragon Press, I now have an A3 poster and a stack of limited-edition promotional postcards for Silversands, featuring Vincent Chong’s excellent cover design. They arrived in the post this morning, and they’re very pretty.

The postcards will used to promote the novel at Eastercon.

Eastercon is the official convention of the British Science Fiction Association. It is a four day event held over the Easter bank holiday weekend, and has been held annually for over sixty years. This year’s event is called Odyssey, and it’s being held at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow. It will be the fourth consecutive Eastercon I’ve attended.

As well as listing its special guests, the Odyssey website also has a list of authors attending Odyssey 2010, on which you’ll find my picture and a brief bio. If you’re at the event, come up and say hello. I’ll be signing copies of my new novel from 12.00pm on the Saturday, as well as taking part in the Shine and Conflicts anthology launches.

Click here for my schedule.

• Tokyo
• New York
• South Pole
• Valles Marineris

A little while ago, John Anealio asked me to participate in a new feature at his Sci-Fi Songs blog, called Interstellar Jukebox, where an invited group of writers, bloggers, musicians, and podcasters  weigh in on some Sci-Fi related music topic.

The participants’ collected responses to the first topic have been posted today. The subject was favourite songs with the word “space” in the title, and this is what I wrote:

I discovered Patti Smith while at school, in the late 1980s. I’d been into the Velvet Underground for a couple of years, and I was just discovering and getting into all these cool American bands, like the Ramones and The Doors. I picked up a vinyl copy of her first album, Horses (1975), at a record store in Bristol, at the top of Park Street, opposite the museum. It was produced by John Cale, whose early albums I really liked, and Smith looked amazing on the sleeve, like some sort of hip androgynous alien, with this fuck-you attitude. I looked at it all the way home on the bus, turning it over and over in my hands. When I finally got it back to my room and put it on the turntable, it blew me away. It was arty and passionate and perfect, and it took no prisoners. It mixed reggae and rock with this spectacularly demented poetry; and Smith had this incredible voice that sounded beautiful and ugly all at the same time. I was 17 years old, and I played it over and over again.

“Space Monkey” is the second track on Smith’s slightly patchier (but more commercially successful) third album, Easter (1978), and it’s a prowling, swaggering chant of a song, buoyed up by cheery organ and driving bass. Without the vocals, it might almost sound like something by Talking Heads; but here, Smith dominates the music. She alternates spoken word passages with Jim Morrison growls, until the whole thing degenerates into panting and monkey screams.

You can see the full feature, including a video of “Space Monkey” and responses from a number of other sci-fi folk, at John’s blog: Interstellar Jukebox

1. Being published
2. Being paid
3. Being read
4. Being drunk

As a result of last week’s Mind Meld on SF Signal, I had a nice suprise in the post this morning. Because I mentioned that I really wanted to read Moxyland by Lauren Beukes,  those lovely people at Angry Robot Books have sent me a copy, plus an advance proof copy of King Maker by Maurice Broaddus.

Both books look good. The first is a “politically charged urban speculative thriller”, and the second a retelling of the Arthurian myth, set amongst the drug dealers and gangs on the streets of downtown Indianapolis.

When I’ve read them, I’ll post a review.