I write fiction about the future, but that doesn’t mean the future I invent is fictitious. And while I can’t study the future the way historical novelists can study the past, I can, and do, extrapolate today’s trends into future possibilities. And I say possibilities, because it’s my hope that in some small part, my books […]
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For the Boys
Yesterday at the London Book Fair, I participated in a panel hosted by publisher Lisa Edwards about boys and men reading. If you know me well, you know this is a subject I’m passionate about. I was a reluctant reader as a boy, and getting (and keeping) boys reading guides my writing. My goal is to […]
Bologna Book Fun
Right now, most of the children’s book world is in Bologna, Italy. The rest of us are busy writing! For the uninitiated, the annual Bologna Book Fair is a massive market in children’s book rights. Sarah McIntyre has done a groovy blog post on it, which you can read here. It’s like a big […]
Virtual Insanity
I finally saw The Nether last night, Jennifer Haley’s award-winning play about the consequences of living life in a virtual world. It was gripping and disturbing, raising important questions at the outset of a new digital age. Of course for me, what was most interesting was that many of the themes are core MetaWars concepts: – The […]
Reading Not Speeding
You’d have to be locked in the truck of a car to avoid the “news” of Jeremy Clarkson’s suspension from the wildly popular Top Gear TV show for allegedly striking a producer. Now, I don’t know Mr. Clarkson personally, though I don’t care for his public persona (he basically strikes me a a bully), but […]
A big kid at Kidscreen
This week I’ll be trading the London drizzle for the sunshine of Miami…well, at least the indoor air-conditioning of a conference hotel. For the first time ever, Kidscreen, the annual get together of the global kids media industry, will swap Manhattan for Miami. I first went to Kidscreen back in 2004, when I was a […]
Alt Page 3
So, The Sun newspaper may have finally decided to join the 20th century and change it’s Page 3, but from what I’ve seen on twitter this morning it’s only moved from semi-naked to scantily clad. Hardly a great leap forward, and real waste of an amazing opportunity. The Sun has the power and reach to showcase […]
In A World…
There is no formula for great writing. No shortcuts. No magic pills (though many have tried). And no easy path. While there are shelves full of “How To” books on the craft, and I believe that writing is a craft that can be taught, it starts with talent and intent; and must be honed. If anything, […]
In Which I Write A Sequel
So here’s some great news, there’s more ‘Neurotic Zombie’ on the way! I’ve just come off an epic book tour, introducing OCD zombie Adam Meltzer to the masses and my publisher Faber has asked for a follow-up book! I’ve actually been working away on sequel story since the Spring, but it looks like it’ll come out […]
Ray Got Me Reading
This weekend I learned with great sadness that Ray Montgomery (you may know him as R.A.Montgomery), founder and author of the Choose Your Own Adventure books passed away this week. His publisher shared a full obituary, which you can (and should!) read here: http://www.cyoa.com, but I thought I’d share my experience with Ray…. Because Ray got me […]