Ah, essay deadlines. Got to love them. Really. And yet, it's so easy to get distracted by other OU students lamenting the oncoming cut off date of doom...
29 February 2012
25 February 2012
Exam Planning
So have just heard when and where the scary exam for this year's history module is taking place. Not, as previously thought, at Reading Uni. Nope, somewhere far more interesting than that...
This would be Sindlesham Court, which may or may not be connected to the Berkshire Masonic Lodge next door.
Strangely, this has just wiped out about half the stress from the impending June torture as it has the bonus of being closer to home with waaay better parking than Reading Uni. Also, it's quite pretty. I may even be looking forward to the exam now... ;-P
This would be Sindlesham Court, which may or may not be connected to the Berkshire Masonic Lodge next door.
Strangely, this has just wiped out about half the stress from the impending June torture as it has the bonus of being closer to home with waaay better parking than Reading Uni. Also, it's quite pretty. I may even be looking forward to the exam now... ;-P
22 February 2012
CSI: Gallifrey
So recently I've been watching a lot of CSI (I blame the mother-ship. It's all her fault. ::waves:: ;-P) and while it is a lot of fun to see Morpheus wandering around solving crime, what would be better is this...
12 February 2012
BFS Noms time
So the BFS Awards nominations are now open for business here:
http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577
You get three choices per category (aarrrrrgh, the torment!) and the top four choices with the most votes go through to the judging panels for final wossnames.
The new online voting form thingy is still a bit buggy so to ease your pain -
1) when you've entered a couple of choices, nip down to the bottom of the page and hit the 'resume later' button to save your work. Then you can pop up and add a couple more choices, then nip down and hit resume to save it. (Far less frustrating than doing the whole thing, hitting submit, getting an error message, doing the whole thing from scratch all over again, rinse and repeat until the laptop gets thrown out of the window...)
And 2) apparently there's an IP blocker on it somewhere, so if you're being helpful and providing links to some of the very excellent online magazines and stories and wotnot that really should be getting nominated... don't put the 'http://www' bit of the address in as this apparently makes the web page panic and then it's error messages and losing your noms... (here speaks the voice of experience who filled out the form many many times this morning...)
If you're short of inspiration, there's some cool picks on the Best of 2011 post I did a while back, not that I'm at all biased...
So if you're a BFS member, are attending Fantasycon 2012 or attended Fcon 2011 - hop on over to http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577 and share your love of the genre...
XOXO
http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577
You get three choices per category (aarrrrrgh, the torment!) and the top four choices with the most votes go through to the judging panels for final wossnames.
The new online voting form thingy is still a bit buggy so to ease your pain -
1) when you've entered a couple of choices, nip down to the bottom of the page and hit the 'resume later' button to save your work. Then you can pop up and add a couple more choices, then nip down and hit resume to save it. (Far less frustrating than doing the whole thing, hitting submit, getting an error message, doing the whole thing from scratch all over again, rinse and repeat until the laptop gets thrown out of the window...)
And 2) apparently there's an IP blocker on it somewhere, so if you're being helpful and providing links to some of the very excellent online magazines and stories and wotnot that really should be getting nominated... don't put the 'http://www' bit of the address in as this apparently makes the web page panic and then it's error messages and losing your noms... (here speaks the voice of experience who filled out the form many many times this morning...)
If you're short of inspiration, there's some cool picks on the Best of 2011 post I did a while back, not that I'm at all biased...
So if you're a BFS member, are attending Fantasycon 2012 or attended Fcon 2011 - hop on over to http://bfawards.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/index.php?sid=94577 and share your love of the genre...
XOXO
23 January 2012
Shiny Shorts
There is no such thing as too many blogs. Really there isn't. ;-) So with that in mind, a few of us have started up a review blog specifically for all things short fiction. We'll be covering flash, short stories, novellas; podcasts, print & online magazines; anthologies & collections; fantasy, horror, SF, & crime; new releases & old favourites.
And so, announcing: Shiny Shorts!
So far we've posted reviews of Welcome to Bordertown, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #86, The Princess Trap by Peter Darbyshire (from Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #11), Lavender and Lychgates by Angela Slatter (from Best New Horror #22 but originally from Sourdough and Other Stories) and The Thief of Precious Things by A. C. Wise (from Bewere the Night), and there's plenty more reviews stacked up in the post-schedule queue so drop on by and have a trawl through.
And if any of you, dear internet peeps, fancy volunteering to contribute the odd review, please do let me know - can be of single stories/audio fic, or full magazine/anthology etc. reviews, and we'll also take reprints of older reviews - the point is to share the love of all things short-fic!
Get your Shiny Shorts on! ;-P
And so, announcing: Shiny Shorts!
So far we've posted reviews of Welcome to Bordertown, Beneath Ceaseless Skies #86, The Princess Trap by Peter Darbyshire (from Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #11), Lavender and Lychgates by Angela Slatter (from Best New Horror #22 but originally from Sourdough and Other Stories) and The Thief of Precious Things by A. C. Wise (from Bewere the Night), and there's plenty more reviews stacked up in the post-schedule queue so drop on by and have a trawl through.
And if any of you, dear internet peeps, fancy volunteering to contribute the odd review, please do let me know - can be of single stories/audio fic, or full magazine/anthology etc. reviews, and we'll also take reprints of older reviews - the point is to share the love of all things short-fic!
Get your Shiny Shorts on! ;-P
22 January 2012
The Zombie Song
I already mentioned this over on the Girls' Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse, but it bears repeating here because, frankly, I love this song.
I give you, the gloriousness that is: The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey.
It was used in the closing credits of the excellent Un:Bound Video Edition: Zombies and it's such a wonderfully catchy song...
I give you, the gloriousness that is: The Zombie Song by Stephanie Mabey.
It was used in the closing credits of the excellent Un:Bound Video Edition: Zombies and it's such a wonderfully catchy song...
"If I were a zombie, I'd never eat your brain.
I'd just want your heart, yeah I'd want your heart..."
I'd just want your heart, yeah I'd want your heart..."
21 January 2012
Zommmmmmbies!
Have you checked out the lol-tastic Un:Bound video covering the disturbing events of zombies running riot through Leicester? If not, do so - it includes interviews with acclaimed zombie experts and authors Jasper Bark, Wayne Simmons and Dave Moody.
Plus, in not entirely unrelated news... the first trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution has been released!
Woohoo!
Plus, in not entirely unrelated news... the first trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution has been released!
Woohoo!
16 January 2012
Turtle Apocalypse Time!
It seems to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle day on Girls' Guide to the Apocalypse as I've managed two posts on the little buggers - an early warning of imminent doom in The Ninja Turtle Threat and if the thought of watching the Ninja Rap video scares you too much, there's also the Ninja Turtle cocktail to help dull the pain.
And from the other Apocalypse Girls this month can also be found more cocktails; How to Destroy Humanity - A Guide for Alien Invasion (Part 1), for the Downton Abbey fans - a poll to see which one of the Crawley sisters would survive the apocalypse; more music, reading and accessories; a giveaway of Jonathan Maberry's 'King of Plagues' and, ooh, loads more.
Check us out here!
And from the other Apocalypse Girls this month can also be found more cocktails; How to Destroy Humanity - A Guide for Alien Invasion (Part 1), for the Downton Abbey fans - a poll to see which one of the Crawley sisters would survive the apocalypse; more music, reading and accessories; a giveaway of Jonathan Maberry's 'King of Plagues' and, ooh, loads more.
Check us out here!
12 January 2012
Apocalypse Girls with a Pornokitsch Twist!
I think this definitely calls for a tee-hee moment - for, lo, the Apocalypse Girls have been interviewed over on that there Pornokitsch, talking about the appeal of the Apocalypse and how the Girls' Guide came into being...
07 January 2012
Shiny Shorts: The Princess Trap
Found in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #11, The Princess Trap by Peter Darbyshire is a wonderfully fun story about a dragon, a not-really princess, the inevitable knights that cross their path and the mutually beneficial arrangement they work out between them.
Saleema is an orphan sheepherder who dreams of being a queen but when she loses her flock to a dragon intent on settling down nearby, necessity forces her to work with the dragon in order to survive. Being a smart young lady of quite sensible character she soon turns the dragon's hunger and the questing knights assorted demises to her advantage, sowing the seeds for what is going to be a quite useful partnership for both of them.
This is a lighthearted romp of a tale with a heroine who succeeds through her own cleverness and adaptability and promises the continuance of interesting things after the story has ended, which is always a good thing. Love it!
Saleema is an orphan sheepherder who dreams of being a queen but when she loses her flock to a dragon intent on settling down nearby, necessity forces her to work with the dragon in order to survive. Being a smart young lady of quite sensible character she soon turns the dragon's hunger and the questing knights assorted demises to her advantage, sowing the seeds for what is going to be a quite useful partnership for both of them.
This is a lighthearted romp of a tale with a heroine who succeeds through her own cleverness and adaptability and promises the continuance of interesting things after the story has ended, which is always a good thing. Love it!
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