And here you go.

A new parody. [1] Doctor Whom, or E.T. Shoots and Leaves, about a grammatically correct time lord. He’s trying to keep the ‘grammar’ of time in order, so that trifling things like ‘cause and effect’ are not wholly undermined. That’s not a dalek on the cover, by the way. It’s something else. Something that does not in any way breach BBC copyright.

The book is in part a parody of Dr Who, of course (not an easy call, given that Dr Who is already, in itself, a kind of parody); but also a parody of a certain popular grammar book, the author of which has not proved happy to be parodied by myself or anybody else.

 
A story in Pete Crowther’s latest collection, [2] Forbidden Planets. My tale is called ‘Me:topia’ and starts with a spaceship crashing onto an unknown and (as you might guess from the title of the collection) forbidden world. The writing's a little fancy, but as author I try to keep a weather-eye on maintaining the appropriate quota of explosions, chase, exploration and general sfnal excitements and brouhaha.  [2007 update: Pete's Collection made the [3] Locus Recommended List for 2006; and my story made the list too, under 'novelettes'.  Which was nice.]

With today’s post arrived [4] Paul Kincaid and Andrew M. Butler’s collection of critical essays on The Arthur C Clarke Award : one essay per Clarke Award winner, over the last 18 years. I’ve an essay in here on the stonking [5] Fairyland by the estimable [6] Paul McAuley which won the award in 1996 (Such a brilliant novel; such a gifted writer). But my essay on the novel is the least of many excellent reasons to buy this collection; quite apart from the range and insights of the other contributors, all profits go to the [7] Serendip Foundation, which will help keep the Award alive. Buy the book, or go to the Foundation’s website and make a donation. I command you!

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