HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE B-BOY!

11 years old on Wednesday, and his Mum still can't believe her baby is growing up!

We had a great time on the weekend, treating the B-boy to some birthday goodness. Lunch at the restaurant of his choice, a trip to the movies, prezzies (but of course...), cheesecake, and all sorts of hanging out and doing cool stuff. Birthdays at the Batthouse tend to last all weekend, and it's a great excuse to indulge ourselves in the name of family togetherness. And the kids are so worth treating.

Blaaaaakkkkkeeeee, can I play your Baldur's Gate game nowwwwwww? :)

IT MAY NOT BE GOOD TASTE, BUT AT LEAST IT'S CONSISTENT...

A couple of years ago, Father Muerte & the Theft was mentioned in the Recommended Reading List at the back of Datlow & Windling Best Fantasy & Horror 16. Then I sold the reprint rights, and it appeared in last year's issue of Tales of The Unanticipated.

In which capacity it was mentioned in the recently released Best Fantasy & Horror 18.

They may not have good taste...

And to continue my habit of bridesmaidship, I managed to escape being picked up for The Best Australian SF & Fantasy anthology released by Mirrordanse Books recently, but both Vortle and Tales of Nireym made their RR list.

LAUNCHED!

The launch of Stephen Dedman's book Never Seen By Waking Eyes went very well, thank you, at least from the viewpoint of this unexpectedly nervous public speaker.

Many books seemed to change hands, much wine (and in my case, orange juice) was sipped, the conversation was refreshingly adult, and I was a very proud Battman as I watched Luscious, Aiden, Blake and Connor move amongst the assemblage. A combination of shyness and claustrophobia makes Luscious nervous amongst crowds, but she handled the scene with aplomb, and the older boys acted with a maturity and grace which belied their years. And everyone loves the C-train :)

It was also enjoyable, from a personal point of view, to attend an SF event in a purely adult, writer, role. As much as I love turning on the dancing monkey boy persona for Cons, it's also nice to be accorded some respect for my professional achievements. I felt like a serious writer on Friday night, and what's more, those who attended the launch treated me with some sort of professional respect. Hard to define, but there was a subtle, serious intent to the proceedings, and I liked it.

And I was glad for Stephen, who is both a friend and a writer I very much admire, to see a crowd of people rendering unto him the respect to which he is due.

The book is available now. Go to Fantastic Planet and buy it. Consider it my personal recommendation for the week. Tell them I sent you.

It won't get you a discount, but they will laugh and tell you to stop reading my blog and get a life :)


EVEN I'M EATABLE, BUT THAT'S CALLED CANNIBALISM

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory was a hoot, and I loved it.

That's all. I'm not going to get into the comparisons with the first movie that litter everyone else's comments. I'm not going to mention the raft of faults that can be picked (and there are a lot, to be sure). Gene Wilder was brilliant. So is Johnny Depp. Why pick who's better, when you can enjoy them both?

I loved the first movie. It was a piece of dark magic that we don't see often enough in cinema. I loved this one. Soon enough I'll own them both.

Love it, hate it, I don't really care. I turned off my critical faculties about 5 minutes into the movies, got in touch with my inner child, and grooved my ass off.

And whoever thought to reinterpret the Oompah Loompahs as insane little members of Devo: you're a bloody genius!

CHUCK

So I'm reading Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters today, after picking it up at Fantastic Planet during the week. And I've read over 200 pages today.

And I'm asking myself: what the fuck am i doing with my writing career?

Voice? I thought I had one....

Song of the moment: Father & Son Cat Stevens