Round the Herne

On Saturday 28th March I will be joining the rest of my fellow druids in storytelling (the Irish saga of Bricriu's Feast) at Highwoods Community Centre in Colchester. The Leaping Hare convention also includes a full programme of speakers, workshops, stalls, music and general jollity all in exchange for a few quid - profits divided between assorted good causes. I shall also be selling copies of my assorted books. Details of the programme can be found here . Tickets can be purchased on the door, or reserved at a cheaper rate by calling 01206 331183.

I wanted to write something clever and insightful for World Book Day, but it's been a trying day at work and I'm feeling too tired to string coherent thoughts together. So instead, I thought I'd detail the pile of books currently besides my bed - which await reading in the near future. Top of the pile (and the one I'm currently reading) is "Wildthyme Beyond" by Paul Magrs, sequel to a book I read before Yule. It details the adventures of the eccentric and irascible Iris Wildthyme, a sort of female version of Doctor Who who traverses the cosmos in a magical London bus, accompanied by a variety of companions - most entertaining of whom is a talking stuffed panda. The second book is partly an adventure in time and pace, partly a meta-analysis of the writing process and the semi-independent life of fictional characters. I'm enjoying it! Second on the pile is "The Moving Toyshop" by Edmund Crispin, a rather campy sounding murder mystery set in Oxf...