Meanwhile, Charlie Jane Anders over at io9 asked the question: "Your awesome novel is firing on all thrusters... except one. A major character, who's important to the story, isn't clicking. She's dull, or he doesn't play well with others." What to do?

Eileen Gunn, Rachel Pollack, Kelley Eskridge and I answered. (Hint: it has nothing to do with feeding them to the Movember Wolfman.)

I'm working on a bunch of sekrit things at the moment, so apologies for not posting much. There will be news one day! For now, here's a quick video I put together to say thanks to Paul Cornell for letting me play in his fantasy cricket tournament, in which I came last, of course. It's shot in my study, featuring various toys and things I have lying about the place. Sharp-eyed viewers will recognise my Peter Mac being put to good use, among other things.



Thanks also to Garth for his hilarious quote!

(from here: http://wondermark.com/542/)

This track embodies everything I loved about the 80s: morose boys, crazy-dancing girls, pretentious videos, and above all the music.  How wonderful that this was released in 2009.  Music is good again.  Hurrah!  (Watch it at least to the chorus before you decide either way.)

I’m very excited to be holding a copy of 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists, a collection of essays edited by Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk featuring such luminaries as Michael Shermer, James Randi, A. C. Grayling, Joe Haldeman, Jack Dann, Susan Blackmore, Gregs Benford & Egan, and many, many more. Including me. Woohoo!

I posted a while back about my piece “Doctor Who and the Legacy of Rationalism” (Rassilon/Rationalism--geddit?) in which I dissect several old stories to demonstrate how watching them led me away from the idea of god, rather than towards it as several recent evangelists suggested it ought to go. Researching it gave me a great excuse to go back and read some of the novelisations mouldering away on my top shelf. They remain as fun as ever.

The essay and the book are out now. Paperback is listed at US$29.95, which is a bargain compared to the hardback (US$89.95) and money well spent at any price. It’s published by the very respectable Wiley-Blackwell. The gorgeous cover is below. Tell your godless heathen friends!

Unexpected benefit of leaving San Jose this Monday and arriving in Sydney on Wednesday?

Skipping Melbourne Cup Day completely.

So for once I didn't have to feel like a freak for not giving a shit.  It simply didn't exist.  Brilliant!

This doesn't seem like a month's worth of reading to me, but it doesn't include a couple of books that aren't out yet, which I was fortunate enough to read in ms form.  So that makes me feel a bit better.

• The White Mountains by John Christopher (an old fave)
• Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in Philosophy of Everyday Life by Roger-Pol Droit
• Sum: Forty tales from the afterlives by David Eagleman (mind-blowing)
• The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry *
• Keystone by Peter Lovesey (my favourite crime writer)
• Beards of our Forefathers and Clever Tricks to Stave Off Death (Wondermark) by David Malki (hilarious!)
• The Straw Men, Michael Marshall (awesome!)
• WomanSpeak, Louise Nicholas and Jude Aquilina (clever, and funny too)
• Dark Country by Bronwyn Parry
• The Math Book by Clifford A. Pickover (maths never looked this good)

* In truth, I haven't finished the Fry yet.  I insist on doing the exercises and work unfortunately has got in the way.  I will get back to it, though, and I'll resist the temptation to post the results here. :-)

The latest Mind Meld over at SF Signal asks:

"In your opinion, does literary science fiction and fantasy have mainstream respect? Why, if at all, does it need mainstream approval? What would such approval mean for genre fiction?"

My rant on the subject is fifth down.  Let the shit-fight begin. :-)

Fans of "A Map of the Mines of Barnath" and the awesome StarShipSofa will be pleased to know that the two have come together at last.  Download "Aural Delights No 104 Sean Williams", with a bonus intro by me, and enjoy!

Thanks, Tony!

Recently I have, not gone on a diet, exactly, but made conscious efforts to change what I eat, taking into account my age, my weight, my sedentary lifestyle, and the state of our fair globe. There’s no single “hook”: I’ve just cut the really nasty carbs (potato, bread, rice, pasta) almost completely from my daily routine while at the same time avoiding processed food of any kind. I’ve reduced the amount of meat I eat to a small amount for lunch, and I’ve cut dairy to zero. At the same time, I’ve tried to reset various bad eating habits by getting myself hooked on chilli and nuts, along with heaps of fresh fruit and veg, as raw as I can bear it. And I walk about forty-five minutes each day.

The result? I feel a lot better about myself, on many levels, my skin has cleared up, and I’ve lost about seven kilograms. And hopefully I'm causing less damage to the environment by eating more local product, particularly that without hooves.

The question is: what the hell do I call this diet? It’s not vegetarian, but it’s as good as in the evening. But many vego options--the carb-laden ones in particular--are out, along with anything containing those stinky cheeses (that I hated anyway). It makes it damned hard to explain what people should serve up, if I’m going out to dinner, or eating on a plane, or staying anywhere that isn’t home.
 
Eating this way seems pretty sensible to me, so I’m determined to give it a catchy monicker.  The Rational Diet? The Williams Plan?

Any suggestions???

Also: any dietary traps I should avoid falling into?  I'm not sure where pulses fit into this plan, for instance, and I worry about iron deficiency.  This is an experiment I'd really hate to go wrong. :-)

ETA: "neo-paleo" gets one vote in the comments.