"Knowledge is the action of the soul," according to Ben Johnson (1573-1637) and Christmas Cracker Quote #19.

He should have finished the thought: "And imagination is its action movie." But I suppose they didn't have action movies at the turn of the seventeenth century.*

Anyway, here are a few things I learned this morning:

The Force Unleashed has been pushed back to June 24, ahead of an August release of the game.

Earth Ascendant is now being published in the US in May, and hopefully in the UK and Australia the same month.**

An interview on SCI-FI WIRE on the subject of Saturn Returns has just gone live.

And Weight Watchers Drinking Chocolate just doesn't stack up to Jarrah Choc O'Lait.

There you have it. Now you too are ready to face the day.***

* Since when did Christmas crackers stop giving out really crap jokes? I feel like I actually learned something this year, which isn't what I was after at all.

** This means my three-new-books-from-three-different-publishers situation in March is now off. To be honest, that comes as something of a relief. The launch parties could've killed me. The Changeling is still on schedule, though, and more on that front soon.

*** "Although there is no word for chocolate in original Latin, modern translation programs use the rules of word construction and archaic Italian to approximate one."

I've been taking a leaf out of Teh Angriest's book and trying to walk and/or run for at least an hour a day. That means I'm getting to know my new neighbourhood pretty well. Going to and from my city PO Box takes about fifty minutes*, for instance, and that's enough to make me feel virtuous.

But here's something much more important to know. Six minutes and thirty-nine seconds is how long it takes to walk from my front door to the Haighs Chocolates Factory. It's like having the Wonka factory right up the road, and just as dangerous.

Yesterday I bought presents, nothing for me, and didn't even take the free sample they always offer. But still I think I broke even, calorie-wise. Oh well.

* That's long enough to hear some albums from start to finish on my fab Bose headphones, which is good for someone who doesn't normally get to spend any time at all listening to "real" music. In theory I could spend this time deep in contemplative thought about the next book, but more often than not I've been catching up on fave old albums and trying not to sing aloud.

A podcast of me reading an excerpt from Saturn Returns is available from AdelaideNow, about halfway down the article by the legendary Tim Lloyd.

My history in his hands sounds very angst-ridden--much more interesting than I could have written it:

"Williams has emerged from a troubled, solitary life to become one of Adelaide's most admired writers, producing a dozen novels in the fantasy and science-fiction genres."

The media barrage continues elsewhere. This week's Eastern Courier (my local weekly) ran a profile of several Adelaide spec fic writers, including a double-page excerpt of Saturn Returns. Jason Nahrung of the Brisbane Courier-Mail described the book as "A huge story told on a deeply personal level...a stellar effort", while Not Free SF Reader proclaimed that, "Williams has delivered the goods again...plenty of surprises, different forms of humans, both normal and post, spaceships, Warhammeresque religions, huge distances and shooting at people."

Ah, that's the stuff.

Meanwhile, I am madly editing The Force Unleashed, and having a ball doing it. I'm also working on releasing the speech I should have delivered at Sydney Observatory a couple of months ago as a podcast. I'm reading the final Harry Potter novel in tiny grabs, which is probably the worst way to do it. And this afternoon, we are going to visit the Haighs's Chocolate Factory, because I haven't put on nearly enough weight this winter... :-)

After weather related-delays in Heathrow, an unplanned stopover and a check-in computer crash in Dublin, some lost luggage and a cryptosporidium outbreak, I am pleased to discover that Galway is really quite delightful. The food is mostly fried (yum), the hot chocolates are delicious (double yum), the summer is cold and wet, and the buildings are stupendously ancient. I'm not so fond of the crowds, but that's just me. Luckily our base camp, The Western Hotel, couldn't be more comfortable. I can't recommend it highly enough. Now we're here, I don't want to leave.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, a couple of pleasing podcasts have gone online.

The first, with Stage Noise, features interviews with Jeff Wayne and myself (separately, alas) and can be located here. I talk about The Books of the Cataclysm, Star Wars and all manner of things.

The second comes from Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing, where both Tobias Buckell and Lou Anders are interviewed at some length. Toby very kindly plugs the Cataclysm series, describing it as the best fantasy series he's read recently. I am seriously chuffed.

Anyway, I don't intend to sit here at the computer all day. Amanda and I are off to Connemara this afternoon. This should tie with the experience of drinking Guiness on Irish soil as a highlight of the trip (in the touristy sense) so far--assuming we survive the drive. This will be my first time behind the wheel in a foreign country (under which term I include such places as Sydney, where the roads aren't flat or at right angles to each other) so fingers tightly crossed...

I'm off on honeymoon* for a while, and it is with some relief that I note, courtesy of these cool flood maps**, that my new home on the Dark Side will stay high and dry should the oceans rise up to swamp Adelaide while I'm gone

(  Here is what our new coastline would look like, raised fourteen metres above the old one: )

People wanting to flee the submerged suburbs in a hurry will be disappointed, because our new(ish) airport terminal is certain to be thoroughly drowned.

Luckily for all, however, the Haigh's factory is also in Parkside, so it too will survive. We'll still need chocolate no matter how wet the world gets.

* Apologies in advance for being tardy with email etc until I get back.

** I know these maps aren't entirely accurate, but foretelling doomsday is always fun!

psycho_warbaby has given the game away. Today is my 40th birthday, and I am planning to eat my own bodyweight in chocolate.

Thanks to all the responses to my last post. It's been an amazing week. I'm honoured to have such good friends in the LJsphere helping me celebrate it.

... for interviews, apparently.

Steve Wilson of Space Archaeology fame has pinned me down on the issues of Geodesica, Saturn Returns and all manner of interesting subjects. His site is fantastic, too, combining as it does two of my personal favourite things (like Haighs dark chocolate almonds). You should check it out while you're there.

And:
While it's always nice to see newer books getting attention, it's wonderful too when old books keep on keeping on. HarperCollins' edition of The Prodigal Sun has just gone into its sixth reprint here in Australia, for which I am extremely grateful.

And and:
Today marks the launch (at which I'll be speaking, briefly) of Adelaide's newest literary festival: the Fringe WORD festival, which will be unleashed upon the world next March, to coincide with the Adelaide Fringe's first year as an annual event. This comes hot on the heels of several other relatively recent gathering points for writers and readers that I've also been involved in, including the Salisbury Writers' Festival, the SA Writers' Festival, and of course the increasingly national Big Book Club/Little Big Book Club events. Perhaps there really is something in the water down here.

(Update: I've now uploaded my speech as a comment to this post.)