Back at the end of September, I drafted a Bits & Bobs post, due to go up the following week. I finished it all off, save leaving room for adding photos… and promptly forgot about it. Sorry folks! Busyness is no excuse, but needless to say, a bunch of stuff has happened since my last one of these. I’ve been a panelist at the biggest con I’ve yet attended. I’ve had my first experience of Redcoating. Alongside that, there’s a bunch of new articles and some photos online… I’m afraid this is a bit of a monster catch-up as a result, but hopefully worth a browse nonetheless.
An advance warning first – I’ve got a brand new story coming out in 2015. Fox Spirit has announced the latest in their Fox Pockets series.
The Evil Genius Guide will feature (deep breath)… ‘Dame Ammonia Dastardly-Truste’s Evil Genius College for Ladies: Class of 2013 Graduation Speech [Transcript].’ Fiona Apple length titles aside, the Evil Genius Guide is being guest edited by Daz Pulsford, and with tales by the likes of the Chloe Yates, Andrew Reid, Alasdair Stuart and more, there’ll be plenty to get your teeth into.
More news soon… For now, on the fiction front, there’s also blogs from both Loncon 3 (this year’s Worldcon) and Redcoating at Fantasycon 2014 (yes the UK one, not the Utah one) up on the site – scroll down for more.
NEW REVIEWS
Those lovely chaps at Thrash Hits of Devin Townsend’s Z2, the long awaited return of his alien alter-ego (and fourth dimensional guitar hero) Ziltoid The Omniscient. I’ve also reviewed the latest This Will Destroy You album. Like instrumental post-rock? That’ll be worth a read too.
DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT – Z2
“A gloriously indulgent comic book confection”, versus a “power rock/dance/experimental mashup”… “The question becomes less whether this is a Ziltoid record worth waiting for, and more whether Z2 actually works as a coherent pairing.”
http://www.thrashhits.com/2014/10/album-devin-townsend-project-z2/
THIS WILL DESTROY YOU – Another Language
“Small things are thrown into relief – the engine stutters rabid complaints, there’s a tart stink of old fish’n’chips somewhere… Listening to Another Language… is something like this.”
http://www.thrashhits.com/2014/09/album-this-will-destroy-you-another-language/
NEW PHOTOS
Not many New Photos since the last update, due to a combination of illness and bad luck. Not least this show with Anathema, where a combination of a stage set/stage size mismatch, blocked pit and a sold-out show meant there was only one point in the entire room to shoot from. Still, I got a few shots from that night, and here they are…
ANATHEMA
O2 Academy (upstairs room), Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4148329-in-photos–anathema-newcastle-academy
NEW BOLS
Unfortunately, my misognynistic foul-mouthed agent Benny Bols has been at it again. There’s a new column up on Mass Movement featuring his guide to making it as a Journalist. Budding hacks, read at your own risk…
Random Bols #1: Benny Bols’ Guide to making it as a Journalist
“If I wanted fucking facts, I’d get Carol Vorderman to read me the fucking Karma Sutra.”
http://massmovement.co.uk/ruth-writes-random-bols-1-benny-bols-guide-making-journalist/
NEW BLOGS
Well, technically this is a new blog, but there are other new blogs. Less new than this one. Old new blogs, really…
OLD NEW BLOGS
That’s better.
GUEST BLOG: JACEY BEDFORD ON THE PARALLELS BETWEEN WRITING AND SINGING
Jacey Bedford, singer with Artisan and author of Empire of Dust (out now on Daw), talks about the similarities between the two sides of her life…
There’s also a couple of blogs on what I got up to in London and York, including my thoughts on my first ever Redcoat adventures.
FANTASYCON 2014
My first con as a Redcloak was a lesson in just how effort it takes to run a convention…
https://www.ruthbooth.com/2014/10/fantasycon-2014-three-days-running-up-and-down-corridors/
WORLDCON: LONCON 3
Video-game music, panel highlights, readings, and a photo of Melinda Snodgrass and a smug-looking me…
https://www.ruthbooth.com/2014/09/worldcon-loncon-3-debrief/
And that’s it for now!
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