Saturday 9 April 2011

Saturday Afternoons, Sunshine and Small Presses

This post is sponsored by a trip to Amazon.

Today, I bought pretty (awesome) books even though I'm not supposed to be buying any until my current to read pile has shrunk. In fairness, I'd been meaning to pick up Lavie Tidhar's 'The Bookman' for a year, and I loved Carrie Ryan's two previous books so I had to have 'The Dark and Hollow Places' and then I discovered a book by Genevive Valentine that I hadn't heard of before - Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti. Check out that blurb and the cover... Plus, yesterday I finally renewed my subscription to Interzone and Black Static, because I'd have felt guilty if I didn't, and they're fantastic magazines and I worry, our small presses are going to fold in on themselves and die!!!

Bloody hell, I guess I have my melodramatic head on today. Someone fan me and feed me grapes.

In other news: Did you know, I'm cultivating a forest in my back garden and there's a note on the seed packet about monsters? Stay tuned for more news...

That sentence is sponsored by things I hate about summer: gardening, gardening and yep, more gardening. Guess what I did today? Well some folk would claim 'my acts' didn't resemble gardening at all but I stick my tongue out at them and hand them a spade.

I guess, if I'm done writing for the day (we don't talk about the word count), I should catch up with my reading. I have about a thousand short stories to read before I can buy anymore (promise), and that is not an exaggeration. Okay, maybe a slight one. Oh wait, it's almost time for So You Think You Can Dance?

I do, I do.

12 comments:

Simon Kewin said...

Gawd, yes, now I'm feeling guilty about not having a current subscription for Interzone of Black Static too!

Gardening, though : I find it does clear my mind and let me think about a WIP. So it's not necessarily wasted time ...

craighallam said...

Ah, I subscribe to the BFS journals instead. And Murky depths at one point but I stopped mostly because the editor sends 'please buy six copies' emails every day of the week.
Shame, coz the mag is awesome.

Anyway, I feel your to-read pile pain. Mine's sky high between Open Uni and things I actually want to read. Still find time for those little presses, though mostly when I'm in the bath...or on the loo :oD

Lee Thompson/Thomas Morgan/James Logan/Julian Vaughn said...

Lol. Great buys, Cate. And I thought you'd have hired a man to garden by now. :P

Enjoy your reading time!

Aaron Polson said...

We need to abduct some readers and spread the word.

On gardening: our lettuce has sprouted! (And we might even eat it)

Katey said...

I wish I had a garden, stuck in my little apartment as I am.

And then I remember the massive yard at my parents' in the country, and how my mother used to make me help garden... and I think, well, perhaps this is okay after all.

Back to reading, myself! :D

Cate Gardner said...

The only thing rolling around my mind when gardening is... I don't want to do this. I do not want to do this. There are no other thoughts, Simon ;)

Too much information, Craig :D I have the pretty BFS journals too.

You'd think so, Lee

I wouldn't eat anything I'd planted, Aaron.

I yearn for concrete, Katey

K.C. Shaw said...

Sequels, small press publications, and books you meant to buy last year don't count as adding to the pile. Those are books that were already there, just not physically in the pile yet. :)

Barry Napier said...

My melodramatic head was on all weekend. Made worse by the fact that I got no writing done...

Danielle Birch said...

I regularly put myself on a book ban until I can get throught some of my giant to be read pile, which is now way taller than me, but there are just so many books that I need :)

Danielle Birch said...

PS We actually recently ate an eggplant grown in our garden. If you think I sound surprised you would be correct. It is the first vegetable I've successfully grown. Ever.

Deborah Walker said...

I've been reading vitually nothing but short stories for two years. Seeing as I want to write a novel, I've started reading them again. And guess what, they're too long. It's not them, it's me.

Funny how you can train your mind like that. Now I've got to train myself back. Read Graham Masterton's 'The Djin' admittedly it's quite short, but I loved it.

Cate Gardner said...

Good point, Kate

I'm there, I'm there, Barry

We tried to grow tomatoes once, Danielle. Tried and failed.

That's weird, Deborah. Although, my preferred to read length is novella.