Mother’s Day is drawing to a close, and all in all, it’s gone fairly well.  We were up early with two young girls, I made some omelettes for breakfast, and gave Marianne some presents.  Then they went to football, while I got the place ready. I then picked up my mum, to bring her back for a pleasant, relaxed afternoon at our house.  My sister rose to the occasion, bringing some great food and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Everyone’s gone now, and we’re just reading the tired/cranky time of day, and I’m taking a few minutes quietly outside with the laptop.

Positive things today: read two good stories for Eclipse Two.  I’m not sure one isn’t too weird, and that one isn’t more a chapter of a novel, but that’s what second readings are for, and both are well worth a second read.  I hope to finish Wolfe’s Evil Guest this evening, then I’ll probably dive into Daryl Gregory’s Pandemonium. If I’d not read his short fiction, I doubt I would have picked up the Gregory novel, but I have (it’s terrific), so I’m really interested to see how it stacks up.

It seems to me that ‘Notes from Coode Street’ has wandered far and wide from both its original purpose and its original tone. There are lots of reasons for this, most of which are important, but few of which are relevant. The recent posts about book covers and so on speak to this. So, I’ve been thinking. I’m yet to find a new look for the site that I’m happy with. I’m very bored with the old one, and will spend some time in the next month or two trying to find something else. In the meantime, I most likely will stick with this old, old one, which has the benefit of simplicity. I also intend to move back to the kind of things I used to post about. Great stuff I’ve read, interesting bits and pieces of info I’ve come across, that kind of thing. Onward, forward!

Hi all – If you’re readers of this blog, you’ll notice that my very unhappy posts about the Eclipse cover panel discussion at Wiscon aren’t readily apparent. I’ve decided to remove them (they still exist, they’re just not on the public site). I did this because I realise that they’re not helping anyone, and because the debate’s not about me. It’s not something I should have engaged with, and I regret that I did. I thank everyone for their support, and wish the Wiscon crowd a great convention. Thanks, Jonathan

I’ll review this properly when I’m done. Honest. But for the moment, I’ve never enjoyed reading a Wolfe novel more than this one.  I’m half way through, and it could go off the rails, but I don’t think it will.  So far it’s riveting. I’m just drawn back to it again and again, no matter what else is around.  Just magnetic.  It’s noir, and it’s smart and funny. Haven’t really got to the Lovecraft stuff, but I guess that’s in the second half.  But from here, I’ve no hesitation in saying you NEED to read this one.  Doesn’t matter if you like Wolfe’s other stuff or not. This is terrific.

I would like to repeat this information for people who might have missed it. Market digest Duotrope are incorrectly stating that Eclipse has reopened to submissions and is open till 18 May.  I do not know where the incorrect information came from, but I have asked for them to update their website urgently. In the meantime, unless I have directly solicited work from you, please do NOT send any submissions for Eclipse.  It is permanently closed.  I do apologise for any inconvenience this has caused, and am doing everything I can to get the information corrected.