Well, dear readers, I’ve been a terrible correspondent again. Various minor flu-like ailments have struck down the family, and I’ve been pre-occupied with delivering the manuscript of my young adult anthology Under My Hat to Random House. Between that, Twitter, and recording the podcast I seem to have lost the impetus to blog.  It means I didn’t tell you about inhaling three seasons of Castle, reading Sean Williams and Garth Nix’s very entertaining Troubletwisters, getting into the new Decemberists or Ron Sexsmith albums, the 1st ep. of Game of Thrones, or so much more.

I touched base to mention the happy Aurealis, Ditmar, Tin Duck, Chronos, BSFA and Shirley Jackson awards news (short version: *very* happy), but didn’t mention other bits and pieces.  I certainly didn’t mention a whole bunch of good reviews (I’d meant to) like this one from Jason Nahrung for Engineering Infinity, The main thing happening now, though, is Swancon. I’m happy (delighted!) to be an invited guest. I’ll be easier to find at Swancon than ever before, and am on more program items than I think I’ve ever been at a Swancon. So please come to the con, have fun, and if you’re interested come see me. Here’s my schedule:

Thursday 21 April
8.30pm: Panel -Writer/Editor/Reader Relationship (w/Ellen Datlow)

Friday 22 April
9.30am: Not if You Were the Last Short Story on Earth (panel)
3.00pm: Mega Podcast – Read/View or Die (recording live)

Saturday 23 April
8.30am: Breakfast with Editors (w/Ellen Datlow & breakfast!)
10.30am: Social media for Writers (panel)
11.30am: How to Judge a Book by its Cover (panel)

Sunday 24 April
10.30am: Casting Your Pod (panel)
2.00pm: Sean Williams (interview)
4.00pm: Remembering Eidolon (panel)

I have been remiss in posting here, dear readers. For the most part it’s due to the pace of life. I am simply busier than I have been in years, and I find that podcasting with Gary seems to consume whatever motivation I had for regular blogging. Still, I do apologise.

It was a mixed week. On Tuesday the finalists for the  Aurealis Awards were announced by the administrators. I was delighted that Godlike Machines and Wings of Fire were shortlisted for Best Anthology. It’s Marianne’s first major SF award nomination, so it’s really special. I was also delighted to see so many friends nominated – congratulations to them all.

Friday I went to lunch with some work colleagues and then was either overcome by a virus or food poisoning. I was quite ill for the rest of the day, and through a good part of Saturday. I did wake around 1am Saturday, though, and saw that the Ditmar Awards nominations were out. While none of my editing work made the ballot, I was very pleased to see The Coode Street Podcast nominated for Best Fan Publication in Any Medium.  Gary and I are having a lot of fun recording the podcast, and it’s wonderful to see it recognised like this.  I was also delighted to see so many friends and fellow podcasters make the ballot. Again, congratulations to one and all!

The Swancon awards administrators also posted the Tin Duck Awards nominations – these are the Western Australian SF awards – and both The Coode Street Podcast and the Boxing Day Super Mega Podcast – made the final ballot. Again a great pleasure to see the main podcast pick up its third awards nomination, and a pleasure to see so many find nominees.  Congratulations again to everyone!

I had hoped Saturday would be productive work-wise, and Sunday too – Marianne’s going away next weekend and I need to get things done – but illness and family support wiped out Saturday and Sunday is under threat.  Still, things are getting done! More soon.

It’s March already. How did that happen? How’s the year going? So far, much like the last few. Busy, sometimes interesting, and busy. I don’t know that I have a favorite book or story of 2011 yet, though I did greatly enjoy an as-yet-unpublished Garth Nix space opera novel that I got a peek at (the second time I’ve been fortunate enough to read a book of his in manuscript), the opening quarter of China Mieville’s Embassytown, and the opening half of Michael Swanwick’s Dancing with Bears. I know I’m forgetting something else, but the probably says something about it.

I do seem to be flitting from thing to thing, though, seemingly unable to commit, which is frustrating. I have a stack of anthologies here, some edited by dear friends, that I’ve dipped into but haven’t read enough of yet to really comment upon. I think my album of the year so far is The Tallest Man on Earth’s The Wild Hunt (and my thanks to James to the recommendation), with the very REM-like new Decemberists album a runner-up. I’ve also watched a lot of Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, and Castle. So the year goes.

It was an odd, discombobulated weekend, really.  Other than plans for Friday and Saturday evening, we’d not really worked out what we’d be doing across the three day weekend, figuring as usual that we’d wing it. I intended to get work done, and I did get some of it dealt with, but still have so much to do.

We started early on Friday afternoon getting the girls ready for the evening. Toula was coming over to hang out with the girls, which meant Marianne and I could head over to Kings Park to see Tim Minchin.  It was a fabulous night. The weather was perfect, and we got a decent spot on the lawn near the Pioneer Womens Memorial.  We sat and chatted – I swear we’ve almost forgotten how — then Minchin started and was hilarious, provocative, and interesting. There was an intermission, during which they played Shaun Tan’s The Lost Thing on the big screens, and before you know it we were being kicked out for the long walk back to the car to with “White Wine in the Sun” ringing in our ears. Just wonderful.

Saturday started slowly.  There was breakfast and shopping and stuff. I did paperwork while Sophie had a friend over on a play date.  Then mum came over to watch How to Train Your Dragon with the girls, and we set off for dinner at The George with Margo, Lev, Sophie and James. It really was a remarkably enjoyable evening, and if the restaurant never really exceeded adequate, it didn’t seem to affect the evening. We left late — jetlag finally wearing out our visitors — but were delighted we’d had the chance to see everyone.

Sunday was supposed to be my big work day. I’d recorded the podcast with Gary on Saturday, so lots of other stuff to focus on. However, a plan was hatched. We’d all go swimming (Jessica had a lesson, but free swims were on offer), then pick up Keira, grab dim sum, and then head off to the Hyde Park Community Festival. Swimming went well, we picked up Keira (a brief sojourn during which Sophie fell in love with KJs cat), and then headed out for lunch where disaster struck. A careless waiter set an open pot of fresh Chinese tea down on a chopstick, and it overbalanced, soaking Marianne and Sophie in boiling hot Chinese tea.  Both were in shock and both got quite nasty scalds, though not enough to see them headed to doctors. Copious cold water, aloe and other stuff seems to have seen them both right, but it did end the day abruptly.  We had a quiet family movie night together during which we watched a mediocre Barbie film, then bed.

Monday. Definitely work on Monday. That was the plan. I was up at 6.00am and plugged my way through email and a few other issues. The projects on hand are progressing well, though I wish a few other things were coming together a bit better. Post work session we headed off to Hyde Park for wandering, lunch and fun. A mostly decent time was had by all. Got home in time for a bit of r’n’r before Sophie’s drama class.  Tongight: either more Castle or Abercrombie’s The Heroes on Lev’s recommendation. Tomorrow? Back to the office.

Oh, and I continue to dip my toes into the idea of getting back into vinyl for music. Hmm,

I am terrible at linking to reviews or pointing things out when I should, but there’s a really nice review of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 5 over at Tor.com from Brit Mandelo.  I’m delighted with it.