As so often happens, I’ve let time slip away here in blogland. There are all sorts of reasons. I’m a lot busier at my day job, which is good. and I’ve been in a funk, which sort of kills my productivity. Still, the funk seems to be lifting and I really need to get on with things. With a little luck there’ll be a new podcast with Gary this coming weekend, possibly with a special guest. There’ll also be some updates on books. I’ve had contributors copies of some awesome books come through lately, so really I’ve been very happy (though I continue to wait on one that seems destined never to arrive).

Regardless, this week I read Charles Stross’s The Fuller Memorandum and found it to be GOOD. There was a point in January when I really wondered if 2010 was going to be one of those quiet years for great SF, but increasingly I think that’s not going to be the case. Books like Kraken and The Fuller Memorandum make it a good year already, and there are new novels from a lot of my personal favorites coming up.  So, lots of reading to come.

I do want to ask you faithful readers a question. A while ago I did a short series of posts on books I’m looking forward to this month. I was thinking of turning that into a solo podcast thing – simply because podcasting seems so much easier right now. Does that seem a good idea? Let me know.

Anyhow, I’ll be back with more on stuff soon!

Last night I raced through my dinner, hugged my young children in lieu of putting them to bed, and retreated to my office for several hours to record what surely must be the longest podcast ever in the history of the world. I’d been invited to be a guest on Galactic Suburbia, and had a terrific time with hosts Alex, Alisa and Tansy discussing all things from awards (Nebula, Asimov’s, and Aurealis) and anthologies (mine and those of others) to what we’d been reading and thinking about over the last few weeks (see the show notes here for information on what we discussed).  It was enormous fun to do, but I staggered out a weary man barely able to watch an episode of Big Bang Theory before bed.  I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we did recording it. My sincere thanks to the GS gang for having me over.

Good morning, one and all. A new podcast with Gary K Wolfe should be out this morning. We recorded yesterday and I’ll get it uploaded after breakfast, with a little luck.  I also was going to post here about the whole idea of no arguing with a book when writing a book review. I intend to do that, but we’ll see. Looking back over the period since I got back from my holidays I realise I’ve not been all that productive, editorially speaking.  My day job is definitely demanding more attention, so too the family, which means my mind is pretty much scattered for reading and the like. I’ve spent a lot of time either watching TV, doing family stuff, or just sort of letting time pass without commenting on it. Trying to get myself together, though. Lots to do this coming month, and no real excuse for not getting it done (also some nasty consequences if I don’t).

I have, as you know, been podcasting. I’m enjoying it. It’s fun and it seems to involve the least amount of preparation of any of the things I’m doing right now, so more of that. There are also a bunch of books I want to read, though I can’t seem to summon up the concentration for that lately. Hmm. Maybe I do need to go and get my prescription looked at.

Graham Sleight and I discuss his work on the short fiction of Joanna Russ, Gollancz Masterworks, and a few last comments on canon-building, in a short conversation on the Street. Although the push to get Joanna Russ’s short fiction back in print is alive, I’m likely to leave canon-building as a topic for a while. I’ll also likely take the rest of the week off podcasting to let you all recover. Many thanks to Graham for his thoughts and for coming onto the Street.

John DeNardo and the good people over at SFSignal.com discuss ‘What science fiction books should be in every fan’s library?“.  While I love SFSignal and think they do cool stuff, the question itself bothers me so I recorded a new monologue where I talk about canon building, making lists and so on.