I went to see District 9 last night and can’t really rate it highly enough.  It’s like a sci-fi version of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and it’s gripping from start to finish.  The only downside is how impactful it is.  I dreamed all night of my feet turning into slime and insect claws, which now I […]

I was just getting excited about Roald Dahl over at my litro blog, and came across this, which is really good fun.  Listen to it when you’re tucked up in bed and the wind is howling outside.

For some reason, my post about Hans-My-Hedgehog has this week attracted some three hundred spam comments, which I have been deleting by the bucketload.  It’s led me to write a big long list of no-go keywords that this blog will look for in a comment and cage in a kind of virtual quarantine.  That list is

I’m stunned and delighted to have been longlisted today for the Guardian First Book Award 2009.  I don’t really know what to say, except that it’s an honour to be included on a list so exciting and diverse. You can read the Guardian’s article about it here.