MOVING SWIFTLY ON

We're packing -- well, Yvonne's doing all the hard work -- and I've scarcely got time to drink coffee. But Yvonne stopped, then started chuckling over a list of Swifties she'd cut out from a newspaper some time back.

Clearly, I've no time to be blogging, but I couldn't help but think of a few. It's midnight and I'm way too tired, but how about:

"It's all vacuum outside," Tom said emptily.

"Don't put too much uranium in one place, or you'll get critical mass," Tom exploded.

"Look at that supernova go!" Tom said brightly.

"By the power of this book, I summon forth the demon!" the wizard spelled out.

Dare I ask if anyone's got a Swiftie to add to the list?

A MOST EXCELLENT INTERVIEW

I took part in a terrific interview with BthroughZ, which was very wide-ranging, from talking about early influences, through all my previous work, and the two forthcoming series. It's very stylishly presented right here, or you can visit the current month's page at http://bthroughz.com/dec09/index.html

Many thanks again to Drew for the questions and Jamie for publishing it!

THE CATS ARE JUMPY

As their habitat (a world of bookcases) has half disappeared into cardboard boxes already. One of them has thrown up, and for days they've both been circling and staying even closer to Yvonne and me, and Bonbon's lost a tooth. Luckily our wonderful vet Ian is going to be at our house-leaving celebration/wake later, so he'll be able to peer down a moggy's gob before getting to the party food. (His idea, to save her yet another trip to the surgery.) Ian and wife Karen, not to mention son Lochlan, are top people.

Current mood: dislocated, disconcerted, drawing back from discombobulated.

But I'm only on my first coffee. Soon the world will brighten. I'll miss the Japanese maple glowing gold outside my study window (as it is right now), and the silver birch and holly tree out back, which have witnessed my attempts to master kata on our quirky, lopsided old patio. And Charlie, and Alfie, and Holly, and Poppy... and that's just the neighbours' cats.

On other hand, Yvonne and Nutmeg and Bonbon are with me forever, so that's fine. There. Slipping back into normal worldview once more. That was easy.

Onwards and upwards, Pilots!