A Lovely Post of Lovely Things

Not, y’know, universally lovely things, though obviously a post of kittens and spaceships would be keen, but lovely things for me, lovely writing related things, which I fully intended to blog about in a more timely fashion but clearly that didn’t happen so everything gets thrown in together, like a cake! A delicious, tasty cake that does not set the oven on fire.

First up is the smashing table of contents for the Cranky Ladies of History anthology, which I’ll have a story in. And, rather spiffily, the ToC also lists all the Cranky Ladies that are featured in the stories. So, yes, I was Quite Excited about this anthology before, but now, look! Pirates! Three whole stories about pirates! (Er, possibly, obviously they might be about other aspects of their lives, I’ve no idea, but at some point in their lives, they were pirates, so they still totally count in my head as pirate stories, yes.) My own story features Eleanor of Aquitaine, who I think is Europe’s most fascinating medieval person.

Second, the totally enigmatically titled Chicks Dig Gaming has been released, with over thirty essays from women with all manner of gaming stripes. It’s a celebration of women what game, with academic pieces, insightful introspection, and nostalgia fests. My own contribution is an unashamed nostalgia fest, talking about my experience of early nineties LucasArts’ point and click adventure games in general, and the Monkey Island series in particular.

And third, a lovely announcement from Mad Norwegian Press: the forthcoming release of Companion Piece, an anthology of essays concerning the companions of Doctor Who. It’s edited by myself and Liz Barr, and will be out in April next year. But at the moment you can look at the beautiful front cover! And click it for a bigger version! Our esteemed cover artist, Katy Shuttleworth, was very patient with my one or two suggestions of companion costumes to hint at, yes. Ahem. And, I may be slightly biased, but it’s quite a good book too so it is.

And now I’m off to do battle with a printer, hurrah! Farewell, delicious readers!