Marie O’Regan

So here it is, my own little corner of blogdom. Not sure how much I have to say, really, but I wanted to start keeping a journal, and in this day and age it might as well be an online one

It’s been a busy week, but a good one. I went to London on Friday 2nd with my fiance, Paul Kane, for the British Fantasy Society Open Night. They’re always fun, and this one was no exception - attendees included Steve Jones, Mike Marshall Smith, Tony Richards, Lavie Tidhar, Chris Fowler, Mark Samuels, Bob Covington, Dave Bezzina, Alec Worley, Alex Davis…loads more. It’s always a good night, and I don’t get to see these guys often enough.

It’s good to get a chance to catch up with friends from the writing side of my world that I only see every few months, but it’s also great as it gives me a chance to stay with one of my very best friends that I’ve known since I was nineteen, and catch up with my son Peter, who lives in London, my parents, and my oldest friends. I don’t see any of them anywhere near enough since I moved to Chesterfield from London last summer, but it does make for some great weekends when we get a chance to get away and relax.

This Friday we were at the launch of Christopher Fowler’s new book, Ten Second Staircase. A lovely guy, and a great writer. If you haven’t checked his stuff out before, why not? Ended up in the pub, no surprise there, before travelling homeward to Chesterfield with Paul, accompanied by Graham Joyce on his way back to Leicester. Very funny guy, and a great writer. And we get to catch up with everyone all over again in a few weeks, at FantasyCon, on 22nd September. For those who don’t know (shame on you), FantasyCon is the annual convention of the BFS, and this year it’s taking place at the Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, over the weekend of 22nd to 24th September. Full details can be seen at www.fantasycon.org.uk. Guests of Honour: Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Raymond Feist, Ramsey Campbell and Juliet E McKenna. Go and have a look at the site, and book a place. Trust me, it’s fun!

In the run up to FantasyCon, life becomes even more hectic than normal (just ask Jen and the rest of the FCON committee), so other news is a bit sparse at the moment. I’m very happy that Steve Upham, editor of Estronomicon, over at Screaming Dreams is going to bring out my novella, Mirror Mere, as an e-book, but want to finish a couple of other projects I have on the go at the moment, and get on with a website I’m designing. What a life

Currently reading: The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

Last film seen: Saw II. Very pleasantly (?!) surprised by this one. It’s not often, to my mind, that sequels live up to the original. Aside from a couple of very miinor gripes, this one did.