Daynote - Fri 30 Jan

Happy Friday everyone! No walk for me today as I'm putting together the last bits and bobs before I head down to Manchester. Some drinks and catching up with my brother and some writer friends from the vicinity tonight, then off to Stockport Noir tomorrow!

I'll be on stage for the 'Psych vs Action' panel at 1510hrs, along with crime writing powerhouses Ruth Ware, Abigail Dean and Sam Holland, chaired by Kelly Peck. I am very, very much looking forward to it.

If you're coming along, I'll be at the event all day. Please do say hello!

ON DECK: Zero (fiction) words so far, but I have a three hour train journey coming up, so I'm hoping to make some progress on Project VAULT, then get my week's crit reading done. Edit: A very creditable 2,047 words on the train and I hit 25k for the month as a whole. Delighted. I love trains.

To that end I'm not carting two or three different books with me like I usually do, just the laptop. My bag is, therefore, much lighter than usual. This may be a revolutionary development for me, simply not taking multiple books with me on short trips. It's hard to give up the safety net of having multiple reading options, but last year I did so many trips where I took two or three books with me and then was too busy or tired to read any of them.

LISTENING: The paperback release of PAGANS (which I'm also reading, see below) means the author James Alistair Henry is showing up on a bunch of the podcasts I listen to. I actually bought the book based on the last time I heard him on a podcast talking about it, so this episode of the Page One Podcast is a nice update as I'm reading it.

WATCHING: We watched TRAIN DREAMS on Netflix last night and, wow, my word. It's quite a film. Stunningly shot, emotionally devastating, almost no 'plot' in the traditional Hollywood sense, but it's essentially formed of pure, uncut narrative. Afterwards I listened to this episode of the How I Write podcast with the writers of the film, Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar and it was absolutely fascinating. Both are worth your time.

READING:

As above, I'm still reading PAGANS by James Alistair Henry (Bookshop, Amazon). It's fantastic. I'm not taking it to Manchester (see also above) but I'm looking forward to continuing with it when I get back.

As an aside, I thought I'd start posting photos of the books I'm reading, when I first start on them. Covers are cool and I'm practicing my Bookstagram blurred-background beauty shots. What do you think?

KIT: I went for a run last night with my new running headtorch, the Nitecore UT27, and it was a revelation.

Even on the lowest setting it was so much brighter than my old one and I can actually see where my feet are going. Having badly sprained my ankle a few years ago, I really need to be as confident as possible about where I'm putting my feet, so this is a huge help. Plus it has a USB-C rechargeable battery, can take 3 x AAA in a pinch and has a glow in the dark battery compartment so you can change the battery without any other light. Smart stuff. I bought it after watching this Youtube video.

LINK: The intended audience for this piece, 'Quantum Computing for Lawyers' is, well, lawyers, but it's also an excellent primer for, say, thriller or science fiction authors who want to include aspects of quantum computing in their work. I read two spy thrillers with quantum computing as a key plot point last year, so it's a bit of a trend.

UP NEXT: Last bits of frantic packing, then out the door and off to Manchester. With some writing on the way. Here we go, and if you're going to Stockport tomorrow, I'll see you there.

Onward!