Daynote - Tue 28 Apr 2026
Once more into the city.
Good morning! Into town today for a day in the office, lunch with a mate I've not seen in years, a family visit and, at some point, grabbing some books for a chairing gig later in the year. Busy busy. No walk in the woods as a result, but I'll be getting the steps in traversing Edinburgh, that's for sure.
ON DECK: A cheeky 394 words in aggregate as I do my final polish pass on the short story, which is currently going by the title of SKILL BASE. It's coming out quite nicely, I think. I've got about half of it left to edit, which I may manage today while travelling back and forth, but we'll see.
I really do need to get it off the docket and crack on with the novel edit, because May is looming in the near-distance with alarming speed. And before May hits, I also need to finish the April newsletter, write a presentation about what it's like to be a working writer for some primary school kids, pack to go to York and start planning the final month of activity before SOLITARY AGENTS comes out at the start of June. Yikes.
LISTENING: This was a great interview with Lauren Groff over at Always Take Notes - I really like the way this podcast combines some set questions that they ask every writer with some really good, specific questions that dig into the writer's body of work and inspiration. Never less than fascinating.
WATCHING: More of FOR ALL MANKIND last night, and the searing inevitability of the authoritarian mis-steps in this show don't make them any less compelling or tense. Great stuff.
READING: Roaring through CHILDREN OF STRIFE by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) and having a great time. I also hit a paragraph that I think may be the most Adrian Tchaikovsky paragraph of all time, which I fully intend to quiz him about in June at Cymera.
LINK: This interview with Heloise Wood, the investigations editor from The Bookseller (the UK's publishing trade magazine) over at the Honest Editor is absolutely fascinating. The Bookseller has a lot of influence (especially for a trade magazine) on literary culture in the UK, so it's very interesting to take a peek behind the curtain.
UP NEXT: One day at home on a normal schedule tomorrow, then off to York on Thursday (ooo, writing time on the train) and most of a day in York on Friday. Rather looking forward to that, and I'm hoping to get a good chunk of my structural edit on Project VAULT done. We'll see.
Onward!